catholicities

A Thin Space, A Good Life

2011-03-17T23:22:00.000-04:00

As St. Patrick's Day comes to a close... enjoy one more beer and sleep tight....

Photograph by Joseph Amireault, My Shot for National Geographic

Two Irish gentlemen enjoying each other's quiet company and a pint at 11 a.m. at Sean O'Caseys in Dublin, Ireland

(This photo and caption were submitted to My Shot.)

National Geographic Photo of the Day

2011-03-17T23:12:00.000-04:00

"In the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes a stream carves a canyon through rock formed during the 1912 eruption of nearby Novarupta Volcano. The snowcapped peaks are Mount Griggs and Mount Katmai (far right), part of an active system of ten volcanoes surrounding the valley, a hundred miles south of the proposed Pebble mine." -- National Geographic

Richmond Restaurants on TV

2011-03-17T22:50:00.000-04:00

Learning geography courteous of the Travel Channel and the Food Network... For all of my non-Richmond friends and family, these are actually great spots. I've been to most of them... and the rest of them will be visited soon...

The morning after St. Patrick's day...

2011-03-17T22:45:00.000-04:00

Richmond.com has the list of best hangover spots in the city. Which is your favorite? It's been a very long time since I was hungover, but my favorite on the list is Joe's Inn.

USC Loses To VCU In First Four Game, 59-46

2011-03-17T22:23:00.000-04:00

VCU just played such a better game. You can't win when this happens:

The Trojans hurt themselves at the line in such a foul-plagued game, hitting just 15 of 25 free throws. They missed three of four over the next minute while Juvonte Reddic was scoring inside to make it 53-44.

The basics still matter. You have to hit the free throws. Always. Read the rest here. It was a fun game to watch though, just for the thrill of seeing VCU play USC for once. Go Rams! Beat the Hoyas!

Is football season here yet?

Coming from a family of teachers...

2011-03-17T13:20:00.001-04:00

I couldn't agree more with this article in today's New York Times:

“Make a concerted effort to raise the status of the teaching profession” was the top recommendation.
University teaching programs in the high-scoring countries admit only the best students, and “teaching education programs in the U.S. must become more selective and more rigorous,” the report says.

Earth – and Humanity – Cry Out by Mary Colwell

2011-03-17T13:13:00.000-04:00

From The Tablet:

The Greek Orthodox Church has a more realistic view of the interconnectedness of nature and humanity. Rather than be at the top of the chain, human beings are considered part of the ongoing process of Creation. People are not stewards who manage and organise but priests of Creation whose role is to sanctify nature and who are open to the mystery of the creative process. When Job cried out to God in anguish, demanding to know the reason for his suffering, God put him in his place:

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding
Who determined its measurements - surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? (Job 38:4-7)

On this day: St. Patrick

2011-03-17T13:03:00.002-04:00

On this day, we celebrate the feast of St. Patrick, "the first human being in the history of the world to speak out unequivocally against slavery."
--from How the Irish Saved Civilization, by Thomas Cahill, Doubleday, New York, 1995, p. 114.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T13:00:00.000-04:00

Learn about St. Patrick here, here, and here.

Here is your guide to St. Patrick's Day Etiquette.

Dive into Celtic Spirituality here, and try to put into action some of these suggestions today:

When thinking of Celtic spirituality, it is often difficult to imagine its application apart from the land of its origin. There are, however, numerous ways in which we can incorporate these practices into our own lives right at home. Here are a few suggestions:
Embark on a pilgrimage—physically or spiritually. Remember that as Sister John Miriam points out, “The thing that distinguishes a pilgrimage is what’s in your heart.” Her book,With An Eagle’s Eye: A Seven-day Sojourn in Celtic Spirituality (Ave Maria Press), offers readers an opportunity to embark on a pilgrimage without leaving home, or it can serve as a guideline for an actual pilgrimage.
Locate a “thin place” where you feel especially connected with God and feel God’s presence. Perhaps it is at a cemetery where a loved one is buried or a favorite spot in nature.
The Celtic Christians found solace in community living. Celebrate the communities of which you are a part, whether they be your faith community, family or friends.
Most of us cannot begin to express ourselves artistically in ways such as the High Crosses or the Book of Kells. We can, however, use our individual talents to express our faith: Draw a picture or write a poem about something that strikes you as particularly representative of God’s beauty.

And of course the Irish Jesuits invite you into Sacred Space everyday with their great website.

Enjoy the green beer and may today be lucky for you!

Thursday of the 1st Week of Lent

2011-03-17T12:42:00.000-04:00

Today's Liturgy of the Hours can be found here

Today's Mass readings, for the Thursday of the 1st Week of Lent can be found here.

In them we find Queen Esther pleading for help from God. Desperate cries to God in a time of deep anguish. With the continuing devastation in Japan, in Libya, in so many parts of the world this day, her tears and torment speak great truth.

Jesus replies, to her and to all, in today's Gospel with:

“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which one of you would hand his son a stone
when he asked for a loaf of bread,
or a snake when he asked for a fish?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your heavenly Father give good things
to those who ask him."

How does this square with a tsunami? with nuclear meltdown? It doesn't. And that is hard. But I can't help but think, as spring flowers start to bloom, and the cherry trees start to blossom, that it gives hope, and with hope we can make it through today, into tomorrow.

Secular Canonesses

2011-03-16T15:26:00.001-04:00

Secular Canonesses

Margaret C. Schaus, in Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: An Encyclopedia, Routledge, 2006, defines secular canonesses:
Canonesses "were generally recognized as women who had adopted the religious life and who lived in community, but yet differed from nuns in several important respects: they made no permanent vows, and thus could leave the community whenever they wished; they did not relinquish private property upon entering the community and even maintained separate residences and servants; they wore secular clothing rather than the black habit of Benedictine nuns; and they performed various public duties, largely freeing them from the requirement of claustration."
"Communities of canonesses reaches their apogee in Germany during the ninth and tenth centuries, when a series of new foundations with strong ties to the imperial court were established. The women of these communities, who came from noble families, maintained their power and prestige within the community and were active beyond its walls as well. Under the late-tenth-century rule of abbess Gerberga II, a niece of Otto I, the community at Gandersheim developed into an enormously powerful and independent house, with its own courts, the power to mint coins, a representative at the imperial assembly, and the right to direct protection from the pope. Gandersheim was also, like many houses of canonesses, a center of learning where daughters of the aristocracy could gain an education. The Latin writings of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim demonstrate her knowledge of a range of classical and medieval authors and reflect the richness of the community's library. Other communities, like Chelles, where Charlemagne's sister Gisela was abbess, were active in book production and included female scribes amongst their number." Page 107.

As new forms of religious life emerge, is there a modern day answer to these secular canonesses? What would such a movement look like? How would it work? Thoughts?

On this day: St. Eusebia, Abbess

2011-03-16T15:21:00.000-04:00

On this day: St. Eusebia, Abbess

What a family she came from....

A Vatican II Parish?

2011-03-16T15:12:00.002-04:00

In this blog post Heidi Schlumpf responds to readers who take issue with her phrase "Vatican II parish." She gets to an important question at the end:

It's true that the phrase "Vatican II" (as in "Vatican II priests" or "Vatican II parishes) has become Catholic shorthand for "more progressive or liberal," as opposed to "more traditional or conservative." How sad that even a mention of such an historic moment in our church has become divisive.

