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Intercessory Petitions Chosen for
"The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time" – January 29, 2012

May all who speak in the name of Christ, especially Pope Benedict and the bishops,
announce the prophetic word of God's peace;

For all who exercise earthly authority: that they may use that authority as Jesus did,
to free, to heal, and to protect those they lead;

That during this Catholic Schools Week, our parish school
will lovingly continue to form our children in the fullness of Christ’s truth;

Almighty God, as our parish celebrates the Year of Prayer,
help us to open our hearts to your presence as we go about our daily lives;

For those who are sick and suffering: may they receive healing
through those who bring them the presence of Jesus. We pray especially for

That, with every unclean spirit cast out, our faithful departed
may be led into the presence of the Holy One of God, especially

—St. Andrew Bible Missal, Benedictine Abbey, Brepols, ©1982
William J.Hirten Co. Inc. Brooklyn, NY

—Prayers For Sundays and Seasons, Year C, ©2001

Liturgy Training Publications,

—Prayer of the Faithful 2010, ©2009, Oregon Catholic Press,

5536 NE Hassalo, Portland, OR 97213, www.ocp.org.

—The Prayer of the Faithful for Weekdays, ©1985

Colour Books Ltd, Baldoyle, Dublin, 13, Ireland.

—Liturgy – www.faithcatholic.com, Lansing, MI

—[Commentary and General Intercessions, Sundays and Weekday Masses, ©2009,

Liturgical Commission Publishings, Diocese of Lansing, P.O.Box 26006,Lansing, MI 48909]

—Living Liturgy, Sundays & Solemnities, Year C, 2010 ©2009,

The Order of St. Benedict, Inc, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321.

—The Collegeville Prayer Of The Faithful Annual for Years A, B, & C,

©2009, The Order of St. Benedict, Inc, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321.

—Leading Intercessions, ©John Pritchard, 2004

Published in USA by Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN 56321-7500

—Stewardship Alive, Office of Stewardship Development,

Archdiocese of St. Louis, Fall 2010.

—Themes, Prayers, & Intercessions, Cycle C,
©1973, World Library Publications, INC.

—Graciously Hear Us, Neil J. Draves-Arpaia, ©1998,

Ave Maria Press, Inc., Notre Dame, IN 46556.

—Come Light Our Hearts, Neil J. Draves-Arpaia, ©1999

Ave Maria Press, Inc., Notre Dame, IN 46556.

—Daily Prayer 2010, ©2009 Liturgy Training Publications, P.397

—Magnificat USA LLC, ©July 2010; www.magnificat.net

—The Prayer of the Faithful for Sundays & Solemnities, Cycles A,B,C.
©1977, Pueblo Publishing Company, New York

—Intercessions for The Christian People,
© 1988; Pueblo Publishing Company, New York

—Together We Pray, by Robert Borg, © 1993; Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN

—The Order Of Prayer In The Liturgy Of The Hours And Celebration Of The

Eucharist 2010, ©Paulist Press Ordo.

To Sing at Mass or To Sing the Mass?
To Sing at Mass or To Sing the Mass?
“"The one who loves, sings." This quote from St. Augustine both invites our reflection and hopefully captures our own experiences of how music and singing has the power to uplift us, such as in experiences of songs "in our head" in times of peace and joy, and love from daily life (whether we sing well or think that we can't carry a tune in a bucket!") apply also to our invitation to encounter God more fully in the liturgy of the Church in song.
Throughout the life of the Church, singing has been given great attention and status as a way to more properly worship God. An ancient expression (which at times has also been attributed to St. Augustine, though we do not know for sure) is that "one who sings well prays twice," expressing how prayer is doubly effective when it is sung. As far back as the 5th century we have written musical scores of prayers (primarily the Psalms) that would have been used in monasteries to pray and give praise to God. These settings, which serve as part of the Church's patrimony that would later become more properly called "chant," show that singing and worship truly go hand in hand. Music in the liturgy of ancient times was never thought of as something "extra" or added on to prayer. Singing is at the very core of how the Church ought to pray.
The new translation of the Roman Missal will necessarily require that new settings for liturgical music be produced. Familiar acclamations or hymns, such as the "Memorial Acclamation" (the verse that we sing after the words "Let us proclaim the mystery of faith") and the "Glory to God," have significantly new structure and wording in places. In addition, there are clearer directives in later articles on these particular parts of the Mass.
Given the changes in the words, and thus, the need for new music settings, it is once more emphasized that music is not something added on to the prayer - but it is the way we "ought" to pray. In the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, while it is granted that not every word must be sung at every Mass, it is stressed that on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation there should be at least some singing during Mass, with particular preference given to "those [parts] that are of greater importance and especially to those to be sung by the priest or deacon or the lector, with the people responding, or by the priest and people together." In particular, this passage refers to the singing of parts such as the prayers themselves, and the greetings and responses that take place throughout the Mass. Accordingly, the Church holds her own patrimony of chant, and the chant called "Gregorian Chant" as having "pride of place," for it is by way of chant that these particular prayers, greetings, and responses can be sung without the need to change their wording to fit a fixed music melody or tempo. The music and pattern of chant takes its shape instead according to the words themselves - and thus the text itself never has to be altered.
Given this emphasis of singing parts of the Mass itself, truly the Church is inviting us to "sing the Mass," and not merely sing at Mass, as though music and singing is an extra. Hopefully, as we begin using the new translation, all will be open to learning new music, unto learning to sing the Mass itself. For when we sing the Mass, we are opening ourselves to a deeper encounter with the Lord, to whom the Psalms exhort us to sing a new song. Our hearts can be made ready for a deeper joy, causing greater love in the hearts of we who sing, that our prayer may be doubly effective. St. Augustine was correct when he said, "Singing is praying twice."”

Question of the Week...
Why doesn't every parish have the same books for music?
In so many words, the Church in the United States has not limited the publication of resources for liturgy to one publisher. Multiple publishing agencies exist with permission to produce books with hymns, prayer settings, and other resources for use at Mass. While some of the hymns and settings are usually found in every hymnal or missalette, each company has been given the freedom to produce and publish music while maintaining ownership to the rights of such hymns — and hence, they have the ability to produce a unique collection of music. Accordingly, each parish has the opportunity to choose from several approved options.
At this time, a challenging reality is that while some pieces are found in almost all, if not every hymnal, the versions of the words may not always be the same. It is expected in the future that a unified set of hymns and music settings will be published by all publishers as an "American repertoire," while still allowing the publishers the freedom to produce their own unique works.”

Praying the Mass Anew and Responding Well
“"And with your spirit": The new response to the same priests
In preparing to implement the new English translation of the Roman Missal, we once more are reminded that this new translation is more literal to the original Latin, and it seeks to use a more "elevated" or "sacral" style of language, as is fitting for approaching God. These principles in translating along with the intentional use of more traditional language to express the faith of the Church, are likely most obvious in the people's response "And with your spirit," to the priest's (or deacon's) greeting of the people. This change is significant because the simple words "and also with you" that we easily and naturally say are being replaced with words that are not part of our common vocabulary. In addition, this change is noteworthy as these new words of response are frequent, typically used five times during each offering of the Mass. What is behind this new translation? How will it impact our offering of Mass?”

