NEED FOR FAMILY CULTURE AND FAMILY POLICIES

From the Vatican Information Service:

VATICAN CITY, 17 JAN 2009 (VIS) - At 8 p.m. today Mexican time, a recorded video message was transmitted to participants in the Sixth World Meeting of Families. The event, a moment of celebration and witness taking place from 14 to 18 January and attended by Christian families from all over the world, was held at the basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico, on the theme: "The family, teacher of human and Christian values".

That theme, said the Pope in his message, reminds us how "the domestic environment is a school of humanity and Christian life for all its members, with beneficial consequences for people, the Church and society. In fact, the home is called to practice and cultivate reciprocal love and truth, respect and justice, loyalty and collaboration, service and readiness to help others, especially the weakest. The Christian home ... must be impregnated with the presence of God, placing the events of every day in His hands and asking His help to accomplish its vital mission".

"To this end it is vitally important to pray in the family at the most appropriate and significant moments", said the Holy Father. "The Master is definitely present in the family that listens to and meditates upon the Word of God, that learns what is most important in life from Him and puts His teachings into practice. In this way individual and family life is gradually transformed and improved, dialogue is enriched, the faith is transmitted to children, the pleasure of being together increases and the home becomes more unified and consolidated, like a house built upon rock".

Benedict XVI emphasised how, "with the strength that comes from prayer, the family becomes a community of disciples and missionaries of Christ. ... Through the experience of filial obedience to God, faithfulness and generousity in welcoming children, care for the weakest and readiness to forgive, the family becomes a living Gospel which everyone may read". Furthermore, families must "bring their witness of life and their explicit profession of faith to their surroundings, such as schools and associations, and must make a commitment to the catechetical formation of their children and to the pastoral activities of their parish community, especially activities associated with preparation for marriage or specifically directed at family life".

"Because of its essential social function the family has the right for its specific identity to be recognised and not confused with other forms of coexistence. It must also be ensured adequate cultural, juridical, economic, social and health protection. In particular it must be afforded a support which, bearing in mind the number of children and the economic resources available, is sufficient to enable freedom of education and the choice of school".

Finally the Holy Father underlined the need "to develop a family culture and family policies that are driven by families themselves". In this context he encouraged his audience "to join associations that promote the identity and rights of the family in keeping with an anthropological vision that is coherent with the Gospel. Furthermore", he concluded, "I invite those associations to collaborate with one another in order for their activity to be more effective".

"I'm Watching You Dad"

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For all you men who have a vocation to Holy Matrimony and Fatherhood.

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H/t to Joe Mack

The Real Vocations Crisis: Roman Catholic Church Marriages in Britian Fall by 24 Percent

As I've said before, the dramatic drop in Holy Vocations to Matrimony, Church marriages, and the scandalous number of "divorces" amongst Catholics is the REAL vocations crisis!

From The Telegraph
By Martin Beckford

The number of marriages in Roman Catholic churches in Britain has fallen by a quarter since the start of the decade to just 9,950 last year.

This is a 24 per cent fall on the figure for 2000, when there were 13,029 Catholic marriages across England and Wales.

The rate of decline is twice as fast as the national rate, mainly because the Catholic church does not allow divorcees to re-marry in church.

In total there were 236,980 marriages in 2006 – the fewest since 1895 – but this has only fallen by about 12 per cent since 2000. Only one in three is now a religious ceremony.

The number of Catholic marriages is falling fastest in the diocese of Westminster, covering north London and Hertfordshire, which has seen figures drop by half in recent years, from 1,482 in 2001 to 795 in 2007.

The new Catholic Directory of England and Wales also shows there were 58,991 baptisms of children under seven in 2007, and that 915,556 worshippers attended Mass each week.

Terry Prendergast, chief executive of Marriage Care, a Catholic counselling charity, said: "What is concerning us as a Church is that Catholic marriage is declining more sharply than the rest of the country.

"There has to be some concern as a Church when people are not pursuing sacramental life."

He added that because so many marriages now end in divorce – almost half of newlyweds will end up separating, according to official projections – many Catholics may now be getting married in civil ceremonies or in churches belonging to other Christian denominations.

"It may be the case that the decline of Catholics marrying in church is boosting the national figure because they are marrying elsewhere."

Recently the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, reiterated the importance of marriage for life.

In a letter read out at every Mass, he described marriage as the "clearest example we have of what it means to share your life with another."

Last year the Church of England relaxed its rules to permit couples to marry in churches outside of their home parishes, in a bid to slow the decline in religious ceremonies.

As many as one in six weddings now takes place abroad as brides and grooms try to cut costs and emulate exotic celebrity marriages.

"Pioneer In Atlanta Permanent Diaconate, Deacon Tom Zaworski, Is First Silver Jubilarian"

It is always my preference to post pictures with an article when possible. However, I may have posted this one rather hastily this morning. Going back and looking at it, I'm realizing I must have been half asleep. I try to maintain a high level of fidelity to the Magisterium on this blog, as well as upholding the beauty and dignity of the Church and vocations in the stories and pictures I post. Somehow this photo slipped through. I'm not quite sure what that is in the background (carpet? quilt?), and I'm even more concerned by the flagon of wine on the altar. The Church has been very clear that the Precious Blood of Our Lord is NOT to be poured. Since there is a pall on the chalice and there are concelebrating priests around the altar, I can only assume that the wine in flagon is there to be consecrated, not because someone forgot to remove it from the altar. My apologies - I'll make sure I've had more coffee before posting!

From The Georgia Bulletin

By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer

FAYETTEVILLE-The journey toward Deacon Tom Zaworski's silver jubilee has been wrought with personal triumphs and, at times, painful challenges.

But it was all worth it March 19, as he celebrated 25 years as a permanent deacon, the first silver jubilarian in the history of the archdiocese's permanent diaconate program.

At the Church of St. Gabriel, where Deacon Zaworski serves, fellow deacons joined their brother in ministry to celebrate his jubilee. Archbishop John F. Donoghue celebrated the Mass, along with several priests under whom Deacon Zaworski has served, including St. Gabriel pastor Father Jimmy Adams.

Deacon Zaworski's jubilee Mass reflected his strong Catholic foundation, as well as his active involvement in the ecumenical community. Rev. Dr. John Hatcher of Rivers Edge Community Church, Fayetteville, offered the second reading, while Msgr. Frank Giusta, with whom Deacon Zaworski has served in several parishes, gave the homily.

Msgr. Giusta, who has been on special assignment in El Paso, Texas, said he met Deacon Zaworski in 1976, while he was in the diaconate formation program.

"It was the first time I had been in contact with a permanent deacon, and I was very interested," he said.

The permanent diaconate program was restored in the United States in 1968. Msgr. Giusta spoke of the challenges Deacon Zaworski faced on the road to ordination, namely, opposition from members of the church concerning this new ministry.

"Tom Zaworski never gave up," he said. "At times he was sincerely discouraged, but he kept going anyhow."

Many dioceses in the United States do not have permanent deacons, Msgr. Giusta told the congregation.

"I think something would be missing in our church community without deacons," he said.

Deacon Zaworski honored Msgr. Giusta by asking him to give the homily at his jubilee Mass, he said.

"Whenever (Deacon Zaworski) makes a commitment he follows through," he said. "He never tired to go to the hospital, to visit the sick . . . to prepare people to receive (the sacraments). And he never tires to preach and to pray."

Following Communion, Archbishop Donoghue offered his gratitude for the jubilarian, as well as for all the deacons of the archdiocese, who now number 153. He spoke of the first deacon of the church, St. Stephen, who suffered martyrdom for speaking the truth of Jesus.

"I think that's very appropriate and applies very well to Rev. Mr. Zaworski," he said. "He preaches what he believes is truth, day in and day out, not just in what he says, but in the way he lives his life."

"I am grateful to Tom and the many other deacons in our archdiocese," he said. "I want to thank all the deacons who serve this archdiocese with such generosity. We are far richer because of their service."

The archbishop also offered thanks to the deacons' wives and prayed that the future would bring more vocations to the church.

"Deacons could never be successful unless they had the cooperation and support of their wives," he said. "I pray that the Lord will continue to bless the church with many more vocations to the priesthood, to Religious life and to the permanent diaconate. As this church continues to grow, many more laborers will be needed to feed the flock."

Though he has been feeding the flock for 25 years as a deacon and even longer when his lay ministry is included, Deacon Zaworski has worked hard to get where he is.

In 1968, as a layman, he was ministering at the state prison in Jackson. At that time, there were no priests, or anyone serving the Catholic inmates, Deacon Zaworski said. After an interview with the inmates to determine their religious belief, if there was a Catholic slant to their answers, then Deacon Zaworski would notify a priest in that area.

"At that time six percent of the inmate population were Catholics who had never been served," he said.

In 1969, Archbishop Thomas Donnellan asked Father Frank Ruff, a Glenmary priest, to investigate establishing the diaconate. The priest approached four men including Zaworski with the idea of becoming deacons.

"It was not a total shock to me (that I had a vocation)," he said, adding that he and his wife had long prayed for vocations in their family of four sons. "We were quite certain with four boys that a vocation would come about. Well, it did come about-it came about to me."

Working for Delta Airlines as a flight superintendent, Deacon Zaworski was fortunate to work in various shifts, allowing him more time to minister. He began his formation in 1970, but the program itself was "on again, off again," as Archbishop Donnellan pondered the role that deacons would have in the archdiocese.

