Ubi Petrus

It’s a subject of seemingly never ending conflict:  what should we do about noisy kids at Mass?  Dom Bettinelli got in some hot water just recently posting on this very issue.  Needless to say, the proper way to handle it has far from universal agreement.  Well let me tell you a little story.

I went to daily Mass this morning which, as with daily Mass in most places, is mostly older folks dotted with a few younger ones – much more salt in the hair than pepper, shall we say.  As Father started Mass with the sign of the cross one voice rang out loud and clear, “In the name of the FATHER and of the SON and of the HOLY SPIRIT, A-MEN!”  I didn’t notice any grumbling and even a few smiling faces could be seen – very few turned around to look, conscious of making the parent feel self-conscious.  I immediately felt bad for his mother, knowing what it’s like to be the parent of the one loud child in an otherwise quiet church.

Now normally you’d expect this to happen once, maybe twice during Mass and then the parent would either regain control or take the child out to re-inform him of proper etiquette.  Not this time – every single response was the same, twice as loud as the rest of us and a half-beat behind.  But it wasn’t just loud, it had a certain joy to it that our otherwise sedate responses lacked.  At the end of Mass I finally had the chance to surreptitiously catch a glimpse of the boy making all the noise and lo and behold, he was maybe five or six and appeared to have a slight disability (or maybe he just really didn’t want to put his jacket on, I don’t know).

That five or six-year-old boy taught everyone there a lesson today.  Our responses can be sedate, but must never be morose or lackluster.  He reminded us that proper solemnity does not consist in merely saying the responses in a reverently understated manner, but that they must be done with the joy only a Christian can bring.  Now I am not about for one second to suggest that loud or off-timed responses are the key to good liturgy – far from it – but rather that even those who love good liturgy must remember that joy is a fundamental component to all Christian living.  Even in recalling the Passion and death of our Lord there is an underlying joy in knowing that He deigns us worthy of all that.  As St. Leo the great said, “Be conscious, O Christian, of your dignity!”

Update: Keith’s comment really deserves a read.

I know it’s late in the day, but this story is just too wonderful not to share.  If you don’t pray the Office of Readings (and if you don’t, I can’t recommend it to you enough, but that’s another post) you may not have heard this story of a meeting between St. Scholastica and her brother, St. Benedict.  This comes from Dialogues by St. Gregory the Great.

Scholastica, the sister of Saint Benedict, had been consecrated to God from her earliest years.  She was accustomed to visiting her brother once a year.  He would come down to meet her at a place on the monastery property, not far outside the gate.

One day she came as usual and her saintly brother went with some of his disciples; they spent the whole day praising God and talking of sacred things.  As night fell they had supper together.

Their spiritual conversation went on and the hour grew late.  The holy nun said to her brother: “Please do not leave me tonight; let us go on until morning talking about the delights of the spiritual life.”  “Sister,” he replied, “what are you saying?  I simply cannot stay outside my cell.”

When she heard her brother refuse her request, the holy woman joined her hands on the table, laid her head on them and began to pray.  As she raised her head from the table, there were such brilliant flashes of lightning, such great peals of thunder and such a heavy downpour of rain that neither Benedict nor his brethren could stir across the threshold of the place where they had been seated.  Sadly he began to complain:  “May God forgive you, sister.  What have you done?”  “Well,” she answered, “I asked you and you would not listen; so I asked my God and he did listen.  So now go off, if you can, leave me and return to your monastery.”

Reluctant as he was to stay of his own will, he remained against his will.  So it came that they stayed awake the whole night, engrossed in their conversation about the spiritual life.

It is not surprising that she was more effective than he; since, as John says, God is love, it was absolutely right that she could do more, as she loved more.

Three days later, Benedict was in his cell.  Looking up to the sky, he saw his sister’s soul leave her body in the form of a dove, and fly up to the secret places of heaven.  Rejoicing in her great glory, he thanked almighty God with hymns and words of praise.  He then sent his brethren to bring her body to the monastery and lay it in the tomb he had prepared for himself.

Their minds had always been united in God; their bodies were to share a common grave.

