The Roamin' Roman

Fr. Carola - Homily for a First Mass

2007-10-23T15:56:00.000+02:00

The following homily was sent to me by our favorite Jesuit, Fr. Carola. It is from October 11th, on the occasion of a newly ordained German priest's first Mass of Thanksgiving.

Enjoy!

A. M. D. G.

Father Joseph Carola, S.J.
Sermon for the Father Christian Städter’s First Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving
The Church of Saint Bartholomew
Tiber Island, Rome
11 October 2007

Readings: Malachi 3:13-20b; Psalm 31; Luke 11:5-13

The prophet Malachi describes three types of men: (1) evil doers who apparently flourish, (2) the begrudgingly obedient who envy evil doers, and (3) the Lord’s servants who trust in His Name. The prophet reduces these three types to two basic categories: the just and the wicked—those who serve God and those who do not serve Him. For, while the begrudgingly obedient may perform their duty, they do so without love. Their hearts long for something else. They long for the evil doers’ apparent prosperity. Since the service of God is fundamentally a service of love, the begrudgingly obedient fail to serve Him in truth. A judgement in fire awaits them along with the evil doers whom they envy, whereas for those who fear the Lord’s Name, that is, for those who serve Him faithfully in love, “there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.”

Yesterday Christian Städter was ordained to the priesthood of Jesus Christ. He was ordained for priestly service. The prophet Malachi’s discourse, therefore, should challenge him as well as all of us here present who serve the Lord—most especially us priests. In his well-known sermon on the Church’s Pastors, Saint Augustine of Hippo in a manner similar to the prophet Malachi distinguishes between those pastors who seek their own good and those who seek Christ’s, those shepherds who shepherd themselves and those who shepherd Christ’s flock, or, as the prophet Ezekiel puts it, those shepherds who feed themselves and those who feed the sheep (cf. Ezekiel 34:2, 8). Preaching on the Gospels, Pope Saint Gregory the Great laments in a similar vein: “Look about you and see how full the world is of priests, yet in God’s harvest a labourer is rarely to be found; for although we have accepted the priestly office, we do not fulfil its demands” (Hom. 17.3). Father Städter, may I ask you: what kind of priest will you be?

Yesterday morning in promising obedience and respect to your bishop as well as solemnly promising to discharge faithfully the office of priesthood, to celebrate the sacred mysteries of Christ, to exercise the ministry of the word worthily and wisely, and to consecrate your life to God in union with Christ the High Priest, you publicly proclaimed that your one desire is to be a priest who serves and not one who seeks to be served. You have solemnly promised to feed God’s people with His Word and Sacrament. You are Christ’s priest, and today you offer to God the Father the first fruits of your priesthood as you offer to Him His Son’s own Sacrifice.

Christian, you are Christ’s ordained servant—by God’s grace, a servant who trusts in His Name. O priest-servant, recall now Christ’s words: “If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also” (John 12:26). Hear Christ speak to you these words. Hear the Christ who ministers among the poor, the Christ who heals the sick, the Christ who welcomes children, the Christ who preaches the Kingdom of God, the Christ who spends the night in prayerful solitude on the mountain. Hear the Crucified Christ on the Cross say to you: “Wherever I am, there should my servant be.” In our patristic seminar you wrote your final essay on the priesthood and Jesus Christ’s self-emptying unto death on the Cross. “Christ Jesus…,though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:6-7). The Son of God came among us as a man who served obediently unto death. In Christ’s self-emptying act, you rightly beheld the priesthood. At the end of your paper, I wrote to you: “Now you must live this.” As of yesterday, you are Christ’s priest. You have been ordained to serve Him selflessly among the poor, the sick and the lowly; to serve Him in your preaching and your private prayer; indeed, to serve with Christ from the Cross.

Christ’s Sacrifice upon the Cross is the greatest expression of love known to man. For, as Jesus himself taught us, “greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). In the man Jesus Christ, it is God himself who in His humanity offers Himself in sacrifice for our salvation. From the Cross God loves us with a human Heart. Christian, in the Sacrament of Holy Orders, your own heart and indeed your very being have been made one with Jesus the High Priest. Now, in persona Christi capitis, that is, in the person of Christ the Head, you will utter the ‘I’ of Jesus and not your own, when you, Christ’s priest, forgive men their sins, declaring: “Ego te absolvo—I absolve you from your sins.” As you stand at the Altar and offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice, you will speak with the very ‘I’ of Jesus when you say: “This is My Body; this is the Chalice of My Blood.” In this Eucharistic Sacrifice, you, the alter Christus, will mysteriously offer yourself as well. As you live the Eucharist, your priestly service will become a service of self-sacrificing love. To this end you have made the Psalmist’s prayer your own: “Into your hands I commend my spirit” (Ps. 31:6). May you forever remain a servant who trusts in His Name.

The begrudgingly obedient servants argue that “it is vain to serve God.” “What do we profit,” they ask, “by keeping his command, and going about in penitential dress in awe of the Lord of hosts?” Obedience is a terrible burden for such servants. Yet, I can assure you that priestly obedience faithfully lived will free you to respond with joy to God’s will. It will free you to serve as He would have you serve. When lived in trust, your obedience will open your heart to receive the abundant blessings of God’s Providence. Even your ‘penitential dress’, that is, your clerical garb faithfully worn, will free you always and everywhere to respond to God’s call of service. For, it will declare to all that you are Christ’s priest, that you are here to serve others selflessly in love at all times and in every place. It will declare that the time and place of your priestly service is not something that you wish to limit as if the priesthood were merely a secular job. Your garb will boldly contradict the man in today’s Gospel who, having already locked his door and gone to bed, did not want to be disturbed. On the contrary, as an incarnate sign of your priesthood, your garb says to all: “I am willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of the Gospel and the salvation of souls.” When faithfully worn, it becomes an invitation for all to ask, to seek and to knock. In you they will behold Christ’s priest who lovingly lays down his life for others. By presenting yourself always as the priest, who you now are, you will say to those in need: “I am here to serve.” Christian, pray for the grace always to be prompt in your response to the Father’s call whenever, wherever and however He should ask you to lay down your life in imitation of His Son.

I exhort you: be found among those servants upon whom the sun of justice arises with its healing rays. For, Christ Jesus is the Sun of Justice whose rays heal us. Despite our awesome sacerdotal vocation to speak the very ‘I’ of Jesus at the Altar and in the confessional, we priests remain sinners ever in need of Christ’s mercy. We bear the precious treasure of our vocation in earthen vessels. Only because we ourselves have first experienced Christ’s healing balm in our own lives are we able to proclaim His mercy in a credible manner to others. The confession of our own sins keeps us humble in our priestly service. Indeed, such humility is essential if our service is to remain faithful. For without it we run the risk of becoming proud, wicked and evil men who refuse to serve God. Christian, humbly acknowledge your need before the Lord who will have compassion on you “as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.” Live each day in His mercy. Make Christ’s Sacred Heart wounded for love of us your priestly home so that when those in need come at any hour of the day or night and knock at your door they will promptly receive through your ministry the divine mercy which they seek. May all who meet you meet in you the merciful Christ Jesus whose priest you now are.

Why Pray to Mary?

2007-09-04T17:51:00.000+02:00

Another gem from Fr. Joseph Carola, SJ. This piece is to be published soon - in German! - as part of the German Jesuit Province journal, but Fr. thought I might post it up here (in English) too.

He also relates that Jim & Tony, two of the seminarians from UST that I studied with in Rome, have returned to the Eternal City to begin studies at the North American College and the Gregorian! And, Sierra, another fellow classmate, is also returning to Rome this week to live in Rome for a few years. Ooooooooo, those lucky people, God bless them all and pray God that I might get to rejoin them myself in the not-to-distant future!

A. M. D. G.

WHY PRAY TO MARY?

Why pray to Mary? The question strikes the Catholic as strange simply because the answer seems so obvious. Praying to Mary is just what Catholics do. We invoke our Mother’s intercession with her Son Jesus. But when asked directly, we find that words often fail us in our attempts to express the reasons so well known in our heart.

Our Lady’s intercession has characterized Christian prayer since the Church began. On the day of Pentecost, the Mother of Jesus and his disciples were all gathered together in prayer in the upper room. The prayer of the Immaculate Virgin Mother accompanied the Spirit’s outpouring upon the nascent Church (cf. Acts 1:14, 2:1.4). The Church’s foundational experience at Pentecost remains perennially valid in the mystery of the Spirit’s continual outpouring upon the Christian faithful. The prayer of Mary, the Mother of the Church, continues to accompany the outpouring of the Spirit in all who believe in Jesus her Son. On this account, all Christian prayer has an inherent Marian dimension whether it be explicitly acknowledged or not. Perhaps, then, instead of asking why pray to Mary, we should inquire why does Mary play an essential role in Christian prayer.

We will find an answer in the Johannine account of the wedding feast at Cana. The second chapter of Saint John’s Gospel provides the primary scriptural witness to Mary’s maternal intercession. The Mother of Jesus, Jesus and his disciples were invited to a marriage at Cana in Galilee. Ever attentive to the needs of others, Mary notices that the wine supply has unexpectedly run short. Without hesitation, she notifies her Son: “They have no wine.” In other words, our friends are in need. The Mother, confident of her Son’s unfailing love for others, intercedes with him on their behalf. Jesus’ immediate response strikes us at first as unduly harsh. “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). Undeterred by Jesus’ apparent refusal, Mary instructs the servants: “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). Jesus immediately acquiesces, commanding the servants to fill the six stone water jars standing nearby. He changes ordinary water into the finest wine. Only the servants are aware of how Mary’s intercession and Jesus’ miraculous intervention not only averted a potential crisis but actually increased the wedding party’s joy.

Jesus’ actions suggest that his verbal exchange with his Mother is not the harsh rebuke that it initially seems to be. Let us consider his words in greater detail. The manner in which he addresses his Mother is highly significant. He calls her ‘woman’. Within the context of Scripture, the term has a depth of meaning not immediately obvious in contemporary discourse. The original Woman of Scripture is Eve. She is formed from the side of Adam in order to be “a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:20). This verse in the Septuagint—the Greek translation of the Old Testament which the ancient Christian community read—reads in English translation: “an assistant like unto him.” God perfects the created order by fashioning Eve as an assistant who resembles Adam. She is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, and on this account she is called Woman because she was taken from Man (Genesis 2:23). In addressing his Mother as ‘woman’, Jesus identifies her with the Woman of Scripture.

Mary is the New Eve. Her virginal obedience to God’s word delivered through the message of an angel rectifies Eve’s virginal disobedience provoked by the seductive deceptions of the serpentine devil. Already in the second century, Saint Justin Martyr and Saint Irenaeus of Lyons attributed to Mary the title and role of New Eve in conjunction with the Pauline designation of Christ as the New Adam. This early patristic vision of Mary sheds a particularly helpful light on Jesus’ question to his Mother at Cana. The Greek of Saint John’s text reads literally in English: what is there to me and (at the same time) to you, i.e., what have we in common? In posing this rhetorical question to the New Eve, the New Adam by no means intends to dismiss his Mother. On the contrary, he rhetorically highlights their common cause in the mission of salvation. As we read in Genesis, God created Eve to be a helper resembling Adam. Theirs is a relationship of intimate collaboration. Likewise, the New Eve immaculately conceived uniquely resembles her Son who has, in fact, taken his sinless flesh from hers. Mary has been created, preserved from Original Sin and thus redeemed in anticipation by her Son’s death and Resurrection in order to be a fitting helper for him. She uniquely shares in his mission while any mission of her own has no meaning distinct from his. At the Annunciation, Mary’s acceptance of her divine vocation to be the Mother of God inaugurates the Word’s salvific mission in the world. At Mary’s yes, the Word became flesh. According to Saint Irenaeus, the New Eve is, on this account, causa salutis—the cause of salvation for the entire human race (Adversus Haereses 3.22.4). For, she brings forth our Savior. In this manner, Mary is the Mediatrix of all grace inasmuch as she maternally mediates to us the “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

In the dramatic exchange at Cana, Jesus follows his rhetorical question so rich in meaning with a declarative statement. He indicates that his hour has not yet come. At first glance, it seems again as if Jesus still intends to rebuke his Mother. Apparently, she has a poor sense of timing. Mary’s intercession is embarrassingly premature. She inappropriately anticipates her Son’s hour. Yet despite his words, Jesus’ actions do not suggest that he begrudgingly concedes to his Mother’s request. Rather, once his Mother has instructed the servants to follow his commands, he responds immediately. Mary rightly anticipates Our Lord’s hour, for it is she who inaugurated it at Nazareth. According to an ancient tradition originating in the third century, Jesus died on 25 March—that is, he died on the anniversary of his conception. The hour of the Incarnation providentially coincides some thirty years later with Christ’s hour on Calvary—the hour of Divine Mercy. In terms of the Redemption, the hour at Nazareth and the hour on Calvary are effectively one and the same. Here it will be helpful to recall the Greek patristic tradition. By no means negating the Cross’ redemptive value, the Greek Fathers, nonetheless, place particular emphasis upon the redemptive nature of the Incarnation itself. Humanity is redeemed in the sinless human nature which the Divine Word assumes at the moment of his conception in Mary’s virginal womb. Mary’s yes—her fiat—marks the hour of our Redemption. From the beginning of the Christian dispensation, then, Mary’s divinely ordained mission is to ‘anticipate’ her Son’s hour. She does nothing less at Cana when she addresses her Son. Hardly forcing his hand, the Woman of Scripture graciously fulfils her mission as “a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:20).

Let us turn now to the hour of Divine Mercy itself, the hour of Redemption on Calvary hill, Jesus’ hour when he again addresses his Mother as ‘woman’. The Cross marks the absolute center of the fullness of time when “God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). During this sacred hour, Jesus reveals the fullness of Mary’s mission—simultaneously confirming the exercise of her maternal intercession at Cana. From the Cross Jesus exhorts his Mother Mary beside whom the Beloved Disciple stands: “Woman, behold, your son!” (John 19:26). His commission reveals Mary’s universal motherhood. The New Eve fulfils what the first Eve had only prefigured. She is truly “the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20). To confirm this fact, the Crucified Christ says to the Beloved Disciple: “Behold, your mother!” (John 19:27). In remaining anonymous throughout the Fourth Gospel, the Beloved Disciple, traditionally understood to be the Apostle John, legitimately stands as a figure for Christian discipleship. Christ exhorts all the Christian faithful in him to behold their Mother. We welcome our Mother at the moment of our divine adoption wrought by Christ upon the Cross. Not only, then, does Mary’s maternal mission rightly anticipate Jesus’ hour, it also finds its fulfilment within it.

