PathToHoliness

Today’s office of readings featured that famous and beautiful passage from the Confessions of St. Augustine that is always worth reading and meditating upon:

Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!
Lo, you were within,
but I outside, seeking there for you,
and upon the shapely things you have made
I rushed headlong – I, misshapen.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
They held me back far from you,
those things which would have no being,
were they not in you.
You called, shouted, broke through my deafness;
you flared, blazed, banished my blindness;
you lavished your fragrance, I gasped; and now I pant for you;
I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst;
you touched me, and I burned for your peace.

On your exceedingly great mercy, and on that alone, rests all my hope.

Today we remember those who have given their lives for the cause of freedom, the protection of their country and their fellow man. That includes some priests! I saw an interesting documentary last week about a military chaplain who was killed in Vietnam, Servant of God Fr. Vincent Capodanno, The Grunt Padre:

In a very special way today I remember Lance Cpl. Darin Settle, a very good friend of mine from high school who died in Iraq two years ago:

And Lee McCoy who lost his battle with cancer last week. Lee was a Vietnam Vet who served on the USS Pomodon SS486 submarine. He was a good friend and collegue of my parents’ in the ag media industry. See a tribute to Lee here and here.

For more on Darin see my previous post Lance Cpl. Darin Thomas Settle. You can also view and sign Darin’s legacy guest book or his fallen heroes guest book.

For our fallen soldiers:

God our Father,
Your power brings us to birth,
Your providence guides our lives,
and by Your command we return to dust.

Lord, those who die still live in Your presence,
their lives change but do not end.
I pray in hope for my family,
relatives and friends,
and for all the dead known to You alone.

In company with Christ,
Who died and now lives,
may they rejoice in Your kingdom,
where all our tears are wiped away.
Unite us together again in one family,
to sing Your praise forever and ever.

Amen.

From JPII’s “Meditations on the Book of Genesis at the Threshold of the Sistine Chapel”

This End is also the summit of transparency
such is the path of all generations.

“Non omnis moriar” (Not all of me will die).
What is imperishable in me
now stands face to face with Him Who Is!

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (Jn. 15:13)

I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.

Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.” (Lk. 22:19-20)

The weather was not great this morning so there was no Eucharistic procession for us today. Fr. Z has photos from the Mass and procession in Rome last Thursday (the traditional feast of CC). A good article from Zenit: Pope: Eucharist Linked to Marriage

After visiting the nursing homes yesterday I found out that one of our most beloved residents, 92 yr. old Dorothy, AKA Grandma, seems to have reached her final days. Please pray for her and her family.

Find out more about Grandma on this post.

Yesterday a good friend of mine was ordained a Deacon in the diocese of Kansas City/St. Joseph. Through this sacrament Angelo, and the two others ordained with him, pledged to live his life totally committed to serving Christ and the Church. He will be ordained a priest this December.

Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me. (Jn. 12:24-26)

All three newly ordained Deacons with Bishop Finn at the end of Mass:


Here I am at the reception with the overjoyed Deacon-soon-to-be-Priest:

Angelo’s brother Matthew is studying at a seminary in Rome and will likely be following his big brother into the priesthood sometime in the next couple of years! Please keep Angelo, Matt and all of our seminarians, priests and deacons in your prayers everyday!!

If you are interested I also have a Flickr account with more pictures from the ordination.

The Church has approved a series of apparitions from Our Lady to Benedicta Rencurel occurring between 1664 and 1718:

h/t Jimmy Akin

h/t Catholic Media Review – click here for more information about the video.

And I guess we should say Happy Mother’s Day, too! Today, the Solemnity of Pentecost, marks the birth of the Catholic Church. Today we reflect on the mystery of the Body of Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the life of the Church. Saturday’s office of readings had a wonderful sermon from a sixth century African priest’s sermon on how the Church in its unity speaks in the language of every nation. An excerpt:

The disciples spoke in the language of every nation. At Pentecost God chose this means to indicate the presence of the Holy Spirit: whoever had received the Spirit spoke in every kind fo tongue. We must realize, dear brothers, that this is the same Holy Spirit by whom love is poured out in our hearts. It was love that was to bring the Church of God together all over the world. And as individual men who received the Holy Spirit in those days could speak in all kinds of tongues, so today the Church, united by the Holy Spirit, speaks in the language of every people,

Therefore if somebody should say to one of us, “You have received the Holy Spirit, why do you not speak in tongues?” his reply should be, “I do indeed speak in the tongues of all men, because I belong to the body of Christ, that is the Church, and she speaks all languages. What else did the presence of the Holy Spirit indicate at Pentecost, except that God’s Church was to speak in the language of every people?”

Come, O Creator Spirit blest! And in our souls take up Thy rest; Come with Thy grace and heavenly aid, To fill the hearts which Thou hast made. Great Paraclete! To Thee we cry, O highest gift of God most high! O font of life! O fire of love! And sweet anointing from above.
Thou in Thy sevenfold gifts art known, The finger of God’s hand we own; The promise of the Father, Thou! Who dost the tongue with power endow.
Kindle our senses from above, And make our hearts overflow with love; With patience firm and virtue high The weakness of our flesh supply.
Far from us drive the foe we dread, And grant us Thy true peace instead; So shall we not, with Thee for guide, Turn from the path of life aside.
Oh, may Thy grace on us bestow The Father and the Son to know, And Thee, through endless times confessed, Of both, the eternal Spirit blest.
All glory while the ages run Be to the Father and the Son Who rose from death; the same to Thee, O Holy Ghost, eternally. Amen.

Spirit Gives Life to Universal Church, on Pope Benedict’s Pentecost message.

Dad called this morning to let me know that the website USTREAM TV was featuring the live webcast of Franciscan University’s commencement ceremony on its main page. I only caught the tail end of it, but I thought it was pretty cool, especially when they mentioned upholding the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death a couple of times. I don’t know how they managed that, but good for USTREAM!

Today is the feast of St. Joseph the worker who is an excellent model for Opus Dei. He was regarded in the Bible as a good and just man and was referred to by his profession (“is this not the carpenter’s son?” Mt. 13:55). The emphasis on Joseph’s work in the Bible and throughout tradition speaks to the importance of our own work in the world.

Be sure to read today’s reading from the Divine Office which comes from Gaudium et Spes n. 33-34 on Man’s Activity Throughout the World.

From St. Josemaria

-Work is man’s original vocation. It is a blessing from God, and those who consider it a punishment are sadl mistaken. The Lord, who is the best of fathers, placed the first man in Paradise ut operaretur, so that he would work (Furrow 482).

-You should maintain throughout the day a constant conversation with Our Lord, a conversation fed even by the things that happen in your professional work. Go in spirit to the tabernacle…and offer to God the work that is in your hands (Forge 745).

Book suggestion: The Sanctification of Work