Welcome to Liturgy

For a comprehensive site offering a wealth of background and preparation for the next Sunday's liturgy you will find this site very complete and helpful. Spending time to find your way around will pay rich dividends. I will continue the litury preparation for each Sunday as taken from the St. Andrew Bible Missal for Sundays and Holydays and a listing of intercessions from which to choose or prompt intercessions for your needs.

“The Gospel of Luke...the Gospel of Cycle C
If asked to name their favorite story from the Bible, most Christians would probably choose something from the Gospel of Luke. These stories are indeed unforgettable, and the Christian tradition is graced by this gospel from Luke's hand. It is the only one of the four gospels to describe the angel's annunciation of the coming birth of Jesus to Mary, and the visit of the shepherds at his birth; it the only one to tell the parables of the Good Samaritan, of the prodigal son, and of the rich man and Lazarus; it is the only gospel to relate the story of Jesus and the disciples on the road to Emmaus after the resurrection.
In addition to that, Luke's Christmas story is proclaimed by Linus of the Charlie Brown Christmas special each year! No one tells the story of Christmas like Luke does in his gospel!
Archeologists and textual experts usually date the writing of the Gospel of Luke to around 80 AD. One piece of evidence that helps with the dating is that the gospel contains nearly all of Mark, and from this we know that it was composed after 70 AD (about when Mark was written). In addition to having Mark as a source, the Gospel of Luke shares a large chunk of material with Matthew, material that appears neither in Mark nor in John. From this we assume that there was another source for Luke, one that he and the writer of Matthew used together. Luke also had a source of information that only he used.
The evangelist Luke is also the author of the Acts of the Apostles, which is, in a sense, the second part to the gospel. This is evident from the very polished Greek of these two books, but more specifically, from the fact that both books are addressed to Theophilus, a fellow believer. (See Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1.) Luke's contribution, therefore, makes up more than one-quarter of the second or new testament.
The portrait of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke is of an itinerant prophet who is attracted to the poor and the outcast. He explains what his ministry is to them, and he envisions the heavenly banquet as filled with the poor and disenfranchised. The evangelist draws powerful portraits of despised members of society, and much of the wonder of this compelling gospel is in its address to sinners. His gospel has an inclusive view of the Church.
The Gospel of Luke is proclaimed in Year C...and 2010 is a year for Year C. St. Luke's feast day is October 18th.”

“The above is an often-asked question. A key insight that the Church has recovered since Vatican II is that participation in the Mass reaches a high point in the sharing of communion, an action that Christians should consider normal and commonplace rather than secondary and rare. This vital connection between one's presence at Mass and the reception of communion is expressed in several ways, including the understanding of Mass as a sacrificial meal in which we are fed with the Lord's body and blood, the dismissal of catechumens before the Liturgy of the Eucharist (they are dismissed precisely because they cannot receive communion until they are baptized and professed), the procession with the gifts and the distribution of bread consecrated at the Mass rather then bread that has been reserved in the tabernacle. As the interconnections between the reception of communion and participation in the Mass became clearer, people began to wonder why individuals should be prevented from receiving communion at a Mass simply because they might have received communion earlier that same day. In the early 1970's, Rome changed a long-standing practice and explicitly permitted those who were present at a special Mass, such as Masses in which sacraments were conferred or similar special occasions, to receive communion, even if they had already communicated earlier that day. This revised practice has been included in a more general form in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. There is no longer any mention of the second Mass being in any way related to a special occasion (canon 917). Thus, current church custom permits anyone to receive communion a second time on any day, as long as the second reception of communion occurs during Mass. (Thus, this permission does not hold if communion is being distributed outside of Mass except in the case of viaticum.) The scriptures record that, at the Last Supper, Jesus said, "All of you, take and eat.. .take and drink." On those occasions when a person attends a second Mass on the same day (either by obligation or by devotion), he or she should never hesitate about fully participating in the celebration of the Eucharist by receiving Communion a second time.”

Smudged with Ashes, Smeared with Oil....Lent

“On a somber Wednesday, this Wednesday, February 17th, we will gather to smudge every forehead with ashes, admonishing each other to remember that dust returns to dust and that the only way through death to life is Christ. The ashes are made by burning palms - given to us on Passion Sunday a year ago with the invitation to "go forth in peace, praising Jesus our Messiah, as did the crowds that welcomed him into Jerusalem." Our baptismal life is a lifelong pilgrimage with Christ toward Jerusalem. Yet like our best intentions, last year's palm branches now have become dried and brittle - fodder for the fire. So our pilgrimage leads us to Lent. And a hostile climate of sin and suffering necessitates drastic measures: We are marked with ashes as a sign of our willingness to pray, fast and give alms.
But this gritty smudge that we accept on our foreheads is not a death sentence. It is not the mark of Cain. A reminder of our fragile mortality, it is nonetheless shaped in the great sign of salvation: The ashes form a cross, a thumb-printed cross that marks the same heads that were smeared with chrism at baptism. Anointed with that royal oil, we are committed to conversion, to continually setting out for the new Jerusalem, to leaving behind forever our captivity in Egypt. This gritty ashen sign reminds us that on the way there is soil and toil, sweat and hard work before we come to the oasis in this desert - the Easter bath of baptism. At the font, on a damp and chilly night, water will wash away soil and oil will soothe away toil to make new Christians royal: heirs of the reign of God. The dusty smudges will be gone, and in the light of the paschal candle the oily heads of the newly baptized will shine like the moon and the stars, reminding us of our destiny. What begins in ashes on Ash Wednesday in Lent ends in water and in fire on Holy Saturday at Easter.”

