Cardinal Dolan: ISIS threatens whole civilization

(CNA) With ISIS threatening all of human civilization, no one of any background or religion can remain silent, said Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.

The ISIS militants who are perpetrating these acts of violence in the name of Islam “threaten civilization, everything that is decent and noble about humanity,” Cardinal Dolan warned, saying that their vicious acts are creating a worldwide crisis that cannot – and must not – be ignored.

“These aren’t sporadic attacks. This is part of an orchestrated fanaticism, and ideology that sees Christianity, Judaism, and any religion of peace as the enemy,” he said Feb. 17 in the New York Post.

The cardinal responded to a graphic video that was released on Feb. 15 showing the execution of 21 Coptic Christians at the hands of ISIS militants in Libya.

“How much worse can it get?” the cardinal said, explaining that he was “deeply saddened to learn of the latest violence by fanatics who see anybody who disagrees with them as their enemy.”

Voicing distress at the recent acts of violence perpetrated by ISIS militants, Cardinal Dolan said he was moved to tears and prayer because the Coptic Christians were killed for “nothing less than their religious convictions.”

In addition to killing Christians and other religious minorities, the cardinal also believes that the Islamic State is orchestrating “a phobia of Christianity” throughout the world in an effort to stifle religious freedom until it is completed wiped out.

He pointed to “a coordinated effort on behalf of fanatics to see that true religion which stands for friendship, peace, and the dignity of the human person and the sacredness of human life, is stamped out.”

“We need Islamic religious leaders to stand up and say, ‘This is not Islam. This is a perversion of our faith,’” he continued.

Pointing to the civil unrest within Ireland over 40 years ago, Cardinal Dolan highlighted the Catholic bishops who stood up against the car bombings and violence committed by the Irish Republican Army, which “perversely identified itself as ‘Catholic.’”

These bishops should be seen as role models for the majority Islamic leaders who don’t identify with the Islamic State, Cardinal Dolan said, calling them to stand up against the extremist group and condemn their acts of terror.

“Fanatics want to take over, and we can’t let that happen,” he stressed.

Though many Christians have a price on their heads for their religious beliefs, Cardinal Dolan urged “men and women of all true creeds – Jewish, Christian and Islamic” to stand together and oppose the disordered system of the Islamic State.

“Simply because these Christians make the sign of the cross, there is a price on their head,” he observed, adding that “we cannot ignore their cries and cannot let their blood be spilled without moving us to tears and saying, ‘this must stop.’”

Lent, he continued, is a season of deep prayer, penance, and solidarity with the oppressed and suffering, offering people everywhere an opportunity to unite with the persecuted Christians around the world.

“This massacre leaves us not only with ashes on our foreheads, but with tears in our eyes, a lump in our throat and a burning in our heart.”

Cardinal Timothy Dolan: What is Lent?

Cardinal Dolan on Confession

The following comes from the Catholic Exchange:

It usually happens on Saturday…

I try to take that morning off when I can. So, I sleep in a bit, get up, say my prayers and offer Mass in my chapel, and then go for a long walk.

Saturday mornings, the traffic is light, the air fresher, and not even that many pedestrians are out and about. I can get a brisk hike in.

My destination is one of our many city churches that offers the sacrament of penance. I sneak in, rarely recognized since I’m in walking clothes, and stand in line with the others outside the confessional. In I go, contrite I am, forgiven I leave, gratefully I pray, renewed I walk back home.

Because I’m dressed in street garb, and, since I prefer to confess behind the screen, the confessor does not know who I am. Fine with me.

Once, though, as I was leaving the church, another priest of the parish did recognize me, welcomed me, and we chatted for awhile. When he discovered that I had just gone to confession, he blushed.

“But, archbishop,” he remarked, “I’ll send a confessor to your house! You shouldn’t have to come down here, stand in line, and wait like everybody else!”

Well, as a matter of fact, yes I should. While I thanked him for his thoughtfulness, I explained that I really wanted to make the trip to the church, I preferred to stand in line, I wanted to be “just like everybody else!”

Because, as a sinner, I am! And one of the places I most sense being an intimate part of the Church, a member of this community of faith, is when I’m in company with others, head down, waiting in line for God’s mercy in this beautiful and potent sacrament of reconciliation.

‘Look not on our sins, but on the faith of the Church!” That’s the prayer I borrow from the words of the Mass as I stand in line with other sinners and prepare for the sacrament of penance.

I mention this because it’s Lent. These are the 40 days when the invitation of Jesus to conversion of heart and repentance for sin is most dramatic.

Our Catholic tradition holds that nowhere is that invitation more RSVP’d, or His mercy more evident, than in a good confession.