Finally, in 1974, the diocese made arrangements for the diaconate classes to be taught at Our Lady of Holy Spirit Abbey in Conyers. Deacon Zaworski and the late Deacon Charles Moore completed their formation and were ordained in 1977. Thus began the uphill climb.

"We were met with a lot of resistance from clergy, a lot of resistance from the laity," he recalled. "People didn't understand who we were, what we were about and what we were going to do."

He said it was especially difficult for his wife, Helen, because she was excluded. Many people had a hard time accepting a married minister of the church, he said.

Deacon Zaworski first served at St. Philip Benizi Church, Jonesboro, and in 1980 began full-time jail ministry. He was also the first chaplain for the Clayton County Sheriff's Department. He served in this capacity until 1984 when he was reassigned to St. Philip Benizi.

In 1987, he helped to begin the new mission of St. Gabriel. From 1989-95, he served as a pastoral assistant at Fort McPherson, until funds were cut off for his position and he began serving with Msgr. Giusta at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Atlanta.

He stayed there until 1999, and then began working as a chaplain at Fayette Community Hospital. In 1999 he was reassigned to St. Gabriel, where he currently serves.

His life has also been marked by personal tragedy, as two of his sons died-his 16-year-old son of cancer in 1973, and his 21-year-old son in an accident in 1984.

However, the deacon has also received much happiness from his ministry.

"One of the greatest joys I have ever had has been the witnessing of my third son's marriage and the baptism of his two kids," he said.

Though it has been a roller coaster ride, Deacon Zaworski said it has all been worth it because "I am doing what God wanted me to do. He didn't promise me a rose garden."

He said he is fortunate to have a "wonderful and very, very devoted, spiritual wife."

Helen Zaworski said that she is a proud wife and that it showed during the jubilee Mass.

"It was a very nice celebration. I felt happy to see him recognized for what he has contributed-many times not under the best circumstances," she said. "We have come through all of this and it has strengthened our faith and, I think, our marriage."

"Four ordained as church's 'servant ministers'"

From the Catholic Sentinel
By Ed Langlois

Mike Caldwell, Tim Dooley, Dennis Desmarais and David Briedwell at ordination.
Sentinel photo by Kim Nguyen
David Briedwell, a firefighter and paramedic, joined the Catholic Church in 1990. On a Marriage Encounter weekend, he felt grabbed. Before he knew it, he was telling others on the weekend that he was going to become Catholic, joining his wife Sally Marie in her faith.

He started out as a member of St. James Parish in his home town of McMinnville. Like some new Catholics, he drifted away from practicing his faith for awhile. When he returned, he felt welcomed with open arms. That started something.
He offered to mow the lawn at Good Shepherd Church in nearby Sheridan. Pretty soon, he was also counting the weekend collection and doing other jobs. When the priest was reassigned and it appeared no other was coming soon, the clergyman handed the church keys to Briedwell. Eventually, he began serving as a lector, eucharistic minister, sacristan and pastoral associate in Sheridan and Grand Ronde. Then he was named pastoral administrator. On Saturday, Briedwell became a deacon of the church, bound to serve the needy, preach the word and lead sacraments.

“You have to have people praying for you to do this,” says the father of two, citing great support from family and friends.

Briedwell was one of four men ordained as permanent deacons at St. Mary Cathedral. The others are Mike Caldwell, Dennis Desmarais, and Tim Dooley.

The permanent diaconate was revived by the Second Vatican Council. In the U.S., there were only 500 or 600 deacons in the 1970s. There are more than 17,000 now.

In Oregon, 64 permanent deacons visit the sick and prisoners and provide food, clothing and other assistance to needy Oregonians. They help prepare young couples for marriage and instruct those hoping to become Catholic.

The ministry of a deacon is primarily one of service and charity. Deacons are ministers of the word, which means they can proclaim the gospel at Mass, preach and teach in the name of the church. Their sacramental ministry includes baptizing, conducting prayer services, serving as an official church witness to marriage and conducting funerals and wake services.

Archbishop John Vlazny thanked the men and their wives for their willingness to play a role as “servant ministers” in the church’s evangelizing mission.

“First and foremost we ourselves must be men of prayer, integrity, generosity and compassion,” Archbishop Vlazny told the new deacons, offering that as an antidote to “bland Christianity” and “darkened spirits” in the world.

“The extent of the spirituality and generosity of deacons and their wives is reflected over and over again in the way they live their lives together with their families and through their service to the people of God, especially the poor and needy,” the archbishop said.

“I remind you that your presence at the altar is not truly meaningful unless it is complemented by your daily concern for the marginalized, uncatechized and alienated sisters and brothers in our church families,” he added. “Otherwise you will be merely glorified altar servers and that is not the kind of partnership the bishops had in mind four decades ago when they reestablished the order of deacon.”

Caldwell, who already serves as a business manager at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Southeast Portland, says bookkeeping did not seem like enough. He felt called to direct work in service of the gospel. He began a social justice group at the parish and has tackled issues like immigration and pro-life advocacy. He also is planning a project of charity help to needy families. Caldwell and his wife Linda have three children.

About a decade ago, Desmarais felt called to something. He was not sure what. The PacifiCorp employee got involved at St. Pius X Parish and grew especially interested in social justice ministry. He went with a group to a camp of migrant workers, and joined the Metropolitan Alliance for Common Good, a group of churches and unions seeking just public policy. He went on mission trips to Mexico, attended retreats on poverty at the Downtown Chapel and began youth groups at St. Pius X Parish and then at St. Juan Diego when it began.

One day, he was talking to two permanent deacons, Bob Little and Jésus Espinoza. Espinoza suggested he look into becoming a deacon and kept raising the idea over time. Desmarais decided to give it a try. He reveled in master’s studies through the University of Portland and felt that work affirmed his decision. He and his wife Marci have three children.

Until five years ago, Dooley never gave thought to becoming a deacon. Now, everything about it feels like his calling.

“I thought that I had my path pretty well charted out, and the last thing I wanted to do was go back to school,” he says. “But there’s no stopping the Holy Spirit once we open the door.”

His pastor at Holy Family Parish in Portland, Father Bob Barricks, planted the seed one night at dinner when he asked Dooley if he’d consider becoming a deacon. Dooley was surprised by the request, but the idea stuck. He brought it up to his wife LeAnn and shared his worry that it might reduce his time with her. She advised him to forge ahead and has supported him in the process ever since.

“I’ll aways remember that my vows as a deacon are binding, but my vows to LeAnn came first,” he says.

Father Barricks recently told parishioners that Dooley’s ministry “springs” from his marriage to the wider community.

Dooley and LeAnn have two daughters. He has served as a eucharistic minister at Providence Portland Medical Center and in homebound ministry at his church. He works for Oregon Catholic Press, publisher of this newspaper.

"Whose Will Is It Anyway????"

Below is a homily from Fr. Jim Chern who is campus minister and Catholic Chaplain at Montclair State University. This is an excellent reflection on discernment.

The parts below in black that are in bold are by Fr. Chern, my emphases will be bold in red.

From Father Jim Chern's Blog




HOMILY By Fr. Chern for the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time:

This couple I had been helping prepare to get married for the last year or so -well the day they had been anticipating for so long had finally arrived. They got married this past Friday, the 4th of July. It’s one of many great blessings as a priest to be able to walk with people through these life-changing moments and to see and witness how God is active in their lives in different ways.

I had met the groom a few years ago when I was the chaplain to the Fire Department. But I didn’t know Joe that well because he was one of the newer guys, only coming on the job towards the end of my time there before I was transferred to another assignment. But one of the things I remembered was that before becoming a Firefighter Joe had played minor league baseball for the Newark Bears, and the Atlantic City Surf.

Friday night at the wedding reception, his brother, one of the best men, was making the toast - and kind of out of the blue he revealed something I never knew about how Joe’s baseball career has ended. Joe basically had to make a choice a few years ago whether to continue to pursue his own dream his own desires and keep giving a career in baseball a shot or to give it up, because he had taken the test for the fire department, his number had been called up and there was no time to defer and no way to do both - it was a now or never situation.

Listening to the best man talk you could hear how much he loved watching his little brother playing in professional sports. It probably had tapped into the his own dreams - living vicariously through his little brother imagining himself on the playing field. The one line that the best man said in the toast that really stuck with me was “Joe - you had to choose between being our hero (on the baseball field) to everyone else’s hero as a fireman...”

Part of the reason Joe made that choice was that he and his (now wife) wanted to get married and want to have a family. That’s the way he would say it - that he “wants” this - but as I explained to him, as Catholics we understand that those wants - marriage and family - are vocations - that God calls a man and a woman to marriage and one of the blessings, one of the fruits and goals of marriage is children. But in order for this guy to respond to that call, that vocation to marriage, he had to die to his own plans, to some of his own desires for what it was God was calling him to in his own life.

It’s kind of easy to hear that story - or for me to see how happy Joe was during the wedding - and that he couldn’t take his eyes off his wife all day Friday and say - he made the right choice. But, the reality is I’m sure it was a painful and difficult decision for him to make – to align his will to what God’s will for him was.

No matter what it is - when we respond to what it is God is calling us to do, we find (to paraphrase today’s Gospel) his “yoke is easy - and [his] burden is light”

That’s basically the question the Gospel challenges us with today - are we following God’s will or our own?