It is rare, indeed, when someone is comes out on the higher end of a comparison with Saint Benedict.  If she saw fit to implore God only to extend a spiritual conversation, how ought we to implore him in matters great and small, and ask for her intercession in all our causes!

I’ve been mulling over the whole issue of the revelations about the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, Fr. Marcial Maciel.  By now you have most likely read the news that it has been discovered he not only had a mistress but even fathered a child with her and quite possibly even redirected Legion money to them.  The further stunning implication is that it is nearly impossible that at least some members of the Legion leadership were not in some way enabling this double life.  Such terrible duplicity at the heart of the order makes seeing an easy way forward for them nearly impossible.  My heart is broken for not only those direct victims of Fr. Maciel’s actions but those who found in the Legion or its lay arm, Regnum Christi, something that was right about the Church only now to find out how very wrong things were at the same time.

So, what to do?  First, this is not a situation to jump into with both feet and start zipping off directives in every direction.  An investigation must be made at all levels of the hierarchy including, I think, those involved in the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life as the reports suggest members of the Congregation did not process the revelations of Fr. Maciel’s actions appropriately.  The investigation must be performed, as George Weigel states, by someone hand-picked by and reporting only to the Pope himself.  The person must be, as near as possible in this fallen world, beyond reproach.  Further the selected person must understand not only religious life but also have experience in dealing with handling situations of sexual impropriety (to put it nicely) and helping organizations to straighten out after these experiences.  I don’t expect to see this name pop up, but someone much in the mold of Sean Cardinal O’Malley of Boston fits much of the bill of what I would hope to see.

Is it possible for the LC/RC to recover from this debacle intact?  Frankly I don’t see how, but my field of vision is far more limited than God’s so perhaps there is something out there I do not yet see.  When one takes into account all the good the LC/RC have done for the Church and the world it becomes hard to argue that there is not something there that is a core around which some kind of order and/or apostolate can be formed.  Yes, there is much regarding the secrecy in the LC/RC rules that needs to go away, and quite possibly even a good number of the membership who could not be trusted to lead a new order but there is clearly much there which is good.  We must restrain ourselves, however, from deciding the potential future fate of the LC/RC or any derivative thereof until a full and proper investigation is concluded.  Making those decisions now would be akin to driving without a map or surgery without the proper diagnostic information.  As painful as it is, patience is called for here.

Finally, what should we all do?  The answer comes as no surprise.  Pray.  Pray for the direct victims of Fr. Maciel’s actions, for those in LC/RC who are forced to come to grips with these revelations, for those who left LC/RC because of what they learned.  May God find a way to, out of this tremendous pile of pain, grow a rose of hope for the future.  With God, all things are possible.  Oremus!

I was blessed to receive this book some time ago.  Due to a confluence of different forces it has been sitting on my desk waiting patiently to be cracked open; while I am quite the procrastinator, this was a bit longer than even I am accustomed to.  Well, God being omnipotent and all, let’s just say He put even that procrastination to good use.  But more on that later.

As with any review, we must first comment on the construction of the book, particularly in this case as it’s designed as a take-along companion.  The book is sufficiently small (7″ x 5″ x 1/2″) that it can be carried along in just about any purse, briefcase, laptop or other bag.  It is not hard-bound, making it lighter, but it also does not use a paper cover but rather a heavier imitation leather which will stand up to life in a purse or bag, and the cover sufficiently over-hangs the pages to provide them protection.  The binding is glued which is, for a book of this size, perfectly expected.  The pages are, for a religious book, surprisingly thick and sturdy – again, great for a book designed for travel.  While I wouldn’t recommend it (we are talking about a book on the Eucharist after all), you could even put this book in a back pocket and due to its construction I believe it would weather the trip just fine.  But you don’t buy a book for its construction, now do you?

