"For you and for many."

Another change in the language of the liturgy.

"And With Your Spirit"

For a short video on one of the changes which will happen to the language of our liturgy, go here.

Archbishop Oscar Romero's anniversary - 30 years ago today

Today marks the thirtieth anniversary of the day Oscar A. Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, in El Salvador, was assassinated. His death took place on March 24, 1980, while he was celebrating Mass in a small chapel in a cancer hospital where he lived.

The fourth archbishop of San Salvador, Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez (August 15, 1917 - March 24, 1980), after a conversion during his episcopal ministry, drew close to his people and preached a prophetic gospel, denouncing the injustice in his country and supporting the development of popular and mass organizations. He became the voice of the Salvadoran people when all other channels of expression had been crushed by the repression.

As he finished giving his homily during Mass, Romero was assassinated by a military group, which provoked an international outcry for reform in El Salvador. After his assassination, Romero was succeeded by Monsignor Arturo Rivera.

In 1997, a cause for beatification and canonization into sainthood was opened for Romero, and Pope John Paul II bestowed upon him the title of Servant of God. The process continues. He is considered by some the unofficial patron saint of the Americas and El Salvador and is often referred to as "San Romero" by Catholics in El Salvador.

Outside of Catholicism, Romero is honored by other religious denominations of Christendom, including the Church of England through the Calendar in Common Worship. He is one of ten 20th century martyrs depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in London.

A Great Dog Story!

Waiting for the only one you've ever loved, for the only one who has ever made your time better, for the only one who had played with you for the first time, the only one who always made you feel alive, the only one you knew you belonged to, the only one who's always been as happy as you were when meeting one another... and this waiting will never end, because this person is no more... and you don't believe it, you can't believe it, and you wait, you have to wait, you must wait, because you are only left with NOTHING BUT WAITING to give sense to your life.

I do believe this true story has to teach, each one of us, a lot of stuff, everyone will get his/her own message.

"Live Like You Are Dying"

"Live Like You Were Dying" tells the story of a man in his early forties, with an unspecified, life-threatening disease. Upon realizing that he may not have much time left to live, the man decides to engage in certain activities that he has always wanted to do, such as skydiving, mountain climbing, fishing, and bull riding. He also decides to improve his standing with other people, including his wife. Also, the man starts to read the Bible, and forgives everyone against whom he previously held grudges.

The Passion of Our Lord

A good presentation by a youth and young adult choir at Our Lady of Lourdes Church

Reflections On Passion Sunday

This priest has some good reflections to prepare for Passion Sunday.

What does immigration have to do with the gospel?

 The good Christian is a law abiding citizen – so Sister told me in grammar school. An eternal truth that perhaps conceals more evil than appears to the eye. We have only to reflect back to Germany in the 1930s or Central America in the 1980s. We have only to look at the immigration issue to reveal that an insistence on being law-abiding can create dilemmas for the good Christian. Simply to ask yourself: what do I do about the Mexican “illegals” dying in the Arizona desert in their desperate attempt to get into this country? No easy answer.
The dilemma, as Father Daniel G. Groody of Notre Dame University demonstrates, belongs not just to the American Christian. It’s faced by our European brothers and sisters as desperate migrants from sub-Saharan Africa perish swimming the Straits of Gibraltar. Migration is a global phenomenon in our time, the down-side perhaps of globalization. Its magnitude is so great that today rivals any other time in human history for movement of peoples. As in other times migration has not been welcomed without resistance and created long-reigning tensions and disruptions. It is and has always been a challenge to the Christian faith.

Much of our religious consciousness, as Groody also demonstrates, has been fashioned by migration. Abram was called out of Ur to live in a land that God would show him. Those who cursed him would be cursed by God (Gen. 12:1-3). And God changed his name to Abraham for he was to be “the ancestor of a multitude of nations” (Gen. 17:5). When the Jews where in slavery in Egypt, God heard their cry and through Moses led them to a new land (Exodus passim). Israel was enjoined to welcome strangers and treat them with respect for their human rights – “for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Lev. 19:34).