Why "And with your spirit?"
In order to understand such a noticeable change in the response of the people, the best starting point is the Latin version, "et cum spiritutuo." The word "spiritu "is more clearly translated in the new version than in the old - with significant effect on the meaning of the response. In this context, we are not directly speaking of the Holy Spirit (which is clear since the words are directed at the spirit of the ordained minister to whom the response is given). Spiritu refers to what we might call the "source of life" in the person; that which makes the person "who they really are."
Accordingly, to discover the deeper meaning of the words "and with your spirit," we also must understand the basic purpose of the greeting and response. The greetings of the clergy are never meant as simply an exchange of pleasantries. At the beginning of Mass, the greeting "The Lord be with you." (or any other option for the greeting) is given in acknowledging God's presence in the lives of the people, who seek to encounter God more deeply during the Mass. The response of the people seeks to fittingly reply to him who is ordained and the "spirit" that makes him so. It is the "spirit" of ordination that has empowered the priest to give the initial greeting, so that his words of greeting may have a real effect in the lives of those who are greeted. Likewise, this initial greeting, along with the other times the priest (or deacon) greets the people, comes at a moment when he is beginning a direct exercise of the orders he has received. Hence, it is most fitting that the response of the people is not as though they are saying, "the same to you," but to say, "may he be with you in your service to us." Therefore, the response "and with your spirit," goes beyond acknowledging the Lord in the life of the priest or deacon as an individual man, to acknowledging that he is the person of Christ who has come to serve, represented as he is by an unworthy man, through the sacraments of Holy Orders.
Responding Well
In practice, while it may take some time to adjust to a new response that replaces one that is very natural for us to say, it may be helpful to remember the following realities. First of all, whenever the priest or deacon greets the people he gives the greeting not as a function of his own humanity, but according to the Holy Orders that he has received, which is meant to serve and sanctify the people. Second, the greeting itself is meant to have an effect - of making the Lord more properly present in the lives of those who are greeted.
Just as these realities underlie the greetings of the clergy, so the people's response contains a depth of meaning beyond everyday responses to common greetings. The words "and with your spirit," invite the people to respond not merely to another person, but to one given the particular grace to serve them as a priest or deacon in their desire for a deeper encounter with God. Thus, these are words that in their own way acknowledge the presence of God in the priest, who is ordained for the sake of the sanctification of all God's people.
Questions of the Week:
How do other languages translate the response that is given in English as "And with your spirit?"
A not so obvious benefit of the new translation is how the principles of a more literal translation of the Latin and the more faithful use of particular words of the Church's teaching and tradition will be recognizable in comparisons between languages. You can note the similarities here when considering how the original Latin phrase "et cum spiritu tuo. " Is translated in Spanish as "Ycon tu espiritu, " and in Italian as "E con il mio spirito. " The new translation in English as "and with your spirit" more literally translates the Latin in similar manner to these (and other) contemporary languages.

What response should we give during the Sign of Peace?

What response should we give during the Sign of Peace, when my neighbor in the pew says "Peace be with you?"
According to the General Instructions of the Roman Missal, paragraph 154, when the people exchange the Sign of Peace with one another, a person may say, "The peace of the Lord be with you always." The response of one person in the pew to another is "Amen" (and not "And with your spirit.") The reason that lay people do not respond with "And with your spirit" one to another is due to the meaning of the response in relationship to the particular grace of the sacrament of Holy Orders, present to the ordained. To say "Amen" to the other person among the laity is to acknowledge their words according to the understanding of that word as "so be it," with a sense of the same peace of Christ dwelling already in the one who has given that greeting. These differences in response allow for the legitimate distinction between the ordained and the laity to be expressed on the level of how each authentically participates in the Mass. Monsignor Jack”

THE AMBRY, OTHER THINGS OF THE ALTAR

The Ambry…things of the church
The word ambry is derived from the Latin amarium (cupboard or chest) and signifies the place where the vessels of oil used in celebrating sacraments are kept. These oils are blessed by the archbishop at the Mass of Chrism celebrated during Holy Week and are brought to each parish church for the various rites of anointing. The three oils signify the universal charisms of the Church for initiating (oil of catechumens), healing (oil of the sick) and consecrating (chrism).

As early as the sixth century, ambries were used to hold consecrated communion bread as well as the oils, and were often located in the base of the altar. By the thirteenth century, separate locked ambries were used for the Eucharist only. This was an accepted practice by the sixteenth century, when this separate container was called a tabernacle. In the meantime, smaller amounts of the oils were stored in the sacristy, or in a simple wall niche or recessed cupboard known as an ambry.

As with all other vessels used in the liturgy today, the vessels for the oils should be of a quality and design that speak of the importance of the ritual actions. The vessels should hold an ample supply of the oils, thus symbolizing the generosity of God’s gift. The gestures of anointing can be performed with similar generosity of touch. The display of beautiful vessels reminds the community of the reverence it gives to its members as they are welcomed in baptism, confirmed in the spirit, and anointed in their illness. To be anointed is to participate in an ancient biblical and ecclesial rite of blessing, and to enter into the mission of Jesus Christ, the anointed one of God.

The tabernacle…the things of the church…again. The word tabernacle derives from the Latin tabernaculum (tent), and recalls the Jewish “meeting tent,” which housed the ark of the covenant and thus embodied the presence of God among the people. In Catholic churches today, the tabernacle houses communion bread ( the Body of Christ) that has been consecrated at the liturgy of the Eucharist, the Mass. The practice of reserving the Eucharist dates back in some places to the earliest days. In the second century, a small amount of consecrated communion bread was placed in an ambry or a pyx, often shaped like a casket or a dove. This vessel was small enough to be carried to the homes of those who were unable to attend the community’s Eucharist. This was the only reason for reservation. Devotion to the reserved Eucharist grew during the Middle Ages when the reception of communion declined. By the sixteenth century, the custom of a fixed container for the reserved Eucharist – the tabernacle as part of the main altar – was in place; in 1614 it became prescribed practice for most places.

The normative guidelines of the Church today indicate that the tabernacle be placed elsewhere than on the altar, and never on the altar used for the liturgy. An appropriate setting would be on a pillar, in a wall niche, on a freestanding table or pedestal near the altar or even in a special chapel set apart from the main sanctuary area. Such a setting lends itself for private devotion of the faithful, too. The tabernacle in its modern setting still recalls the ancient image of a house for the divine presence, and reminds the assembly of those in the parish who are confined to their households, waiting for the ministry of those who have celebrated the Eucharist. The tabernacle is made of noble materials, giving it a quiet dignity as a symbol of an ever-present God. A lamp burns nearby in silent witness of this mystery of the real presence of our God.”

The Church Prays with Attention...The Eucharistic Prayer...Wow!

What a grace before meals!

“It begins when we say that we are lifting our hearts to the Lord. It ends when we say Amen, as we prepare to pray the Lord's Prayer together. In between these are maybe four or five minutes. What happens during this time is the Eucharistic Prayer.. .the central prayer of the Mass. This is when we literally go before the face of God, call down God's Spirit to change the bread and the wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, and to change our hearts and our being, too, to become what we eat, namely, the Body and Blood of Christ for others.
What is to take place after we say we'll lift up our hearts to the Lord? Most of us would answer: "The consecration - when the presider says 'This is my body' and 'This is my blood'." And that is right, but only part of what happens. Why are we to lift up our hearts and to give God thanks and praise? Why involve all of us?
The name of this time in the Mass says it all. This is the Eucharistic Prayer. "Eucharist" becomes a name for the consecrated bread and wine only because it first means something else. It is a Greek word that needs several English words to translate it. It is blessing. It is giving thanks. It is praise.
So in the Eucharistic Prayer, these are the things that the Church is to do - and more besides. The priest is within the church to pronounce this prayer, to lead this prayer. The whole church is there to enter into the prayer, to acclaim all the blessings, thanks and praise that the priest speaks.
What we know from the New Testament about our Eucharistic Prayer is that Jesus would take bread or take wine and give thanks to God. Now we do it in memory of Jesus. What persons have you loved? When you remember them, don't you give thanks?
So the Eucharistic Prayer is filled with thanks for all God's saving deeds, but especially the passion and death and resurrection of Jesus. It is where we name our saints, our pope, and our bishop, and our dead. All the memories come together when we surround the table and pray that these gifts of bread and wine will become for us the Body and Blood of Jesus. If we then call the bread and wine "the Eucharist" it is because we have prayed this Eucharist to God over them.”

