Moments in Time – Page 16 – The World is Quiet Here

The World is Quiet Here

Notes on the Transitions,
Number 8 in a Series:
Farewell to Father Maurer

31 August 2015 2015 transitions - Holy Rosary / St. Joseph, community, Deacon Gary Rose, Divine Office, Francine my love, Holy Rosary Parish Tacoma, Moments in Time, Rev. Jacob Maurer, Saint Joseph Parish in Tacoma, The Sacred Liturgy

Father Maurer’s last Sunday Masses at Holy Rosary and Saint Joseph were this past weekend. Following the Noon Mass, a tremendous celebration was held for him in the old convent building. The noon Mass was positively packed. The last time I saw so many folks crowded into Holy Rosary was when Archbishop Sartain celebrated Corpus Christi here in 2013. I […]

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On the Two Cities

28 August 2015 History, J.R.R. Tolkien, Meditations, Moments in Time, Prayer, Saints

Charles Dickens’ great classic, A Tale of Two Cities, begins with words that could apply to any tumultuous age, ours included. Perhaps especially ours. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, […]

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Mazel Tov!

24 August 2015 Family, Francine my love, Moments in Time, Pistachio House

Yesterday, my step-daughter Michaela married Mr. Corey McKee in a lovely outdoor ceremony. Although she was raised a Reform Jew, it was a largely secular ceremony. There were some nice nods to the Jewish traditions, though. In particular, Michaela’s father gave one of the traditional blessings in Hebrew. He then blessed a glass of wine, which the couple drank before […]

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Today’s Solemnity of the Assumption

15 August 2015 2015 transitions - Holy Rosary / St. Joseph, Chant, community, Francine my love, Holy Days, Holy Rosary Parish Tacoma, Latin, Mary, Moments in Time, Prayer, Rev. Jacob Maurer, The Sacred Liturgy

This morning’s Mass at Holy Rosary was the last solemnity celebrated together by the parishes of Holy Rosary and Saint Joseph. Father Maurer celebrated the Mass to honor Our Lady and give glory to God, and it was beautiful, uplifting, and holy. Father chanted the prayers. We chanted the Ordinary of the Mass in English. Francine read from the Revelation […]

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On the Vigil of the Assumption

14 August 2015 Annual, Dreams and Visions, Francine my love, Holy Days, Mary, Moments in Time, Polyphony, Saint Patrick Parish in Tacoma

On the 15th of August 2004, Francine and I walked into Saint Patrick’s Church in Tacoma. This was the Solemnity of the Assumption, and ever since we have counted this as our “Catholic anniversary”. On that day, I discovered in a moment that every doubt I ever had about the truth of Christianity had collapsed. God in His wisdom had […]

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On this Feast of Lawrence, a New Chapter and a Prayer

10 August 2015 Moments in Time, Prayer, Saints, Vocation

Today is the feast of the deacon martyr, Saint Lawrence. There are so many stories about him, that it’s hard to sum him up briefly. In the confused days after the martyrdom of Pope Sixtus, the administration of the Roman churches fell to the Deacon, Lawrence. He was captured by the Imperial authorities, but he bargained for his release. The […]

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Notes on the Transitions,
Number 1 in a Series

23 July 2015 2015 transitions - Holy Rosary / St. Joseph, community, Holy Rosary Parish Tacoma, inside baseball, Latin, Moments in Time, Rev. Jacob Maurer, Rev. Kenneth Baker S.J., Rev. Michael Stinson F.S.S.P., Rev. Nicholas Wichert, Saint Joseph Parish in Tacoma

The very clever amongst you no doubt noticed in my previous post that our new pastor was not named pastor of both of our parishes. Let me explain. The parishes of Holy Rosary and St. Joseph have been joined at the hip for something like twenty years. They were first consolidated under a single pastor during the last of our […]

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Bishop-Elect Robert Barron

21 July 2015 Bishop Robert Barron, History, inside baseball, Moments in Time, Pope Francis I

The headline says it all. I cannot imagine better news on a Tuesday morning. I’m more than slightly stunned. He was only appointed Rector of Mundelein Seminary three years ago. At that time I wrote: As both of my long-time readers know, I am a fan of Fr. Robert Barron. His Catholicism Project is to religion what Carl Sagan’s Cosmos […]