Everyone of us is confronted daily with opportunities to respond to what ever it is God has called us to, or we are tempted to fulfill some desire that we want... I’ve met more than a few individuals who God is calling to be a priest or a religious, but they jump from one thing to another - one job to another job, relationship to relationship almost trying to dodge God and they can’t figure out why they are still unhappy, still unsettled, still not as at peace.

But responding to God’s will doesn’t always have to be a major life changing decision - often times it can be little things, which gradually can add up:

I’ve heard the story so many times: a choice here or there that put a person’s career over their family - then in time there’s resentment and tension in the home. That’s why a lot of times when I’m talking with a couple who are going through a difficult time, they can’t pinpoint a single event that caused it, but little decisions that seem insignificant at the time that build up. People sometimes don’t even realize that they’ve put themselves ahead of God and their families.

Even in my own life I can see ways that I struggle to follow God’s will daily over the choice to follow my own... It can be something as simple as the choice over my morning prayer against the desire to get A, B or C done first. And when I make the wrong choice, I allow myself to get distracted with paperwork and administrative stuff, all of which is legitimately important stuff, but not as important as my duty, my obligation to prayer as a priest.

The reality is, when I give into those temptations, I’m not at peace, I’m not centered, I’m not happy. In fact it’s the opposite. When I put my own list ahead of what God has called me to do, I can see that I’m more stressed, more burdened.

Which is why Jesus is inviting us to come to Him those who labor and are burdened - not because by following him we won’t have to work anymore. He’s saying let go of the burdens we create for ourselves - let go of the image that we have of ourselves - and see ourselves as God sees us. His creatures, created in his own divine, beautiful and loved image. And how do we do that? By letting go of all the ways we try to manipulate and control our lives and truly living the life God has called us to.

It’s hard because it’s not just a thing where we make one decision - give up that dream at baseball - say I do in marriage or to a religious vocation - pass on that promotion because it will pull me away from my family - and we’re all good and it’s all done....Our desires for things, for control over everything, for the attention and validation that feeds our ego will always come and distract us - promising us a short cut to fulfillment, to happiness.

That’s why it has to be a daily prayer – that we will make God’s will for us - our will for ourselves. Can we hear the invitation Jesus is making to each of us in today’s Gospel - to lay aside the things we’ve weighed ourselves down and trust Jesus’ promise when he says to us my yoke is easy - my burden is light? Sure beats the “yokes” and “burdens” we put on ourselves...

Miracle Attributed to St. Thérèse's Parents and Blessed Damian of Molokai

From ZENIT

VATICAN CITY, JULY 3, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI authorized the promulgation of decrees attributing miracles to five causes, including that of Louis and Marie-Celie Martin, parents of St. Thérèse (and Bl. Damian of Molokai!).

The Pope received in private audience today Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes. The Holy Father authorized the promulgation of decrees concerning the following causes:

Miracles were attributed to:

-- Blessed, Father Damian de Veuster, Belgian professed priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1840-1889). (Blessed Father Damian is perhaps one of the more heroic stories of a priest sacrificing everything in order to bring the sacraments and care to the truly outcast and marginalized of society. If you have never seen the movie Molokai, you should do so. It is a very well made film and does a wonderful job of illustrating the life of this incredible priest. I've posted it in the "bookstore" permanently, put will post a link below as well.)

-- Blessed Bernardo Tolomei, Italian founder of the Olivetan Benedictine Congregation (1272-1348).

-- Blessed Nuño di Santa Maria Álvares Pereira, Portuguese professed layman of the Order of Friars of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (1360-1431). A decree recognizing his heroic virtue was also approved.

-- Servant of God Louis Martin, French layman (1823-1894) and Servant of God Marie-Zélie Guerin Martin, French laywoman (1831-1877). (Parents of St. Therese of Lisieux and her four sisters who also entered religious - if canonized they could certainly be the patron saints of married couples and exemplary models of parents promoting discernment amongst their children.)

--Italian Servant of God Francesco Giovanni Bonifacio (1912-1946), killed because of hatred of the faith at Villa Gardossi, Italy, was recognized as a martyr.

And seven more people were recognized as having lived lives of heroic virtue:

-- Stephen Douayhy, Lebanese patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites (1630-1704).

-- Bernardino Dal Vago da Portogruaro (born Giuseppe), Italian archbishop of the Order of Friars Minor (1822-1895).

-- Giuseppe Di Donna, Italian bishop of Andria, of the Order of the Blessed Trinity (1901-1952).

- Maria Barbara of the Blessed Trinity Maix (born Barbara), Austrian founder of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (1818-1873).

-- Pius Keller (born Hans), German professed priest of the Order of St. Augustine (1825-1904).

-- Andrés Hibernón Garmendia (born Francisco Andres), Spanish professed brother of the Institute of Brothers of Christian Schools (1880- 1969).

-- Chiara Badano, young Italian lay woman (1971-1990).

"The Ideal Family of the Permanent Deacon"

J. Francis Cardinal Stafford
President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity
February 19, 2000

"Two texts illustrate the characteristics of the ideal husband and of the ideal wife on the one hand, and of the ideal deacon on the other. The first is taken from the Bible, the second from the ordination rite. A Regula Vitae for the deacon can be deduced from them and includes elements of a new way of living guided by the Holy Spirit.

These texts serve as the first two parts of my talk, the deacon as husband and the deacon as an ordained minister. In the third part I will point out elements of the deacon’s spirituality. In the conclusion, examples of contemporary family spirituality will be cited."

Read the rest of Cardinal Stafford's writing on the ideal family of the Permanent Deacon here.

"Paths of Love: The Discernment of Vocation"

A few months ago I received an email from Joseph Bolin, a theologian studying at the International Theological Institute (For Studies on Marriage and the Family) in Gaming, Austria, asking if I would be interested in reviewing his new book: "Paths of Love: The Discernment of Vocation According to Aquinas, Ignatius, and Pope John Paul II". Truthfully, I was humbled by his request, but I was also very interested in reading his book. Unfortunately work, reading and writing assignments for the permanent diaconate, and the demands of family life have not left me with a great deal of leisure time to read books of my own choosing. However, what I have read of Joseph's book is outstanding. The book is brilliant and well researched without being difficult to read. It is both intellectual and spiritual. In short, it is an excellent book on vocations to marriage, the Priesthood and Religious Life - a rare combination in one book, and one that I highly recommend.

The editorial review below will give you a description of the book.

I will also be adding this to the "bookstore".

Editorial Reviews
"At last I have found my vocation. My vocation is love!" Love is the heart of every vocation. This book about vocation to marriage, priesthood, or religious life, has several unique features. First, while being addressed to all Catholics, not only to theologians, it does not oversimplify vocation, or give a mere compilation of advice, but aims to present the rich depth and wealth of the Christian understanding of vocation in a simple and accessible manner. Secondly, this book goes right to two great saints at the heart of quite different traditions on vocation, namely St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Ignatius Loyola, and the basic difference between them, a difference which is often unappreciated, or is passed over superficially. The goal is not to decide in favor of one over the other, nor to examine in detail their historical or theological connection; this book rather aims to use these different points of view to convey all that belongs to a full Christian and human approach to vocation.

Archdiocese of Boston to Ordain 27 Permanent Deacons

"Lawrence, Haverhill men serve first Mass as deacons tomorrow"
From the Eagle-Tribune Online
By Yadira Betances

After four years of juggling family, work and commuting 45 minutes to Boston for classes, Jesus Castillo and Julio Vargas will reap the fruits of their labor this morning.

Castillo of Lawrence and Vargas of Haverhill, are among 27 men to be ordained as permanent deacons by Cardinal Sean O'Malley at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston.

They will serve at their first Masses tomorrow at their respective churches. Vargas will be at St. James Church on Winter Street in Haverhill at 11:30 a.m., and Castillo will be at St. Mary of the Assumption Church at 300 Haverhill St. in Lawrence at noon.

"I know the Lord has called me since I was a child," said Castillo, who is a lector, Eucharistic minister and teaches religious education at St. Mary. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time. I wanted to become a deacon to make a bigger commitment to the church."

During the presentation of the gifts, Castillo will have his first Bible, which his aunt gave him, plantains to represent his parents' agricultural background, flowers from his garden and a photograph of the late Octavio Bobadilla, who was a role model in the faith.

His road to the deaconate was not easy.

During his second year at school, Castillo's mother became ill and he had to miss several sessions to take care of her. His wife of 30 years stepped in attending classes and even taking an exam so Castillo would keep up with the schedule.

Castillo, 58, was born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated to Lawrence in 1987. He said his vocation was fostered at home, waking up to his mother's voice reciting the "Angelus" and later praying the Rosary with his 11 brothers and sisters. He also has three stepbrothers.

Castillo and his wife, Angela, have two children, Carlos Ramon, 28, and Maria, 22, and a grandchild, Jesus Gabriel. He is a janitor at Greater Lawrence Health Center in Lawrence. She works at Nevins Nursing Home in Methuen.

Vargas, 47, was also born in the Dominican Republic. He worked as a labor rights lawyer for 14 years in his native country before coming to Haverhill. He works at Hi-Tech in Groveland and his wife runs a day care center.

