Category Archives: News

News

Founder of the SOLTs Passes Away – Fr. Jim Flanagan

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Fr FlanOn Holy Thursday, March 24, 2016, Fr. James Flanagan, SOLT, founder of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, peacefully died, surrounded by members of his family, both immediate and spiritual. The SOLTs were established in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1958, the perfect springboard, Father Jim thought, to eventually reach out to people across the globe. Today they are in 13 countries around the world.

Father attended the University of Notre Dame, with studies interrupted by World War II, and was also a player on the football team. When he told his coach, the famous Frank Leahy, that he was leaving the team to study for the priesthood, Coach Leahy said, “That is the best possible life, Jim. You go.”

SOLT fr__jim_and_sistersAnd go he did. After an unmistakable call from God, Jim established the SOLTs, a Society within the Church that would emphasize relationships as flowing from the Holy Trinity with Mary as the Mother and Mediatrix of this communion.

Their defining characteristics are:

Trinitarian: They exist to give honor and glory to the Most Holy Trinity, to exalt His majesty, and to manifest His greatness.

Marian: They strive to imitate our Blessed Mother Mary in her relationships with the persons of the Trinity, as beloved daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son, and spouse of the Holy Spirit.

Catholic: As loyal and loving members of Christ and His Vicar on earth, the Pope, they are faithful to the Magisterium and devoted to the Holy Eucharist.

Missionary: They serve in areas of deepest apostolic need, as defined by the local bishops where they serve.

Family: They are a family composed of priests, deacons, religious brothers and sisters, single laity and families serving together in the missions and bound together in their spirituality.

soltIn his funeral homily, Fr. Peter Marsalek, General Priest of SOLT, said:

Six years after the founding of SOLT, the Vatican II document on the Church, Lumen Gentium, spoke of Mary in a Trinitarian perspective as the beloved daughter of the Father, temple of the Holy Spirit and Mother of the Son.  In my humble opinion, it was a significant and beautiful Providential confirmation of sorts of the inspiration Fr. Jim received to found a community dedicated to Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity.  In our call to be the beloved children of the Father, the power of the Holy Spirit working interiorly within us leads us to be conformed to the Image of the Son in order to live as the family of God.  And this expression of our spirituality is manifested most beautifully when we are able to serve meaningfully with one another as a family of priests, sisters and lay people, united to Holy Mother Church through the authority of the bishops under whom we serve! 

Father Jim, may you rest in peace.

 

 

News, Women's Communities

Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary Celebrate 100 Years

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On March 29, 2016, the Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary celebrated 100 years since their foundation with a Centennial Gala.  In attendance, was Timothy Cardinal Dolan as well as many other dignitaries and well-known entertainers.

osf nyThe sisters were founded in 1916 in Savannah, Georgia, by Fr. Ignatius Lissner, SMA, a Frenchman, and Miss Elizabeth Williams, who became Mother Mary Theodore, FHM, the first Superior General.

Some years prior, Father Lissner had received the blessing of the Holy Father to establish missions to serve the black population in the main cities of Georgia. Father Lissner and other SMAs, in six years, established six churches and seven parochial schools in Georgia.

But in 1915, the state legislature proposed a bill that would outlaw the teaching of black children by white teachers. Alarmed, Father Lissner, a member of the Society of African Missions,  and Miss Elizabeth Williams, an African American woman, founded a new congregation, the Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary in Savannah, Georgia to minister to and evangelize the African American community. This title was chosen to inspire the members of the congregation to serve their neighbors and each other “with the same zeal and love with which Mary served her son Jesus Christ”.

osf ny2Their life is centered on the Holy Eucharist, the Sacrament of Unity and Transformation. They pray as Jesus taught His disciples for each other, for the grace of self-transformation, renewal of neighbor, the Church, our society, for victims of injustice and for peace and justice in our broken world (Luke: 11:1-13).  They focus mainly on the promotion of Catholic social justice teaching, youth evangelization and healing missions, education of the young and feeding the needy.

We have a firm belief with experience that Prayer works miracles and ardent adoration of the Blessed Sacrament has power to heal wounds.

News

Mother Angelica, PCPA – R.I.P.

