21 August 2016
Thank You, Lord
Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and all that it is.
Msgr. Pope on the Mass as a Formal, Sacred Meal
"There been much tension regarding the Mass as both a meal and a sacrifice. A necessary corrective was introduced in the past twenty years to rectify the overly strong emphasis, heavily advanced during the 1970s and 1980s, on the Mass as a meal. The purpose of the corrective was to bring back needed balance with the root of the Mass: the cross and the overall paschal mystery.
"While we cannot dismiss the idea of the Mass as a meal, we must understand what sort of meal it is. When most people today hear the word 'meal,' they do not think of a holy banquet or wedding feast, but more of an informal meal. And informality in American culture has become very informal indeed! We rarely dress up anymore; formal banquets, black-tie dinners, and the like are rare."
In a recent commentary, Monsignor Charles Pope (pastor of Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian Parish, Washington, DC) reflected on the Sacrifice of the Mass as a a formal, sacred meal.
To access Msgr. Pope's complete post, please visit:
Community in Mission: If We Understand the Sacrifice of the Mass to Be a Meal, We Must Clarify What Sort of Meal It Is (8 AUG 16)
Reflection Starter from Pope Francis
"Never abandon prayer, even when it seems pointless to pray." - Pope Francis
20 August 2016
The Highwaymen: "Ghost Riders in the Sky"
As this blessed week draws to a close, I offer this version of The Highwaymen (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson) presenting "Ghost Riders in the Sky":
Thank You, Lord
Thank you, Lord, for the good example set by Your people when they engage in good sportsmanship.
Matt Archbold on Abbey D'Agostino's Olympic/Christian Moment
"By now, we've all probably seen that beautiful moment when Abbey D'Agostino of the United States (Ed. note: from Topsfield, Massachusetts) collided with Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand in a women's 5000m qualifying race. In what is being heralded as 'true Olympic spirit', D'Agostino jumped back on her feet and appeared ready to race on. This is the Olympics, mind you. But then she looked down and saw her rival from New Zealand, writing in pain.
"Then she did the unthinkable - she stopped. She stopped and helped her opponent up. Hamblin later described it this way in Christianity Today:
"'That girl is the Olympic spirit right there,' Hamblin said of D'Agostino. 'I went down and I was like 'What's happening? Why am I on the ground?' 'Then suddenly this hand on my shoulder, like 'Get up, get up, we have to finish this' and I was like 'Yep, yep, you're right. This is the Olympic games - we have to finish this.' 'I've never met this girl before, and isn't that just so amazing?' . . . .
"After D'Agostino helped Hamblin up the two started together, but it turned out that D'Agostino was the one who had done terrible damage to her leg. Her ACL was torn. The two hobbled on. They finished 29th and 30th and embraced just past the finish line.
"'Olympic spirit' isn't the whole reason D'Agostino stopped. Abbey D'Agostino is a Christian. . . .
"'Although my actions were instinctual at that moment, the only way I can and have rationalized it is that God prepared my heart to respond that way,' she said in a statement.
"'This whole time here he's made clear to me that my experience in Rio was going to be about more than my race performance - and as soon as Nikki got up I knew that was it.'"
In a recent commentary, writer Matt Archbold reflected on Abbey D'Agostino's experience and the example it set.
To access his complete post, please visit:
National Catholic Register: Blogs: Matthew Archbold: That "Olympic Moment" Was a Christian Moment (18 AUG 16)
"Then she did the unthinkable - she stopped. She stopped and helped her opponent up. Hamblin later described it this way in Christianity Today:
"'That girl is the Olympic spirit right there,' Hamblin said of D'Agostino. 'I went down and I was like 'What's happening? Why am I on the ground?' 'Then suddenly this hand on my shoulder, like 'Get up, get up, we have to finish this' and I was like 'Yep, yep, you're right. This is the Olympic games - we have to finish this.' 'I've never met this girl before, and isn't that just so amazing?' . . . .
"After D'Agostino helped Hamblin up the two started together, but it turned out that D'Agostino was the one who had done terrible damage to her leg. Her ACL was torn. The two hobbled on. They finished 29th and 30th and embraced just past the finish line.
"'Olympic spirit' isn't the whole reason D'Agostino stopped. Abbey D'Agostino is a Christian. . . .
"'Although my actions were instinctual at that moment, the only way I can and have rationalized it is that God prepared my heart to respond that way,' she said in a statement.
"'This whole time here he's made clear to me that my experience in Rio was going to be about more than my race performance - and as soon as Nikki got up I knew that was it.'"
In a recent commentary, writer Matt Archbold reflected on Abbey D'Agostino's experience and the example it set.
To access his complete post, please visit:
National Catholic Register: Blogs: Matthew Archbold: That "Olympic Moment" Was a Christian Moment (18 AUG 16)
Reflection Starter from St. Bernard
"He who prays and labors lifts his heart to God with his hands." - Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, whose memory the Church celebrates today (20 August)
18 August 2016
Thank You, Lord
Thank you, Lord, for the inspirations and graces You give us as we confront challenging situations.
