In case you missed seeing the ceremony in Rome last Friday in which Pope France read his Urbi et Orbi message and then provided a unique blessing at the end of Adoration you can still see it. You can also still receive a special plenary indulgence for doing this. Here’s some information about that.
It is two weeks until Ash Wednesday and the start of the Lenten season. Are you thinking ahead? I will be in California on a business trip so I will be checking the schedule for the local church where I’ll be.
During this morning’s Mass I once again enjoyed a homily by Fr. Eugene Pathe. I also love his accent. I did a Google search and found a series of Lenten Meditations he recorded in 2012. This one is on Ash Wednesday and provides a good basis for reflection as we prepare for the season.
If you have been watching college football bowl games you probably saw Coach Lou Holtz urging Catholics to come home. I think it’s a great ad and hope it will make all Catholics think about their faith.
They say football is like a religion for some die hard fans, that’s why Catholics Come Home® plans to air a new national television commercial during college football bowl week, and ending with the BCS National Championship (Notre Dame vs. Alabama), Jan. 7, 2013.
This one-of-a-kind ad features legendary football Coach Lou Holtz delivering a rallying half-time pep-talk. In the 30-second commercial, Holtz coaches viewers to “the goal in life – heaven.” He is an ideal person to deliver the message, since Holtz is a devout Catholic and well-known veteran of goals, coaching Notre Dame to the National Title in 1988 during their last undefeated season.
Catholics Come Home® Founder and President Tom Peterson says, “Faith is not a spectator’s sport; it must be lived…it’s interactive!” This is why his non-profit is trying a new play with the goal of winning loyal fans for Jesus and the Church.
Happy Presidents Day. I’ve been seeing a lot of “stuff” on tv about this. Mainly because the tv’s are on in front of me when I’m working out at the YMCA. I don’t listen but some of them have captioning so you can get a sense of what’s being said. One item I’ve seen more than once is some pundit exclaiming that religion has no place in government. Well, that’s just plain wrong. Some of our greatest Presidents knew that as you’ll see in this Knights of Columbus video released for today.
It’s hard to believe that it has been six years since the canonization of St. Josemaria Escriva. Here’s a two minute overview video that was just released. I was one of the tiny dots that represents the crowd at that outdoor service in St. Peter’s Square! Blessed Pope John Paul II called St Josemaria “the patron saint of ordinary life”.
The canonization ceremony took place on Sunday, October 6 at 10 o’clock in the morning. “For the honor of the Blessed Trinity … we declare and define that Blessed Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer is a Saint and we enroll him among the Saints, decreeing that he is to be venerated in the whole Church as one of the Saints,” Pope John Paul II solemnly proclaimed. The formula of canonization was closed by an “Amen” from the whole congregation, and enthusiastic applause broke out all the way down from Saint Peter’s Square to the Castel Sant’Angelo. After the Mass was over, the Pope wanted to greet all those present, and in the “Popemobile” he went around the Square and along the whole length of the Via della Conciliazione, accompanied by the Prelate of Opus Dei. Along the way, many babies and small children received a blessing and a kiss on the forehead from the Pope.
You might enjoy seeing some of these new video clips just released.
To celebrate the founding of Opus Dei on October 2, 1928, and the 5th anniversary of the release of Passionately Loving the World, the St. Josemaria Institute is releasing never before seen (unedited) clips from Passionately Loving the World.
Fr. Dick Rieman, first member of Opus Dei in the United States, makes a brief appearance towards the end of the documentary. He talks about being at the canonization of St. Josemaria in Rome on October 6, 2002. After the canonization he told his students back home, “I am the only guy who has had pizza with a saint.”
In these exclusive clips, we share more of Fr. Dick’s story on meeting St. Josemaria Escriva in Rome for the first time; and, the meaning of holiness, of being a child of God, and being Christ to others.