“How do we show reverence and love for Christ when we enter and leave the church? First, we greet each other as we would greet Christ. Hospitality is always a sign of our respect for each other and of welcome. "Where two or three of you gather, there I am," says the Lord. Then, we either genuflect before the Blessed Sacrament if the tabernacle is present in the sanctuary, or we bow to the altar, if the tabernacle is in a part of the church other than the sanctuary.
Why? We genuflect as a meditation that the real presence of the Eucharist is among us in the tabernacle. This is Christ, the King of creation, in our midst and thus deserves a sign of our reverence and respect. Or we bow before the altar because this is the holy place where we place our bread and wine that becomes Christ's body and blood. This is the place of sacrifice. At this altar we sit with God to dine in eternity: This is Easter's banquet table.
The altar of the Most High is this table in our midst — the table of every grace and blessing? And more. The Rite of Dedication of an Altar (#4) says, "Because it is at the altar that the memorial of the Lord is celebrated and his body and blood given to the people," the Church´s writers see in the altar a sign of Christ himself — hence they affirm: "The altar is Christ." By Church law the altar must be crafted from material that is strong and durable.. .strong wood, stone, or marble. A card table or a movable table is truly unacceptable simply because it would not support the weight of the building architecturally nor would it symbolize the power and the strength and the durability of Christ in His Church. We have a great altar here at St. Peter! It is visible and it is strong and made of lasting material... Indiana limestone and black onyx marble. It cannot be just picked up and moved to the side.. ..there is a sense of permanency about it. It was way ahead of its time, too, as it was always a free-standing altar and never against a wall typical of church architecture at the time. Sensing the winds of change in the early 50's Msgr. Westhoff, the great liturgist and visionary pastor of St. Peter, designed and crafted our altar that would become the norm for all altars after Vatican Council II. St. Peter Church and its altar foreshadowed by 14 years or so what would be the norm in 1966.
Christ is the Anointed One, baptized, anointed with the Holy Spirit and robed in light. We are Christians, anointed ones, baptized, anointed with chrism and robed in white. Just like Christ, just like us, our altar was washed, anointed and robed. On its dedication day, April 26, 1953, the altar was sprinkled with holy water. Archbishop Joseph Ritter rubbed holy chrism into its top, and ministers robed it in a white cloth.
So let's bow to Christ at the altar or let's genuflect on one knee before the tabernacle before taking our places. And let's repeat these gestures as we take our leave. They are gestures of respect. Christ the offering. Christ the meal. Christ the altar of sacrifice. Christ the paschal banquet table. Holy Christ, we bow before you.! A genuflection and a bow before the altar is not only a good meditation on the real presence of Christ in our midst but is just plain old fashioned church etiquette.”

Q&A: What to Read...how are the Sunday readings chosen?

“Each Sunday the word of God is proclaimed in our church in the form of three scripture readings and a psalm. The first reading and the psalm always come from the first testament of the Bible (the Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures), except during the Easter Season, when the first reading is from the Acts of the Apostles. The second reading is a selection from one of the non-gospel books of the second testament (the New Testament). The third reading is always chosen from one of the gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. It is clear from the title "liturgy of the word" that the scriptures are an integral part of the Sunday Eucharist.
This emphasis on a more thorough and varied use of the scriptures is a direct result of the renewal of the liturgy called for by the Second Vatican Council: "The treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly, so that richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God's word." To meet this need, a new lectionary (or book of readings for worship) was published in 1970. It included assigned texts for each Sunday based on a three-year cycle of readings. And, as noted above, each Sunday included three readings as well as a responsorial psalm.
This was a major change. Previously, only one set of Sunday readings was used year after year. Two readings and a psalm verse were appointed for each Sunday. And one of those readings, the gospel, was almost always from the Gospel of Matthew. The gospel readings in the 1970 lectionary include selections from all four evangelists: Matthew in what is called Year A, Mark in Year B, and Luke in Year C. We hear the Gospel of John during the major liturgical seasons as well as during Year B (the year of Mark), perhaps because Mark's gospel is the shortest of the four and wouldn't otherwise fill out the whole year.
The gospels were assigned first. The first reading was chosen for its connection to the day's gospel. The psalm that follows the first reading is related to it. The psalm is the assembly's response to the word that has just been proclaimed. The second reading is not necessarily related to the other readings. Selections from the chosen book are simply read somewhat in order.
As people baptized to live not by bread alone but by the word of God as well, the liturgy of the word should not be the only time we hear the readings. One way to live with the lectionary is to do an attentive reading of the scriptures before the liturgy each Sunday — a fruitful and enriching way of entering more deeply into the prayer. Another approach is to hear the word proclaimed in the assembly first, and then spend the following week rereading and meditating on it. Whichever method you choose, several helpful resources have been published to aid you.”

• Lent runs from Ash Wednesday until the Mass of the Lord's Supper exclusive on Holy Thursday.
• Lenten weekdays are not commemorated on solemnities and feasts. Ash Wednesday and the days of Holy Week take precedence over all solemnities and feasts.
• Volume II of the Liturgy of the Hours is used from Ash Wednesday through Pentecost Sunday, the close of the Easter season.
• All memorials of saints occurring during Lent are observed as optional. Hence, they may be omitted or observed as comemorations.
• Alleluia is not sung or said from the beginning of Lent until the Easter Vigil; nor is the Te Deum sung at OR on Sundays of Lent.
• During Lent the altar should not be decorated with flowers, and musical instruments may be played only to give necessary support to the singing.
• "It would be advisable for those preparing liturgical celebrations to attend to the purpose rather than the strict letter of this law and determine whether certain instrumental pieces may in the local situation indeed foster the spirit of the Lenten season" Q. Huels, "Chronicle Preparing and Celebrating the Paschal Feasts," Worship, January, 1989 71). On the Fourth Sunday of Lent ("Laetare") and on solemnities and feasts, musical instruments may be played and the altar decorated with flowers.
• The presentations of the Creed and the Lord's Prayer normally take place after the first and third scrutinies. For pastoral reasons, they may be held during the period of the catechumenate rather than at the regular times (RCIA, 104-105).
• If marriages are to take place during Lent, couples are to be reminded that wedding plans should respect the special nature of this liturgical season; they should refrain from too much pomp or display.
• The readings for the Lenten Masses have been chosen in relation to the themes of baptismal renewal and penance. The gospels and reading from the Hebrew scriptures have been selected for their mutual relationship.
• Optional Prayers Over the People are given in the Sacramentary after the Order of Mass. During Lent any one of these may be used in place of the usual simple blessing given at the end of Mass. The Ordo suggests specific blessings throughout the season.
• It is fitting that the Lenten season conclude, both for the individual Christian as well as for the whole Christian community, with a penitential celebration, so that all may be helped to prepare to celebrate more fully the paschal mystery. Such a celebration should take place before the Easter Triduum, and should not immediately precede the Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper. However, where there is genuine pastoral need, the Sacrament of penance may be celebrated on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, and in such situations opportunities for celebrations of reconciliation would be encouraged.

