A Little Battalion

In other news.

 Last night was Confirmation* at our parish.

The Sacrament was administered** by H.E. Lawrence J. Burke, SJ, Archbishop Emeritus of Kingston, Jamaica.

To be utterly frank, I had never heard Word One about him, so I had no idea what to think. Going by what I experienced last night, I am both moved and impressed. More on that in a subsequent post, but suffice it to say that, absent any late breaking news, Abp. Burke will be getting the highly coveted Action Jesuit® designation. Not as snappy as a Cardinal's red hat, but a fine consolation prize.

At any rate, one of the things Abp. Burke revealed in his stellar homily -- wherein he strenuously exhorted the youngsters to always think and feel with the Church -- was that he had developed colon cancer and it had metastasized to his liver and lungs.

So, basically, this post's purpose is to ask you to pray for his recovery.

Pray for it right now, s'il vous plait. And keep him in your prayers.

AMDG,

-J.

* One of them, anyway. There are usually too many kids, so it's broken into two, sometimes three, groups.

** He endeared himself to me by issuing the nearly-forgotten "slap on the cheek" to the confirmandi. While some of them would have profited from a healthy, manly thwack on the melon, I shan't split hairs.

Happy Easter, Jesuit-style

He is risen!

And to shed further light on that, we bring you the estimable Fr. Schall whose output is such you'd think he was under the impression that excellent essays and tomes hack bushels off one's stay in Purgatory. Maybe it's not that way, but "we need the eggs."*

Anyway, here it is.

AMDG,

-J.

* From the old joke about a guy who goes into a psychiatrist's office and during his session he reveals his dad thinks is a chicken. "Bring him in," says the shrink "I can cure that in one session."

"I would, Doc, but we need the eggs."

Video Jesuit-y Goodness! Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ

Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ's homily on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 18:18-20 and St. Matthew's Gospel 20:17-28.

AMDG,

-J.

Jesuits on Lent

Action Jesuit® H.E. Abp. Terrence T. Prendergast, SJ of the Archdiocese of Ottawa has put up his Lenten reflections here.

I draw particular attention to the money quote, because it's something that is almost invariably buried during Lent:

In this Year of St. Paul may we grasp more fully the gift of God's mercy for us and our world. The second reading on Ash Wednesday contains the theme of our Pastoral Year, “Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20). We experience this in the Sacrament of Reconciliation by a good Lenten confession.

AMDG,

-J.

"Be reconciled to God!"

This from Abp. Terrence T. Prendergast, SJ, in the archdiocesan newsletter for Ottawa:

This phrase from a letter St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians (2 Cor 5:20) expresses the theme of the Pastoral Year 2008-2009, which coincides with the celebration of the 2000th Anniversary of the Apostle’s birth. Being reconciled means finding peace in relationships that have been wounded. Like tensions between warring nations, family feuds, anger towards neighbours. Even dealing with feelings we have towards God—of anger or being unloved.

Paul said God wants to mend wounds, overcome hurts, forgive sins. In giving his only Son, God wants us to experience the joy of being whole. God asks that we let ourselves be reconciled —saying “yes” by faith to what He makes possible in us by giving us the Holy Spirit.

So, take the chance to come back to God in whatever way you need to. Such as by drawing close to God’s heart through reading Scripture—by yourself or with family or parishioners—and getting to know God better. Or by making a good confession, celebrating reconciliation on a birthday, wedding anniversary or other special day. Or by returning to regular Sunday Mass, celebrating God’s nearness in word and sacrament.

This year, be reconciled in God’s love, joy and peace!

AMDG,

-J.

On tour.