I was born during the Second Vatican Council, and the parish I grew up in embraced its reforms wholeheartedly. Critics would say it even went beyond what the council called for in some instances. But it did an excellent job of teaching and modeling the Gospel to me, and I tend to think it inspired me in a way that much of the church before Vatican II would not have. Still, the reforms of Vatican II were just that: a reforming and reclaiming of parts of our tradition that had been lost. In the years since, there has also been some tweaking of the reforms, as there should be.

I proudly claim the label "Vatican II" Catholic.

What is a "Vatican II parish" or "Vatican II Catholic" to you? Should this phrase be retired? Is it too divisive?

So, what's your answer?

RSS Feeds

2011-03-16T14:53:00.000-04:00

I have resisted RSS Feeds for so long. Now this is going to be dangerous. But, if I actually want to be serious about blogging, is there any other way to go?

The New Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences at USC

2011-03-16T13:59:00.006-04:00

USC knows how to pull in gifts. Here is the largest single gift in its history... and this is coming off of a record recession... the future is looking brighter all of the time! Go Trojans! And thank you Dornsife's!

http://college.usc.edu/dornsife has all of the information you are looking for.

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VCU-USC in the NCAA Tonight at 6pm

2011-03-16T13:40:00.002-04:00

Wednesday of the 1st Week of Lent

2011-03-16T12:49:00.003-04:00

Today's Liturgy of the Hours can be found here.

Today's Mass readings can be found here. Today is one of the few times we get to hear about Jonah.

Today in History: At Anazabus in Cilicia, St. Julian, martyr, who, tortured for a very long while under the governor Marcian, was in the end shut up in a sack with snakes and cast into the sea.

Advice on Prayer

2011-03-16T12:41:00.000-04:00

Komonchak at dotCommonweal has this quote from Augustine that is useful advice for all who are struggling with prayer this Lent:

The brothers in Egypt are said to have frequent prayers, but they are very brief and, as it were, suddenly hurled, lest protracted delays may cause to vanish or to dull the alert and aroused attention that is indispensable to one praying. By this they also show that this attention, if it shouldn’t be dulled when it can’t last, also shouldn’t be suddenly broken off when it continues. For if we shouldn’t indulge in a lot of talk in our prayer, neither should we avoid sustained prayer when fervent attention continues. To talk a lot while praying is to use superfluous words to ask for a necessary thing, while sustained praying brings the heart’s continued and pious emotion to the one to whom we are praying. For quite often praying consists more of groans than of words, more of tears than of talk. God looks upon our tears, and our groans are not hidden from him who made all things by his word and does not need human words. We need words, then, to help us consider and to observe what we are asking for, not in order to inform or to sway the Lord. (Augustine Epistle 130, 20-21; PL 33, 501-502)

Welcome Back BBQ Today!

2010-08-29T12:57:00.000-04:00

Come join us after the 5:15pm Mass today for the Annual CCM Welcome Back BBQ! All are welcome! We shut down Cathedral Pl. at 3pm and get the party started... see you there!

Today at the Cathedral

2010-08-22T08:15:00.003-04:00

Important Note:

At ALL Masses today there will be a Second Collection today for the Cathedral's Catholic Campus Ministry. If you would like to donate online, you can do so here.

Following Mass there will be hospitality on the plaza provided by the CCM Student Leadership. Please stop by the tables to register if you are a VCU Student, Faculty or Staff Member, or Alum. You can also pick up one of our new Polo or T-Shirts! All of the info about the upcoming CCM events will be available and tours of the CCM house will be on-going.

9am -- Mass with Bishop DiLorenzo.
11am -- Mass with Fr. Patrick Golden.
12pm -- "New Family" Social: Back to School Lunch
2pm -- CCM Student Leadership Team Meeting
5:15pm -- Mass with Fr. Michael Boehling.

The New CCM Website

2010-08-22T08:06:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we launched our newest version of the CCM Website, thanks to the hard work of senior Kasey Miller. We hope that you will explore all that the site has to offer and now we want your feedback. What do you like, what do you want more of, are there any errors that missed our attention? Send us an email at nstein@richmondcathedral.org with your comments.

Just for Parents...

2010-08-22T08:02:00.000-04:00

Parents of college students and "emerging adults" take note. This article in the New York Times Magazine today is just for you. Here's a taste:

"The 20s are a black box, and there is a lot of churning in there. One-third of people in their 20s move to a new residence every year. Forty percent move back home with their parents at least once. They go through an average of seven jobs in their 20s, more job changes than in any other stretch. Two-thirds spend at least some time living with a romantic partner without being married. And marriage occurs later than ever. The median age at first marriage in the early 1970s, when the baby boomers were young, was 21 for women and 23 for men; by 2009 it had climbed to 26 for women and 28 for men, five years in a little more than a generation."

Young Adult Catholics: Telling Our Own Stories

2010-08-09T16:14:00.000-04:00

Thanks to a friend for sending me this link to another article on Patheos. This one on Young Adult Catholics.

"We are in the midst of making our own stories -- stories of folk Masses, and writing petitions and stapling them to construction paper for grade school Mass, and CCD, and World Youth Day, and LifeTeen youth groups.

The future of Catholicism seems very much to rest on how we young Catholics decide to remember and tell our own stories."

So how are we going to tell our stories? If you are a young adult and have a story to share please send it to me. I'd love to start posting some of them!

On Being Deeply Conservative...

2010-08-09T10:50:00.000-04:00

Gabriel Moran, of NYU, is considered to be one of the fathers of the modern Religious Education movement. Here is an essay he wrote "On Being Deeply Conservative." It is absolutely intriguing reading. Moving beyond liberal vs. conservative to seeing the inherent and necessary connection between the two is only one of the many important points of discussion in the article. Moran's deep understanding of the importance of history is another. Here's a taste:

"[I]f one starts from "conservative" or "conserve," there is no reason why "liberal" is the opposite. In fact, the only way to conserve all that is best in the past is to be liberated from elements that are always a threat to our continuity with the past."

I find myself to be "deeply conservative" in the way Moran describes. What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts.

See a list of syllabi and essays from Moran here.

The Case for Stability...

2010-08-08T16:32:00.000-04:00

Nussbaum writes about the virtue of stability in her column at NCR here. This is what the saints in the pews do for the church and especially for young adults, week after week, if only we'd listen to them....

"Parish memory is an antidote to nostalgia. There was never a golden age when we prayed without ceasing, cared for the poor without complaining and shunned gossip. There was never a time when our priests were all attentive and wise in the confessional, eloquent yet brief at the ambo and saints on the streets. Lay and clergy, they were like us, humans who try -- and fail -- to love God and their neighbors."

Quote For The Day II - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

2010-08-08T16:22:00.001-04:00

From last Sunday, but it took a week to sink in...

Quote For The Day II - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

"Why don't you think of [Christ] as the coming one, who has been at hand since eternity, the future one, the final fruit of a tree, with us as its leaves? What is keeping you from hurling his birth into evolving times and from living your life as though it were one painful beautiful day in the history of a great pregnancy? Don't you see that everything that happens becomes a beginning again and again? Could it not be his beginning, since a beginning in itself is always so beautiful? If, however, he is the most perfect one, would not what is less than perfect have to precede him, so that he can choose himself from great abundance? Would not he have to be the last one, in order to envelop everything within himself? And what sense would our existence make, if the one we longed for had already had his existence in the past?