After Jesus has miraculously changed water into wine, the Evangelist concludes the Cana account: “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11). Note the Evangelist’s words: Jesus manifested his glory. The same Greek term for glory appears in 1 Timothy 3:16 in reference to Christ having been “taken up into glory”. Such glory refers to the revealed presence of God. It is not insignificant, then, that Mary calls forth the sign which reveals Christ’s glory. For, her auxiliary mission is forever to make Christ known. An episode in the life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola illustrates well Mary’s intercessory role in this regard. When God the Father placed Saint Ignatius with Christ at the small chapel of La Storta outside of Rome, our Father Ignatius understood the extraordinary grace to have been the answer to his prayer beseeching Our Lady to place him with her Son. Mary was God’s hidden agent in this divine revelation. Even Mary’s title ‘Mother of God’ defined at the Council of Ephesus points the way to Christ. It ultimately says more about Jesus than about Mary. It assures the unity of God and man in his one Person. As John Henry Newman astutely observed, those Christians who faithfully venerate the Mother of God are those who have never ceased to profess the divinity of her Son. Sound Mariology undergirds orthodox Christology. In its own way, Cana reveals as much.

As we conclude these scriptural reflections, one final observation is most definitely in order. We noted above that only the servants recognized both Mary’s intercession and Jesus’ miracle. Indeed, this is only fitting. For, God chooses to reveal to the humble, the poor and the lowly what he otherwise keeps hidden from the learned, the cleaver and the worldly wise. As Jesus prays in the Synoptic Gospels: “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will” (Matthew 11:25-26; see also Luke 10:21). The humble faithful understand best of all Mary’s essential role in Christian prayer. If, therefore, one truly wants to know why we pray to Mary, he would do well to ask the elderly widow who kneeling in the back of church quietly prays her rosary. It is to such as these that God fully reveals the divinely ordained, intercessory mission of the “woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1).

P. Joseph Carola, S.J.

Ireland in living color!

2007-07-13T22:39:00.000+02:00

Ireland

I guess I've kind of lost my "Roamin' Roman" journaling touch. Sorry folks!

After letting the number of photos build up and build up... I finally just threw the best of them all up at once on my Picasa Web Albums. Click the link above to see them, at the moment there are no captions or explanations, but at least you can see all the sites I've been to lately. They are in chronological order at least, and include shots from the local area of Co. Kerry; the town of Tralee; Connor's Pass; the village of Dingle; Killarney and that end of the Ring of Kerry; city of Cork; Co. Clare; Cliffs of Moher; and a brief stop on the edges of the Burren (weird!).

This weekend we are heading to Dublin, and then back here to Co. Kerry through Wednesday. I will be returning to the States on Thursday... hopefully I will be updating with more photos before then!

Still alive!

2007-07-09T19:23:00.000+02:00

Greetings all, yes, I am still alive. The internet connection here is spotty at best, due to the fact that the router is down the ways at the family home (we're up at the brother's newly built house, just next door) and the signal has to pass through thick concrete walls to get to us!

I haven't much time right now, I hope to find some time tomorrow to bring the laptop down to the family home and work a bit on here. Tonight, in just an hour or so, is Fr. Bernard Healy's First Mass of Thanksgiving!! I must go and get ready, but needless to say I will keep you all in my prayers.

More soon!

Erin

2007-07-07T09:54:00.000+02:00

The photo says it all

2007-07-07T08:10:00.000+02:00

I'm Roamin' again, but no longer Roman! The photo above gives four clues (at least) as to where in the world is Mary - can you find them?? :)

More later, now that I have Internet access again. I already have so many photos I'm not sure what to do with them all - big surprise, right?

Go mbeannaí Dia is Muire duit!

Little Sisters Sighting!

2007-06-07T19:14:00.000+02:00

Gerald apparently was with them at Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Rome!

Sweet shots, Gerald!

Fr. Carola's Profession of Final Vows

2007-05-25T04:33:00.000+02:00

Today, on the 24th of May in the year of our Lord 2007, in the Church of the Gesu in Rome, Fr. Joseph Anthony Francis Ignatius Carola, SJ made his final profession of vows in the Society of Jesus, at last, before God and man -- including our friend Bernard who was gracious enough to take the following video of the momentous occasion. Yay for technology! :)

(I'm taking a bit of a liberty in uploading it to YouTube myself... hope I'm not in trouble, but I wanted you all to be able to see this ASAP and the video file was too big to e-mail!!)

Teach us, Good Lord,
to love Thee as Thou deservest.
To give, and not to count the cost.
To fight, and not to heed the wounds.
To toil, and not to seek for rest.
To labour, and not to ask for any reward,
Save that of knowing -
that we do Thy will.

Ad maiorem Dei gloriam!

Meet Aaron McMillan

2007-05-22T23:31:00.000+02:00

Fr. Carola just sent me word that a friend from Australia, Aaron McMillan, who had been suffering from brain cancer, recently passed away. I remember Fr. mentioning Aaron's situation while we were in Rome. At that time, Aaron had experienced a "remission" of some months that he attributed to the intercession of John Paul II - this remission was truly a blessing, as it gave him and his family that much more time togther on this side of the veil. Fittingly, Aaron's funeral Mass was celebrated on the birthday of John Paul II. The sermon (below) by Fr. Carola was read.

Aaron seems to have been (having not heard his music myself - yet?) a talented pianist living a very full life. I highly encourage you to read these two articles in the Australia press on his life and legacy, which only begin to hint at the story of his conversion (reversion, actually) to Catholicism only a couple of years ago:

Musician whose life was a hymn to his humanity

Inspiring talents used to the full

Aaron McMillan: Requiescat in pacem

A. M. D. G.

Father Joseph Carola, S.J.
Funeral Sermon for Aaron McMillan
St. Mary’s Cathedral
Sydney, NSW, Australia
18 May 2007

Gospel - John 3:16-21

Each one present this morning in St. Mary’s Cathedral has his or her own story to tell about Aaron McMillan—how he touched their lives, how his passionate love for music inspired them and how his valiant battle against cancer has strengthened them to meet courageously the various challenges which they themselves must face each and every day. I, too, have a story to tell. It is the story of how God touched Aaron’s life, how God loved him and strengthened him unto the end. While I tell my story from a country far away—I write these words to you from Rome—I have lived this story intimately with Aaron in God’s Spirit. For, time and distance have no power to separate those who love one another in the Lord. Even death stands disarmed before such love. At the heart of this love is God’s love for us, and God’s love, when embraced in faith, bears fruit in everlasting life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The final years of Aaron McMillan’s life powerfully reveal this boundless love which God has for us in Christ Jesus.

I came to know Aaron through his mother Gail. Shortly after the death of Pope John Paul II, she began a retreat under my direction in Brisbane. It was April of 2005. When Gail spoke to me of her son Aaron and his ongoing fight against cancer, I counselled her that we pray for his healing through the heavenly intercession of our recently deceased Holy Father. Upon my return to Sydney, I met Aaron, and we visited on a number of occasions at his flat in Bondi. During our third visit on August 7th, 2005, Aaron questioned me about prayer. I explained to him that prayer is matter of entering into a loving relationship with God. In prayer one speaks with Jesus as one speaks to a friend. But in the end, prayer is not so much a matter of what we do, but rather of what the Holy Spirit does within us. The Sacraments which Jesus has given to us—above all, the Eucharist—are the most sacred moments in the Church’s life of prayer. As a Catholic priest I deeply longed to share with Aaron the healing grace of God which He bestows upon us through these Sacraments. I especially wanted to offer to Aaron the possibility of receiving the Sacrament of the Sick. But after so many years of not practicing his Catholic faith, Aaron would first have had to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, otherwise known as Penance or Confession. But such a sacrament can never be imposed upon another. One must freely embrace it. It must be the fruit of God’s grace working within the individual as he or she comes to experience the mercy of God. Although I could not yet administer the Sacraments to Aaron, I could most certainly pray with him. Therefore, before I departed, I laid my hands on him in prayer, praying to God through the intercession of Pope John Paul II for Aaron’s physical healing and spiritual well-being. Four days later, Aaron left the following message on my voice mail at Canisius College in Pymble:

Joseph, this is Aaron McMillan here. I wanted to give you a call. It’s so hard just to express this over a phone message. But I just wanted to tell you that the next morning after you had visited me, when I woke up, there was a profound difference in the size of the lumps on my bones, on my body, and I attribute that to your visit and your prayer. And I was very, very humbled, and I cried, and I thanked you and I thanked the prayer that you had said because something really profound happened. And…I mean, my friends have felt those spots before, and they felt them again on Monday, and they were amazed. So, it wasn’t just my own interpretation. It really, really was a physical change. And I have also felt very, very tired since Monday as well, but in a sort of peaceful way. So, I do thank you so much.

Days before, Aaron had struggled to walk. He could hardly even lie down flat on his bed because the pain from the cancer in his spine was so intense. Yet, after that healing—a healing, which we now recognize as having only been temporary—Aaron actually ran. He also experienced a deep-seated peace, the likes of which he had not known since his battle with cancer had begun. Even more than the physical changes, it was this peace and the tears of consolation which Aaron shed which struck me most profoundly. In that healing God revealed the depths of His love for Aaron. He gave to him a foretaste of the peace of heaven where, we pray, Aaron now swiftly runs. The human heart longs for peace, not some momentary lack of distraction but rather that steadfast interior quiet rooted in a love which never fails. Christ Jesus alone can give such peace, for He gives us His peace—a peace which this world simply cannot give. While Aaron’s physical healing was not permanent, that peace, which he experienced, took deep root in his heart, bearing fruit in his spiritual conversion. I firmly believe that the Lord gave Aaron that profound grace back in August of 2005 in order to sustain him spiritually through the agony of these past two years just as Our Lord temporarily transfigured Himself, revealing His divine glory to His disciples on Mount Tabor, in order to strengthen them for the coming days of His passion and death. On the cliffs of Bondi Beach, God revealed to Aaron that the sufferings of the present are as nothing in comparison with the glory to be revealed (cf. Romans 8:18).

In January of 2006, Aaron wrote to me: “I do hope that [my] journey here on earth will be a long one! There is much to achieve, many people to help and to share music with. I think I have also learnt to accept that ultimately these things are not in my hands. They are far beyond my control. I must have complete faith in God, in the Lord, that everything is happening in the right way, at the right time and for the right reasons. It has been a big lesson to learn and accept this.” In the same note Aaron mentioned that he had begun to pray the rosary again with his grandparents as he had done when he was little. Later, in September of that year, just before his second brain surgery, Aaron wrote to me again. “There is a 10-15% chance of death,” he reported, “So I put my faith in the Lord and ask for his guidance and protection.” He signed the letter, “Yours in the Lord, Aaron McMillan.” Indeed, by then we had truly become friends in the Lord. Our Catholic faith bound us together. For, Aaron’s faith had come to fruition that previous July 25th when he made his first Confession, received his first Holy Communion and was confirmed. He later received the Anointing of the Sick and afterwards regularly received the Eucharist.

In his journey of faith, Aaron reached a particular milestone last Christmas. In fact, it would be more correct to say that God revealed the depths of His love for Aaron in a particularly powerful way on the day of Christ’s birth. On Christmas Day Aaron managed to make his way down to the hospice chapel where he attended Mass with his family. While in the chapel, he gazed upon the crucifix and meditated upon the meaning of the letters INRI placed above the Crucified Christ’s thorn-crowned head. The letters stand for ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.’ Aaron rightly recognized that by that sign Pilate and Jesus’ executioners intended to mock Him. This realization moved Aaron deeply. For the first time in his life, he fully appreciated what those letters meant. They mocked the Lord. Aaron later explained to me that at that moment he experienced in an entirely new way what Christ on the Cross had done for us. In His death Jesus revealed that no greater love has a man than to lay down his life for his friends. The Christian stands in awe before this mystery, recognizing in faith that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” On Christmas Day Jesus drew Aaron into the mystical depths of His love. The Crucified Christ spiritually embraced an agonizing Aaron. Aaron responded in tears. Never before had he been so moved when contemplating Christ, he later confided in me. At Aaron’s side sat his dear grandmother who had always been a powerful influence in his life. Beholding his tears she went to comfort him, but Aaron assured her that he was all right. For, the tears, which he shed, were not those of sorrow, but rather tears of love.

Aaron McMillan is the wayfarer---as indeed we all are. This earthly life is but a pilgrimage, a pilgrimage undertaken in faith as we make our way to the Father’s House. The God who created us never intended that we make this journey alone. In His great love for us, He gave us His only Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Aaron believed in Jesus. All present today in St. Mary’s gather together to commend Aaron to Christ’s mercy so that in finding forgiveness for his sins he may come to live forever in the fullness of that peace which he experienced intimately at certain graced moments in his life. Saint Paul instructs us that, “if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” (Romans 6:8). I firmly believe that Aaron did indeed die with Christ, for such was the intent of his final prayer. Hours before his death, we spoke on the phone. I encouraged Aaron to turn his thoughts towards Jesus. Together we prayed the Hail Mary, imploring Our Lady to place him with her Son. Only hours before he died, the words of that prayer, which he had first prayed as a little child, were on his lips: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” With those same words Aaron’s mother Gail kept vigil that night at his bedside as she prayed the rosary for her son. Today we implore Our Lady yet again to place Aaron with Jesus. Our faith gives us the hope that Aaron now lives with Christ and on the Last Day will rise again with Him in a body spiritually transformed and purged of the cancer which took his life.

With a passion rarely found among us, Aaron pursued beauty—beauty in the musical phrase with its harmonies as well as dissonance. May he now know Eternal Beauty—that Uncreated Beauty which Saint Augustine rightly acclaims ever ancient and ever new. All created forms of beauty—the musician’s composition, the artist’s canvas, the bard’s poetry—reflect in their own inspired way the Divine Beauty which has created us. As true beauty is never impersonal but rather moves the human heart as a lover woes his beloved, Uncreated Beauty personally draws us forth. My friends, Divine Beauty, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, has called the wayfarer home, having first lovingly prepared the path through a reawakening of Aaron’s Catholic faith. Pray with me now that Aaron’s pursuit of Beauty reach its goal. With the angels and saints, may he forever behold the infinitely beautiful Face of God.