We ought not to forget that Mary and Joseph were newly arrived in Bethlehem (Lk. 2: 4-7). One might argue that Joseph and Mary were not “illegals,” since they were only returning home to David’s city. Still they were quickly outlawed and had to flee with Jesus into Egypt (Mt. 2:16-19). As the church built up in the early years, at times Christians also were forced to seek refuge from persecution. And they called themselves “sojourners” even before Christians. Groody suggests that even the incarnation was a migration – from the divine to the human: “In the Incarnation, God, in Jesus, crosses the divide that exists between divine life and human life. In the Incarnation, God migrates to the human race, making his way into the far country of human discord and disorder, a place of division and dissension, a territory marked by death and the demeaning treatment of human beings”.

Over the centuries Christianity has served as a bridge for migrants to a new reality. Most dramatically it ministered to the Germanic and Slavic invaders of the Roman Empire and so created Europe. The American church later was called to minister to a multitude of 19th century and early 20th century immigrants, fashion them into a united church, and set them to being good citizens. That same mission the American church has been engaged in through its current advocacy for the new immigrants. Some cynics have argued, with the decline of church attendance and secularization, the church is turning to the immigrant to shore up its numbers. That it is not. The church is responding to what it sees in the relation of God to Abraham and the enslaved Jews, that God hears the cry of the poor. And from the story of Jesus we see that the cry comes often from the stranger in our midst.

For more on the gospel call to "welcome the stranger" see also the U.S. – Mexican bishops’ pastoral letter, Strangers No Longer

By Father Tom Joyce CMF

The Health Care Issue

by David Gibson

Today’s televised health care showdown is seen by many, if not most, as political theater, but I think that’s fine. Theater is a way to clarify and teach what’s true, and in this case, perhaps change both actors and audience. But part of the drama that must not be ignored is in fact that of the audience, and people like my colleague Jan Battaile at PoliticsDaily. Her multiple myeloma recently returned and she recounts her story of dealing with our current health care system in this essay.

It is a nightmarish tale, one too many readers have likely endured, and there are of course even worse stories. But I don’t think we can ever forget that there are lives at stake, and these must be the goals — universal coverage, affordability, no denial of benefits for preexisting conditions, no absurd hoops to jump through. And etc. Jan’s story is worth reading for gems such as this:

Keeping your own doctor is one of the big concerns in the debate over reforming the nation’s health care system, an effort that appears to be on life support as President Obama convenes a summit Thursday to try to patch together a bill that Republicans can sign on to. Another threat raised repeatedly by opponents of the Democrats’ plan is that it will create a nightmare system where government bureaucrats make all the decisions.

Bureaucrats? There are plenty of those in the private sector, too. But I should be so lucky to get one. All I get when I call UHC is the phone bank. Over the last month, I’ve called at least a dozen times and have never once talked to anyone who is actually reviewing my case or could make a decision about approving it. In fact, when I asked to speak with someone in the Clinical Coverage Department, I was told: “They don’t have a number.” Later, when I asked to speak with the person reviewing my case, the answer was, “She can only speak to the provider.’

And she winds up with this:

I’m in despair. I think back to last year, when I signed up for early Social Security. It took one phone call. Fifteen minutes max. Everything was loaded into their system and I could look it up online. All the information was there. It was all correct. My checks come like clockwork on the same day every month. I’ve never had one problem. Last year my husband signed up for Medicare. Same experience. No problems, no complaints. This is your government at work. Some bureaucrats know how to get it right.

Is anyone listening?

Rejected Titles for Hymns

.

BY MOLLIE WILSON

- - - -

God, You Can Be Such a Jerk Sometimes

Even Cripples Praise Your Name

Faith of My In-Laws

Cleanse My Scalp of Dandruff, Lord

Another Rainy Day. Great. Thanks a Lot.

"Holy" like a Doughnut, "Holy" like Swiss Cheese

Just One More Hour, and Then We Go Home

O Saints Who Died in Gruesome Ways

Jesus is More Than Alright with Me

You Have to Admit, This Sounds Pretty Farfetched

I Thank Thee, God, for Buttocks Firm

O Lord, We Really Prefer Not to Know

Alleluia, Schmalleluia


Writers were challenged to put lyrics to the above titles. To see what one wrote for "O Saints Who Died in Grusome Ways, go here.