Fr. Gen. will be going to California:

"From January 30 through February 7, Fr. Nicolás will visit the Society's California Province as it celebrates its 100th anniversary. In a tour spanning 9 days, 11 cities, and nearly 30 different sites, Fr. Nicolás will meet many of the nearly 390 Jesuits who are members of the California Province, hundreds of their lay partners, and still more parishioners, students, volunteers, and benefactors associated with Jesuit parishes, schools, and ministries."

and

"Beginning in Los Angeles, Fr. Nicolás will tour Homeboy Industries, a job-training program for former gang members; dine with migrant men at the Guadalupe Homeless Project; celebrate a multilingual Mass (in English, Spanish, and Tagalog) at Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood; and deliver a keynote address at Loyola Marymount University. In Sacramento, Fr. Nicolas will attend an assembly at Jesuit High School for students of JHS and Cristo Rey High School. In San Francisco, Fr. Nicolás will celebrate Mass at St. Ignatius Church. In the East Bay, he will visit the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and People Improving Communities through Organizing (PICO) in Oakland. In San Jose, he will celebrate a multilingual Mass (in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Tagalog) at Most Holy Trinity Parish, then conclude his visit at the Jesuit Retreat Center of Los Altos.

During his stay in California, Fr. Nicolás will meet with Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles; Archbishop George H. Niederauer of San Francisco; Bishop Patrick J. McGrath of San Jose; Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento; and Bishop Allen H. Vigneron of Oakland."

Abp. Terrence Prendergast, SJ on St. Paul's Conversion

His Excellency's January reflections on this are up now.

Money quote:

How then are we to understand what happened when Paul met the Risen Lord? Stendahl would have us avoid the term “conversion” because this term is used by Paul to speak of Gentiles “turning” from the worship of foreign gods to serving the “living and true God,” the Father of Jesus Christ.

By contrast, Paul’s encounter with Jesus the Messiah indwelling in the members of Christ’s Body did not lead him to abandon his earlier worship and service of God but to see it pointing in a new direction—toward Jesus, the crucified one who was now alive forever in His church.

AMDG,

-J.

P.S. For those of you in Ottawa, today (January 22, 2009) at 7:00 p.m., Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, SJ of Ottawa and Chancellor of Saint Paul University will give a conference on his participation at the bishops’ Synod held in Rome under the theme “The Scriptures and the Church.” The conference entitled The Synod on the Word of God in the Year of Saint Paul, in English, held at the Auditorium (2nd floor) will be followed by a bilingual question period and a reception in the Atrium of Saint Paul University. If you do get to attend, drop us a line that we may write up something on His Excellency's comments.

Travelin', Jesuit style

Planning your summer vacation already?

Consider this.

AMDG,

-J.

Jesuits embrace Summorum Pontificum some more!

Rummaging around online for Jesuits saying Mass in the Extraordinary Form, I ran across a name over and over again: Fr. Anthony Symondson, SJ, of Farm Street in London.

One entry of a particular "Jesuit" interest over at The New Liturgical Movement was this one of which I take the liberty of excerpting:

Recently interest has been shown in the revival of what has come to be known as the ‘Borromean’ chasuble. Not long ago Shawn Tribe published some interesting photographs of the vestments of rose-red silk that had belonged to St Charles Borromeo and which are kept in the museum attached to S. Maria Maggiore in Rome. Another of his chasubles in this style is kept in the relic cupboard of St Mary of the Angels, Bayswater, London, dating from the period when the Oblates of St Charles ran the parish.

This form of chasuble is also well known from portraits of St Ignatius of Loyola and St Philip Neri. It is characterized by breadth at the back and front and the shortness of the sleeves which hang over the shoulders. These result in a bulky vestment that marks a transitional phase between the full, late-Medieval Gothic shape and the classic Roman, or Latin, chasuble. Some, evidently including the Holy Father, see it as a compromise between these shapes.

Fr. Symondson seems to be ideal Action Jesuit® material. Look his stuff up!

AMDG,

-J.

For your viewing pleasure

As mentioned earlier, here is a series of videos on the Shrine of St. Joseph, in St. Louis, MO (of which Rev. Brian Van Hove, SJ is the Rector)