Do it now: resolve that, sometime before Easter, you, too, will stand in line and beg God to “look not on my sins but on the faith of the Church.”

Get back to confession.

People often approach me, as they do any other priest or spiritual guide, and lament, “My relationship with the Lord is limp and listless. I’m in a valley. I want some love, warmth, and grace.”

“How long since your last confession?” I’ll ask, only to see the cheeks turn red.

Last week I had the honor of offering the Funeral Mass for Bernard Nathanson. You know his odyssey. An acclaimed obstetrician, he was an aggressive abortionist, co-founder of NARAL, bragging about the thousands of abortions he performed. Until…

…Dr. Nathanson viewed a sonogram. This is not a blob, a mass of cells, a “tumor,” nor even just an embryo or a fetus, he concluded. This is a baby. What did he do then?

Repentance…renewal of heart…and a fresh start as one of the most eloquent pro-life prophets this country has ever known. The power of the Truth!

And in 1996, this man, who had called himself an atheist, was baptized, confirmed, and given his First Holy Communion by Cardinal John O’Connor in Our Lady’s Chapel at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

His most towering trepidation, he told the cardinal, came from the weight of his past sins as an abortionist. But in Jesus he found an invitation to repentance, and in the Church he discovered an assurance of a mercy that trumps any pile of sins.

See you in line some Saturday morning! I’ll appreciate your company!

Cardinal Dolan on the Prophetic Bishops of Africa

Cardinal Dolan on How Lent "used to be"

The following comes from Cardinal Dolan of NY:

This time of the year, these forty days of preparation for Holy Week and Easter, I often hear folks over fifty-five or so reminisce about how Lent“used-to-be.”“Remember the tuna casseroles and grilled cheese sandwiches?”

“I used to long for Sunday when I could have a piece of the candy I had given-up for Lent.”

“Did I ever love the Stations of the Cross on Friday.”

“Remember how tough it was not to eat between meals?”

“I can still recall dad reminding us to make a good confession before Easter.”

“Mom used to love her sodality meetings, and dad his night of cards and a couple beers at the Holy Name evenings at the parish, but those were all cancelled during Lent.”

“Remember the ‘rice bowl’ to help feed the starving sitting on the kitchen table where we’d put our pennies saved from buying treats.”

“And remember how we used to so enjoy Easter, after forty days of sacrifice and penance; it was like we were entering a new life and the sun of spring with Jesus risen.”

A lot of that these days, what I call “used-to-be Lent.”

Because, I wonder if we’ve lost it . . . has Lent become a thing of the past?

Now, don’t get me wrong! I don’t want to go back to the “under-pain-of sin” mandatory fast and abstinence of pre-1967 Catholic life – – although I sure remember Pope Paul VI, as he lifted mandatory fast and abstinence (keeping it only on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent), expressing confidence that mature Catholics would now freely embrace penance and self-denial.

Nor do I suggest that there aren’t a good number of Catholics who still take Lent very seriously with their acts of sacrifice, more fervent prayer, and added deeds of service and charity.

Yet, I am still moved to wonder if, as a Church, we have lost the wonder of Lent, that these forty holy days have gone the way of holy days of obligation, fasting before communion, and no meat on Friday.

And all our kids hear about is how Lent “used-to-be.”

So, for instance, I’m at a great parish in the archdiocese and notice that they’re having a big dance on . . . the first Friday of Lent!

So, I’m at a huge banquet for over a thousand men, mostly Catholics, where the liquor flows and the steaks are medium-rare on . . . a Friday of Lent!

So, I’m at Mass in a parish where they sing the Gloria and have alleluias all over the place on . . . a Sunday of Lent!

I admire how our Jewish neighbors take their “high holy days” in the fall so seriously, especially the days of penance, fasting, and contrition . . .

Our Islamic neighbors fast all day and deepen their prayers for a month at Ramadan . . .

And here, my Catholic people write me for a “dispensation” on one of the six measly Fridays we’re asked to abstain from meat (big sacrifice these days!), if they even bother with the dispensation at all.

Am I being too gloomy here? You know me well enough to realize I’m hardly puritanical or a crab. All I’m asking is: have we lost Lent? Is it all now nostalgia, a museum piece, in the attics of our souls, as we tell our kids and grandkids how Lent “used-to-be”?

Lent didn’t just used to be . . . it’s needed now more than ever!

Let me ask you, is there anything different at all in your life, in the rhythm of your family and home, in your parish, this Lent?

Is it too late to get it back?

Called to be holy: Cardinal Dolan’s 10-step guide to holiness

The following comes from OSV:

Here is the key to our spiritual growth: a faithful, personal, loving relationship with Jesus. To know Jesus, to hear Jesus, to love Jesus, to trust Jesus, to obey Jesus, to share his life in the deepest fiber of our being, and then to serve him — this is our goal.