Bishop Sheen "Wasting Your Life"

Etiquette Tips for "Liberal" and "Conservative" Catholics

Chicago, IL: In the spirit of dialogue, a local parish group has presented some "guidelines for conversation" between the self-identified conservative and liberal factions of the Church. In addition, they have provided "opening statements to dialogue" that should be avoided.

"We were inspired by the late Cardinal Bernardin's Common Ground Initiative to keep the lines of communication and wisdom open, but kept running into roadblocks in actual practice of that. So we created this pamphlet that we hope will get placed in every Church foyer. If we are all different parts of the Body of Christ, we must get past the first volleys and into real conversation," said Maria German, a member of St. Irenaeus parish.

The guidelines to entering conversation, according to the pamphlet, revolve around the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. However, it is the "opening statements to be avoided" that is attracting some attention outside the parish. Examples of the opening statements to be avoided are:

Conservative Openings to Liberals

•Are you orthodox? I mean, really.

•What kind of heretic are you, anyway? Classic heretic or new age wingnut?

•To which degree to you bow before the Blessed Sacrament?

•I'll bet I can beat you at our Church's Catechism Bowl.

•You know, I was reading a little Canon Law yesterday....

•Opus Dei is getting completely persecuted in the media.

•Let's talk liturgical music!

Liberal Openings to Conservatives

•Spit out that slave-trade coffee, you child-labor-loving freak.

•So, just how much do you hate women?

•I really love the blue advent vestments, don't you?

•Let me pull out my up-to-date poverty statistics pie charts to aid our opening prayer.

•I'd like to share the seven Catholic Social Teaching principles with you, since you obviously don't know them.

•My Jesuit professor said....

•Let's talk liturgical music!

"People have been enthusiastic," said Ms. German. "Even just recognizing that certain statements are 'hot button' ones has gone a long way. Starting our dialogue with discussing the weather over a donut is a move in the right direction."



The full pamphlets are available through the parish's office.

If the FDA Regulated Eucharist

Washington, D.C. -- The Food and Drug Administration has rejected the Nutrition Facts label submitted by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in order to comply with FDA regulations, a USCCB spokeswoman said today. The action was likely to exacerbate the dispute between the Church and the agency following the agency's ruling last month that the Eucharist, in both species, falls under FDA oversight.

"We submitted what we believe to be a factually accurate label," said USCCB spokeswoman Sr. Mary Jane Waltz. "Ontologically speaking, it reflects the reality of what the faithful are consuming when they receive the Eucharist."

But FDA regulators were "not amused" by the label, which listed as ingredients the "Body and Blood, soul and divinity" of Jesus Christ. The label also included a detailed list of the graces received with reception of the Eucharist.

"The agency wishes to respect the religious beliefs of Catholics," said FDA spokesman Sammy Bonk. "But given that some 38 million people are consuming the Church's bread and wine on a weekly basis, we feel that it is well within our authority to ensure that consumers are informed about exactly what they're ingesting. A simple 'wheat' would suffice for the ingredients list, along with a basic nutritional analysis. We just don't see the need to complicate this. We didn't get any grief from the Unitarians."

"Of course, the Unitarians don't believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist," Waltz clarified.

At issue, according to Bishop Harry Barrington, is whether the nutrition facts label applies to the bread and wine before or after consecration. "If we're talking pre-consecration here, well, no prob-lem," he said. "But we don't distribute unconsecrated bread and wine at communion. As the Council of Trent taught, the substance of the bread changes into the substance of our Lord's body, and the substance of the wine changes into the substance of our Lord's blood. Frankly, we think that the government is overreaching its authority by trying to regulate the Divine Presence."

The Church plans to appeal the agency's ruling. Meanwhile, speculation is running rampant about whether the agency will expand its oversight by classifying chrism oil as a schedule III controlled substance, given its supernatural powers

40 Days of Lent: the Song

Planning for Medical Emergencies

One of the greatest gifts you can do for your family is to plan ahead. Read the following for one man's ideas.

http://www.firstthings.com/article/2010/03/i-want-to-burden-my-loved-ones

The Sleeping God

I've referred to this quote many times in my homilies, but never quoted it in full. It says a lot about how we celebrate our liturgies.

"Why do people in church seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged

tour of the Absolute? … Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we

blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The

churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up

a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw

hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers

should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews.

For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may

draw us to where we can never return.”

—Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters