Love is patient, love is kind: it does not bully...

Image: ANHCampaign

Homily for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(Scriptures for this Sunday's Mass)

Hard to believe, isn’t it,
that in the synagogue at Nazareth there might be worshippers
who would throw Jesus out of the temple,
run him out of town
and try to hurl him off a cliff?

We don’t want to believe that people who had come to pray
would end up doing something like this.

Well, we’ve come here today to this temple to pray.
And I hope, and I’m sure you hope, that none of us would end up
throwing anyone here off a cliff!

After all, as St. Paul reminded us, Love is patient,
so no parents here, we trust, would be impatient with their children…
no husbands or wives would be impatient with their spouse,
no children here would be impatient with their parents,
no pastor here, we hope, would be impatient with his people,
nor they with him...

And Love is kind, not rude, not quick tempered
so we would hope and pray
that no pastor, parent, spouse, child or sibling
would be unkind, brusque, careless or short-fused
in dealing with any member of the family or the parish family...

And Love is not jealous, not pompous
and so we would hope that among us
none would flaunt their wealth or status, success or belongings
and that none would be jealous of others who might have more…

And Love does not brood over injury
and so we trust that none of us here
are nursing old wounds, grudges and resentments
from months or years ago...

And Love does not seek its own interests
but rejoices with the truth,
so we trust that in our families,
and where we work and go to school -and where we worship-
that we rejoice not just in our own opinions and certainties
but rather in finding and telling the truth,
even when the truth we find is difficult to accept
and when telling the truth is the hardest thing to do…

Love is patient and kind.
Are we?

Love is not jealous, pompous, or rude.
How grateful and humble,
how thoughtful and careful are we with each other?

Love does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
Do we really seek the truth
or do we mostly seek to prove ourselves right?

Love is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury.
How quickly ignited is our anger?
How burdened are we with our grudges?

Our sins against the love of which St. Paul writes
are etched in the vulnerability vulnerable hearts
of our family members, classmates, colleagues at work,
and our neighbors and fellow parishioners.

Consider the vulnerability of students who are teased and rejected
and bullied at school.

Consider that among us may be a student
who’s the object of bullying
on the school bus or in the classroom or cafeteria -
and that with us right here, at this same Mass,
may be that student's bully...

If the love I pray and sing and share here
doesn’t go home with me to school and to work,
then, as St. Paul wrote,
I am nothing,
I have nothing,
I gain nothing...

Bullying takes many forms, sometimes its subtle
and it’s not restricted to the school yard.
There's more than one way to run someone out of town,
to hurl someone off a cliff.

Gathered with us at the altar this morning
are folks who gossip about others
and across the aisle may be the very persons
whose reputations are the stuff of that gossip.
Where is the love?

Some family members are here together this morning
and have carried with them the unkind words, the cold silence,
or whatever hurt they may have visited upon each other this past week.
How might the love we celebrate here heal the hurt we bring with us?
It might be true, indeed, that if Jesus were here as he was in Nazareth,
you and I would not have run him out of town.

But he is here in Concord and he lives with us in our homes,
he’s at our side at work and at school
and he’s not only at this table in the sacrament of the Eucharist
but he’s sitting in a pew very close to each of us right now.

And just as he was insulted, mocked, ridiculed and bullied
in his own day,
so he is treated in our day
every time you and I fail to love one another
as he loved us.

It’s a good thing that at the beginning of every Mass
we stop to remember our sins and to pray for God’s mercy
because you and I are called to live a love that makes demands on us
in every moment
of every day
in every relationship we have.

We are called to a love that
bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.

We are called to a love that never fails...

Such unfailing love is the love the Lord offers each of us
and it’s the love he calls us to have for one another
and it’s the love he’s about to share with us at this altar
in the gift of his Body and Blood.

Sisters and brothers:
let us love one another as God has loved us,
for God is love...