By extracting the most possible sweetness out of everything, just as the bees gather honey, we thus build him. With any insignificant thing, even with the smallest thing--if only it is done out of love--we begin, with work, with a time of rest following, with keeping silent or with a small lonely joy, with everything that we do alone, without participants or supporters, we begin him: the one whom we shall not experience in this lifetime, even as our ancestors could not experience us. Yet they who belong to the distant past are in us, serving as impetus, as a burden to our fate, as blood that can be heard rushing, as a gesture rising out of the depths of time," - Rainer Maria Rilke, from "Letters to a Young Poet"

More Saints and Memorials from the past week...

2010-08-08T16:14:00.001-04:00

Wednesday: St. John Vianney, the Cure of Ars, and the Patron of this past year's celebration of the Year of the Priest, 1786-1859

From Universalis: "He was the son of a peasant farmer, and a slow and unpromising candidate for the priesthood: he was eventually ordained on account of his devoutness rather than any achievement or promise.

In 1818 he was sent to be the parish priest of Ars-en-Dombes, an isolated village some distance from Lyon, and remained there for the rest of his life because his parishioners would not let him leave. He was a noted preacher, and a celebrated confessor: such was his fame, and his reputation for insight into his penitents’ souls and their futures, that he had to spend up to eighteen hours a day in the confessional, so great was the demand. The tens of thousands of people who came to visit this obscure parish priest turned Ars into a place of pilgrimage.

The French State recognized his eminence by awarding him the medal of the Légion d’Honneur in 1848, and he sold it and gave the money to the poor."

Thursday: The Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome (where I attended Mass on New Year's Day, Jan. 1 2000, with Pope John Paul II)

From Universalis: "The Council of Ephesus in 431 formally proclaimed the mother of Jesus as the Mother of God, and the church (basilica) of St Mary Major on the Esquiline Hill in Rome was built shortly afterwards to celebrate her motherhood. This is the oldest church in the West that is dedicated to Our Lady.

The title “Mother of God” may seem technical or even excessive; but it emphasizes the central truth of the Incarnation, that Jesus Christ was not only a true man, but God also; and not only God, but man born of a woman."

and, Blessed Frédéric Janssoone, 1838-1916

"He was born in Flanders, the youngest of thirteen children. When he was nine years old, his father died, and he left school to help support his mother, until her death in 1861. He then joined the Franciscans and became a priest. After serving as a military chaplain and preaching in the Holy Land, he was sent to Canada on a fund-raising tour in 1881, settling there permanently in 1888. By his preaching and his writing he led many people to bear authentic witness to the Gospel and share his closeness to Christ."

Friday: The Transfiguration of the Lord

The Gospel of the Day: Luke 9:28b-36

Jesus took Peter, John, and James
and went up a mountain to pray.
While he was praying his face changed in appearance
and his clothing became dazzling white.
And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah,
who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus
that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.
Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep,
but becoming fully awake,
they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.
As they were about to part from him, Peter said to Jesus,
“Master, it is good that we are here;
let us make three tents,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
But he did not know what he was saying.
While he was still speaking,
a cloud came and cast a shadow over them,
and they became frightened when they entered the cloud.
Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
“This is my chosen Son; listen to him.”
After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.
They fell silent and did not at that time
tell anyone what they had seen.

Saturday: Pope St. Sixtus II and his companions, ?-258

From Universalis: "Sixtus was elected Pope in 257. Twelve months later, on 6th August, as he was celebrating Mass in the catacomb of St. Calixtus, he was seized by the authorities (it was the time of Valerian’s persecution) and beheaded along with four of his deacons. He was buried in the same catacomb. St. Laurence, another deacon, was captured and executed four days later.We know most of the details of this martyrdom from a letter of St. Cyprian, who was himself martyred later in the same year."

and, St. Cajetan, 1480-1547

From Universalis: "He was born in Vicenza and became a priest at the age of 36. He worked hard for the poor and the sick and for the reform of the Church; with this last aim in mind, he founded a congregation of secular priests which became known as the Theatines. These had three functions: preaching, the administration of the sacraments, and the celebration of the liturgy.

He encouraged the growth of pawn-shops as a means of helping the poor out of temporary financial difficulties and keeping them out of the hands of usurers. His congregation also cared for incurable syphilitics (a particularly virulent form of syphilis was sweeping Europe, having been imported from the Caribbean by Columbus’s men).

His example encouraged many others on the path to active sanctity. He said [in a letter to Elisabeth Porto]: “Do not receive Christ in the Blessed Sacrament so that you may use him as you judge best, but give yourself to him and let him receive you in this Sacrament, so that he himself, God your saviour, may do to you and through you whatever he wills.”

All New CCM @ VCU Resource Guide!

2010-08-08T15:45:00.000-04:00

After weeks of work our new CCM @ VCU 2010-2011 Resource Guide is complete and ready for viewing here. Please check it out and let us know what you think. And even better, let us know if there is something that you want to sign up for. There are only two weeks until the freshmen move in -- so sign up for all of our events now!

The Canaanite Woman and Jesus

2010-08-08T15:40:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday I gave the reflection during our noon Liturgy of the Word with Distribution of Communion. The gospel of the day was Matthew's version of the story of the Canaanite woman who asked Jesus to cure her child. In the course of my research for writing the reflection I came across two wonderful reflection pieces. You should read them here and here.

Money quote from the first one:

"Well, I love that story about this woman. I can see this woman coming up to Jesus and saying, “Heal my child.” And Jesus gives her the silent treatment. How often do we get silence from God. But silence is not to intimidate us.

And so she says again, “Jesus, please heal my child.” Jesus replies, “I am busy healing the Jews first. The Greeks come later.” She said, “I need help now.” She was not intimidated by the apparent busyness of Jesus.

She again persisted, “Please, heal my child.” Jesus replied, “Woman, you are like a yelping puppy. Yelp. Yelp. Yelp. Yelp. Yelp. You are like a yelping puppy under my table.”

The woman laughed and said, “Well, you feed a yelping dog and you shut him up. How about me?”

Jesus said, “Great is your faith. Your daughter is healed.”

That is the way we ought to pray."

And from the second one:

"Matthew does not give us any indication of whether Jesus smiled at her word play and her cunning, or whether he accorded her the ancient Palestinian equivalent of, "You go, girl!" We don’t know what he felt at losing an argument. What’s clear is that he recognized truth when he heard it and saw a gentile ready to be part of a flock much bigger than the one he had been sent to. "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted."

The Canaanite woman’s persistence not only made her daughter whole; it also showed Jesus the larger world he had come to listen to and heal."

Unexpected Joys of Life at the Cathedral

2010-08-08T15:27:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday morning I gave a tour of the Cathedral to a visiting group from Louisville, Kentucky. The Confraternity of St. Ann for Disabled People came to Richmond for their annual week-long road trip. They had Daily Mass on Tuesday and then stayed to tour the Museum of Virginia Catholic History. For more information about this great group visit their website here.

Quote of the day from one of the group's chaperone's, a sweet little old lady, "That was the year I was born," pointing to a picture caption reading 1912, making her 98 years old. "You know, I've never been sick. I had the flu once in 1936, but nothing since then." God bless her and her ministry!

