Lenten Project

Tomorrow Lent will be upon us. Hopefully by now you have decided what your penance(s) will be. If not, check out the suggestions from Fr. S. at Clerical Reform here.

I have been looking for a good reason to start blogging again, and had an inspiration today. Ever day during Lent, I will have a short reflection on one of the prayers from the Roman Missal for the day. I will be using the prayers from the new translation of the Roman Missal. Hopefully this will do two things. First, it will hopefully help us pray better during this holy season, and second, to familiarize us with some of the prayers from the new translation.

We begin tomorrow, so be sure to check back daily.

The Infant of Prague

Those of you who know me well will know that I have a devotion to the Infant of Prague. In fact as I write this, there is a statue of the Holy Infant on my desk. You may have, at times, wondered why a man would have like a devotion that is represented by a statue of the child Jesus dressed up in vestments that to most look like "a dress." I have always associated this devotion with innocence and purity, and so I was very pleased to see Fr. Dwight Longenecker write about this very thing on his blog, Standing on My Head. Here are some excerpts of what he had to say:

Catholics should understand that the Infant of Prague is very alien to the typical Bob Jones graduate...The first impression is, "Good heavens! Why is baby Jesus dressed up like that? Is that some kind of fancy Catholic idol or what?" But putting my prejudice on one side and wanting to 'affirm and not deny' I learned about the history of the devotion and was given a very nice tour of the shrine including a look at a cupboard full of all the different outfits they had for him. It prompted a question on the drive back, "Can you get Infant of Prague kits? You know, buy the baby in diapers and then you buy the outfits separately? What does baby Jesus wear under the royal robes?"

Seriously, I wanted to try to understand this rather unusual devotion. Then I learned that the Infant of Prague actually started out with Saint Theresa of Avila. She had a devotion to the child Jesus. Bingo! A connection with my favorite Therese of Lisieux who also had a devotion to the child Jesus and spiritual childhood and spiritual innocence. I'm beginning to get it.

So after the tour I thought I'd kneel down and see if I could get hold of this a little bit more. As I'm kneeling I begin to understand the child dressed in
royal robes and crown, for the whole image tells us that although he was a child born naked and squawking in a stable he was at the same time the royal prince of the house of David. He was a simple child, yet King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Furthermore, this is my destiny. I cannot enter the kingdom unless I become as a little child, but to enter the kingdom and be a royal adopted prince, a Son of God and a brother of Jesus is my ultimate destiny.

Then as I'm kneeling there I begin to see that this child is also the focus of our prayers for spiritual childhood and innocence for ourselves, but it should also be the one we turn to pleading for protection for our own children and for the innocence which is being lost every day to the corrupt morals of our day...

Then a few days later he has another post on his blog that says:

So I find myself in Oklahoma at the National Shrine of the Infant of Prague. I have recounted how I was surprised to find myself attracted to the infant. I had never quite made the connection that beneath the dress up baby Jesus doll was a devotion to the child Jesus, and that this was connected with one of my favorite saints, Therese of Lisieux. OK, so the connection was made, and I prayed to the Infant Jesus for a special prayer request which is deep down and personal and by golly, the prayer has been answered amazingly.

Then last week I am in Florida with the eighth graders...

[...]

...I make my way to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and there is a large, beautifully dressed Infant of Prague. I kneel down to pray and start laughing because I think God is laughing at me. The Infant of Prague! For me he was always kind of the extreme of Catholic devotion...a cultural mystery to me and while I never mocked, it is true that I never understood. Then suddenly before this image my experience at the Shrine in Oklahoma sweeps over me again. I can see it all, but can't put it into words. Just to say that I experienced great joy and a great knowledge of God's sense of humor. He's almost saying to me, "Look you silly proud person. I was trying to get through to you all these years, and you didn't even give me a second thought. I've got you at last, and it was through the Infant of Prague...that image and that devotion you looked down on as silly and sentimental and girly. Ha!! Gotcha!!"

It was a precious moment and I got up from my knees with a goofy grin of joy on my face and admitted to myself that I loved the Infant of Prague, that I thought him beautiful and I even liked his fancy outfit. I walked out of the Cathedral thinking about His beautiful embroidered robes and thought to myself...'to be clothed in His righteousness.' Now wouldn't that be something?

I guess men can have a devotion to the Infant of Prague and not question his masculinity. Thank God!

Prayer to the Infant of Prague

O Holy Child Jesus, who shed Your blessings on whoever invokes Your name, look kindly on us who kneel humbly before Your holy Image, and hear our prayers. We commend to Your mercy the many poor and needy people who trust in Your Divine Heart.