“The Ten Commandments of Forgiveness....
Several folks have asked that I share with them the ten commandments of forgiveness that I spoke about in my homily last weekend. I gladly share them with you and I hope you find them as helpful as 1 have.
I mentioned in the homily that several years ago a friend of mine shared a talk with me given by Father William Bausch, a priest from the Trenton, New Jersey Diocese and in that talk were the ten commandments of forgiveness. I remembered them and I found them to be a practical approach on the journey of forgiveness... and let it not be forgotten that when the hurts are deep and the pain is festering. Forgiveness can never be an instantaneous thing. It is always a journey. Forgiveness is based on the teachings of Jesus which totally depends on our forgiveness of others. We pray in the Lord's Prayer, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Thus God´s forgiveness depends upon our forgiveness. This is the bottom line of Christian forgiveness.
The first commandment of forgiveness:
Forgiveness is not easy. There is no cheap grace. There is no quick fix. When the hurt is deep and the forgiveness challenging and the betrayals painful we may need to go to God for help. Oftentimes we simply can't forgive on our own. Jesus said while dying on the cross: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." We sometimes need to ask God to start the journey of forgiveness for us.
The second commandment of forgiveness:
Forgiveness is not forgetting. We often say "forgive and forget." 1 don't think so. Forgiveness is about a change of heart, not a bad memory or having a senior moment. Sometimes the wounds are too deep and fresh. Forgiveness certainly does not include holding on to hurts but neither is it about forgetting them. It may actually be helpful to remember the occasion that began your journey toward forgiveness.
The third commandment of forgiveness:
Forgiveness does not overlook evil. We shouldn't naively pretend that all is well; that the hurt never happened.. .when we know that it did.
The fourth commandment of forgiveness:
Forgiveness is not indifference. When things became hurtful and wrong we can't just go back to "business as usual," and let the hurt go on deeper and deeper. We should do everything that we can to make sure that the evil won't happen again.
The fifth commandment of forgiveness:
Forgiveness is not the same thing as approval. We certainly can be forgiving and at the same time express our disapproval, our disagreements for wrongful behavior. We need to let the person know clearly: "What you did was hurtful and wrong!"
The sixth commandment of forgiveness:
Forgiveness is based on recognizing and admitting that people are always bigger than their faults. Don't define a person because of something that they said or did that hurt you. Forgiveness is based on realizing and admitting that people are always bigger than their faults and mistakes.
The seventh commandment of forgiveness:
Forgiveness is willing to allow a person who has offended you to start over again. It is not uncommon when we are angry and upset to take the approach, "just you wait and I'll get you back." Or "I will seek revenge!" But Christian forgiveness means letting go of that mentality. It means allowing the person who has hurt us a second chance, an opportunity to start over again.
The eighth commandment of forgiveness:
Forgiveness recognizes the humanity of the person who has wronged us and it also recognizes our own humanity as well. We probably contributed something to what went wrong with the relationship.
The ninth commandment of forgiveness:
Forgiveness surrenders the right to get even. We are so tempted to say when the hurt is great, "Ok, just you wait. I´ll get back at you. I can´t wait until ‘payback time.’" Being a Christian means we surrender the right to get even.
The tenth commandment of forgiveness:
Forgiveness means we wish the person who hurt us the very best. We wish upon them agape love which means we want benevolent good will upon them.. .and never harm or evil. We let God be the judge and we commend them to God's forgiveness and mercy.
Forgiveness is one of the overriding themes of the gospels. It is at the beginning of the gospel and it is at the end of the gospel... and everywhere in between. Forgiveness is Advent. Forgiveness is Lent. Forgiveness is Easter... and everything in the middle. Forgiveness is the great hallmark of what it means to be a Christian... nd it is a journey of faith, too, of single steps not giant ones. Amen!” --Monsignor Jack--

“Over the last week there have been incidence's of what has become for me a mantra and a constant theme of my preaching. I believe that the gospels more than ever are calling us to strive towards civility as a Church and as individuals. I see us creeping toward it at best. Last week we as a nation did not even come close to being civil.
What is civility? According to Webster´s Dictionary civility is described as "good breeding; civil conduct, politeness; a polite act or expression."
One of the best bishops ever in the United States, in my opinion, was Cardinal Joseph Bernadin of Chicago. Here was a man who knew civility and dedicated his life to be an example of it. He began the Common Ground Project for the sole purpose of creating a climate where folks would at least listen to each other to try to come to a common understanding of each other or at least to agree to disagree.. .and still be able to speak to one another and live in peace with each other. He mainly organized it so that people and leaders within the Church could do that, much less society as a whole. Amazingly many including some of his brother bishops made fun of it or ignored the call of Common Ground. How sad! What are some signs of "incivility?" "Road Rage" is one. We never heard of the phrase until recently. We used to be more civil when we were behind the wheel of a car. Now the use of four letter words and profane gestures are so common most of us are not the least bit shocked at their use in public. Last week we saw many examples of it. How so? How about when President Obama addressed the Congress and the Representative from South Carolina yelled out, during the President´s speech, and called him a "liar." Even the Congress thought that to be bad conduct from one of their own. Or how about Serena Williams, the tennis star and a marvelous athlete, and her sad outburst toward the line official at the U.S. Open Tennis Matches at Flushing Meadows, New York. Not only was she out of line but her profane language in this public arena was "over the top" uncivil. She lost more than the match that day. She lost her reputation and her dignity. When one so emulated and "professional" is uncivil publicly one loses so much more than an argument.. .and so does the nation. And how about the Rap star, Kanye West, and his little tirade at the MTV Awards in New York angered that another singer (Taylor Swift) received the award instead of his choice (Beyonce)...not the first time this character has publicly shown his ignorance.. .and his incivility. And how about those so-called "Town Hall Meetings" conducted by members of Congress in their districts around the country regarding the Health Care debate and issues? The incivility at many of these meetings, the yelling and the screaming, the name-calling, has upset the very fabric of our nation´s principles and practices. A new message is being sent to the world.. .if you disagree with me you must be wrong and I will fight you to the end and worse, not allow you to speak or hold your opinion. We no longer can agree to disagree in a civil manner!!! This is not good!! Perhaps the most disturbing sign of incivility came last week when President Obama was set to address the nation´s school children on the value of staying in school and the importance of getting a good education. Your future depends upon your schooling. Other Presidents have addressed the nation´s school children. President Reagan and President George H. Bush both talked to the young people during their terms as President. However last week when President Obama tried to do the same thing partisan politics reared its ugly head along with a manufactured controversy and it interfered with our children´s opportunity to hear the President of the United States in the company of their classmates and teachers. A small percentage of parents called schools and school districts requesting that their children not listen to the President fearing that Obama would use the opportunity to "bully pulpit" our youth with his policies on health care or abortion. Even our own Catholic School Office requested that our Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese not show the President´s address to the children.... caving in to the demands of the few. Our own school of St. Peter received requests from three parents not to have their children see or hear the President´s message. And because of a small percentage of negative calls all the children of the Archdiocesan schools could not see or hear the President of the United States speech in a classroom setting. Wow! What message does that give to our youth! You don´t have to listen to the President or anyone else with whom you disagree. And what an opportunity missed! To say the least I respectfully and civilly disagree with Mr. George Henry, the Superintendent of the Catholic Schools in St. Louis and the Archbishop over that decision. Yes, parents have the right to choose whether their child views the address but how come a small minority was allowed to make that choice for the majority...or at least in St. Peter School? Wouldn´t it have been more appropriate for those parents simply to request that their children be excused from watching and listening to the President that day? I lump this with my cause for civility because 1 believe the above decision and manufactured controversy surrounding that Presidential address on education is yet another example of our nation and our people´s inability or unwillingness to hear each other, understand each other´s opinions and views and "agree to disagree" in a civil way. There is so much fear and distrust of each other both in the political and the ecclesiastical arenas today we can no longer even listen to one another and try to find Cardinal Bernadin´s "Common Ground." Instead we react with rage, yelling and screaming at each other to make our point and put the other down thus failing to treat one another with reverence and respect.”
— THANK YOU MONSIGNOR JACK !

