Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict and the Croatian Cardinal Stepinac
June 6, 2011
Blessed Aloysius Stepinac - Wikipedia
This week Pope Benedict XVI visited Croatia to celebrate the “National Day of Croatian Families” and to pray at one of the 20th century’s great Catholic prelates, Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac.
I continue to be amazed at the knowledge given us of Catholic world affairs in grade school. It was the time when the cold war was at its hottest, when Russia was spreading communism throughout Eastern Europe, the Balkans and China. The archenemy of communism was the Catholic Church and so it was our blessing to hear of two greats: Cardinal Mindzenty of Hungary and Cardinal Stepinac of Croatia, both of whom kept the Catholics of their countries united against the communist dictators ruling them.
Today I find myself wondering, as I behold the encroachment of Marxism into the American way of life, who among the American bishops could stand as tall as these two?
Stepinac was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1998.
What many people don’t know is that after World War I, Europe was so devastated that funding seminarians’ studies was in severe jeopardy. The young Stepinac came from a family too poor to pay. Enter the generous Catholics of the United States who responded to Father Lucas Etlin, O.S.B.’s petitions for money to raise up another generation of priests in Europe. Cardinal Stepinac was one of the many beneficiaries of this generosity. He was the right man for his country, his Church, and his times, and the Catholics of America played a part, albeit a background part, in raising up this future man of God.
Pope Benedict praised Cardinal Stepinac’s firm exposition of the Catholic identity in the heat of World War II, quoting from an address he gave in 1943: “One of the greatest evils of our time is mediocrity in the questions of faith. Let us not deceive ourselves… Either we are Catholic or we are not. If we are, this must be seen in every area of our life.”
Can this statement not also apply to us today? Either we are Catholic or we or not. There is no in-between.
Blessed Cardinal Stepinac, brother who has gone on before us, pray for American Catholics that we may be a convincing witness to the truth of Jesus Christ.
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R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Another Catholic Blog I Like
December 2, 2010
Being a frequent visitor at the Rorate Caeli blogspot, I enjoy finding the blogs of the commenters because we are nearly all devoted to the Traditional sacred liturgy which is important to me. In recent weeks I found a Catholic blog you might enjoy. It’s Wheat for Paradise, dedicated to the Passion of Our Lord.
In addition to beautiful pictures of the Passion of Christ, pictures of St. Gemma Galgani, and the Sorrowful Mother, David posts many items concerning the Pope with thoughtful commentary.
To me, male Catholic bloggers who take their faith seriously are a great complement to the Catholic women who also blog on faith and/or family, especially in a society that is trying to force men and women into androgeny.
Each sex brings what is manly or womanly to the fore in what we cover, how we write, and our viewpoints. This is important because Christianity is not a “sissy” religion. It is for courageous men and women who are willing to take lumps for Jesus and that’s what I treasure in the Catholic/Christian blogs I follow – both by men and women.
I enjoy visiting David’s site and hope you will, too.
R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
St. Andrew, the Relationship Broker
November 30, 2010
Last week I wrote a little about St. Clement of Rome and my various patrons. Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Andrew, the Apostle, who is also special to me because my brother closest in age to me is named after him. (Happy feastday, brother!)
I call St. Andrew the “Relationship Broker” because he is the one who brought Peter, his brother, to Jesus. He also brought the little boy with the loaves and fishes to Jesus when the crowd needed to be fed.
In neither case did St. Andrew get a commission for his “brokering”. He thought only of the needs of others and did all that he could out of the generosity of his heart to bring the right people together for the benefit of all. Of course Jesus was the key to these relationships.
By the time he started preaching the Gospel in Greece and other places, nobody could keep him quiet. Even when he was crucified upside down he preached until his last breath.
