Nothing is Written by Mumford and Sons

If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away by Justin Moore

Something Beautiful by Needtobreathe

Someone Worth Dying For by MikesChair

Let the Waters Rise by Mikeschair

The Boys of Fall by Kenny Chesney

Let Me Feel You Shine by David Crowder Band

Pope Benedict in Lebanon calls for a "revolution of love"

The following comes from the CNA:

Pope Benedict XVI has challenged young Christians and Muslims in the Middle East to reject the path of violence and hate and instead unleash a “revolution of love.”

“It is vital that the Middle East in general, looking at you, should understand that Muslims and Christians, Islam and Christianity, can live side by side without hatred, with respect for the beliefs of each person, so as to build together a free and humane society,” the Pope told an open-air gathering of young people the in Bkerke, Lebanon Sept. 15.

Gathered in the square in front of the residence of the country’s Maronite Patriarchate, the tens of thousands of young people heard the Pope tell them that they were “the future of this fine country and of the Middle East in general.”

In recent years educated young people have been at the vanguard of anti-government protests across the Middle East, the so-called “Arab Spring.” Pope Benedict used his address to outline a different revolution: one begun by Jesus Christ.

“The universal brotherhood which he inaugurated on the cross lights up in a resplendent and challenging way the revolution of love. ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’ This is the legacy of Jesus and the sign of the Christian,” the Pope said. “This is the true revolution of love!”

While youth is a “time when we aspire to great ideals,” Pope Benedict recognized that it can also be a time of great uncertainty. Such frustrations, however, should not lead young people to “take refuge in parallel worlds like those, for example, of the various narcotics or the bleak world of pornography.”

His comments also touched upon internet-based social networks, suggesting that while they were “interesting” they can also “quite easily lead to addiction and confusion between the real and the virtual.” Instead young people should “look for relationships of genuine, uplifting friendship.”

He urged the tens of thousands present to “find ways to give meaning and depth” to their lives and to flee from “superficiality and mindless consumption” including the love of money which can be a “tyrannical idol which blinds to the point of stifling the person at the heart.”

In an apparent reference to the world of celebrity culture, Pope Benedict suggested to young people that “the examples being held up all around you are not always the best.”

Instead he encouraged them to “seek beauty and strive for goodness.”

“Bear witness to the grandeur and the dignity of your body which ‘is for the Lord’,” he continued. “Be thoughtful, upright and pure of heart!”

In order to strive for these goals he recommended mediation upon Holy Scripture, reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church and, in particular, prayer.

“Pray! Prayer and the sacraments are the sure and effective means to be a Christian and to live rooted and built up in Christ, and established in the faith,” he said.

The Pope challenged Lebanese young people to be “heralds of the Gospel of life and life’s authentic values” and to “courageously resist everything opposed to life: abortion, violence, rejection of and contempt for others, injustice and war.”

The witness of youthful faith being lived with “courage and enthusiasm” would help young people’s peers understand God’s desire for “the happiness of all without distinction.”

Towards the end of his speech Pope Benedict gave special mention to the young people who had travelled from neighboring war-torn Syria to be at the Papal gathering in Bkerke.

“I want to say how much I admire your courage. Tell your families and friends back home that the Pope has not forgotten you. Tell those around you that the Pope is saddened by your sufferings and your griefs.”

“It is time for Muslims and Christians to come together so as to put an end to violence and war,” he said in conclusion. He commended the youthful gathering to the protection of Bl. Pope John Paul II and Mary, “the Mother of the Lord, Our Lady of Lebanon.”

Pope Benedict in Lebanon

Turn Around by Matt Maher

Scott Hahn: Following the Messiah

The following comes from Scott Hahn:

In today’s Gospel, we reach a pivotal moment in our walk with the Lord. After weeks of listening to His words and witnessing His deeds, along with the disciples we’re asked to decide who Jesus truly is. 

Peter answers for them, and for us, too, when he declares: “You are the Messiah.” 

Many expected the Messiah to be a miracle worker who would vanquish Israel’s enemies and restore the kingdom of David (see John 6:15). 

Jesus today reveals a different portrait. He calls himself the Son of Man, evoking the royal figure Daniel saw in his heavenly visions (see Daniel 7:13-14). But Jesus’ kingship is not to be of this world (see John 18:36). And the path to His throne, as He reveals, is by way of suffering and death. 