FOCUS:
“Having arrived in the promised land, the Hebrews celebrated their deliverance from affliction and distress (Ps) in the Passover (1). Christ, our passover, has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation (2): let us forgive one another and celebrate the unconditional and abundant love of God our Father (3). ”
–The Order of Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours and the Celebration of the Eucharist 2010 (ORDO)– Paulist Press, P. 71-72.

“The parable of the prodigal son strikes a chord in the human heart because it speaks of the universal experience of separation and forgiveness. The parable tells us less about the son's sin than about the abundant mercy of the father. It reveals a God whose solicitude for all sinners is such that he can never reconcile himself to the loss of a single child. This parable is also a revelation of Jesus himself. His behavior serves as the story's point of departure. In order to justify his eating with sinners, Jesus describes this father who runs to meet the prodigal and finds his joy in restoring him to the dignity of a son.
The parable also reveals something of the darker side of ourselves. All Christians run the risk of becoming the elder son who will not welcome his younger brother as their father does. This parable is not finished. Its conclusion will depend on us. Will the elder brother pass from disdain to love, from the idea of a calculating God to the idea of a Father who loves because he wills to save?”
— Saint Andrew Bible Missal, Pp. 244.

Reflecting on the Gospel

“Most young adults chomp at the bit to leave home and get out on their own, thinking this is the way they can do what they want. No more adults in authority telling them what to do-they are quite capable of ordering their own lives (so they think). Frequently these young folks find out just how expensive living is, and paying for rent, food, utilities, transportation, etc., isn't as easy as it looks. Some of them, quite chagrined, are forced to move back home to get out of debt and begin again. So we readily identify from experience with the prodigal son in the gospel who is chomping at the bit to leave home. He is even bold enough to ask for his share of the inheritance! How little he knows about life; and how little he knows his father!
The gospel begins with the Pharisees and scribes complaining that Jesus welcomes and eats with sinners-how little they understand God! So Jesus tells a parable. When the prodigal son came "to his senses" and returned home, the most he hoped from his father was to be given a place as a servant and adequate food to eat. But the merciful father was prodigious: he embraced him, clothed him in dignity, and honored him with a feast. Sinners though we are, our merciful Father longs to embrace and celebrate with us. We have only to return to him.
Expecting, hoping, anticipating minimal response from his father, the son returned home to receive lavishly from his father. The father didn't even answer the son's plea for minimal acceptance; he simply began the concrete events of showing mercy and welcome. The point: Jesus' welcome of sinners makes visible the love and mercy of God our Father, a love and mercy we all need because we all are sinful. Further, the "ministry of reconciliation" (second reading) given us by God places us in the role of the merciful father, reminding us of not only the value but also the necessity of forgiveness. Forgiveness brings us to accept others (and ourselves) as weak human beings who often hurt others and cause them anguish. We are like the prodigal father when we are compassionate and forgiving toward those who have harmed us. Then we are like our merciful God who treats us in just this same way.
The father is a model of mercy and reconciliation. It is the father who models for us paschal mystery living. It is the father in the parable who models for us the mercy of our heavenly Father-mercy that not only forgives and reconciles but offers a feast as well.”

Living the Paschal Mystery
“Our human tendency is to think we can make a go of life on our own. If we are happy to settle for minimums, some of us can muddle through life reasonably happy. This parable reminds us that God offers us much more. If we choose to die to self ("coming to [our] senses") and return to God, we are greeted with forgiveness and feasting. Even more, at our heavenly Father's Feast we aren't simply welcomed back as the sons and daughters we were, but we are transformed into more perfect sons and daughters sharing in divine life, We feast on much more than a fattened calf; the Feast to which we are invited is nothing less than the Body and Blood of the Son. Receiving God´s forgiveness and mercy, and offering the same to one another, is how we pass from Wednesday ashes to Easter feasting.”
— Living Liturgy for The Fourth Sunday in Lent, – Living Liturgy, 2009, p. 80.

• “We humans tend to act out of a "contractual" frame of mind, that is, we give with expectations of equal return. For example, an expensive gift requires an expensive gift in return; or if we invite friends to dinner, we expect to be invited back. Forgiveness and mercy, however, must arise from a very different frame of mind because they are purely gratuitous. The embrace of the merciful father is undeserved yet fully and freely given.
• While traditionally this parable is called "The Prodigal Son," in fact it is about a prodi gal father. It is the father who first reaches out and then puts aside all convention and lavishly receives the son back into the family. This is how God acts toward us.
• Coming to understand mercy and forgiveness from God's perspective changes our at titude toward ourselves and others. We become able to accept ourselves and others as weak, limited, even sinful. This acceptance enables us to relate differently. We move from "contractual" eye-for-an-eye dealings with one another to imitation of God's gratuitous self-giving. Jesus modeled perfectly for us this kind of forgiveness by eating with sinners and through his answer to the Pharisees and scribes.”

Fourth Sunday of Lent
“Saint Paul makes plain today´s point: "God has reconciled us to himself through Christ... We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God... Whoever is in Christ is a new creation." What is it that finally moves the prodigal son to return home? His hunger. In the experience of being without, he becomes aware of the "something more" that can save him: his father's house. Certain that his father will feed him just as he feeds any of his household servants, the son sets out to be saved. He goes hoping for scraps of manna, yet he is received like the Israelites into the Promised Land where he is set before a feast. The "hunger" of what remains unreconciled in us is what leads us back to the Father. Dressed in the effects of the Father´s own authority, we "become the righteousness of God." If the second scrutiny in preparation for the baptism of adults takes place today, the proper ritual prayers and intercessions may be used.”

— Magnificat, Vol 11, No. 14, March 2010, Pp. 187.

REFLECTION
“On the Fourth Sunday of Lent, the story of the man born blind is read wherever there are elect preparing for Baptism. The Church wants those who are about to receive the new life of Baptism to see themselves in the man born blind. His healing is clearly sacramental-Jesus anoints him, speaks words of healing to him, and sends him to wash in water.
After his healing, the man born blind not only sees, he becomes a fearless witness to the Lord who healed him, even to the point of suffering for his sake. The Church prays that the elect, freed from whatever darkness oppresses and blinds them, will likewise become Christ's witnesses in the world.”
— Daily Prayer, 2010
P. 106. –

ORIENTATION FOR PRAYER:
“We praise and glorify you, O loving God, for the bread received in abundance whenever we turn to you. By your Spirit we rejoice in the celebration of the feast, for we were dead and now have come to life again.”

Read in Scripture:

the mercy of God (Exod 33:18-34:9; Deut 4:29-40; Hos 11:1-11; Luke 5:27-32; 15:3-7; 19:1-10; Acts 11:1-18);
table fellowship (Luke 5:30; 7:34; 14:12-24; 15:2; 19:7; 23:40-43).

