Simon & Garfunkel: "The Sound of Silence"

As this blessed week draws to a close, I offer this version of Simon & Garfunkel presenting "The Sound of Silence":

Kathy Schiffer on Saint Jerome and Libraries

Although I do not avail myself of them as I used to, I am a big fan of libraries. I believe that they are an important resource for communities, and many libraries are striving to provide an ever increasing selection of resources and other opportunities.

In a recent commentary, writer Kathy Schiffer reflected on Saint Jerome (patron saint of libraries) and her experience with libraries.

To access Ms. Schiffer’s complete post, please visit:

Seasons of Grace: Would St. Jerome Go to the Library? (30 SEP 15)

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the many blessings You bestow on our families, whether we are aware of them or not.

On the Recently Completed World Meeting of Families

"Ambling past each other at the World Meeting of Families, in a building reminiscent of a major city airport terminal, 17,000 people conveyed a sense of joy. They were having a collectively good time, even if the only people they knew personally were the ones they came with. It was the sort of gathering where you could walk up to anybody, introduce yourself, and ask them about their deepest thoughts and experiences.

"Talks were central to the event schedule, of course, and the talks were heady. But people didn't come for just an encounter with Jesus the Teacher; it would have been easier to stay home and memorize the Catechism. They came for an encounter with Jesus the Lover. It was a family reunion where everybody had the same Father - God - mother - Mother Mary - and brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins - the saints.

"It's not like there were no dissenters among them. It's that even those people were part of the family, too. They walked up to the microphones at the break-out sessions and aired their grievances against God or the Church. People responded with compassion and sometimes applause. These people were struggling. If one member of the body suffers, the whole body suffers, says St. Paul. Everyone there knew what it was to struggle and to need encouragement in the struggle.

"African Cardinal Sarah embodied that spirit in his talk, 'The Family: A Light in a Dark World.' In one breath, he decried as heresy the changing of Christ's perennial teaching on marriage and family. In another, he urged Christian families to show mercy to those who fall outside of it, so they can find the Church as a place of regeneration."

A recent National Catholic Register article reported on the recently completed World Meeting of Families.

To access the complete National Catholic Register report, please visit:

National Catholic Register: Taking the Joy Beyond Philly (3 OCT 15)

Reflection Starter from Viktor Frankl

"Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated, thus, everyone's task is unique as his specific opportunity to implement it." - Dr. Viktor E. Frankl

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for assigning each of us a guardian angel and for the many ways in which our angels minister to us.

Br. Ignatius Weiss, O.P., on Our Guardian Angels

"Pinocchio dreams of becoming a real boy, and to do so he must be 'brave, true, and unselfish,' just as the Blue Fairy says. But because Pinocchio doesn't know right from wrong yet, the Fairy commissions Jiminy Cricket to act as Pinocchio's conscience. So begins Disney's animated tale of Pinocchio.

"In this world, humans seek to become 'real,' too: by becoming saints in heaven, since saints are more truly human than those still seeking perfection. To become a saint, a person, by the grace of God, must be brave, true, and unselfish, just as the Blue Fairy - and Scripture - say. For man's journey, God grants something much greater than an insect attendant, however: over each soul He places its own guardian angel 'to light and guard, to rule and guide.' Just as Pinocchio uses an animated cricket to characterize one's conscience, so too have the guardian angels received their own cartoonish depictions.  While the angel-on-the-shoulder caricature fails to display the angels' true majesty, this depiction does demonstrate two important characteristics of angels.  It shows both their ministerial role and the hostility that exists between these conscientious companions and their conniving counterparts."

In a recent commentary, Brother Ignatius Weiss, O.P., on the role of our guardian angels in our lives.

To access Br. Ignatius' complete post, please visit:

Dominicana: If Jiminy Cricket Had a Halo (2 OCT 15)

Reflection Starter from St. Francis de Sales

" Make friends with the angels, who though invisible are always with you. Often invoke them, constantly praise them, and make good use of their help and assistance in all your temporal and spiritual affairs." - Saint Francis de Sales

(Note: Today, 2 October, the Church celebrates the Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels.)

Holy Father's Prayer Intentions for October

The Holy Father's prayer intentions for October are:

Universal Intention (Human Trafficking): “That human trafficking, the modern form of slavery, may be eradicated.”

Evangelization Intention (Mission in Asia): “That with a missionary spirit the Christian communities of Asia may announce the Gospel to those who are still awaiting it.”

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the beauty (sight, scent, and sound) that comes with the month of October.

Gillea Allison on the Francis Effect in Her Life

"About once a year, on a family group text, one of my sisters or parents will inevitably ask: 'So are we Catholic again?'


"It's the flippancy of the question, as much as its content, that betrayed how drastically my family's identity changed over the years. My sisters and I were raised Catholic, and not casually: The church was my upbringing, and it was my foundation well into young adulthood. But over the years, something had changed. It wasn't a group decision or a hard stop - over the years, we just drifted until we found ourselves so physically and philosophically separated from the church and from one another that our faith was no longer a safe assumption. I couldn't name the last time our family went to mass together, even on Christmas or Easter. Catholicism ceased to become part of our conversations. Instead, we turned to more polite dinner table topics, like politics. Our former religion was reduced to a kind of passive-aggressive joke, frivolous enough to make over text message.


"And I was one of the family members leading the charge. For years of my adulthood, I found no respite in the church hierarchy or community; I sought out Sunday morning ritual in the sanctuary of yoga and inspirational teachers outside the parish.


"But recently, I came back to the flock. Here's what happened."


In a recent commentary, writer Gillea Allison reflected on her return to the Church as a result of the message (via word and example) of Pope Francis.


To access Ms. Allison's complete post, please visit:


Vox: How Pope Francis brought me back to the Catholic Church (30 SEP 15)


Thank you, Deacon Greg Kandra, for the tip!

Reflection Starter from St. Thérèse of Lisieux

"The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of it's scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness." - Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (Saint Thérèse de Lisieux), whose memory the Church celebrates today (1 October)