Readings: Isaiah 50:4-9 Psalm 116:1-6, 8-9 James 2:14-18 Mark 8:27-35

Jesus identifies the Messiah with the suffering servant that Isaiah foretells in today’s First Reading. The words of Isaiah’s servant are Jesus’ words—as He gives himself to be shamed and beaten, trusting that God will be His help. We hear our Lord’s voice again in today’s Psalm, as He gives thanks that God has freed Him from the cords of death. 

As Jesus tells us today, to believe that He is the Messiah is to follow His way of self-denial—losing our lives to save them, in order to rise with Him to new life. Our faith, we hear again in today’s Epistle, must express itself in works of love (see Galatians 5:6). 

Notice that Jesus questions the apostles today “along the way.” They are on the way to Jerusalem, where the Lord will lay down His life. We, too, are on a journey with the Lord. 

We must take up our cross, giving to others and enduring all our trials for His sake and the sake of the gospel.  Our lives must be an offering of thanksgiving for the new life He has given us, until that day when we reach our destination, and walk before the Lord in the land of the living. 

A Father's First Spring by The Avett Brothers

Pope Benedict: Our prayers are never wasted

The following comes from the CNA:

Pope Benedict XVI used his weekly General Audience to explain that there is no such thing as wasted prayer.

“We can be sure that there is no such thing as a superfluous or useless prayer. No prayer is lost,” said the Pope to over 8,000 pilgrims in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall Sept. 12.

“When faced with evil we often have the sensation that we can do nothing, but our prayers are in fact the first and most effective response we can give, they strengthen our daily commitment to goodness. The power of God makes our weakness strong.”

Pope Benedict was continuing his weekly exploration of prayer in the story of salvation with a particular focus on the second part of the Book of the Apocalypse, the concluding book of the Bible.

Within its passages, he explained, the Christian assembly is called “to undertake a profound interpretation of the history in which it lives” so that it may learn “to discern events with faith” a thus “collaborate in the advancement of the kingdom of God.”

Thus the assembly is invited to ascend into heaven “in order to see reality with the eyes of God.”  God’s plan for history and mankind, however, is contained in a scroll which is “hermetically sealed with seven seals and no one can read it.”

It ultimately requires “Christ, the Lamb, who immolated in the sacrifice of the cross but stands in sign of his resurrection” to “progressively open the seals so as to reveal the plan of God, the profound meaning of history.”

This episode, said the Pope, should remind us all “of the path we must follow to interpret the events of history and of our own lives.” Both as individuals and a community we should realize that in “raising our gaze to God’s heaven in an unbroken relationship with Christ” in prayer we can learn “to see things in a new way and to grasp their most authentic significance.”

While this “realistic examination of the present time in which they are living” canlead to the discovery of great evil and injustice in the world, the Church “is invited never to lose hope,” said Pope Benedict, as “the power of God has entered man's history, a power capable not only of counterbalancing evil, but also of overcoming it.”

“God became so close as to descend into the darkness of death and illuminate it with the splendor of divine life. He took the evil of the world upon himself to purify it with the fire of his love.”

This is why as Christians “we can never be pessimists,” concluded Pope Benedict, as prayer “educates us to see the signs of God, his presence and his action” or rather “it educates us to become lights of goodness, spreading hope and indicating that the victory is God’s.”

The Pope then addressed the enthusiastic gathering in several different languages before leading pilgrims in the singing of the Our Father in Latin and imparting his apostolic blessing.

A look at the 9/11 Memorial

We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are by Rich Mullins

Pope Benedict: 'Be Opened' sums up Christ's Mission

The following comes from the CNA:

Pope Benedict XVI says that the public ministry of Jesus Christ is encapsulated in one “small but very important” Aramaic word: “Ephphatha.”

“‘Ephphatha – be opened,’ sums up Christ’s entire mission,” said the Pope in his midday Angelus address Sept. 9. 

“He became man so that man, made inwardly deaf and dumb by sin, would become able to hear the voice of God, the voice of love speaking to his heart, and learn to speak in the language of love, to communicate with God and with others,” the Pope explained.

Speaking to several thousand pilgrims gathered at his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, Pope Benedict dwelt upon the Sunday reading from the Gospel of Mark in which Jesus cures a deaf man in the non-Jewish area known as the Decapolis, between the coast of Tyre and Sidon, and Galilee.

