Dear Friends,
In the Gospel of this past Sunday we heard about Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46-52). Bartimaeus was not blind from birth, unlike the man in the fourth chapter of the Gospel according to John. Bartimaeus had his sight for many years and then lost it; so he knew what he didn’t have. And on top of his losing his sight, he was reduced by his blindness and disability to begging, so that he was treated as one lacking in human dignity.
Dear Friends,
In the Gospel of this past Sunday we heard about Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46-52). Bartimaeus was not blind from birth, unlike the man in the fourth chapter of the Gospel according to John. Bartimaeus had his sight for many years and then lost it; so he knew what he didn’t have. And on top of his losing his sight, he was reduced by his blindness and disability to begging, so that he was treated as one lacking in human dignity.
While the liturgical reforms promulgated by the Second Vatican Council were unexpected by many people, the seeds of the reform actually were planted centuries earlier at the Council of Trent (1545-1563).
The Council of Trent was a monumental moment for the Church. Held in the decades following the Reformation, the council sought to define, unite, and codify many of the Church’s dogmas and practices. In terms of the liturgy, the most significant task that they accomplished was directing the pope to standardize and revise the books for the celebration of Mass.
Dear Friends,
I don’t know if it’s been your experience, but, of late, I’ve noticed a marked increase in the number of people who are very obvious for their display of unhappiness. I’ve been taken aback on a number of occasions by total strangers who, by way of their rude behavior, and shortness with others, indicate a real lack of joy in their lives.
Dear Friends,
On Thursday of this past week we entered into a Year of Faith, which I marked with a beautiful evening of prayer, gathered together with representatives from throughout the diocese. The reflection I offered to those present was really intended for all in the diocese and so I share it with you here:
When the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity became incarnate on earth, in Jesus Christ, He became the most perfect Way that the God could communicate with us humans.
God had communicated since the creation of human beings. God did this, first of all, through nature: human beings could simply look on the greatness of the natural world about them and be led to the knowledge of God.
We are beginning the Year of Faith in the Catholic Church during October, the month traditionally dedicated to the Rosary.
Pope Benedict XVI formally entrusted the world Synod of Bishops and the Year of Faith to Mary during an October 4 visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in Italy.
It is interesting to recall that another pope visited this same Marian shrine 50 years ago. Blessed John XXIII visited Loreto to entrust the Second Vatican Council to Mary’s care in 1962.
Most Americans are familiar with New Year’s resolutions; many embrace them with enthusiasm for the first two weeks of January each year. As winter trudges on, those resolutions lose some of their fervor. Almost all Catholics are familiar with the practice of fasting from things they enjoy each Lent; the good majority stay strong throughout those 40 days.
Based on the success rates of keeping resolutions, it seems like the better and more serious a reason to make one in the first place, the more enthusiasm and effort is put forth in keeping it.
As this Year of Faith began in early October, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, in his opening homily spoke of a “desertification” happening throughout the world. Many people have found themselves drifting away from the practice of the faith, putting stake in the world’s definition of happiness and no longer desiring the beautiful.
I will never forget the events surrounding the first time I attended the March for Life in Washington, D.C.
Six months earlier I had taken a position as the director of religious education in a small rural community just outside of Canton, Ohio. I was armed with a new master’s degree in theology and all the hope in the world that all Catholics could fall deeply in love with God and the Church.
Early one morning I received a call from a friend, a professor at the college down the road and the moderator for the campus pro-life group. He called begging me to drive a group of college students to the March for Life in D.C. My immediate response was, “Are you crazy?” In Ohio, it is only a six-hour drive to our nation’s capital, but I wasn’t prepared to go to march for so many reasons.
“Go teach all nations all things that I have commanded you.” These words of Our Divine Savior remind us of the share that all Christians have in the mission of Jesus.
When Our Lord read from the prophecy of Isaiah at his first public appearance in the synagogue at Nazareth, He quoted: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, release of captives, recovering of sight for the blind, and to announce a year of favor from the Lord.”
Then He said, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your midst.”