What Gets Changed? The Eucharistic Prayer continues...
“A few years ago at a parish in Cleveland, some Catholics were interviewed about going to Mass. One of the questions was: "At Mass, when we pray and sing, when the priest stands at the altar and we pray over the bread and wine, when we come to holy communion, what gets changed?"
One middle-aged man named Sam answered quick as a wink and spoke straight from his heart: "What gets changed? Sam! Sam gets changed."
Now that man, whether he realized it or not, knew the Church's theology deep down in his being. He had experience – not just book learning – of the Church's theology of the Eucharist. During the Eucharistic Prayer there is a section referred to as the epiclesis, a Greek word meaning "the calling down of the Spirit" upon the gifts of bread and wine. The priest prays, "Lord, let your spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy, so that they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ." The priest is also praying to the Father that not only these gifts of bread and wine but also may we become the Body and Blood of Christ, too, may we become what we eat and drink and then may we go out and make a difference in the world.
At our baptism, we put on Christ. We died, we renounced, we turned our backs on whole ways of life. If we were baptized as infants, then our parents meant us to enter on such a Catholic life. At baptism, whether as an infant or an adult, the people already baptized took us into a home. And in that home we do the things that Catholics do, we try to live with others the way the gospels and our saints show us. We try to be one of those to whom the Lord will say: "I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink, in prison and you visited me."
Baptism got us into this house, this Catholic house. Sunday Eucharist trains us in the life and language and loving deeds of Catholics. It gets us around that table where from the first generation of Christians we've been gathered to give God thanks over bread and wine. Doing that again and again changed Sam. Little by little, it changes us all. The most sacred mystery of the Eucharist is that this bread and wine become for us the Body and Blood of Christ. The most sacred mystery of the Eucharist is that we, slackers and sinners all, become the Body and Blood of Christ. So what gets changed? Sam and Julie and Jack and all of us believers... get changed.”

Remember the rules of hospitality at Mass: Come to Mass early enough not to disrupt. Leave late enough not to insult. (The Mass does not end until the final blessing.) Worship reverently enough not to distract. And dress proudly enough not to offend.

“We refer to our arrival in the church before the celebration as "the gathering rite." Most of us think of it as the moment when we meet and greet our brothers and sisters in Christ early in the liturgy. But we can think of it as a rite that begins much earlier: Even as we arrive on church grounds and get out of our cars in the parking lot, as we greet and talk with the others about the weather or about which of our children caught the chickenpox -the gathering rite is in motion. Even earlier, roused from our sleep, we have begun to gather our wits and collect our thoughts and intentions. Hauled from our beds, we have migrated from all directions to form this gathering. For we are hungry to break the bread that is Christ's body and share the cup of our salvation.
The gathering rite is our invitation to hone our awareness of this migration we make on Sunday morning. And, more importantly, it is not separate from the Mass but integral with the Mass, too. The gathering together is really how the Church got its name. The Latin word, ecclesia, officially can be translated as "The Gathering Together." We typically translated the word as "Church. " This gathering rite gives us the chance to make a transition from the sacrament of daily life to the sacrament of our gathered community. We do not want to find ourselves in this migration out of habit or duty - but we want to reach that level of awareness that knows our deepest yearning for an experience of the holy in communion.
Here are some ideas to make the gathering rite a joyful, rich and pleasant experience before you even arrive at the church: Get up earlier and perhaps read over the scripture readings for that Sunday. You would be amazed how much richer the reading will be at Mass that day. Maybe make some special coffee or hot chocolate and bring it around to family members inviting them to Sunday Mass. Give folks plenty of time to shower and get dressed in their "Sunday clothes." And.. .by the way.. .have a set of "Sunday Clothes," too. Ideally, Sunday ought to look and sound and feel different than all the other days of the week. What you wear that day should have a different feel to them. Perhaps encourage the family to retain a "Sunday Silence" with no idle chatter or loud noise and have just the peace of silence and a gathering of our inner selves... make the sounds of the house on Sunday different from the rest of the week. Play "Sunday music" to set the tone: chant or some meditative or beautiful religious music from our long heritage as Catholics.
Thus when you arrive at church make a point of greeting and engaging the others you meet. Greet someone you already know and greet and make the acquaintance of someone whom you have never met before."Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.”

The Altar II -- August 7, 2011

"Have you ever noticed the priest kiss the altar at the beginning and the end of Mass? This graceful act highlights the significance of the altar as a central symbol of our worship life.
Apart from the introduction of the use of the vernacular at Mass, the change in the location of the altar -- away from the back wall of the church and into the midst of the assembly -- is probably the most obvious effect of the Second Vatican Council. This change allowed people to gather more easily around the altar. Two related changes were also mandated by the Council. In the pre-Vatican II liturgy, because the priest alone performed most of the liturgical functions, a long altar was needed so that the two readings could be proclaimed from the opposite ends of the altar while remaining separate from the Eucharistic action, which took place in the center of the altar. Then the altar was both ambo and altar...for the readings and the meal, the Word of God and the sacrifice. Such an elongated table is no longer necessary. Secondly, because communion should be given from the sacrifice just enacted on the altar, the tabernacle was removed from the main altar. This maintains the integrity of both altar (table) and tabernacle (the "tenting place") as sites of Christ's presence in the church. We have grown in our awareness of Christ's presence in the gathered assembly, in the proclamation of the word, in the person of the priest, and in the Eucharistic elements. We have been less attentive to the symbolic significance of the altar itself.
The Rite of Dedication of an Altar (which most often takes place during the dedication of the church in which the altar is located) gives us a glimpse of the significance of this symbol. In that rite, the altar is sprinkled with water, anointed with Chrism oil and incensed by the bishop in a pattern much like our initiation rituals. It is then clothed with an altar cloth and adorned with lighted candles. Finally, relics of martyrs are placed beneath the altar as a remembrance of the days of persecution in the early Church in Rome. At that time Christians celebrated Mass over the tombs of Roman martyrs in the catacombs beneath Rome. These tombs were the altars in those Roman days of persecution. These rituals leave no doubt that that altar is "the midpoint between heaven and earth." With the ancient images of Abraham's altar of sacrifice and the table of the Last Supper firmly rooted in our tradition, we encircle our parish altar, confident that God is present in our midst.
The Ambo The word ambo derives from the Greek verb anabainein ("to go up) and was the name given to the elevated platform from which the scriptures were proclaimed in the large churches of the early Middle Ages. In smaller churches of the time, the priest and lector stood at the altar rail; only the bishop stood at the chair (the cathedra) for proclaiming and preaching. A later development saw elaborate, elevated pulpits attached to church pillars for better visibility and audibility. The liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) called for the location of the ambo to be a natural focal point for the assembly during the liturgy of the word.
The ambo is a place for the act of proclamation. By its form and appearance it honors Christ present in the word, and hence evokes reverence and attentiveness when the word is sung or spoken from it. Here is the place for the proclamation of the scripture readings, the leading of the singing of psalms, for preaching God's word and perhaps for leading prayers of intercession. All other announcements and speeches are to be made elsewhere.
The ambo should be beautifully designed and carefully proportioned to suit its function - not as a shrine for the lectionary, but as a cradle for the word that embodies the story of our salvation, the mystery of the word made flesh among us."