Because many churches and especially the Orthodox celebrate the feast of St. Andrew with great solemnity, every year the Pope sends a delegation to mark this day with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew 1st at the headquarters of the Orthodox Church in Fanar, Istanbul. Vatican Radio reports:
In a message sent to Patriarch Bartholomew, the Pope says “in a world characterized by increasing interdependence and solidarity, we are called to proclaim the truth of the Gospel with renewed conviction, and to present the risen Lord as the response to the most profound spiritual questions and aspirations of men and women today.”
In order to do this, the Pope adds, “we must continue along the path towards full communion, showing that we have already united our strengths for a shared witness of the Gospel. For this reason I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Your Holiness and to the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the generous hospitality you offered to delegates of the European Episcopal Conferences who – on the island of Rhodes in October – met with representatives of the Orthodox Churches of Europe for the Catholic-Orthodox Forum on the theme: ‘Relations between Church and State: theological and historical perspectives’”. Pope Benedict concludes his message by assuring the patriarch of “the interest with which he follows “your wise efforts for the good of Orthodoxy and for the promotion of Christian values in many international contexts”.
Bishop Brian Farrell, a member of the delegation sent to Turkey this year said:
“Andrew is the ‘first called’ of the disciples, it was he who then called Peter…Andrew, the brother of Peter, is as forceful symbol of the kind of embrace we would like to see between East and West.”
As an indefatigable evangelist, St. Andrew shows us that all we have to do is bring people to Jesus. We find those who are sad and searching and tell them there is hope – real hope – not in earthly pursuits but in the Son of God. We find people with special gifts needed in the world today and point them to Him. Jesus then does the rest.
Fair questions to ask myself are: Am I as generous sharing Jesus with others as St. Andrew was? Am I willing to bring the good news of Christ to others even to my last breath like St. Andrew?
St. Andrew is the patron saint of sore throats 
, Russia, Greece, and Scotland.
R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Sabbath Moments
November 27, 2010
Welcome to Sabbath Moments, times when we are in a special way, with God. Colleen at Thoughts on Grace hosts this meme every Saturday, so be sure to visit her to read others’ Sabbath Moments.
This week was a take-it-easy week as hubby and I continue to recover from our upper respiratory infections. Thanksgiving was peaceful since neither of us was up to going anywhere. It rained and then it snowed, but Friday morning was just lovely.
I awoke to bright sunlight and a dusting of snow like powdered sugar on the honeysuckle, grass, and trees. Thursday’s rain drops had frozen on tree branches and the few leaves left clinging to them. They sparkled gloriously like little crystal beads in the sweet light of morning, remaining that way for a couple of hours until vanishing in the climbing temperatures.
Another Sabbath Moment will be today when I join the Holy Father in his global prayer for life. At the Angelus on November 14, the Holy Father said,
“On Saturday November 27, at the Basilica of Saint Peter, I will preside over the First Vespers of the First Sunday of Advent and a prayer vigil for the unborn. It is a joint initiative with local churches around the world, I have advised that they be held in parishes, religious communities, associations and movements.
“The time of preparation for Christmas is an opportune moment to invoke divine protection upon every human being called into existence, also to thank God for the gift of life received from our parents.”
Card. Ennio Antonelli, President, Pontifical Council for the Family said,
“It’s asking God to increase the sense of responsibility for the care of human life from conception to natural death. Especially with the unborn life which is the embryo in the womb of the mother, as well as babies in general. It’s also to increase accountability and respect for every person, especially for the weak and innocent.”
What better way to celebrate the beginning of Advent than joining with people all over the world to pray for God’s Divine protection of life?
R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
St. Clement of Rome
November 23, 2010
Today is the feast of St. Clement of Rome, the third pope after St. Peter, consecrated bishop by the Apostle himself. He is considered the first of the Fathers of the Church and Patristic writer.
St. Clement’s name has been enshrined in the Canon of the Mass since the early Church. He died a martyr in the ferocious persecution of Domitian.
We know this early pope for a couple of epistles he wrote to the Corinthians concerning the need for charity, the evils of schism and ill treatment of priests. The fact that he wrote his letters as a successor of the seat of Peter indicates that the role of Pope was well-established from the beginning of the Church.
