Real Catholic Blog

Every Sunday at Mass, whether we realize it or not, we pray for the unity of the Church. It’s something we should all keep in mind to do on our own. That, for example, there is a split between the Vatican and the Eastern Orthodox surely brings sadness to the Holy Trinity.

Today, however, brings great news! Although it won’t happen before Christmas, and maybe not for a long time still, a potential breakthrough was made in reunification efforts between Catholics and Orthodox.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I said the presence of a Vatican delegation in Istanbul, “confirms the desire to eliminate the impediments accumulated in the course of a millennium to attain the fullness of communion.” (ZENIT via Catholic Online.)

Along with Pope Benedict’s recent overture to traditional Episcopal and Anglican churches and dioceses, there is hope that people of great faith, who perhaps because of human failings throughout the ages, manipulated by the circumstances of their day, were split apart, now have re-unification in one Holy Catholic Church within sight.

Just as Angels greeted the shepherds with news of great joy on the day of our Saviour’s birth, we have our own great news in our day. What a perfect and appropriate season to hear it.

Last night, Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Diocese of Providence, R.I., appeared on The O’Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel to dispel myths and misstatements about his role as Bishop in dealing with Church Scandal — that is, the misrepresentation of Church Teaching by one who claims to be of the Faithful. In this case, that someone is a public and powerful person, U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) (see Yahoo! News), who publicly claims it is fine to be pro-abortion-on-demand and be a Catholic in good standing.

Something new to me in watching the interview is that Bishop Tobin is the author of the new book, Effective Faith. I hope to have more on this in the near future. The interview itself was excellent. Bill O’Reilly was thorough in his questions and effectively took the opposing angle. Bishop Tobin’s responses regardig why Rep. Kennedy should not receive Holy Communion were grounded in the Truth, so it was no surprise he was unruffled, firm and unapologetic, while laying out the Church’s teachings cogently, logically and theologically precise.

In addition to the interview, below, here is a link to its coverage on WPRI-TV/12 in Rhode Island. Also, Bishop Tobin was a recent guest on Hardball With Chris Matthews on MSNBC. Matthews was utterly offensive and disrespectful and Deacon Keith Fournier of Catholic Online calls for his firing. 

Here’s the interview. Let me know what you think of it.

Bishop Thomas Tobin honesty and steadfastness for the Truth was a natural on the “no spin zone” last night.

Today is Saint Jude’s feast day. He is one of the 12 Apostles and is the patron of hopeless cases because in his epistle he emphasizes that the faithful “persevere in the environment of harsh, difficult circumstances, just as their forefathers had done before them (Catholic Online).”

He also happens to be one of my patron saints. I’m partial, but I have the best name in the world: Stephen Jude. The first martyr and deacon (Stephen) and a relative of Jesus (Jude). Legend has it he taught Jesus Greek. Imagine teaching Jesus! Whether or not it’s true, we know little of Saint Jude except that he does intercede for those in massive trouble. What a hero and role model to help people in such dire straights. (There’s a reason a well known hospital is named for him.) I wish I could live up to such a standard.

But I must confess: I don’t seek his intercession only in dire circumstances. Even when things seemharsh, although you know by comparison to others’ situations they are not, he will help you. Trust me. Seek his intercession.

Here is more about him from Catholic Online:

St. Jude, known as Thaddaeus, was a brother of St. James the Less, and a relative of Our Saviour. 

Ancient writers tell us that he preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Lybia. According to Eusebius, he returned to Jerusalem in the year 62, and assisted at the election of his brother, St. Simeon, as Bishop of Jerusalem.

He is an author of an epistle (letter) to the Churches of the East, particularly the Jewish converts, directed against the heresies of the Simonians, Nicolaites, and Gnostics. This Apostle is said to have suffered martyrdom in Armenia, which was then subject to Persia. The final conversion of the Armenian nation to Christianity did not take place until the third century of our era.

Jude was the one who asked Jesus at the Last Supper why He would not manifest Himself to the whole world after His resurrection. Little else is known of his life. Legend claims that he visited Beirut and Edessa; possibly martyred with St. Simon in Persia.

Washington, D.C., Catholics in the legal profession celebrated the annual Red Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle last Sunday and heard a staunch defense of the unborn and a call for their protection from America’s newest cardinal, Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Attending were six members of the U.S. Supreme Court, including new Justice Sonia Sotomayor. (Six members of the court are Catholic, but one, Justice Clarence Thomas, was away. The other five and Justice Steven Breyer, who is Jewish, attended.)

In speaking about the unborn, Cardinal DiNardo said in his homily (read its entirety, here):

A person can forget that the basis of that knowledge is something much more natural in the human condition, that the law and lawyers are around because justice among human beings is always an issue.

There are always smoldering wicks and bruised reeds needing our human attention, an attention that cries out and says that even sophisticated knowledgeable ‘human’ lawyers need reminding, need a purifying divine fire from the Lord, both in their personal lives and in their profession itself. It is that reality that brings us to praise, reflection, and prayer this day.