Aaron, “sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful” (Psalm 149:1). While your ‘Schubert’ piano concerto must go unfinished, your life in the Lord has become your masterpiece. In cooperating with the abundant grace which God bestowed upon you, you have composed in your very being a glorious hymn of praise unto the Lord. Thank you, dear friend, for showing to us in the midst of your suffering God’s saving love. Go now, O Wayfarer, to the Father’s House. Until we meet again, rest in peace.

Fr. Carola Sighting!

2007-05-04T19:19:00.000+02:00

From AREOPAGUS

Fr. Carola on the Diaconal Ministry at the Altar

2007-04-26T15:13:00.000+02:00

A. M. D. G.

Father Joseph Carola, S.J.
Sermon on Diaconal Ministry at the Altar
For the Third-Year Students of the Pontifical North American College
Vatican City
24 April 2007

John 19: 38-42

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were members of the Sanhedrin which had ruthlessly sought Jesus’ death. But Joseph “was a virtuous and righteous man…who, though he was a member of the council, had not consented to their plan of action” ( Luke 23:50-51). Indeed, he “was himself a disciple of Jesus” (Matthew 27:57)—although “secretly…for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38). It was he, “a distinguished member of the council who…courageously went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus” (Mark 15:43). Nicodemus the Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, “had first come to [Jesus] at night” (John 19:39, cf. John 3:1-3). He confessed Jesus to be a teacher who had come from God, for no one could do the signs that Jesus was doing unless God was with him (cf. John 3:2). When the temple guards stood amazed before the authority with which Christ taught, provoking only priestly ire and disdain, Nicodemus dispassionately came to Jesus’ defense, arguing that the Sanhedrin should give Jesus a hearing before passing judgment (John 7:45-52). But his reasoned response merely merited him pharisaic ridicule: “You are not from Galilee also, are you?” his fellow elders sneered (John 7:52). With subtly and skill worthy of a Jesuit, Joseph and Nicodemus lived their discipleship in an otherwise hostile environment. These saintly Jews belonged to the truth and, on this account, listened to Christ’s voice. Yet they were obliged to do so secretly and at night. On this account, it is astonishing to find them at the time of Jesus’ death where the Apostles themselves, save the Beloved Disciple, feared to trend.

At great personal risk, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus attended to the dead Christ. They had been unable to prevent Jesus’ death, but they could at least secure His dignified burial. Their act publicly proclaimed their previously hidden discipleship, for on that tragic day the eyes of all Jerusalem were fixed on Calvary Hill (cf. Luke 24:18). Their charitable deed conformed them to Christ Crucified before their peers’ critical gaze. But love for the Crucified cast out fear. Indeed, the worst had already happened. Their Lord was dead. All else mattered little.

With profound reverence they removed the nails which had affixed Jesus to the Cross. Into their arms they received His lifeless body, bearing His dead weight upon their shoulders and chest. Descending from the Cross, they laid Him in the arms of His Mother, who embraced His dead body as she had once cuddled His infant form. The Magdalene bathed His feet with her tears. The Beloved Disciple lovingly contemplated Jesus’ wounded breast upon which he had only recently rested. Assisted by Joseph and Nicodemus, this holy remnant bore the body of the Priest-Victim in procession to the tomb. The Sanhedrin’s saintly members unfolded the linen shroud and laid it reverently upon the stone slab where the Crucified would rest. Having placed His body there, they anointed it with aloes of myrrh and aromatic spices. Since the Sabbath night was falling, they dared not delay in their sacred duties. They lingered only long enough to seal the tomb. We can imagine how they solemnly invited all to leave: Ite…ite, missa est. Behold Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus’ humble ministry at the cruciform Altar of the Lord.

The Catholic deacon himself serves in a manner similar to these saintly Jews. It can be said that while in formation the seminarian has lived his discipleship in secret and at night—that is, out of the public’s sight. But at his ordination to the diaconate, the seminarian becomes the Church’s public minister. He becomes a member of her clergy. His discipleship is thus revealed. Ordination sends him forth from the hidden life of studies to minister publicly to God’s people. The sacramental grace of Holy Orders emboldens him in his service as he preaches, ministers at the Altar, baptizes, witnesses marriages and buries the dead.

It is in the sanctuary that the deacon especially serves in imitation of Joseph and Nicodemus on Calvary Hill. There, he unfolds the corporal and lays it down upon the Altar with the same reverential care with which these men once prepared Christ’s burial shroud. The liturgical use of the corporal in the Mass of Pope St. Pius V illustrates particularly well this ritual’s deep meaning. For, while in the Novus Ordo of Pope Paul VI the Sacred Host rests upon the paten during the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the Tridentine ritual prescribes that the Sacred Host lie directly upon the corporal. Thus does linen sacramentally bear the Body of Christ as it once received His crucified form. After the incensation of the gifts, the deacon takes the thurible and incenses the bishop or priest who in persona Christi capitis stands at the head of the Eucharistic assembly. The deacon then proceeds to incense the other baptized members of Christ’s ecclesial body as Joseph and Nicodemus once honoured Christ’s body with spices and myrrh. During the distribution of Holy Communion, the deacon ministers Christ’s Body and Blood to the faithful as the saintly members of the Sanhedrin once placed the Crucified in the arms of His sorrowful Mother whose faith never failed. As the Communion Rite concludes, the deacon returns the Blessed Sacrament to the tabernacle, genuflects and with due solemnity closes the door as Joseph and Nicodemus once laid Christ in the tomb and reverently sealed its entrance.

But unlike Joseph and Nicodemus, the deacon does not attend to the dead Christ. Rather, he ministers to others the Risen Jesus Crucified. The deacon stands at Calvary, that is, he ministers at the Altar, always in the light of the Resurrection. In this regard, those two other disciples on the road to Emmaus, Cleopas and his companion, complete on Easter Sunday the diaconal ministry which Joseph and Nicodemus performed on Calvary Hill. Like two deacons ministering at the Altar, these once despondent disciples recognize with ecstatic joy their Risen Lord in the breaking of the bread. Such joy rightly animates the deacon’s service. As once in sorrow Joseph and Nicodemus sent the mourning remnant forth from the tomb, the deacon now in joy sends forth all who have participated in the Eucharist to love and serve the Lord. On this account, the deacon must be among the first to love and serve if his words are to convey anything more than simple rubrics. Indeed, if the deacon’s service never leaves the sanctuary, it risks becoming mere ritual—a faith dead without works. At the Altar the deacon receives the grace to recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread so that he may recognize Christ in the least of His brothers and sisters. From his intimate union with the paschal mysteries celebrated at the Altar, he goes forth to serve others in charity. Lex orandi, lex amandi—the deacon’s rule of liturgical service bears fruit in a rule of love. With the same reverence with which he has set the Altar, unfolded the corporal, prepared the chalice, incensed the priest and people, he likewise attends to the poor, the sick and the downtrodden in whom he beholds his Crucified Lord. The deacon ministers to them the peace which from the Altar he proclaims. As Saint Ignatius of Antioch insightfully acknowledged, the faithful celebration of the Eucharist issues in Christian charity (Letter to the Smyrnaeans, 6.1-2).

Let us return to that great risk which Joseph and Nicodemus’s ministry at Calvary entailed. Saint Mark rightly notes that Joseph of Arimathea courageously went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body (cf. Mark 15:43). Ministering to the dead Christ revealed their discipleship at the moment of greatest peril. The Apostles, save John, cowered in fear. Death seemed imminent for all those associated with Jesus. Joseph and Nicodemus had nothing to gain and everything to lose. Yet by their act they willingly allowed themselves to be conformed to Christ Crucified even before His victory in the Resurrection was powerfully revealed. By God’s grace, the crucifixion emboldened their love for Jesus. How much more this ought to be true for us who live continually in the light of the Resurrection!

The Sacrifice with which the deacon associates himself through ministry at the Altar is the Sacrifice of that love than which there is no greater: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Such heroic suffering in conformity to Christ Crucified marks the diaconate at its origin. Consider the Church’s proto-martyr, the deacon Saint Stephen. His death inaugurates a venerable line of martyr-deacons. When the Roman soldiers seized Pope Saint Sixtus II during his celebration of the Eucharist in the cemetery of Saint Callistus, they arrested his four deacons as well. Taken from their service at the Eucharistic Sacrifice, these deacons were sacrificed on account of their love for the Risen Jesus Crucified whom they served. Only four days later, the deacon Saint Lawrence met his death upon a red-hot iron grill, giving heroic witness to the service of charity which flowed from his ministry at the Altar of the Lord. Although not a martyr in the strict sense, the saintly deacon Francis of Assisi, on whose feast your class will be ordained, was conformed to Christ Crucified in his very flesh. Are you, my brothers, willing by your diaconal ministry to be similarly conformed to the Crucified Christ?

Let me offer one simple, yet personal—and therefore, immediate—example of the risk which ordained life entails. Only the other day—on Monday of Holy Week, to be exact—while I was making my way to Saint Peter’s Square for the papal Mass commemorating the death of the Servant of God Pope John Paul the Great, I was assaulted and verbally abused for no other reason than I am a priest. As I was walking and conversing with a fellow Jesuit, a man going in the opposite direction quickly came alongside of me and with premeditated force struck me in the chest with his elbow and forearm, feigning at first that the encounter was accidental. But the stream of obscenities against the priesthood, which spewed forth from his mouth immediately afterwards, betrayed his real intent. If such can happen on the streets of Rome, it can happen anywhere. Indeed, the man spoke English. He was a North American.

Conformity to Christ poor, insulted, thought a fool and crucified ought to embolden us in His service. For by it we are intimately made one with Jesus. Suffering thus with Christ proves the metal of our friendship as it publicly revealed Joseph and Nicodemus’ discipleship. Such conformity lived in the light of the Resurrection ought to fill us with joy as it did the Apostles, who, having been flogged, “left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonour for the sake of the name” (Acts 5:41).

In a matter of months, you will be ordained for ministry at the Altar of Sacrifice. Recognize in that ministry the personal sacrifice which it entails—the laying down of one’s life for one’s friends. Find strength in the knowledge that no one asks you to make this sacrifice alone and unaided. Rather it will be the fruit of the grace of Holy Orders. This grace will embolden you to live your discipleship publicly. You will preach the Gospel in season and out of season. You will minister reverently at the Altar of the Lord. In charity you will serve Christ in His crucified members. Taken together, the examples of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus at Calvary and that of Cleopas and his companion at Emmaus will teach you how to minister at the Altar and indeed in all things with joyful courage and courageous joy.

Oh my...

2007-04-15T04:55:00.000+02:00

Pubblicità completa Parmigiano Reggiano!

And if I see you reaching for that plastic can of freeze-dried knock-off Parmigiano gratings again... you'll hear it from me!

(Of course, H/T, once again, to Amy! Just how DOES she find all these?)

A Paschal Diptych

2007-04-14T00:37:00.000+02:00

Ok, so they're a little late. But still worth reading! :)

A. M. D. G.
A Paschal Diptych
FOR THE PONTIFICIUM COLLEGIUM GERMANICUM ET HUNGARICUM
P. Joseph Carola, S.J.

I: A PASSIONTIDE MEDITATION
John 19:25-37

In the year 2005, Good Friday fell on the 25th of March. The Solemnity of the Annunciation was transferred that year to the Monday after Mercy Sunday, that is, it was celebrated two days after Pope John Paul II had died. The passing of the Holy Father on the vigil of Mercy Sunday, a feast which he had extended to the Universal Church, struck many as providential. It seemed only fitting and certainly not by chance that our Holy Father should die after first vespers and the celebration of the vigil Mass for the Second Sunday of Easter. For the believer, the timing of John Paul II’s death revealed a mysterious order—something undeniably more than mere coincidence. The same can be said for that year’s felicitous commemoration of Our Lord’s death on the liturgical anniversary of His conception by the Holy Spirit in the Blessed Mother’s virginal womb. An ancient tradition first attested to in the third century assigns Our Lord’s death to the date of 25 March. His conception and crucifixion coincide without being coincidental. This ancient tradition sheds a marvelous light upon our meditation of Our Lord’s passion and death, His Mother’s unique collaboration in His redemptive mission, and the celibate chastity of our priestly vocation.

Jesus is the Son of God made man. He exercises His priesthood in His humanity. Indeed, Christ’s priesthood exists from the moment of His conception. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, Jesus the High Priest can rightly say, “The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name” (Isaiah 49:1). As man Jesus offers Himself in priestly sacrifice to the Father whereas as God Christ receives together with the Father His own reconciliatory self-offering. Thus does the man Jesus uniquely mediate between God and men. He consummates His priestly mediation in the paschal mystery. There He reveals himself to be both priest and victim—a dual vocation which the tradition of commemorating Christ’s death on the anniversary of His conception places in stark relief.

Though He was in the form of God, Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at. Rather He emptied Himself and took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men. He was known to be of human estate, accepting even death, death on a cross! (Phil. 2:6-8). The Son of God became man in order that in His humanity He might die for us thereby forgiving us our sins and reconciling us to the Father. Consider for a moment Andrej Rublev’s icon of the Nativity. The Russian depicts the Christ Child not so much as wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger, than as bound tightly in a burial shroud, lying in a sarcophagus. The mystery of Jesus’ birth already reveals the mystery of his death. Our Father Ignatius makes this point abundantly clear in the Second Week of the Spiritual Exercises. He instructs the retreatant that, when contemplating the Nativity, he is to consider how Our Lady and Saint Joseph labored “that Our Lord might be born in extreme poverty, and that after many labors, after hunger, thirst, heat, and cold, after insults and outrages, He might die on the cross” (Spiritual Exercises # 116). The humility of Christmas is already the humility of Calvary—the third and most perfect kind of humility; the humility of poverty, insults and disdain (cf. Spiritual Exercises # 167). According to that ancient tradition, the common celebration of the Annunciation and Good Friday on the 25th of March confirms the sacrificial nature of Our Lord’s kenosis from the moment of His conception. The Son of God assumes our mortal nature in Mary’s womb in order to die for us. On Calvary Christ the High Priest offers Himself, the Divine Lamb, in sacrifice. He pours out His own Blood as a sin-offering of infinite value truly pleasing to the Father. In His death He fulfills His mission: “Consummatum est—It is finished.” The Resurrection, in turn, reveals the victory over sin and death gained on Calvary Hill.