USC's New President

2010-08-08T15:13:00.002-04:00

On Tuesday August 3rd, C.L. Max Nikias took the reigns as USC's newest President. I received my invitation to the Inauguration Ceremony, to be held on October 15th, in my inbox on Wednesday. Nikias looks to be a protégé of Steven Sample, the outgoing President. If he is then USC has a couple of decades of even more stellar growth and accomplishment to look forward to. I know that I and all of the Trojan Family around the world wish him our best and offer all of our support.

Last year, in what I would assume was a marker of things to come, Nikias gave the Pullias Lecture at the USC Rossier School of Education. You can read it here. It is nothing short of a manifesto for the future of higher education. It is incredible. Read it in its entirety. It is a vision of the future worth fighting for. In Jesuit-speak it is the equivalent of Ignatius' call to go "set the world on fire" -- except he ties it back to the Greeks, which for a man born and raised in Greece is only appropriate.

This past crazy week...

2010-08-08T14:49:00.000-04:00

Hi All,
I'm back. Sorry for not posting this week. Things were busy at work with Fr. Patrick on vacation and then Samantha got sick and everything got thrown off--she's all better now and the boys are great. Anyway, lots of interesting items to pass along from the past week, and then plenty to post for the coming week. Enjoy and keep reading. And, remember, if there are things that you find that you think I should post send them to me and I'll see what I can do!
Nick

Further Reflection on Today's Gospel...

2010-08-01T15:46:00.001-04:00

Listening to today's homilies and reflecting further on today's Gospel in light of yesterday's feast for Ignatius led me back to Ignatius' First Principle and Foundation from the Spiritual Exercises.

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

And the other things on the face of the earth are created for man and that they may help him in prosecuting the end for which he is created.

From this it follows that man is to use them as much as they help him on to his end, and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him as to it.

For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather than sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created.

I really think the key is to read this Gospel in light of our "higher calling" to serve God, as Fr. Patrick put it in his homily today. By the way, you can see the New Yorker cover he referenced here.

Peter Chrysologus, Justin de Jacobis, and Alphonsus Liguori

2010-08-01T15:34:00.000-04:00

Other Saints from the past few days in the Church's calendar include Peter Chrysologus, a Bishop and Doctor of the Church whose feast day was Friday the 30th:

He was born and died in Imola in northern Italy. He was made bishop of Ravenna, the new capital of the Roman Empire, and was responsible for many of the building works there. The name “Chrysologus” means “golden speech”, and was given to Peter because he was such a gifted preacher; unfortunately, most of his writings have perished, and only a collection of short sermons remains.

Justin de Jacobis's feast is the same as Ignatius':

Justin was born in Italy in 1800. He joined the Vincentians (Lazarists) and later was sent to Abyssinia (Ethiopia-Eritrea) as a missionary. He studied the local language and culture and slowly developed a special love for the Abyssinian traditions which he used in his missionary ministry. Made bishop in 1849, De Jacobis worked hard for the formation of the Catholic Church, establishing a seminary together with Blessed Ghebre Michael, and ordaining several priests. He died in Eritrea on 31 July 1860. His missionary methodology, rooted in inculturation, is both a legacy and a challenge for missionaries today.

And Alphonsus Ligouri, whose feast of August 1st is offset this year because it falls on a Sunday:

He was a Neapolitan lawyer who lost a court case in a spectacular fashion, when it turned out that a key document in his case had been misinterpreted by him and in fact proved his opponent’s case instead. He immediately left the law and studied for the priesthood. But God is not proud, and accepts people even on the rebound: Alphonsus became a priest.

He preached in the rural districts around Naples, and it was his boast that he never delivered a sermon that the poorest old woman in the congregation could not understand. His bishop asked him to establish an order of missionaries to work in the countryside, and the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists) was formally established in 1749.

He was a bishop from 1762 to 1775, insisting on the dignified and unhurried celebration of the Mass and the firm treatment of persistent wrongdoers.

The Redemptorists proved to be a quarrelsome congregation: their formal establishment had been delayed by more than a decade because of internal dissension. After his retirement Alphonsus had to try to make peace within the congregation. Unfortunately his old failing returned and he signed a new Constitution for the Redemptorists without reading it properly (though, to be fair to him, he was 80 and in poor health at the time). The result was that the Redemptorists split into two separate congregations, both of whom rejected Alphonsus: peace was not restored until some time after his death.

Nevertheless, in spite of all this storm and trouble, Alphonsus lived an exceptionally holy life. He was also an outstanding moral theologian, and won back sinners to the fold by patience and moderation. His work needs to be better known today, when there seems to be no rational middle course between puritanism and permissiveness.

July 31: St. Ignatius of Loyola

2010-08-01T15:03:00.011-04:00

I know this is a day late, but I couldn't pass up commenting on yesterday's feast day, even if I did take a couple of days off from writing.

St. Ignatius, the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) is the closest thing I have to a personal patron saint. He's by far the most personally influential saint I have ever known and in so many ways is my role model. So, if you don't know anything about him, get to know him. If you do know about him, join me in thanking him for all that he has done for the "greater glory of God."

From the Liturgy of the Hours:

Saint Ignatius was born in 1491 at Loyola in Cantabria. He spent his early years at court and as a soldier. Later he was converted to God and undertook theological studies at Paris where he attracted his first followers, and afterward at Rome he joined them together as the first members of the Society of Jesus. He exercised a most fruitful apostolate both by his written works and in the training of his disciples who won great praise for their renewal of the Church. He died at Rome in 1556.

From the Office of Readings:

From the life of Saint Ignatius from his own words by Luis Gonzalez:

Ignatius was passionately fond of reading worldly books of fiction and tales of knight-errantry. When he felt he was getting better, he asked for some of these books to pass the time. But no book of that sort could be found in the house; instead they gave him a life of Christ and a collection of the lives of saints written in Spanish.

By constantly reading these books he began to be attracted to what he found narrated there. Sometimes in the midst of his reading he would reflect on what he had read. Yet at other times he would dwell on many of the things which he had been accustomed to dwell on previously. But at this point our Lord came to his assistance, insuring that these thoughts were followed by others which arose from his current reading.

While reading the life of Christ our Lord or the lives of the saints, he would reflect and reason with himself: “What if I should do what Saint Francis or Saint Dominic did?” In this way he let his mind dwell on many thoughts; they lasted a while until other things took their place. Then those vain and worldly images would come into his mind and remain a long time. This sequence of thoughts persisted with him for a long time.

But there was a difference. When Ignatius reflected on worldly thoughts, he felt intense pleasure; but when he gave them up out of weariness, he felt dry and depressed. Yet when he thought of living the rigorous sort of life he knew the saints had lived, he not only experienced pleasure when he actually thought about it, but even after he dismissed these thoughts, he still experienced great joy. Yet he did not pay attention to this, nor did he appreciate it until one day, in a moment of insight, he began to marvel at the difference. Then he understood his experience: thoughts of one kind left him sad, the others full of joy. And this was the first time he applied a process of reasoning to his religious experience. Later on, when he began to formulate his spiritual exercises, he used this experience as an illustration to explain the doctrine he taught his disciples on the discernment of spirits.

You can also read a reflection by Jesuit Father James Martin on Ignatius here in an excerpt from his recently published book (which I am currently reading) The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything.

And so in thanksgiving let us pray the prayer that Ignatius taught us, the Suscipe:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. All I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me.

