“In every difficult situation is potential value. Believe this, then begin looking for it.” – Rev. Norman Vincent Peale
06 February 2014
05 February 2014
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major
It’s time for some classical music. This is a presentation of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major (Opus 60) as played by the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (conducted by Daniel Barenboim):
Padre Whiskey’s Cause for Sainthood
Father Joseph Walijewski was a veteran of South American mission work, arriving there from Wisconsin in 1956 to start a parish in Bolivia. After a few years he returned home for a short time, but came back to Peru in 1971 and then founded the orphanage that will always be his legacy. He died in 2006, and after a packed funeral Mass was buried on a hill that rises behind the orphanage. All in all, it seemed like a tough life. But now they want to make him a saint, and you figure there must be more to the story of Father Joseph Walijewski than meets the eye. And you’d certainly be right.
For one thing, Father Joe – that’s how he was universally known – was loved. “He gave us an education, food, went to Mass with us,” said one orphanage graduate at the funeral. “He would talk to us about our future, that we had to be well educated, so many things. He showed us so much affection.”
In the eyes of many, he’s sanctified already, the formal process aside. “A saint has lived among us and a saint has died among us,” said one priest who knew him well.
Father Joe didn’t have to go to Latin America to learn about poverty; as the ninth child of immigrant parents growing up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he knew it first-hand. Even as a boy he hawked newspapers to help the family make ends meet. Ordained in 1950 for the Diocese of LaCrosse, he soon discovered he had a flair for mission work. (Not so with languages, however, as his one-time students laughingly recalled. He never got outside the present tense in Spanish, and to those who had difficulty with his name he had a ready response. “Just call me Padre Whiskey,” he said.)
When Father Joe went to Peru it was to the barrio of Villa El Salvador, where the fancy name masked a shantytown. One night, in a rough section of Lima, he saw something move in a pile of dirty newspapers, and it turned out to be a little boy and a girl preparing a place to sleep. That sight, according to an Associated Press story, set him on a dream: a place that abandoned children could call home.
The dream started to come true in 1985 when Father Joe met the visiting Pope John Paul II, who was so moved by the priest’s story that he donated $50,000 to get the project under way. That’s how Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II was born, beginning with two children. Today, with 64 students living in eight family units, the orphanage stands as Father Joe’s legacy. “Many of the children have never known a home,” he once told an interviewer. “We’re trying to give them the feeling they have a family.”
This year, on the Feast of St. Joseph, Bishop William P. Callahan of LaCrosse formally opened the canonization cause of Father Joseph Walijewski, seven years after his death at the age of 82. Friends remembered many things, then and now, but most of all how his eyes would light up when he talked about his kids.
“If he hadn’t taken them on,” one of them recalled, “a lot of them might not even be alive today. It was their home, and he was their father, and they were all brothers and sisters.”
(This essay is a recent “Light One Candle” column, written by Jerry Costello, of The Christophers; it is one of a series of weekly columns that deal with a variety of topics and current events.)
Background information:
The Christophers: Christopher Radio & Video
Background information:
Reflection Starter from Mother Teresa
“To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.” – Mother Teresa (Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, M.C.)
04 February 2014
Jars of Clay: “They Will Know We are Christians by Our Love”
As we continue to live this week, I offer this version of Jars of Clay singing “They Will Know We are Christians by Our Love”:
Thank You, Lord
Thank you, Lord, for the beauty contained within a single snowflake, within a single leaf, and within a single flower petal.
Deacon Bill Ditewig on the “Francis Effect”
“Many people around the world have begun talking about the so-called ‘Francis Effect’, which I suppose could best be described as the resurgence of interest and participation in the Catholic Church due to the influence of Pope Francis and his vision for the church. Especially in Europe, church leaders have noted a demonstrable increase in church attendance, and certainly the Pope’s weekly Wednesday audiences have nearly trebled in size since his election. Here in the United States, recent studies have not yet documented such a radical increase, although a lot of us serving in parishes have certainly seen a notable increase in interest and enthusiasm. Last night, I saw first-hand the ‘Francis Effect’ in action, right here at a bar on Fisherman’s Wharf on Monterey Bay.
“‘Theology on Tap’ is a program that’s been around quite a while now across the country, and it’s proved a durable and popular way to talk about the faith and to answer questions and concerns people have. That has certainly been the case in the Diocese of Monterey, where for more than four years, Deacon Warren Hoy has been coordinating monthly meetings on topics ranging from a variety of social justice issues, to discussions on exorcisms, just war theory, and so on. There is a solid core of attendees, and always fresh faces drawn by a particular topic. In a conversation with Warren a month or so ago, he shared some frustration at finding a topic and speaker for the January gathering, and in desperation, he asked me to be the speaker. ‘Talk about whatever you want to,’ he said. I suggested having a conversation about Pope Francis. That was it. No further details, no dramatic and sexy topic: just, ‘let’s talk about Pope Francis.’ That’s how the announcements went out.
“Last night, there on the dock of the Bay, a record number of folks turned out. Estimates ranged between 60-80 people, which for this area, is HUGE. . . .”
In a recent commentary, Deacon William T. Ditewig, Ph.D. reflected on this “Theology on Tap” experience and its effects.
To access his complete post, please visit:
Thank you, Deacon Greg Kandra, for the tip.
Reflection Starter from Albert Einstein
“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” – Albert Einstein
03 February 2014
CNN Profile of Armless Football Player at Classical High, Providence, RI
A recent CNN report profiled Isaac Lufkin, a freshman football player at Classical High School, Providence, RI.
To access the complete CNN report, please visit:
CNN: Armless kicker aims for the NFL (30 JAN 14)
Background information:
Thank You, Lord
Thank you, Lord, for the beauty of the ice patterns that form on and along running streams of water during the winter.
Msgr. Pope on on Mystery
“In the secular world a ‘mystery’ is something which baffles or eludes understanding, something which lies undisclosed. And the usual attitude of the world toward mystery is to resolve it, get to the bottom of, or uncover it. Mysteries must be overcome! The riddle, or ‘who-done-it’ must be solved!
“In the Christian and especially the Catholic world, ‘mystery’ is something a bit different. Here mystery refers to the fact that there are hidden dimensions in things, people and situation that extend beyond their merely visible and physical dimensions.”
In a recent commentary, Monsignor Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish, Washington, DC) reflected on mystery – on the mysteries of God and His creation.
To access Msgr. Pope’s complete post, please visit:
Msgr. Charles Pope: A Brief Meditation on Mystery (28 JAN 14)
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