Real Catholic Blog

As nice as it is to see Saint Patrick’s Day celebrated — not many saints are celebrated in the secular world — that’s also it’s drawback. That is to say, the day itself has been so secularized, the meaning of it is obfuscated, even trivialized, to the point that it is caricatured. It’s as if it’s only worth celebrating by drinking a lot of green beer. Worship is belittled to that of a secular god — alcohol.

Does it remind you of anything? It should. One beer company a couple of years ago even ran a nauseating series of television ads for weeks, leading up to, and equating, Saint Patrick’s Day with “secular” Christmas, complete with adults dressed like children, eagerly awaiting Saint Patrick’s Day morning, running downstairs to open their presents (of beer).

Not that I oppose a celebratory beer. But I don’t want people to lose sight of this significant saint and consign him to cartoon-like fiction.

Saint Patrick was captured (from his home in Scotland, sorry about that truth) and enslaved as a 14-year-old in then-pagan Ireland (Catholic Online). In captivity, he prayed each day. Later, he wrote:

The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same. I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain.

As with all saints, there is much to learn from his life. His feast day comes at an appropriate time, during the heart of Lent, because his story is reflective of the season’s meaning — through prayer, he drew closer to Christ, who Himself drew closer to the Father through prayer the night of His Passion. It was that prayer, that closeness that sustained him and led him to freedom and greater things in his life, a life that glorified God.

A couple of notes: Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity. It has been associated with him and the Irish since that time.

Unlike the raucous celebrations in his name today, Patrick was humble, pious and gentle. He had a total and devout love and trust in God. He is an example to each of us, for he feared nothing, not even death, because of his complete trust in God.

Saint Patrick: Someone to draw guidance from, not drink a beer to.

There’s been a great deal of news about the Anglican Catholic movement’s return to full communion with the Church since I commented on Deacon Keith Fournier’s editorial at Catholic Online, and some very definite interest in the subject. In fact, it’s not just American Anglicans, but Anglicans around the world. So, here’s a quick digest of some of the news, from Catholic Online:

Cardinal Levada Explains Ecumenism and the Anglican Ordinariates (Zenit News Agency)

Editorial: More Anglicans Say Yes to Full Communion: The Restoration of the Church. (Deacon Keith Fournier, Catholic Online)

Bishop Elliott Explains the Anglican Ordinariate: ‘United in Communion But Not Absorbed’ (Deacon Keith Fournier, Catholic Online)

Here Come the Anglicans: Opening Chapter in the Coming Reunion of the Church. (Deacon Keith Fournier, Catholic Online)

Deacon Keith Fournier is one of my favorites in all the clergy. He used to publish a column in The Catholic Virginian, the diocesan paper for the Diocese of Richmond, Va. He stopped writing for it and I lost track of him. Then, one day, he appeared at a church I attend for daily Mass (not my parish). As it turns out, he had moved to Richmond from the eastern part of the diocese for a year or two while commuting to Washington, D.C., to finish his Ph.D. those months were a blessing. His departure, a blow. But I learned I could continue to follow him through Catholic Online, one of the, if not the, best Web site for Catholic news and editorial comment.

Today, he unleashes a heartfelt editorial of optimism and grace on the very real possibility of the first steps toward the end of the Anglican split with the Church. News first arose of this in October (see our comment here) and continued for a while, then seemed to disappear. But now, there is actual movement toward establishing an Anglican ordinariate in America. Australia may follow very soon, as well.

Of course, Episcopals have moved into the Church here and there for a while. In August, 10 Episcopal nuns and a priest took steps to come into full communion with the Church. But with the release by Cardinal William Levada, of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Pope Benedict XVI of the historic Anglicanorum Coetibus, (Latin for “concerning groups of Anglicans”) last November, the stage is set for some 400,000 Anglicans to come into full communion with the Church.

As Deacon Fournier suggests, this has upset some traditional Catholics. It shouldn’t. He, as I, are pleased the Holy Spirit is working through the successor of Peter, Pope Benedict, to reunify the Holy Catholic Church. As the Deacon writes, a Church recovering from the scars of disunity can do so much to arrest the cultural and moral decline of the world. With Pope Benedict and many earnest leaders of the Eastern Orthodox Church in dialogue, we must pray for that schism to be repaired as well. 

As for the concerns of some, as long as the new ordinariate — which would be a rite within the universal Church, as certain Eastern rites are — accepts the teachings of the Church’s orthodoxy, there should be no cause for concern. The new Anglican rite would be structured like the Maronite or Maronite, which have patriarchs in Lebanon, but parishes all over the world as Lebanese emigrate, and which are loyal to Rome. Going to a Mass there, for example, fulfills one’s Sunday obligation.

Read Deacon Fournier’s editorial (”More Anglicans say Yes to Full Communion: The Restoration of the Church“) of hope and praise for the wonders of the Holy Spirit and the good it is working through those whose heartfelt desire is to come home to the One, True, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Let us know what you think.