Scriptures for this weekend

They led him to the brow of the hill to hurl him down headlong... Have you taken a few moments to read over the scriptures you'll hear proclaimed at Mass this weekend? For the readings, commentary and reflection on these passages and some hints for helping children prepare to hear the Word, check here and here.
(Image by Cerezo)

New media test Vatican's digital fluency

Catholic News Service reports:

Pope Benedict XVI recently urged the world's priests to make better use of new media, but in his own backyard the digital revolution is still seen as a mixed blessing.

The Vatican Web site remains largely a repository of printed texts, displayed on pages designed to look like parchment. And despite more than a decade of discussion about making the site interactive, www.vatican.va continues to provide information in one direction only: from them to you.

Some Vatican agencies have embraced the digital possibilities, notably Vatican Radio, which offers online broadcasts, podcasts and RSS feeds along with photos and print versions of major stories.

Other departments prefer to fly below the radar. The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, for example, has posted exactly one new piece of information on its Web page over the last three years.
...

Among the few Vatican officials willing to tackle these issues head-on is Archbishop Claudio Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. He met with reporters to present the pope's World Communications Day message Jan. 23, which called for better use of new media, and said it held lessons for everyone engaged in church ministry.

"The risk is that our sites will merely be places where information is posted, and not a real meeting ground," he said.
...

The challenge for the church is not to encourage young priests and seminarians to use digital media, because they're already doing so, he said. The bigger problem is convincing middle-aged and older priests to embrace these possibilities.

Archbishop Celli said his council is also willing to tackle an even more sensitive issue -- in many ways, the core issue -- of Vatican communications: the question of language.

"This is a topic we need to face in an explicit manner. Many times we speak, but in a language that is no longer comprehensible," he said. He said that's something that may be the focus of an upcoming plenary session of his council.
...

Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary of the communications council, launched what might be called a trial balloon on the question of language in a recent article in Cultures and Faith, a publication of the Pontifical Council for Culture.
...
worldcommunicationsday2010
As things stand, he said, the church relies too much on texts, which often use a vocabulary and forms of expression that are experienced as "unintelligible and off-putting even by sympathetic audiences."

He said the church needs to recognize that today's younger audience is fluent in "a language rooted in the convergence of text, sound and images," and will quickly move on if their attention is not immediately engaged.
...wcd2010

(Read the complete report here)

Prayer for Priests in the Year for Priests

_______-Image by Spreadshirt

Each Friday in this Year for Priests I'll post this prayer and invite you to remember all priests and especially those who have been, who are and who may one day be a part of your life.

Several prayers for the Year for Priests are available through the US Bishops site. As an exercise for myself to enter into the spirit of this year, I wrote the following. For whatever use you make of it on behalf of my brother priests and me, we are most grateful. (Links to other material on the Year for Priests can be found on the sidebar.)

A Prayer for Priests

Gracious God, loving Father,
font of every gift and good,
make of priests for us we pray:

men of faith, men of love,
humble servants of your Word,
prophets of your Spirit’s grace;

men of hope, men of peace,
strong defenders of the truth,
heralds of your holy gospel;

men of prayer, men of praise,
guardians of our sacred rites,
of the scriptures and tradition;

men of changelessness and change,
men who follow you each day,
when and where your Spirit leads;

men of tenderness and strength,
comfort for the sick and weary,
shepherds leading home the lost;

men of counsel, men of wisdom,
gentle guides for the confused,
lights along the darkened path;

men of mercy, patient men,
understanding and consoling
of the grieving and abused;

men of justice and compassion,
reconciling and forgiving,
men of healing in your name;

men of sacrifice and honor,
single minded in your service,
set apart to do your will;

men of holiness and joy,
men anointed by your grace,
men ordained to serve as Christ.

Make us one with them in faith
and in Christ your only Son
in whose holy name we pray.

Amen.

Link of the Day: Art Along the Way

This occasional series, Link of the Day, features either links from my sidebar or from places I've discovered in my internet travels. Today's link comes from my searching for graphics in preparation for Lent. That's how I found Stitched into Lent by Virginia Wieringa which you can see at the top of my sidebar.

(As much as I liked the art, I was equally drawn by the piece's title, Stitched into Lent. Click on the sidebar image for a larger version and the artist's commentary.)

I encourage you to visit Virginia's website, her blog and her resume.