“Jesus took him aside, touched his ears and tongue, and then, looking up to the heavens, with a deep sigh said, ‘Ephphatha,’ which means, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately the man began to hear and speak fluently,” the Pope summarized.

The Pope observed that the “closure of man” and his “isolation” are not solely dependent on the sensory organs.

“There is an inner closing, which covers the deepest core of the person, what the Bible calls the ‘heart’,” said the Pope. “That is what Jesus came to ‘open’ to liberate, to enable us to fully live our relationship with God and with others.”

It is for this reason, he said, that the word and gesture of “Ephphatha” is included in the Rite of Baptism when the priest touches the mouth and ears of the newly baptized.

“Through Baptism, the human person begins, so to speak, to ‘breathe’ the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus had invoked from Father with that deep breath, to heal the deaf and dumb man.”

Pope Benedict drew his comments to a close by turning to the example of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was always fully “open” to the will of her son given that “her heart is constantly listening to his Word.”

“May her maternal intercession help us to experience every day, in faith, the miracle of ‘Ephphatha,’ to live in communion with God and with others,” prayed the Pope.

Rise Up by Matt Maher

All Things Well

The following comes from Scott Hahn at Faith and Reason:

The incident in today’s Gospel is recorded only by Mark. The key line is what the crowd says at the end: “He has done all things well.” In the Greek, this echoes the creation story, recalling that God saw all the things he had done and declared them good (seeGenesis 1:31).

Mark also deliberately evokes Isaiah’s promise, which we hear in today’s First Reading that God will make the deaf hear and the mute speak. He even uses a Greek word to describe the man’s condition (mogilalon = “speech impediment”) that’s only found in one other place in the Bible—in the Greek translation of today’s Isaiah passage, where the prophet describes the “dumb” singing.

The crowd recognizes that Jesus is doing what the prophet had foretold. But Mark wants us to see something far greater—that, to use the words from today’s First Reading: “Here is your God.”

Readings: Isaiah 35:4-7 Psalm 146:7-10 James 2:1-5 Mark 7:31-37

Notice how personal and physical the drama is in the Gospel. Our focus is drawn to a hand, a finger, ears, a tongue, spitting. In Jesus, Mark shows us, God has truly come in the flesh.

What He has done is to make all things new, a new creation (see Revelation 21:1-5). As Isaiah promised, He has made the living waters of baptism flow in the desert of the world. He has set captives free from their sins, as we sing in today’s Psalm. He has come that rich and poor might dine together in the Eucharistic feast, as James tells us in today’s Epistle.

He has done for each of us what He did for that deaf mute. He has opened our ears to hear the Word of God, and loosed our tongues that we might sing praises to Him.

Let us then, in the Eucharist, again give thanks to our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. Let us say with Isaiah, Here is our God, He comes to save us. Let us be rich in faith, that we might inherit the kingdom promised to those who love Him.

After All by David Crowder

Rise of the Digital Missionary

The following comes from the 21st Century Pilgrim site: 

I entered into full communion with the Catholic Church about four years ago with my wife, Heather and two girls.  Suffice it to say – we love beingCatholic and believe (not only) that we were called but the Catholic Church represents that “unified body” Christand the Apostles talked about throughout the New Testament.  I recognize, although I was called, that I did not come into the Church without help.  People, integral to my conversion, were personalities likeFather Roderick of SQPN, Father Seraphim Beshoner, TOR of Catholic Under the Hood, the Missionaries of Charity, Father Glenn Sudano, CFR, Father Hugh Vincent Dyer, O.P. and the many Catholic bloggers / podcasters that I frequently listened to and debated in my study of the Church and her teachings.

After my conversion I took a job with a local (Dallas Diocese) Catholic parish and have been blogging at my new address: 21centurypilgrim for the past year.  In light of the role Fr. Roderick played, my new job and personal passion to share my thoughts from the journey I was excited at the opportunity to attend the Catholic New Media Conference in Arlington Texas.  I believe wholeheartedly that the internet, individuals seeking relationships via digitally based communities, represents a huge opportunity to connect, discuss issues, and share our collective faith journey.  Faith in general and the Catholic Church in particular are ideas that many are just waiting to discuss.  I remember my pre-Christian / pre-Catholic years – I desperately wanted someone to reach out to me.  I often went to bed at night feeling alone, rejected, and unheard.  These are just some of the reasons why I believe so strongly in the emerging digital mission field and the need for (Catholic) digital missionaries.