REFLECTION:
“The Roman Catholic view of the worship event presupposes a definitive cosmology that blends with its theology of the Incarnation and of the Church.
In this cosmology all things are regarded as holy since they issue from the Creator, God. When human beings tread creation, they do so aware that they are themselves creatures and that they walk on holy ground. Their use of creation does not make them its source. Their use of it must therefore always be reverent, respectful, and not a little reticent. Even human symbols of sacredness must be applied to creation with care, lest the unwary be seduced into assuming that the symbol, a human product, can substitute for that holiness of which God alone is the source. Idolatry is a fraud and a distraction, not an insight nor a virtue.
Theologically the Roman Catholic Church views Jesus Christ as the incarnate Son of God, who locks divinity and humanity together perfectly in His own Person. Through His human nature creation reaches its apogee, and humanity is restored to that equilibrium with Creator and creation which was and is maimed by sin. Furthermore, Christ's active, living, presence continues in history in the community of his faithful ones, the Church, which he fills with His presence. Christ in His Church is the servant of restored cosmic equilibrium, of salvation, in space and time. This is what those who strive to be faithful in Him celebrate and pray for in all their acts of liturgical worship. They celebrate the world made new; they pray for their own and all people's life within it.”

— Aidan Kavanagh, Liturgical Vesture in the Roman Catholic Tradition, Raiment for the Lord's Service: A Thousand Years of Western Vestments, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1975, p. 14
— Saint Andrew Bible Missal, 1975, P. 247.–

“The first verse of today´s II Corinthians reading isn´t just the key to understanding our other two biblical passages, it´s the key to understanding what it means to be another Christ. "Brothers and sisters, whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold new things have come."
Almost always when Paul employs the title "Christ" he´s speaking about the risen Jesus, not the historical Jesus. According to the Apostle´s theology, the reforming Jewish carpenter from Capernaum became someone completely new and unique on Easter Sunday morning. At one minute before 3 PM on Good Friday, Jesus was still a free, Jewish man. But as Paul states in chapter three of Galatians, once God raised Jesus from the dead, this new creation became just as much a slave as free, as much a Gentile as a Jew, and as much a woman as a man. Reality as we experienced it was turned upside down. Not only was the person of Jesus new, but those who worked at becoming one with Christ were also new. The old categories by which we´re identified and limited no longer apply. Jesus and all Christians have stepped into a new world, we´ve begun to experience a new form of existence.
This wasn´t the first time God´s followers had gone through drastic changes. The author of Joshua refers to one of these life-altering moments in our first reading. Once the Israelites crossed the Jordan after their 40-year trek in the wilderness, they were expected to relate to Yahweh, one another and their surroundings in a new way. They were now in the Promised Land, no longer involved in the greatest moment of Jewish history: the Exodus. At this point in their salvation history, that liberating event was to be commemorated and brought to life in the yearly feast of Passover. Since the manna stopped, they now had to take care of themselves by working the land Yahweh led them to. From that moment on, things were different.
Yet the new creation Paul speaks about is a much more radical change than anything the former runaway–slaves experienced. Our Christian newness goes to the very heart of who we are. We aren´t expected to change our geography or enter a cloistered convent or monastery to surface it. We only discover this newness when we change the way we relate to everyone and everything around us. Reflecting on Galatians 3, author Michael Crosby once remarked, "It took the church at least 50 years to break down the distinctions between Jew and Gentile; almost 1,800 years to erase the barriers between slave and free; and we´re still working on dismantling the wall between men and women."
Even before his resurrection, Jesus refers to this unique change of thought and behavior in one of his best-known parables. The prodigal father´s forgiving attitude to his prodigal son is part of the radical frame of mind all Jesus´ followers are expected to develop.
It´s essential to notice how Luke begins this pericope. The Pharisees and Scribes remind the crowd, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." They, like the father´s older son, have no problem welcoming such outcast back into the fold as long as they jump through the proper hoops and be forever classified as "repentant sinners." Yet Jesus shows how a loving parent is never limited by such "normal" procedures of reconciliation when dealing with a wayward child. The sinner returns with all the privileges and status which those who have never "left" enjoy.
Those who become new creations will strive to make such a forgiving frame of mind their own. Certainly not the way "normal" people are expected to act. But it´s the only way to create a new "normal" in a world that has accepted the old creation for far too long.”

“David Gibson, author of The Coming Catholic Church (HarperSanFrancisco, 2003), has written an excellent piece on the American Catholic theologian David Tracy in the January 29th issue of Commonweal. It is entitled "God Obsessed: David Tracy´s Theological Quest."
Although I have not seen him in several years, I have always regarded David Tracy as a friend, having first met him many years ago when I was doing doctoral studies in Rome during the Second Vatican Council and he was a seminarian (for the diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut) at the North American College.
Given its subject, Gibson´s Commonweal article is remarkably clear and can serve as a useful introduction to David Tracy for those who are understandably uncertain or even unaware of who he is. I say "understandably" because Tracy hasn´t published a major book in some twenty years, and his theological work has, for the most part, not found its way onto the Vatican´s radar screen.
Why not? Because as one adviser to the U.S. Catholic bishops put it back in the 1980s, like many others the Vatican cannot fathom what Tracy is saying. His writings have never touched upon such toxic subjects as church authority or sexual morality, and so have not been regarded as controversial or dangerous to the faith.
At the time, the U.S. Bishops´ Committee on Doctrine was investigating another U.S. Catholic theologian, who was warned by at least a couple of bishop-members of the committee that his problem was that, unlike Tracy, he wrote too clearly. People could actually understand what he was driving at.
According to David Gibson´s article, this frequently mentioned observation about Tracy´s dense writing style elicits a "wounded" reaction from him. "I don´t think I´m that obscure," he insists.
But the main point of the Commonweal article is to focus on the central issue not only for Tracy´s theology but for all of theology, namely, the problem of God and of the possibility of belief in God.
Although now retired from his long-time teaching position at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago, Tracy is working on his so-called "Big Book," a projected multi-volume treatise on God, which Gibson refers to as "the most celebrated case of delayed publication in theology today."
Tracy has consistently followed a "method of critical correlation." It is a slight modification of the great Protestant theologian Paul Tillich´s (d. 1965) "method of correlation." Tracy wishes to maintain a dialectical balance between the demands of the Christian tradition and the questions posed by what he calls the postmodern world.
Some of Tracy´s critics have erroneously charged that he yields ground on the demands of the Christian tradition in favor of the concerns expressed by the world of science.
But Tracy insists that his yet-unpublished book about the problem of God "has taken him more deeply into the Christian tradition and more extensively into other religious traditions."
For him, the "overwhelming issue"" facing us today is "massive global suffering." Consequently, he has come to focus less on the "analogical imagination" (the title of his 1981 book) than on the inaccessibility of God.
David Gibson describes Tracy as "riveted by the silence of God." The problem his fellow theologians have created, Tracy believes, is that too many of them have "an obsession with content," with the result that the content "has drowned out the silence." Making doctrine central to theology has been "disastrous," he declares.
He is convinced that "theologians must reestablish the connection between spirituality and theology that was severed by medieval Scholasticism."
Before Vatican II, Tracy points out, "Spirituality became something you do after you do your theology." I can testify from personal experience that this was, in fact, the operative assumption of much pre-conciliar seminary theology.
Theology, he continues, "is not about supplying answers that cannot be questioned," but rather is judged by "the questions it asks." In the final analysis, theology is a work of mysticism rather than of logic.
What, then, is the "take-away" from David Gibson´s article?
That Catholic theology must always pay adequate attention to both the Christian tradition and the questions posed by the so-called postmodern world.
That Catholic theology must be attentive to massive global suffering, even though it will only deepen our sense of the inaccessibility of God.
That Catholic theology, as Tracy himself insists, must be "riveted" by the silence of God, and not speak, write, or act as if we have a direct, static-free pipeline to God and to the divine will.
And that Catholic theology must always ground itself in an authentic spirituality, not its many counterfeits, which are simply expressions of an arid, lifeless devotionalism.”