Keeping Sunday

“This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad. Even before you open your eyes in the early mornings don't you think about the day ahead? To wake up to the fact that it is Sunday and a day not like the others in feeling and spirit means that you have a way of celebrating this day; that you know the art of celebrating a feast. You know that Sunday is a day created for our benefit. It means to give us a taste of heaven. But if Sunday is merely a day to make it to church on time, then you may need some ways to make Sunday special. In some of the Romance languages of French, Italian and Spanish the very word for Sunday is "Domenica" which is translated as "The Lord's Day."
A special Sunday begins on Friday night. By sundown on Friday, try to have a clean slate. Complete what needs doing – finish off the unpleasant chores. Clean off your desk. Get the grocery shopping done for the weekend so you don't have to shop on Sunday (thereby asking others to serve you in the shops on Sunday). It is important to take time to repair relationships with the rest of the family.
Use Saturday to ready your home for Sunday. And lest I sound too much like ‘Leave it to Beaver’: Put the house and yard in order. Wash the car. Cook something special for Sunday's breakfast or brunch. Wear your pearls like June Cleaver. Get out the Waterford glasses or the Haviland china. Bring fresh flowers to brighten the table. Read tomorrow's gospel as a family and talk about it. Repair a relationship. Put the children to bed with greater attention. Saturday night ought to be a special opportunity for the adults to spend time together enjoying their relationship.
On Sunday, begin the new week in a special way. Don't watch TV that morning.. .watch Meet the Press later and read the newspapers after Mass, too.
At brunch, use a special meal prayer. Then change from your "Sunday Best" to clothes for relaxation and play. Resolve to do no unnecessary work. Go to a museum or the park, the zoo, or ride the Katy Trail or the Grant Trail. Play the piano, read a book, go swimming, play ball, read the fat Sunday newspaper. Perhaps family members can take turns planning a Sunday's recreation. If there is a special ball game or television program that is truly worth watching, watch it together. Preparing Sunday dinner can be a cooperative effort.. .and Sunday dinner can be one day in the week you can count on a great meal (no left-overs) and everyone being together. Use the good table cloth by the way, and the good dishes and silverware. Whatever you undertake to do on Sunday, do it without haste or anxiety. Sunday is a day meant to restore and refresh us. Sunday is a day to become fully human.. .and enjoy life.
Well what a weather week it was! Spring training is in a week or so down in Jupiter, Florida and only one more month until the Weather Service and their statistics say that winter is over! We are on the downside of winter so spring really is inching ever closer, folks! I'll see you in church!”
— Monsignor Jack —

The Saints of February... St. Blaise Day and Blessing

“Sickness and suffering are mysteries that confront most Christians at some time in their lives. Believers cherish the stories of Jesus' tender concern for the poor and the sick who sought to find relief and meaning in their suffering and struggles. The flesh-and-blood example of a long line of Christian witnesses whose faith sustained them in time of strain offers us hope when shadows darken our lives. Saint Blaise was such a person.
Blaise served as a bishop of Armenia in the fourth century. Little is known about his life but tradition tells us that he saved a small boy from choking on a fish bone. Because of this, his help is sought for those who are sick, especially those who are afflicted with illnesses of the throat. On Thursday, February 3rd, the feast of Saint Blaise, the Church continues its ministry to the sick with the blessing of throats. We will bless throats after the homily at both of our morning Masses on Thursday.
This blessing, which can take place either after the homily at Mass or as part of the liturgy of the word, invokes God's healing and protection. Two candles blessed the day before on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, February 2nd, are joined together in the form of a cross and are placed around the throat of each person seeking a blessing. What a perfect sacramental blessing right smack dab in the middle of the cold and flu season of winter. The minister then prays, "Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness: In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen" Humbled by physical weakness and human limitations, we acknowledge our faith in God´s protective love for all who call upon God's name.”

My Niece, Kelly's, E-Mail

“Yesterday my niece, Kelly, who works for a Catholic hospital in Springfield, Illinois and lives in Springfield sent me this amazing e-mail that was originally written by a 90 year old person and contains such wisdom. I do not know the author's name. I shall share it with you now. This is something we might profitably read at least once a week!

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.
22. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
23. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
24. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
25. The most important sex organ is the brain.
26. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
27. Frame every so-called disaster with these words "In five years, will this matter?"
28. Always choose life.
29. Forgive everyone everything.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
32. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
35. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
36. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
37. Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.
38. Your children get only one childhood.
39. All that truly matters in the end is that you are loved.
40. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
41. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else´s we´d grab ours back.
42. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
43. The best is yet to come....
44. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.
45. Yield.
46. "Life isn´t tied with a bow, but it´s still a gift."

This might be something you might want to put on your refrigerators, folks!”
—Monsignor Jack

For the Domestic Church - Giving A Blessing

“There are occasions in our human experience that suddenly touch us and we grope for words to mark the moment: A friend lies gravely ill, a family member embarks on a journey, a child is afraid of the dark and cannot sleep, a relative announces a wonderful promotion, a spouse retires from a long career, a significant anniversary is celebrated, a son or a daughter goes off to war or comes home from the service...
Perhaps the words we are searching for and the gesture that would express our hope for that person could take the form of a blessing. The Celts have a long tradition of bestowing blessings. I can remember my mother blessing us with holy water before we would go to school for the first day or lighting a candle and blessing the house in a storm. Secure is the memory of my father going into our bedrooms at night and blessing us as we slept. Bestowing a blessing is a gentle gift. You can put your hands on a head or shoulders of the other and say a simple prayer. Mention your hope for that person and ask for the necessary graces. If you saved blessed water from the Easter Vigil or from the Holy Water font at church and have it stored away in a bottle for just such occasions, use some in a sprinkling rite. It reminds us of our baptism and affirms our identity and purpose.
From our Hebrew Judaic roots it was common for the head of the household to bless his children. By right the head of the household is charged with this privilege. I am wondering in our day how many of you even know of this honor and privilege. It is not just the priest or the deacon who can bless the other. It is a special gift bestowed upon the leaders of each family to do such a thing. May I encourage you to take some holy water home with you, have a blessed candle in the house, and offer a blessing upon your household, your family, your clan.
We can feel free to devise a blessing with our own words or we can learn some blessing from the Irish in the Celtic tradition such as this:”
“Grace upwards over thee.
Grace downwards over thee.
Grace of graces without gainsaying.
Grace of Father and of Lord.
The joy of God be in they face,
Joy to all who see thee;
The circling of God be keeping thee,
Angels of God shielding thee.
God bless to you this day,
God bless to you this night;
Bless, Oh Bless, Thou God of grace,
Each day and hour of your life;
Bless, Oh Bless, Thou God of grace,
Each day and hour of your life.”

On Mealtime as Prayer....

