Congratulations Bishop Carlson!

Pope Benedict has named Bishop Robert J. Carlson as the new Archbishop of St. Louis.

Divine Mercy Novena: Day Two

"Today bring to Me the Souls of Priests and Religious, and immerse them in My unfathomable mercy. It was they who gave me strength to endure My bitter Passion. Through them as through channels My mercy flows out upon mankind."

Most Merciful Jesus, from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men and women consecrated to Your service, that they may perform worthy works of mercy; and that all who see them may glorify the Father of Mercy who is in heaven.Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyard -- upon the souls of priests and religious; and endow them with the strength of Your blessing. For the love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen.

Divine Mercy Novena: Day One

"Today bring to Me all mankind, especially all sinners, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. In this way you will console Me in the bitter grief into which the loss of souls plunges Me."

Most Merciful Jesus, whose very nature it is to have compassion on us and to forgive us, do not look upon our sins but upon our trust which we place in Your infinite goodness. Receive us all into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart, and never let us escape from It. We beg this of You by Your love which unites You to the Father and the Holy Spirit.Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon all mankind and especially upon poor sinners, all enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion show us Your mercy, that we may praise the omnipotence of Your mercy for ever and ever. Amen.

Chaplet of Divine Mercy:

The Chaplet is prayed on Rosary Beads.

1. Begin with the Sign of the Cross, 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary and The Apostles Creed.
2. Then on the Our Father Beads say the following:Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
3. On the 10 Hail Mary Beads say the following:For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
(Repeat step 2 and 3 for all five decades).
4. Conclude with (three times):Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Homily: Holy Thursday

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Homily: 5th Sunday of Lent Year B

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Homily: Second Sunday of Lent, Year B

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Welcome to New Readers

Some of you may have heard me on "The Catholic's Next Door" (heard Monday through Friday on The Catholic Channel on Sirius Satellite Radio) talking about my use of Twitter in my ministry. So if you are stopping in because you heard me on the show, welcome!

Fasting

Pope Benedict, in his message for Lent focused on fasting. He says that “it seems abundantly clear that fasting represents an important ascetical practice, a spiritual arm to do battle against every possible disordered attachment to ourselves. Freely chosen detachment from the pleasure of food and other material goods helps the disciple of Christ to control the appetites of nature, weakened by original sin, whose negative effects impact the entire human person.”

Since fasting is the focus Pope Benedict has chosen for Lent, I thought it might be good to see what St. Benedict has to say on the topic. He addresses the topic in Chapter 41 of the Holy Rule which is entitled “At What Hours the Meals Should be Taken” St Benedict says:

From Pentecost throughout the summer, unless the monks have work in the fields let them fast on Wednesdays and Fridays until the ninth hour; on the other days let them dine at the sixth hour.

…

From the Ides of September until the beginning of Lent let them always take their dinner at the ninth hour.

In Lent until Easter let them dine in the evening.

In this passage we have described what many religious orders observe as part of their rule. They fast begin their fasting on the Feast of the Triumph of the Holy Cross on the Ides of September and end it at Easter. There would be the lesser fast (the fast from the middle of September until Lent) and the great fast (from the beginning of Lent until Easter).

Fasting traditionally has meant only taking on meal a day, this is the kind of fast that St. Benedict is talking about in this passage from the Holy Rule. The only difference between the lesser fast and the great fast in the Holy Rule is when the meal is taken. During the times of the lesser Fast, the meal is taken at ninth hour (three in the afternoon). During the great fast the meal would be taken in the evening, yet before dark.

The first quotation also shows us that for St. Benedict, fasting is not just for Lent. He also has the monks fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays from Pentecost throughout the summer.

So what does this mean for us, and how might we apply it to our lives? I think that the first thing we can glean from this is that St. Benedict feels that fasting in necessary in that it helps us to grow in holiness through self denial. He knew that monks, like all of us, are in need of training oneself in the fine art of saying no to ourselves, something that fasting teaches us in a hurry.

We also learn that he is of the opinion that fasting should be something not just reserved for Lent, but is something that we can profit from at other times of the year as well, even though it may not be as severe.

If we are ambitious in spiritual matters, and if it is prudent, we might consider only taking one meal every day during Lent. For some of us, like myself, who are more attached to food, this might be quite a struggle, and so we might not want to take on so much. Maybe we could stick to only taking on meal in the evening on Wednesdays and Fridays.