How do we grow in holiness? How? That, of course, is our spiritual program, isn't it, the stewardship of the spirit, "the regimen of the soul bringing about the reign of God," to quote servant of the poor Charles de Foucauld. I propose to you a spiritual regimen, a stewardship of the spirit coming not from me, but from centuries of practice and learning.

1. Daily Prayer
Patient, persevering, persistent prayer, every day, is number one. Here I am not speaking of the Mass — such as the Eucharist — but of silent, personal, private prayer, a daily period of quiet communion with the Lord, conscious of his presence, accepting of his love, and returning it with praise, petition, and thanksgiving.

2. Daily Mass
From this daily Eucharistic meal will come, for all celebrate the Eucharist as the essential moment in their day, a reverential awe for the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, and a desire to spend time before him there in visits and prayer.

3. Daily Fidelity to the Liturgy of the Hours
This ancient prayer of the Church is mostly associated with those in Holy Orders. It is also intended to be the prayer of the laity, who “are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1175).

4. Daily Spiritual Reading
Lectio divina, daily reverent meditation upon Sacred Scripture, is first and foremost, of course, but I also speak of daily spiritual reading of the enduring books of our Catholic tradition, as well as interest in the burgeoning contemporary literature on the interior life. Nor should we forget attention to the documents of the magisterium, the words of our Holy Father, the documents of the Apostolic See, the messages and pastorals of our own bishops, all vehicles of the Holy Spirit for fostering our growth in sanctity.

5. Spiritual Direction
An honest, trusting, fruitful, consistent relationship with a spiritual director is, in some ways, the linchpin of all the rest, for this is where integration and interiorization begin to take place. The danger we all face is a life of formalism, where we passively do things just to get by, not allowing the values of formation to sink in and become part of us. Spiritual direction can promote this interiorization, this integration.

6. The Sacrament of Penance
Regular reliance upon the mercy of God abundant in the Sacrament of Penance should be a priority in our lives. While how often you approach this sacrament is a good topic to discuss with your spiritual director, at least once a month seems a solid tradition of the Church. That you approach confession regularly is a hallmark of sound spiritual stewardship. And, a practical help to make our regular confessions more fruitful would be a daily examination of conscience, praising God for our growth, asking for healing of the faults we admit.

7. Growing in Virtue
A tireless effort for growth in virtue and turning away from sin should be the pattern of our daily lives. Obedience to the constant refrain of the Gospels, we are always in the process of conversion, repentance, dying to sin, self, and Satan, rising to new life in Christ. This is the “paschal mystery.” In practice, this means growth in virtue and struggle with sin. Development in particular virtues is most appropriate: faith, hope, charity, simplicity of life, chastity, obedience and integrity.

8. Devotion to the Blessed Mother sand the Saints
Our devotion to them is a sustaining dependence upon the "Communion of Saints," an awareness that we are members of a supernatural family not confined to the here and now, that we have the saints as examples and helpers, pre-eminently, especially our Blessed Mother. Thus, a wholesome devotion to her would be an essential part of our spiritual regimen.

9. Holistic Formation, Allowing Spirituality to Permeate Our Lives
The spiritual life is not a tidy, isolated compartment of our existence! No, as the Pope John Paul II said, "Spiritual formation is the core which unifies and gives life to our entire being." Thus, every element of our lives is part of the spiritual arena, and growth in holiness will entail wholehearted immersion in a spiritual regimen.

10. The Final Component: Keeping Ever in View the Call to Holiness
Our goal is nothing less than a reordering of life through the sacraments, which will configure us in an irrevocable, radical way to Christ. That we may be good, holy, happy, healthy, learned, zealous, selfless, committed faithful is the goal of our spiritual growth.
I have two notes of caution, however. First, growth in holiness is not our accomplishment, but a pure gift from God. The Lord does it, not me! These 10 steps of spiritual stewardship I just went through are not cozy little acts we perform to produce holiness — they are simply tried-and-true ways we open up in humility to let the Lord in to do his work in, on, for, and, often, in spite of us!

Second, to use the words of Sister Bridge McKenna, "The road inward to spiritual growth always results in a U-turn outward in love for others." Our stewardship of the Spirit is never a soothing benefice we cling to, but an inspiration to love humankind better. The Jesus who calls us to spiritual ecstasy on Mt. Tabor likewise invites us to the pouring out of self on Mt. Calvary.

Cardinal Dolan is the archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

This is an edited excerpt from then Archbishop Dolan's "Called to Be Holy."