Here’s one of the video clips you’ll find:
Fr. Dick Rieman is the first member of Opus Dei in the United States. In this clip from Passionately Loving the World, Fr. Dick explains how all Christians are called by God to holiness. Passionately Loving the World is a short documentary about ordinary Americans living the spirituality of St. Josemaria Escriva in the middle of the world today. From farmers to fire-fighters, they work hard, love their families, celebrate successes and endure failures. Through it all they try to grow closer to God. Order the DVD: www.stjosemaria.org
Our Holy Father has made headlines with one tweet. And one that’s not even on his own personal Twitter account. He doesn’t have one. He did it on an iPad using the Vatican’s Twitter account. His post says, “Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI.” If you haven’t checked out the new Vatican website you need to. It is much improved.
What does praying really mean? This short video clip is a new addition to the St. Josemaria Escriva YouTube channel. In it a young woman talks about what she has learned about praying from St. Josemaria. It is becoming friends with Christ. In The Way, St. Josmaria says, “Prayer is the foundation of the spiritual edifice.”
If you don’t know how to pray then he recommends, “Put yourself in the presence of God, and once you have said, “Lord, I don’t know how to pray!” rest assured that you have begun to do so.” This is advice that I love because it is so simple and easy to understand. But it means taking time for prayer, something that has to be a priority of our day no matter what is going on in our life.
From the press office of the Holy See a notice was just made about some great resources made public in advance of the beatification of John Paul II.
“In view of the beatification of John Paul II on 1 May 2011, Vatican Radio and the Vatican Television Centre (CTV) have organised a number of initiatives and made a wide range of documentary material available.
“A new page dedicated to John Paul II for his beatification has been activated on Youtube. The page is available at the following address: http://www.youtube.com/giovannipaoloii and includes video clips on the pontificate year by year, as well as video clips with the Pope’s voice in various languages and situations (on trips and in the Vatican).
“These are audio recordings supplied and selected by the language programmes of Vatican Radio, which have then been mounted onto video by CTV. The audio of the Pope will be in the original language in which it was pronounced, with English-language subtitles indicating the place (country), day, month and year of the event.
“The dedicated Youtube page – as well as the normal channel which has existed for some time in four languages www.youtube.com/vatican – will be supplied with video clips of current events and information concerning the days of the beatification.
“A new page has also been activated on Facebook concerning John Paul II in view of his beatification. It may be consulted at this address: www.facebook.com/vatican.johnpaul2. All the video clips uploaded to the Youtube channel will be available at the same time on this page.
Here’s the video for the year 2001 which was when I and my family got to personally meet the Holy Father in Rome.
Don’t you wish Archbishop Fulton Sheen was still being broadcast? I do. However, you can watch lots of videos of him speaking on YouTube. You can also download or listen to lots of audio files too. Here’s a good one I just watched.
At the end of Mass yesterday our Associate Pastor, Fr. Ben Nwosu, sang what he calls the Jefferson City Song. Fr. Ben is from Nigeria where life is very different than we can imagine here in the USA. When he was assigned to our diocese he fell in love with our community so he composed a little song that he started singing after Masses. He says that when he has been back home he’s taught it to his family and friends and they sing it there too. I caught part of the song on my phone to share with you.
At the evening of recollection I attended this week I had a chance to talk with Fr. Jay Alvarez, Wespine Study Center, who conducted our meditation talks. I didn’t know he has a YouTube Channel.
Here’s one of his videos which is a “Music video about two early Christians, Junia and her brother Marcus, around year 140 AD, in Rome. Based on the books of Michael E. Giesler. Video, Music and lyrics by Jay Alvarez.” I think he’s taking the Holy Father’s call to use the digital media to evangelize to heart!
In case you missed seeing the ceremony in Rome last Friday in which Pope France read his Urbi et Orbi message and then provided a unique blessing at the end of Adoration you can still see it. You can also still receive a special plenary indulgence for doing this. Here’s some information about that.