A Deo et Rege

To all those who have risked life, limb, health, happiness, and even life itself to fight for our country, I want to say a hearty thank you! Happy Memorial Day!

In his speech in Bari, the holy father Benedict XVI pledged to make reunion with the Orthodox a fundamental commitment of his Papacy. Bari is known for being a bridge city between East and West and the symbolism could not be more striking as a backdrop for Benedict’s message. He also called on individual Catholics to reach out to the Orthodox, which is extremely important as well. I for one would be ecstatic to see Orthodox-Catholic reunion (or at least communion) happen during the pontificate of Benedict XVI (or heck, even within my lifetime).

Read the whole article (CNN)

From the encyclical Ecclesia De Eucharista by the holy father, John Paul II:

The
acclamation of the assembly following the consecration appropriately ends by
expressing the eschatological thrust which marks the celebration of the
Eucharist (cf. 1 Cor 11:26): “until you come in glory”. The Eucharist is a straining towards the goal, a foretaste of the
fullness of joy promised by Christ (cf. Jn 15:11); it is in some way the
anticipation of heaven, the “pledge of future glory.” In the Eucharist, everything speaks of
confident waiting “in joyful hope for the coming of our
Saviour, Jesus Christ”. Those who
feed on Christ in the Eucharist need not wait until the hereafter to receive
eternal life: they already possess it on earth,
as the first-fruits of a
future fullness which will embrace man in his totality. For in the
Eucharist we
also receive the pledge of our bodily resurrection at the end of the
world: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and
I
will raise him up at the last day” (Jn 6:54).
This pledge of the future resurrection comes from the fact that the flesh of
the Son of Man, given as food, is his body in its glorious state after the
resurrection. With the Eucharist we digest, as it were, the “secret” of the resurrection. For this reason
Saint Ignatius of Antioch rightly
defined the Eucharistic Bread as “a medicine of
immortality, an antidote to death”

I have been blessed with hearing some great music lately. I posted some good free mp3s in a previous entry and my fiancee just got me an awesome 2 CD set of Gregorian Chant by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos for my birthday. It rocks (in a medieval sort of way)! Sorry everyone, but this CD is all mine! However, I will share another great music site with free mp3s of beautiful sacred music.

Antioch Chorus: MP3s

All they ask for payment is a letter of thanks if you like them…

Hope. It’s something I think people today (myself often included) lack. We live in uncertain times and it’s easy to look at the future negatively. It’s easy to read the news and observe the world around us and fall into despair. In Catholic thought, however, hope is not merely a positive feeling, but is a virtue.

The Catechism speaks beautifully of Christian Hope:

Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire
the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our
trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on
the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. (1817).

Thus, our hope comes not from the stock market, the world stage, or our political leaders, but from placing our trust in Christ’s promises. And this strength to hope does not depend on our own power, but the grace of the Holy Spirit. In fact, hope is not merely a virtue, but what is called a theological virtue and is "infused," not something we can earn.

Hope is called theological because it not only leads us toward God, but also because Christian hope comes only from God. Hope, like faith and love, are infused by God into the souls of his children as a gift.

Gift and grace. What a beautiful way of approaching hope (and faith and love), especially in the midst of a world where suffering and strife are rampant. Too often we try to micromanage the world to acquire and create hope when in reality the source of our hope is God’s grace and the object is God and his beautiful Kingdom: all gift.

It’s like Antoine de St. Exupery said: "If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect
wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to
long for the endless immensity of the sea."

Since I’ve visited so many Catholic shrines lately and plan to visit more in the future (an entry on my most recent visit is forthcoming), I thought it would be helpful to group everything shrine related under one heading. So, if you look to the right, you’ll see the new category "Catholic, Shrines."

I found some excellent music links via New Advent Online. All are beautiful songs in mp3 format. Oh yeah, and they’re legal and free for download!

The Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music (Beautiful music from the Vatican’s website)

Choir Chant of the Byzantine Catholic Church (beautiful Eastern music from those Eastern Christians in communion with the Catholic Church)

As posted earlier, Al Kimel, aka the Pontificator, after a long and reflective journey has decided to enter the Catholic Church with the intention of being ordained under the pastoral provision. He needs our prayers right now, especially since he is married and will soon be without a job. He is, in following his conscience, giving up a lot and entering into many unknowns where he will have to walk with great faith. MaryH had a great idea of offering Fr. Kimel a "spiritual bouquet" for his new journey.  If you wish to do this, visit the St. Blogs Parish Hall Forum and scroll down to find the area about the spiritual bouquet. Guests can post "cards," so please let Fr. Al know you’re thinking of him and praying for him.