Cardinal Dolan: Becoming New in Christ

The following comes from Cardinal Dolan's blog:

One of the many happy occurrences of this radiant Easter season in the Church is meeting those former “candidates” and “catechumens” who entered into full communion with the Church at Easter Eve.

They bring an exuberance, a joy, a devotion that I at times find lacking in lifelong Catholics, myself included.

In addition, they easily speak about Catholic doctrines, practices, and traditions that they find “awesome,” which, once again, sadly, for us “cradle Catholics,” may have lost their luster.

Let me mention a few:

For one, they love Sunday Mass and receiving the Eucharist.  For instance, Easter Sunday morning, at 10:15 Mass at Saint Patrick’s, I saw one of our brand new Catholics, who had just been baptized, confirmed, and received his first Holy Communion the night before.

“You didn’t have to come back this morning!” I teased him.  “You went to Mass last night!  You could have slept-in.”

“I know I didn’t have to come,” he replied.  “I wanted to!”

Two, believe it or not, they enjoy the Sacrament of Penance, and see the need for it.  At a time when a lot of us folks, Catholic from birth, have quit this powerful sacrament, our new Catholics love it.

Three, they rejoice in the Holy Father, not just in Pope Francis – although they sure love him – but in the papacy itself.  The tradition, the living teaching authority of the Church personified in the Pope, gives them confidence, they tell me.  Good to hear…

Four, they appreciate Mary and the saints.  One of our new Catholics told me that the most powerful moment of the Easter Vigil came during the chanting of the Litany of the Saints, when it dawned on her that she was joining a spiritual family with older brothers and sisters – the saints – and a mother – Mary – in heaven.

Finally, they speak eloquently about the power of conversion.  They have left their “old selves behind:” they are a “new creation.”  They have accepted the invitation of Jesus toconversion.

Sometimes that means the cross. So, a number of years ago, a nurse who had become Catholic at Easter saw me a month or so later.

“Well, I know what Jesus meant when He said His followers must take up His cross,” she remarked to me at the coffee and donuts after Mass.

When I asked her to explain, she went on, “In my work as a nurse, I’ve a time-or-two had to assist at an abortion.  I knew that, after I converted, that would have to go.  So, this week, when I was assigned to help at one, I told them I could not.  My supervisor told me to give up hopes of any raise or promotion…”

There it was…conversion…the cross…our new converts know about that.

Can they ever teach us a lot about our “old faith”: the appeal of the Eucharist, the power of confession, the gift of the Holy Father, the solidarity with our blessed Mother and the saints, the call to conversion…

Welcome, new family members!

Witness: Cardinal Timothy Dolan

Cardinal Dolan on Pope Francis

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Cardinal Dolan: Electing a New Bishop of Rome

The following comes from Cardinal Dolan's Blog:

Greetings again from Rome, the Eternal City, the city of Saints Peter and Paul!

One last word early this “morning” as I pack to leave the North American College, where we cardinals have been staying, and go into the Vatican itself, where we’ll be hosted at St. Martha’s House, a simple little residence. At 10 AM we’ll concelebrate the traditional Mass for the Election of the Pontiff in St. Peter’s Basilica, and then return to Saint Martha’s for seclusion. The first voting will occur in the Sistine Chapel this afternoon, and continue the following days.

I hope the conclave will not go on too long. All I know is that I’m just taking in a small “carry-on” piece of baggage. If we’re in there too long, and if they show photographs of St. Martha’s from outside Vatican City, my room will be the one with the laundry hanging in the window to dry!

The veteran cardinals tell me that the conclave is almost like a retreat. We of course concelebrate Mass every morning to begin the day, and pray the liturgy of the hours together. Obviously, we can visit and talk with each other at St. Martha’s House during our meals and brief time off between the actual voting, but, I’m told the actual hours in the Sistine Chapel, carried out scrupulously according to the traditional protocol, are done in an atmosphere of silence and prayer; it’s almost, the old-timers tell me, like aliturgy.

These last twelve days have been immensely enlightening for me, as I get to know my brother cardinals better. The atmosphere is one of prayer, trust, calm joy, and confidence, with very candid conversations about issues of pastoral urgency, and challenges facing the Church Universal and the next Holy Father.

One cardinal observed, after hearing others list the qualifications our new Pope would need, that, “It seems we have to elect Christ, not a Vicar of Christ!”

Yes, we expect a lot from the Successor of St. Peter, and it would be impossible to find the perfect one. Yet, we expect a lot from our bishops, priests, deacons, and religious women and men; then again, we expect a lot from our spouses, our parents, our teachers, our political leaders, and our law officers.

Jesus calls us “to be perfect;” that’s sobering and can discourage us; but — – here’s the reassurance — – He also helps us with His grace, and never fails in His mercy when we fail.

