Ruminations of an Amateur Monastic
On July 20, 1969, man first set foot upon the Moon. The project that took us to the Moon was called Apollo, ostensibly after the Greek god associated with hunting, harmony, and healing. Perhaps the folks over at NASA had sense of humour, or maybe God the poet was at work again, for July 20 is also the feast of […]
» Read moreThe blog was down for several hours today, and for that I apologize. The problem was related to the update of a plug-in that it’s not even using right now. The offending bit of code has been exorcised from the blog. Hopefully that will put an end to it. If you happen to notice anything weird (well, weirder than usual), […]
» Read moreThis Saint Benedict’s feast (or memorial, depending on your calendar), I thought I’d do something a little different. I had hoped to attend Mount Angel Abbey’s Saint Benedict Festival today, but unfortunately we had a meeting this morning, and Francine has a wedding shower this afternoon. Maybe next year. The Benedictine Order celebrates two feasts of Saint Benedict: that of […]
» Read moreDeacon Greg Kandra, whom I’ve mentioned before, gave a great interview to America Magazine. He talks about his blog, his life, his vocation, and his thoughts on the Church. I was particularly struck by his advice for those discerning the diaconate: When I began formation, after a very brief period of discernment, just a few weeks, I essentially said to […]
» Read moreEight years ago today, Pope Benedict XVI caused to be published the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum. With the stroke of a pen, the ancient rites of the Mass (last updated in 1962) could suddenly be celebrated by any priest of the Roman Rite. Deo gratias! This ancient form of the Mass, the so-called Extraordinary Form, is a great gift to […]
» Read moreHappy feast of Saint Thomas the Apostle! Today wasn’t always his feast. In fact in my Monastic Diurnal, today is the Memorial of Saints Processus and Martinian. I’m sure these holy martyrs will forgive me if I choose to celebrate the Apostle today instead. Saint Thomas, pray for us.
» Read moreThe Road to Roncesvalles The time has come where I’m checking flight prices every Tuesday. Today, for the first time, I found a round-trip ticket to Madrid for our dates for less than a thousand dollars. My goal is $800 or less. That should happen sometime near the middle or end of July. Once we have flight times in place, […]
» Read moreToday the Church celebrates one of her oldest feasts, commemorating the martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul. I prayed at the tombs of these apostles during my time in Rome in 2005. With the body of Saint John Paul II mere feet from me, I knelt near Peter’s tomb at the high altar of the dark and nearly empty Vatican […]
» Read moreYesterday, 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 […]
» Read moreTomorrow being the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, today is Saint John’s Eve. Throughout much of Europe, the tradition on this day is to light bonfires. Here’s ours. Not much of a bonfire, strictly speaking, but sufficient for getting rid of some of the scrap wood hanging about. And a pleasant enough task on a warm […]
» Read moreThe Anchoress looks at something I’ve thought about for a while now: does Catholicism ask too little of us? It is striking to consider that while some in the church are suggesting that we need to require less of people, we are losing members to religions that are perceived to require “more” of them — particularly as pertains to prayer […]
» Read moreToday 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 […]
» Read moreI’m still working my way through Laudato Si’, but in the meantime, here are some more great analyses: The Terrible Problem with Laudato Si’ The difficulty, the dreadful, unspeakable, shield-your-eyes difficulty with the Pope’s new encyclical on the environment comes down to one nasty problem: The man is right. For the popular press, hoping all this time that Pope Francis […]
» Read morePope 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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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 […]
» Read moreFrom the Archives: How does the human brain wrap itself around the eternal and infinite love of God for His creation? How can can we even begin to comprehend the depth of love in Christ’s wounded heart as he pours Himself out for us sinners at Calvary? The truth is, we can’t. The saints and the mystics may catch glimpses, […]
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