Memorial of St. Martha

2010-07-29T13:52:00.001-04:00

July 29th is the Church's celebration of St. Martha. From today's Liturgy of the Hours:

Saint Martha was a sister of Mary and Lazarus. When she received the Lord as a guest at Bethany, she looked after him with devoted attention. She begged the Lord to raise her brother, Lazarus, from the dead.

Just a couple of weeks ago we heard the story of Jesus visiting Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, according to Luke. Martha the busy-bee in the kitchen providing Jesus hospitality and complaining to him that her sister wasn't helping. Jesus telling her that Mary chose the better part. And because of that story Martha sometimes gets a bad reputation. Martha is often the emblem of the problems of over-work, over-stretching, over-stressing -- of just being too busy to sit and listen. And there is a lesson there for us in that interpretation, and also a lesson in understanding the value of hospitality. But all of this is at the expense of overlooking her role in the Gospel of John.

If Luke doesn't portray her in the most flattering light, in one way, John couldn't have given her a more important role. My New Testament professor, Dan Harrington, SJ, pointed out in class once the theory that the Gospel of John has at its physical center the 11th chapter (out of 21), and that the chapters of the book correspond to each other. For example, the second chapter with the Wedding Feast at Cana corresponds to Jesus' Resurrection and appearance to the Apostles. Or the 13th chapter with the washing of the disciples feet corresponds to the washing of the blind man in the pool of Siloam in the 9th chapter. It could have been used as a storytelling device. In any case, the center is the eleventh chapter and it is about the Raising of Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus' story is the Christian story. It is an allegory for all Christians of the Paschal Mystery of death and resurrection awaiting us all. Lazarus is all of us. And at the center of the eleventh chapter is Martha. Specifically Martha's profession of faith:

"She said to him, 'Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.'"

No one up to that point in the Gospel of John has made such a statement. Martha's belief, Martha's faith, was the first and as a result Lazarus was raised. Martha stands at the center of John's Gospel. Not Peter, not her sister Mary or any of the other Marys, not James or John. Martha.

And so we pray:

Father, your Son honored Saint Martha by coming to her home as a guest. By her prayers may we serve Christ in our brothers and sisters and be welcomed by you into heaven, our true home. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

An antidote to the education testing craze...

2010-07-29T13:01:00.000-04:00

Finally, an education story that rings true to my experience. Thank you to my Montessori school teachers, who to this day continue to make a positive difference in my life. Take away message:

"The economists don’t pretend to know the exact causes. But it’s not hard to come up with plausible guesses. Good early education can impart skills that last a lifetime — patience, discipline, manners, perseverance. The tests that 5-year-olds take may pick up these skills, even if later multiple-choice tests do not."

Patience, discipline, manners, perseverance. All traits learned early. All traits that make more of a difference in the working world than anything measured on a multiple choice test.

With my ever-present coffee mug by my side...

2010-07-29T12:51:00.000-04:00

Today's coffee mug (really travel mug) is cute. It's got pictures of Caeleb and Noah all over it. It was a Christmas present. And it's full of delicious coffee all day long. But that is no surprise to me, I grew up in the two most caffeinated cities in the country according to The Daily Beast. Thank God for the land that birthed Starbucks....

Preparing for Sunday...

2010-07-29T10:33:00.001-04:00

This Sunday's readings are hard. There is no way around it. They are about greed and wealth. And as a society we don't do well with talking honestly about greed and wealth. We make excuses for ourselves, for our friends, for our economics. I know I do. All of the time. I am sure we can all think of ways in which we build bigger barns for ourselves. It shouldn't be hard or take more than a minute.

There is a great discussion going over at dotCommonweal started by Fr. Joe Komonchak with wonderful quotes from the Church Fathers railing against greed. There is an especially good one from my favorite, John Chrysostom. Harsh words:

Tell me, then, what is the source of your wealth? From whom did you receive it, and from whom the one who transmitted it to you? “From his father and his grandfather.” But can you go back through the many generations and show the acquisition just? It cannot be. The root and origin of it must have been injustice. Why? Because God in the beginning did not make one man rich and another poor. Nor did he later show one treasures of gold and deny the other the right of to search for it. He left the earth free to all alike. Why then, if it is common, do you have so many acres of land, while your neighbor has no portion of it?

Over at SLU's Center for Liturgy there are some great reflections and guides to the readings for those who are looking for multiple perspectives from which to tackle these thorny issues.

But for me, this week, the key is the first conversation in the Gospel.

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Often we hear that the answer is for the those who have to share with those don't. Or for a systematic restructuring of resources, or for more tithing, or more whatever so that there is more justice. But in this conversation Jesus' critique is so much more damning than that, and so much more universal. Jesus is, in effect, telling the brother to not want the inheritance. He does not believe that sharing is the answer, the answer is not wanting in the first place.

Now does this mean that Jesus turns a blind eye to those in need. Not at all. Jesus believes that all should have what they need and that we must help those in need. But he tells everyone here, don't want. That is much harder. And that applies to all of us, not just the rich.

Catholic Ethics in the World Church

2010-07-28T10:59:00.002-04:00

Five years ago I was taking a seminar course at BC called "Aquinas' Ethics" from Jim Keenan, SJ. In it we read the entire second part of the Summa Theologiae. It was the toughest and best course I took in my Master's program.

During that semester Jim was busy organizing a global conference to take place in Padua on ethics in the church. This conference was to be the first of its , bringing scholars from everywhere on the planet together for face to face meetings and presentations on the current state of ethics and moral theology.

This past week Jim pulled off his second such conference, this time in Trent, the site of the famous Council following the Reformation. I highly suggest taking the time to read through the list of papers presented at the conference on the website www.catholicethics.com. The breadth and depth of the tradition as it is being lived out in the world today is staggering and in the truest sense catholic. I am deeply grateful to Jim and the conference planners for doing so much to move the conversation forward. You can read more about the Conference on blog posts here and here.

In the middle of potty-training...

2010-07-28T10:36:00.004-04:00

Caeleb, my oldest at 2 1/2 years, woke up in a bad mood this morning. Probably because we have started potty-training and he now knows that the first thing he has to do when he gets out of bed is go pee. He's not a fan. Though he is so, so good at this bathroom thing -- so far. But between pooping in the pool and peeing on the couch this was a perfect week to run across this article on parenting from New York Magazine.

The articles does a wonderful job of exploring some of the many reasons for parental unhappiness: from changes in how society views childhood to changing notions of gender roles, from the trend towards having children later in life to methodological issues in how we study happiness. The money-quote for me however, came at the end of the article:

"But for many of us, purpose is happiness—particularly those of us who find moment-to-moment happiness a bit elusive to begin with. Martin Seligman, the positive-psychology pioneer who is, famously, not a natural optimist, has always taken the view that happiness is best defined in the ancient Greek sense: leading a productive, purposeful life. And the way we take stock of that life, in the end, isn’t by how much fun we had, but what we did with it. (Seligman has seven children.)

About twenty years ago, Tom Gilovich, a psychologist at Cornell, made a striking contribution to the field of psychology, showing that people are far more apt to regret things they haven’t done than things they have. In one instance, he followed up on the men and women from the Terman study, the famous collection of high-IQ students from California who were singled out in 1921 for a life of greatness. Not one told him of regretting having children, but ten told him they regretted not having a family.