Mary, the Mother of God, figures centrally in these saving mysteries as well. Indeed, without Mary, there would have been no Annunciation, and without God’s taking flesh at the Annunciation, Calvary would never have been. Mary, whose fiat bore fruit in the Incarnation, participates intimately in her Son’s priestly self-offering on Calvary Hill. The tradition which places Christ’s death together with His conception in a common celebration reveals the mystery of Mary’s unique co-operation in the Redemption wrought by her Son.

In the contemplative spirit of Our Father Ignatius, let us consider these two scenes—the Annunciation and Calvary—superimposed one upon the other. Let us call to mind Mary’s place at the foot of the Cross. As her Son breathes His last breath, she falls on her knees. Her hands lie open upon her lap. She assumes again the posture which was hers at the angelic annunciation. Adsum, she says, “Here I am.” These words communicate more than a mere physical presence. They are rather words of consecration—the “Here I am, Lord! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8) of the prophet Isaiah. “Here I am,” she assures her Son, “I have stood by You faithfully unto the end.” Indeed, this sinless Mother could never have abandoned her Child.

On that same day some 30 years before, Mary had received a mission. She received the mission to be the Mother of God. She spoke her ‘yes’ for humanity in every age. God had created us without our consent, but He would not redeem us without our cooperation. Mary’s ‘yes’ was the thoroughly grace-filled cry of an otherwise desperate humanity unable to save itself. From the moment of her own conception, she had been preserved from the stain of Original Sin so that with uncompromised freedom she could utter her fiat on our behalf: “Be it done unto me according to Thy word.” Having first conceived Christ in her mind through faith, she now conceived Him in her womb by the Holy Spirit. God became bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh. Assuming her flesh He came to die. Adsum, she had said in her oratory at Nazareth. Adsum, she repeats again at the foot of the Cross. “Here I am, Lord,” she utters, “I come to do Thy will.” Her graced-filled cooperation bears its salvific fruit in her Son’s redemptive sacrifice on Calvary Hill.

Some years before at Cana, Mary had anticipated her Son’s hour when she drew His attention to the needs of a newly wedded couple. “They have no wine,” she told Him. He responded enigmatically, saying, “O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come” (John 2:4). In response she simply informed the servants to do whatever He told them. Thus did Mary’s intercession draw forth Jesus’ first sign at Cana in Galilee. What does the Woman of Scripture have to do with her Son, Jesus? One may rightly respond, “Everything.” She is the New Eve whose obedience rectifies the first Eve’s disobedience. Through her obedience she becomes the Mother of God, the Mother of Christ, the Second Adam, and thus the Mother of His Body, the Mother of the Church and in this fashion she is in reality what Eve only foreshadowed—she is the Mother of all the living (cf. Genesis 3:20). According to her maternal vocation, both in time and in each of us individually, she gives birth to Jesus, who is the life of our souls. By uttering her fiat she inaugurates His priestly hour. It is only fitting, then, that she should be present at its consummation, and not merely physically present but present as only a mother can be at the death of her child—suffering every minute of that hour in Him, through Him and with Him. Fiat, fiat, she says. “O woman, what have you not to do with me,” the dying Christ could well have asked, “now that my hour in its fullness has come?”

At the foot of the Cross, the Woman of Scripture’s universal motherhood is revealed. “When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (John 19:26-27). From that hour—the hour of the Divine Mercy, the hour of which Our Lord had first spoken at Cana, the hour at which some 30 years before eternity had burst forth into time—from that hour the Mother of the Redeemer became the Mother of the redeemed. She bears us in suffering as she suffers the death of her Son. Conception and death prove inseparably one.

“It is finished,” Jesus says. He has faithfully fulfilled His mission, obediently accepting even death on a cross. Despite all temptations to the contrary, never once did He betray the self-emptying nature of His mission. Mary’s mission embraced without reserve at the Annunciation has reached its fulfillment as well. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum, she had said in response to the Archangel’s proclamation. Mary now utters these words again as she offers herself in union with her Son’s redemptive self-offering upon the Cross. Her Son’s final words echo in her Heart: “It is finished.”

Jesus never felt the spear which pierced His side. He was already dead by then. But Mary felt it. As its sharp edge sliced open Jesus’ scourged flesh and cut through to His Heart, the sword, which Simeon had prophesied, pierced her Heart as well. The Mother intimately suffered her own flesh’s passion in her Son. For what loving mother could ever fail to suffer her own child’s pain? The graced union of their Hearts would have known no separation in death. Mary singularly suffered that final act which revealed the infinitely merciful depths of her Son’s divine love.

As the spear pierced Jesus’ Heart, the sword pierced Mary’s “also, that thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:35). Indeed, Longinus’ spear pierced a vast multitude of hearts that day. In Baptism and the Eucharist, the Christian is incorporated into Christ’s Body. Our hearts are conformed to His. Thus our hearts are wounded in love in order to love all the more. The priest’s heart sacramentally ordered to Christ’s priestly Heart must likewise be a wounded heart—a heart which loves to the point of death and in dying is ripped open in order that it might love all the more.

In your priesthood, you will love. In your celibate chastity you will offer your love in priestly sacrifice. Your love will be pierced not in order that it die but rather that you be able to love all the more. As you love selflessly, that is, without clinging to those, whom you love, for your own sake, the Lord will rip open your hearts. Like Mary, you will suffer that final act of Christ’s passion. You will feel it intensely. As you suffer it faithfully, the depths of your priestly ability to love will grow in God’s grace all the more. Through your priestly love, Christ will be conceived in the hearts of those whom you compassionately serve. Your spiritual paternity will be an expression of Mary’s maternity as you generate Christ in others. But to conceive Christ in this way, you must be both priest and victim. You must suffer with Him the passion of your priestly celibacy. In your celibate love you must die to yourselves as you live now for others. Yours must be a love which never seeks itself—a love crucified unto death (cf. Ignatius of Antioch, Romans 7.2: “ ‘o evmo.j Ve,rwj evstau,rwtai”; Ignatius of Loyola, MI, Epp. XII, 678ff: “Amor meus crucifixus est.”) By means of this death, you will conceive life. As with Christ so too with His priest—the alter Christus—death and new life go hand-in-hand.

“It is finished,” Jesus cries aloud as He entrusts His spirit into the Father’s hands. “It is finished,” Mary repeats inwardly, contemplating all things within her Heart as she has done since the beginning. “It has only just begun,” says the priest as he lives the sacred adventure of crucified love. As we enter into these most sacred days of our faith, let us kneel with hands laid open in prayer before Our Crucified Lord. Let us humbly come before Him as mendicants poor in goodness. Let us obediently say with Mary, Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum—be it done unto me according to Thy word. Thus dying to ourselves may we live our love for God and neighbor in the Crucified Christ alone. May God’s grace preserve us unto the end so that, when at last we come to review the sacramental life of faith which God has used our priesthood to conceive in others, we may conclude our fiat as Mary concluded hers, echoing faithfully her beloved Son’s bitter-sweet words: “Consummatum est.”

P. JOSEPH CAROLA, S.J.
Pontificium Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum
Rome, 31 March 2007

II: AN EASTERTIDE MEDITATION
Luke 1:39-47

In the days following Our Lord’s conception, Mary arose and made haste to the house of her cousin Elizabeth in the hill country of Judah. Joy led her forth. With joy Elizabeth greeted her: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:42, 45). In joy Mary responded: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” (Luke 1: 46-47). As the mystery of the Annunciation anticipates Christ’s suffering, the mystery of the Visitation foretells His glory. Indeed, the bliss of the Visitation is but a foretaste of the boundless joy of the Resurrection.

The Blessed Virgin Mary trusted that the word which the Lord had spoken to her would be fulfilled. The Immaculate Daughter of Zion remembered the promises which God had first made to her father Abraham, the great Patriarch of her people. The Lord had assured him that he would be the father of many nations. His descendents would number like the stars of heaven and the sands of the seashore. Through Isaac Mary was a child of the promise. By nature, she was a Hebrew, Abraham’s daughter according to the flesh. But the cause of her joy lay elsewhere. Like her father Abraham, she believed. She had faith in the Lord and trusted in His promise. By grace, Mary was a believer, the daughter of Abraham according to the spirit. Isaac had been a figure of Christ in whom all nations would be gathered. Thus Mary’s Son fulfilled the divine promises made to her father Abraham. In Him, the Law and the prophets found their fulfilment. From Jerusalem the Good News of our salvation was preached in His name to all nations (cf. Luke 24:47). Through baptism into Christ and the Eucharist, people of every nation have become the spiritual children of Abraham according to the promise. We have been incorporated into the Body of Christ, the seed of Abraham and the son of David according to the flesh. The promises made to Abraham and fulfilled in Christ have been realized in His ecclesial Body, the Catholic Church. Mary, the Mother of the Church, rejoices in God our Savior, for she recognizes that the promises made to her and her forefathers have indeed been fulfilled.

Having been the cause of her joy at the Visitation, Mary’s faith in the Lord’s promise sustained her at her Son’s death. During the dark hours of the passion and the desolate days which followed, Mary, the Daughter of Abraham, never ceased to believe “that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Luke 1:45). Mary’s blessedness, which Elizabeth had extolled, proved itself golden in the fiery furnace of those tragic days. Yet its lustre went unseen as the sorrowful Mother mourned her dead Son.

In the Third Week of the Spiritual Exercises, our Father Ignatius would have us consider “the desolation of our Lady, her great sorrow and weariness” (Spiritual Exercises # 208). Let us place ourselves with her now in the darkness of that night as she mourns her Son who lies dead in the grave. With the liberty of an Ignatian contemplation, let us image Saint John, to whom Our Lord only hours before entrusted His Blessed Mother, as he accompanies Our Lady from Calvary back to her lodgings within the city walls. Night is falling. The Sabbath has begun. The Beloved Disciple suggests that he stay with her, that she not be alone. But she graciously sends him on his way to join the other disciples who by now have congregated again in the upper room, where only the night before they had shared the paschal meal with Jesus. Judas had been with them then as well, but now both the betrayer and the Betrayed are dead. Fear seizes the Eleven. How much longer will it be before the rest of them are put to death? Days? Hours? On this dreadful night, Mary has chosen to remain alone in her grief as her Son rests alone in the grave. As darkness descends, this Sabbath night brings only anguished rest.

Before dawn on the third day, we find Mary alone in her cell (Spiritual Exercises # 218-225, 299). Desolate and sorrowful, she is not, however, given over to despair. Drawing strength from the memory of that boundless consolation which she had enjoyed some 30 years before, the sorrowful Mother has patiently persevered in faith. Never did she doubt that the Child whom she conceived was “holy, the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). This knowledge sustains her now. She has not lost faith. Had her Son not foretold the events of these days? He taught His disciples: “The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise. But they did not understand the saying and they were afraid to ask him” (Mark 9:31-32). She, nonetheless, believed. Even now despite her overwhelming grief, she trusts that the promises of the Lord will be fulfilled. Though sorely afflicted, the Mater Dolorosa keeps faith (cf. Psalm 116:10). Obedient to the Lord’s command, Abraham had been given back his son whom he was willing to put to death. Ever obedient to God’s word, Mary faithfully longs for her own Son, whose priestly sacrifice she suffered on Calvary Hill. Despite the encircling gloom beyond which none can see, Mary’s hope remains.

As the rising sun breaks forth over the horizon on that first Easter morning, light dispels the darkness. Seated, in mourning garb arrayed, her eyes closed and head bowed, Mary does not perceive the One whose divine glory surrounds her. His pierced hands draw her closely to Himself. Heart speaks to Heart as He enfolds her within His embrace. Immediately her faith recognizes the Risen Lord. With tear-swollen eyes, she looks up and gazes upon His once marred, now glorious face. Behold, the Risen Christ has come in haste to console His sorrowful Mother. Resurrected love transfigures her being. With boundless joy her soul magnifies the Lord; her spirit rejoices in God her Savior. Blessed is she, yes, indeed, blessed is she who trusted even in her sorrow that the promises of the Lord would be fulfilled.

Such is the medieval tradition which our Father Ignatius reverently places at the beginning of the Fourth Week of the Spiritual Exercises: Our Lord first appeared to His Mother after the Resurrection. Indeed, that Our Lord should have appeared first to His Mother is most fitting not simply because a loving son ought to think of comforting his mother before all others, but more to the point because Mary’s faith was uniquely able to recognize the Resurrection. Amidst the desolation and despair following Our Lord’s death and burial, Mary alone, we may rightly believe, trusted with a pure Heart that the promises of the Lord would be fulfilled. She persevered in faith. Despite the overwhelming darkness, Mary’s faith never wavered. When the Son of Man came back from the dead, He did indeed find faith on earth. He found it in His sinless Mother whose virtue—in this case, the theological virtues of faith and hope—never failed. The medieval tradition employed by our Father Ignatius intuits Mary’s invincible faith which immediately welcomed the Risen Lord as some 30 years before it had docilely conceived the Incarnate Word. At Nazareth Mary uttered her fiat. None other than the Immaculate Virgin could have spoken that ‘yes’. Similarly, at Jerusalem, Mary uniquely recognizes the Risen Christ. Without faith, one cannot recognize the Risen Lord. Later that same Easter morning, the Magdalene will think Christ the gardener, and still later on the evening of that same day, the despondent disciples on the road to Emmaus will walk miles with the Risen Christ before recognizing Him in the breaking of the bread. But Mary’s faith, which is the Church’s faith in seminal form, welcomes her Risen Son without fail. In her the Church infallibly proclaims Christ’s Resurrection from the dead.

The seminarian and the priest have much to learn from Mary’s perseverance in faith. Mary teaches us to trust in Divine Providence, most especially in times of trial when darkness obscures our vision. Priestly formation calls the seminarian to die to himself so that he may live solely for Christ. With St. John the Baptist the seminarian and priest learn to pray “He must increase; I must decrease” (John 3:30) to the point that we can say with St. Paul, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me” (Galatians 2.20). Priestly formation prepares us for our sacramental conformation to Christ, Priest and Victim. The dying to self necessary for one who would be an alter Christus is never easy. Indeed, it often hurts. During the dark days of our purification, we can easily be led to despair. At such moments Our Lady aids us. She instructs us through her example to trust that the promises of the Lord will be fulfilled. Our Lady of the Resurrection still dressed in mourning garb yet illumined by her Risen Son’s divine glory inspires us to believe that “in everything God works for good with those who love him” (Romans 8:28). With Marian faith we pray, “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Romans 8:31). Thus in hope do we persevere. Mary’s paschal faith assures us that the Lord’s love is truly invincible. No matter how bleak the situation or painful our suffering, nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). During times of desolation, we would do well to imitate Our Lady who having pondered in her Heart the joys of Christmas (cf. Luke 2:19) found the spiritual strength necessary to endure the desolation of her Son’s passion and death as she awaited the fulfilment of His paschal promise (cf. Spiritual Exercises # 321, 323).