Lay Your all powerful hand upon them and help them in their needs. Lay Your hand upon the sick, to cure them and sanctify their suffering; upon those in distress, to console them; upon sinners, to draw them into the light of your divine grace; upon all those who, stricken with grief and suffering, turn trustingly to You for loving help.

Lay Your hand also upon all of us and give us Your blessing. O little King, grant the treasures of Your divine mercy to all the world, and keep us now and always in the grace of your love!

Our Sunday Visitor Website

You know, it makes a guy feel good when he finds his blog on the website for Our Sunday Visitor:


Just thought I would share.

Back in the Saddle

After an eventful break (more on those events in a moment) I am back in the academic saddle. I arrived back at the Liturgical Institute on Sunday night and classes began promptly on Monday morning. This quarter (yes, the dreaded quarter system!) I am taking three classes for a total of 12 credit hours. The classes, are as follows: History of Christian Thought II, Sacramental Thought and Practice in the 20th Century, and Sacramentals, Blessings and Devotions. Maybe in a subsequent post I will give a brief overview of what each of the classes will cover.

Also, Fr. S. (who writes a lovely blog) is visiting, which makes for alot of fun times and good food (yeah, just what I need - more food).

My time home was very eventful. There seem to be two higlights which overshadowed my entire time back home - one happy, and one very sad. The happy event was a visit to St. Joseph's Cathedral in Sioux Falls, SD. This would not have been so exciting were it not being restored. I climbed the scaffold all the way to the ceiling to see the work that the artisans are doing. It will be truly magnificent when it is finished. You can find more information, complete with drawings, photos, and videos here.

The sad event was the death of a very dear friend in a horrible car accident. Jerry was 34 years old and would have been married 4 years only a few days after he died. He had a beautiful wife and two small children. Jerry was a very faithful, prayerful and virtuous man who will be missed by many, many people. I concelebrated his funeral along with five other priests. The Church, chapel, and part of the gym were packed for the funeral (nearly 700 people), which is a testament to the people he had influenced during his short life on earth. May he rest in peace.

But now, I am back, saddling up the old academic horse for round two in an eight round adventure.

What I Am Doing

Well folks, it's been awhile, and some of you might be wondering where I have been and what I have been doing, so it's time for a little update.

As of July 1 my assignment has changed from being pastor of one parish, pastoral administrator of another, and associate vocation director to further studies in the area of liturgy. In the fall I will begin studies toward an STL (Sacred Theology License) at the Liturgical Institute in Mundelein, IL. It was a great surprise (that's an understatement) and a great honor to be asked by my Bishop to do this. In the meantime - right now - I am in residence at my home parish, St. Lawrence, and providing weekend coverage for a number of small parishes. Below is a picture of my home parish church and school/parish center, which by the way, was just recently paid off. This makes the pastor very happy.

During these months between my last assignment and my next I am doing my best to prepare myself by studying my Latin and Italian. Why Italian? Well, I need to be able to read another modern language, so I decided Italian would be fun. So pray to St. Benedict, St. John Vianney, and St. Joseph of Cupertino that my Latin and Italian studies will go well.

So, as I resuscitate this blog, any ideas on what I might write about? Shall we do an "Ask Fr. Christensen" sort of thing where you can e-mail me your questions? Or shall we do something else? Please let me know what you thing. You can post it either in the comments or you can e-mail me at padredana at gmail dot com.

Parish Assignments

Tis the season for new parish assignments. I have recieved a new addition to my current assignment. In addition to my current assignments as Pastor of St. Rose of Lima in Garretson, Associate Director of Vocations, and Chaplain to St. Margaret's Fellowship Homeschool Association, Bishop Paul J. Swain has appointed me as Administrator of St. Joseph the Workman parish in Huntimer.

Please pray for me, and the parishioners of St. Joseph the Workman and St. Rose of Lima, as I take on this new assignment.

No, I'm Not Dead...Just Busy

Well folks, things are moving along. I have found that being a pastor is alot of work. I'm not complaining by any means, just stating a simple fact. In fact, I have been so busy that I have thought about closing up the old blog for good, but couldn't bring myself to do it. Obviously I am behind on posting homiles, I will try to get some up in the next couple of days before I leave on pilgrimage. Speaking of which, please keep my in your prayers Feb. 17-27 as I will be on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I am greatly looking forward to praying where Jesus lived, died, and rose again.

Another Ministerial Appointment

His Excellency, Bishop Paul J. Swain has entrusted to me, in addition to my current assignments, another ministry. He has appointed me Chaplain to St. Margaret's Fellowship, a Catholic homeschool organization for families in the Sioux Falls, SD area. I look forward to serving this wonderful group of families and, with God's grace, lead them closer to the heart of Christ, the Divine Teacher.

Please remember me in your prayers as I take on this new ministry.