They are poor and wealthy, confused and lucid, polite and impolited. In some cases, the clients are voiceless, for they lack influence; in others they are literally voiceless, not yet with tongues and even without names, and require our most careful attention and radical support.

If the homily did not get the message across, those attending received a less subtle message. Randal Terry, one of America’s most vociferous pro-life advocates, and a convert to the Faith, led a rally outside the cathedral, in full earshot of those attending the Mass.

The name “Red Mass” is honor of the flame of the Holy Spirit and has been celebrated to bring blessings upon the Supreme Court and other legal officials in the U.S. since 1953. However, it has origins as far back as 13th century France.

For more on the Mass, read this article from Randy Sly, Associate Editor of Catholic Online. He is a former Archbishop himself — of the Charismatic Episcopal Church. He resigned that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

Continuing with the emphasis of reverence in preparation to receive the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ, in the Blessed Sacrament —prompted by Cardinal Cipriani — here is another prayer to say and upon which to meditate in the minutes prior to receiving Holy Communion.

Perhaps say it before Mass to help you prepare your mind for the Holy significance of the Eucharist and the meaning of our celebration at Mass. It was written by Saint Francis de Sales (biography, here, at Catholic Online). A good essay on the Holy Spirit is linked to Catholic Online within the prayer.

Your Sacred Table: A Prayer before Communion  

Divine Saviour,
we come to Your sacred table
to nourish ourselves,
not with bread but with Yourself,
true Bread of eternal life.
Help us daily to make a good and perfect meal
of this divine food.
Let us be continually refreshed
by the perfume of Your kindness and goodness.
May the Holy Spirit fill us with His Love.
Meanwhile, let us prepare a place
for this holy food by emptying our hearts.

Amen.

To further your appreciation of the significance of what it means to receive the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, here is a link to an index of Communion Prayers at Catholic Online. Please make reverence at Holy Communion a point of emphasis within your family, friends and fellow parishioners.

Pope Benedict told an audience of visiting from Brazil last week that the role of the priest is irreplaceable and that a shortage of priests does not mean the priesthood will secularize anymore than it means the laity will vocationalize. Priests will be priests and laity will be laity, each with distinct and vital roles in the Church.

However, he was clear on the unique nature of the priesthood as an office descended from the Apostles and Christ Himself. From Vatican Information Service via Catholic Online:

. . . the particular identity of priests and laity must be seen in the light of the essential difference between priestly ministry and the “common priesthood.” Hence it is important to avoid the secularisation of clergy and the “clericalisation” of the laity.

He also said:

. . . the lack of priests does not justify a more active and abundant participation of the laity. The truth is that the greater the faithful’s awareness of their own responsibilities within the Church, the clearer becomes the specific identity and inimitable role of the priest as pastor of the entire community, witness to the authenticity of the faith, and dispenser of the mysteries of salvation in the name of Christ the Head.

The function of the clergy is essential and irreplaceable in announcing the Word and celebrating the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist. … For this reason it is vital to ask the Lord to send workers for His harvest; and it is necessary that priests express joy in their faithfulness to their identity.

The Holy Father also invoked Saint John Vianney, the patron saint of priests. As this is the Year for Priests, marking the the 150th anniversary of the saint’s death, Pope Benedict XVI indicated that St. John Vianney . . .

continues even now to be a model for priests, especially in living a life of celibacy as a requirement for the total giving of self, expressed through that pastoral charity which Vatican Council II presents as the unifying centre of a priest’s being and actions.

In this Year for Priests, with the intercession of Saint John Vianney, let us all make a commitment to pray fervently for an increase in vocations as well as for the spiritual, physical and mental well being of all priests. 

The niece of the late Dr. Martin Luther Ling, Jr., Dr. Alveda King, who happens to serve as director of African-American Outreach for the organization Priests for Life, last week called for the Justice Department to include Planned Parenthood in its initiative to investigate racist policies of federal fund recipients (see Christian Newswire via Catholic Online).

“The acting head of the Obama administration’s Civil Rights Division wants to crack down on groups that receive federal money and whose policies have a negative impact on minorities,” said Dr. King.

“I can save her a lot of time. All she has to do is look at the abortion industry and its leading money maker, Planned Parenthood, to find suspicious characters.

“I would say wiping out one-quarter of the African American population qualifies as a negative impact on a minority group.”

She added that if the Obama administration is serious about investigating discrimination, it should start with the organization that targets minority neighborhoods in which to locate its abortion centers. Planned Parenthood, which claims to be a non-profit organization, nevertheless pockets hundreds of millions of dollars annually as well as receiving taxpayer funds.

Dr. King has been a tireless worker in the national effort to defund Planned Parenthood. Priests for Life is the nation’s largest Catholic pro-life organization dedicated to ending abortion and euthanasia.