It wasn’t until 1997 that I realized St. Clement is a special patron of mine because today is my birthday. I became involved in the movement for restoration of the sacred liturgy that year, and who better than a former pope to look after me in this work? I have often felt he was with me and thank God that I was born on this day.
Co-incidentally my name patron, St. Barbara, whose feast is December 4th, is known for her devotion to the Holy Eucharist, a central part of the Church’s liturgy, and I was baptized on December 8th, the feast of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. How could anybody be so lucky? Now it remains to live up to the example of these three holy people in all that I do, to fulfill the blessings God has given me, to do the job He has asked.
God bless my readers and please pray for me.
11/24/10 – Addition to this post:
Who is your birthday patron? Your name patron? The saint of the day you were baptized? What have they to do with your life?
R. Now and forever. Amen.
(Click on the link above to read why I am ending my posts with this.)
Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival
May 31, 2010
Welcome to Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival where Catholic bloggers get together over at This That and The Other Thing to share posts with one another. Yes, I’m a day late to the party but I’ve brought food! 
After Mass yesterday I planted flowers and when I got finished I was too tired to think. So here’s my offering which will include the past two weeks since I was unable to participate last weekend. Pick and choose whatever you would like to read and be sure to visit the other bloggers’ sites through This That where you will find much food for thought.
First, a couple of easy recipes for summer: Gluten-free Taco Salad and A Soup for Summer.
Now, a short reflection on Popes Benedict and John Paul stimulated by the April issue of Inside the Vatican: Benedict, the German Shepherd.
Attending the Vatican Splendors exhibit in St. Louis would not be complete without a short review for my readers. Just click on the link in the previous sentence.
Two posts relate to Memorial Day: Polish Madonnas in Art and Poetry – really this would be good for home schooling moms for history, art and religion; and Praying the Psalms – Psalm 20.
Using Father Paschal Botz’s reflections from his book on the Psalms, I wrote a short reflection on the Introit psalm for this past week’s Ember Friday. It’s titled, Runways to God after his book title.
Finally, a short book review on Inside the Bible by Father Kenneth Baker, S.J. It’s a great little book to have around for Bible Study.
Benedict, the German Shepherd
May 17, 2010
April 3, 2010 Urbi et Orbi - Photo by Elisabetta Villa/Getty Images Europe
This weekend I finally got around to reading the April edition of Inside the Vatican magazine, one of the few Catholic publications I subscribe to. It is the commemorative issue of the fifth anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II and of Pope Benedict XVI’s ascension to the Throne of Peter.
Editor-in-Chief Robert Moynihan gave us a great issue with many remembrances of both Popes by those who were (are) close to them. I loved Pope John Paul II because he showed everyone that the Holy Father is indeed a Father to everyone in the world, not just Catholics. His writings are not easy or quick reads, but his love for mankind in imitation of Christ was easily comprehended. Most of all, by his living with great physical suffering that was obvious to all he was a silent and continuous witness to the dignity of the human person.
Pope Benedict XVI is special to me in a different way. His writings are a lot easier for me to read, and his steadfastness in the Faith reminds me of the great Pope of my youth, Pius XII, whose writings are also easy to understand and who bravely and prudently led the Church through a dark and murderous time. As a child I knew in my heart that Pius XII was a saint, and none of the slander against him has dimmed my affections toward him in any way or caused me any doubt.
My affection for Pope Benedict is the same as that for Pius XII. The clarity of his communications, the relevance of his words and the strength and dignity he shows in the face of falsehood and adversity is an example of the witness all of us followers of Christ must show to the world.
This issue of Inside the Vatican contained some of the words Pope Benedict spoke at his inaugural Mass homily five years ago about his Petrine ministry. The term that comes to mind is “timeless”.
It is really true: as we follow Christ in this mission to be fishers of men, we must bring men and women out of the sea that is salted with so many forms of alienation and onto the land of life, into the light of God. It is really so: the purpose of our lives is to reveal God to men. And only where God is seen does life truly begin. Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is. We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.