“Eating together as family, with friends or in community is as old a human expression as history can recall. The very word "companion" means "the one you share your bread with." Sharing food is just as nourishing to the soul as eating is nourishing for the body. How is it that in recent years the family meal has suffered such disintegration? All day we graze and nibble and by dinner time, we are no longer hungry. We are so busy, that we cannot cook, or cannot sit together over food and drink to share the events of the day and the issues that burn in our hearts. The average American family eats dinner in about five minutes! My mother hated that. I can still hear her say often, "it took me hours to prepare this meal and you kids swallow it whole in five minutes!"
In the scripture we hear that the risen Jesus shared his bread at the end of a long walk with his grieving disciples on the road to Emmaus. He broke bread with them and "they knew him in the breaking of the bread." Every meal that we share is an occasion to "know him" – to recognize Christ in the heart of the persons with whom we share our meal. We also hear the story of a breakfast fish fry that the risen Jesus prepared for his friends after a night of fishing. How concrete. How physical. How human. How loving. Ghosts don't cook for us. But the bodily presence of a risen Lord knows our bodily hungers and provides for us in material ways. To share what we have with another is to "know him." To break bread with a blessing is to help us remember that every meal looks concretely to the holy meal of the Eucharist. And it isn't possible to comprehend the Eucharistic meal if we don't understand the sacramentality of the daily meal. Collect blessings for your table. Offer a variety of words and songs so that your prayers do not become routine or unimaginative. Take time to enjoy your meal and to enjoy one another. If you live alone, invite others in to share your bread. And families....please sit down and share your evening meal together at least three times a week.. .or more if possible and with no TV or computer activities either. Some of my best memories growing up at 9001 S. Claremont on Chicago's Southside were the family dinner table...assigned seats and mom's leg of lamb with mint jelly.”
From An Irish Rime of Hospitality
“I saw a stranger today
I put food for him in the eating place
And drink in the drinking place.
In the Holy Name of the Trinity
He blessed myself and my house
And the lark said in her warble Often, often, often Goes Christ
in the stranger's guise
O, oft and oft and oft,
Goes Christ in the stranger's guise.”
I'll see you in church! – Monsignor Jack

The Newest Saint of January...Saint Andre Bessette...January 6th

“He didn't die a martyr's death. He was too sickly, weak, and awkward to do any work except as a porter. Yet, at his death in 1937, over a million pilgrims filed past his coffin. And thousands upon thousands came to Montreal, Canada each year to ask the intercession of Saint Joseph and St. Andre at the great oratory built by the humble little porter of Notre Dame-du-Sacre-Coeur.
Born near Montreal in 1845, Alfred Bessette was orphaned by age twelve. He is the Church's newest saint, having been canonized in Rome this past year. Although his frail condition made it impossible to find gainful employment, his pastor, seeing the intensity of his spiritual life, introduced him to the Congregation of the Holy Cross.
In 1870, bearing a letter of recommendation from his pastor stating, "I am sending you a saint," Alfred asked to be accepted into the novitiate. In the novitiate he finally learned to read. Alfred eventually memorized long passages of scripture, including all four gospel accounts of the passion of Christ. However, his health remained so poor that he was only allowed to make final vows in 1872 through the intervention of the bishop of Montreal; he took the name Andre', after his pastor. For most of his life, he served as porter of the College of Notre-Dame-du-Sacre-Coeur in Cote-des Nieges, near Montreal. He is quoted as saying: "At the end of my novitiate, my superiors showed me the door, and I stayed there for forty years."
It soon became evident that Brother Andre had been given extraordinary gifts of healing and counseling. Countless are the stories of healings told by students and visitors alike. Numbers grew so large, so quickly that opposition to his ministry arose: partly out of jealousy and skepticism and partly due to fears of contagion among the masses of sick seeking his help.
Brother Andre's dream was to build a chapel dedicated to his favorite saint, St. Joseph, as a spiritual center for those who came for help. He eventually obtained permission to raise the money to build on land on Mount Royal that the Congregation of the Holy Cross had purchased in 1896. First, in 1904, came a small shelter, 15 by 18 feet. But by 1966 it had grown into a basilica.
On January 6, 1937, the sickly Brother Andre' died at the advanced age of 91. Brother Andre's simplicity gives hope to those who feel that a lowly state in life – whether physical, financial, or educational – might limit their personal gift to the world. In today's economy-driven culture, his life stands as a counter-sign to those who would define power in terms of might and economic prowess. We celebrate his memory each year on January 6th.”
— Monsignor Jack

Day or Date?
“One of the first debates in the early Church was this: Should we celebrate Easter each year on the date that Christ rose from the dead (the fourteenth day of the Jewish month named Nisan, according to the Gospel of John), or should we celebrate it each year on the day of the week that he rose from the dead -Sunday? Some of the churches in Asia said "date." After all, Jesus' rising from the dead changed history, and we ought to keep this date holy. (And this is what the churches later decided to do with Christmas, which we celebrate every year on December 25, no matter what day of the week it is.) The church of Rome said "day": Sunday - the Lord's Day - is the best time to keep the solemn feast of the resurrection. Sunday was our first - and for a century or so, only – holy day. How could Easter not be on a Sunday? Rome won the debate. To this day, all churches celebrate Easter on a Sunday, and never on a weekday. Over the recent years the bishops of the United States had a similar discussion: Should we continue to keep the solemn feast of the Lord's Ascension on a Thursday - the fortieth day after Easter, according to the Acts of the Apostles - or should we move it to a Sunday, the Lord's Day? (In the gospels of Mark and Luke, Jesus ascends into heaven on a Sunday.) A few years back, the bishops in the western states and in Canada wanted to try celebrating Ascension on Sunday instead of Thursday. Rome approved their plan as an experiment to see if more people would be able to participate in Mass if Ascension Day was a Sunday. It worked. So the bishops of the United States discussed whether the whole country should switch the Ascension from a Thursday to a Sunday. They agreed to make the choice region by region, and not for the whole United States. Rome approved. Still several dioceses and Archdioceses, mainly in the eastern United States, retain the feast on the fortieth day and on a Thursday. So this year for us in St. Louis, Ascension Day takes the place of the Seventh Sunday of Easter and celebrated this weekend. The psalm for this solemn feast bids us to sing: "God mounts his throne to shouts of joy, a blare of trumpets for the Lord! All you people, clap your hands. Sing praise!" Sunday is the Lord's Day and the Ascension into heaven is the Risen Lord's glory. Let us all keep holy this great feast of our God.”

“The eyes of faith see human history as salvation history. God´s actions aare discerned in the mundane and dramatic events that we live. Israelites saw God´s call in the migration of their ancestor Abraham. Their later escape from Egypt was not just a natural phenomenon of low tide in the Reed Sea. It was the hand of God acting through Moses. David son of Jesse, was the brave leader and king, exercising power from God in new ways for new historical and sociological circumstances. Israel´s later exile was still another meeting of God´s power, a judgment on their infidelity. Even in such dark times, indeed especially in darkness, the light of God shines in history. The people were able to say: "You shall be called ‘My Delight’ and your land ‘Espoused.’ For the Lord delights in you." Those who walked in darkness were able to see a great light.
This is the heart of the Christmas mystery. God always takes the initiative We are ever in awe before the hope enfleshed in history.
The Christmas Midnight gospel is by far the most popular passage for this day. The other selections are rich in history, theology, and poetry but we keep returning to Luke 2. The details are simple: Caesar Augustus ordering a census, Joseph and Mary travelling to David´s town of Bethlehem a first-born son wrapped in swaddling clothes. Yet the mystery and power they evoke are beyond telling. We might remember school plays and blankets used as costumes. We might thrill at brilliant musical tributes to this babe. And then we might feel a tug at the conscience. Jesus did appear first to the poor shepherds. His presence calls us to live "temperately justly and devoutly." Through all these emotions and nostalgia the simple truth is opened for our assent: God has visited us.” — St. Andrew Bible Missal.