Reflecting on an Angry America
"If we can't live together, we're going to die alone." That’s a famous line from an episode of the TV series Lost, in which the character Jack Shephard tries to rally his fellow plane-crash survivors to start getting along with each other instead of starting a civil war on the island on which they're stranded. The people of the United States could take those words to heart as well in light of the violence and vengeance that have dominated headlines in recent weeks.
For too long, loud and powerful forces in this country have been labeling each other and stripping each other of the dignity and respect due to all human beings. And often, these voices are enabled by a media establishment that thrives on anger and conflict which produces high ratings which produces lots of money.
People on the left demonize "the one percent" or pro-lifers or conservatives in general. People on the right demonize gun control advocates or immigration reform advocates or liberals in general. The problem with demonization is that we think of demons as hellish, evil creatures that need to be crushed and eliminated. We don't see them as fellow citizens who believe differently than we do. So instead of arguing passionately about issues - and perhaps acknowledging that the other side has some valid points of view - we give in to our instincts to destroy each other. To quote Yoda's famous line from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."
Hate certainly led to suffering in Dallas on July 7, 2016, when 11 police officers were shot by a sniper, and five of them died from their wounds. The incident occurred after a rally protesting the controversial deaths of two African-American men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, at the hands of white police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota. Ironically, the protest rally was peaceful and even friendly between cops and demonstrators. Then, a gunman who simply wanted to kill any white police officers for vengeance started his murder spree.
Our anger is destroying us partially because we "label" entire groups of people. That's not to say that injustice and racism don't need to be rooted out. They do. But the truth is that all police officers aren't racists and all black people aren't criminals. Painting with those kinds of broad strokes will just lead us further down a very dark hole. So here we are in this sharply divided, increasingly angry America: "If we can't live together, we're going to die alone."
Maybe the first step toward genuine progress is to look at ourselves and start saying the Prayer of St. Francis every day. It was adopted as the Prayer of The Christophers when Father James Keller founded us in 1945, and its message of personal responsibility holds true eternally:
"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."
This essay is this week's "Light One Candle" column, written by Tony Rossi, 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
For too long, loud and powerful forces in this country have been labeling each other and stripping each other of the dignity and respect due to all human beings. And often, these voices are enabled by a media establishment that thrives on anger and conflict which produces high ratings which produces lots of money.
People on the left demonize "the one percent" or pro-lifers or conservatives in general. People on the right demonize gun control advocates or immigration reform advocates or liberals in general. The problem with demonization is that we think of demons as hellish, evil creatures that need to be crushed and eliminated. We don't see them as fellow citizens who believe differently than we do. So instead of arguing passionately about issues - and perhaps acknowledging that the other side has some valid points of view - we give in to our instincts to destroy each other. To quote Yoda's famous line from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."
Hate certainly led to suffering in Dallas on July 7, 2016, when 11 police officers were shot by a sniper, and five of them died from their wounds. The incident occurred after a rally protesting the controversial deaths of two African-American men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, at the hands of white police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota. Ironically, the protest rally was peaceful and even friendly between cops and demonstrators. Then, a gunman who simply wanted to kill any white police officers for vengeance started his murder spree.
Our anger is destroying us partially because we "label" entire groups of people. That's not to say that injustice and racism don't need to be rooted out. They do. But the truth is that all police officers aren't racists and all black people aren't criminals. Painting with those kinds of broad strokes will just lead us further down a very dark hole. So here we are in this sharply divided, increasingly angry America: "If we can't live together, we're going to die alone."
Maybe the first step toward genuine progress is to look at ourselves and start saying the Prayer of St. Francis every day. It was adopted as the Prayer of The Christophers when Father James Keller founded us in 1945, and its message of personal responsibility holds true eternally:
"Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."
This essay is this week's "Light One Candle" column, written by Tony Rossi, 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
Reflection Starter from Psalm 95
"For he is our God, we are the people he shepherds, the sheep in his hands." - Psalm 95:7
16 August 2016
Anthony Stagnaro on St. Lawrence as Patron Saint of Comedians
"I'm Catholic for a lot of reasons - not the least of which is that the Church has got a great sense of humor.
"Why is St. Apolonia the patron saint of dentists and those who suffer from toothaches? Because she was martyred by having her teeth pulled out.
"Why is St. Hippolytus the patron saint of horses? Because he was martyred by being having each of his four limbs tied to a different horse and was thus torn apart by them."
In a recent commentary, writer Anthony Stagnaro reflected on Saint Lawrence, his ministry and martyrdom, and his being considered the patron saint of comedians and chefs.
To access Mr. Stagnaro's complete post, please visit:
National Catholic Register: Blogs: Anthony Stagnaro: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (15 AUG 16)
"Why is St. Apolonia the patron saint of dentists and those who suffer from toothaches? Because she was martyred by having her teeth pulled out.
"Why is St. Hippolytus the patron saint of horses? Because he was martyred by being having each of his four limbs tied to a different horse and was thus torn apart by them."
In a recent commentary, writer Anthony Stagnaro reflected on Saint Lawrence, his ministry and martyrdom, and his being considered the patron saint of comedians and chefs.
To access Mr. Stagnaro's complete post, please visit:
National Catholic Register: Blogs: Anthony Stagnaro: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (15 AUG 16)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