Whether or not your ministry includes art and environment for worship, I encourage you to visit this Calvin College site and to follow the link to a PowerPoint presentation of sanctuary art at the Church of the Servant where Virginia chairs the Art Committee.

From the Artist's Statement on Wieringa's website:

My pieces often reflect the mysteries I perceive in the world. I’m inspired by things I read and hear as well as things I see. One quote that inspired a series is by Rainer Maria Rilke from Letters to a Young Poet:

Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves... Don't search for answers now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

As a Christian, I marvel at the salvation story, wonder about the way things are and about the way our lives are tied together across time and space. The people in my work could be communities of faith, a cloud of witnesses, disciples or just people. The Celtic knots, puzzle pieces and labyrinths are my way of contemplating the twists and turns in life and the surprising way things fit together. When I’m working with the layers in acrylics, mixed media, icons or photos I feel like I’m ‘living the questions’...

I hope you'll find that this artist's work draws you into contemplation as it did me. I'm grateful for Virginia's permission to use her Stitched into Lent on the sidebar and I encourage you to explore more of her work.

US Bishops latest statement on health care reform

WASHINGTON—The U.S. bishops called on Congress to continue to work on health care reform to provide access for everyone, protection of life at all stages and conscience rights.

The call came in a January 26 letter signed by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston- Houston, chair of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities; Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, chair of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; and Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chair of the Committee on Migration.

(Read the entire letter here.)

The bishops said that the need for reform remains despite a new political climate.

“Although political contexts have changed, the moral and policy failure that leaves tens of millions of our sisters and brothers without access to health care still remains,” they said. “We encourage Congress to begin working in a bipartisan manner providing political courage, vision and leadership. We must all continue to work towards a solution that protects everyone’s lives and respects their dignity.”

The bishops asked for changes in proposed bills in the House of Representatives and Senate. The current bills, they said, “leave between 18 and 23 million people in our nation without health insurance.”

They criticized the Senate bill saying it does not meet the church’s criteria on life and conscience since it does not reflect the current U.S. policy as outlined in the Hyde Amendment passed in 1976.
...

(Read the entire press release here.)

Here's a link, from the sidebar, to the USCCB page on Health Care Reform.

The real meaning of LOVE in 1 Corinthians 13

Image: Gwen Meharg

Here are some very familiar verses from the second reading (1 Corinthians 13) for this coming Sunday's liturgy for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time:

Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered,
it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.

This text is often chosen to be read at weddings. When I preach on it I remind my listeners that St. Paul didn't have a bride and groom in mind when he wrote these words but that he was addressing the whole church at Corinth. Nonetheless, these words are appropriate for a wedding celebration because in marriage a husband and wife are called to become an icon, a mirror of Christ's relationship with the Church, his body. The married couple should live their sacrament as an "outward sign, instituted by Christ, to give grace." In that sense, then, the couple is called to be the love of which Paul writes -- such that we might paraphrase his message to the Corinthians in this way:

John and Mary are patient,

John and Mary are kind.

Mary and John are not jealous and they are not pompous.

They are neither inflated nor rude.

John and Mary do not seek their own interests.

They are not quick-tempered, nor do they brood over injury.

Mary and John do not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rather, they rejoice with the truth.

John and Mary bear all things,
believe all things,
hope all things,
endure all things.

John and Mary never fail.

(Of course, you may fill in your and your spouse's!)

In the same way, as followers of Christ, each of us is called to mirror the life and the love of Christ in how we live each day. In that wise, then, we might paraphrase Paul's words by inserting our own name in the text:

_______ is patient,

_______ is kind.

_______ is neither jealous nor pompous,

_______ is not inflated, is not rude,

_______ does not seek his/her own interests,

_______ is not quick-tempered, does not brood over injury,

_______ does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

_______ bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.

_______ never fails.

And there's one more application of this theme. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, so does he write to each local church. So we might insert the name of our own parish or diocese in the text from 1st Corinthians:

The people of__________________ are patient and they are kind.

They are not jealous, they are not pompous.

They are not inflated, nor are they rude.

