What Recompense can I give to the Lord?
Ordination to the Diaconate
Monday, May 18, 2009
Willing to die for the Truth?
Its a shame the Bishops, particularly the 60 Bishops who publically spoke out against this, didn't take the opportunity to come and preach the Gospel down in the trenches with this priest. It would have been interesting to see if they would be willing to haul Catholic Bishops off to jail for "tresspassing" on a Catholic Campus. It is my opinion that a Catholic priest can't trespass on the property of a Catholic institution, but Jenkins et al. who went out of his way to accomadate Obama, seem perfectly willing to have his brother priests arrested.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Life in Rome
One of the seminarians shot this video of ride through Rome on a bike. He departs from my university the Angelicum and demonstrates just how dangerous it is to live in Rome.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Palm Sunday
I can't believe Passiontide is midway over and Palm Sunday is here. Today I had the awesome experience of processing with the Holy Father in the Palm Sunday Procession and then distributing communion at the Mass. Below are some pictures of the procession getting ready.
And more here
And for Palm Sunday in Rome click here
Monday, March 23, 2009
St. Joseph: Icon of true Fatherhood
Homily for the Solemnity of St. Joseph
Celebrated at the Station Church
Ss. Cosmas and Daminan in Rome
Thursday, March 19th 2009
This summer I was visiting a Catholic Grammar school in my diocese to speak with the 7th and 8th grade boys about priestly vocations.
Speaking about the complementary need for both male and female parents I made what I thought was a common sense claim: we all have fathers
The boldness of my claim was pointed out by a seventh grade boy who retorted, “not everyone has a father.”
In response I said rather flippantly: if I remember my biology class right--we all have fathers!!!
However in retrospect the young man was right, biological paternity was a far cry from true fatherhood.
This young man’s claim is a sad commentary on the reality of the situation in the world we live in. More devastating than the Economic Crisis and possibly at the root of the crisis in morality and culture is the crisis in Fatherhood—how can we know God the Father if we only have a negative or nonexistent experience of fathers? And yet this is the case for so many people today.
In the example of St. Joseph we see the reality that for rational human beings true fatherhood is so much more than paternity. This is an important message for all men to hear, not just priests, because all men are called in some way to show others the image of God the Father.
In Joseph we see a icon of human fatherhood, which in turn is an icon of Divine Fatherhood. Though scripture is relatively silent about the manthat Jesus called abba before he taught us to call His heavenly Father Abba. Through what we do learn of Joseph we see the sketch of the vocation of the Father.
Joseph was first and foremost a man open to the will of God; both in his just yet merciful treatment of Mary according to the Mosaic Law and in his willingness to forego the law and endure the shame associated with taking Mary into his house at the message of the angel. True Fathers, Joseph teaches us, are men of prayer who teach and communicate the will of God to their families
In the mercy he shows to Mary, in seeking to divorce her quietly we also see that true fathers always defend and protect their spouse, even when they feel hurt or betrayed by her
In the trust he placed in God, when forced to take his very pregnant wife on the long journey to Bethlehem, we see that real Fathers, though men of action, must always put their trust in the providential plan of God.
And in his silent life of work, providing for Mary and Jesus--we learn that true fathers always do everything for the other never seeking personal gain or glorification, but rather always building up their wives and Children.
Thus today as we celebrate the Feast of the foster-father of Our Lord lets pray and ask God:
That following the example of Joseph more men embrace their vocation to fatherhood generously offering themselves as icons of the Father even to children not physically their own.
And that women, fulfill their vocation to be helpers to men by encouraging their husbands, brothers, and sons, and all the men they know to take up the exalted title: Father and live this vocation faithfully.
St. Joseph, pray for us.
Celebrated at the Station Church
Ss. Cosmas and Daminan in Rome
Thursday, March 19th 2009
This summer I was visiting a Catholic Grammar school in my diocese to speak with the 7th and 8th grade boys about priestly vocations.
Speaking about the complementary need for both male and female parents I made what I thought was a common sense claim: we all have fathers
The boldness of my claim was pointed out by a seventh grade boy who retorted, “not everyone has a father.”
In response I said rather flippantly: if I remember my biology class right--we all have fathers!!!
However in retrospect the young man was right, biological paternity was a far cry from true fatherhood.
This young man’s claim is a sad commentary on the reality of the situation in the world we live in. More devastating than the Economic Crisis and possibly at the root of the crisis in morality and culture is the crisis in Fatherhood—how can we know God the Father if we only have a negative or nonexistent experience of fathers? And yet this is the case for so many people today.
In the example of St. Joseph we see the reality that for rational human beings true fatherhood is so much more than paternity. This is an important message for all men to hear, not just priests, because all men are called in some way to show others the image of God the Father.
In Joseph we see a icon of human fatherhood, which in turn is an icon of Divine Fatherhood. Though scripture is relatively silent about the manthat Jesus called abba before he taught us to call His heavenly Father Abba. Through what we do learn of Joseph we see the sketch of the vocation of the Father.
Joseph was first and foremost a man open to the will of God; both in his just yet merciful treatment of Mary according to the Mosaic Law and in his willingness to forego the law and endure the shame associated with taking Mary into his house at the message of the angel. True Fathers, Joseph teaches us, are men of prayer who teach and communicate the will of God to their families
In the mercy he shows to Mary, in seeking to divorce her quietly we also see that true fathers always defend and protect their spouse, even when they feel hurt or betrayed by her
In the trust he placed in God, when forced to take his very pregnant wife on the long journey to Bethlehem, we see that real Fathers, though men of action, must always put their trust in the providential plan of God.
And in his silent life of work, providing for Mary and Jesus--we learn that true fathers always do everything for the other never seeking personal gain or glorification, but rather always building up their wives and Children.
Thus today as we celebrate the Feast of the foster-father of Our Lord lets pray and ask God:
That following the example of Joseph more men embrace their vocation to fatherhood generously offering themselves as icons of the Father even to children not physically their own.
And that women, fulfill their vocation to be helpers to men by encouraging their husbands, brothers, and sons, and all the men they know to take up the exalted title: Father and live this vocation faithfully.
St. Joseph, pray for us.
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