The heart of the book is thirty meditations designed for Eucharistic Adoration.  If you haven’t been to Adoration, or haven’t been for a long time, reading this book will make you feel almost like you’re there – the depth and intensity of the writing saturates each page.  The author, Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P., has clearly spent much time before Our Lord and writes not only from research but from experience.  Now, some of the meditations are absolutely centered directly on Eucharistic Adoration, but some others are a little more loose and could be used elsewhere.  I would say, in fact, that this could be read as a book, page-to-page, rather than in thirty separate sittings and the reader would still get a tremendous amount out of it.  Each meditation, all of which are between two and three pages, starts with a short scripture passage, then a reflection which provides the meat of the meditation, followed by three reflection questions and closed with a prayer – perfectly designed to begin a stay in front of the Blessed Sacrament.  The reflections are based largely but not exclusively on quotations from a variety of authors, but are primarily centered on the works of Pope Benedict XVI, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Catherine of Siena.  As the author is a Dominican you can see a certain Dominican influence in his choices of references, but that serves only to make the reader love the Dominican order all the more rather than distract from the topic.  One could do far worse than Aquinas and Catherine of Siena.  Pleasantly, all four parts are well-integrated and form a cohesive whole.  For my part, some of the reflection questions were not only insightful but even a little difficult – I felt myself challenged repeatedly while reading this book.

If that were all to the book it’d be enough for me to say it would be a good purchase,but that only makes up the first two-thirds of the book.  Following that are Eucharistic meditations on the mysteries of the Rosary (and linking each mystery of the Rosary to the Eucharist is something I had not heretofore considered, but is brilliantly done), a Eucharistic colloquy (written in the first-person from Jesus’ point of view and, again, most moving), a Eucharistic litany based on Sacramentum Caritatis, and closing with a Via Eucharistia – twelve stations of the Way of the Eucharist.

So why did I say at the beginning that God put my procrastination to good use?  Well, this weekend we will be discussing (*drumroll*) the Eucharist at RCIA.  The connection is so perfect I couldn’t possibly have planned it.  Further, I was so impressed with the Eucharistic Litany that I hope to be able to open our RCIA session with that as our opening prayer.  With the Dominican reputation for study and preaching, I’m not at all surprised that this book is as wonderful as it has turned out to be.  If you’re looking for something to kick-start your Eucharistic Adoration, this would be a great selection.  If you think you’re “beyond” needing direction at Adoration, pick this up anyway – you’ll be amazed at how it helps keep your time with Our Lord more focused and directed.

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Jesus, Present Before Me – Meditations for Eucharistic Adoration.

With all that has been happening  in the past few weeks, now is a good time to express your solidarity with our Supreme Pontiff.  Go here and add your name to the list!

H/T to WDTPRS.

New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte has announced the results of the fourth and final audit of the Diocese of Manchester saying, “I’m pleased to announce in this final audit that there have been significant and dramatic improvements by the diocese since the agreement was signed in December of 2002.”  The many significant improvements cited include the creation of a database tracking criminal background screening, training of all diocesan personnel, the appointment of safe environment coordinators at every parish, school and camp as well as the appointment of a diocesan-wide compliance coordinator.  Having talked to some people who have gone through the process in various capacities it should not be assumed that these are check-the-box activities – having a safe environment has been ingrained in the conscious thought process of everyone I’ve talked to who works for the Church.

Are there still problems?  To be sure – the Church is still manned by fallible people and in particular those who have a greater inclination to try to find a way to not judge another, perhaps at the peril of all involved than your average person might.  I don’t, however, see anyone I’ve talked to willing to take any chances at looking the other way because the raw pain such actions have caused before is far too well known.

I do hope the Diocese submits to regular independent audits because, as the comments section of the Union Leader article linked to above show there are many who simply have no interest in believing that anyone in the Diocese has learned a lesson.  Even should these audits be performed certainly there will be those who ignore any positive results, but that is not a reason to not do them but rather one that should demand they be performed if only to offer every opportunity for people to keep an open mind.  To be worth the effort, the audits must be sufficiently independent and have sufficient cooperation as to make any accusations of impropriety fall to the side.

This should be seen, contra many of the commenters at the above article, as a continuation of an upward swing in the conscious protection of children and the preservation of a safe environment by the Diocese of Manchester.  I believe the progress attained thus far can and will, and indeed must, be continued and even further progress made.  I long for a day when this issue is no longer in the forefront of the minds of so many and when the Church is seen as a paragon of loving concern for each and every person not because it was flogged into it but because of the love of Christ shining forth through it.  I will, as will so very many others, be keeping an eye out to make sure it is only this trajectory which is taken.  To borrow a phrase, “Never Again.”