I really appreciated the variety of both Catholic and non-Catholic, lay and religious presenters at this conference.  In addition, I enjoyed the variety of subjects covered and the diversity of personalities who have risen to the top of their respective fields in relation to blogging, podcasting, short-film / video casting, and even Q & A over the ethics of it all.  The keynote speakers all had something “significant” to share.  In particular Jennifer Fulwiler (@conversiondiary) did a great job speaking to the opportunities (of digital engagement) and pitfalls (demonic distractions) of our collective work in the digital marketplace.  I also enjoyed the analysis of Brandon Vogt’s (@BrandonVogt1) presentation and honesty of Elizabeth Scaila’s(@TheAnchoress) thoughts.  Her encouragement to “write what your passionate about” cut against the grain of writing to get noticed, increase immediate traffic, or the pumping of pure ego. Each speaker / presenter genuinely spoke to the importance of developing a connected community. It’s not just about numbers and the money that can come with it – but about sharing our experience with God, exploring truth and expressing our faith.  In addition, as it related to direct evangelization, there was much conversation about “earning your right to speak into the lives” of those we connect with over the internet.  This was a welcome bit of wisdom filled with the sensitivity of a pastor.  Wisdom I appreciated after a decade of being a protestant pastor and missionary – evangelizing on college campuses, in neighborhoods, American cities and in different countries about the world.

I write these reflections today because of the importance of the subject, the expression of our faith within the digital sphere of society, and because of the hesitancy I often see within local Catholic communities.  Many have embraced this new digital age – Pope Benedict XVI has embraced and called for digital evangelization.  However, many of our local communities are still hesitant – worried about the development of digital relationships, pitfalls from past mistakes, and an overly litigious society that seems to target the Church at every turn.  Although we are an old Church (+ 2000 year history) with aging congregations unfamiliar with the digital sphere there is an emerging youth, young adult and convert communityexcited about this particular opportunity.  The opportunity to be an integral part of the New Evangelization, the growth of the Church in the 21st century and the fulfillment that simply being Catholic brings into the life of the individual.  Its about renewal, its about truth, its about sharing Christ within a world looking for answers.

Join me on this pilgrims “digital” path.

Roll Away Your Stone by Mumford and Sons

Like a Lion by David Crowder Band

Father James B. Curran, SDB (1921-2012)

Father James B. Curran, SDB (1921-2012)

By Father Michael Mendl, SDB

Fr. James B. Curran, SDB, died in mid-afternoon on Sept. 3, 2012, at St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla. He was still recovering from major surgery on Aug. 16. A short time prior to the surgery he had moved into the Salesians’ St. Philip the Apostle Residence in Tampa but was still a member of the community at St. Petersburg Catholic High School.

James Brendan Curran was born at Annascaul (County Kerry), Ireland, on May 27, 1921, in the last days of the “Irish war for independence,” to James and Helen Kennedy Curran, and baptized the following day at the parish church of the Sacred Heart in Annascaul. According to a former student of Fr. Curran’s, Andrew MacKinlay—who remained a life-long friend—Kerry was a particularly “bloody area” after the Irish Free State was set up in 1922, including “internecine civil war.”

Young Jim attended the national primary school in Brackloon and continued his secondary studies from 1934-1935 at the Christian Brothers School, Dingle (Kerry). 

Desiring to become a Salesian priest, in 1935 he entered the Salesian aspirantate at Shrigley (Cheshire), England. He had to go to England because until 1972 there was a single Salesian province for the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, and Malta.

Jim entered the novitiate with 20 other young men at Beckford (Gloucester) on Aug. 30, 1940. His novice master was the legendary Fr. James Simonetti, who held that position for 54 years. The socius (assistant novice master) was Fr. David de Burgh, who later had a short but distinguished career as a member of the U.S. Western Province and the faculty of Don Bosco College in Newton, N.J.