Bishop Joseph Martino, Bishop of the Diocese of Scranton, has asked for and received retirement status from Pope Benedict XVI. The diocese now is under the administration of Cardinal Justin Rigali, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, until a successor is named.

We hope and pray for Bishop Martino’s health, that he may be restored to the zeal he has had in defending the Word against the dictatorship of relativism. He has been one of the leading defenders of the Faith and its teachings in an increasingly secular world.

Deacon Keith Fournier has a beautiful tribute to Bishop Martino at Catholic Online. An excerpt:

I also thought of the painful defense St. Paul was forced to give of his own apostolic office in his second letter to the Corinthians (See, 2 Cor. Chapters 10 – 13). It has happened many times in our 2000 year history. Good Bishops like Bishop Joseph Martino sometimes suffer the effects that can accompany “bearing the burden” of their exercise of their apostolic office and have to take a different role in caring for the flock. He is now doing just that with the kind of fidelity, dignity and extraordinary courage he has always shown. However, he is obviously tired,in fact exhausted, from the burden of his office.

Not only do we need to pray for Bishop Martino, but that all Bishops and priests will find the zeal to bring the Word into all homes, to all people. Still more, we need to pray that the Holy Spirit raises up legions of holy men to the priesthood to help lead our society into a culture of life and Biblical values through the Truth and Light.

An Episcopal priest and 10 nuns from the Episcopal order Society of All Saints’ Sisters of the Poor, all who reside in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, will be confirmed into the Church at September 3 Mass celebrated by Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, according to the archdiocesan paper, The Catholic Review. The nuns will continue their ministry. The priest, Warren Tanghe, is discerning the priesthood. 

According to the article, found via Catholic Online:

Orthodoxy and unity were key reasons the sisters were attracted to the Catholic faith. Many of them were troubled by the Episcopal Church’s approval of women’s ordination, the ordination of a gay bishop and what they regarded as lax stances on moral issues.

The nuns strove to be a “witness for orthodoxy” within the Episcopal Church, but Mother Christina Christie, the community’s superior, said that by not doing anything more than that they sent the wrong message. They resisted pleas to stay as well as their own thoughts of joining the more orthodox Anglican American church, newly formed in a much publicized schism with the Episcopal Church over issues of orthodoxy, such as the consecration, in New Hampshire, of the openly homosexual bishop, Gene Robinson.

In the end, however, the Holy Spirit directed them to the Church — for some time, the sisters individually were secretly contemplating Catholicism. When they realized this, the decision was easier to make. Said Mother Christina:

This is very much the work of the Holy Spirit.

There was some earthly help, too, although, of course, the Holy Spirit was working there as well: As it turns out, the nuns greatly admire Pope Benedict XVI.

With those words, a college student taught something to a worldly, famous, immensely successful Washington journalist. It was the late 1990s when Robert Novak — a political conservative, born a Jew, but who lived as an agnostic for for 50 years — came to God and accepted the Catholic faith. Yesterday, he died of the brain cancer diagnosed about a year ago.

His journey to faith is an interesting story (see CNA via Catholic Online), more compelling than the political news about which he wrote for decades. After nearly dying in the early 1980s, a friend gave him some Catholic literature. But it wasn’t until several years later when his non-Catholic wife prevailed upon him to attend Mass with her at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. The celebrant of that Mass was a former lawyer, advisor to a high-ranking senator — and source for his widely read column. Mr. Novak continued attending Mass for next few years, but his self-confessed turning point occured at a dinner at Syracuse University where he met a student wearing a cross on her necklace. He asked if she was Catholic. She replied, yes, then asked if he was.

When he said he wasn’t, but that he attended Mass regularly, she said, “Mr. Novak, life is short, but eternity is forever.”

He then entered the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and he was baptized Catholic at Saint Peter’s in 1998. His wife, Geraldine, also became Catholic. Mr. Novak maintained that his conversion to Catholicism was the most profound aspect of his life; he recognized the legitimacy of the True Faith and believed the power of the Holy Spirit was revealed to him through the coincidences that led him to his conversion

* * * * *

That college student did something wonderful that day in Syracuse. She spoke her faith and challenged a famous man without hesitation in order to save his soul. I was at a political breakfast recently where the speaker, a non-Catholic Christian and radio talk show host, began his talk with a question:

How many of you are not afraid to approach a stranger and begin talking religion and politics?

Perhaps three or four hands went up. He asked what was wrong with the rest of us. The two most important things in life, he said, are our relationship with God and how His will is carried out on Earth. We easily slide into conversations about sports, entertainment, the weather, work, whatever. But how many people have the courage to speak their convictions in order to save a soul.

Would you save a life if you could by convincing someone to stop smoking or abusing alcohol or eating food detrimental to a particular physical condition? Yes, I’m sure. But saving a soul?

Yet, that  is what Jesus has charged us to do. We hear His ageless commandment echoed every week (or day) at the end of Mass: “Let us go forth to love and serve the Lord.”