As we enter into the Sacred Triduum, let us turn to Mary, Our Lady of the Resurrection, who trusted that the promises of the Lord would be fulfilled. Let us implore her intercession. May she teach us how to persevere in times of desolation as we faithfully await consolation’s return. May she make haste to visit us with her Son’s grace so that on Easter morning our souls may truly magnify the Lord and our spirits rejoice in Christ our Risen Savior.

P. JOSEPH CAROLA, S.J.
Pontificium Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum
Rome, 4 April 2007

Memed again!

2006-12-23T05:52:00.000+01:00

Hey look, I got an early Christmas present - courtesy of the So Many Devotions blog.

Looks like (for once) I'm on the beginning end of a meme tag. Weird. Anyway, here you go, it's the

Catholic Devotions Meme!

1. Favorite devotion or prayer to Jesus? Adoration, natch. As for prayer to Jesus in particular, I like the Jesus Prayer a whole lot - "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

2. Favorite Marian devotion or prayer? Angelus. In Latin. Sung. Like the Pope does it (with the three Gloria Patri's at the end for the Trinity).

3. Do you wear a scapular or medal? Uh. Both! :) And my other medal that I wear (of St. Josemaria) has the image from the OD chapel in Rome on the back, Santa Maria della Pace (Our Lady of Peace).

4. Do you have holy water in your home? Yup. I used to have a little font by the door, but somewhere during my move to Italy for a year it seems to have vanished from my possession. So little bottles all over it is.

5. Do you 'offer up' your sufferings? Yes, well, I try to. If I remember. Somewhere back there I read this phrase in one of St. Josemaria's books - "Christ. Christ on the Cross!" Without really thinking about it at the time, it seems to have stuck in my head. So frequently whenever I'm going through something that phrase pops into my head and helps me to remember to offer things up. Must be my guardian angel. Or St. Josemaria.

6. Do you observe First Fridays and First Saturdays? No, not so much. I am continually surprised when I go to daily Mass on First Fridays - "why's there so many people today? Ohhhhhhhhh." And First Saturdays? Not even an "Ohhhhhhh." Too bad.

7. Do you go to Eucharistic Adoration? How frequently? Yes. Well, I'm committed to an hour a week at my local parish's perpetual chapel. I typically go to another weekly Holy Hour at another parish across town. And the rest of the week I pop in and out for varying amounts of time, but at least some time each day - I mean, come on, I have NO EXCUSE, I work at my local parish with the Perpetual Adoration chapel down the hall from my office!! It's a travesty that I don't utilize it MORE often! I've started trying to go in every day at noon to pray the Angelus (see #2), and that's been nice. But I can't sing in there - there's other people present trying to pray!

8. Are you a Saturday evening Mass person or Sunday morning Mass person? Uh, "C. - Sunday evening Mass person" :) Honestly, I prefer Mass on Sunday morning. But since I work at the local parish as a DRE, I typically have to be around there working in the mornings on Sunday. At the same time, I am still an active member (by choice - personal parish I guess) at the Cathedral way across town in St. Paul - which has a very nice 5pm Mass on Sunday. So I've worked it all out that way; I'm usually at the local parish for the morning Masses, though not personally attending them usually, and then after the youth group meets at noon I head off to St. Paul to my own parish's Mass and gather with my friends afterwards doing a Theology of the Body study group. How's that for more info than you needed to know? :)

9. Do you say prayers at mealtime? Absolutely. And it doesn't matter who I'm with either. It's nothing special though, just the old standby "Bless us O Lord..." with public Sign of the Cross (none of that quick "under the tablecloth" signage going on here!). Sometimes if I'm really feeling devotional I'll even pray the AFTER dinner prayer!

10. Favorite Saint(s)? Ooooo boy. Pretty much impossible for me... But I'll try. How about, in no particular order: St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Maria Goretti, St. Athanasius, St. Dominic, St. Josemaria Escriva, St. Tarcisius, Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, St. Faustina, St. Catherine of Siena, Bl. Fra Angelico, St. Stephen... and on and on and on.

11. Can you recite the Apostles Creed by heart? Yes, I can!! That's because for whatever reason I'm always the one asked to lead the Rosary. However, I can still be led astray by OTHERS goofing it up - but I'm not alone in that, as the 3000 kids and adults at this year's Children's Rosary Gathering will attest too after being led in the (oops) Nicene Creed with three attempts to switch us back before giving up! LOL!

12. Do you usually say short prayers (aspirations) during the course of the day? Yes. See #1 & #5 for starters. I also will sometimes spout off random Bible phrases, often from the Psalms or from the canticles from the Liturgy of the Hours (not that I pray that as often as I'd like either...).

13. Bonus Question: When you pass by a automobile accident or other serious mishap, do you say a quick prayer for the folks involved? Yes and no. Yes, if I actually SEE the accident I do. No, if I just see an ambulance or fire truck responding I don't usually think of it (this is likely because of my former life experience as an EMT... nothing brings out the cynic in you like realizing that 95% of the "emergency" calls you get are not at all as advertised).

Why is this a Bonus Question anyway? It's #13, does that have something to do with it? One more than the Apostles? One more than the tribes of Israel? The "unlucky" number? And just what do we win anyway, that makes it a "bonus" - what are the other questions worth? What's the prize? Did I get it?

Ok, I'll stop now. :) Guess it's time to tag some other people - let's see if we can get this meme out into the big leagues! I tag Amy, Zadok, Mark, and Jeff. Merry Christmas guys!

Discerning over a gelato

2006-11-18T03:14:00.000+01:00

A great group of young men who are discerning their vocation (from St. Agnes parish here in St. Paul) are over in Rome right now - enjoying some gelato and autumm in Rome (lucky kids!) while spending some time to hang out with Fr. Z and some of the St. Agnes seminarians who are currently studying in Rome at the NAC! Check out the story at Fr. Z's blog.

Reminder: my other blog!

2006-10-25T02:58:00.000+02:00

Just an FYI, in case people haven't clicked over, my other blog, Veritatis Splendor, is also being updated (fairly) regularly. I'm trying to use that blog for all the non-Rome stuff, and keep this blog for things that pertain more to my year in Rome.

Pope Pics of the Day

2006-10-23T22:03:00.000+02:00

"Now point it out to me again, where did you say you're from?"

(For the record, it was the ad limina visit of Bishop William Murphy, with seminarian in tow of County Kerry, Ireland!)

(Sorry the photo isn't right-side up... I didn't have time to save the photo, turn it right way, and then upload it somewhere else)

Cardinal Seán's Private Masses

2006-10-21T04:10:00.000+02:00

From today's post at Cardinal Seán’s Blog, an excerpt of his response to a question someone had about the (possible) loosening of the restrictions upon the Traditional Latin Mass by the Holy Father:

"It’s not a question of anyone being obliged to celebrate the “old” Mass. As far as the language is concerned, the “new” Mass can be celebrated in Latin without permission. As a matter of fact, when I was first ordained, if we celebrated Mass alone, we were supposed to celebrate it in Latin. I still follow that custom. The idea being that the vernacular was allowed for pastoral reasons for the people."

(my emphasis)

A few interesting tidbits in the latest post by Cardinal O'Malley of Boston on his (awesome) new blog. I was glad to see him give such a careful treatment of the underlying assumption that Latin was only part of the "Old Mass" and is now forbidden after Vatican II - wrong! Vatican II wanted Latin to maintain pride of place, and only offered the possibility that the Mass MIGHT be celebrated in the vernacular. But I don't need to cover this ground again, if you've come here before, you know what I feel about this issue!

What I was more interested in personally was to hear Cardinal O'Malley say that when he was ordained he was told to say the Mass in Latin if he was alone - I wonder when he was ordained, and if this was something that had to do with his status as a religious priest (Capuchin Franciscan, for the record - the same order as St. Padre Pio). I have never heard of such a requirement before, but I like it! I also like it that the Cardinal, by his own admission, is maintaining that tradition, which I guess means that the Cardinal says his private Masses in the universal language of the Roman Catholic Church - Latin. Sweet.

The Carola Resurfaces

2006-10-17T04:35:00.000+02:00

Proof that this is a man who wears many hats. ;)

So what did Fr. Carola do when first he returned to Italian soil? He directed the NAC deaconate class on their start-of-year retreat at "Monastero delle Suore Benedettine, Montefiolo, Casparia, Italy" - and no, I have no idea where that is. I only wish I were back in Italy getting to be led on an Ignatian retreat again. But, we grow where we're planted, they say. And my planter is now in a suburban parish in freezing cold Minnesota (yup, I'm a hothouse flower!), a few thousand miles from Italy. *sigh*

For your reading pleasure, he also sent me his homily from the retreat:

A. M. D. G.

Father Joseph Carola, S.J.
Sermon for the Feast of the Archangels Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel and Saint Raphael
Diaconal Ordination Retreat for the Fourth-year Students of the Pontifical North American College, Rome
Monastero delle Suore Benedettine, Montefiolo, Casparia, Italy
29 September 2006

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
John 1:47-51

In his Constitutions for the Society of Jesus, our Father Ignatius has little to say about the vow of chastity beyond the admonition that a Jesuit’s chastity should be angelic. That’s all well and good. But as many commentators have noted, angels don’t have bodies. Unlike the angelic hosts, we poor sons of Adam have to contend with a fallen human nature. A recent General Congregation of the Order sought to supplement Saint Ignatius’ terse legislation with a fuller exposition of what the vow of chastity entails. Among its various points the document observes that apostolic chastity is inherently angelic because it frees the vowed man to minister like the angels to God and His people. In a similar vein, the unmarried candidate to the diaconate solemnly promises “to remain celibate for the sake of the kingdom and in lifelong service to God and mankind.” He commits himself to an angelic ministry.

Throughout that night wrought with vision, the prophet Daniel beholds thousands upon thousands ministering to the Ancient One seated upon the throne. Myriads and myriads attend him. This same heavenly host ascend and descend upon the Son of Man. Throughout the Scriptures the Triune God sends angels forth to do His bidding. The Archangel Michael defends God’s honor against the Devil and his demons. The Archangel Gabriel brings the Lord’s Glad Tidings to Daniel, Zechariah and above all to Mary, the Regina Angelorum. The Archangel Raphael accompanies the pilgrim and heals the sick. An angel, Saint Luke tells us, consoles even Our Lord on the night of His passion. Angels minister to those in need.

Although in strictly canonical terms the promise of lifelong celibacy made at a man’s diaconal ordination merely impedes marriage, it spiritually implies much more. By it the man consecrates himself to a lifelong service of chaste love. Such love is angelic inasmuch as it is a ministerial chastity entailing a freedom for. Chaste, celibate love frees the cleric to serve God and His people with an undivided heart. Consider for a moment the rather mundane example of comic-book superheroes. They are typically celibate men whose celibacy frees them to defend mankind without fear of retaliation against those whom they are known to love in an exclusive way appropriate to a husband for his wife and a father for his children. Until recently Hollywood has remained faithful to this crucial dynamic of sacrificial love in its film adaptations of Batman, Spiderman and the like—that is, until this past summer’s Superman movie which on this score proved a grave disappointment. The Catholic clergy are by no means superheroes. They are more akin to earthen vessels bearing a treasure not their own. Nonetheless, in the freely embraced self-sacrifice of their celibate chastity, one encounters the heroic, or to be more precise, the heroically angelic. Their celibacy heroically frees them for humble service.

Like the Archangel Michael, the celibate cleric defends the honor of the Divine Majesty. His chaste witness opposes a hedonistic society’s daily sacrileges committed against God’s temple, that is, against the human body. Like the Archangel Gabriel, the celibate cleric, whose love is uncompromised, proclaims God’s Word in season and out of season without trepidation. For perfect love drives out fear. Like the Archangel Raphael, the chaste cleric accompanies his fellow wayfarer along his pilgrim path, leading him always to Christ and never to himself. Celibate chastity frees the cleric’s heart from all disordered self-seeking in ministry. With Raphael he attends to the sick and when necessary, unhindered by any earthly embrace, he rises in the night to anoint the dying. With angelic liberty the celibate cleric consoles Christ sorrowful and suffering in the least of His brethren. He comes to those in need like a guardian angel who seeks only the good of the other. For, the love of a cleric who sincerely lives his celibate consecration is a love that can be trusted. His fidelity to celibacy establishes the trustworthy intimacy which allows the other the freedom necessary to reveal himself without fear of seduction or manipulation. In the context of such angelic chastity, the cleric effectively proclaims the Lord’s message of mercy.

While angelic chastity is a ministerial chastity, it is not simply a functional reality. Angelic chastity likewise entails a purity of heart which sees God. In loving adoration angelic chastity beholds the Face of Jesus. It is this intimate exchange which sustains the minister in his service. Indeed, angels are first and foremost contemplatives who adore the Ancient One seated upon His throne. They are sent forth from their contemplation to serve. Before the celibate can love others in faithful chastity, he must first contemplate the boundless love with which God loves him. Only then, from this intimate exchange of love, can he go forth to love others chastely as he himself is loved.

My brothers, our ordained mission lived in the celibate state is an angelic mission of selfless service rendered to God and men.

A not-so-subtle marketing campaign?

2006-10-08T22:52:00.000+02:00

While I'm blogging pope photos, I just thought I'd point this one out too -

Now, I wonder why the L'Osservatore Romano would have this shot in their online gallery? A bit of a papal plug perhaps? :)

The flowers on the desk are a nice touch though - do you think the Sisters bring him new ones every day? I wish the photo was higher resolution so we could really see exactly what the contents of the Papal Office Space are!

I also like how His Holiness seems to have a random assortment of bookcases, all packed. Reminds me of me. LOL!

Papa and his Little Sisters!

2006-10-08T22:36:00.000+02:00

There I was, just poking around on the Vatican's newly updated web site of photo galleries from L'Osservatore Romano and suddenly I saw this one --

Not only is it a great shot of our Holy Father, but look - right there in the front row are two of our beloved Little Sisters of the Lamb in blue - Sr. Rachel (from Poland) is on the left, and I hate to admit it, but I don't recall the name of the one waving on the right. There is no information given as to when this photo was taken either, unfortunately.