The people of __________________ do not seek their own interests.

They are not quick-tempered, nor do they brood over injury.

They do not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rather, they rejoice with the truth.

The people of __________________
bear all things, believe all things,
hope all things, endure all things.

The people of __________________ never fail.

Too often, Paul's words here are read and understood as romantic, greeting-card verse when, in fact, they address some of the most nitty-gritty circumstances of our lives. The love Paul describes here is beautiful but it is not easy. This is a love that makes demands on us from the inside out, a love that asks each of us and all of us as the church to always put the neighbor or the spouse before the self.

Such is the love that indeed, never fails...

Word for the Weekend: January 31

This weekend brings us to the end of January and the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The scripture readings and background material on them can be found here and if you're shepherding youngsters to Mass, here are some hints for helping children prepare to hear the Lord's Word.

The gospel picks up the scene at the synagogue in Nazareth from last week's passage and we see that the more Jesus reveals of his mission the less accepting are the people who listen to him - until they run him out of town!

The first reading, from Jeremiah, is an affirmation of how the Lord's messenger will be sheltered by God's protection and will survive the enemy's threat.

This week's second lesson is known to just about anyone who's been to a Christian wedding: Paul's words on love in 1 Corinthians. Of course, Paul wasn't writing about marriage or weddings but about the community which is Christ's body the Church.

Make some time now to read and ponder these texts and let them percolate in your mind and steep in your heart between now and hearing them on the Lord's Day.

Image: Media.Tumblr

Any troubles on your Safari?

Any readers out there having a problem maintaining a connection with my blog while using Safari as a browser? (No problems? No need to reply - thanks!)

Concord Carpenter goes video!

Image: AConcordCarpenterComments

In October 2008 my friend the Concord Carpenter started blogging and I was happy to help him get his page off the ground.

Now he's left me in the dust - saw dust, that is!

Concord Carpenter has gone video and you can see his first YouTube here in which he reviews a new tool.

Nice work, CC!

Beside the waters of comfort he leads me...

Image: NewHope

Late January...

For many, this is a difficult time of the year
and for many, it may be a difficult time to pray...

Here's one of my favorite settings of Psalm 23,
by John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers...

Let us pray...

Monday Morning Offering - 82

Coffee in the Morning by George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

Well, it happened on Saturday
and then again, early yesterday morning,
at odd moments when, truth be told,
my mind was somewhere else...

Both times it happened in a way
I know was not of my own making,
not of my own invention or even
my own desire...

I wasn't looking for you,
I wasn't thinking of you,
but it happened nonetheless:
I found you - or did you find me?

For a moment I sensed your presence,
I knew you were near,
that you were patiently waiting to get my attention,
that you'd been there all along,
that you'd never left my side,
that you were here...

In those two moments
I found a peace I've not found
for a long time...

It was your peace,
the peace of your presence...

Have I avoided your peace?
Have I turned away from you?
Have I denied your presence?
Have I looked for you?
Have I missed all the ways
you've shown yourself to me?

Have we been, you and I,
like two ships passing in the night?

No, that image fails:
you have not passed me by,
you have sailed alongside me
all the time...

It's what Augustine wrote, Lord:
You were within me, but I was outside,
and it was there that I searched for you...
You were with me, but I was not with you...

But on Saturday and early on Sunday morning,
I knew your presence beside me,
perhaps even, within me...

I knew, at least for a moment,
for two moments,
that you were with me
and I was with you...

How such moments come, Lord,
I don't pretend to know...

How many such moments I've missed, Lord,
are likely too many for me to count...

How patient you are in waiting for me
is more than I can fathom...

But it happened twice, Lord,
and I cannot let the memory go...

In those moments
I knew you were near,
that you were patiently waiting to get my attention,
that you'd been there all along,
that you'd never left my side,
that you were there as you've always been,
as you always are,
as you always will be...

So this morning, Lord,
I offer you my thanks for your patient waiting,
your faithful vigil for my attention,
your gentle way of being there without crowding me,
of tracing my steps without hounding me,
of staying with me
even when I try to walk away from you...