Vargas was involved in the marriage encounter program when a friend suggested he consider becoming a deacon. He was already serving as a lector, Eucharistic minister, prayer group and cursillo movement at St. James Church, and left it in the hands of God. He also hosts a Christian radio show on station 1490 Saturdays at 6 a.m.

One obstacle Vargas faced was working a 12-hour shift four days a week, which not only left him with little sleep, but made him late for school because he had to commute to Boston from Portsmouth, N.H.

On one wintry day, he got into a bad accident and again asked the Lord, "If you really need me as a deacon, lead the way.' I was afraid that if I wasn't a deacon, I would lose my faith."

Vargas said he is glad his ordination day is here.

"I told my wife to take a box of Kleenex because I'm not going to stop crying," he said. "This is like conquering an impossible dream. It's a blessing and a great day to give thanks to God."

Vargas and his wife of 23 years, Milagros have three children, Julio, Indiana and Cesar.

"Pope Benedict on marriage: key to world peace"

This post is a bit overdue. Special thanks to Michaela for bringing it to my attention some time ago. The element of the post I want to draw particular attention to is the enlarged and highlighted link to a compendium of Pope Benedict XVI's statements and writings about marriage over the past three years. This is an incredible resource - please take the time to at least scan through it. The vocation to Holy Matrimony is in dire need of our attention. Much time has been spent talking about reforming our seminaries, but how little time is spent discussing the reform of marriage in our Church, when in fact holy marriages (families) are where vocations are first formed. Until we begin to address this most pressing of vocations crises, we will most certainly continue to see a shortage of vocations to priesthood and religious life well into the future.

Since this article was published before the Holy Father's visit, it does not contain the following very important element about marriage and family life from Pope Benedict's address to the Bishop's of the United States:

"In this regard, a matter of deep concern to us all is the state of the family within society. Indeed, Cardinal George mentioned earlier that you have included the strengthening of marriage and family life among the priorities for your attention over the next few years. In this year’s World Day of Peace Message I spoke of the essential contribution that healthy family life makes to peace within and between nations. In the family home we experience “some of the fundamental elements of peace: justice and love between brothers and sisters, the role of authority expressed by parents, loving concern for the members who are weaker because of youth, sickness or old age, mutual help in the necessities of life, readiness to accept others and, if necessary, to forgive them” (no. 3). The family is also the primary place for evangelization, for passing on the faith, for helping young people to appreciate the importance of religious practice and Sunday observance. How can we not be dismayed as we observe the sharp decline of the family as a basic element of Church and society? Divorce and infidelity have increased, and many young men and women are choosing to postpone marriage or to forego it altogether. To some young Catholics, the sacramental bond of marriage seems scarcely distinguishable from a civil bond, or even a purely informal and open-ended arrangement to live with another person. Hence we have an alarming decrease in the number of Catholic marriages in the United States together with an increase in cohabitation, in which the Christ-like mutual self-giving of spouses, sealed by a public promise to live out the demands of an indissoluble lifelong commitment, is simply absent. In such circumstances, children are denied the secure environment that they need in order truly to flourish as human beings, and society is denied the stable building blocks which it requires if the cohesion and moral focus of the community are to be maintained.

As my predecessor, Pope John Paul II taught, “The person principally responsible in the Diocese for the pastoral care of the family is the Bishop ... he must devote to it personal interest, care, time, personnel and resources, but above all personal support for the families and for all those who … assist him in the pastoral care of the family” (Familiaris Consortio, 73). It is your task to proclaim boldly the arguments from faith and reason in favor of the institution of marriage, understood as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, open to the transmission of life. This message should resonate with people today, because it is essentially an unconditional and unreserved “yes” to life, a “yes” to love, and a “yes” to the aspirations at the heart of our common humanity, as we strive to fulfill our deep yearning for intimacy with others and with the Lord."

From Mercator.net

As the Pope begins his visit to the United States there is one topic he is certain to speak on.

By Megan Gallagher

Tuesday, 15 April 2008

A new analysis carried out by myself and Joshua Baker entitled Pope Benedict XVI on Marriage: A Compendium and published by the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy on the eve of Benedict's historic U.S. visit, finds that in less than three years of his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI has spoken publicly about marriage on 111 occasions. His pronouncements connect marriage to such overarching themes as human rights, world peace, and the conversation between faith and reason.

Over and over again he has made it clear that the marriage and family debate is central -- not peripheral -- to understanding the human person, and defending our human dignity.

For example, when receiving the credentials of the new U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his appreciation for America's recognition of the important of a dialogue of faith and faiths in the public square and linked this to respect not only for religious freedom but for marriage as the union of husband and wife:

"I cannot fail to note with gratitude the importance which the United States has attributed to interreligious and intercultural dialogue as a positive force for peacemaking. . . The American people's historic appreciation of the role of religion in shaping public discourse and in shedding light on the inherent moral dimension of social issues-a role at times contested in the name of a straitened understanding of political life and public discourse-is reflected in the efforts of so many of your fellow-citizens and government leaders to ensure legal protection for God's gift of life from conception to natural death, and the safeguarding of the institution of marriage, acknowledged as a stable union between a man and a woman, and that of the family."

Pope Benedict devoted about half of his message for the January 1 World Day of Peace to the significance of marriage in developing a culture of peace:

"Consequently, whoever, even unknowingly, circumvents the institution of the family undermines peace in the entire community, national and international, since he weakens what is in effect the primary agency of peace. This point merits special reflection: everything that serves to weaken the family based on the marriage of a man and a woman, everything that directly or indirectly stands in the way of its openness to the responsible acceptance of a new life, everything that obstructs its right to be primarily responsible for the education of its children, constitutes an objective obstacle on the road to peace."

Marriage essential to world peace? This may strike American ears as an oddity. If so Benedict has made clear it is not an unintentional one. On September21, 2007, in an address to participants in a conference of the Executive Committee of Centrist Democratic International, Pope Benedict prefigured the same theme:

"There are those who maintain that human reason is incapable of grasping the truth, and therefore of pursuing the good that corresponds to personal dignity. There are some who believe that it is legitimate to destroy human life in its earliest or final stages. Equally troubling is the growing crisis of the family, which is the fundamental nucleus of society based on the indissoluble bond of marriage between a man and a woman. Experience has shown that when the truth about man is subverted or the foundation of the family undermined, peace itself is threatened and the rule of law is compromised, leading inevitably to forms of injustice and violence."

The short pontificate of Benedict XVI is already a standing rebuke to those voices of our time who seek to make us ashamed or embarrassed of caring about marriage and sexual issues, who try to get us to view the contemporary marriage debate as merely a distraction from more important issues. Pope Benedict clearly connects life and marriage, the human person in the human family, with the most fundamental international issues of peace and human rights facing our times.

Maggie Gallagher is president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy.

Pope Benedict: consecrated religious testify to God's primacy

From Catholic News Agency

Vatican City, Apr 13, 2008 / 12:39 pm (CNA).- During his midday Regina Caeli prayers on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the role played by those Catholics who are consecrated for life. Consecrated religious, the Holy Father said, proclaim Christ and radically live the Gospel with their vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience.

“On this fourth Sunday of Easter, in which the liturgy presents Jesus as the Good Shepherd, we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for Vocations,” the Holy Father said.

“In every continent, the ecclesial communities ask the Lord for many and holy vocations to the priesthood, to the consecrated life, to the missionary life, and to Christian marriage. They meditate on the theme ‘The vocation to the service of the mission-Church.’”

The Holy Father said that the World Day of Prayer for Vocations “puts itself in the perspective of the Year of Paul, which will begin next June 28 to celebrate the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of the apostle Paul, the missionary par excellence.

“In the experience of the Apostle to the Gentiles, whom the Lord called to be a ‘minister of the Gospel,’ vocation and mission are inseparable.

“He therefore represents a model for all Christians, in particular for missionaries for life, that is, for those men and women who dedicate themselves totally to proclaiming Christ to the many people who do not now know Him: this is a vocation that preserves its whole validity.

“In the first place,” the Holy Father said, “the priests perform this missionary service, dispensing the Word of God and the Sacraments, and manifesting the restoring presence of Jesus Christ with their pastoral love to all, above all to the sick, the young, the poor. We give thanks to God for these our brothers who give themselves without reserve in pastoral ministry--at times combining fidelity to Christ with the sacrifice of their lives, as happened yesterday for the two religious killed in Guinea and Kenya.

“To them goes our grateful admiration together with our prayers of support. We pray also that the choice of those who decide to live radically the Gospel vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience will always be nourished.

“There are men and women who have a primary role of evangelization. Others dedicate themselves to contemplation and prayer, and others to the many forms of educational and charitable action.

“But all have in common the same purpose: that of testifying to God’s primacy over all things and spreading his Kingdom to all areas of society. Many among them, the Servant of God Paul VI writes, 'are enterprising and their apostolate is often marked by an originality, by a genius that demands admiration. They are generous: often they are found at the outposts of the mission, and they take the greatest of risks for their health and their very lives.'"

The Holy Father said it should not be forgotten that Christian marriage is also a missionary vocation: “the spouses, in fact, are called to live the Gospel in their families, in the workplace, and in the parish and civil communities. In some cases, moreover, they offer their precious collaboration in the mission to the nations.”

The Holy Father invoked the protection of Mary upon the “manifold vocations” existing in the Church, saying Mary “can make a powerful missionary impact.”

