January 2009

January is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus, which is celebrated on January 3.

Prayer for a Blessing on the New Year O sacred and adorable Trinity, hear our prayers on behalf of our holy Father the Pope, our Bishops, our clergy, and for all that are in authority over us. Bless, we beseech Thee, during the coming year, the whole Catholic Church; convert heretics and unbelievers; soften the hearts of sinners so that they may return to Thy friendship; give prosperity to our country and peace among the nations of the world; pour down Thy blessings upon our friends, relatives, and acquaintances, and upon our enemies, if we have any; assist the poor and the sick; have pity on the souls of those whom this year has taken from us; and do Thou be merciful to those who during the coming year will be summoned before Thy judgment seat. May all our actions be preceded by Thy inspirations and carried on by Thy assistance, so that all our prayers and works, having been begun in Thee, may likewise be ended through Thee. Amen.

The Holy Father's prayer intentions for the month are:

Family: That the family may increasingly be a place of formation in charity, personal growth, and the transmission of the faith.

Christian Unity: That Christian denominations may strive for full unity so as to be more credible witnesses of the Gospel to a world in need of a "new evangelization."

Best of 2008 -- Part 4

In this last installment of 2008 in review I give you posts about the Catholic Church, Liturgy, Scripture, Catechism, and Christian Life.

I hope that everyone has a blessed 2009.

A Pure Sacrifice
Harmony of the Lectionary
Liturgical Language & Style
Being Catholic Matters
"Real" Christianity
Tetragrammaton
Protecting the Flock
Schism & the Divided Kingdom
Schism & the Sons of Korah
Sinning Against the Faith
Sola Scriptura
Approaching Scripture
Faith or Magic?
Christian Maintenance
Sts. Peter & Paul in Rome
The Path
The Last Song You Hear on Earth

Best of 2008 -- Part 3

Our year in review continues with postings about prayer. Just click the title to read an article.

7 Minutes in Heaven
Quiet, Dark Churches
Hanging Out with Jesus
Always on Time
Speak, Lord
What's Your Spirtual Type?
Rosary @ Holy Spirit Church
Chaplet of St. Michael

Best of 2008 -- Part 2

Let's continue our review of articles from 2008.

This time I've listed articles that discuss the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Again, just click on the title to read the article.

Think About Mary
Mary on Pentecost
What God Says About Mary
His Mother as Helper
Lily Among Thorns
St. John of Damascus: Theotokos
Like Mary at Communion
Our Lady of the Sign, Ark of Mercy
Aspirations to the Blessed Virgin
Mary for Evangelicals

Sunday After Nativity

Today the Eastern Church celebrates St. Joseph the Betrothed, the Prophet King David, and James the Kinsman of the Lord. On the Western calendar Sts. Joseph and James have their own day, but David doesn't. Happy namesday to me.

Come let us extol David the king, the grandparent of God; for from him sprang forth out of a stem, namely the Virgin, and from that did shine forth Christ the Flower, renewing the creation of Adam and Eve from corruption: for He is compassionate. (Sticheron, Tone 1)

Best of 2008 -- Part 1

As 2008 comes to a close I'd like to recall articles from the past year on various topics. Today I will list some articles on the work of the Holy Spirit, Charismatic gifts, and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Click each title to read the articles.

Surprising Connection between Rome and American Pentecostals
Renewal vs. Revival
Dark Nights & Deserts
Speaking in Tongues (Book Review)
The Importance of Hierarchy for accountability
Perfect Pitch
Docility to the Spirit
Heart of Fire -- St. Philip Neri
Spiritual Gifts in the Fourth Century
The Spiritual Life

From the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI
Sermon in Washington DC
The Power of the Spirit -- World Youth Day 2008
Rediscover the Baptism in the Holy Spirit

Prayers to the Holy Spirit
O God the Holy Ghost
Riga Quod est Aridum
Lava Quod est Sordidum
Lux Beatissima

God Enters History

God seeks out man in the midst of his worldly and earthly connections and relationships; God, whom no one, not even the purest of men, can discover for himself, comes to man of His own volition and enters into relationship with him... God is the one who acts, and it is He who brings salvation to man. (1)

He [God] has entered into history, has come to meet man, and thus man can go to meet Him. He [man] can unite himself to God, because God has united Himself with man. (2)

Human listening to the message of faith is no passive reception of hitherto unknown information; rather, it is the awakening of our submerged conscience and the opening up of the powers of understanding that are awaiting the light of truth within us. (3)

The longing for the infinite is alive and unquenchable within man. None of the attempted answers will do; only the God who Himself became finite in order to tear open our finitude and lead us out into the wide spaces of His infinity, only He corresponds to the question of our being. (4)

In the revelation of God it is, in the end, precisely a matter of Him, the Living and True One, breaking into our world and thus breaking open the prison of our theories, by means of whose iron bars we seek to protect ourselves against the coming of God into our lives. (4)

~Pope Benedict XVI

(1) The Unity & Diversity of Religions
(2) The Truth of Christianity
(3) Truth-Tolerance-Freedom
(4) The New Questions that Arose in the Nineties
** Compiled in the collection "Truth & Tolerance"

Nativitas Christi in Bethlem

Christ is Born, Glorify Him!

Chanted by Reader Nader Hajjar, Ottawa.
Video by kalamation and Fr. Francois Beyrouti.

The Last Song You Hear on Earth

In the mid 1980's I had a garage band called "Vladimir's Universe" that performed in local clubs. My mentor was a guy named Tom V. Silvia. He had a studio in a garage where he recorded and produced a demo tape for me.

After losing touch with him for 20 years I decided to Google him and found that he passed away in 2007. On his memorial page I found out that he was a devout Catholic who was involved at a parish here in Ann Arbor. Requiescat in pace! May his memory be eternal!

I bring this all up because there was a recording of him on the memorial page. Tom mentioned that in Catholic teaching the last sense lost when you die is hearing. That's why the priest whispers in the ear of someone who died.

Being a musician, Tom felt it was important to leave with a good song. He chose "Love Supreme" by John Coltrane--partially because of it's length.

The Eastern tradition (Orthodox & Byzantine Catholic) is to chant the entire Psalter for the dying person. I hope that my kids will do this for me. If God would allow it, I would love to pass while my oldest son is chanting Psalm 51 "Miserere mei, Deus" in Tone IV 4.

Fourth Sunday of Advent

We beseech Thee, Almighty God, to purify our consciences by Thy daily visitation, that when Thy Son our Lord cometh He may find in us a mansion prepared for Himself; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Spiritual Gifts in the 4th Century

Early-fourth century Church Historian Eusebius of Caesarea had this to say about the gifts of the Spirit in his time:

For some of them drive out demons effectually and truly, so that those who have been cleansed from evil spirits frequently believe and unite with the Church. Others have a foreknowledge of future events, and visions, and prophetic revelations. Still others heal the sick by the laying on of hands, and restore them to health. And, as we have said, even dead persons have been raised, and remained with us many years.

As also we hear that many brethren in the Church possess prophetic gifts, and speak, through the Spirit, with all kinds of tongues, and bring to light the secret things of men for their good, and declare the mysteries of God.

~Church History 5:7