I guess that’s what I’m asking you as I pack up to enter the conclave: ask the Lord to send His grace and His mercy upon His Holy Church, and upon us cardinals who have the frightening task of electing a new Bishop of Rome!

Watch for the white smoke! I’ll try to be in touch as soon as I can after the conclave ends. I’ll stay for the “Mass of Inauguration” for the new Holy Father, but hope to be home, back with you, my spiritual family, before Holy Week starts on Palm Sunday.

Arrivederci!

Cardinal Dolan: It’s About Jesus

The following comes from Cardinal Dolan's blog:

“But why didn’t he say anything about his reasons for stepping down, or his plans for the future, or any personal reflections about his own legacy?”  asked the journalist after Mass yesterday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

This reporter had gotten up early to watch the last Sunday Angelus address Pope Benedict XVI would ever give, to 100,000 people in Saint Peter’s Square at noon in Rome.  He had spoken of Lent, the Transfiguration of Jesus (the gospel for Sunday), and prayer.

“Because,” I replied, trying to provide an answer to the journalist’s fair-enough inquiry, “Popes don’t talk about themselves.  They are really no longer themselves!  That’s why they change their name.  They take literally what Saint Paul wrote, that “I live now – - no, not I – - Christ lives in me.”  They speak not of themselves but of Jesus.  That’s why!”

“And you,” the reporter courteously persisted, “you didn’t say a word about your plans, your departure for Rome, your thoughts or observations.  We got here to cover your 10:15 a.m. Mass, and you only mentioned the Pope in one prayer, and didn’t say anything personal.”

“Same reason,” I responded.  “The Mass is about Jesus, not about me.”

That could be the most profound lesson this great professor-pontiff has taught the world.  His heroic and humble decision of a week ago to step-down from the Chair of Saint Peter is a lesson:  in the end, when all is said and done, it’s not about office, prominence, prestige, prerogatives.  It’s not about me at all: it’s all about Jesus and His Church.

Tomorrow, though, I do leave New York for Rome.  I take you with me.  When I have the privilege of bidding farewell to the Holy Father this Thursday, the day he leaves, I’ll tell him that we – - you and me – - love him, pray with and for him, and thank him.

I’ll miss you.  Sure, this will be awesome for me.  But, I really like being your archbishop.  And I’ll be eager to get back home to you.  Besides, I can get a good bowl of pasta here in New York, too.

Please God, I’ll be home by Palm Sunday.  Not a day will go by that I will not think of you here with love, prayer and gratitude. If I’m in Rome longer, please send peanut butter.  You can’t get it there.

Cardinal Dolan on the Final Days of Papacy of Pope Benedict and the Coming Conclave

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Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan talks about Pope Benedict XVI’s final meeting with the cardinals, calling it “a very tender moment” and “mixed feelings” among the cardinals about the upcoming conclave to select a new pope.

Cardinal Dolan: The Annual Advent Argument

The following comes from Cardinal Dolan:

A blessed Advent!

I discussed it with folks visiting me over the weekend, right after Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the First Sunday of Advent.

It’s the yearly debate about Advent, and it goes something like this: The first person began, “Why do we start to celebrate Christmas so early?  The decorations are up in early November; the carols begin before Thanksgiving; the tree goes up now . . . no wonder we’re sick of Christmas by December 26^th!”

Another will chime-in, “Yeah, remember fifty years ago when we were kids?  The tree would not go up until Christmas Eve; carols would never be heard till real close to Christmas; there were some added days of fast and abstinence during Advent; even Christmas Eve was a day of penance!  Wasn’t that better?  We so looked forward to Christmas because we waited!”

But – - as the Annual Advent Argument continues – - the next person observed, “But, there’s nothing we can do about it!  Society begins the Christmas season on Thanksgiving, and ends it on December 25; the Church starts preparing for Christmas during Advent – - purple vestments, advent wreathes, no carols or decorations in church – - then begins the Christmas season with Mass on Christmas Eve, and ends it on theEpiphany  (the Sunday after New Year’s).  The Church is out of it and will just have to change.”

What to do?  Well, we can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube, as much as we might be nostalgic for a very serious Advent.  So, on the one hand, I guess we’ll have to make some peace with our culture’s way-too-early celebration of Christmas.

But we can hardly forget about Advent altogether! Spiritually, it’s part of our Catholic birthright; and, even from a human point of view, we’ll enjoy Christmas a lot more if we wait . . . as the old saying goes, “pleasure delayed is pleasure enjoyed.”

