Category: Catholic Church

Wanting More

Way back in the 1990’s, I learned about the great spiritual writer Henri Nouwen. His books and tapes were very popular, and his book Return of the Prodigal Son became a huge best seller.

As it is with most authors, over time we move on to other writers who seem to speak more clearly to us. We can also find ourselves bored with one person’s thoughts and turn to the latest and greatest. It seems like that is what happened with me and Henri. I loved his books once, and found great meaning in them. But now those books sit on my shelf collecting dust. Recently though, I’ve been working through some things, and Nouwen’s works have come back as rich sources of inspiration and wisdom.

Catholic Church Inspiration Prayer Spirit

Te Deum

Since the 4th century, the Te Deum (Thee O God, We Praise) has been sung by the Christian Church on special occasions. Tradition has it that this wonderful hymn of praise is sung on the last day of the year. I can’t think of a better way to finish up this first year of Making All Things New.

No matter what kind of year you’ve had, there’s plenty to thank God for.

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A Christmas Prayer

The Nativity by Fra Angelico

You Come Down from the Stars
St. Alphonsus Ligouri

You come down from the stars
Oh King of Heavens,
And you come in a cave
In the cold, in the frost.
And you come in a cave
In the cold, in the frost.

Oh my Divine Baby
I see you trembling here,
Oh Blessed God,
Ah, how much it cost you,
Your loving me.
Ah, how much it cost you,
Your loving me.

For you, who are of all the world
The creator,
No robes and fire,
Oh my Lord.
No robes and fire,
Oh my Lord.

Dear chosen one, little infant
This dire poverty,
Makes me love you more
Since Love made you
Poor now.
Since Love made you
Poor now.

Merry Christmas! I found myself on a quest this morning. I wanted to find the English translation to the great Italian Christmas carol, Tu scendi dalle Stella, written by St. Alphonsus Ligouri in the summer of 1755.

The song has been the most popular Christmas carol in Italy for centuries. Giuseppe Verdi is to have said, Christmas without Tu Scendi dalle Stella is not Christmas.

Continue reading “A Christmas Prayer”

Catholic Church Inspiration Prayer

What Is It For You?

The only time I read USA Today is when I get it free at a hotel. Probably like you, I get my news from the websites I check each day.

It’s interesting, though, that whenever I do get this paper, I’m impressed that I can always find articles that are interesting and relevant to me.

Monday’s edition (12/20/10) had an article about a recent survey done to find out how people view Christmas. The survey, conducted by LifeWay Research, said nine out of ten Americans celebrate the holiday, no matter if they are Christian, Atheist, Jewish or Muslim.

It seems as though most skip the religious side of this holiday, however, and instead focus on family and friends. Only 37% said that Christmas was a time to focus on Jesus/God.

Of those in the 18-29 age range, more than half (56%) say their Christmas is primarily religious, but three in four (74%) told LifeWay (the group conducting the survey) that the things they enjoy most about the Christmas season “have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus.”

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Nativity Scenes

Did you know that it was St. Francis of Assisi who created the first nativity scene?

In 1223, Saint Francis had the idea of creating a living portrait of the birth of Jesus, as a way to bring the Gospel stories to life. Legend has it that local shepherds, guarding their flocks outside the small Italian town of Greccio, provided the inspiration.

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Mary’s Yes

In the Catholic tradition, today is a special Feast Day of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Whenever one of these feast days rolls around, I’m always reminded of the simple yes Mary said to the Angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26-38), and how her submission to God changed the world.

Have you ever considered the fact that Mary had to say her yes in order for Jesus to be born? God never forces things upon us, instead He always gives us choices. If not, we’d be more like robots than humans.

Catholic Church Italy Travel

Another Adventure

A priest friend of mine and I had to scrap our initial itinerary for an Italy trip we were planning for next summer. With the dollar as weak as it is right now, the trip was just too expensive.

I’m being cautious about it because, when I brought my last group over, some people traveling with me were just overwhelmed by the costs. It made for a stressful trip and took away a lot of the enjoyment I usually get from visiting my second favorite country.

So yesterday, it was back to the drawing board. We’re going to shave off three or four days (sorry Milan, Padua and Venice), and go back to a pretty standard trip I have done many times.

Landing in Pisa, we travel a short distance and stay for a few days in Florence. Personally, Florence is one of my all time favorite cities. Just amazing.

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Into The Light

I hope you had the chance to follow some of the rescue efforts at San Jose Mine in Copiano, Chile that are taking place today. After 69 days underground, miner after miner was hoisted up nearly 2,000 feet of rock and into the sunlight, fresh air, and the waiting arms of loved ones and rescue workers.

These thirty-three men are being rescued from the longest underground entrapment in history. It is nothing short of a miracle. Over the weeks ahead, we’ll learn their tale of survival. What sustained them?

Catholic Church Inspiration Prayer

Isolation

Over the last several days, we’ve had a missionary priest visiting our parish. One of his challenges to us is to make efforts to bring our Anglo and Hispanic people together. Many of us want to see this happen, sooner rather than later, but it won’t be easy.

In some sense, many of us want to live with a certain isolation from those different than us. It might be that we just feel a bit more comfortable with the familiar. I don’t think this has to do with prejudice (although sometimes it does), but more likely we are so busy in our own little world that we don’t think we have the energy to put out the effort to learn a new language, culture etc.

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St. Francis and Pain

St. Francis is one of the greatest saints in the history of Christianity. You can learn all about him by clicking his name above. As I mentioned in yesterday’s posting, I had the chance to be in Assisi for his feast day during the Jubilee Year of 2000. I’ve been to Assisi many times, but this trip was special. I was with my mother and sister, along with a good friend of mine who later became a priest.

Maybe I’ll do a posting about Assisi sometime soon, but for now I want to share some thoughts that come from Catherine Doherty’s book Grace in Every Season.

Continue reading “St. Francis and Pain”