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A photo from our 1995 National Meeting when Mother Angelica received the Pro Fidelitate et Virtute Award. Mother was a strong early supporter of the IRL  and we were blessed to have her as a speaker on several occasions.

Mother Angelica 001

EWTN issued this statement yesterday:

We ask for your prayers for the soul of EWTN’s beloved foundress, Mother Angelica, who passed away today on Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016 at about 5:00p.m. Central time. Please remain with us as we remember her joyful words, extraordinary works, and incredible life throughout this week.

 

News

Desert Nuns New Abbess – Mother Marie Andre, PCPA

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The Desert Nuns Celebrate the Installation of their First Abbess

(photo //johnberingphotography.com/)

PCPA

The sisters celebrated St. Joseph’s Day, March 19th, with a visit from their bishop, Thomas Olmsted, and the installation of their first abbess – Mother Marie Andre, PCPA!

The banner behind the sisters reads : Ego Semper Vos Protegam -I Will Always Protect You – words from Our Lord to Saint Clare of Assisi.

PCPA2

Three sisters, including then-Sister Marie Andre who professed Solemn Vows in 2005, came to Arizona in 2005 from Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Alabama. On December  29th, 2015, by decree of the Holy See, Our Lady of Solitude Monastery officially became an autonomous Monastery of Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration.  Sr. Marie Andre was appointed the first abbess.

Some might look upon Jesus’ call as a hiccup in a young woman’s plans for the future for having a family and a career, and this decision is often incomprehensible and viewed as a contradiction because she is denying herself the chance to have children and a career.

But it’s not puzzling or bewildering to the one being called and hearing the Voice of the Lord!

This freedom is the total dedication to God in our daily life, and so we pray always every day of our lives for the grace to understand better how Jesus calls us.  Mother Marie Andre – June 2015

News

FREE Youth Session at IRL National Meeting

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 revanthonyyouthflyerThe Institute on Religious Life cordially invites youth and young adults to the Saturday, April 2nd session of the 2016 IRL National Meeting on the beautiful campus of Mundelein Seminary. The Saturday session is completely free (lunch included) for young people who register in advance and is a great opportunity to expose them to the gift of consecrated life.

The theme for the National Meeting is “Merciful Like the Father! Celebrating the Year of Mercy.” This special time of grace is intended to challenge all of us to seek out God’s merciful love in our own lives so that we can become instruments of Divine Mercy to others.

Each year over 250 young people from all over the country including Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin attend this powerful session. You’ll see from this year’s youth program flyer that we have a great lineup of speakers and workshops scheduled including Rev. Richard Simon aka “Father Know It All” from Relavant Radio and Rev. Anthony Lajato, OFM Conv. from Marytown. The session will conclude with 4 p.m. Mass celebrated by Most Rev. Robert F. Vasa, Bishop of Santa Rosa and IRL President.
Youth group pic

 As an added bonus this year, an informative and inspiring Shroud of Turin Exhibit will be on display! After extensive medical, historical and scientific research, the Center for the Study of the Passion of the Christ and the Holy Shroud developed this instructive exhibit explaining the history and the scientific evidence. The exhibit features a full-length image of the Shroud and a life-size corpus of Our Lord reflecting the Gospel narratives and scientific findings. It is truly a fascinating and life-changing experience!

Join the IRL April 2nd in celebrating the Jubilee Year of Mercy at the 2016 National Meeting! For more information and to sign up please visit our website.

News

Apostleship of Prayer: March Intentions

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ApostleshipofPrayerThe Holy Father’s prayer intentions for the month of January as well as reflections by Fr. James Kubicki, S.J., National Director of the Apostleship of Prayer.

UNIVERSAL INTENTION

Families in Difficulty.That families in need may receive the necessary support and that children may grow up in healthy and peaceful environments.

Last fall the Synod of Bishops met to discuss some difficult issues surrounding family life and marriage.

In his opening remarks to the Synod, Pope Francis said: “The Church is called to carry out her mission in truth, which is not changed by passing fads or popular opinions.” Then, quoting Pope Benedict XVI, he said: “Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way. In a culture without truth, this is the fatal risk facing love”.