And I offer you my hope, Lord,
that such moments will come more often
and that I will look for them
and not miss them,
that I will make time for them,
make a place for them
(that I will make time for you
and make a place for you)
in my day, in my night and in my heart...

Help me be as gentle as are you, Lord,
with those around me, whose paths cross mine:
may I do nothing to distract them
from the moments of presence
that you have prepared for them...

I offer you the peace and the presence I found
on Saturday and early Sunday morning:
show yourself, Lord, and help me look for you
today, tonight
and every day this week...

Amen.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - Day 8

Today is the eighth day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

For scripture, a meditation and questions for reflection, see the Graymoor page.
For all of the jointly prepared and published resources, see here.

Let us pray...

Take us from where we are,
to where you want us to be;
make us not merely guardians of a heritage,
but living signs of your coming Kingdom;
fire us with passion for justice and peace between all people;
fill us with that faith, hope and love which embody the Gospel;
and through the power of the Holy Spirit make us one.
That the world may believe,
that your name may be enthroned in our nation,
that your church may more effectively be your body,
we commit ourselves to love you, serve you,
and follow you as pilgrims not strangers.

Amen.

(Taken from the Inaugural Service of Action of Churches Together in Scotland)

Comme le prévoit: an anniversary

January 25 is the 41st anniversary of the promulgation of Comme le prévoit, a carefully formulated document approved by Pope Paul VI, stipulating that a dynamic-equivalence approach should be taken in the translation of liturgical texts.

(See the text of the document here; Gil Ostdiek's fine overview of the text here; John Baldovin's essay on liturgical translation in the journal America here; and Todd Flowerday's commentary on the document here. Note that Todd's commentary comes up in reverse order of publication.)

Unfortunately, the fruit of Comme le prévoit and its application in the translation of the Roman Missal in the late nineties never saw the light of day.

In 2001 another document on translation, Liturgiam authenticam, was issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Liturgiam authenticam insisted on a literal translation of all Latin texts.

These documents are relevant to my recent post on the link to the USCCB page on the forthcoming new edition of the Roman Missal. The links above may go farther than the casual reader may want to follow but for those who are already familiar with the titles Comme le prévoit and Liturgiam authenticam, this day marks a significant anniversary and deserves mention and attention.

As they say, "Some things are lost in translation..."

Image source: FleurFisher

Looking for a really good homily this weekend?

I usually read and generally like Deacon Greg Kandra's homilies but his offering this weekend is the best of his work that I've read to date.

Don't miss it!

You'll find it at The Deacon's Bench.

(Other preachers will understand when I say, "I wish I'd written that!")

Homily for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Image: BabaJide
(Scriptures for this Sunday's liturgy)

He unrolled the scroll
and found the passage where it was written...

We’re still doing today what Ezra did in ancient times.
We’re still gathering the an assembly of the people, young and old
and we’re still standing on a wooden platform.

While Ezra opened a scroll, we open a book
and like Ezra we lift it up high for all to see,
and we read from word of the Lord
and interpret it in the hope that all will understand what was read.

(One difference between then and now
is that Ezra read and preached - and the people listened -
“from daybreak until midday”
while far too many of us get itchy after about 50 minutes
and, unfortunately, take their leave at Communion time...)

Jesus didn’t leave early from the synagogue in Nazareth
but rather he stayed and as Ezra and our readers do,
he unrolled the scroll, he opened the book, if you will,
and read the passage of Isaiah and “interpreted” it by saying,

I am the one of whom Isaiah writes.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
and has anointed me to bring good news to the poor,
to proclaim liberty to captives,
recovery of sight to the blind
and freedom to the oppressed;
to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Now, it would be a lot easier for us
if Isaiah had written and Jesus had read
something along these lines:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me and has anointed me
that I might be happy and healthy;
that I might be content, fulfilled and satisfied;
that all my problems might be small and easily solved;
that no harm come my way;
and that this might be a new year acceptable to me.

That’s often just what we hope, what we expect
and what we pray will come of our faith
and of the Spirit’s anointing in our lives.

