News

Worthy of Life

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From the current issue of the Brookings (SD) Register, check out the story of Sr. Janice Iverson, who this month celebrates her 50-year jubilee as a Benedictine sister. Hers has been a full life of service to Christ and His Church.

What my sons found especially interesting, though, were her athletic exploits, and to this day she still rides her bike in the morning and spends an hour on the treadmill in the evening.

Not unlike St. Paul, she summarizes her many years of Christian discipleship in athletic terms: “For every beginning there is an end. I have entered the race and finished. I live that I may be worthy of life.”

News

U.S. Bishops to Hold Vocations Fair at WYD

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The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will host its first-ever Vocation Fair at a World Youth Day (WYD) on Wednesday, August 17. St. Francis Borgia Parish in Madrid will host the event. 

“This is a tremendous opportunity to invite our youth to open their hearts to Christ and respond to his call to the priesthood and the consecrated life,” said Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis, Missouri, chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations. 

Recent surveys of the newly ordained and those making their final religious profession indicate that at least 20 percent of them participated in a WYD one time or another. Continue reading U.S. Bishops to Hold Vocations Fair at WYD →

General interest

Mother Teresa, CEO?

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Check out this thought-provoking article on Mother Teresa of Calcutta that appeared earlier this month in The Wall Street Journal.

The article examines a new book entitled, Mother Teresa, CEO: Unexpected Principles for Practical Leadership. The book’s thesis is that Blessed Teresa’s work with the Missionaries of Charity ranks as one of the greatest business achievements in human history, and that business leaders today can learn much from this modern-day saint.

Of course we would prefer that our contemporaries focus on Blessed Teresa’s heroic sanctity, not her business acumen. But perhaps her greatness in secular terms will lead some open-minded young leaders to investigate what made this little nun tick.

And then who knows what would happen next?

General interest

The Other Lawrence

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Today is the feast of St. Lawrence of Brindisi. When reference is made to a “St. Lawrence,” however, we usually think of  the third-century deacon and martyr who is even mentioned in the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I). This latter St. Lawrence, given his special patronage of those who barbecue, is indeed a fine summertime saint in his own right, but his feast isn’t till next month.

Today’s St. Lawrence (1559-1619) was a Capuchin Franciscan priest who led, even by secular standards, a most remarkable life. One commentator has gone so far as to call him “the greatest man and the greatest saint yet produced by the Capuchin Franciscan Order.” Surely the excellence of his preaching was recognized by Blessed John XXIII, who named him a Doctor of the Church in 1959. Continue reading The Other Lawrence →

Reflection

The Unconsecrated Single Life

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Catholic author Emily Stimpson published companion articles at OSV Newsweekly last week on the single life. The first one is entitled “Being single in the universal Church,” while the second one is entitled, “Is the unconsecrated single life a vocation?”

These thoughtful pieces explore the growing phenomenon of single Catholics. Is there such a thing as a “vocation” to the single life? Is it necessarily a mere “transitional” phase before marriage, priesthood, or consecrated life? And how effective is the Church in reaching out to single Catholics?

These questions are not as easy as one may think at first blush, and Stimpson does an excellent job of setting forth legitimate Catholic perspectives on the subject. Do our readers have any insights on this subject to share?

General interest

What’s So Special About This Woman?

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This is a photo of Mrs. Elizabeth Anikuzhikattil, mother of 15 children, who died last week at the age of 94  in her home in southwestern India.

That alone is pretty special, but there’s even more: Of her 15 children, six became priests, and four became religious sisters! For more on this remarkable woman, including quotes from several of her children, check out this article, courtesy of Spirit Daily.

General interest

Nightline on Consecrated Virgins

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photo courtesy of ABC News

Did you happen to catch the episode of ABC’s Nightline on consecrated virginity last week? Check it out here. 

The show casts consecrated virginity as “controversial” and of course views it from a secular perspective (e.g., the narrator at one point says that the consecrated virgin’s spouse–in other words, Christ–is “nowhere to be found”).

All things considered, though, I thought it was well done, and they treated the subject with due respect. What did you think?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (nos. 922-24) devotes three paragraphs to consecrated virgins, who are betrothed mystically to Christ and are dedicated to the service of the Church.

General interest

The Magnificent Seven

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I thought I would end a busy week with this uplifting post from the Catholic Sentinel in Portland, Oregon. It’s about what Archbishop John Vlazny of Portland called “The Magnificent Seven“–the seven men ordained for the archdiocese in 2009. This was their largest ordination class since the 1970s.

The article checks in on them, two years later.

All of the new priests seem to be thriving, despite the many personal and pastoral challenges, and happy in their vocation.

One of the priests, Fr. David Jaspers, has already performed more than 620 baptisms, which amounts to one every 28 hours. Not bad!

Another of the priests, Fr. Theodore Lange, beautifully summed up his call to ministry this way: “My joy comes from surrending to God’s will and allowing the vocation to form my life.”

“Magnificent” might be a bit much, but the “Seven” are good and faithful servants who are already making a difference in the Pacific Northwest. God bless them!

General interest

The Harvest is Abundant

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Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York gave a stirring homily last month at the massive, sixteenth annual Atlanta Eucharistic Congress, which this year was devoted to vocations. Here are some of his comments, as reported by the Georgia Bulletin:

Archbishop Dolan said, “The harvest is abundant and vocations come from the Eucharist.”

“When we gather before the Eucharist we are in a posture of discipleship,” he said, like Mary, the model of attentiveness to God’s word and acceptance of God’s will.

“Once again we can picture ourselves walking on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and hear Jesus say, ‘Follow me.’ Once again we can watch in awe as he raises the son of the widow of Naim . . . and feeds the 5,000. . . . As we gather in front of the Eucharist, we are in a posture of discipleship, and from that there is a great harvest.”

At the Eucharist, he added, it is “dramatically evident” that  “Jesus and His Church are one.”

When Saul, who had persecuted Christians, was knocked off his horse, he heard Jesus say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Archbishop Dolan pointed out. “Christ identifies Himself with His Church. Jesus and His Church are inseparable.”

“Today, we have people who say, ‘I want Christ without the Church,’” he said. “We say, ‘Impossible.’”

“Jesus brings baggage and that baggage is His Church,” he added. “We call the Church the bride of Christ . . . the mystical body of Christ. . . . The bride is not always beautiful. The body is not always sleek. . . . Yes, there is something wrong with us. That is why we need Jesus, that is why we have a (Church) family.”

“Love for Jesus and His Church must be the passion for your lives,” he said.

News

American Nun’s Cause Moving Forward

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Last May we noted in this blog that the relics of Blessed Marianne Cope were  being returned to Hawaii. Shortly before St. Damian of Molokai’s death, Mother Marianne and other Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse came to carry on St. Damien’s amazing work in the leper colony toward the end of the nineteenth century.

Now Catholic News Service reports that the alleged miracle in support of Mother Marianne’s canonization was approved by a Vatican medical board, an important step toward her becoming recognized as a saint. Read more about it here.