There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know Him and to speak to others of our friendship with Him. The task of the shepherd, the task of the fisher of men, can often seem wearisome. But it is beautiful and wonderful, because it is truly a service to joy, to God’s joy which longs to break into the world.
As Christians, we share in the ministry of revealing God to men in the service of God’s joy. We are indeed all willed, loved, and necessary in God’s plan of salvation. And it is personal. No one else can do the job that God has created each individual to do. Like his predecessor, Pope Benedict is the Pope of Life, the Pope of Hope, and the Pope of Truth. I never get tired of hearing what he has to say.
Sabbath Moments
April 17, 2010
Sabbath moments are the moments we rest in God, when we take time to just be with God rather than Do. Colleen at Thoughts on Grace hosts this Saturday theme so we can join her in her virtual living room and read about others’ Sabbath moments, too.
I love Pope Benedict. His talks and writings are so clear that I never fail to find a thought to ponder when I read his work. On April 15th the Holy Father gave a sermon in the Pauline Chapel to the Pontifical Biblical Commission and only today did I find it.
The Pope is so humble. After apologizing for not having time to prepare a “true homily” he proceeds to speak extemporaneously on “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29), the words of St. Peter to the Sanhedrin. My Sabbath moment today is time with the Pope as Christ’s Vicar as he points me to living right in God. A couple of excerpts:
Here it is important to emphasize that this is a matter of obedience, and that it is precisely obedience that gives freedom. The modern age has spoken of the liberation of man, of his full autonomy, and therefore also of liberation from obedience to God. It is said that obedience should no longer exist, man is free, he is autonomous: nothing else. But this autonomy is a lie: it is an ontological lie, because man does not exist on his own and for himself, and it is also a political and practical lie, because collaboration, the sharing of freedom, is necessary. And if God does not exist, if God is not an imperative accessible to man, what remains as the supreme imperative is only the consensus of the majority. As a result, the consensus of the majority becomes the last word, which we must obey. And this consensus – we know this from the history of the last century – can also be a “consensus in evil…“
Today, thank God, we do not live under dictatorships, but there exist subtle forms of dictatorship: a conformism that becomes obligatory, to think the way everyone else thinks, to act the way everyone else acts, and the subtle forms of aggression against the Church, or even the less subtle ones, demonstrate how this conformism can really be a true dictatorship. What matters to us is this: we must obey God rather than men. But that supposes that we truly know God, and that we truly want to obey Him. God is not a pretext for one’s own will, but it is really He who calls and invites us, if it is necessary, even to martyrdom. Therefore, confronted by this word that begins a new history of freedom in the world, let us pray above all to know God, to know God humbly and truly, and, knowing God, to learn the true obedience that is the foundation of human freedom.
St. Ignatius of Loyola (detail), c. 1610, Juan Martínez Montanes, b. 1568, Alcala la Real, d. 1649, Sevilla, Polychromed wood Chapel, Seville University
The Pope’s statement about martyrdom reminds me of the “Act of Resignation” prayer in my St. Andrew’s missal in the “Thanksgiving After Mass” section:
O Lord, my God, from this moment do I accept from Thy hands, with a quiet and trusting heart, whatsoever death Thou shalt choose to send me, with its pains and griefs.
Along with this prayer, in the spirit of obedience the Pope speaks of, is an oblation from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, who was both a Spanish soldier and a true Soldier of Jesus Christ:
Take, O Lord, into Thy hands my entire liberty, my memory, my understanding and my will. All that I am and have Thou hast given me, and I surrender them to Thee to be so disposed in accordance with Thy holy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, with these I am rich enough and desire nothing more.
Sunday Snippets
Happy New Year! Welcome to another edition of Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival. We are a group of bloggers who gather once each week to share out best posts. We are all Catholic and blog at least somewhat about Catholic things; some do so exclusively, others only periodically. All are welcome to participate here.