ETERNITY'S CLOCK AND CROWN

“What is this Advent wreath whose four candles help us mark the passing of the weeks before Christmas? It is eternity's clock–a circle that says "In our ending is our beginning." It is the wheel of time–a circle of evergreen branches-cut and left to wither–revealing that death and life are both of a piece. It is also a crown, the victor's laurel garland, the sign that the race is done, the prize won. It is the crown of us as a people, a chosen race, a royal priesthood. It is the crown of each of us as individuals–baptized individuals (all of a piece) whose heads were smeared with that royal oil, chrism. We are marked for eternity. With four candles lit, the Advent wreath is the fiery crown that we give to Christ the King, the Savior who returns in the growing gloom to gather us into our eternal home, the new and heavenly Jerusalem.”
Copyright © 1997, Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622-1101; 1-800-933-1800. Text by David Philippart. Art by Steve Erspamer, SM.

Holy Days in history...
Sunday is our original – and at first our only – holy day. As time went on, some churches began keeping other days holy, too: days to remember an event in the life of Christ or Mary, or the anniversary of the death of a saint.
In medieval Europe, these "feast days" were important. There was no such thing as a "weekend." Every day – except Sunday – was a long and hard work day. A feast day meant that you only had to do the most necessary work. Then you could go to town for Mass, for socializing, playing, resting. It didn't take long for feast days to multiply. Every so often the Church would have to cut back the number, or else folks would go four or five days without working! Feast Days were possible because most everyone in a locale was Catholic.
When Spanish Catholics came to North America, they tended to create Catholic towns. Many Native Americans, too, live in Catholic communities. To this day the pueblos of New Mexico still keep feast days with dancing and special foods. French Catholics, especially in Canada, kept alive some of their holy days. But Catholics from other countries lived in mixed communities with people of different religions. They could not close their stores because it was Ascension Thursday, or not help neighbors raise a barn on All Saints. Not until the great Catholic neighborhoods formed in bigger cities could Catholics close up shop, go to morning Mass, and then spend the day feasting and relaxing - even on a week day!
Bishops began to designate certain holy days as "holy days of obligation." Usually these were feast days that were already popular in a given community. The number of holy days that Catholics observed in the United States varied until 1885. Then, six days were set: January 1, Ascension Thursday, (a different date each year), August 15, November 1, December 8 and December 25. Prior to this, how many and which holy days you kept depended on whether you lived in English, Spanish, or French America. For example, English-speaking Catholics had 11 holy days of obligation from 1777 until 1885.
As our neighborhoods and parishes change, so do our rules about keeping holy days. In 1969, the bishops decided to transfer our solemn celebration of the Lord's Epiphany from January 6 to the Sunday that falls nearest before that date. Epiphany is an important holy day, and yet the whole Catholic community can not count on having January 6 free. Several years ago the bishops voted to move our solemn celebration of the Lord's Ascension from a Thursday to a Sunday: the Seventh Sunday of Easter. This change should allow all of us to keep this holy feast day with Mass, recreation, and feasting, as we give thanks and praise for all that God does for us in Christ Jesus, our risen Lord.”
Msgr. Jack, Bulletin 05(16)2010

Grace, A Habit of the Catholic Heart

A HABIT OF THE CATHOLIC HEART
“"Are we ready to say grace?" Many religious people pause before they eat and pray. Christians do this also. The English word we have for this prayer is "grace" – the same word we use to speak of the way God´s love is given to us freely, given without any earning it on our part.
"Grace" comes easily from a Latin word, gratia, a word many know from the close Spanish word, gracias. This simple word is trying to get hold of what is best in the human spirit. It is that spontaneous "thanks" that is our response to a kindness, some good word or deed with which another person blesses us.
So at table we say grace, we give thanks. Hunger brings us back to the table – even when there's no table at all – and before we take nourishment, we go hungry a moment longer while we give thanks.
What is done before eating is just one tiny moment of what´s the deepest Catholic habit. We want "grace" all the time, morning and night, even in hard times. We are a "thanks saying" people. It comes with the territory. We´re shaped in giving thanks by the obligation we have to gather at the church´s table every Sunday and make the eucharistic, the thanks giving, prayer before we feast on the body and blood of the Lord.
We´re baptized to be Christ´s body giving God thanks all the days of our life, being the voice of creation whether we feel like it or not, whether the times are good or awful (thanks can leave lots of room for lament and even – just pray the psalms – some cursing now and then). This is no easy "Hey, thanks a lot!" It is rather the total thanks of those who have been shaped by Christ´s passion and death in God´s merciful love for the world.

Copyright ©2001 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications,
1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622 1101; 1; 800... 933 .1800; www.ltp.org.
Text by Gabe Huck. Art by Luba Lukova. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

COMMUNION CALL
“As early as the year 150, the martyr Justin, in writing an explanation of Christian worship to the Roman authorities, described the Sunday eucharist pretty much as we celebrate it today. At the end of the description, he notes that ministers take the eucharist from the Sunday assembly to those who were unable to be present. Perhaps these included people who were in prison for living according to the gospel, and those whose work (Sunday was a work day back then) kept them away. But almost certainly he meant the sick and the infirm, and those who were otherwise homebound. This is our ancient tradition: to love and cherish and to keep connected with those members of this community who cannot be with us on Sunday.
When illness or infirmity keeps you from the Sunday assembly, ministers of communion will bring a word of scripture and the body of Christ to you. Call the parish office and we will set this up. The best time for this is Sunday, when the minister can come straight from the celebration of Mass. But other times can be arranged. Don´t worry about fasting before receiving communion: If you are able to, that´s fine. But because of your condition, you are not obligated.
Sick or infirm, homebound or hospitalized, each baptized person is nonetheless part of this parish, a member of the body of Christ. So don´t be afraid that you´re being a burden, and don´t think that we´re so busy we wouldn´t have time for you. Regularly sharing in communion is an important part of our life together as the church.”

Addressing the Issues of Unemployment and Wellness

To THE UNEMPLOYED OR UNDEREMPLOYED

Are you aware of the Catholic Employment Network (CEN)?
“It was started and exists here in St. Louis. Their goal is to provide members with resources, skills and other types of assistance in a job search, and to provide spiritual support. There is a local group that meets at St Gerard Magella on a regular basis. If it has been a while since you have had to look for a job, this is a wonderful resource to get you started as well as offering support during your job hunt. The CEN web site is www.catholicemploymentnetwork.org
For more information about them and meeting dates. The service is free and the meetings are open to anyone.
In addition there are several people in our parish who are willing to work with individuals if they may need assistance in updating a resume. Contact the parish nurse, Beverly Simmerman, 314 822 1347, ext 5 for further information.
To PARISH MEMBERS WHO MAY BE LOOKING TO HIRE SOMEONE
Due to the tight job market, there are a number of professional, skilled, and experienced parishioners presently seeking a job. If you or someone you know may be hiring, give the parish office (Fr. Jack-966-8600) a call. It could be a win – win situation for all concerned.
HELP WITH MEDICINE COSTS
Together RX Access is a program for assistance with medication costs for those without any prescription drug coverage. It was created as a public service by a group of pharmaceutical companies. To be eligible one must be a legal resident of the USA, not eligible for Medicare and have no other prescription drug coverage. Household income is equal to or less than $30,000 for a single person, $40,000 for a family of 2, $50,000 for a family of 3. For further information or to enroll, their web site is www.togetherrxaccess.com and phone number 1-800-444-4106.
Missouri Department of Social Services, MO HealthNet Division has a program called MoRX. You may be eligible if you are a Missouri resident, 65 years of age or older, enrolled in Medicare and a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (Part D), and if single, an annual gross income of $19,600 or less; if married, an annual gross income of $26,400 or less.
MoRX pays for 50% of members out of pocket costs remaining after their Medicare Prescription Drug Plan pays. It pays for 50% of the deductible, 50% of the co-pays before the coverage gap, 50% of the coverage gap, and 50% of co-pays in the catastrophic coverage. It does not pay for the Medicare monthly premium.
For further information or to obtain an application, their web site is:
http://www.morx.mo.gov/index.htm
or the phone number for the help desk is 1-800-375-1406.
I also have applications in my office and will be glad to assist you if needed.