"Reclaiming Catholicism"
ESSAYS IN THEOLOGY
By Rev. Richard P. McBrien, Week of February 22, 2010

“There is a new book out, entitled Reclaiming Catholicism (Orbis Books) and edited by my friend and former colleague at Boston College, Thomas Groome, chair of its Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry, and by Michael Daley, religion teacher at St. Xavier High in Cincinnati.
Perhaps the book will help younger Catholics to better understand and appreciate Catholicism´s roots in the pre-Vatican II era, and older Catholics to recall the spiritual assets that contributed to their own religious formation.
Individual books, however, usually have limited impact, and I suspect that Reclaiming Catholicism will be no exception.
Nevertheless, one hopes that younger and older Catholics alike will find something of value in this one.
A sampling of the contributors and their entries yields such a hope: "Studying the Bible, Then and Now," by Sr. Diane Bergant, C.S.A.; "The Humbling of the Priesthood," by Fr. Donald Cozzens; "The Pre-Vatican II Church and Women," by Susan Ross; and "Sin: ‘Don´t Lose All That Old-Time Catholic Guilt,’" by Fr. Charles Curran.
There are also entries on major Catholic personalities of the pre-Vatican II period: John Courtney Murray, S.J., Teilhard de Chardin, S.J., Thomas Merton, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Msgr. John Tracy Ellis, Mary Perkins Ryan, Sr. Marie Augusta Neal, S.N.D., Dorothy Day, Sr. Mary Luke Tobin, S.L., and Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C., who, like some others, straddles both sides of the conciliar divide.
There are also entries on the Baltimore Catechism, Catholic schools, contraception, Confession, the Rosary, and even the Legion of Decency.
Full disclosure: I contributed two entries to the collection. The first is on the Church, before and after Vatican II, and the second is on Fr. Hesburgh, president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame, where I continue to teach.
I believe that the book´s appearance is timely, if for no other reason than that it might prove helpful to Catholics who are currently discouraged and demoralized about the state of their Church.
By way of example, I received two e-mails in the past few days alone that reflect the pain suffered needlessly by so many good Catholics. I say "needlessly" because, with a higher quality of leadership, especially at the episcopal level, many of the Church´s problems would not exist.
A few weeks ago, prompted by the newly-released film "Invictus," this column pointed to the example of Nelson Mandela, elected to the presidency of South Africa after spending the greater part of 27 years as a political prisoner in that country.
Rather than seize the opportunity to "get even" with his long-time tormentors in the Afrikaner-dominated government, Mandela used the reins of power to heal his nation´s divisions and bring whites and blacks together.
That is the challenge of real leadership: to unite rather than to divide, to make a fractured country into a community. It only requires a short step to apply the lessons of Mandela´s leadership in South Africa to papal and episcopal leadership in the Catholic Church.
Enlightened leadership was exercised in the relatively brief pontificate of John XXIII, and it was also exercised by so many of the bishops of the same time and since: Bernard Alfrink of The Netherlands, Leo-Jozef Suenens of Belgium, Joseph Bernardin of Chicago–to cite only three examples.
Why did the high promise of the Second Vatican Council give way to the doldrums experienced by so many active and committed Catholics today?
One e-mail correspondent informed me that he had resigned from his parish council and that he and his wife had decided to leave the parish to which they had belonged for many years to take up membership in a downtown parish effectively staffed by a religious community.
When my correspondent lectored for the last time at his long-time parish, his judgment, he said, was confirmed. The new associate pastor preached what my correspondent considered a divisive homily that derided the religious education of the past 30-40 years and denounced what he called "cafeteria" Catholics.
It was, in the judgment of this demoralized Catholic, "a poorly veiled condemnation of Vatican II." It was something to which he wanted to be subjected no longer.
The second e-mail came from a fellow priest, who was appalled by a statement attributed to one of our bishops as he joined other bishops in opposing same-sex civil unions legislation.
The bishop asserted that "not all discrimination is unjust. Some is quite justified because it is based on reality and truth"–namely, that gays and lesbians are nothing more than perverts, who deserve no protection from the law?
If Nelson Mandela had followed the example of some of our priests and bishops, one wonders where South Africa would be today.”

"The New Roman Missal"
ESSAYS IN THEOLOGY
By Rev. Richard P. McBrien, Week of February 15, 2010