Bro. Curran he made his first profession of vows at Beckford on Aug. 31, 1941. He did his philosophical and liberal arts studies at the Salesian house of studies in Shrigley, and upon his graduation was sent to St. Patrick’s School in Sliema, Malta, for his practical training as a teacher and assistant. (In Salesian terms, an “assistant” is one who is present among the pupils outside the classroom, e.g. in the refectory, the playground, or the dormitory, to keep an eye on the youths, join in activities with them, offer guidance as may be needed, and “assist” them in any other way that may be called for.) Mr. MacKinlay describes a “perilous” sea voyage to reach the island fortress of the Mediterranean in December 1943 through “u-boat infested waters. It was a circuitous route the [ship] took...a long and hazardous journey.”

While in Malta Bro. Curran continued his studies and passed the London University Intermediate Arts Exam (the equivalent of an American associate’s degree). In 1946 he completed his bachelor of arts degree at London University, majoring in English, British and European History and Latin.

Also at St. Patrick’s Bro. Curran professed perpetual vows on Aug. 14, 1947. Soon thereafter he started his study of theology at Shrigley (one year) and finished at Blaisdon Hall (Gloucester), where he was ordained on July 15, 1951, by Bishop Joseph Rudderham (1899-1979) of the Clifton Diocese.

Following his ordination, Fr. Curran was originally assigned to Capetown, South Africa, but his assignment was changed to Chertsey (Surrey), England, out of consideration for the advanced age of his mother. The school in Chertsey was a small boarding and day school, Fr. Curran taught there from 1951 to 1963, the last four years as headmaster (principal).

Mr. MacKinlay was a Chertsey student while Fr. Curran was headmaster. He writes that Father “was a great pastor and tutor to countless people in Malta, England and the United States. It was my privilege to have known him and been one of his students ... and to have shared and enjoyed his company” as recently as his trip to Ireland last summer for the 60th anniversary of his ordination.

Following a visit to Chicago, in 1963 Fr. Curran transferred from the Anglo-Irish Province to the New Rochelle Province. He first posting was as a teacher at Don Bosco Tech in Boston (1963-1966). During that time he also preached retreats and did vocation work at the Salesian aspirantate in Ipswich, Mass.

In 1966-1967 he was the assistant vocation director for the New Rochelle Province and lived at the provincial residence. In 1967 he was sent to Salesian Preparatory School in Cedar Lake, Ind., as vocation director. The following year he was appointed director (religious superior) of the school and the Salesian community; he served a six-year term. During that time he became an American citizen (Jan. 26, 1970).

Upon the completion of his directorship, he spent a sabbatical year (1974-1975) in Rome for continuing formation. On his return, he was appointed the provincial delegate for the Salesian Cooperators, serving until 1983. In this position he resided at the Marian Shrine and Retreat House in Haverstraw, N.Y., and in 1977 an additional charge as director of that Salesian community was given to him.

In 1979 Fr. Curran was appointed the director of Sacred Heart Retreat House in Ipswich, Mass.

After four years in Ipswich, he was named pastor of St. Rosalie Church in Harvey, La., and served there for twelve years. As pastor he worked diligently with the Dominican nuns who staffed the parochial school and helped the school earn its first Blue Ribbon for Excellence from the federal Department of Education.

Continuing parish ministry, he was sent then to St. Kieran Church in Miami to serve especially the English-speaking parishioners, and a year later, in August 1996, he was appointed pastor. An appointment as pastor of St. Anthony Church in Paterson, N.J., followed in 1998.

In 2001, now 80 years old, Fr. Curran stepped down as a pastor but not as an active and zealous priest. He moved back to Florida, to the Salesian community affiliated with St. Petersburg Catholic High School, where he was vice director of the community and a minister of the sacraments in the school.

That assignment lasted but a year. Ever flexible, he came to Corpus Christi Church in Port Chester, N.Y., as assistant pastor in 2002, and then relocated yet again in 2003, back to St. Rosalie Church in Harvey, where he carried out priestly ministry and also “puttered about the resurrected (and gloriously colorful) garden at the rectory and provid[ed] much needed companionship,” according to the Clarion Herald newspaper of the New Orleans Archdiocese. After seven more happy years in that parish—happy except for Hurricane Katrina, which he rode out with the other Salesians of the West Bank—he served for one year (2010-2011) at St. Philip Benizi Church in Belle Glade, Fla., as assistant pastor and vice director.

In the summer of 2011 Fr. Curran had the joyful opportunity to return to Ireland for several weeks to celebrate 60 years of priesthood with family and friends.