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One Small Step

28 June 2015 Francine my love, Moments in Time, Rev. Jacob Maurer, Vocation

Yesterday, Francine and I drove up to Sacred Heart church in Fairhaven, near Bellingham, to attend an informational session on the Diaconate. We put about 250 miles on the car. The talk was given by the director of the program, Rev. Frank Schuster. It was videotaped, so I’m sure it will be available on the Archdiocese’s web page presently. Francine […]

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Giving the Devil Benefit of Law

22 June 2015 Annual, Church and State, Divine Office, History, Meditations, Moments in Time, Prayer, Saints

Today is the memorial of one of my favourite saints, Saint Thomas More, who died at the hands of King Henry VIII (that villain). That is, it is his memorial in the modern Roman calendar. In the Benedictine calendar, it is no such thing – you’d have to wait for July 9 for that. Fortunately, I’ve become familiar enough with […]

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Laudato Si’

18 June 2015 Moments in Time, Pope Francis I

Pope Francis’ new encyclical on ecology and the environment was published this morning, and already my RSS feeds and inbox are filling up with those praising it, criticizing it, or just plain analyzing it. I will begin reading it at lunch, but I’ve no hope of finishing it for a while. You can download a copy from the Vatican web […]

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The State of a Parish in Transition

15 June 2015 2015 transitions - Holy Rosary / St. Joseph, community, Holy Rosary Parish Tacoma, inside baseball, Moments in Time, Prayer, Rev. Jacob Maurer, Rev. Nicholas Wichert, The Sacred Liturgy

Years ago, when we were parishioners at St. Rita, our long-time pastor retired. At that time, I wrote what has oddly become one of the most Googled posts on this blog, Hopes and Prayers for a New Pastor. At that time, I said: Being a pastor is one of the most difficult jobs in the world, I think. The responsibility […]

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Consolations of the Feast

08 June 2015 community, Francine my love, Holy Days, Holy Rosary Parish Tacoma, Mary, Moments in Time, Pope Benedict XVI, Rev. Jacob Maurer, The Sacred Liturgy, Vocation

Several things crowd my mind this morning. Chiefly, I’m still processing the Corpus Christi Masses and procession we celebrated at our parish yesterday. But first, a slight digression. Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces On the calendar used in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces. I wrote an article several […]

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Corpus Christi Mass and Procession

01 June 2015 community, Holy Days, Holy Rosary Parish Tacoma, Moments in Time, Saint Joseph Parish in Tacoma, The Sacred Liturgy

This coming Sunday my parish will participate in an outdoor Procession of the Blessed Sacrament following the Noon Mass. The Masses that day will be celebrated Ad Orientem. This will be the third year we’ve taken Jesus through the streets of Tacoma and amongst His people. If you are anywhere in the area, I hope you will consider joining us. […]

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Blessed Óscar Romero

23 May 2015 Church and State, History, Moments in Time, Pope Francis I, Prayer, Saints

On 24 March 1980, Archbishop Óscar Romero of San Salvador was gunned down while celebrating Mass. While it is generally recognized (and admitted by the government) that the assassins were members of a death squad sent by the government of El Salvador, to this day no one has been prosecuted for the crime. And what had the archbishop done to […]

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Feast of the Holy Abbots of Cluny – Found!

29 April 2015 Divine Office, History, Moments in Time, Prayer, Saints, The Sacred Liturgy

Last year on this day, I was one frustrated oblate. Today is the (combined) feast of four great Abbots of the Benedictine Order: Saints Odo, Majolus, Odilo, and Hugh. They were all good and holy men, and during the course of their reigns over the Abbey of Cluny and its associated priories, they reformed western monasticism – indeed, it could […]

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Francis Cardinal George (1937 – 2015)

17 April 2015 Moments in Time

I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history. Francis Cardinal George, OMIArchbishop of Chicago Cardinal George, Archbishop Emeritus of […]

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