“Father Michael Ryan has been pastor of St. James Cathedral in Seattle since 1988. His recent article in America magazine, "What If We Said, ‘Wait’?: The case for a grass-roots review of the new Roman Missal" (December 14, 2009), has evoked a heavy and largely positive response. By the latter part of January, well over 12,000 people had submitted signatures in support of Father Ryan´s efforts.
In a letter dated December 3rd, Father Ryan shared some of the background and motivation for his America article. "For some time, as I´ve followed...the bishops´ debates, read many of the new texts, discussed them with brother priests, and visited about them with people in the pews, I´ve become aware of how difficult it´s going to be to ‘sell’ ordinary, faithful, good Catholics on the new, Latinized translations of the Missal. And with good reason because some of them are so bad and the principles underlying the translations are so questionable.
"And that´s not all. I´m more than troubled when I realize that it´s almost exclusively the pastors of this country who will be saddled with the task of getting people to understand why they are getting new translations and why the translations will be better than what they´re used to: better for their prayer life and better for the Church. To put it as succinctly as possible, if I haven´t been able to sell myself on this, how will I ever successfully sell it to the people I served!"
At the beginning of his article Father Ryan recalls, as a seminarian at the North American College in Rome, that he was in St. Peter´s Square in early December 1963 when Pope Paul VI and his brother bishops presented the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, which the Second Vatican Council had just approved and which the Pope officially promulgated.
The constitution had passed overwhelmingly: 2,147 to 4. It was not the product of a small group of "hijackers" who had somehow won over a bare majority of unsuspecting council fathers. On the contrary, the constitution had virtually unanimous support.
"Not in my wildest dreams," Father Ryan writes, "would it have occurred to me then that I would live to witness what seems more and more like the systematic dismantling of the great vision of the council´s decree. But I have. We Catholics have." He thinks that the Vatican´s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has "raised rubricism to an art form." He also references the so-called Tridentine Mass, recently reinstated in spite of the fact that Pope Paul VI explicitly mandated that there not be two separate liturgies in the Roman Rite.
Father Ryan sees the present moment as "one more assault on the council and, sadly, one more blow to episcopal collegiality." He reminds his readers that Vatican II had given to each conference of bishops the authority to produce its own translations of the Mass texts.
To be sure, these translations were to be approved by the Holy See, "but not, presumably, to be initiated, nitpicked and controlled by it."
"It is true that the church could gain some credibility by giving us more beautiful translations, but clumsy is not beautiful, and precious is not prayerful."
The reactions of both small and large groups of Catholics, when actually presented with samples of the new translations, run the gamut from laughter to outrage. Father Ryan predicts that, when and if these new translations are eventually imposed upon parishes throughout the English-speaking world, there will be "an almost certain fiasco."
What to do, therefore? Father Ryan urges pastors to mobilize and ask their bishops to hold off on the implementation of the new translations until they can be carefully road-tested. As of now, however, the bishops seem to be weary of the whole matter.
If the bishops have nearly given up, what about the priests? Does obedience to the bishops mean that priests must be complicit in something they are convinced is pastorally wrongheaded?
Father Ryan urges pastors, pastoral councils, liturgical commissions, and presbyteral councils to appeal to the bishops for a time of reflection and consultation, including some careful market-testing of the new translations in selected parishes and regions. Only after that should we move forward.
Father Ryan also asks those who agree with him to log on to the Web site: http://www.whatifwejustsaidwait.org. "If our bishops know the depth of our concern," he writes, "perhaps they will not feel so alone."
One hopes that he is right.”

“Ash Wednesday, which begins the season of Lent, is observed this year on Wednesday, the 17th of this month.
The word "Lent" is derived from an old English word which means "springtime." The Latin adverb lente means "slowly." On the basis of etymology alone, Lent signals the onset of spring and invites us, at the same time, to slow down our usual pace of activity and to take stock of our lives.
But Lent obviously means much more than the coming of spring. Indeed, in the Southern Hemisphere it is fall, not spring, that is on the way. The etymology of the word offers one approach to disclosing the point and purpose of Lent. The liturgical route provides another, more productive path. The season of Lent is, in the final accounting, a preparation for Easter. Members of the Church prepare for the renewal of their baptismal vows at the Easter Vigil and for the annual celebration of the greatest of Christian feasts. Catechumens, on the other hand, prepare for Baptism and their full initiation into the Church.
However, the name "catechumen" would eventually lose its significance, and by the Middle Ages the catechumenate, for all practical purposes, no longer existed.
During the first three centuries, most Christians prepared for Easter by fasting for only two or three days. But by the fourth century this pre-Easter fast developed into our now-established Lent of forty days. Nevertheless, it was still viewed as a preparation for Easter and the baptism of new Christians.
Beginning in the fifth and sixth centuries, as the number of adult baptisms sharply declined in relation to the baptism of infants, the need to prepare adults for Baptism at the Easter Vigil receded.
Lent was gradually transformed into a time of prayer and penance, modeled on a forty-day, post-Epiphany fast popular among monks, in imitation of the fasting and penance practiced by Jesus during his forty days in the desert.
Then with the liturgical renewal advanced by Pope Pius XII´s restoration of the rites of Holy Week in 1956 and by the Second Vatican Council´s retrieval of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), Lent, on the one hand, and Baptism and Easter, on the other, were happily re-connected.
Once again, Lent came to be seen and experienced as a season in preparation for Easter–preparation not just for individuals, but for the whole community of faith.
With the restored RCIA, Lent served anew as the "home stretch," as it were, of the long process of the initiation of new converts into full membership in the Church.
On the First Sunday of Lent there is the formal enrollment of the names of the catechumens, known also as the rite of election. This rite ratifies the catechumens´ readiness for the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist) and provides an opportunity for them to express their desire to receive these sacraments.
There follows a period of purification and enlightenment, embracing the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent, in which catechumens are encouraged to purify their minds and hearts from temptation and sin, and to deepen their union with Christ.
The climax of this process is reached at the Easter Vigil, but it does not end there. A "suitable period" of post-baptismal catechesis, known as mystagogy (which is derived from a Greek word, meaning "to teach a doctrine," or "to instruct into the mysteries"), continues the new convert´s instruction of the Christian moral life, the sacraments, the Trinity, and prayer.
Although it has been over 40 years since the restoration of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and over 50 years since the reform of the Holy Week liturgies, there are still many Catholics who continue to regard Lent in less liturgically appropriate ways.
For these Catholics, Lent remains a season devoted to prayer and penance (surely good and holy things in themselves), but without explicit reference to Baptism, to the Easter Vigil, or to their own responsibility for nurturing the faith-development of new Christians, including their active participation in the Church´s sacramental and ministerial life.
For many, Lent is still primarily, if not exclusively, a time for personal asceticism and private devotions: giving up things like candy, movies, and hand-held games, or attending daily Mass, as if the Mass itself were a private devotion, like Stations of the Cross.
The Eucharist is a communal celebration, not a penance. It is the center of the Church´s entire life, including the season that is about to begin.
Just as Lent is directed toward Baptism and Easter, so Baptism and Easter are directed always toward the Eucharist, the heart of everything the Church does.”