In August 2011, now 90 years of age, Fr. Curran came once more to St. Petersburg, where he assisted with the celebration of Mass for the office staff at the diocesan chancery as well as serving the school community as a confessor from time to time. He enjoyed a visit with Salesian friends in the North during July 2012, but his health had deteriorated noticeably. Thus in August he moved—temporarily, it was thought—into the Salesian retirement community at St. Philip the Apostle.

Jill Stoner, a parishioner of St. Rosalie Church, recalled “Father Curran’s dry wit and learned homilies” that “only improved with age (like a fine wine)”; his “‘jolly good’ nature and sense of humor” that were much appreciated.

Although Fr. Curran held no higher degree than his B.A., he spoke French, Italian, and Irish, and that learning to which Mrs. Stoner alluded earned him the affectionate title from his confreres of “Doctor Curran.” However humble and plain he was in his manner of life, he did seem to revel in this brotherly honorific.

The learning and the humility, among other qualities, are recalled by Fr. Curran’s grandnephew Thomas Casagranda in a letter, here slightly edited, to Fr. Michael Conway:

Uncle Jimmy was a marvellous man, and our memories of him are undimmed and always in our hearts. I can remember his reading a book about Shakespeare. A theory had come out that Shakespeare was a closet Catholic. Uncle Jimmy said that, unfortunately, we cannot claim him as he had a wonderful knowledge of the [Anglican] Book of Common Prayer…. I can also remember our walking around Westminster Abbey, and me, as a 13-year-old, telling him that I wasn't allowed in as my Catholic headmaster would hit me for it: Uncle Jimmy told me not to be so ridiculous, that I should walk in and that Westminster Abbey was a great place to discover. He was correct in that respect.

Additionally, I can remember walking with Uncle Jimmy, around Westminster Cathedral, the Catholic cathedral in London, and a marvellous church outside Oxford called St Mary's, where Cardinal Newman was the vicar, prior to his conversion [to Catholicism]. I didn't pay much attention to it as a kid, but when older, and appreciative of Elgar, I grew to understand Newman's Dream of Gerontius, and knew just how far Uncle Jimmy was ahead of his time. 

There were also some wonderful trips down to Dorset, which Uncle Jimmy undertook with Fr Tom Brennan and my parents. Uncle Jimmy had a great love of Thomas Hardy, and viewed Dorset as Hardy country. I love Hardy too, but prefer his poems to his prose.

I can also remember some wonderful chats, as I got older, about Yeats and “The Lake Isle of Innisfree,” and “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death,” and he always took an interest, particularly, when I was doing my degrees. I can remember his arguing, good natured I hasten to add, over a passage in St John's Gospel about Greeks visiting Jesus, and their view of what was early Christianity in relation to Plato and Aristotle. Uncle Jimmy won, as he trumped me on St Thomas Aquinas, which I hadn't read at the time.

In truth, Uncle Jimmy was a man of great learning: a man who was even learning Spanish at an advanced age. He was also humanitarian, humble, and helpful in all manner of things. I think it will be safe to state that we will never forget him, and we'll also never forget his great sense of humour too. He certainly broke down barriers with his humour, wit, intellect, and charm, and goes to a place that we can only wish to go to.

Fr. James McKenna, SDB, was Fr. Curran’s director during the latter part of his second stint in Louisiana. He always found Fr. Curran to be “peaceful, kind and helpful ... always a people's man ...always considerate of others, and I will miss him as an older priest friend.”

Funeral Arrangements

Florida St. Jude’s Cathedral, 5815 Fifth Avenue North, St. Petersburg, FL 33710

Wake Thursday, Sept. 6 10:00-11:00 a.m.

Mass of Christian Burial Thursday, Sept. 6 11:00 a.m.

Bishop Robert N. Lynch presiding

New York Marian Shrine, 174 Filors Lane, Stony Point, NY 10980-2645

Wake Friday, Sept. 7 4:00-6:00, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Mass of Christian Burial Saturday, Sept. 8 10:00 a.m.

Salesian Cemetery, 3 Craigville Rd., Goshen, NY 10924

Burial Saturday, Sept. 8 1:00 p.m.

Sigh No More by Mumford and Sons

Gregorian Chant in honor of St. Gregory!

This video is a snapshot of life and liturgy in the Cistercian Abbey Stift Heiligenkreuz in the Vienna Woods.