For instance, just last Thursday, I enjoyed an evening at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary in Crestwood.  It was a magnificent Evening Prayer, followed by the seminary Thanksgiving Dinner (a week after the feast itself, since the community had been at home for their own family Thanksgiving.)  Great, I thought:  we’ll have turkey, dressing, gravy, pumpkin pie . . . bring it on!  But, we get to the table for a very delicious meal, and no meat!

“We’ve begun our forty day Advent fasting to prepare for Christmas, and we Orthodox abstain from meat,” my host explained.

They haven’t “lost” Advent. Neither should we!

So, here are a few ideas I might propose to preserve at least some seriousness about Advent:

–last night I was at our seminary for Advent Lessons and Carols.  It was splendid!

For a little over an hour, we had readings from the Bible about all the preparations for and prophesies of the coming of the Messiah, with the classical Advent hymns, and even one or two actual Christmas carols at the end to remind us of our goal.  It was a real concentration on the waiting of the People of Israel for the Messiah, a genuine Advent experience;

–Let’s take the two magnificent Advent feasts of Our Lady – - December 8, the Immaculate Conception, and December 12, Our Lady of Guadalupe, – - very attentively;

–don’t forget the advent wreath, the advent calendar, and the Jesse Tree;      

– okay, if you have to, put the tree-up now, but maybe only gradually decorate it, a few more ornaments each day, for instance, so it’s not in “full bloom” until December 24.  I was at Holy Trinity Parish at West Point Saturday, for example, and the trees were already up, but not decorated so there was a sense of expectation; or, even at St. Patrick’s Cathedral the crib is already up – - since thousands visit daily – - but the manger is dramatically empty, with the baby Jesus not arriving until Christmas.  While the visitors admire the crib scene, they realize someone is missing – - Jesus! – - and are reminded what Advent is all about;

–How about fasting from meat on the Fridays of Advent, like we do in Lent?

–A good, sincere confession before Christmas!  (Our Advent Reconciliation Monday, with confessors available for four hours in every parish, is December 17  this year);

–Pay attention to the daily Mass readings for Advent, preferably, of course, at Mass itself; but, even if you can’t attend, get a missalette and meditate on the Readings from the Bible;

–Acts of charity for the poor;

–And, finally, let’s look on the bright side; okay, we admit that society – - including ourselves – - start celebrating Christmas way too soon, usually forgetting about Advent preparation.  But, at least we can thank God that such noble sentiments abound this time of the year:  friendship, generosity, family unity, rallying for the poor and hungry, attention to babies and children, gift-giving, happy memories, goodwill.  I’ll take that anytime of the year!

However, wherever, whenever you do it . . . please do Advent!  It’s too significant to forget!  Christmas will be a lot happier if we prepare and wait . . .

Again, a blessed Advent!

Cardinal Dolan: Reflections on Election Day

The following come from Cardinal Dolan:

The 2012 campaign is over, and the dust is settling.

After asking me how our recovery from Hurricane Sandy is going, most folks these days then inquire about how I think “the Church did” on election day.

Such a question usually triggers a mini-catechism lesson from me, as I reply that, actually, “the Church” wasn’t on the ballot, and the election was hardly a referendum on “the Church.” The Church, I go on, was founded by the one who stated that “My kingdom is not of this world,” and whose members consider the statement of St. Paul, “We have our true citizenship in heaven,” as inspired by God. The Bible’s caution, “Put not your trust in princes,” would today probably be rendered, “Put not your trust in politicians.”

All true enough, and, in a genuine way, this attitude gives us a benign indifference to politics and elections. We “seek first the Kingdom of God,” not the power and platforms of worldly politics.

But this “indifference” is tempered by the fact of faithful citizenship. We are, as a matter of fact, very concerned about matters in this world, precisely because God has revealed truths about the human person that have serious implications for people of faith. So, yes, while we are much more passionate about heaven than earth, about the teachings of Jesus and His Church than the platforms of any party or the promises of any candidate, we do have a duty to bring the values of faith to the political process.

Did we, Tuesday a week ago?

The data is still coming in, and will be months in arriving and being interpreted. But, once again, it seems as if “we won some, we lost some.”

One issue of deep concern to Catholics and many, many others is the defense of marriage from those who would presume to redefine it to suit contemporary movements (e.g., divorce on demand, “trial” marriage, or “same sex” marriage.) Up until this election day, 32 states had given their people the chance to “redefine marriage” (an oxymoron for us), and 32 said no! (Some states took a more sinister route, ignoring a referendum, and allowing the legislature to tamper with the definition.)

The news last election day was not as bright, as the dilution of the essence of marriage won in three states. So, it’s 32-3. But, there’s no denying that the “winds are changing.” I’m told that the results were close in those three states, and that the exit polls showed that people of faith voted not to redefine marriage.