Flower Image from Kid’s Domain

The May Magnificat by Gerald Manley-Hopkins

May is Mary’s month,
and I
Muse at that and wonder why:

Her feasts follow reason,

Dated due to season -

Candlemas, Lady Day;

But the Lady Month, May,

Why fasten that upon her,

With a feasting in her honor?

Is it only its being brighter

Than the most are must delight her?

Is it opportunest

And flowers finds soonest?

Ask of her, the mighty mother:

Her reply puts this other

Question: What is Spring? -

Growth in every thing -

Flesh and fleece, fur and feather,

Grass and greenworld all together;

Star-eyed strawberry-breasted

Throstle above her nested

Cluster of blue eggs thin

Forms and warms the life within;

And bird and blossom swell

In sod or sheath or shell.

All things rising, all things sizing

Mary sees, sympathising

With that world of good,

Nature’s motherhood.

Their magnifying of each its kind

With delight calls to mind

How she did in her stored

Magnify the Lord.

Well but there was more than this:

Spring’s universal bliss

Much, had much to say

To offering Mary May.

When drop-of-blood-and-foam-dapple

Bloom lights the orchard-apple

And thicket and thorp are merry

With silver-surfèd cherry

And azuring-over greybell makes

Wood banks and brakes wash wet like lakes

And magic cuckoocall

Caps, clears, and clinches all -

This ecstasy all through mothering earth

Tells Mary her mirth till Christ’s birth

To remember and exultation

In God who was her salvation.

I believe this is in the public domain now. Source: University of Dayton

Photo of the Virgin Mary by Jonathan Bennett (from the National Shrine)

Publius has tagged me, so I’ll give the answers to this particular meme. I enjoy books, so it’s not a chore by any means!!

1. Total Number of Books I’ve Owned: I’d say about 320, after an eye straining look at my shelves. This includes mini-books. Some of these books were used for university classes and so they were read once and now sit. I keep them just in case I may need them in the future for research or teaching.

2. Last Book I Bought: I bought three at the same time, so I’ll include those.

New Catholic Answer Bible (I’m interested in the biblical foundations of Catholic doctrine)

Together for Life by Joseph Champlin (I’m getting married soon and this is a practical Catholic marriage prep book)

Catholic Novenas by Rev. Lawrence Lovasik (I consider novenas an excellent devotion. This book calls itself "pocket book series" but it must require someone with larger pockets than me! Still it’s great with nice pictures)

3. Last Book I read: The Christian Tradition: The Spirit of Eastern Christendom by  Orthodox scholar Jaroslav Pelikan. This whole series is informative and well, just plain amazing for anyone interested in the development of doctrine.

4. 5 Books That Mean Alot to Me: This was difficult for Publius and I must confess the same feeling. This list would vary depending on when you asked me, but here are some universal and perennial favorites

• The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. This excellent book challenged me to actually think and changed my way of thinking on a host of issues.
• Dialogue with Trypho by St. Justin Martyr. This was the first Church Father I ever read and it started me on the path I travel today. I admired Justin’s intelligence, conviction, and his irenic spirit with which he engaged Trypho. He’s a model of the Christian scholar and teacher.
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Entertaining, beautiful, and has its foundation in Christianity. I get a wonderful feeling of childhood when I read these.
• The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. See above.
• Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto (a 15th century Italian poet). This is an epic tale of knights and paladins and romance and intrigue all with a good sense of humor thrown in. Nothing can take me outside of myself quite like this (and the similar and companion words Orlando Innamorato , Jerusalem Delivered, and Morgante).

Like Publius, I will include two books that had a great influence on me, yet are too obvious to list:

• The Holy Bible (the RSV-CE and New Jerusalem are my favorite versions)
• The Catechism of the Catholic Church - It was a revelation to read about the Church in her own words

5. Tag Five People and Have Them Do This on Their Blog: Let’s see. How about Winterr, Charles, Marie-Linda, Enbrethiliel, Shawn and Andy. It’s 6 people; I know! No pressure for those I tagged, if the even see it.