But make no mistake about this:
every one of us who is baptized
has a share in the job description detailed in Isaiah’s words
which Jesus appropriated for himself.

So, it is our work
to bring good news to the poor
(in Haiti or some other place, near or far, in need);

it is our work
to proclaim liberty and freedom
for those held captive and oppressed
(by working for and shaping a justice providing for the needs of all);

it is our work
to bring recovery of sight to the blind
(to provide for the physically challenged
but even more to bring the light of truth
to those who walk in darkness);

and it is our work
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord
(to shape a culture, a society, an age,
and our own lives as reflective of God’s desire for us).

As Jesus identified himself in the words of Isaiah - so must we.

Next week we’ll hear the conclusion of this scene in the gospel.
But I’ll give you a little preview…

The people hearing Jesus praise him first -
but the more he reveals himself, the less accepting they become
- until they finally run him out of town and try to throw him off a cliff.

Having the anointing of God’s Spirit upon you
doesn’t always lead to a bed of roses…

For Jesus, these words were his first steps towards the Cross.

And we have been anointed by the same Spirit.
We have been given the same work.
We are walking the same path.
We not followers of One who had it easy all the time
but rather we walk with the One
who came to know and understand himself
in giving everything he had, in love, for others.

We're only three weeks into this new year
so it’s not too late yet for us to consider, to ask ourselves,
“Will my new year be a year acceptable to the Lord?"
To ask:
"How is God’s Spirit prodding me, nudging me, leading me
to serve the poor, to bring good news and freedom
and the light of truth to the people right around me
at home, at work, at school, in my neighborhood, in my parish?"

And as a community of believers, we need to ask the same question:
"How is God’s Spirit prodding, nudging, leading us, as a parish,
to shape a year acceptable to the Lord,
a year in which we become, more and more,
a people of Isaiah's vision, a people of the gospel?"

This kind of talk led Jesus to the brink of being thrown off a cliff.
It leads us first, thank God, not to a cliff
but to the Lord’s table,
where he nourishes us with his life
in the sacrament of the Eucharist, the gift of the altar of the Cross.

May this gift open us, each of us and all of us as a parish,
to receive the anointing of the Spirit
and to live a year acceptable to the Lord.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - Day 7

Today is the seventh day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

For scripture, a meditation and questions for reflection, see the Graymoor page.
For all of the jointly prepared and published resources, see here.

Priest reflects on pope's message to blogging priests

Image: (CNS photo/Reuters)

James Martin, SJ has a fine reflection on the pope's World Communications Day message and you can find his post on the America blog.worldcommunicationsday2010
wcd2010

Are you prepared to hear the Word?

Check here for this Sunday's scriptures, background material on them and hints for helping children prepare to hear the Word at Mass this weekend.
(Image: NerTamid)

Pope to priests: Go forth and blog!

Image: CBAA

The image above (from the Computer Committee of the Catholic Biblical Association) beautifully communicates the message which Benedict XVI has chosen for World Communications Day 2010. From the just-released text of the pope's World Communications Day message:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The theme of this year’s World Communications Day - The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word – is meant to coincide with the Church’s celebration of the Year for Priests. It focuses attention on the important and sensitive pastoral area of digital communications, in which priests can discover new possibilities for carrying out their ministry to and for the Word of God. Church communities have always used the modern media for fostering communication, engagement with society, and, increasingly, for encouraging dialogue at a wider level. Yet the recent, explosive growth and greater social impact of these media make them all the more important for a fruitful priestly ministry.

All priests have as their primary duty the proclamation of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, and the communication of his saving grace in the sacraments. Gathered and called by the Word, the Church is the sign and instrument of the communion that God creates with all people, and every priest is called to build up this communion, in Christ and with Christ. Such is the lofty dignity and beauty of the mission of the priest, which responds in a special way to the challenge raised by the Apostle Paul: “The Scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame … everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent?" (Rom 10:11, 13-15).