H1N1 FLU VACCINE HERE
HINl/swine flu vaccine will be available in the school cafeteria on Sunday January 3, 2010, from 8:OOAM - 1:OOPM. The vaccine is free but there is a $15 administration fee. If you have Medicare or a Medicare Advantage program, the company, Foundation Care, will bill insurance. Others will need to pay the $15 fee. They will have both the nasal mist ( for ages 3 - 49), and the shots. Children under 9 years need 2 doses. The first or second dose can be obtained here, but if the child needs another dose, you will need to get it at another time and site. The nurses giving the vaccine will be able to advise you.

WELLNESS TIP OF THE WEEK
Affirmations can be very powerful forces in our lives. As we think, so we believe and behave. An affirmation is a short positive statement phrased as if it has already occurred. Writing or reading affirmatives each day is a good habit to develop in this coming New Year. Unfortunately many of us have too many negative images in our minds of ourselves.
God does not see us that way. He sees us as the loving person He created and knows we can become. Holding on to the negative forces of loss, anger, worry or guilt can bring nothing but unhappiness. Letting go is the way to peace of mind and happiness.
The following are affirmations phrased in such a way to help us let go and be free.
I let go of my loss and I put my trust in God.
I release my anger and I will move on.
I refuse to worry; I let go and let God.
Letting go of my guilt has healed me physically, mentally and spiritually.
I feel at peace letting go.
I am open to new possibilities.
In letting go, I have freedom and breathing room.
I am ready for health, well-being and peace of mind.
I am truly a valuable and worthwhile person.

Another positive approach is developing an "Attitude of Gratitude". Giving thanks daily for one's blessings as well as one's problems/challenges; always trusting in the God who loves us. As the New Year begins this is a perfect time to begin to think in a positive and affirming way. "Give thanks to the Lord who is good, whose love endures forever." Try it, it works.”

Adapted from "Wellness Tip of The Week"© 2004 by St. Malachy Church written by JoAnn C. Kauss, RN, MSN.

The Ten Commandments Of Forgiveness

“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 I 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--

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
– Excerpts from the keynote address of Francis Cardinal George Archbishop of Chicago at the MCC Annual Assembly September 19,1998, State Capitol Building, Jefferson City, Missouri
“(Today we) are celebrating faith and freedom, and within that context I am speaking about the responsibilities of Catholics in a free society....
The great lesson of Vatican II is that we are a communion of Jesus Christ to transform the society, the world as a whole. ...How then do we bring the values and beliefs that are part of our faith (into this society) in such a way that, (while it) will never be the kingdom of God, (it) might be a little more like what the kingdom should be.
First of all, we (must) understand (the) culture (of a society). We can talk about society, but we are a little less able (to talk) about a culture. (Culture is) not just a federation of various ethnic groups. It's something different; it's a perspective on the world. A set of meanings and a set of values which shape us internally, not just externally.
Culture is the context for what goes on in this (State Capitol Build-ing,) for legislation that is passed here. Culture's the context for your concerns as the Missouri Catholic Conference. Inevitably there will be tensions between faith and culture because both tell us how to live, both tell us what to believe....
...Pope Paul VI wrote that the split between gospel and culture, faith and culture, faith and freedom, is the drama of our times. He went on to say immediately that it has been the drama of every other age as well. The dialogue between faith and culture is as old as the history of God's self-revelation and the human response to that revelation....
(When) we talk about that conversation between faith and culture, we refer to it as 'inculturating the faith.' That means taking our faith and speaking it within a culture.... For example, (when) missionaries go into a place to spread the gospel, they translate the faith into the language of the people. They 'inculturate the faith.'
Why? Because language carries our culture. First of all, our language is the universe in which we live. We live in worded worlds. ...And we know that because of our experience in immigration in this country. It was a great challenge for people to move into English language culture. ..and to keep some kind of footing in what had been part of their own inheritance and their own history....
But then we come in that dialogue between faith and culture to a certain moment when all of a sudden there's a big obstacle. It doesn't work anymore. There's something demonic in that culture, as there is in every culture, which resists the Gospel....
It might be exploitive business practices. It might be a cultural right to an abortion. It might be a disdain for the poor. It might be human sacrifice among the Aztecs. It might be any number of things. At that point we stop and we say, the inculturation project is off. Now we evangelize the culture. (That is the) moment..between faith and culture that shapes our mission as Catholics....
(We find) there are changes that must take place by reason of our Baptism.... How do we make this change in our culture? We have to understand first a little bit about the culture.
Anthropologists tell us that culture is the sum total of your non-biological inheritance. Your biological inheritance is the color of your eyes, the color of your skin, how much hair you have or don't have. All those things are yours biologically....
The second nature – not biologial nature – that's what culture is.
It's a hierarchy of values that determines the shape that a culture might have. If you were asked what's most important to you – food, communication, clothing, shelter, your relationship to God in Christ – what would you say? It's that hierarchy of values in a particular culture that makes one different from the other....
(In America, we have developed into a culture of individualism and voluntary associations.) Now as people of faith we look at this and ask, is it good or bad? Well, it's both, as most cultures are....
...Our problem as people of faith is that the key to understanding the history of (our country, as well as) the human race, is (that it's not just) history in pursuit of individual liberty.... (It's more basic than that.) More basic than freedom is holiness.
(What are) our responsibilities as disciples in Catholic communion, to transform the society,...what can we do? What are we responsible for? First, we are responsible for praying. We are responsible for worshiping God in the way that He wants to be worshipped.... Honoring the Lord's day is a way of transforming our culture.
So prayer is the first thing we must do to see that our culture provides a sound context for human life.
Our second responsibility is to look for places where significant conversations can take place. A culture is a communications network. The Gospel is a message.... Therefore, the evangelizer needs to be present in those places where the messages which form the culture are created and transmitted. This includes the forums in which public policies are debated and enacted. There have to be Catholic evangelizers in this legislative chamber, and in the communications industry, that shape the terms of pub-he debate....
The third responsibility American Catholics (have is) to enlarge our culture's appreciation of human rea-son. The culture today uses reason instrumentally. We have a whole body of data here that we can trans-form, analyze, put into software, and then a computer programmer can come out with the conclusions needed in order to manipulate the cosmos, our business dealings, our personal schedule.
And then we have feelings.... The Catholic Church knows that we are reasonable people – full of emotions, full of feelings, full of desires – but reasonable, given an intellect by a God who wants us to be smart. Therefore, we have a whole tradition of applying reason, rightly so, to making judgments about moral activities.... We have to bring an appreciation of human reason as something able to judge policy and individual actions in the light of the goodness that God svants us to enjoy, that search for holiness that is the key to human existence. That isn´t in our culture. If the Catholics don´t bring it, nobody will. It's our responsibility.
Fourth, the Catholic evangelizer, in order to transform society, will cherish and strengthen precisely those relationships that faith tells us we have no right to unchoose. Because the dominant culture in the United States privileges voluntary relationships to the detriment of all others,... (it also) reduces the Church to a voluntary association and treats our nation itself the same way. By reason of our history,. ..we are people if choice rather than of blood. One can choose to become American in a way that one cannot become Japanese, Navajo or Arab. You are either born into that or you are not. We are a people of choice. And this melting pot has enabled the United States to welcome, at least in theory, almost anyone and everyone. And while that inclusivity can be at the service of the Gospel's universalism, it cannot be allowed to destroy the public legitimacy of non-voluntary relationships and communities – family, race, linguistic group, the land and the nation itelf as our home. Fifth, evangelizing American culture means purifying our sense of mission. Catholics believe that groups, as well as individuals, play roles in salvation history.... Transforming our national purpose, therefore, in the light of God's plan for all peoples means listening to a source of truth which has not been limited by American experience and our culural resources....
...Creating a culture which provides a more evangelically authentic environment for daily life in the United States is less a program with clearly defined stages than a movement of gradual growth. Cultural change is slow. (We as) evangelizers need a broad vision for strength for the long haul. We need to be reflective about the influences that shape us individually and as a people.
Evangelizing culture is, finally, a contemplative activity. The dialogue between Catholic faith and American :ulture, between faith and freedom, takes place in the media, in the schools, in the marketplace and in the public square; but it begins in the leart of every American Catholic who loves both faith and country.”