The Pontificator, perhaps one of the net’s most articulate and insightful bloggers, has announced his intention to give up his Anglican orders and be received into full communion with the Catholic Church. And he plans to use the Pastoral Provision to hopefully become a Catholic priest. This comes after a lot of thought and a long and public journey that he has graciously shared with the world. God bless him and many congratulations on his decision to become Catholic. He was instrumental in my journey to Catholicism, so I am grateful to soon be officially in communion with him. Let’s keep him in our prayers as he enters this new phase of his life. Alleluia!

Here is an image of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (Antipolo), a statue at the National Shrine and Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. She is associated with the Philippines. Photo by Jonathan Bennett.

At Pentecost service in St. Paul, gays showed up wearing rainbow sashes in protest of the Catholic Church’s traditional stand on homosexuality. By orders from the archbishop, the priest denied them communion. As he should have. I know it’s going to sound harsh to the secular world where the only, and therefore worst sin of any kind, is perceived exclusion. Many Christians will probably be angry too since a lot would agree with the secular definition of sin and for others Eucharistic discipline isn’t something they’ve ever encountered. But this is the Catholic Church and the mass matters, especially the Body and Blood of Christ.

People are not supposed to take his Body and Blood unworthily, which in the Catholic Church is mainly defined as having committed a mortal sin without sacramental confession. Homosexual acts are mortal sins. Although the priest does not ask one’s state of sin during communion, he is obligated to deny communion to those whose sins and lack of repentance are publicly known, not only for the sake of the Body and Blood of Christ, but also for the souls of the one attempting to commune. The rainbow sash wearers were denied communion not necessarily because they were gay (after all it could not be proved that all were actually practicing gays; many were sympathizers), but because by wearing them they were openly rebelling against Church teaching on homosexuality. If someone started a "sash" movement advocating heterosexual fornication, the Church would be obligated to deny them communion too.

David Morrison, Jeff Miller, and Amy Welborn all discuss the issue too

We then moved along to more of the beautiful side chapels including the Blessed Sacrament chapel. There is nothing more intimate and beautiful for me than praying before the Blessed Sacrament. Sadly at this point, we were in a bit of a hurry, so we couldn’t stay here long.

At this point we came across the altars devoted to the mysteries of the rosary (without the luminous). As one who prays and loves the rosary, this was a fascinating part of the pilgrimage. Every Catholic shrine I’ve ever visited gives its assent to (licit) devotional practice through the different altars and grottoes. Private devotion is very important in the Catholic Church, more so than any other group except perhaps the Orthodox. It’s great to see our parishes and shrines give voice to that.

As we approached the sanctuary and the chancel, my eyes started to move upwards and notice the massive size of the basilica. The image of Christ Pantocrator is nothing short of haunting, perhaps due to his piercing blue eyes. This image and the dome are reminiscent of Eastern architecture, but the marble and the others designs are uniquely Western. It’s very appropriate for a Church that is both Eastern and Western and allows the two to co-exist.

We worked our way around to the rosary altars and chapels on the other side. Two of the first things we saw were mosaics to the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption. It was cool because the first was donated by Benedict XV and Pius XI. The second was donated by Venerable Pius XII and Blessed John XXIII. It’s fascinating to see these, especially since the Assumption mosaic was donated by the Pope who infallibly declared it dogma!

Next, we visited more of the side shrines, including Our Lady of Siluva, one of my favorites because I have Lithuanian heritage. Lithuania is 85% Catholic and becoming Catholic, I felt, brought me back somewhat to my roots. It was great to know that there is a devotional practice dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary that is unique to my homeland. It’s based on an appearance of Mary that helped turn the tide against Protestantism in Lithuania.

Finally, we did the creed and other things to join our intentions with the holy father’s and of course I prayed for the intentions of those in the blog as promised. Then it was time to leave the basilica. I took one more photo of the building and the grounds and then we drove to the hotel where I would stay before my job interview. I didn’t get the job, but I had a great trip to the National Shrine and a renewed appreciation of God’s grace and the intercession of our blessed Mother.

Photo on left of Christ Pantocrator; photo on right of Immaculate Conception mosaic

All photos by Jonathan Bennett

It’s hard to believe it’s Pentecost again. Wow, time does fly. I don’t have anything creative to write today so I’ll send you to an old blog entry which still sums up my thoughts about Pentecost and Ordinary time. Happy Pentecost!