Ubi Petrus

On the way to school yesterday:

Son: Can we listen to EWTN on the satellite?
Me: You don’t want to listen to Kids Stuff?
Son: Nah, EWTN please.

On the way to son’s Karate class:

Daughter: Can we listen to the song on EWTN?
Me: You mean the Divine Mercy chaplet in song?
Daughter: *already singing the chaplet*

Yup, they’re warped. And in the best possible way too. After spending the first twenty some-odd years of my life wandering in the desert I can’t even comprehend being so very comfortable with all these Catholic-isms. As I watch my kids grow in the Faith, each very much in their own way, I’m continually reminded they are experiencing this all in a way I will never quite understand.

Dang it, doesn’t he know it’s not right for a grown man to cry?

And to think, just this morning I was more than just a little stern with my son for something which, in retrospect, wasn’t really all that important. Apparently St. Jerome and I have more in common than just a love of languages. *sigh* It’s times like this when you realize just how far you really do have to go.

I must apologize to my readers for having been so lax this week. I thought for sure after my son’s First Communion things would slow down. Apparently God got such a chuckle out of that idea that he decided to show me just how silly it really was. I haven’t even had the time to make some of the updates to my sidebars I’ve been meaning to do for a while now. Ah, some day.

NLM has a very intriguing interview with Fr. George Rutler here. Anyone who knows NLM and Fr. Rutler should not be surprised that some very interesting questions and equally insightful answers are to be found.

That’s what I think of when I hear or read priests who have a habit of doing the right thing, particularly when they do it in a sensitive and simultaneously strong way. Fr. Fox, after inviting his parishioners to a Corpus Christi procession, asks them to leave the church in silence as Christ is placed back on the altar between Masses. Then he reminds them the silence is not only for others, but themselves as well:

That silence may be hard, and it can be intimidating—because its so powerful.
It’s not empty, just as this church is never empty.
In that silence, we are confronted with the God who was not content to remain distant,
but comes close, and wants to come as close as possible to us.
God wants to do more than say hello— he wants to be one with you.

“[T]his church is never empty.” That is a reality that I don’t think is contemplated nearly enough these days. Jesus is always there, waiting for you. Just as He was silent nine months in Mary’s womb, so He silently waits in the bosom of the church for you to return his visit. Have you dropped in to say hello to Jesus, to renew that “becoming one” with Him lately?

This past week was a whirlwind of milestones for my son. On Monday he tested in his Kenpo Karate class, earning his blue belt and therein also a promotion to the next class. This will be the last class before he has to decide whether to pursue his black belt – it seems entirely too soon for that but at the same time I see the progress he’s made and can see how it could happen that soon. On Wednesday we were back at the Karate studio for their promotion night where he for the first time worked out in front of the studio’s founder and was presented his belt. Makes one feel downright old, it does.

The biggest day, however, was still to come. Just yesterday along with about thirty of his classmates he received the Body and Blood of our Risen Savior for the first time. It has been so wonderful to see him take the path I never had the chance to as a child, to grow up always knowing of the love and care his Eternal Father has for him and growing to understand the extent to which that love was willing to go for him. There are some, and at one point I was one of them, who would argue that children of his age are too young to understand what, or rather Whom, they are receiving. Having gone through this and quite honestly interrogated him myself (yes, to be honest I would have not allowed him to go through with the Sacrament if I did not find him properly prepared – to me there’s no such thing with the Eucharist as “keeping with the schedule”) I can now properly and honestly attribute that to a severe case of adult convert myopic vision. I find myself having been guilty of that very arrogance of so many of the elite who thought the simple could never understand the Mass or its mysteries. Yet here is this young child who probably would struggle to spell transubstantiation showing a most pure and true grasp of what and Who is going on. It reminds me that the path from the heart to the head is much smoother than from the head to the heart; it indeed may be the only one where going up is faster than going down. I have so far to go…

This fine book by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, and James Monti is well summed-up by Fr. Groeschel in his introduction to his section of the book, speaking of the great mysteries of the Faith:

Your head should now be reeling with the thought of all of these mysteries. If it is not, go back and read the last paragraphs over again slowly because you missed what was being said. You can never sufficiently deal with the mystery of the Eucharist or the particular subject of this book, the devotion to the presence of Christ in this sacrament, unless you have a vibrant sense of mystery and have an awesome awareness of the incredible reality of this sacrament.

The last sentence is absolutely true – if you are not at least the tiniest bit open to the possibility that the Eucharist is Jesus Himself and therefore worthy of praise and adoration this book is not for you. If, however, there is even the slightest opening this may be the book that cracks it open for you. In it you will find a mix of history and theology, fact and lore. Very Catholic, that.

The book is comprised of two sections, one by each of the authors. In Fr. Groeschel’s section there were times I could almost hear his old Brooklyn voice narrating the words – he clearly was clearly putting his whole self into his writing. Given the structure of the book it should not be surprising there was some amount of overlap in parts. While repeated information can be a source of frustration, and I’ll admit there were places where it was more noticeable than others, this overlap was more than offset because each author was coming at the information from different directions; Fr. Groeschel more theological, psychological and to some extent sociological, Monti more historical. The two complement each other well. I am quite glad to have read this book, and I’d be willing to bet just about anyoen else would be as well.

First, Rich Leonardi tells us about both a beginner’s and an advanced course in Latin provided by the U.K.’s National Archives. I simply must find a way to improve my sketchy-at-best Latin skills. After all, it is little use telling people of the value of Latin if I haven’t remotely mastered it myself.

Second, Rorate Caeli lets us all know there is a course being offered on St. Thomas Aquinas. Ite ad Thomam has more details – it looks to be an interactive online course. I can manage to pull out both of these at nearly the same time, as well as another super-secret project I’m just getting started. Sure I can!

By The Dutchman at Catholic Dads.

I have only one addition: pray before, pray during, and pray after. Everything. If that sounds a lot like St. Paul’s admonition to “pray constantly” (1 Thes. 5:17), that’s because it pretty much is. It sounds impossible, but by constantly remembering the old Jesuit motto “ad majorem Dei gloriam” it does truly become easier every time you try.