INCIVILITY WINS AGAIN...a personal editorial

“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 !

The Communion Rite - My Own Cup

“Q &A: My Own Cup....The Communion Rite
“At the last supper, the Lord not only told the disciples to eat of the bread which was his body, but he also said, "Drink from this cup, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant" (see Matthew 26:27). The practice of all communicants receiving communion from the cup, a custom continued without interruption in most of the Eastern Churches, was reintroduced into the Roman liturgy after the Second Vatican Council and has been encouraged as a visible way of fulfilling one of the Lord's commands to his followers.
But we should remember that sharing communion through receiving the blood of the Lord is more than swallowing a bit of consecrated wine. It is an encounter in faith, rather than a moment of refueling. Thus questions about how the "cup of blessing which we bless" is shared among those assembled for the Eucharist must be asked in the context of the biblical and liturgical meaning of this action. We should avoid making religious judgments based on modern American concerns about hygiene or based on the culture of individualism that pervades many aspects of our society and its practices.
There is a long tradition, based on Saint Paul's words to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 10: 16-17), about using one loaf and one cup whenever possible at the Eucharist to symbolize the unity of all assembled in the one body of Christ. Anything that unnecessarily disturbs the symbols of unity or values efficiency over authenticity should be avoided. When many people share communion by drinking from a common cup, they show their commitment to a common enterprise, and, in a sense, respond to the Lord's invitation to James and John: "Can you drink of the cup 1 am to drink?" (Matthew 20:22). We should never be cavalier about health concerns, yet neither should we be paranoid about infection at every corner. The results of repeated tests by health officials indicate that the possibility of transmitting diseases by drinking from the common cup is almost non-existent when standard precautions are taken (that is, when the lip of the cup is wiped dry and the cup rotated after each communicant).
The Eucharist is Christ's gift to his Church to nourish us and unite us through our sharing in the one loaf and the one cup. As St. Augustine wrote, it is a "sign of unity and a bond of charity" which helps build up the one body of Christ. Whenever possible, ritual practices, particularly at communion time, should reinforce, through symbol, the unity we celebrate!”

The Communion Rite - Walk The Walk
Walk the Walk....the Communion Rite
“Our Roman way of doing liturgy may come in as a poor second in rhythmic chanting to African ceremony, or as a poor second in graceful movement to Asian ritual, but there's one category where the Roman Rite ought to win every time: processions. The Church of Rome has processions in it soul. They're written all over the rubrics of the Mass and sacraments. Those early Roman Christians never needed pews or kneelers because they hardly ever came to a stop, except standing around the altar table. While our American way is often still and stodgy our European/Mediterranean world counterparts love processions... it is in their bones.
How strange it is then to see what we've come to in the late twentieth century in America. Sedentary or standing still. Kneeling. The only processions we do today are fossils of what once was primary to do liturgy. Instead of the whole people on the move, we sent out a few children leading an ordained priest. And then the rest of us watch. Or we don't. Entrance procession, procession with the gifts, exit procession, Tokens! (Even if we add a gospel procession, it's still not much!)
And what of the one procession that's left to us, the communion procession? It lost it's momentum in the centuries when no one came to communion. Now, when the assembly is again ready to approach the table, we can hardly remember what a good procession looks like. There's music, which is what any procession needs. There's order. There's a great circling of our church space, a great chance to be conscious of each other and to know just how wondrous is the body of Christ.
We do pretty well here at St. Peter. Visitors remark that we don't seem like we're in such a terrible hurry when we come forward to communion. There's attention on lots effaces, song in lots of throats. There seems to be a calm reverence in the way each processing person comes to the minister and the body and the blood of Christ. They look at each other and speak without hurrying. The body of Christ. The blood of Christ. Amen! Amen! Nor are the people rushing over each getting back to their places. It is a good and holy time for the most part here. You can almost feel the peace in the church as the procession ends and we sit and keep some silence together.
This is so in other parishes around the country, too. We are on the way from "lining up" to "processing." That's the way from being one solitary soul among a lot of other solitary souls in the same line — to being an assembly of hungry, thirsty, baptized believers who rejoice to come together to the table of the Lord.
Our task is to make the communion procession a real procession, an image of God's people on their way. What would help that? Think about the good things that singing does, about the ways the procession could be more of a procession and less of a lining up. Think about posture – – both in the procession and in the pews. Think about what is happening and what we are about to receive instead of what is for breakfast or supper or where did I leave my keys. It is so easy to become distracted and lose sight of what is about to take place and the sacredness of the moment. This is a procession and not a check-out line.
When we walk in this communion procession, we are learning to walk down the streets of our cities, through the work place, in the home, in the voting booth, in the picket line, in the hospital and jail corridors. This is all our walking, walking to the Lord. Do it well.”
— MONSIGNOR JACK !

Finding Our Place & We Bow Before You

Finding Our Place
Why do we fill up the seats in church from the back to the front? Maybe it's piety: We sit in the back because, aware of our many failings, we don't feel worthy to draw near. Maybe it's culture: We sit in the back because our mothers taught us never to claim the best seats or make ourselves the center of attention. Maybe it's selfish: We want to be able to skip out early. Whatever the reason, it causes a practical problem: The front seats are always empty, creating a gulf between the Lord's table and the Lord's people. And latecomers stand in the back rather than march up to the front where everyone can see that they're late. Let's show some hospitality here! Let's fill the church up from the front to the back, leaving the back rows for those who come later or late. And let's fill each row from the center: If you're the first one in a row, don't hug the end (unless you're a minister and will need to get in and out). Move into the middle so that others may come and sit beside you. Filling in the front seats first isn't proud or arrogant. It's part of the ministry of hospitality that all of us who are baptized are called to exercise. It's a simple act of kindness that helps the church to gather better around its Lord, so that we may give God thanks and praise. Copyright© 1997 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622-1101; 1-800-933-1800. Text by David Philippart Art by Annika Nelson. We Bow Before You
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. ("Where two or three of you gather, there I am.") Then, we bow to the altar. Why? On this altar 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.'" 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, it was sprinkled with holy water. The bishop rubbed holy chrism into its top, and ministers robed it in a white cloth. So let's bow to Christ at the altar before taking our places. And let's bow again when we depart. Christ the offering. Christ the meal. Christ the altar of sacrifice. Christ the paschal banquet table. Holy Christ, we bow before you! Copyright© 1997 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622-1101; 1-800-933-1800. Text by David Philippart.

Twelve Things the Bishops Have Learned From the Abuse Crisis
BY BLASE CUPICH

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