This week has been hard on Catholics and the Church in the news stream; I don’t think anyone will disagree with that.  But it started in this area with a beautiful article on the work done by a local sister in helping new immigrants adapt to life in New Hampshire and move up in the economy.

Re-settlement groups like the International Institute of New Hampshire or Lutheran Social Services place the refugees, but the refugees usually don’t have jobs or enough money to buy even basic needs and aren’t always sure what government services are available to help.

That’s where Sister Irene comes in.

She finds people who usually know little English and even less about how to get by in their new world. Then she helps.

“I guess I welcome the stranger,” she said. “Imagine being in an another country and you don’t know the language. How do you ask even a simple question? Where do you go?

“I do what I can. I see what is missing, the simple, little things.”

These immigrants, contrary to some of the uneducated comments to the article, frequently then find jobs and become positive additions to the economy rather than a drag on it.  If it weren’t for Sister Irene and her ability to see Christ in the poorest around her they may well either be forced to return to the country from which they came or disappear into the gutters of poverty and homelessness.  May she and her work continue to be blessed!

Fr. Z has an excellent post centered around an equally excellent article  by the Administrator of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Most Rev. Robert J. Herman.  Sadly it has become rather rare to see a figure in the Church as prominent as Bishop Herman make as bold, direct and honest a statement as the one here.  Put bluntly, there is a war going on – a war of culture – and we as Catholics need to pick up the armor of Christ provided us through the Church and get involved.

Fr. Z extends Bishop Herman’s call with the reminder that the liturgy is the source and summit of our lives as Catholics, and that without a strong liturgical life a strong presence in the world becomes all but impossible.  Lex orandi, lex credendi strikes again.  When we once again focus on the God above us we come to see the people around us in a whole new light – the light of Christ who shed His Blood to save each and every one of us, even those who now stand in the way of a Culture of Life.  Let us bring our prayers before Him and bring His Answer out into the world!

The news is rocketing around St. Blog’s – one of our own has gone on to his eternal reward. Michael Dubruiel, author, editor, Director of the Office of the New Evangelization and Stewardship in the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama, father and husband of Amy Wellborn, collapsed in the gym yesterday (Feb. 3) and passed away despite all efforts to save his life. As with so many great writers, I never met him but I feel like I knew him in some way. A little story might help.

Last year I was looking for some books for our RCIA participants to supplement the materials we had given them. I landed on Michael’s Pocket Guide to the Mass and then I thought I could get really interesting and see if Michael could sign them.  After zipping a few emails back and forth a package showed up in my mailbox.  Not only had he sent the four copies of the book I was looking for, he sent four copies of his Pocket Guide to Confession as well – and I hadn’t even been able to pay him for them yet!  Each book was not only signed but also had a personalized note for each of our candidates and catechumen.  When I requested to be able to pay him for the books he demurred and said he was happy only to know that they were being put to good use which, I can tell you, they were.  Within a short time I could see they had fingerprints and nerded corners from heavy use.  I hope, if you understand my meaning, they are in even worse shape now than they were then.

Looking over Michael’s blog I noticed this story sitting just at the bottom – do yourself a favor and read it, but I’ll snip just a little from it to give you a taste:

Father Solanus once said, “Life here in the exile seems so short and uncertain, that it seems like it ought to have another name.” The older I get, the comparison that our earthly pilgrimage is likened to an “exile” makes more sense to me.

New Year’s is a time of making resolutions. I pray that God may bless each of you with the insight into the mission that He has for you and for me. May we all like Father Solanus Casey bring joy into the lives of those we touch.I wish you a Happy and Blessed New Year!

And no, that’s not a tear in my eye – I just have allergies.  Honest.

As Amy says, if you want to know what to do:  “Buy them, read them, and give them away to others. Spread the Word. That is what he was all about.”

Requiescat in pace, Michael.

(Note:  I’ve used the links from Michael’s web site which include his Amazon tag, so anything you buy through those links will direct a portion to his account, not mine.  It’s the very, very least I could do.)

Update: Danielle Bean of Faith & Family fame has set up a donation button here that will go to Amy and her children.  Please, if you can, be generous.