Today is the feast day of Saint Scholastica (see Catholic Online), the sister of Saint Benedict (see Catholic Encyclopedia). Together, they founded the Benedictine way of life and order.

Here is a sweet and powerful homily about Saint Scholastica from Father Angelo Geiger of the Our lady of Guadalupe Friary and Air Maria. In it he tells a wonderful story about Saint Scholastica’s relationship with her brother — and God, and how God answered her prayer. He also expounds on the today’s Gospel reading about the 10 virgins and the importance to accept from God the gift of our lives and to resist temptation. We can pride ourselves on our belief, but unless we put it into action. … He also spells out the importance of praying our faith. It lasts 5:30.

The life of Saint Scholastica: The simplicity of faith is very powerful.

Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano is touting a new source of stem cells that it calls “the future of medicine” (see Catholic Online). The stem cells are taken from amniotic fluid to create a retinal regeneration therapy. The Biocell Center of Busto Arsizio in Milan is leading the research in the field and the Vatican, as per proxy in LR, is encouraging it.

Our faith teaches us that this type of  stem cell research is moral because it does not destroy human embryos. The fact is, despite the demagoguery of those who advance the embryonic stem cell argument, not one significant medical breakthrough has resulted from the millions of dollars and years of research that have gone into it. Meanwhile, hundreds of breakthroughs have occurred in adult stem cell research, such as from chord blood (see Family Foundation Blog).

Another fact: Even though research shows that adult stem cells can be manipulated into mimicking embryonic stem cells, thus eliminating the need for the destruction of embryos, the abortion lobby and allied groups  remain adamantly against defunding embryonic stem cell research. It exposes their real aim of encouraging abortion because if all they were concerned about was the research, then the “mimicking” process would be the “common ground” so-called “pro-choicers” always claim they seek (see telling video at Family Foundation Blog).

In addition to the Biocell Center of Busto Arsizio, Harvard Medical School’s Department of Opthalmology, the IRCCS Foundation and three Italian hospitals are among the institutions that have joined in the research. See Catholic Online via Catholic News Agency for the entire report.

Not exactly, but he does encourage Catholics to use the Internet, responsibly, to spread the Gospel. We’re during our part. Join in our discussion: While the Vatican and many dioceses have sophisticated media operations, as do independent Catholic organizations (think EWTN, Catholic Online) and some orders, what do you think Catholics groups and layity can do better to spread the Truth via new media and technology?

Pope Benedict: Catholics, get online and spread the Truth!

Monday was the Feast of Saint John of the Cross (DoctorsoftheCatholicChurch.com). He is one of the Mystical Doctors of the Church and his writings are considered some of the most remarkable and beautiful prose and poetry ever written — in any context. They also are powerful and extol on the power of prayer drawing you close to God and the joy of faith.

John lived an impoverished life. He grew up poor because his father, born into nobility, was disowned by his family for marrying a commoner. But his parents raised him well, with proper values for love of God. When his father died, his mother held the family together, but it was difficult to find work. John worked several difficult jobs, but hearing the call of God, he became a priest and joined the Carmelites. Saint Teresa of Avila (see Women for Faith & Family) saw a grace in him and asked him to help her in her reform movement. But John’s own Carmelites were suspicious and persecuted him. They put him in solitary confinement and was beat three times a week before he escaped after nine months.

During those nine months he fully opened himself to God, despite living in utter despair, and wrote his mystic prose and poems. He realized that God alone is the source of joy and that seeking happiness in the world is like “a famished person who opens his mouth to satisfy himself with air” (Catholic Online).

Saint John of the Cross is worthy of study and his Feast this time of year is appropriate as we prepare the way of the Lord. He tells us to fully open our hearts to God, to find Him within ourselves and not through the secular world, and to let Him fill us with an ever deepening faith. That’s the true meaning of Christmas and that’s how we find real joy.

Saint John of the Cross’ mysticism still brings people closer to God. Prayer is at the center of developing a closer relationship with God and where you will find joy.

From Saint John of the Cross:

What more do you want, o soul! And what else do you search for outside, when within yourself you possess your riches, delights, satisfaction and kingdom — your beloved whom you desire and seek? Desire him there, adore him there. Do not go in pursuit of him outside yourself. You will only become distracted and you won’t find him, or enjoy him more than by seeking him within you.

Yesterday was the Feast of two great saints. One, Saint John of the Cross (see DoctorsoftheCatholicChurch.com) is better known and it was his feast celebrated on the Latin Rite calendar. Also, yesterday, celebrated in the Eastern Rite, specifically, the Maronite Rite (see MaroniteMonks.org), was the feast of my ancestor, Saint Nimatullah Kassab Al-Hardini (Hardini.org), a Lebanese Maronite monk who was the mentor to the best known Lebanese Maronite Saint, Saint Charbel, whose Feast is celebrated in the Latin Rite in July (see Catholic Online).