That, however, is quite the amazing shot, and it really made my day! Ah, memories!

Fr. Carola's St. Agnes homily

2006-10-03T15:37:00.000+02:00

A. M. D. G.
Father Joseph Carola, S.J.
Sermon for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time
10 Septebmer 2006, St. Agnes Catholic Church, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

Tradition ascribes to the Book of the Prophet Isaiah the venerable title ‘proto-Gospel’—the Gospel before the Gospel, as it were. For in the prophet we read of the virgin who will conceive a child who is to be called Emmanuel, God-with-us. We read of a child who is born for us, a son who is given, named Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). The prophet proclaims, “Our God is here.” He comes to save us (cf. Isaiah 35:4). As a result the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame leap and the mute speak.

Further on, Isaiah anguishes over the man of sorrows—“he [who] was wounded for our transgressions…bruised for our iniquities, upon [whom] was the chastisement that made us whole…by his strips—the prophet concludes—we are healed” (Isaiah 53:3). When the Evangelist, St. Mark, records the deaf man’s miraculous healing, he describes Jesus in Isaian terms. Jesus is the One who makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak. Jesus is God-with-us, Emmanuel, the One who comes to save us.

For the Christian the continuity between the Old and New Testaments is immediately apparent. The Old Testament prophetically prepares the way for the New, and the New fulfills the longings of the Old. Jesus is Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. Read in the light of His passion, death and Resurrection, the Old Testament reveals Christ in every chapter and verse. Nonetheless, despite the continuity obvious to the eye of the Christian beholder, there is a radical discontinuity between the two Testaments.

While God’s Incarnation sheds clear light upon the Old Testament, revealing its previously unforeseen depths of meaning, the Old Testament taken solely on its own terms could never have anticipated the radically new and unmerited gift which God gives to mankind in giving us Himself in the Incarnation. Israel longed for her messiah anointed from above. But little did Israel expect that her messiah would be God Himself made man born of a woman. Christ Jesus is the God-man, fully divine and fully human in One Person. The Jews who came to believe in Jesus received the gift of faith to proclaim Him ‘Lord’, which is a divine title. But not all Jews acknowledged Him as their messiah, let alone their God made man. Even Christians over the ages have had to struggle to understand how the man Jesus is one in being with God the Father. It took the Church three centuries to articulate theologically her ancient Trinitarian faith in the One God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It took another century for her to formulate doctrinally her constant faith in Jesus, true God and true man, of two natures, divine and human, without confusion yet without separation in One Person. Over the centuries of orthodoxy’s doctrinal unfolding, many heretics adhered erroneously to either one extreme position or another, either exalting Jesus’ divinity to the detriment of His humanity or insisting upon His humanity to the detriment of His divinity. Our Catholic faith professes the One Lord Jesus Christ consubstantial—that is, one in being—with the Father in His divinity and consubstantial with us in our humanity, fully embracing our human nature in all things but sin. Such is the mystery of God’s Incarnation which the New Testament reveals and the Old Testament mysteriously foreshadowed without explicitly proclaiming.

Today’s Gospel clearly reveals the God-man who labors among us for the sake of our salvation. Jesus’ humanity is the instrument of His divinity. With His hand He touches the deaf man’s ear and tongue, placing His own spittle in the other man’s mouth. Through spittle and touch he heals as only God can heal. Spittle has no power to loosen a man’s tongue, but God’s grace does. In the Incarnation God deigns to use our humanity—in the case of the Gospel’s miraculous healing, to use human spittle—in order to reveal Himself most fully and ultimately to work the great act of our Redemption by dying in His humanity upon the Cross for us.

The Christian faith and in particular the Catholic liturgy faithfully carry forward and proclaim our God’s Incarnation. The human reveals the divine. Created goods mediate our encounter with God the Creator. Sacred images of Jesus, His Mother and the saints, who are the living members of His Body, depict Christ’s humanity which is the sacred instrument of His divine revelation. Sacred music lifts our minds and hearts to God. The Word proclaimed cuts like a two-edged sword into the depths of our souls. We see the sacred and hear God speak. Incense stimulates our sense of smell which possesses the awesome power to recall deep memories, calling forth in the sacred liturgy our collective Christian memory of Christ’s passion, death and Resurrection which in the mystery of the Eucharist is no mere memory but indeed an eternally present reality. As did the deaf-mute so do we feel Christ’s touch upon our tongues. We taste Him in His Body and Blood. Christ, the God-man, comes to us in the Eucharist, shattering our deafness to hear His Word and loosening out tongues to proclaim His salvation.

In our Eucharistic encounter with the Incarnate Word, we are healed and sent forth. Jesus no longer orders us to tell no one of His deed (an order which, one must admit, the folk of the Decapolis felicitously disobeyed—O Felix Culpa! O Happy Fault!, we on their account unabashedly sing.) No, He no longer commands silence. Rather the Risen Christ commissions us now to go and make disciples of all nations. Ite, missa est. “Go,” the deacon dismisses us at the end of Mass, “you are sent.” You, who have fed upon Christ’s Body and Blood and in the feeding do indeed become what you receive—you are sent forth to be Christ’s incarnate presence in the world.

To that end Jesus has given us a new commandment: to love one another as He has loved us. Our baptismal vocation is to be Christ’s loving presence in the world. Sadly, personal sin impedes our love. Our sins make us deaf to God’s Word and confuse our speech. On this account we must first turn to Christ present without compromise in the Sacraments to find forgiveness for our sins, to be healed of all that separates us from Him so that more perfectly conformed to Christ by His grace we may be Christ for others who likewise stand in need of His mercy. The Gospel calls us to be particularly mindful of the poor, the neglected and the forgotten—the least of Christ’s brethren in whom He is especially found. In fact, my brothers and sisters, we are all Christ’s poor, for who of us is so self-sufficiently rich in goodness that he has no need of Christ’s saving grace? We are the deaf-mute whom Christ heals and who in the healing become Christ’s living members—who become Christ’s Body, the human instrument of His healing touch in a world which desperately stands in need of His mercy.

Behold the mystery which the prophet Isaiah foretold. Behold the mystery of the Incarnation. Behold the mystery of the Mass. Behold the mystery of our lives in Christ. Behold the evangelical mission to which Christ calls each one of us today.

Last spring's Eucharistic Procession at the Angelicum!

2006-09-30T04:49:00.000+02:00

Glory be, John's posted a ton of great photos on his blog, ORBIS CATHOLICVS (CATHOLIC WORLD), from the very beautiful Eucharistic procession that was held at the Angelicum last spring! A lot of us, myself included, participated in it.

I remember it fondly - it was a beautiful spring day in Rome, and many of our friends, laity, religious and seminarians joined with a lot of our Dominican professors and clergy assigned to the Angelicum to glorify our Eucharistic Lord in traditional style - complete with smells, bells, mantled friars, canopy, and chanted litanies.

Our path took us from the Adoration chapel through the university halls, around the arcades of the cloister, down the front steps, and up the steps into the front of the church of Dominic and Sixtus, the university's attached church dating back to the time when the Dominican nuns called the buildings home (a few centuries ago!).

Go to John's blog to see the photos!

I am so jealous of John, getting to be back in Rome studying away with the Dominicans, while I sit here awaiting another Minnesota winter. Sigh. :)

The Final Farewell

2006-09-11T14:51:00.000+02:00

That's it - our last good-byes to Fr. Carola for the foreseeable future... It was wonderful that he could spend so much time here in Minnesota, and it was wonderful to get all of us together, Fall and Spring semesters, but like all things, it's still a bummer when it's over. We thank God for all the joy He has given us, and pray for the safety of Fr. Carola as he goes back to Rome (by way of many other places of course :)

I must be off to Mass and work now, ci vediamo dopo, ragazzi!

2006-09-11T14:50:00.000+02:00

The conclusion of Mass at St. Agnes

2006-09-11T14:40:00.000+02:00

This is not a Tridentine-rite Mass - this is a proto-Spanish Mass using the Pauline Missal, in a parish with a rich diversity of parishioner origin, celebrated in a way that speaks clearly to our common heritage and roots and draws all together into a stronger community founded on Catholic values.

This modeling of parish worship has worked, as evidenced by full pews and a high number of vocations, with many seminarians largely attributing their recognition of their call as coming from their service on altar servers teams. There are 26 boys on a team, 3 teams that alternate each week. The parish celebrates the ordination of at least one of its sons to the priesthood every single year - and two years ago, it celebrated the ordination of three of them. Likewise, the parish also has a very high number of religious vocations, particularly for women, and of beautiful and holy marriages. This is evidenced by the fact that when you go to Mass there, it is a packed house, a sea of young heads and children with only relatively few "gray heads" scattered about. Compare that scene with the average suburban gym-church scene.

Reverence is relevant. But I digress.

2006-09-11T14:37:00.000+02:00

On Sunday morning, Fr. Carola joined his former student, Fr. Ubel, who is now the pastor at St. Agnes parish in St. Paul, to celebrate their Sunday High Mass!

Padre gave a most stirring homily, of which he has promised to send me one day for posting on the pages of this blog.

2006-09-11T14:14:00.000+02:00

Fall semester reunited (minus Mr. Sandy)! Sadly, while there was a plan for a spring semester photo, it somehow didn't happen. Perhaps because right after this photo was taken, we decided that we were, after all, rain or no rain, going to take Fr. C down to the fairgrounds and feed him lots of food on a stick! Much to my regret (and yours, I'm sure) I didn't take the camera with me to the Fair due to the soggy atmosphere. And so you have missed forever the sight of Fr. Carola eating fried Oreo cookies and wearing yet another hat - from the Pickle Stand (yes, as in the Gherkins kind).

The rest of the week I didn't have my camera with me either, and I had to work most of the week too. But some of the other highlights that didn't get onto my digital photo album are:

* The seminarian football game (The "Old Guys" vs. the "New Men" of the sem - seniors against freshmen),

* The official Catholic Studies Rome Reunion Mass and barbeque on campus (where alumni and current students from the past 10 years of Catholic Studies in Rome were united!) I was quite impressed at the number of people attending this massive reunion - probably around 100. Quote of the day? Fr. Carola referring to himself as being "in the line of Peter of Bernardi" during his homily, as Fr. Peter Laird was the first chaplain at the Bernardi residence in Rome, followed by Fr. Andrew Cozzens, and now Fr. Carola.

* A day trip I made with Fr. Carola to the famous Loomes' Theological Bookshop in Stillwater, MN (with a side trip to the amazing Carmelites in Lake Elmo - anyone who has a chance to visit the hermits there, please do - and if you can help them continue their work on their church, please do that too, if their chapel is any indication it could be one of the glories of church architecture and design in our area!). That trip in itself was really the highlight of my visit with Fr. Carola - what could be better than a road trip in my beloved Beetle with Padre C to the most charming town in Minnesota, to peruse a zillion theological/philosophical books for a few hours, make agonizing decisions over which select few to purchase, and then join our old friend Mr. Poole for lunch before heading back home to the music of Krakow Dominicans chanting Latin hymns to Our Lady? Not much.

* Saturday Mass at the St. Paul Seminary (the major seminary) for the dedication of a new reliquary containing a 1st class relic of Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta - it was great to gather there with the seminary's new rector (ok, he's been there a year, but he's new to me!) and the Missionaries of Charity!

* Fr. Carola joined us for "Afternoon Tea" again on Saturday afternoon, at Susan's apartment this time, sipping jasmine tea from Vietnam courtesy of seminarian Huy ("it's ok though") Le. It was also the moment of recollection of our "Santa Chiara Oreos", as the seminarians also brought along a box of Oreos and a jar of Nutella - now there's a combination made in heaven!

And finally... (see next photos)

2006-09-11T14:08:00.000+02:00

At long last, for the first time, Fr. Carola had all of us around him, and we had a great Sunday afternoon chat. Some of us had big plans to get Fr. C to the Great Minnesota Get-Together (aka, the State Fair), but we were having some doubts during our dinner conversation - as the rain beat down on the windows and the thunder roared outside...

2006-09-11T14:07:00.000+02:00

Is the tiramisu good, girls?

2006-09-11T13:53:00.000+02:00

On Sunday, at long last, we were all together again - both the fall semester and spring semester students, plus Padre Carola, descended upon professor Niskanen's house! Dr. Niskanen even made his much-talked-about tiramisu - and yes, it was just as good as he claimed it to be. We had a lot of other stuff too, and I have even discovered upon my return to the States that Target has an amazing Blood Orange Italian soda! So we had Blood Orange floats. At least I did. A few others were adventurous enough to try it too. :)

2006-09-11T13:52:00.000+02:00

They stole my camera! Augh!

2006-09-11T13:51:00.000+02:00

Yup, those were some dang good chocolate chip pancakes!

2006-09-11T13:47:00.000+02:00

First & second semesters unite! :) Friends Kara, with us on the fall semester in Rome, and Caitlyn, on the spring semester, missed each other all year last year - it was too bad that all the friends couldn't go on the same semester, but now they can trade the memories of the Roman seasons!

Rome reunion time... Already?!

2006-09-11T13:43:00.000+02:00

Hello? Anybody out there? Maybe not, I realize it's been quite a while since I spoke to you last. I still haven't gotten up the rest of those photos from Europe, Vienna and my last week in Rome (which seems like a lifetime ago!)... hopefully soon.

In the meantime, don't let this photo fool you -- I've been way busy, with no time for lounging around like these college kids! :) But, this past week has been a wonderful time for all of us "former Romans" - being that it is the start of another school year, all of us who were students in Rome and who go to the University of St. Thomas were at long last able to come together as a group again, after being off on various adventures over the summer. Over Labor Day weekend two of our group's "foreigners", Sierra and Mariana, flew into the Twin Cities to join us all for a real reunion celebration before their school years start elsewhere. And what Rome reunion of ours could be complete without our very own Padre Carola?

We were most blessed this past week to have Fr. C with us too - all the way from Rome (and by way of a lot of other places too... and we thought he was busy during the school year!), and with us for a WHOLE WEEK!! On Labor Day Saturday, however, Fr. C was enjoying the northwoods of MN with some friends of his, and we were left to our own devices. In other words, we sat around in one of the campus apartments with tons of people (it was move-in weekend), looking at Rome photo albums and eating chocolate chip pancakes.