Pope Benedict also entrusted to Mary's protection his upcoming visit to the United States, inviting Catholics to accompany him in their prayers.

"Pope: All Vocations Have Missionary Character"

From Zenit

Says Married Couples Called to Live Gospel in Every Area

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Vocation and mission are inseparable and the Church's many vocations should have an "intense missionary character," says Benedict XVI.

The Pope affirmed this today before he led the praying of the midday Regina Caeli with thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square. Today, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, focuses on Christ as the Good Shepherd and is also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

The Holy Father said that St. Paul, for whom "vocation and mission are inseparable," is a model for all Christians, particularly "those men and women who dedicate themselves totally to announcing Christ to those who still have not known him: a vocation which continues to maintain all of its validity."

"This missionary service is carried out, in the first place, by priests in offering the Word of God and the sacraments, and in manifesting the healing presence of Jesus Christ with their pastoral charity for everyone, above all for the ill, the little ones and the poor," Benedict XVI said. "We give thanks to God for these our brothers, who give themselves without reserve to pastoral ministry, sometimes sealing their fidelity to Christ with the sacrifice of their lives, as happened yesterday to two religious assassinated in Guinea and Kenya."

The Pontiff expressed his prayer that there would be "an increasing number of those who decide to radically live the Gospel through the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience -- men and women who have a primary role in evangelization."

"Some of them dedicate themselves to contemplation and prayer, others to a multifaceted educational and charitable work," he said. "All of them, nevertheless, are united in the same objective: to give witness to the primacy of God over all and to spread his Kingdom in every sphere of society."

Benedict XVI affirmed that those called to Christian marriage should also give their lives a missionary flavor.

He contended that "it mustn't be forgotten that Christian marriage is also a missionary vocation: The couple, in fact, is called to live the Gospel in the family, in the workplace and in parish and civil communities. In certain cases, moreover, they offer their valuable contribution to the missions 'ad gentes.'"

"Dear brothers and sisters," the Pope concluded, "let us invoke the maternal protection of Mary for the many vocations that exist in the Church so that they are developed with an intense missionary character. To her, Mother of the Church and Queen of Peace, I also commend the special missionary experience that I will live in the next few days with the apostolic trip to the United States and the visit to the United Nations, as I ask all of you to accompany me with your prayers."

The Real Vocations Crisis part II

As I have said before, and continue to say, the real vocations "crisis" in the Church today is the lack of holy vocations to marriage. The divorce rate is just the most obvious sign and scandal, but the lack of true understanding of the sacramental nature of marriage is epidemic. Use of contraception is disturbingly commonplace. A crippling inability to remain committed to anything, let alone a marriage, plagues the younger generations (including mine).

Is there any doubt why this is the case? One only needs to look at the profound lack of clear and convincing teaching on these issues over the past 40 years to understand why things are the way they are today. A "tyranny of relativism" has made "tolerance" the new great commandment. In an effort to not offend anyone, and/or for fear of turning people away from the Church, we have made the mess we find ourselves in. On that note, the fear that "intolerance" might turn people away is ridiculous. How many of the young couples who go through the motions today in order to have a "church wedding" even still go to Mass after they are married? Final thought: tolerance does not equal love. As a parent tolerance of inappropriate or destructive behavior would certainly not be considered loving. Why is it considered loving in the Church?

Read the article below and think about the potential future ramifications. Yes, it could get worse.
My emphases and (comments) below.

From the Wall Street Journal

Marrying Tradition and Modernity
By CHRISTINE B. WHELAN
February 22, 2008; Page W11

Catholic young adults place great importance on marriage but have turned away from church-based ideas of how to make it work, according to a study released last week by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University.

For Catholic members of the "millennial generation," men and women born between 1982 and 1989, marriage is not to be undertaken lightly. Some 82% of these teens and 20-somethings report that they believe marriage is a lifelong commitment, compared with only 56% of Catholics age 47 to 64 -- approximately their parents' generation. Moreover, 84% of these young Catholic adults report concern that "couples don't take marriage seriously enough when divorce is easily available." By comparison, only 67% of their parents' generation agree with this statement.

At the same time, only a quarter of these young adults report that their views about marriage have been formed in significant part by their faith. Indeed, a minority think of marriage as a "vocation" or a "calling from God," and nearly half of singles say it's not important that their future spouse be Catholic. Rather, the vast majority of 18- to 25-year-olds report that their spouse must be their "soul mate," and that falling out of love is an acceptable reason for divorce. (Reread this paragraph slowly. "A minority think of marriage as a "vocation" or a "calling from God". No surprise here. Many kids today being confirmed can't even name the seven sacraments, should we really expect them to know that marriage is a vocation if we don't teach them?)

On questions about the importance of lifelong commitment in marriage, millennials are more in step with their pre-Vatican II-generation grandparents, but on questions about the influence of Catholic teachings on their views about marriage, young adults agree with their boomer parents. (This note on the importance of lifelong commiment may not bear itself out in reality. Raised in a culture that doesn't accept or embrace any concept of redemptive suffering, they tend to drop pursuits, or change jobs at the first signs of conflict or difficulty. For example talk to any high school athletic coach today to hear how differently kids approach their "commitment" to the team. This is evidenced in the statistic above that the vast majority of 18-25 year olds feel that "falling out of love" is an acceptable reason for divorce. When things get tough in a marriage, and odds are they will at some point, it may simply "feel" like the couple has fallen out of love - an acceptable reason for divorce and finding a new relationship.)

The study, based on an online survey of more than 1,000 adult Catholics, "paints a mixed picture," said Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, chairman of the Subcommittee on Marriage and Family Life of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which commissioned the report. Catholic youth may have a more conservative outlook on life than their parents' generation but also an individualized idea of who should set the rules, said Christian Smith, professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame. "Most younger Catholics have defined their inner self as the authority, and many freely distance themselves from church practices they don't believe in."

Even the concept of "Catholic guilt" seems to have disappeared for younger generations: Catholic youth report no feelings of guilt overall, or about premarital sex or pornography, according to Mr. Smith's forthcoming article in the Review of Religious Research. (This is a real problem. There was a time when kids at least had some sense of guilt. No more and addictions are setting in quickly. Ask any priest who hears confessions on a regular basis - addiction to pornography, for both men and women, is an enormous and largely undiscussed problem.)

The Georgetown study shows that some 69% of Catholics age 18 to 25 believe "marriage is whatever two people want it to be," (what does this mean?!!) while just over half of their parents' and grandparents' generation agreed with that statement. This comes as no surprise to researchers following American family trends. With looser social norms dictating appropriate behaviors for husbands and wives, each couple -- regardless of religious affiliation -- must settle on their own rules of conduct, argues Stephanie Coontz, author of "Marriage, a History." But when more issues must be negotiated, she notes, there are more points where negotiations can break down.

While research on other Christian denominations shows similar individualized attitudes about the role of faith in everyday life, the generational differences are more pronounced among Catholics. "Catholic teenagers are the most distanced from the church authorities," reports Mr. Smith, a fact he attributes to "largely ineffective" modern Catholic religious education. (BINGO!!! As I said at the beginning. We have made this mess by failing to teach the doctrines of our faith and not expecting people to try to live them out!)

To be sure, some caution is advisable when interpreting generational differences measured at different stages of life: The millennials are just at the beginning of adulthood, so their optimistic and individual-focused opinions may change with their circumstances. (They may just be at the beginning of adulthood, but why would we expect them to change if what they are being told doesn't change? That said, I do feel their optimistic opinions may change - unfortunately the good ones.) "Some of this is useful idealism and some of it is just inexperience," said Mark Regnerus, associate professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin. Still, the cultural shift can't be ignored, Mr. Regnerus said. "We've been swamped by messages of romantic individualism. Those ideas can lead people to marry, but can lead you out of the marriage just as fast when things get tough."

Although young people often embrace traditional religious ideas to combat the influence of excessive individualism in the culture, they want to construct marriages that are more flexible than in the past, (More flexible than the past? What past are they talking about, because the past forty years has already been far to flexible.)according to Ms. Coontz. But it's a slippery slope, she says. "Once you start tinkering with the kind of set-in-stone beliefs that used to keep people in the same marriages and at the same jobs for most of their lives, where do you draw the line?"

Ms. Whelan is the author of "Why Smart Men Marry Smart Women."

On the Importance of the Permanent Diaconate

Pope's Q-and-A Session With Roman Clergy, Part 1

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 11, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Following a Lenten tradition, Benedict XVI met Thursday with parish priests and clergy of the Diocese of Rome. During the meeting, the participants asked the Pope questions. Here is a translation of the first question and the Holy Father's answer.

* * *

[Deacon Giuseppe Corona:]

Holy Father, I would like first of all to express my gratitude and that of my brother deacons for the ministry that the Church so providentially has taken up again with the [Second Vatican] Council, a ministry that allows us to fully express our vocation. We are committed in a great variety of works that we carry out in vastly different environments: family, work, parish, society, also the missions of Africa and Latin America -- areas that you indicated for us in the audience you granted us on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the diaconate of the Diocese of Rome.

Now our numbers have grown -- there are 108 of us. And we would like for you to indicate a pastoral initiative that could become a sign of a more incisive presence of the permanent diaconate in the city of Rome, as it happened in the first centuries of the Roman Church. In fact, sharing a significant, common objective, on one hand increases the cohesion of diaconal fraternity and on the other, would give greater visibility to our service in this city. We present you, Holy Father, the desire that you indicate to us an initiative that we can share in the way and the manner that you wish to specify. In the name of all the deacons, I greet you, Holy Father, with filial affection.