“I think this boils down to a philosophical question, rather than a psychological one,” says Gilovich. “Should you value moment-to-moment happiness more than retrospective evaluations of your life?” He says he has no answer for this, but the example he offers suggests a bias. He recalls watching TV with his children at three in the morning when they were sick. “I wouldn’t have said it was too fun at the time,” he says. “But now I look back on it and say, ‘Ah, remember the time we used to wake up and watch cartoons?’” The very things that in the moment dampen our moods can later be sources of intense gratification, nostalgia, delight."

Give the whole thing a read though, parent or not. You won't be disappointed.

The Church's Grandparents Day!

2010-07-26T09:58:00.002-04:00

July 26th is the Memorial of Joachim and Ann, the parents of Mary.

From today's Liturgy of the Hours:

"From an ancient tradition, going back even to the second century, the parents of the Virgin Mary are known by the names of Joachim and Ann. Devotion to Saint Ann is found in the sixth century in the East, and by the tenth century it was widespread in the West. Saint Joachim was likewise honored, but at a more recent date."

While it is great to honor them as the parent's of Mary, with the focus traditionally on Mary's Immaculate Conception, I want to take another angle. That is, they are Jesus' Grandparents! Now really, how cool is that?

I can't help but wonder what they were like? In looking at my own grandparents and how special they have been in my own life I have to ponder what sort of relationship Jesus had with his? Recently, my wife and boys and I got to spend a week with my parents and my mother's parents on vacation. Seeing my sons fall asleep in the arms and laps of my parents and grandparents, and seeing the smiles on their faces each morning as they got to see Papa and Grandma and Great Grandpa and GG, is a memory that I will always treasure. Could it be that Jesus did the same? How could it not be?

And even if Jesus' grandparents died before he got to know them, the stories told at family meals must have had a profound impact on him. So to all Grandparents today, thank you.

So we pray:

God of our fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, you gave Saints Joachim and Ann the privilege of being the parents of Mary, the mother of your Incarnate Son. May their prayers help us to attain the salvation you have promised to your people. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Feast of the Apostle James

2010-07-25T13:50:00.000-04:00

July 25th is traditionally the Feast Day of the Apostle James.
From today's Liturgy of the Hours:

"Saint James, son of Zebedee and brother of St. John the apostle, was born at Bethsaida. He was present at most of the miracles performed by Christ and he was put to death by Herod around the year 42. He is especially honored at Compostela in Spain where a famous church is dedicated to his name."

You can learn much more about the famous pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, or the Way of St. James, here, and here, and here from the Confraternity of St. James. You can learn more about the Santiago Cathedral here. Closer to home, the Seattle Cathedral is also named for St. James and you can visit this terrific parish here.

And so we pray:

St. James,
We come to you in eager pilgrimage.
Place yourself, patron of pilgrims,
at the head of our pilgrimage.
Teach us, apostle and friend of the Lord,
the way which leads to him.
-- Prayer of Pope John Paul II at Santiago de Compostela, 1989

In USC News...

2010-07-25T12:34:00.000-04:00

This announcement from President-Elect Nikias made me extremely proud of being a Trojan. Nikias, following in the footsteps of President Sample, decided to do the right thing. Not the popular thing, or the safe thing, but the right thing, in bringing in Pat Haden, returning Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy, and establishing new administrative posts for Athletic Compliance that are firsts in the country.

"Our Trojan student-athletes are indeed students first and foremost; thus the USC experience must ensure that they are nourished by and beholden to the noblest values of the academy and of society. And USC's athletic program, embodying our shared values and ideals, will continue to serve as the force binding this worldwide Trojan Family." -- USC President-Elect Max Nikias

It is sad that scandal forced USC into doing the right thing, but once it did, USC decided to lead. They knew that they couldn't win by looking like whiners, but they could win by taking the charges seriously and doing what Trojans do best -- turning adversity into opportunity through creativity. Now it is up to the Trojan Family to hold the administration accountable to the road they have set before themselves. The lesson for the rest of us is that taking the high road will always serve us better in the end. Go Trojans!

Seventheenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

2010-07-25T12:14:00.000-04:00

You can find today's readings here. Quote of the day from Luke:

He said to them, "When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test."

Question of the day: Do we actually forgive everyone in debt to us? And I'm pretty sure that Jesus meant real hard monetary debt. If we don't, can we really ask God to forgive us? I have to admit, Jesus makes praying hard when he frames it that way.

But later on, Jesus says:

"And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."

So maybe today's prayer needs to be the antecedent, "Father, help me to forgive those in debt to me." Pray, rest, repeat. Pray, rest, repeat.

Through the Mad Men Lens....

2010-07-25T10:27:00.000-04:00

Read Frank Rich's column today. Enough said.

Vatican Literacy Quiz

2010-07-25T10:23:00.000-04:00

John Allen has a basic Vatican Literacy Quiz up on his Blog at National Catholic Reporter. You should take it. He says that anyone that is writing on church matters or Vatican politics should get 8 out of 10 off of the top of their head. That is exactly what I got. I missed numbers 3 and 10. Though on both of them I was able to eliminate two answers very quickly and then just guessed wrong. On the other 8 no guessing was needed. How did you do?

By the way, I agree with him about not arguing with people who don't know the difference between a "dicastery and a deacon." It is just not worth the energy. The quote from Daniel Patrick Moynihan is something I have been repeating to myself daily it seems. "Everybody's entitled to their own opinion, but nobody's entitled to their own facts." With that, Happy Sunday!

That Karl Rahner quote won't go away....

2010-07-23T10:18:00.000-04:00

Tim Muldoon of Boston College has a great new article up at a great new site called Patheos. In it he sets out his vision for the future of the Church -- one of mystics in communion of service. It's powerful stuff. That along with this recent posting by Joseph Komonchak over at dotCommonweal of a quote from Yves Congar about the exoskeleton (he calls it a carapace) of Catholic culture crumbling to reveal who has a Christian backbone and who doesn't makes for an interesting pairing about the possible ways the Spirit may be moving in the Church today.

Mad Men

2010-07-23T10:07:00.000-04:00

Okay... so this is seriously just a personal plug. But, it's my blog, so why not? Mad Men, Season 4, premieres this Sunday on AMC at 10pm. Watch it. Even if you haven't watched seasons one through three. Watch it. It is the best show on TV.

Getting back at this...

2010-07-23T09:57:00.000-04:00

So, it has been way too long since I last posted anything here. Long enough in fact that I am sure that almost no one checks this blog anymore. The school year got away from me, writer's block set in, and then inertia just took over. But as I gear up for another school year here at VCU and as I constantly come across articles, stray thoughts, events and places that are worth sharing I knew that I had to start this back up. So forgive my absence and hopefully start reading again. And if you have anything that you would like to see posted here send me an email and I'll see what I can do.

"God, who are you?"

2009-10-07T11:12:00.000-04:00

“God, Who Are You?”

A Retreat About Getting Back to the Basics of Faith

Hosted by the VCU Catholic Campus Ministry

Friday, October 30^th - Sunday, November 1^st at Camp Newhope in Chapel Hill, NC.

Have you been looking for a retreat opportunity this fall? Do you feel like you are starting out on your faith journey? or restarting that journey? or don't even know where to begin that journey? or have been on the journey a while but have lost sight of the basics? or just want to spend a relaxing weekend away from campus with God and other cool college students?