Saint Nimatullah (1808-1858) was known for many things (see Eparchy of Saint Maron). He was an efficient administrator, a scholarly teacher and a devout priest. He was especially noted for his love of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Blessed Sacrament (see Vatican biography). He spent many hours in Eucharistic Adoration, often at the expense of sleep, kneeling in the chapel, arms raised cross-like and eyes trained on the tabernacle (see LebaneseSaints.com). Although there are photographs of him, the image below is the most famous one, and was used at his canonization, and honors his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.

There is volumes of information on Saint Nimatullah and other Maronite Saints. He lived an extradordinary life as a monk and was widely regarded from the Middle East to Rome, and was given great responsibilities. However, when the opportunity came to move to safer quarters at the outset of war, he remained, to look after those in need.

I could go on, but who better than John Paul The Great to speak of him? Saint Nimatullah was one in the last group of saints canonized by John Paul, on May 16, 2004.

Said the His Holiness about Saint Nimatullah:

A man of prayer, in love with the Eucharist which he adored for long periods, Saint Nimatullah Kassab Al-Hardini is an example for the monks of the Order of Lebanese Maronites as he is for his Lebanese brothers and sisters and all Christians of the world. He gave himself completely to the Lord in a life full of great sacrifices, showing that God’s love is the only true source of joy and happiness for man. He committed himself to searching for and following Christ, his Master and Lord.

Welcoming his brothers, he reassured and healed many wounds in the hearts of his contemporaries, witnessing to God’s mercy. May his example enlighten our journey and bring forth, especially in young people, a true desire for God and for holiness to proclaim to our world the light of the Gospel!

Devout to the Blessed Sacrament, in his love for the Lord and for the Church, Saint Nimatullah is a role model in many respects.

Ever since U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) (see A Catholic View) made public the private discourse between he and Bishop Thomas Tobin, of the Diocese of Providence, R.I., the mainstream media has had a field day, snidely belittling the Bishop and any clergy, for that matter, who stands up against abortion, especially the abortion-on-demand and conscious clause removals from the current health care “reform” legislation now in Congress. One rare fair interview was with Bill O’Reilly on the Fox News Channel (see previous post and video, here).   

Now the media is after Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri, a rare New England Republican, because he had the audacity to voice his support for his Bishop rather than his congressman (see LifeSiteNews.com). In a local radio interview Governor Carcieri said (from the Providence Journal):

“I think the Bishop had no choice … because if you go back to how this all started, it was basically Congressman Kennedy making pretty outrageous statements about the Catholic Church” and the church’s position on “protecting the sanctity of innocent human beings. So I think the bishop had no choice except to come back and defend the church, which I think he did very well.” 

Good on the governor! Perhaps more refreshing than the Bishop himself, who does not have a political class to appease, Governor Carcieri had no fear, despite an electorate much to the left of him on this issue. A real profile in courage. It shows that confidence in the courage of one’s convictions, convictions grounded in the Truth, will serve you well in the long run. Even in the short run. (See Deacon Keith Fournier’s commentary at Catholic Online.) So far, there seems to have been no backlash on the governor. Right now, the Bishop and the governor are standing tall.

Ben Stein is one of my favorites. The man who stole the show in ’80s movie classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (the teacher who repeated in his monotone, “Bueller? Bueller?”) and constant TV ad pitchman truly is a Renaissance man: actor, writer, presidential advisor, comic, securities lawyer, economist, professor, conservative thinker and pro-life supporter, among many other things, and an incredibly smart man. So smart, in fact, he even hosted his own game show in the late 1990s called Win Ben Stein’s Money, where winning contestants won his paycheck for each show in which they answered more questions correctly than he. That’s how confidently intelligent Mr. Stein is.

Once, Mr. Stein lost, in part, by getting the meaning of The Immaculate Conception wrong (see Jennifer Hartline of Catholic Online). He was adamant that the Holy Day celebrated the conception of Christ into the Blessed Virgin Mary’s womb. He’s not alone. Most non-Christians, protestants and Catholics themselves think this. I’ve even had Catholics tell me tell me they were taught this in their formation! What else could it mean, after all, if Jesus was conceived not by man and woman but by the Holy Spirit through Mary? Ask most any Catholic and they will tell you this feast day celebrates the Lord’s conception.

For those who attended Mass yesterday, you should know. Still, it is important that we, as Catholics, understand what the Feast Day is about so as to not let misunderstandings undermine the Faith from within — Catholics trying to explain something to non-Catholics that isn’t correct to begin with — and to correct those misunderstandings by those of other faiths who think they know what we believe, and use this incorrect understanding in an attempt to misguide others about Catholicism.

In short, the Feast of The Immaculate Conception (see Catholic Encyclopedia) is the belief that in order for Christ to come into the world, He of no sin, would have to born without original sin. For that to happen, his parents would have to be free of original sin. God, the Father, of course is, but his human mother would have to be as well. Thus, Mary, at her conception and birth, was blessed by God to have been born without original sin, the only human to be born so.

That is the Feast of The Immaculate Conception. Next question, Ben.