The death penalty is another issue of concern to those who believe that the promotion of the dignity of the human person and the protection of human life is the normative guide in our voting. Here again the results were not positive. The electorate in California had the chance to reject this lethal and unjust penalty. The Church in California did its best to preach the “Gospel of Life,” but apparently was less than effective. The referendum lost.

Better news in Maryland, where the Church was true to our birthright of advocacy for the immigrant, and was part of a coalition very successful in pushing for the Dream Act, allowing immigrant children to attend college; and a ray of sunshine in Massachusetts, as Cardinal Sean O’Malley led a strong ecumenical and community based effort to defeat euthanasia.

It gets touchy when we try to analyze the presidential election with the lens of faith. Some assume that the re-election of the president was a setback for people of faith. That may be an exaggeration. There is no denying that the president and his party are on record in promoting guidelines that gravely intrude upon religious freedom, and in their desire to expand unfettered access to abortion at all stages. These two issues are of towering import to people inspired by the principles of human dignity and the sanctity of life.

The polls show that Catholics voted for the president, but that such support was lower than four years ago; and that Catholics who attend Sunday Mass regularly heavily supported his opponent. These statistics would support a contention that Catholics do indeed let their faith have a say in the politics.

Of course, through the eyes of faith, neither candidate was perfect, as no political leader ever can be.

Some general impressions and worries do seem dominant 10 days later:

• Thank God we are citizens of a country where campaigns and elections occur peacefully. Not every country, tragically, can say that.

• While we may be weary of conflict over political issues, even within the household of faith, it at least shows that we Catholic take our citizenship seriously, and do try our best to let the light of faith illuminate our political decisions.

• I do worry about campaigns that let candidates off easy when it comes to substantive content on urgent issues, concentrating instead upon soundbites and caricatures.

• I am concerned about the lopsided influence of well-oiled PACs, funded by the rich on both sides. (The bishops in the state of Washington report that they were outspent 12 to 1 in their attempt to defend marriage; Cardinal O’Malley tells us that his opponents, promoting euthanasia, had all the money they needed for ads.)

• I worry that the Democrats have gone from wanting to keep abortion “safe, legal, and rare” to the party that wants abortion at every stage of pregnancy, with no defense at all of the baby in the womb, completely funded by the government.

• I fear the Republicans have turned their backs on immigrants, succumbing to the old American curse of nativism.

• I’m concerned about a growing sentiment in our country that turns John Kennedy’s lofty challenge on its head, as more and more now chant, “Ask not what I can do for my country, but what my government can do for me.”

• I worry about the popular wave of branding people who want to protect the life of the baby in the womb, and defend marriage as traditionally understood and given, as narrow-minded bigots trying to “impose” their outmoded views on others.

• And I fear the dictatorship of the self: those on one side who insist that my money, my property, my income are all mine, and I have no duty to others, especially the poor; those on the other side who claim that my body, my urges, my sexual preferences, my life, my choices are supreme, and will not be subject to the common good. (Even to the right to life of the baby in the womb).

When all is said and done, we plod along, knowing that this side of Gabriel’s trumpet, we’ll never have a perfect setup, that Christ is our King, that “we have here no lasting home,” and that faith and the freedom to live it out is the greatest protection of all to the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of life.

Cardinal Dolan on the Cure of Ars

We work at giving our people good examples of humble, repentant pastors, aware of our own personal and corporate sins, constantly responding to the call of Jesus to interior conversion. Remember the Curé of Ars? When a concerned group of his worried supporters came to him with a stinging protest letter from a number of parishioners, demanding the bishop to remove John Vianney as their curé, claiming he was a sinner, ignorant, and awkward, St. John Vianney took the letter, read it carefully … and signed the petition!

-Cardinal Dolan (at his address to Bishops at the USCCB this week)

Cardinal Dolan: "Only those themselves first evangelized can then evangelize"

The following comes from the CNA:

The mission of evangelization, which is critical to the calling of every bishop, must begin with penance and interior renewal, said Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, president of the U.S. bishops' conference.

"We cannot engage culture unless we let Him first engage us; we cannot dialogue with others unless we first dialogue with Him; we cannot challenge unless we first let Him challenge us," the cardinal told his fellow bishops.

"Only those themselves first evangelized can then evangelize," he stressed, encouraging the U.S. bishops to adopt a "spirit of conversion born of our own interior renewal."

The cardinal delivered his remarks to the Nov. 12--15 fall assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which is being held in Baltimore.

He acknowledged numerous "urgent issues" that call for the bishops' "renewed and enthusiastic commitment," including the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, the call to a New Evangelization and the challenge of engaging the culture on critical topics.

But it is important to keep "first things first," allowing Christ to remain the center of focus in all of the Church's work, Cardinal Dolan emphasized.