For a brief time, I almost forgot that I am no longer a college student. Almost. Only problem was that slightly interfering reality called "employment" - so my week of reunion-ing was a bit broken up between the two weekends, as I had a LOT of work to do at my parish during the week (oh yeah, in case you haven't been reading my other blog - I have a new job. And a new apartment. And a new life. And Rome seems ever farther away - but I still have the blogs!)

2006-07-10T23:57:00.000+02:00

Early in the morning, the day I had to leave Norcia... I was very sad to see my last sunrise here!

2006-07-10T23:56:00.000+02:00

The arrival at the square - now with a few tourists wondering "what's going on?"

2006-07-10T23:55:00.000+02:00

The little girls leading the Blessed Sacrament were really cute. It seemed that most of them were more interested in smelling the roses and waving them around than in looking regal before the King though!! :)

2006-07-10T23:54:00.000+02:00

At that point, I joined the procession myself - and we all headed down the hill back towards the Cathedral.

2006-07-10T23:53:00.000+02:00

Notice that only the priest bearing Christ steps on the petals, everyone else stands on one side or the other.

2006-07-10T23:52:00.000+02:00

On the way to the Benedictine nuns' convent, I spotted a convenient staircase from which to see better - what a view! Young and old, all have come to bear witness to the Risen Lord!

2006-07-10T23:51:00.000+02:00

Farther up the line, as the church bells ring out in sequence all over town as the procession passes, the little ones too are awaiting them eagerly!! It was quite cute to see this. :) Meanwhile their parents are armed with brooms, making sure the central pathway stays neat and tidy for the procession.

2006-07-10T23:50:00.000+02:00

Check out those vestments! Sweet.

2006-07-10T23:49:00.000+02:00

Up the hillside, on the way to the Poor Clares' convent. There are two "stops" along the route, one at the Poor Clares' and the other at the Benedictine nuns' convent - that way these beautiful cloistered "brides of Christ" can also participate with joy in the festivities of the day!

2006-07-10T23:48:00.000+02:00

The honor guard for the Blessed Sacrament begins with the town band, proclaiming the Lord behind them, then a group of townspeople, then a group of kids bearing roses in albs, then these fellows in black, the Benedictine monks, then the priest with the Blessed Sacrament, and then the city leaders with the banner of Norcia, followed at last by the rest of the townspeople and anyone else who joins up along the way!! Of course, all along the way too the residents alongside the streets where the procession passes also are waiting for the Lord to come, and they will add their presence as the procession passes.

2006-07-10T23:45:00.000+02:00

The procession begins, at the conclusion of the Mass in the Cathedral by the bishop of Norcia. All the townspeople who weren't able to fit into the Cathedral are gathered around outside in the square waiting for them.

2006-07-10T23:43:00.000+02:00

On the other side of the Benedict statue in the square was this representation of the Popes, I think it's John Paul II on the left and Benedict XVI on the right, with the papal crest in between.

2006-07-10T23:42:00.001+02:00

Farther up one of the roads was this charming image of St. Benedict.

2006-07-10T23:42:00.000+02:00

The finished square, as the townspeople walked by on their way to Mass in the Cathedral (the church on the left) they would stop to admire the handywork of their neighbors.

2006-07-10T23:40:00.000+02:00

Here's what it looked like in the morning! All over the town, every place that the Blessed Sacrament was going to be processed had petal carpet awaiting the coming of the King.

2006-07-10T23:38:00.000+02:00

When I came down to the basilica on Saturday evening for Vespers, there were a bunch of people out in the square working really hard on something... when I went over to investigate, I realized that they were creating beautiful petal artwork for the feast day procession on Sunday! The biggest and most elaborate design was this one, of the Last Supper. They have a whole method to this art, they put down a large template first, and then arrange boxes of petals behind them in order of color. I couldn't figure out how exactly they were sticking the petals on, but as they went the design was sprinkled with water to keep things put. Not sure what happened all night long, perhaps they worked through the night, or maybe there was just one guy there with a hose all night making sure things didn't get blown away!

2006-07-10T23:34:00.000+02:00

Natural drying - judging from the amount of clothing outside windows, not many people in rural (or even urban) Italy own clothes drying machines. I kind of like it, gives it a more homey feel! :)

2006-07-10T23:33:00.000+02:00

Just another view from a walk through town!

2006-07-10T23:15:00.000+02:00

Doesn't that just look like a road that wants to be traveled?? I thought so.

2006-07-10T23:13:00.000+02:00

The wheat harvest this summer looked to be a very good one!

2006-07-10T23:11:00.000+02:00

Over the weekend I took a lot of meditation walks outside the town, there is a very nice road that goes around the hill the town sits on, down through the fields and pastures.

2006-07-10T23:09:00.000+02:00

The Blessed Sacrament is kept in the crypt, in a beautiful and peaceful side chapel (out of the way of most of the loud, gawking tourists). I think the tabernacle itself is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, the light was very dim so it was difficult to get a decent photo of it - but hopefully you can get an idea from this. Behind the tabernacle altar is an apse area, decorated with ancient frescoes, mostly ruined unfortunately due to the moisture down here over the centuries. This little nook is, I believe, literally thought to be the actual spot where Benedict and Scholastica were born. And I really love that tabernacle. I spent a lot of time in prayer down here, in the cool of the crypt, before our Lord!

2006-07-10T23:05:00.000+02:00

The crypt area beneath the basilica, this is where the monks (and any guests/visitors) gather to chant the major offices of the day (Matins, Lauds, Vespers, and Compline). It is down here that the original house where Sts. Benedict and Scholastica were born, around the mid-400s!

2006-07-10T23:03:00.000+02:00

The Basilica of St. Benedict, for me the "center" of my life in Norcia, as it is here that the new order of American Benedictine monks has set up their monastery, caring for the church building, and the spiritual life of the town and the visiting tourists. It is quite elegant in its simplicity I think, not too much, not too little - very Benedictine!

2006-07-10T23:01:00.000+02:00

The church of St. Lawrence, closed while they try to raise money for restoration costs, but you can peek in through a gate at the front doors. It's a really tiny church, with the entire nave sided with choir seats. I would love to know more about it's history, I wonder if it was attached to a religious order?

2006-07-10T22:59:00.000+02:00

Now for a few of the churches of Norcia (all right within the tiny town proper mind you!). This one is the town parish of St. Philip, quite simple and beautiful. It was dead quiet in there during the day, and so nice and cool! I spent a lot of meditation time here actually, as even the (relatively) few tourists over the weekend stayed out of this easily-overlooked church.

2006-07-10T22:58:00.000+02:00

One of the gates into the central, walled part of the town. Living in a walled town was great, it really gives you a sense of "inside/outside" community - and freedom too, like having a huge family back yard. Or maybe it's like a play pen - all the parents seemed to just let the kids go free all over town, all ages, just playing and running amuck in the narrow streets and piazzas. Hmm. I am now starting to see the yearning that makes people choose those new gated communities, but come on, those iron gated things filled with cookie-cutter houses are mere shadows to this naturally harmonious and centralized town in central Italy.

2006-07-10T22:51:00.000+02:00

The central piazza on the day I arrived - Ah, peace and quiet after the craziness of Rome! Just a few kids rambling about on bikes to watch out for.

2006-07-10T22:48:00.000+02:00

Welcome to Norcia! This was the gorgeous view from my convent room a few weeks ago over Corpus Christi... The nuns' veggie garden was right below me.

Do you want to go to Rome... Now?

2006-07-10T03:28:00.000+02:00

I just got this e-mail from a fellow looking for some last-minute additions to their Catholic tour group leaving for Italy in just a week and a half...

I sure don't know that I would want to be in Rome in the middle of July, but hey... It does sound like a really good tour (no Pope notwithstanding - actually that would help, less crowds possibly and no "loss" of an entire Wednesday hanging out in the heat of St. Peter's square).

Accept the invitation at your own risk, I have no personal knowledge of this company. But, thought I could pass it along. Just in case.

I am trying to find a few people to join a pilgrimage I have
leaving for Rome in just a week and a half. Very last minute, I know. I just had a family drop out and really need to fill the spots.

We are traveling with two priests. Fr. Kevin Peek and Fr. Augustine Tran. Both very pious and very well known in the Atlanta area. It's actually Fr. Peek's trip and Fr. Augustine is joining us. Fr. Augustine went to the NAC and lived in Rome for four years.

Here are the details:
Rome and Assisi
July 20 - 27, 2006
$2,299 from Atlanta

The price includes air, hotel, ground transportation, breakfast and dinner daily plus one lunch, all entry and guide fees and tips. No hidden fees. People are responsible for lunch and anything they want to do on their own, that's it.

This is the first in a series of tours led by Fr. Kevin Peek to follow in the footsteps of our Fathers.

Highlights:
Mass in the Vatican Grottos, Catacombs, St. Mary Major, St. John
Lateran (Rome). Porziuncola and Tomb of St. Francis (Assisi).
Scavi Tour.
Vatican Tour.
Ancient Rome Tour (Colosseum, Mamertine Prison, Pantheon)
All four major basilicas plus San Pietro in Vincoli and Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.
Small group, about 15 people, mostly young adults.

Lowlights:
No Pope, he's on vacation.

Full itinerary and details here: http://thecatholictraveler.com/072006.html

I travel differently than most other tour companies. I want the travelers to be experience the culture rather than see it from a bus.

A few things about my tours:
I prefer to travel in small groups of 25 and under.
I stay in family owned hotels and eat in family owned restaurants.
I use local guides when possible. Some sights are best explained by a passionate local.
I encourage the group to travel as temporary locals and get out and explore on their own.
When it makes sense I try to sleep at least two nights in a city to avoid those dreaded back to back one night stays that can ruin a trip.
And, of course, we celebrate Mass daily.

Thank you and God Bless,
Mountain Butorac
404.547.0270

Sorry, got a bit delayed!

2006-07-09T01:05:00.000+02:00

Wow, that week sure went by fast. Sorry guys, but real life does take priority over the blog world at the moment - particularly when one is jobless and the loans only go so far! I do have an interview on Monday morning for a very good job, if you wouldn't mind saying a prayer for me... I think this job would be a really good fit for me, but of course, whatever God wills.

At the moment I am back in central Wisconsin visiting my family for the weekend, it is really good to be home again and seeing everyone. My brother and his family are even visiting from Arizona this weekend, so it's a real family reunion!

I do have those photos from Norcia. Really, I do. We'll get there, I promise!

By the way... Veritatis Splendor blog is back

2006-07-02T23:33:00.000+02:00

I suppose I should probably give a head's up to you all that now that I have returned to St. Paul I have begun (slowly) blogging again on my other blog, Veritatis Splendor. Feel free to check it out if you wish.

I will continue using this blog as well to continue my scrapbook and reflections on my year in Europe, so stay tuned... Next up, Corpus Christi weekend in Norcia!

2006-07-02T23:31:00.000+02:00

Following the procession and benediction, the square soon became quite the meeting point. Fathers, seminarians, Little Sisters of the Lamb, fellow students from the Ang, all of us joined up for one last group farewell! It was really the start for me of my final good-byes, as I was leaving for Norcia the next day and when I came back to Rome it would be after many of them had left the city. It was a bittersweet joy to see them all, knowing I may or may not see them again anytime soon.

2006-07-02T23:28:00.000+02:00

In the square of St. Mary Major for the benediction with the Blessed Sacrament - those of us who were in the procession were halted quite far back, as the square itself was already pretty full.

2006-07-02T23:27:00.001+02:00

The final approach to St. Mary Major!

2006-07-02T23:27:00.000+02:00

Processing down Via Meraluna, past the church of St. Anthony of Padua, still decked out from it's own feast day celebrated just a few days earlier (May 13th) in honor of the occasion.

2006-07-02T23:26:00.000+02:00

And they're off - and the crowd immediately begins jockeying to follow as closely as possible to our Lord and His vicar on earth. Quite a mad rush I must say!

2006-07-02T23:25:00.000+02:00

Our Holy Father in prayer before our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

2006-07-02T23:24:00.000+02:00

Our seats were beautifully close to the Popemobile when it pulled up to receive the Blessed Sacrament and the Holy Father for the procession from St. John Lateran to St. Mary Major.

2006-07-02T23:23:00.001+02:00

Spot the Carola! Sorry, couldn't resist... :)

2006-07-02T23:23:00.000+02:00

At the conclusion of Mass, the monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament was arranged on the altar for adoration. Unfortunately, the crowd outside of the "sanctuary" perimeter wasn't very interested in that... it was like a "bubble" of reverence around the Holy Father and our Lord, and then progressively getting more rowdy and restless out into the square.

2006-07-02T23:21:00.000+02:00

Offering the gifts of bread and wine.

2006-07-02T23:20:00.002+02:00

A zoomed in shot of the Holy Father - yes, I was trying to pay attention to the homily itself too!

2006-07-02T23:20:00.001+02:00

The big picture. :)

2006-07-02T23:20:00.000+02:00

Another view of the Pope during the homily.

2006-07-02T23:19:00.000+02:00

Pope Benedict begins his homily for the feast. (Read it online)

2006-07-02T23:18:00.000+02:00

At long last! Here are photos from way back on Corpus Christi Thursday (June 15th, I think... wow, time flies.) The Mass was held in the piazza in front of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, in the late afternoon. Here is a nice view of the sun behind the facade.

Made it!

2006-06-29T14:17:00.000+02:00

Some of you may think that it is early morning right now, but I sure don't feel that it is... Somebody told me that jet lag isn't as bad going backwards (to the States from Europe), but I don't know... I think it's bad both ways.

So yes, I am home at last, on American soil. Not quite home in St. Paul yet, as I made it to my sister's home in Wisconsin at around midnight last night (midnight CST = good morning in Rome! Oh boy.)

I already spent my energy writing a large e-mail this morning, so I'm going to cop out right now and just reuse what I already wrote (so if you were one of the ones who got that e-mail... this is old news!)

I got up at 5am Rome time yesterday to take a last wander around the city before getting to Bernardi - I wanted to say goodbye to the Pope for all of you, but even he wasn't up yet. :) The luggage all made it ok, I ended up having to pay a bit for one suitcase though - 10lbs over. Oh well. The first flight was Lufthansa - sweet! But the last flight (Air India!!) was delayed leaving Frankfort, the flight time was extended due to the windspeed, and then the luggage took forever to get out... Finally made it out to meet the parents at around 6pm CST (1am to me!)