“Pope Benedict XVI declared this a "Year for Priests," beginning on June 19th, the feast of the Sacred Heart, and ending next June with an international gathering of priests in Rome. The Pope named St. Jean Vianney, the Curé d´Ars, as universal patron of priests to mark the 150th anniversary of his death.
As part of the year-long observance there will be an international priests´ retreat in Ars, France, sponsored by the Vatican´s Congregation for the Clergy, from September 27th to October 3rd, and a symposium on the "faithfulness" of priests at The Catholic University of America on October 6th and 7th.
Undoubtedly, the pious thing for most priests to do is to get fully into the spirit of this "Year for Priests" and for lay people to renew their appreciation for the good work that so many priests have done and continue to do in the life of the Church.
But there is a more realistic dimension to this "Year for Priests," and it is one that never sees the light of day in most of the diocesan papers in the United States and Canada because bishops will not permit any discordant opinions to be expressed.
One such voice, that of a priest ordained almost 40 years, has expressed the views of fellow priests–not all, perhaps not even most, but definitely many.
Apart from this week´s column, his views and theirs have heretofore not been heard, much less taken into serious account by the Vatican or by many bishops in this "Year for Priests."
My priest-correspondent has identified ten issues that priests need help in facing–help that will not be forthcoming at symposia on the "faithfulness" of priests, nor at international retreats in France.
1. The shortage of diocesan priests cannot be addressed by band-aid solutions, like inviting priests from foreign countries to engage in sacramental ministry in dioceses with sharply declining numbers of domestic vocations. There needs to be a public discussion, involving priests themselves, concerning obligatory celibacy and its pastoral ramifications.
2. Many priests do not perceive themselves to be close collaborators with their bishops, as Vatican II envisioned them to be (Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests, n. 7). Too few bishops reach out to their priests to ask for their honest opinions about anything that seriously affects the life of the Church and the priesthood.
3. Many diocesan priests still feel betrayed by their bishops with the passage in 2002 of the Dallas Charter. Priests who have been accused by anyone of any sexual impropriety whatever with minors have been summarily removed from the active ministry. At the same time, no bishop, other than one cardinal-archbishop, has been forced to resign because of his mishandling of the sexual-abuse scandal.
4. There is a growing rift between so-called "Vatican II priests" and so-called "John Paul II priests," which is painfully evident in some dioceses when priests gather for the Eucharist at retreats and other diocesan events.
5. There is a concomitant return to clericalism in the priesthood, involving not only a fascination with cassocks and birettas and a preference for antiquated vestments and devotions, but also a negative, censorious tone to preaching and a cavalier dismissal of consultative structures that are supposed to be in place in every parish.
6. At the same time, the Vatican and the bishops have failed to address concerns raised by the disproportionate number of gays in seminaries and the priesthood, including also the hierarchy. It is the elephant in the living room, as pointed out almost ten years ago in Father Donald Cozzens´s The Changing Face of the Priesthood. Yet how many priests´ retreats and clergy conferences have used that book as a basis for discussion?
7. There has been a substantial attrition of Catholics–women, gays and lesbians, divorced people, critics of official teachings on sexuality and reproduction—from active membership in the Church, to the point where fully one-tenth of the U.S. population now consists of ex-Catholics. What is being done about it?
8. Resigned priests are treated like traitors. To be sure, some bishops welcome them back at clergy reunions, but others boycott such gatherings as a sign of their contempt.
9. Appointments to the hierarchy since the pontificate of Paul VI have been of a certain type. Those who do not fit the official profile are excluded from consideration or are harassed by Vatican officials if they are already bishops.
10. So many senior priests say to their friends, "I can´t wait for retirement." Why this sense of discouragement over the present state of the Church, bordering sometimes on hopelessness?
Alternate thoughts for this "Year for Priests."”

FOR THE CHURCH

FOR THE WORLD

FOR THOSE OPPRESSED, AFFLICTED OR IN NEED

FOR THE NEEDS OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY

FOR THE CHRISTIAN ASSEMBLY

FOR THE SICK

FOR THE DECEASED

FOR INDIVIDUAL INTENTIONS

1. That the Church be a source of living water for all people,
2. For all the Elect: that they may reflect upon their lives and allow God more fully into their hearts this Lent,
3. For the people of Chile and Haiti: that God will help them rebuild their lives, comfort those who mourn, and speed assistance to those in need,
4. That our Girl Scouts may be an example for all of us for living our faith in service to God, our country, and each other,
5. That we will share our gifts of life and spirit with those suffering from mental or physical illness, or from old age, especially
6. When death takes from our midst those we love, may our faith in God's abounding compassion bring us consolation, We especially remember

Catholic Faith, American Freedom

“The dialogue between Catholic faith and American culture...
begins in the heart of every American Catholic who loves
both faith and country....” – Cardinal Francis George

Theology for
a God-centered Life

The Pearl of Great Price: The Kingdom of God – The search for the will of our God who loves us. This leads us to look always for the greatest possible good which is the will of God who loves us... a life-long pursuit. The Kingdom of God is not the church which needs to lead us to the will of God... to assist us in remembering God's presence in Christ and His Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

Prayer For Peace
To Mary, The Light of Hope
Pope John Paul II

“Immaculate Heart of Mary, help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today, and whose immeasurable effects already weigh down upon our modern world and seem to block the paths toward the future.
From famine and war, deliver us.
From nuclear war, from incalculable self-destruction, from every kind of war, deliver us.
From sins against human life from its very beginning, deliver us.
From hatred and from the demeaning of the dignity of the children of God, deliver us.
From every kind of injustice in the life of society, both national and international, deliver us.
From readiness to trample on the commandments of God, deliver us.
From attempts to stifle in human hearts the very truth of God, deliver us.
From the loss of awareness of good and evil, deliver us.
From sins against the Holy Spirit, deliver us.
Accept, 0 Mother of Christ,
this cry laden with the sufferings of all individual human beings, laden with the sufferings of whole societies.
Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit conquer all sin: individual sin and the "sin of the world," sin in all its manifestations.
Let there be revealed once more in the history of the world the infinite saving power of the redemption:
the power of merciful love.
May it put a stop to evil.
May it transform consciences.
May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope. Amen.”

Muslim, Jewish, Christian Prayer for Peace

“O God, you are the. Source of life and peace.
Praised be your name forever.
We know it is you who turn our minds to thoughts of peace.
Hear our grayer in this time of war.
Your power changes hearts.

Muslims, Christians, and Jews remember, and profoundly affirm,
they are followers of the one God,
children of Abraham, brothers and sisters;
enemies begin to speak to one another;
those who were estranged join hands in friendship;
nations seek the way of peace together.
Strengthen our resolve to give witness to these truths
by the way we live. Give to us:

Understanding that puts an end to strife;
Mercy that quenches hatred, and
Forgiveness that overcomes vengeance.
Empower all people to live in your law of Love. Amen.”

Prayer of John XXIII, Vatican II

From the Document, Laity In The Church, Fromthe Second Vatican Council:

No matter what your condition of life,
no matter who you are
or what you do,
Christ is calling you to be holy.
In fact, the Spirit is even now
moving you interiorly
to love God more deeply
and serve God more fully.
We have been made sons and daughters of God
through baptism
and now we share in the divine life.
This means that we are truly made holy,
we are truly called to live accordingly.
We are among the saints,
God's chosen ones,
beloved of God,
called to be meek,
to be kind,
and to be loving.
God's mercy is upon us. Amen. (Article 40)

Prayer to Christ the Healer

“In the comfort of your love,
I pour out to you, my Savior, The memories that haunt me,
The anxieties that perplex me, The fears that stifle me,
The sickness that prevails upon me,
And the frustration of all the pain that weaves about within me.
Lord, help me to see your peace in my turmoil,
your compassion in my sorrow,
your forgiveness in my weakness,
And, your love in my need.
Touch me, 0 Lord, with your healing power and strength.”

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MILLENNIUM III,
Year X, 2010

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