If you answered yes to any of these questions then please join us for the Fall Retreat at the end of the month. I know it's Halloween weekend, but I promise there will be plenty of candy for all to enjoy.... So even if you have never made a retreat before (especially if you have never made a retreat before!) and even if you don't consider yourself a "campus ministry kid" please consider this opportunity. This retreat is designed for you.

Any student is welcome to attend from any school in the Diocese of Richmond. So even if you are not from VCU but are interested we would love to have you come join us! The cost is $30 for the weekend. If you are interested email me at nstein@richmondcathedral.org, or Kasey Miller at millerkl@vcu.edu by October 16^th at the latest!

Boaz and Ruth

2009-10-06T14:54:00.000-04:00

Last night at the RCIA Class here at the Cathedral we had 3 guest speakers come in and talk about their journeys of ministering for Social Justice. It was a powerful night of witness.

Our Deacon Brian Bergen spoke about his call into ministry and especially his call into prison ministry.

We also had Megan Rollins, a Cathedral parishioner, from the organization Boaz and Ruth come and speak to us and she brought with her a participant in the program who brought us all to tears with her moving story.

Boaz and Ruth is one of those organizations that works miracles on a daily basis. It is is dedicated to Rebuilding, Empowering and Connecting. Rebuilding the lives of those who have been incarcerated and have been recently released from our local jails and prisons. Empowering the Highland Park neighborhood, one of the poorest in the city of Richmond, by hosting six businesses in the community who employ the recently released prisoners and as a result generate significant economic development (a similar program called Homeboy Industries has garnered national attention in Los Angeles for its success with gang members). Connecting people across racial, economic, and geographic barriers through events in the city throughout the year, and speaking engagements like the one hosted last night.

If you are looking for a way to do service work while you are a VCU student or Cathedral parishioner, or you are looking for a great organization to support financially please consider working for and supporting Boaz and Ruth. They deserve all of the love and support we can give.

October 7, 2009

2009-10-06T14:15:00.000-04:00

Our Lady of the Rosary -- The Feast is celebrated tomorrow, and the readings of the day can be found here. The Diocesan Office of Catholic Education has passed along the following information and helpful links about the Feast Day. Please check them out! We will have Mass at 12:05 p.m. and our weekly 7:30 p.m. Mass hosted by CCM.

October: Dedicated to the Rosary

This month is dedicated to the Rosary because the feast of Our Lady of they Rosary happens on October 7. According to Rev. Matthew Mauriello in his article entitled "October-Month of the Holy Rosary" (see http://campus.udayton.edu/mary//meditations/Fcc.html) "Current scholarship traces the development of the Rosary to the High Middle Ages where it came into being in various medieval monasteries as a substitute for the Divine Office for the lay monks and devout lay persons who did not know how to read. Instead of the 150 psalms, they would pray 150 "Our Fathers" counting them on a ring of beads known as the crown or "corona." With the growth of popularity of Marian devotion in the twelfth century, the "Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary" developed now substituting 150 "Hail Marys" in place of the "Our Fathers."

The 150 "Hail Marys" were subsequently subdivided into fifteen decades by the young Dominican friar, Henry Kalkar (1328-1408), with each decade referring to an event in the life of Jesus and Mary. The Dominican, Alanus de Rupe (1428-1478) further divided the episodes in the history of salvation into the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries. He also attributed the origin of the Rosary, then known as the "Psalter of the Blessed Virgin" to St. Dominic and thus spurred the Dominican Order to make the Apostolate of the Rosary their special concern. The Dominicans have, since then, promulgated the Rosary with notable results.

The practice of dedicating the entire month of October to the Holy Rosary developed toward the end of the last century. Pope Leo XIII (papacy: 1878-1903) strongly promoted the increase of devotion to the Blessed Mother by encouraging the constant use of the Rosary."

For information about the Blessed Mother, see the University of Dayton's Marian center at http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/liturgicalseasonsoctober.htm

Note: The late Holy Father John Paul II promulgated an additional decade of the rosary dedicated to the Luminous Mysteries. They may be found here: http://www.rosary-center.org/luminous.htm

For a list of Marian feasts go to: http://rclweb.com/resources/marian-feasts/

Catholic Updates are available to be read online at no charge.
There are three of them on the rosary in their archives:

The Rosary of the Virgin Mary: Pope John Paul II Apostolic Letter on the Rosary:
http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0103.asp
The Rosary: A Gospel Prayer http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0589.asp
The Rosary: A Prayer for All Seasons http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0589.asp

Into Great Silence

2009-10-06T11:14:00.000-04:00

October 6, 2009

The Feast of St. Bruno -- While on Tuesday's we don't have Daily Mass here at the Cathedral because it is Fr. Patrick's much deserved day off, you can find today's readings here. You can also learn more about St. Bruno here.

I love St. Bruno, a rather obscure Saint by any measure, because of the Order that he founded, the Carthusians, an obscure Order in our day by any measure. The Carthusians are known to be the strictest and most austere Christian monastic order in the world. Entering into their world, either by reading the fascinating book "An Infinity of Little Hours" or by watching the mesmerizing and meditative movie "Into Great Silence," is a wonderful treat and retreat for anyone interested in the power of silent witness and a simple life led for Christ.

So on this feast of St. Bruno, whose legacy still persists 1000 years later in remote corners of the world, let us each try to give over even a few minutes to pure silence. Happy Feast Day St. Bruno!

Birthday Fun!

2009-10-05T15:47:00.000-04:00

On a more personal note this has been a couple of weeks worth of birthday fun for me and I just wanted to pass along a quick word of thanks to all who wished me a happy birthday or got me a present for my 30th birthday this past Monday Sept. 28th. Thank you all so much! You all made it a birthday to remember.

But I also wanted to send some birthday shout-outs as well to Samantha, my beautiful wife, who turned 26 on Sept. 20th, Michael, my younger brother, who turned 28 on Sept. 29th, to Amy Taloma, the former Membership Services Coordinator here at the Cathedral who turned 26 on Oct. 3rd and to my Dad, a wonderful father and peacemaker, who turned 65 yesterday on Oct. 4th, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.

And if you want a Birthday shout-out on Catholicities then make sure you show up in my Facebook birthday feed or just send me an email! Happy Birthday to all!

This Past Weekend....

2009-10-05T15:37:00.000-04:00

Sorry for not posting this weekend. It was a busy, fun weekend and much happened here at the Cathedral. So here are the highlights for you, in case you missed it...

1. Infant Baptisms -- We had Baptisms at the Sat. 5:15 p.m. and the Sunday Morning Masses this weekend. So congratulations to all of the our new Catholic babies and their families -- 10 in all! You will all be in our prayers.

2. Mass on the Mountain -- Our adventurous Fr. Patrick led about 30 young adults up the Humpback Rocks Trail in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside of Charlottesville on Sunday afternoon. Mass was celebrated on the boulders on the top of the trail, and besides being a little chilly the wind was blowing things in all directions. Fr. Patrick's comment was, "This wasn't in my priest handbook!" But all had a wonderful time and are looking forward to making this an annual Cathedral tradition. Thanks to Dan Hamilla for organizing the trip!!

3. The Lectio Divina prayer group met at 12:00 p.m. for forty-five minutes of prayerful reflection on the Gospel of the Day. All are welcome! They meet again on October 18th at 4:30 p.m. in the Lower Meeting Room (basement of the CCM House).

4. This past Thursday evening Fr. Michael Renninger, the Vicar for Vocations for the Diocese of Richmond, led our Twilight Retreat on learning how to pray Lectio Divina. There were 9 in attendance, including 2 from our neighboring University of Richmond Catholic Campus Ministry!

5. On Friday night the CCM Friday Night Flix series continued with "History of the World: Part 1," and "Spaceballs." This coming Friday they will be watching "The Eye" at 7 p.m. and "Pan's Labyrinth" at 10 p.m. Please come join us at the CCM House for this fun night of thrills.

6. Christian Formation for Youth is continuing successfully and in fact the Confirmation class has a new blog of their own! Great job Mike Stone -- the new Confirmation Catechist!

7. CCM Sunday Supper keeps rolling along. Next week Caitlin Blomstrom, Jacqueline Molyneaux, and Christopher Barrett will be cooking... I think they said something about Mexican food. Knowing those three it will be something fun no matter what!

8. The "What Happened at Vatican II?" Discussion Class entered it's third week of lively discussion (and the council hasn't even opened yet in the book!) so I'm looking forward to 5 more just like it!

So all in all a busy and full weekend here at the Cathedral. Up next -- a busy week! Stay healthy.

Guardian Angels Watching Over You

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Friday, October 2

12:05 p.m. -- Daily Mass with Fr. Patrick Golden. The readings of the day can be found here. It is the Memorial of the Guardian Angels and you can learn more about them here. Also, just in case you forgot, here is the prayer to your Guardian Angel. Send one up.

Angel of God, my Guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here, ever this day (night) be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

Cathedral on Facebook

2009-10-01T11:56:00.000-04:00

Can't get enough news about what is happening at the Cathedral? Check us out on Facebook. You can also check out the Cathedral's Young Adult Ministry Facebook page as well. Please send us comments and feedback as we try to enter fully into the digital age....

North Cathedral Place Closed for Sewer Work

2009-10-01T11:49:00.000-04:00

North Cathedral Place from Laurel to Cherry streets (along the right side of the Cathedral) will be closed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays beginning today, Oct. 1, for about three weeks while the city conducts sewer repair work. The city plans to open the street each evening and keep it open on weekends. South Cathedral Place will not be closed. The GRTC bus stop at the corner of Cathedral and Cherry will be temporarily relocated to 901 Floyd Ave. (the Sitterding House). Please note that this temporary bus stop will be used for the duration of the project, not just during business hours when the street is closed.

If you have business at the Cathedral during these hours I suggest the following:

Enter Cathedral Place from Floyd Avenue (YES, enter a one-way street from the wrong direction)!, turn your car around, and park. We use this procedure for Marathons, UKrops 10-K, etc. Good luck to all and sorry for the inconvenience!

Today at the Cathedral

2009-10-01T11:44:00.000-04:00

12:00 p.m. -- Daily Mass with Fr. Patrick Golden. The readings for today can be found here. It is the Feast Day of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church. You can learn more about her here.

6:00 p.m. -- Cursillo Group Reunion. A weekly prayer group for those who either have, or are interested in attending a Cursillo Retreat. For more information contact John Votta.

7:00 p.m. -- Twilight Retreat with Fr. Michael Renninger hosted by Catholic Campus Ministry. See the post below for more details.

LEXIO (sp?) WHAT?

2009-10-01T11:34:00.000-04:00

All are invited to come join us this evening to learn a new way to read and pray the Bible. Fr. Mike Renninger, Vicar for Vocations for the Richmond Diocese, will be leading an introduction to Lectio Divina for our CCM Twilight Retreat tonight, Thursday, October 1st from 7-9pm at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart. The Retreat will be held in the Parish Hall. Enter the Parish Hall through the glass doors on Cathedral Pl. along the right side of the Church.

This is a joint program of the VCU, University of Richmond, and Randolph-Macon Catholic Campus Ministries.

Lectio Divina is an ancient prayer form stemming from the monastic tradition. You can learn more about it here from the Benedictines who started the whole tradition, here from my former professor Dan Harrington, SJ in an easy to read article, and here in a 5 minute YouTube video by Jim Martin, SJ, the author of "My Life With the Saints."

Also, if you want to practice this prayer you can join a group at the Cathedral that does Lectio Divina every other weekend. This coming Sunday, Oct. 4th they will be praying Lectio Divina in the Lower Meeting Room (the basement of the CCM House) from 12:00-12:45 p.m. following the 11:00 am Mass. And also on Oct. 18th from 4:30-5:15 p.m., on Nov. 1st from 4:30-5:15 p.m., on Nov. 15 from 8:15-9:00 a.m., on Nov. 29th from 12:00-12:45 p.m. No experience is necessary. Just show up!

We look forward to seeing you tonight!

How do I get involved in CCM?

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The question I am most frequently asked is, "How do I get involved in CCM?" Usually if someone is asking me in person they already ARE involved and just don't realize it! But for all of you who may be wondering how exactly you do get involved the answer is simple:

1. Go to Mass at the Cathedral. How easy is that? If you are a VCU Student, Faculty, or Staff Member and you are currently attending any of the four weekend Masses at the Cathedral (Sat. 5:15pm, Sun. 9am, 11am, or 5:15pm) we already consider you involved! There is nothing more important than joining the worshipping community, and if you are doing that, then consider yourself a member of Catholic Campus Ministry.

2. Attend an event. Find out what is going on by checking here, here, or here. Then come to anything that sounds interesting. All you have to do is show up. Or

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

3. Hang out at the House. The CCM House is located across the street from Shafer Dining Hall and the Cabell Library. Literally in the center of campus sits a house given over to be used by students for studying, relaxing, and working on ministry projects. Whenever the Big Brown Doors are open (which is usually from 10am-Midnight, Monday-Friday) come on in.

4. Take on a project and run with it. Campus Ministry is really so much more than just Mass and playing pool at the house though. It is about getting people together to make our university, our city, and our world a bettter place. From feeding the homeless to spending Spring Break in rural West Virginia to organizing a retreat to putting on a Speaker Series like Theology on Tap the possibilities are endless. So if there is something that you want to do let me know, or let one of the Peer Ministers know and they would be happy to help you out. Getting involved at this level is as simple as having an idea. The job of the Peer Ministers and CCM Interns is to help you be successful.

5. Apply for a Servant Leadership position. From having a Cathedral Pastoral Council Representative to having a coordinator of Alternative Spring Breaks to being a Small Faith Sharing Group Leader there are countless positions available for those who want to step up and serve the Catholic Campus Ministry community here at VCU. If you are interested in learning more about these roles please send me an email and check back here often for current leadership opportunities.

So I hope this helps answer the question of how to get involved. You pick your level of commitment and involvement and remember that you are just as important to us if you only attend one event as if you attend them all. All are welcome.

So why catholicities as the title?

2008-05-02T11:43:00.002-04:00

Why did I choose catholicities as my blog title? Universality of thought and interests is important to me. Open-mindedness, creativity, and liberality are virtues that I like to cultivate. Being catholic and Catholic are core to who I am and the promotion of the intimate connection between the two is one of my strongest desires for the Church and the world. Finally, catholicity, singular, asserts a fixed state of being, catholicities, plural, asserts a fluid and dynamic movement of thoughts, feelings, and actions in the world.