At the same time, he said, the Church is a loving “mother–conscious of her duty to seek out and care for hurting couples with the balm of acceptance and mercy; to be a ‘field hospital’ with doors wide open to whoever knocks in search of help and support; even more, to reach out to others with true love, to walk with our fellow men and women who suffer, to include them and guide them to the wellspring of salvation.”

The Church, he said, “teaches and defends fundamental values, while not forgetting that Jesus said: ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners’ (Mark 2:17).”

Lent and Holy Week during this Jubilee Year of Mercy present a good opportunity for us to practice mercy toward families and children. Let us begin to do so with our prayerful support for all families experiencing difficulties.

EVANGELIZATION INTENTION

Persecuted Christians. That those Christians who, on account of their faith, are discriminated against or are being persecuted, may remain strong and faithful to the Gospel, thanks to the incessant prayer of the Church.

Jesus predicted that his followers would be persecuted. Thus it should come as no surprise that Christians are being discriminated against, threatened, forced to flee, and killed in various parts of the world today.

The reasons behind this persecution are many. In some cases it is not a matter of religious differences but tribal, economic, and class differences. Sometimes persecution arises out of the fear of something new and different from the traditional religion of one’s ancestors. Sometimes being a Christian is seen as being unpatriotic.

Whatever the reasons, the fact is in the past year more Christians have been killed for their faith than followers of any other religion. According to Aid to the Church in Need, “Christianity is on course for extinction in many of its biblical heartlands within a generation, if not before.”

Last Easter, Pope Francis called for “intense prayer and tangible help in the defense and protection of our brothers and sisters, who are being persecuted, exiled, killed, decapitated for the sole reason that they are Christian. They are our martyrs of today, and they are so many, we could say that they are more numerous than in the early centuries.”

Our prayers have power to strengthen our persecuted brothers and sisters, that they may remain faithful to Christ. Let us pray with Easter faith, the faith that the suffering and death of Good Friday leads to the new life of Easter. May our faith unite with the faith of the persecuted and testify to the glory of God before the whole world.

 

News, Pro-life

IRL Affiliates and the 2016 March for Life

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Cantius MarchJanuary 22nd marked the forty-third anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion in the United States. To commemorate the anniversary, pro-lifers from around the country faced great obstacles such as the weather to fill the streets of Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C. as a witness to the dignity of all human life.

Over 5,000 people braved frigid temperatures and packed the streets of downtown Chicago on January 17th. Before marching, however, the event began with Masses for Life.  Several Masses for Life around the Chicago area were sponsored by religious orders and were influenced by their spiritualties such as the Franciscan Litany recited at St. Peter’s in the Loop. During the events, over 2,000 of the IRL’s Merciful Like the Father holy cards were distributed by Fr. Jim Heyd and his team.

Winter Storm Jonas wreaked havoc on the east coast during the weekend of the March for Life in Washington D.C. The weather forced many to stay home and participate in local pro-life events, however, many still converged on our nation’s capital to defend life. One group of 165 were led by Fr. Nathan Caswell, SJC  of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius. After attending the March, they unfortunately shared the fate of many and were stranded in Pennsylvania. They made the best of their situation, however,  and were able to celebrate Mass in the hotel’s bar. They were even joined at Mass by sisters from another IRL affiliate, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist.

walk-for-life16-17Pouring rain could not stop tens of thousands of people from attending the 12th annual Walk for Life in San Francisco. Among those in attendance were students from Thomas Aquinas College. The group led the Walk for Life last year and brought the largest group ever from the school this year with 220 students. The Sisters of Life also attended the Walk for Life and appropriately performed the corporal work of mercy of clothing the naked in this Year of Mercy by  giving their cloaks to protesting women so that they would not become ill before being arrested.

These and other tremendous stories emerged from the events surrounding the forty-third anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. Pro-lifers will not soon forget them as they witnessed to the dignity of all human life.

Consecrated Virgins, News

Consecrated Virginity – A Sign of the Times

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ocv1A recent article on Zenit mentions that at the closing ceremony for the Year of Consecrated Life were many consecrated virgins.