[Benedict XVI:]

Thank you for this testimony as one of the more than 100 deacons of Rome. I would like to also express my joy and my gratitude for the Council, because it revived this important ministry in the universal Church. I should say that when I was archbishop of Munich, I didn't find perhaps more than three or four deacons, and I very much favored this ministry because it seemed to me to belong to the richness of the sacramental ministry in the Church. At the same time, it can equally be the link between the lay world, the professional world, and the world of the priestly ministry -- given that many deacons continue carrying out their professions and maintain their positions -- important or those of a simple life -- while on Saturday and Sunday they work in the Church. In this way, you give witness in the world of today, as well as in the working world, of the presence of faith, of the sacramental ministry and the diaconal dimension of the sacrament of Orders. This seems very important to me: the visibility of the diaconal dimension.

Naturally as well, every priest continues being a deacon, and should always think of this dimension, because the Lord himself made himself our minister, our deacon. We can think of the gesture of the washing of the feet, with which he explicitly shows that the master, the Lord, acts as a deacon and wants those who follow him to be deacons, that they fulfill this role for humanity, to the point that they also help to wash the dirtied feet of the men entrusted to us. This dimension seems very important to me.

On this occasion, I bring to mind -- though it is perhaps not immediately inherent to the theme -- a simple experience that Paul VI noted. Each day of the Council, the Gospel was enthroned. And the Pontiff told those in charge of the ceremony that he would like one time to be the one who enthrones the Gospel. They told him no, this is the job of the deacons, not of the Pope. He wrote in his diary: But I am also a deacon, I continue being a deacon, and I would like to also exercise this ministry of the diaconate placing the word of God on its throne. Thus, this concerns all of us. Priests continue being deacons, and the deacons make explicit in the Church and in the world this diaconal dimension of our ministry. This liturgical enthroning of the word of God each day during the Council was always for us a gesture of great importance: It told us who was the true Lord of that assembly; it told us that the word of God was on the throne and that we exercise our ministry to listen and to interpret, to offer to the others this word. It is broadly significant for all that we do: enthroning in the world the word of God, the living word, Christ. May it really be him who governs our personal life and our life in the parishes.

Now, you have asked me a question that, I must say, goes a bit beyond my strengths: What would be the tasks proper to the deacons of Rome. I know that the cardinal vicar knows much better than I the real situations of the city and the diocesan community of Rome. I think that one characteristic of the ministry of the deacons is precisely the multiplicity of the diaconate's applications. In the International Theological Commission, a few years ago, we studied at length the diaconate in the history and also the present of the Church. And we discovered just that: There is not just one profile. What they should do varies, depending on the preparation of the persons and the situations in which they find themselves. There can be applications and activities that are very different, always in communion with the bishop and with the parish, naturally. In the various situations, various possibilities arise, also depending on the professional preparation that these deacons could have. They could be committed in the cultural sector, which is so important today, or they could have a voice and an important post in the educational realm. We are thinking this year precisely of the problem of education as central to our future, and the future of humanity.

Certainly the sector of charity was in Rome the original sector, because those called presbyters and deacons were centers of Christian charity. This was from the beginning in the city of Rome a fundamental area. In my encyclical "Deus Caritas Est," I showed that not just preaching and the liturgy are essential for the Church and for the ministry of the Church, but rather equally important is the service of caritas -- in its multiple dimensions -- for the poor, the needy. Thus, I hope that all the time, in the whole diocese, even if in distinct situations, this continues being a fundamental dimension, and also a priority for the commitment of the deacons, even if not the only one, as is also shown in the early Church, where the seven deacons were chosen precisely to permit the apostles to dedicate themselves to prayer, liturgy and preaching. Also afterward, Stephen found himself in the situation of having to preach to the Greeks, to the Jews who spoke Greek, and thus the field of preaching was amplified. He is conditioned, we could say, by the cultural situation, where he has a voice to make present in that sector the word of God. In that way, he makes more possible the universality of the Christian testimony, opening the doors to St. Paul who witnessed his stoning, and later, in a certain sense, was his successor in the universalization of the word of God. I don't know if the cardinal vicar would like to add something; I'm not as close to the concrete situations.

[Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope's vicar for the Diocese of Rome:]

Holy Father, I can just confirm, as you said, that also concretely in Rome, the deacons work in many sectors, for the most part, in parishes, where they concern themselves with the ministry of charity; but, for example, many are also involved in ministry to the family. Since almost all of the deacons are married, they offer marriage preparation, give follow-up to young couples, and things like that. They also offer a significant contribution to the ministry of health care; they help also in the vicariate -- where some of them work -- and as you heard, in missions. There is a certain missionary presence of deacons. I think that, naturally, in the numerical plane, the greatest commitment is in the parishes, but there also exist other sectors that are also opening, and precisely because of this, we now have more than a hundred permanent deacons.

[Translation by Kathleen Naab]

Revitalize Your Marriage Vows

Picture above is of my parents renewing there vows at a 50th wedding anniversary Mass in the Diocese of Raleigh. Bishop Burbidge's homily on the gift of married love is well worth watching. See it here.


Hat tip to Eric for sending me this post...

From the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal daily letters...

Revitalize Your Marriage Vows

by Br. Louis Leonelli, CFR

Marriage is an amazing gift from God, a source of enduring joy for man and woman, the sanctuary of new human life, a school of holiness and laboratory of love. And yet this wonderful mystery, which reflects the love of the Trinity and the spousal love of Jesus for the Church, is under fierce attack and is sorely tried by forces at work in the culture. Too often marriages and families become casualties rather than conquerors in this battle.

What can be done to help marriages and families flourish, reach their full stature in Christ, and offer to the world a radiant testimony of abundant life, sacrificial love and authentic holiness even in the midst of struggle and difficulty?

One simple but effective step is for married couples to imitate the practice of many religious communities, and regularly renew the vows they made to God and one another. Our custom as Franciscan Friars of the Renewal is to do this every Friday at the beginning of our evening meal. The renewed strength and commitment that I receive from this practice inspired me to write something similar for married couples. I would like to encourage you as a couple to prayerfully recite this renewal of vows weekly at the dinner table in the presence of your children and any guests who may be present. Could I ask you to please also share this practice and our website with other families and couples you know?

This is one concrete way, in the midst of the onslaught of anti-marriage and anti-family forces, to put into practice the virtue of hope and the words of Jesus of which our Holy Father Pope Benedict reminded us in his recent encyclical, Spe Salvi (In Hope We Are Saved): "You will have difficulty in the world. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world!" (Jn 16:33).

Thank you for helping to renew and protect marriages and families through your personal witness and by your prayers. Be assured of my prayers for you and all your loved ones, for it is through prayer that we unite in spirit to support one other. And may the blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ help you to grow in peace, joy and love in your lives and in your marriages through the prayers of the most perfect of spouses, our Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph.

Br. Louis Leonelli, CFR
St. Leopold Friary, Yonkers, NY

10 Suggestions for Parents

Article on the Ten Suggestions
by Fr. Todd J. Petersen

This month, we mark National Vocations Awareness Week(January 13-18). While so often we single out priesthood and religious life, we know that we need holy husbands and wives, following the model of the Holy Family. We need holy married couples to raise children in an environment of holiness. Any response to the call of God is first made possible by the loving example of family. Without holy families, the chances of responding to a call are greatly diminished, simply because no one has modeled how to respond to any call, whether to priesthood, religious life, the deaconate, the missionary life, or even holy marriage.

There seems to be a certain confusion among parents for the best practices that would open their children’s hearts to responding. Perhaps we should take comfort calling to mind Pentecost – despite all the confusion, it was the work of the Holy Spirit in which we find the trust that God to still be in control. We also know that more than the minimum is necessary. Following the precepts of the Church are the minimum. What follows are some humble ‘hints’ for parents in how to create an environment in which children will be open to hearing God’s voice and responding in love to that call.

1. Develop your relationship with Christ and impart a desire for discipleship in the lives of your children. Especially important would be participating in Eucharistic Adoration and even if possible daily Mass. Silence is necessary for growth (both your own and for your child), and in the presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, we are profoundly touched by His loving embrace. In frequent reception of the Eucharist, we grow in grace and freedom.

2. Live your vocation to marriage out as fully as you can. By responding to your vocation to marriage, asking for the fullness of grace that God offers, you will model to your children how to live and respond to God’s grace.

3. Speak of the holy and influential priests and religious in your life. Sharing these stories helps to show the impact a religious life can have.

4. Provide opportunities for your children to speak with priests and religious. Invite them to your house, or let your children interact with them after Mass or at various functions. Your children will see them as human beings and begin to ask if God might be calling them, too.

5. Pray for your children’s vocations, that they may understand their call, and place them in the care of the Blessed Mother, through praying the rosary as a family. By placing your children’s vocations to her maternal protection, she will lead them to Christ.

6. Speak of your children responding to whatever vocation they have, showing your support of them without pushing them. Be aware that the vocation comes from God, and that their free response will lead them to lasting happiness. Parents walk a fine line between showing support and forcing a response. Let your children know you are pleased by their response to God’s call.