St. Benedict is very balanced and prudent and is always clear that these sorts of things are to always done under the guidance of the Abbot, or the Father of the monastery, and that they should help us to save our souls and the souls of others. We too would be wise to discuss our penances and mortifications with someone who is wiser than us so that we don’t fall into spiritual pride or incur physical harm.

Homily: Ash Wednesday

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Ash Wednesday

The last post stated that it is my hope to take a chapter of a book, a article, or some writings of the Saints and comment upon it, and now it is time to begin.

One of my favorite spiritual works is The Holy Rule of St. Benedict. I grew up with Benedictine Monks from Blue Cloud Abbey as pastors of my parish, and the Monastery was only a few miles away from my home town. This, of course, gave rise to curiosity about what sort of life monks lead. I spent alot of time at the Abbey, including working a few summers there. During that time I came to love the Holy Rule. It is very practical, straightforward, and applicable to the daily life of a priest like myself, or the life of an average layperson. So naturally I would like to share it with you. We won't go through the entire Rule, only some choice selections.

Since tomorrow is the first day of Lent I thought we might turn to Chapter 49: On the Observance of Lent.

Although the life of a monk ought to have about it at all times the character of a Lenten observance, yet since few have the virtue for that, we therefore urge that during the actual days of Lent the brethren keep their lives most pure and at the same time wash away during these holy days all the negligences of other times. And this will be worthily done if we restrain ourselves from all vices and give ourselves up to prayer with tears, to reading, to compunction of heart and to abstinence.

During these days, therefore, let us increase somewhat the usual burden of our service, as by private prayers and by abstinence in food and drink. Thus everyone of his own will may offer God "with joy of the Holy Spirit" (1 Thess. 1:6) something above the measure required of him. From his body, that is, he may withhold some food, drink, sleep, talking and jesting; and with the joy of spiritual desire he may look forward to holy Easter.

Let each one, however, suggest to his Abbot what it is that he wants to offer, and let it be done with his blessing and approval. For anything done without the permission of the spiritual father will be imputed to presumption and vainglory and will merit no reward. Therefore let everything be done with the Abbot's approval.

There are a number of things here which are applicable to our observance of Lent. I will touch on two of them.

First, St. Benedict counsels the brethren to joyfully offer something above what is required during this holy season. Sometimes it is easy to do only what is required during Lent. We don't break any rules; we fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and we abstain from meat on Fridays. We might even give up candy. But St. Benedict urges us to do more than the bare minimum during Lent as an act of love for God and as a way to "wash away during these holy days all the negligences of other times." For him, and hopefully for us, Lent is a time of greater generosity and courage in the spiritual life than normal.

Second, he encourages a level of accountability regarding our Lenten resolutions. He says that the monk should share with the Abbot, or Father of the monastery, what he intends to do. This does two things, it makes sure that the monk doesn't take on too much, and also to provide some accountability. This would be good advise for us as well. During Lent we want to be generous in our penances and good works, but we also do not want to do so much that it takes us away from the duties of our state in life or cause us to not perform them well. So before taking on our penances and good works we might consider sharing them with another person. Hopefully we will share them with someone wiser than us, who can give us good and honest advise. That person can also keep us honest about our progress.

Both of these things are certainly applicable to monks and nuns, but also to all of us who seek to grow in holiness.

Let us keep each other in prayer during this holy season.

A Proposal

After hearing the comments here, on facebook and twitter, and in person, it seems as though this blog is of some use to people. So here is a proposal that I would like some feedback on: I will post most of my homilies in audio format, which you would also be able to download and listen to via itunes. I will also endeavor to post something two or three times a week. I am thinking that it should be something spiritual, along the lines of what Fr. S. is doing at Clerical Reform. His blog is geared more toward priests, but I hope to be a bit more broad than that. Fr. S. usually goes through a chapter of a book, an article, or some writitings of a saint bit by bit and adds his commentary as he goes along.

So what do you think? Does it sound like a good idea to you, or would you like something different? Please let me know in the comments, on twitter, on facebook, or in person.

Anybody Still Out There?

Well, if you haven't already abandoned reading my blog for lack of posts, here is a question for you. What would be most useful to you for me to write about? Current events? Sprituality? Saints? Posted homilies (if you want homilies do you want them in audio or written form)? Anything else?

I think there are so many blogs out there that do a very fine job, and sometimes I think that there is really nothing left for me to say.

You can also follow me on twitter (Padredana) and on facebook (Fr. Christensen).

Let me know your thoughts, and if there is a positive response maybe I will do more writing.