My best work from this past week is at these locations:
http://www.sufferingwithjoy.com/2010/01/01/god%E2%80%99s-sign-is-that-he-makes-himself-small-he-becomes-a-child/
http://www.sufferingwithjoy.com/2009/12/31/christendom-awake-by-father-aiden-nichols-o-p/.
The two became serendipitously linked in subject matter when two days in a row I stumbled upon references to childlike spirituality in writings of Father Aidan Nichols, O.P. and the Holy Father’s Christmas sermon.
If anyone wants to hold me accountable, I posted my notes about seeing family at Christmas and my New Year’s resolution here: http://www.sufferingwithjoy.com/2009/12/30/happy-new-year/.
“God’s sign is that he makes himself small, he becomes a child”
January 1, 2010
After Mass today I visited Chiesa to do my monthly catch-up on Sandro Magister’s news reports which are always interesting and informative concerning the Catholic Church. There I found Pope Benedict’s Christmas sermon which made a good follow-on to yesterday’s post concerning childlike simplicity in our relationship with God. This spirituality seems increasingly inviting the more helpless and dependent we become as our bodies fail us.
The Holy Father also pointed out something I have been pondering for some time – the intrusion of the world through so many means that God comes last in our lives, not first.
Can we build a habit of seeing God, referencing God in the small things of life? When I read the quotes from the poor in brochures and solicitations from Food For the Poor, I am ashamed that I am not more grateful for the smallest sign of God‘s love as they are because they recognize what I do not: I am not seeing Him in what is present before my very eyes.
Here are a couple of paragraphs from Pope Benedict’s sermon which seemed a perfect answer to my musings:
To awake, then, means to develop a receptivity for God: for the silent promptings with which he chooses to guide us; for the many indications of his presence. There are people who describe themselves as “religiously tone deaf“. The gift of a capacity to perceive God seems as if it is withheld from some. And indeed – our way of thinking and acting, the mentality of today’s world, the whole range of our experience is inclined to deaden our receptivity for God, to make us “tone deaf” towards him. And yet in every soul, the desire for God, the capacity to encounter him, is present, whether in a hidden way or overtly. In order to arrive at this vigilance, this awakening to what is essential, we should pray for ourselves and for others, for those who appear “tone deaf” and yet in whom there is a keen desire for God to manifest himself. The great theologian Origen said this: if I had the grace to see as Paul saw, I could even now (during the Liturgy) contemplate a great host of angels (cf. in Lk 23:9). And indeed, in the sacred liturgy, we are surrounded by the angels of God and the saints. The Lord himself is present in our midst. Lord, open the eyes of our hearts, so that we may become vigilant and clear-sighted, in this way bringing you close to others as well!
The last sentence above is the fundamental purpose of this web site and blog. We who are hidden away through illness or adversity of whatever kind can form the habit of responding to the music of God’s call, and by offering our lives teach others to hear Him as well, helping cure the “tone deafness” of the world. All we have to do is ask Jesus for this grace.
Adoration of the Shepherds, c. 1707, Antonio Balestra, oil on canvas, San Zaccaria, Venice
Today too there are simple and lowly souls who live very close to the Lord. They are, so to speak, his neighbors and they can easily go to see him. But most of us in the world today live far from Jesus Christ, the incarnate God who came to dwell amongst us. We live our lives by philosophies, amid worldly affairs and occupations that totally absorb us and are a great distance from the manger. In all kinds of ways, God has to prod us and reach out to us again and again, so that we can manage to escape from the muddle of our thoughts and activities and discover the way that leads to him. But a path exists for all of us. The Lord provides everyone with tailor-made signals. He calls each one of us, so that we too can say: “Come on, ‘let us go over’ to Bethlehem – to the God who has come to meet us.
The Holy Father’s words remind me that every day is a “Come to Bethlehem” day when we have learned to see and hear God’s manifestations of Himself to us. We cannot help inviting others to go with us in joy.
P.S. Friends, I love this Pope! He is the Pope of Hope.
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