In 1970, the year that the decree Ordo consecrationis virginum was published, there were only a few consecrated virgins. Today, according to a 2015 survey, there are over 4000, found mostly in Europe and the Americas.

This description from the Information packet on the Order of Consecrated Virgins website, describes the beauty of the life very succinctly:

A consecrated virgin, after renewing her resolve of perpetual virginity to God, is set aside as a sacred person who belongs only to Christ. The acting agent in the Consecration is God Himself who accepts the virgin’s promise and spiritually fructifies it through the action of the Holy Spirit.
ocv3This sacramental is reserved to the bishop of the diocese. The consecrated virgin shares intimately in the nature and mission of the Church–she is a living image of the Church’s love forher Spouse while sharing in His redemptive mission.
The consecrated virgin living in the world embodies a definitive vocation in itself. She is not a quasi-Religious,nor is she in a vocation that is in the process of becoming a Religious institute or congregation. Nevertheless, she is a consecrated person, with her bishop as her guide. By virtue of the Consecration, she is responsible to pray for her diocese and clergy.
The consecrated virgin living in the world, as expressed in Canon 604, is irrevocably “consecrated to God, mystically espoused to Christ and dedicated to the service of the Church, when the diocesan bishop consecrates [her] according to the approved liturgical rite.”

To read the complete article, see Zenit.

News

Apostleship of Prayer: February Intentions

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ApostleshipofPrayerThe Holy Father’s prayer intentions for the month of January as well as reflections by Fr. James Kubicki, S.J., National Director of the Apostleship of Prayer.

Care for Creation. That we may take good care of creation–a gift freely given–cultivating and protecting it for future generations. 

Life is a gift. Our very existence is a gift. We did not create ourselves nor are we chance products of blind forces of nature. And we are not God.

That may seem obvious, but from the beginning of human history, people have tried to be God. We see that even today in the way human beings use creation in ways that are contrary to God’s will. According to Genesis 2: 15, humanity was created to work with God, “to cultivate and care for” the earth. Pope Francis wrote in his encyclical Laudato Si: “Once we lose our humility and become enthralled with the possibility of limitless mastery over everything, we inevitably end up harming society and the environment. It is not easy to promote this kind of healthy humility when we exclude God from our lives or replace him with our own ego and think that our subjective feelings can define what is right and what is wrong.”

This month we begin Lent, a time of conversion. Let’s consider how we can
be humble stewards and not exploiters of creation. As a start, Pope Francis proposes we simply “stop and give thanks to God before and after meals.” Doing so “reminds us of our dependence on God for life; it strengthens our feeling of gratitude for the gifts of creation; it acknowledges those who by their labors provide us with these goods; and it reaffirms our solidarity with those in greatest need.”

EVANGELIZATION INTENTION

Asia. That opportunities may increase for dialogue and encounter between the Christian faith and the peoples of Asia.

Early last year Pope Francis visited the Asian country of Sri Lanka where four major religions coexist: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. Unfortunately ethnic and religious differences there have led to bloody conflicts. Meeting with representatives of these religions, the Pope said: “For the sake of peace, religious beliefs must never be allowed to be abused in the cause of violence and war. We must be clear and unequivocal in challenging our communities to live fully the tenets of peace and coexistence found in each religion, and to denounce acts of violence when they are committed.”

All people are made in the image and likeness of God. God created everyone for eternal life—to be with God in the heavenly communion of saints. God desires this so much that he sent Jesus to shed his precious blood for the salvation of all. Thus all people are to be shown respect.In his speech, Pope Francis spoke of the importance of “dialogue, which is essential if we are to know, understand, and respect one another.” True dialogue requires honesty: “for such dialogue and encounter to be effective, it must be grounded in a full and forthright presentation of our respective convictions. Certainly, such dialogue will accentuate how varied our beliefs, traditions and practices are. But if we are honest in presenting our convictions, we will be able to see more clearly what we hold in common. New avenues will be opened for mutual esteem, cooperation, and indeed friendship.”

In true dialogue with non-Christians, we Christians need to listen respectfully, find common ground, and then in our turn to share the Gospel, in hopes that the Holy Spirit will open hearts to Jesus. We pray this month that opportunities for such sharing may increase in Asia, where Christians are in the minority.