For the record, Air India is quite decent to fly with, the plane was stinkin' OLD which had myself and the other American girl next to me a tad worried... Also, this is going to sound like bad stereotyping on my part, but I have to admit it was kind of unsettling coming onto this ancient plane with Hindu writing everywhere and seeing the first 8 rows composed of elderly Indian guys in the traditional garb (first thought: where's the cobra in the basket?) and various Indian women in saris and caste marks. However - I adapted soon, the people were very friendly, it was a joy to see so many families with kids (yay - even when they cried, I didn't care, God bless parents!), everything was in English (oh yeah - former British colony), the flight was quite calm, and the food was *amazing*. They fed us both a lunch of chicken curry (we could smell that the whole way... that was odd.) and random Indian food items (veggie dumplings, cake, bread with Indian cheese, German yogurt - huh? - and Toblerone candy!), and a dinner of (get this Susan) - agnello! :) It was really good lamb actually, with lots of side dishes to try. Unlimited drinks, Indian tea (Fr. Carola!) and coffee in particular. Stellar really. I highly recommend them if for no other reason than the food. It is a bit like an Indian cattle car (wait - maybe a sheep car for them? or a goat car?), but a *nice* cattle car. So there you go Thanos [residence director at Bernardi], it was something of enjoyable, as far as a tightly packed trans-Atlantic flight in a tin can 747 from the late 80s goes. A thumb and a half up, and recommended for future students on a budget!

In a few hours I get to drive back to St. Paul, in my own car (wow), but with an expired driver's license (!) and so the cops had better not come anywhere near me... Thus I begin the next adventure, rearranging a life... Good grief. It's all good though. It's just going to be very busy for a few days, and quite weird for a few weeks readjusting.

Well, I REALLY need a shower at this point, as I basically collasped on my sister's couch 6 hours ago (thinking it was almost 8am... ARGH.). Not sure what I'm going to wear at this point for my last journey back into St. Paul... most of my clothes are filthy AND piled randomly in my suitcases because what started out as organized quickly descended into chaos with each repacking. Should be a fun day! :)

More to come... Dell says my laptop power cord should be in my hands tomorrow, so this weekend I will devote some time to photo posting and sorting through a year's worth of digital photos... Yikes, last I checked it was upwards of 18 GB of photos on my hard drive! I am thinking that I just might try my hand at DVD creation - anyone have suggestions on good (cheap?) programs to use to create DVD slideshows with music?

Buona festa a tutti voi!
Sts. Peter & Paul, pray for us!

The final day.

2006-06-27T16:29:00.000+02:00

This is it - the Last Day. It's been a busy one, at the moment I have just a few minutes to spend online, as I returned "home" to Bernardi briefly to do, once and for all, my packing. Looks like it'll all make it - my bags are a wee bit over the weight limit, but from the experiences related by the other students it shouldn't be a problem. So, I am about to leave Bernardi again, go out for a last night in Rome, and then come back here early tomorrow morning for the Last Time. Rome is about to finally be rid of me!!

The scrapbook of the blog will of course be added to more soon, but for now in the few minutes I have allow me to just reflect a bit here. Not sure what exactly I want to say, so I guess we'll see what it ends up being!

When I think of all the graces that God has given me this year, when I consider all the places I have been, when I remember with joy all the wonderful people that God placed into my life's path during these past 11 months, I cannot help but be utterly grateful - and yet not grateful enough. I do not think I, or anyone, can ever appreciate all the gifts that we are given in our lives, gifts from God of course, but also the gifts that we are given by God through others.

Marvelous as the places are, amazing as the landscapes can be, beautiful as St. Peter's or Krakow is - none of it is of any value outside of the people that make them so. Friendship, and the general goodness of the people of God in this world, is a central part of our lives - it is how we come to see that friendship itself is the entire point of our lives. By living friendship on earth, by drawing closer to one another in love and sacrifice, we prepare ourselves to be able to choose friendship with God in heaven for eternity.

So many people have made my time here what it is - but of course, no matter where we are it is the people that are in our lives that fill the spaces of the world with life! So many people await me back in Minnesota, first and foremost my family (we have not seen each other in 11 months, and I feel the weight of 11 months worth of hugs crashing down upon my shoulders already! I can't wait!) but of course also all my friends who are so dear to me, all the people who are a part of my daily life in Minnesota. I miss all of you dearly!

But the price that I paid, to be without the people I love for so long, was well recompensed by the friends that I have made here in Europe. People from all walks of life, all corners. From Italy, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Poland, Chile, Australia, India, South Africa, Canada, and on and on and on. Young people, parents, priests, old Polish ladies, students, religious sisters, seminarians, professors, average citizens. Every place I went, I went without knowing where I was going, but I knew that by the Providence of God someone would be there, some good samaritan. My faith has not been proved wrong!

Thank you to all who have participated in making my year so amazing - beginning with my parents, who have supported me so well in my education and in my search for the will of God in my life. The rest of you, too numerous to begin to name (and I really don't want to start making an Academy Awards speech here!), whether you know who you are and how you touched my life or not (the 8 people in Warsaw who each in turn helped get me to my lodging late at night with great kindness and patience, for instance!), you are all in my prayers and I am grateful to God for each and every one of you! In a special way, thank you to all of you who have been reading the blog, living in a sense with us here in Rome, and who have prayed for us here as we encountered both joys and hard times.

God bless you all - Omnes cum Petro ad Iesum per Mariam!

See you in a few days!

Make it a habit to raise your heart to God, in acts of thanksgiving, many times a day. Becuase he gives you this or that... Because someone has despised you... Because you don't have what you need, or because you do have it. And because He made His Mother, who is also your Mother, so beautiful. Because he created the sun and the moon and this animal or that plant. Because he made that man eloquent and you he left slow of speech... Thank Him for everything, because everything is good.
~St. Josemaria Escriva, "The Way" #268

Tanti aguri a mi!

2006-06-22T11:17:00.000+02:00

Greetings to all - yes, I'm still here, in Vienna now actually. All is very well indeed, it has been a wonderful week!

One slight problem though, just before I left for Norcia last Friday morning my Dell laptop's power adapter cord decided to die entirely (sparks and everything! Yikes!). Of course, I was almost out of battery power too, so that means no computer for me until I get back to the States next week, and then until I can find a new power adapter (I have a Dell 600m laptop - if anyone has any leads on a cheap AC adapter for it please let me know... I think if I buy a new one from Dell it is going to be really expensive!)

At the moment I am online at a Net cafe in Vienna - nice place, but a bit pricey to do more than a few minutes... And no way to post photos either - and boy do I want to! I will as soon as I possibly can, but that won't be for awhile yet.

This past week has been amazing. On Corpus Christi Thursday I had my first totally free day in Rome in a long time, with no school stuff hanging over my head... I celebrated by pretty much wandering around the whole city, from the Aventine to the Center to the Forum to the north end of town and then back down by the Colosseum and forum. I ended up going over to the Little Sisters of the Lamb's place in the afternoon, and lo and behold they had an extra ticket that I could use to get into the seating area for the papal Mass that evening! God bless them, it was fabulous to go over to St. John Lateran then with them. We had some amazing seats, close to the front and in the central area. The Mass itself kind of surprised me, it was done mostly in Italian and done more like a "parish Mass" than I had expected (complete with slightly corny sounding Italian songs). At the end of Mass the Blessed Sacrament was placd in the monstrance with almost no fanfare, and sadly almost no reverence shown to it outside the sanctuary area. It was like it was in a bubble and everyone outside of it was just gawking... When they brought the car around for the Holy Father to lead us in procession with the Eucharist to St. Mary Major, we were right in front of it - it was very moving for me to see our Papa so reverent, calmly praying admist so much chaos (even people hollering out Viva Papa and whoo-hooing). As it happens, I lost the Little Sisters in the mad rush to make the procession immediately behind the Eucharist... I somehow ended up right behind the papal car, immediately behind the cops in the front of the line. It was wonderful, as I was stuck in a "holy bubble" of Legionaires of Christ seminarians - they were the calm of the storm, fending off the pushy Italians who were hollering at each other behind us, leading us all in hymns and keeping the pace steady without rushing the people in front of us. Thank God for them! They saw how short I was too (and how tall they were) so they let me up front so I could see! :) So, I walked with our Lord up the Via Meraluna towards St. Mary Major, eyes fixed upon Him the whole way there. It was amazing.

Fast forward to Norcia... It was a wonderful weekend in Norcia, but not as much of a retreat as I had hoped. I was just so happy to be there, in the quiet hills, in a perfect little medieval town (with tons of kids, praised be Jesus! Families! Oh how I have missed seeing families!). The American Benedictines there are incredible, with such a prayerful way of life - the liturgies make one feel as though you have really died and gone to heaven. In particular, they chant in gorgeous Latin the Liturgy of the Hours - that was my favorite part of the whole weekend, joining the monks in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Benedict - in the very spot where he and his sister St. Scholastica were born - for morning, evening and night prayer.

Actually, that wasn't my favorite part of the whole weekend - but only because this was Corpus Christi weekend!! Yes, I got to celebrate Corpus Christi twice, and for the first (and maybe only...) time in my life I was HAPPY that a feast day was moved from its proper day to the Sunday - because that meant that I got to experience the splendor of the people of an ENTIRE town joyfully accompanying our Lord in the Eucharist on a procession throughout the village!! My goodness, I cannot describe to you the joy that this brought. The people had been up for hours carefully designing gorgeous flower petal artwork all around the main square, and up and down all the streets - everywhere that the Blessed Sacrament was to go there was a "red carpet" of petals for the priest to walk upon bearing the monstrance. Every house along the way had done their own designs, and all the public areas too. I cannot wait to show you the photos from this!

I cannot write much more, as this Internet cafe is too darn expensive... Vienna is as I left it in January - except much hotter! (Right now it is even hotter here than it is in Rome!) Today, actually, is my birthday (the big quarter century!) - and so tonight I am thrilled to be able to go to a special performance of my beloved Lippizaner horses at the Spanish Riding School here in Vienna. It has been something that I have dreamed of doing since I began riding horses when I was 9 or 10 and saw Disney's "Miracle of the White Stallions". Other than that, I am just taking it easy here in Vienna, returning to Rome tomorrow night.

I will be in Rome for only a few days and then flying home to the States at last next Wednesday. I doubt that I will be able to post to the blog before then, so I suppose this is good-bye from Europe.

I will be keeping the blog going however, not only to post up all the stuff from this past week, but also to just post up all kinds of things that I've learned here, things that really moved me and things that really annoyed me. For me, I see it as a way to help "unpack" a year abroad, but perhaps it will also be useful to others out there who are planning a trip to Rome (or Europe in general).

So it is not a final good-bye, but merely a pause - I will see you soon, and you are in my prayers! Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher - ora pro nobis!!!

2006-06-15T13:47:00.000+02:00

Another gorgeous ceiling - this should give you some idea of the floorplan too, as the ceiling is basically the size and shape of the entire church (with side altars coming out all around). The main altar is not at the "top" of the ellipse, but is rather, as you can see on the left, on the long side, making for a very "short" nave.

2006-06-15T13:45:00.000+02:00

The side altar with the tomb of St. Stanislau Kostka.

2006-06-15T13:44:00.001+02:00

The beautiful sun-bathed interior.

2006-06-15T13:44:00.000+02:00

Last on our tour for today is yet another church - San Andrea al Quirinale. I hadn't been here before either, but maybe Fr. Carola should have pointed it out one day as we walked by, seeing that I've discovered it to be a Jesuit church with the remains of St. Stanislaus Kostka enshrined here. It was another design by Bernini, very beautiful in the elliptical shape, and he "considered it as his only perfect work" (!). It really is stunning to see and impossible to capture with a camera.

2006-06-15T13:40:00.000+02:00

The other transcept altar is dedicated to St. Joseph, the sculpture is of the angel bringing the message to St. Joseph to be not afraid to take Mary into his home. Of particular interest though is the altar itself - it contains the remains of "Santa Vittora, vergine e martire" who died under the persecution of Diocletian.

2006-06-15T13:35:00.000+02:00

Have to admit though - I was a little curious as to the placement of the sculpture in the transcept. You see, it almost seems to be a "stage", with two "box seats" on either side with people gawking like they're at the theater or something!! Whose idea was that anyway? Can anyone explain this one to me?

2006-06-15T13:33:00.000+02:00

The statue itself - more gorgeous in person than I had imagined. They even helpfully have the excerpt from St. Teresa's autobiography that this sculpture was designed from available for you to read in English while you pray. To be there and to read Teresa's own description of her vision of the angel, and then to look up and see it... wow.

2006-06-15T13:32:00.000+02:00

After I left Bernard, I had some other errands to run - but I eventually found myself near yet another church that I had been meaning to visit but hadn't, the new titular church of Cardinal O'Malley, Our Lady of Victory. All you Carmelites out there know this one as being the home of the famous Bernini sculpture of St. Teresa in Estacsy.

2006-06-15T13:29:00.000+02:00

Supposedly, the Jewish Quarter is one of the better parts of town to get some dinner in - haven't eaten there myself yet... and the sight of THIS particular eating place doesn't really make me too exicted!! (However, yes, this was the only one of its kind... the other trattorias looked really good and appealing.)

2006-06-15T13:28:00.000+02:00

After that we went down to the old Jewish section. I discovered that not only is Rome the place to go for all your Catholic church goods shopping, it also is apparently the place to go for your synagogue shopping - that shop in the middle sells all kinds of beautiful goods for Jewish rituals, menorahs and chalices and such.

2006-06-15T13:24:00.001+02:00

A better view of that charming spiral steeple.

2006-06-15T13:24:00.000+02:00

Ok, so yesterday after lunch I wandered around with my friend Bernard - study break for him, celebration of finals being finito for me! I had never been (or so I thought) to St. Ivo before, the church with the famous spiral top. Turns out, when we got there, I had actually wandered over there before, but hadn't looked up and see the top before! (Argh.) The church was closed, as it pretty much always is (open Sundays 9-12, that's it). So here's just some pretty outside pictures for you.

2006-06-15T13:21:00.000+02:00

FYI - here's the fascinating symbol of the religious community (movement?) that has care of the church above the Mamertime - St. Joseph, the carpenter, remember?

2006-06-15T13:19:00.000+02:00

Oh yeah - and how we got in, by those steps? Those weren't there originally, this whole room was solid wall.... the only way in or out was - through that dark hole in the ceiling! Yikes.

2006-06-15T13:18:00.000+02:00

The pillar alongside the altar, where the saints were chained to (not sure how exactly we know this... but from that cage it looks like somebody holds that belief pretty strongly!)