7. Instill in your children a desire to serve and a proper understanding of stewardship. This can be done through your ‘open’ service and stewardship. Let your children see your joy-filled gift of self, and help them to find opportunities to do likewise.

8. Inspire a heroic life of virtue in your child by reading to them or with them about the lives of the saints and encouraging moral choices.

9. Help your child develop a wide range of activities and discern what gives them joy and what their talents are. By knowing their talents and gifts, your child may be able to know what God desires. There are certain skills that are useful in any lifestyle and vocation, and by learning to place these in the service of God, your child will more readily be able to cultivate other ‘specialized’ gifts that will led to discerning God’s will.

10. Develop a sense of the sacred and transcendent in your child. Great art, literature, and music can inspire us and teach us of the human condition.

There is nothing profound in any of these things. Together, we can build a culture for vocations in our homes, parishes, area faith communities, diocese, and world. We can create an environment which enables and encourages all of us to respond more deeply to God’s call. We can inspire our youth to take their proper places at the altar as lay men and women, as religious, as deacons, and priests, together worshipping God with one unified voice of praise!

Culture of Divorce, Culture of Death

From InsideCatholic.com


Culture of Divorce, Culture of Death
by Anthony Esolen

"Come sit over here," my wife whispered to me. "Let's give Dad a chance to be alone with her."

It was a quiet room in a hospice, the only sounds the muffled pumping of oxygen, and the softer and slower breathing of my mother-in-law, Esther, as she lay a few hours before her death. Her husband, Herb, stood by the bedside, stroking the gray curls on her forehead, a slight gesture. It seemed to wave away 50 years of sorrow and disappointment and strife, leaving only the love he felt for her in the beginning, like a seedling under the ruins of a city.

He could have abandoned her years before -- not for another woman, but for what the world calls peace. Dad is not a Catholic, so he had no Church precept to warn him against divorce. He didn't need any. "You never know what you'll get in life," he put it to me once. "You have to do the right thing, because if you don't, you'll probably make things worse." So he never left, and at the last moment of Esther's life he was there, fulfilling a patient vigil, his eyes red with weariness and loss.

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"Moses allowed our forefathers to present their wives with a bill of divorce," said the Pharisees to Jesus. "For what cause do you think a man may put away his woman?"

Consider them the pundits of that time, eager to learn whether on this matter of public policy the preacher from Galilee would position himself on the left or the right. Would he agree that you could divorce your wife for burning the soup, or would he hold out for a far narrower range of grounds -- adultery, for instance?

But Jesus rejected the terms of the question. "Moses permitted you to divorce," he said, "because of the hardness of your hearts; but it was not so from the beginning. Therefore you have heard it said that a man should leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife, and they two shall become one flesh. So I say to you that any man who puts away his woman -- I am not talking about fornication here -- and marries another, commits adultery." He concludes with a stern admonition: "What God has joined together, let no mere man put asunder."

We may be too familiar with these words. They should strike us with the same shock that once silenced the Pharisees, or enraged them, when the Lord reached back behind all the history of the Israelites, behind the Temple and the kings and the judges and the tribes, behind even creation itself, as He said, "Before Abraham was, I AM." Here alone, in this discussion of marriage, does Jesus answer a question about good and evil and human life by appealing to the time before the Fall. "It was not so," he says, "from the beginning." It was no part of God's plan for innocent mankind. It can be no part of God's plan for man regenerate in Christ.

Jesus has presented to us two potent truths, each unbearably alive and full of import for fallen man, yet leaving it to us to connect them. The first has been celebrated joyfully by Pope John Paul II: Man and woman are made for one another. Our bodies, our very souls are stamped with a nuptial meaning, and in the embrace of man and woman, an embrace that in God's providence can bring into being a living soul, we recall our innocence in the Garden, and we share in and anticipate the wedding feast of the Lord. The second? We were not made for sin and death, for alienation from one another and from God, our life. That too was not so from the beginning.

Make the connection. Culture of divorce, culture of death.

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If any man had cause for procuring a divorce, short of adultery and mayhem, my father-in-law had it. Esther was a difficult woman to live with. Over a trifle, as when we should leave for the diner, she could go into a towering rage, then storm off to her bedroom, her face set like flint, certain that she was right, that she was ill-used by everyone, and woe to my wife if she tried to reason with her. "Gram's on the warpath," she'd say. She could jest about it then, nervously, but when she was a girl she didn't dare bring any of her friends to the house, for fear that her mother would cause a scene. Hers was a lonely childhood.

What caused this habitual anger, I can't say. Perhaps a deep insecurity, a hunger to be loved; her own mother was by all accounts a tyrant in the household. When Esther returned home with Herb from their elopement, her father said to him, "If you can live with her, more power to you." And she was her father's favorite.

For a few years they lived together happily, in unlikely conditions: quarters for married midshipmen at a naval base in the Bahamas. They always spoke about that time with wistful humor. The poverty was something they shared and couldn't help, so they took it in stride, and made jokes about how much they grew to hate bananas. Esther was also one of those women who genuinely enjoys the company of men, and whom men will treat with a big-brother jocularity and kindness. Those years were good for them.

Then they settled down in New Jersey, where they would live most of their lives. Dad is a sharp man and a hard worker, holding down two and three jobs all his life before he retired. But for a while money was tight, and though Esther grew up with eleven other children in a rented house with an earthen floor, or maybe because she grew up in such straits, she never learned any measure in her spending. She was one of the most generous people I've known, lavishing my children with Christmas presents, but she spent on herself, too. She wanted nice things they could not afford. So she upbraided her husband about his pay, and went to work herself.

My wife was born then, and maybe all would have been well had Esther been able to trust her husband's industry and thrift, and had she not been afflicted by a painful condition that compelled her to have a hysterectomy. It was a severe loss. In her frustration she took a job at a monstrous candy mill, working at rotating shifts, two weeks in the day, two weeks in the evening, two weeks in the dead of night. The body never accustoms itself to that; it is always sleep-deprived. So she took to having a nightcap before bed. Then she fell in with some cynical companions at work who also liked to drink. Soon she was an alcoholic.

Many readers will be able to fill in the details. She was impossible to predict; sometimes ingratiating, sometimes as unappeasable as rock. She would throw cups and dishes about the kitchen. Her fists were not idle. She'd shut herself in her room for days of terrible silence. She insisted on separate bank accounts, throwing it in Dad's teeth that it was her money, that she made more than he did (for a year or so this was true), and that she could spend it as she pleased. My wife cannot remember when they shared the same bed.

But to her credit, Esther recognized that Dad was a terrific father, and in her own way she was true to him. Nobody else dared criticize him -- but she would humiliate him publicly. He didn't care, or didn't let on. They could unite only in their love for their daughter, whom they showered with gifts, partly to compensate for their inability to give her what she wanted more than anything, namely love for one another. Finally, when she was 15 and presumably capable of surviving the blow, her mother approached her with bad news.

"I can't take it anymore! Your father and I are getting a divorce."

But divorce was still rare in those days, and my wife hadn't entertained the possibility. It was as if someone had told her that her little world, so fraught with suffering, so fragile, yet so beloved, would be smashed to bits. She broke down in bitter tears. Her mother backed away, and God would bless her for it. The word "divorce" was never uttered again.

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Divorce destroys a world; it smothers an echo of Eden. What was the Fall, if not man's first attempt to divorce? "Where are you, Adam?" calls God in the cool of the evening. "You haven't come out to meet me as you used to do." Adam is steeped in shame. He doesn't want to be seen. Consider the unselfconsciousness of little children who parade naked in front of their parents, because they sense no separation; they feel themselves to be at one with mother and father. Only later, with a growing sense of separate identity, and a growing loneliness, does the child wish to hide. Adam is hiding not because he is naked, but because he is alienated from God, and it is that separation that causes him to look upon his nakedness, an emblem of his own being, with shame.

But the severance could not end there. When Adam and Eve admit their guilt -- a graceless and skulking admission -- they chisel the fissure more deeply, divorcing themselves from one another and from creation. "It was this woman you gave to be my help," says Adam. "She gave me the fruit, and I ate it." Eve passes the blame in turn. "It was this serpent you created! He tricked me, and I ate the fruit."

What can we expect should follow? The very earth shuns us. The ground shall bear thorns and thistles, and in the sweat of his brow must man eat his bread; the woman will bear children in pain, and will have to submit to the domination, not the loving headship, of her husband. Their children grow up in separate pursuits -- Abel a shepherd, Cain a farmer -- and in envy for a blessing he lacks and does not sincerely desire, Cain slays Abel, not in rage, but in cold malice. When God accosts him, as he once accosted Adam, we see in Cain's reply that the fissure has widened into a chasm. "Am I my brother's keeper?" he sneers.

There you have the motto for a culture of divorce. Cain's words assume that the brother, the parent, the spouse, the neighbor is not worth keeping. What to do with one who obstructs my will, or casts a pall over my daydreams? If I can get away with it, and if I am angry enough, I put him away. No matter. Around any house or barn there's plenty of noisome matter to be buried, shoveled over, cast into a pit, or burnt. We rid ourselves of the sights and smells.