Responding adequately to this challenge amid today’s cultural shifts, to which young people are especially sensitive, necessarily involves using new communications technologies. The world of digital communication, with its almost limitless expressive capacity, makes us appreciate all the more Saint Paul’s exclamation: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16) The increased availability of the new technologies demands greater responsibility on the part of those called to proclaim the Word, but it also requires them to become become more focused, efficient and compelling in their efforts. Priests stand at the threshold of a new era: as new technologies create deeper forms of relationship across greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally by putting the media ever more effectively at the service of the Word.

The spread of multimedia communications and its rich “menu of options” might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web, or to see it only as a space to be filled. Yet priests can rightly be expected to be present in the world of digital communications as faithful witnesses to the Gospel, exercising their proper role as leaders of communities which increasingly express themselves with the different “voices” provided by the digital marketplace. Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis...

(Read the complete text of the pope's message here)

Please see the sidebar for a widget and a link to bring you Catholic TV, a ministry of the Archdiocese of Boston, which has for decades been a leader in utilizing the latest media in the spread of the gospel.worldcommunicationsday2010

For a guide to the Catholic blogosphere, check St. Blogs Parish and its listings. (Saint Blogs Parish is now added to the sidebar here.) wcd2010

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - Day 6

Today is the sixth day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

For scripture, a meditation and questions for reflection, see the Graymoor page.
For all of the jointly prepared and published resources, see here.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - Day 5

Today is the fifth day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

For scripture, a meditation and questions for reflection, see the Graymoor page.
For all of the jointly prepared and published resources, see here.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - Day 4

Today is the fourth day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
For scripture, a meditation and questions for reflection for this day,
see the Graymoor page.
For all of the jointly prepared and published resources, see here.



Yes, I know there's an error in the title of the song on the widget but I'm unable to correct that:
it should read, "The Church's One Foundation."

The Church's one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is his new creation
By water and the Word:
From heav'n he came and sought her
To be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her,
And for her life he died.

Elect from every nation,
Yet one o'er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.

'Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace for evermore;
Till, with the vision glorious,
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
Like them, the meek and lowly,
In love may dwell with thee.

Word for the Weekend - January 24

Image source: OneYearBibleBlog

He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me...

It's Wednesday and along with your Prince Spaghetti it's time for taking a look at the scriptures for this coming weekend. You'll find the readings with background material on them here and if you're bringing children to Mass, check here for hints to help your young ones prepare to hear the Word.

We'll find ourselves on the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. Keep in mind that back at the end of the November, on the First Sunday of Advent, we began a new liturgical year. In the lectionary for Mass, this is year C and we will be hearing from the Gospel of Luke for the greater part of the year.

After the readings selected for Advent and the Christmas season and last Sunday's reading from John (to insure including the story of the wedding at Cana close to the Christmas cycle), we'll hear this Sunday the very first words of Luke's gospel in Luke 1:1-4. This is a prologue, addressing the text to Theophilus. After these four verses of introduction, the lectionary skips to Luke 4:14-21. (Much of the intervening material was proclaimed in the liturgy during the Advent-Christmas cycle.) Now in Luke 4, we find the adult Jesus coming home to Nazareth and entering the synagogue where he reads from Isaiah and boldly applies the text to himself.

The first lesson for this Sunday is from Nehemiah and offers a good description of synagogue worship which is reflected in the day's gospel account as well. In fact, we can recognize in broad outline in both passages elements of worship that are still ours today.

The second lesson of the day continues our reading from 1 Corinthians and again this week, the unity of gifts in the Spirit is the heart of the text. (The lectionary provides a longer and shorter rendering of this text.)

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - Day 3

Today is the third day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

In Christ There Is No East or West

(1) In Christ there is no east or west,
in him no south or north;
but one great fellowship of love
throughout the whole wide earth.

(2) In Christ shall true hearts everywhere
their high communion find;
his service is the golden cord
close-binding humankind.

(3) Join hands, disciples of the faith,
whate’er your race may be.
All children of the living God
are surely kin to me.

(4) In Christ now meet both east and west,
in him meet south and north;
All Christly souls are one in him
throughout the whole wide earth.



For scripture, a meditation and questions for reflection, see the Graymoor page.
For all of the jointly prepared and published resources, see here.