In Hurricane Isaac's wake, prayers and help for victims

The following comes from the CNA:

Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans prayed for victims of Hurricane Isaac, as the archdiocese's Catholic Charities affiliate assesses damage and helps those affected. 

 “We consciously place ourselves in God’s presence and ask him to give us his protection,” Archbishop Aymond said. “God has always promised to protect us in challenging times, and we ask that God does that now, especially with those who are struggling. Bless us and help us reach those in need.” 

 His prayer came in an Aug. 29 conference call with the leadership of New Orleans' Catholic Charities, according to the archdiocesan newspaper The Clarion Herald. 

 In another prayer published by Catholic Charities, he asked God to bless those awaiting rescue, the elderly, and the emergency crews. Hurricane Isaac made landfall in the U.S. on Aug. 28. It dropped more than 15 inches of rain and flooded parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, killing at least six. 

Although the storm knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people, New Orleans did not suffer major damage, the Associated Press reported. However, Catholic Charities said damage assessments are underway and many residents in the Archdiocese of New Orleans will need assistance. The agency’s leaders and Archbishop Aymond are finalizing their response plan. The agency’s crisis counselors and case managers are working with evacuees while other teams will spread into the affected areas. 

 “Residents of Plaquemines Parish, the towns of Slidell, LaPlace, Madisonville and Mandeville have suffered the most damage, but the situation remains fluid and assessments continue to identify damage,” the local agency said Aug. 30. 

 Archbishop Aymond has feared that Assumption of Our Lady Mission in Braithwaite, La. to New Orleans’ southwest sustained heavy flooding. He visited first responders in the affected area on Thursday afternoon, The Clarion Herald reported. 

 Before the storm made landfall, Fr. Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA, said the national organization is “ready to meet the needs of those who will be most affected by this storm.” Experience and investment, he said, will make relief efforts “more effective and better prepared” than they were in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 

 The archdiocese plans to provide direct financial assistance to those most affected by the storm. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans is seeking donations on its website www.ccano.org.

Something Beautiful By The Newsboys

Homeless Man: Rich Mullins

Terry Mattingly wrote a nice article on Rich Mullins and the Catholic Church. Rich, the fantastic writer and musician is famous for his song Awesome God, but he wrote many, many wonderful Christian songs that many are familiar with. He was a real example of a follower of Christ. He died tragically just a few weeks before his reception into the Catholic Church. The following videos are well worth the time. I hope you enjoy them! You can read more about Rich Mullins here.

Homeless Man: Rich Mullins Part 6 from objektivonemusic on GodTube.

To read more about the Kid Brothers of St. Frank click here.

The Word of God: Forming Our Hearts

The following reflection on tomorrow's readings for Mass come from Scott Hahn's site:

Today’s Gospel casts Jesus in a prophetic light, as one having authority to interpret God’s law.

Jesus’ quotation from Isaiah today is ironic (seeIsaiah 29:13). In observing the law, the Pharisees honor God by ensuring that nothing unclean passes their lips. In this, however, they’ve turned the law inside out, making it a matter of simply performing certain external actions.

The gift of the law, which we hear God giving to Israel in today’s First Reading, is fulfilled in Jesus’ gospel, which shows us the law’s true meaning and purpose (see Matthew 5:17).

The law, fulfilled in the gospel, is meant to form our hearts, to make us pure, able to live in the Lord’s presence. The law was given that we might live and enter into the inheritance promised to us—the kingdom of God, eternal life.

Readings: Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-8 Psalm 15:2-5 James 1:17-18,21-22,27 Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23

Israel, by its observance of the law, was meant to be an example to surrounding nations. As James tells us in today’s Epistle, the gospel was given to us that we might have new birth by the Word of truth. By living the Word we’ve received, we’re to be examples of God’s wisdom to those around us, the “first fruits” of a new humanity.

This means we must be “doers” of the Word, not merely hearers of it. As we sing in today’s Psalm and hear again in today’s Epistle, we must work for justice, taking care of our brothers and sisters, and living by the truth God has placed in our hearts.

The Word given to us is a perfect gift. We should not add to it through vain and needless devotions. Nor should we subtract from it by picking and choosing which of His laws to honor.

“Hear me,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel. Today, we’re called to examine our relationship to God’s law.

Is the practice of our religion a pure listening to Jesus, a humble welcoming of the Word planted in us and able to save our souls? Or are we only paying lip-service?

Creed by Rich Mullins