Cain begins in Genesis a saga of family strife, occasioned by lust or greed or envy. Lamech is a multiple murderer, and proud of it. Men begin to take several wives. Lot listens to his grumbling men and separates from Abram, taking that fateful left turn toward Sodom. After Sarah finally conceives a child, she cannot bear the sight of the woman she had encouraged to become Abraham's concubine, so she forces her husband to send Hagar and Ishmael away into the desert. Though God would bring forth good from her guile, Rebecca causes deadly enmity between her sons when she tricks Isaac into giving his blessing to Jacob and not Esau. Jacob's uncle Laban tricks him into marrying Leah, whom he does not love, and then extorts seven additional years of work from him in exchange for Rachel, whom he does love. The intense rivalry between the two sister-wives causes a rift in the family between the sons of Leah and the sons of Rachel, whom old Jacob favors. One of those sons, Joseph, is hurled down a well by his brothers, then sold into slavery.

If heaven is filled with life and light, a wedding feast to celebrate the marriage of the Lamb to his bride the Church, then hell, as C. S. Lewis imagined it, may be the Great Divorce, a realm of alienation, whose "citizens" detest even the thought of a city, and who wish, in an endlessly fissiparous parody of the Heavenly Jerusalem, to move further and further away into the outskirts, to put as much distance between themselves and God (and their neighbors in damnation) as possible. Dante saw it too: One of the traitors in his Inferno, fixed in ice up to his head along with all the others of his ilk, defines his neighbor simply as that one "with his head in my way to block my sight" -- a head that will annoy him for all eternity, and that he would gladly lop off if he could, with no more compunction than if he should swat a fly.

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But Herb and Esther never departed for that gray city that promises much and delivers nothing. They stayed with one another; they endured. They kept their vows. "Son of Man," said the Lord God to Ezekiel as he stood before a valley of dry bones bleaching in the desert sun, "tell these bones to rise." And from those vast dead sands they did arise.

Not immediately. They sent their daughter to college, and after years of wandering in the academic wasteland, joining a tent revival, falling away, brought closer to the Lord by a rabbi, a musician or two out at heels, a good old girl from Tennessee, a motorcycling professor of Milton, and a lover of Crashaw, she ended up in North Carolina, where we met; and I had left my own footprints over many a desert mile. Each of us became the instrument by which the Lord brought the other one home. We fell in love; we worshiped together at Mass. At our wedding, our priest delivered a sermon on the Song of Songs, and on the righteous souls in Revelation, the communion of saints whose robes have been washed white in the blood of the Lamb.

I have a picture of Herb walking down the aisle with my wife. He looks embarrassed, as if he couldn't tell how he had come to be there. He had been raised in an evangelical church. His father, a sternly righteous man, took the faith seriously, but imparted little of the joy of it to his children. Herb's churchgoing did not survive the Navy. Esther, meanwhile, had been raised with hardly any religion at all. She may have attended a Dutch Reformed church for a few years as a child, but her parents paid so little attention to it that they failed to have her baptized. By the time we were married she had given up drink for good, and the AA meetings she attended may have turned her toward the Bible; or maybe she had turned on her own. In any case, though she was ashamed to be found in a church on Sunday, she read a little of the Bible every night, in secret.

I don't know if, except for marriages and funerals and an occasional Easter long ago, Herb and Esther had ever been in a church together. I do know that our marriage, and our increasing steadfastness in the Faith, made them happy. They suddenly had something new to unite them. If they could not love one another, or at least not admit to it, they could together love my wife and me, and then the little girl and the little boy we brought them -- the only grandchildren they would ever have. Esther was a hard woman, but she had also the corresponding virtue of loyalty. If you hurt someone she loved, she might never forgive you, but if you loved the one she loved, her heart would swell in gratitude. Now she and Herb had unexpected reasons to be grateful to one another. They could tattoo their house with pictures of the toddlers, who adored them in their turn, as was just.

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"God is not the God of the dead," said Jesus to the Sadducees, whose hearts were too cramped to believe in any resurrection, "but of the living." To accept divorce as a way of death -- no way of life -- is to deny the very being of God as revealed by Jesus. It is to say that love can, or should sometimes be permitted to, die utterly. But had God so acted toward us, all this universe would have winked out of existence at the first sin of Adam. With every sin we commit, we pretend to sever ourselves from the fount of our being, as if we were lords of life and death; yet should God respond to us in kind, we would find the divorce complete, and would fall into the nothingness of everlasting loss. But He does not do so, and at the last moment, like the thief on the cross who joined the others in their jeering, but who then thought better of it -- and maybe it took the torment of crucifixion to wake him -- we may turn to Christ and hear him say, "This day you shall be with me in Paradise." Christ did not put away that dying criminal. So much the better for us, who are all criminals, dying.

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Esther too was dying, though nobody but my wife noticed it. "Something's wrong with Gram. She remembers things that never happened." Old age, I supposed. Esther did not look like she was about to depart. She still fought mercilessly with her husband. She still squandered her money, though it had been many years since illness had forced her to retire from the factory. She still raged against how badly everyone treated her. She still slammed the door to her room, to hide, to be miserable; and, at night, to open her Bible, though she never talked about it.

But she was suffering a series of small strokes, as we learned much later. These strokes compromised her memory and her ability to get things done around the house. Herb never complained. He'd always been handy, and now he began, unobtrusively, to take on chores she could no longer perform, sweeping and vacuuming, loading the washer, tending the garden, along with all his old chores and his hard work, post-retirement, at his auto junkyard. The strange thing was that as Esther's memory faded, so did her rumination upon all the wrongs she thought people had done to her. Weakness wore away the edges of her anger.

All this took more than ten years. It was punctuated by times of madness, when she would storm out in the dead of night and pound on a neighbor's door, because a "strange man" was in her house -- her husband; or when on a snowy Christmas night she forgot that she was visiting us 250 miles away, and insisted that she was going to walk home. I had to sleep in front of the door to bar her way. But in general she was softening, mellowing. When, after his open-heart surgery, Herb could no longer take care of her and she had to move to the county home, she was pleasant to the nurses and the beauticians, and would brighten up whenever anybody came to see her. Herb visited her three or four times every week, which was as often as her condition could bear, wheeling her down to the solarium where they would talk with other patients and visitors for the whole afternoon.

Esther could be most kind when she wanted to be, and could accept kindness too, but for much of her married life she would not accept it from her husband. Now, as she grew more helpless, she was glad to accept it from him, and he gave it without stint. She called him, in a moment of tenderness and lucidity, her "savior." She was not far wrong. His most important act of kindness he performed just before his operation and her entering the nursing home. He'd become friends with a local Presbyterian minister, a genuine believer in Christ. Now he knew that Esther was too ashamed to admit that she hadn't been baptized. He also knew that if he were to suggest a baptism, she would reject it in anger and hurt, and that would be the end of that. So he told everything to Pastor Forbes, and invited him to visit now and then, so that Esther would get to know him. Then the subject might come up unbidden, or certain suggestions might be made. So he did; and, not long before the time would pass when she could reasonably make any decisions she would remember, without any prompting she asked to be baptized. A few days later, Pastor Forbes baptized my mother-in-law, a frail old woman but at last a daughter of God, in her own kitchen, christening her in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

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We in a culture of death hunger after life, but on our own terms, and at the expense of others, even at the expense of their lives. But some of us will only begin really to live when we have lost all capacity to pretend that we are our own. That is one of the meanings of Jesus' mysterious saying, that unless we become like little children, we shall not enter the kingdom of God. Esther now entered that childhood, and Herb was there, to feed her, to wheel her about when she could no longer walk, to talk to her even toward the end, when a massive stroke had left her still wishing to speak, but unable to form more than one or two intelligible words.

And he was beside her those last few days, making sure, if by some miracle she regained the ability to swallow, that the hospital staff would not abandon her to starvation. He would not allow them to hasten her death with morphine, prescribed less often to alleviate pain than to soothe the onlookers and free the doctors and nurses from the ennui of a natural death. We watched by turns at the bed of the dying woman, not because we believed there was something magical about squeezing out each breath from the clamp of death, but because it was the right thing to do. She was going to die, but we didn't want her to die alone. The dying life was a mystery. It was not our place to abandon it, to cast it away as inconvenient, as trash, as we are urged to do to so much else in our barren lives.

How can we know what fleeting notes of grace came to her in those last hours? If God wills, who can obstruct Him? After nearly 53 years of struggle and disappointment, yet 53 years of faithfulness and duty, Herb stood by, never divorced. The Lord God, against whom she had sinned the more mightily, never turned from calling her back to Him, and as a child of over 70 years she finally answered that call.

What keeps people from believing that a good God loves them and desires never to be parted from them, unless they themselves should flee that love? Look in the mirror, and see the cause of despair in others. Do not repeat the words of the great divorcer at the bottom of hell, who says in his loneliness and misery, "I am my own, I am my own." Say rather, "I am a wayward child, and the one I am called to stand beside is a wayward child." Do not dare mull over your "quality of life" and your "fulfillment" -- wrapped in a shroud of deadly self-regard, while the Lord of life, who dies to bring you to life, gasps for His last breath on the cross above. If anyone had grounds for divorce, He had; no one ever loved as deeply as He, and no one was ever betrayed as He. You, reader, have betrayed Him shamelessly, as have I. Yet He remains faithful, and waits for us, to bring us life:

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.


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Anthony Esolen is a professor of English at Providence College and a contributing editor for Touchstone magazine. He has translated and edited Dante’s Divine Comedy, in three volumes, for Modern Library (Random House).