Amid the Church's many efforts to serve those who are in need, the task of evangelization remains a constant underlying calling, he explained.

Cardinal Dolan also touched on the current Year of Faith and the recent Synod of Bishops on evangelization.

Both of these events are aimed at "the effective transmission of the faith for the transformation of the world," he said, recalling Pope Benedict’s words that ‘we ourselves are the first to need re-evangelization."

The final message of the synod on the New Evangelization, he noted, acknowledged that the Church's ordained leaders "should never think that the new evangelization does not concern us personally."

"The invitation to evangelize becomes a call to conversion," the synod message said, noting that the bishops "can never really be equal to the Lord's calling and mandate to proclaim His Gospel to the nations."

Therefore, Cardinal Dolan said, the bishops of the United States must be open to being evangelized themselves, realizing that "the Sacrament of Reconciliation evangelizes the evangelizers, as it brings us sacramentally into contact with Jesus, who calls us to conversion of heart."

Unfortunately, the cardinal observed, while the Second Vatican Council called for a renewal of confession, the sacrament declined in the years following the council.

"We became very good in the years following the Council in calling for the reform of structures, systems, institutions and people other than ourselves," he said.

Cardinal Dolan acknowledged that those reforms have played an important and transformative role in the Church, but said it is also important to remember that "in no way can the New Evangelization be reduced to a program, a process, or a call to structural reform," because it is "first and foremost a deeply personal conversion within."

He encouraged his fellow bishops to "make the Year of Faith a time to renew the Sacrament of Penance," through efforts such as the Keep the Light On confession initiative during Advent and reflecting on a return to embracing all Fridays as particular days of penance.

A personal commitment to the sacrament is also crucial to effective transformation, he explained, so that the bishops may offer the "witness of a repentant heart."

"We work at giving our people good examples of humble, repentant pastors, aware of our own personal and corporate sins, constantly responding to the call of Jesus to interior conversion," he said.

Cardinal Dolan sees heartbreak, hope in Sandy's wake

The following comes from the CNA:

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy’s destructive passage across the East Coast, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York expressed his “solidarity in love and prayer with so many who are suffering.”

“What do you say? Our hearts are broken when you see the loss of life, the grieving families, the devastation, the ruination,” Cardinal Dolan told Fox News co-anchor Martha MacCallum Oct. 31.

“But throughout all of it, too, you begin to see a glimmer of light and hope: people coming together.”

He said that people can become “selfish” and “violent” or they can “pitch in, in solidarity and community, to help one another, to help rescue one another.”

“Thanks be to God, that’s what’s happening throughout Connecticut, New Jersey, and throughout our beloved New York,” the cardinal said. “The best, the most noble sentiments of people are coming out.”

The storm killed at least 80 people across the U.S. and 38 people in New York City alone after making landfall Oct. 29. Hundreds of thousands of people in New York City remain without access to power, water, heat and transportation.

Cardinal Dolan said Catholic Charities and Catholic health care facilities are in action and are helping those in need. He plans to visit some of the affected areas.

An iconic photo of a lone statue of the Virgin Mary in front of a destroyed home in the fire- and flood-ravaged Queens neighborhood of Breezy Point caused him particular concern.

“I love Breezy Point,” he said, describing its local pastor Msgr. Michael Curran as “a very close friend.”

“I’m worried because I can’t get in touch with him,” said the cardinal, who added that the priest had told the cardinal he would stay in the area “with my people.”

“I just trust he’s well,” the cardinal told Fox News.

On Nov. 1 Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn also commented on the storm.

“Hurricane Sandy has left her trail of death and destruction across our city and region,” he said in his diocese’s newspaper The Tablet.

“We all pray first and foremost for our fellow New Yorkers and their families who perished. While things may always be replaced, we are all mindful of how important our homes are in our lives and so our thoughts and prayers turn to those whose property was destroyed or damaged.”

He announced a second collection in his diocese’s parishes to fund Catholic Charities’ relief efforts for those affected in Brooklyn and Queens, most of whom are middle class or working poor.

Bishop DiMarzio said that the response of faith to natural disasters is “not so much about the question why is there evil but the conviction that the power of God always conquers sin and evil.”

“The deep has come to us in this storm, but we must always be ready to meet the challenge and put out into the deep to meet the needs of those less fortunate than ourselves,” he said. “Please be as generous as you can to help those who are in such great need.”

Both Cardinal Dolan and Bishop DiMarzio dispensed with Catholics’ normal obligation to attend Mass on the Feast of All Saints in their dioceses.

Catholic Charities agencies are performing damage assessments and are reaching out to parishes to offer support. The agency is working closely with government and other disaster relief partners.