Faith in Roman Catholicism

9:17:38 PM CDT

The Church has entered the Great Jubilee Year of the Apostle Saint Paul, marking the two thousandth anniversary of his birth.  The Universal Church unites Herself in following the example of our beloved leader and teacher of the early Faith community.

Saint Paul is often pictured with a sword, the symbol and instrument of his martyrdom as a Roman citizen, but the sword stands for something else: his piercing word and the ability to speak eloquently about his passion for Jesus Christ.  Let us ask his intercession in discovering what sword Jesus has gifted to us so we may spread the Good News of Jesus to the four corners of the world.

Saint Paul, pray for us!

PAULINE YEAR INDULGENCES
THE PAPAL BASILICA: ST. PAUL OUTSIDE-THE-WALLS
PAULINE YEAR WEBSITE

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6:26:28 PM CDT

It has been far too long since I've written an entry.  That's just what the end of my second semester of college looked like.  Let me catch you up.

I performed my Level I Recital with three of my friends from the music department at the University of Saint Thomas.  We each performed 15 minutes of music.  I was officially accepted into the music program.

Some friends and I have founded a Swing Dance Club at UST.  We're very excited about the interest and we're looking forward to a more organized fall semester for the club.  We're hopefully going to put on a few dances, and provide for a cover-charge to some dance places in the Twin Cities area.

My youngest sibling and sister received her First Holy Communion May 3rd.  I was blessed with the privilege of singing and playing organ for her Mass.  It was a beautiful, spiritual, and blessed day.  Praise Jesus!

I have been hired on campus for the 08-09 school year to be a Liturgical Assistant.  That entails planning and organizing Campus Ministry events and Liturgies.  I'm excited about the work.  It will give me a good sense of the non-musical aspects of liturgy that I'll have to contend with.

Final exams went well.  My report card only had one B in Calculus.  (For me, that's a miracle!)  Otherwise, all A's!  I'm now back home in Illinois.  I've been able to catch up with high school friends, do some writing, do a lot of job hunting, and practice my sight reading skills on piano.

I'm using a lot of summer to do some praying and reasoning about my life and where God wants things to go.  Pray for me!  I'll keep praying for all of you! 

We are United in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!

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9:19:53 AM CDT

Okay, so it's only Kellen O'Grady News and Comment, but you get the idea.

I was saddened over the weekend to learn of the death of actor, Charlton Heston.  "The Ten Commandments" have always been apart of our Easter Celebration, and who can forget epic movies like "Ben-Hur"?  May his soul rest in peace.

Charlton Heston
4 October 1924 - 5 April 2008

When I logged on this morning, I read news that the torch in the Olympic Relay in Paris had been extinguished twice due to protests.  Protestors, countries, political groups, etc are using the Olympics to boycott the Chinese government because the Olympics are hosted in Beijing.  As I ponder these events and mull them around inside my head, I wonder why the world wants to protests the Chinese by damaging and hindering a symbol of peace.  It seems like the Olympics are always a time of reflecting on nation relations...the fact that athletes from all kinds of societies can come together like this is astounding.  I know the US has boycotted an Olympics before, and right off the top of my head I can't remember why we boycotted them then, or why there are so many protests against China today.  (I do know it's basically the Chinese occupation of Tibet.)  I guess I just wish we could have this moment of peaceful competition unhindered by politics.  Maybe that's just not possible considering the gravity of the issues. 

I am comforted by world unity in one sense, the greatest sense: Our Eucharistic Lord in the Catholic Church!

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9:54:59 PM CDT

In Memoriam on the 3rd Anniversary of his death.

18 May 1920 - 2 April 2005

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8:52:40 PM CDT

Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels!
Exult, all creation around God's throne!
Jesus Christ, our King is risen!
Sound the trumpet of salvation!

Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor,
radiant in the brightness of your King!
Christ has conquered!  Glory fills you!
Darkness vanishes forever!

Rejoice, O Mother Church!  Exult in glory!
The risen Savior shines upon you!
Let this place resound with joy,
echoing the mighty song of all God's people!

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give him thanks and praise.

It is truly right
that with full hearts and minds and voices
we should praise the unseen God,
the all-powerful Father,
and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Christ has ransomed us with his blood,
and paid for us the price of Adam's sin
to our eternal Father!

This is our passover feast,
when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,
whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.

This is the night when first you saved our fathers:
you free the people of Israel from their slavery
and led them dry-shod through the sea.

This is the night when Christians everywhere,
washed clean of sin
and freed from all defilement,
are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.

This is the night when Jesus Christ
broke the chains of death
and rose triumphant from the grave.

What good would life have been to us,
had Christ not come as our Redeemer?

What good would life have been to us,
had Christ not come as our Redeemer?

Father, how wonderful your care for us!
How boundless your merciful love!
To ransom a slave
you gave away your Son.

O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam,
which gained for us so great a Redeemer!

Most blessed of all nights, chosen by God
to see Christ rising from the dead!

Of this night scripture says:
"The night will be as clear as day;
it will become my light, my joy."

The power of this holy night
dispels all evil, washes guilt away,
restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy;
it casts out hatred, brings us peace,
and humbles earthly pride.

Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth
and we are reconciled with God!

Therefore, heavenly Father, in the joy of this night,
receive our evening sacrifice of praise,
your Church's solemn offering.

Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.

Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night!

May the morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star, who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on us all,
your Son who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.

The Easter Proclamation (Exultet), the Easter Vigil Liturgy.

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12:36:43 PM CDT

Behold the wood of the cross, on which has hung our salvation: come, let us adore.

We have finally reached Calvary.  Let us recall the journey with Our Lord and His Blessed Mother.

Today is the only day of the year Mass is not celebrated.  Today's liturgy consists of the Liturgy of the Word, Veneration of the Cross, and Holy Communion. 

Thank you, Jesus.

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5:08:43 PM CDT

Quotes taken from "Magnificat" Vol. 10 No. 1

"When the Lord of the world comes and undertakes the slave's task of foot-washing - which is an illustration of the way he washes our feet all our lives - we have a totally different picture.  God doesn't want to trample on us, but kneels down before us so as to exalt us.  The mystery of the greatness of God is seen prcisely in the fact that he can be small...  Only when power is changed from the inside, and we accept Jesus and his way of life, whose whole self is there in the action of foot-washing, only then can the world be healed and the people be able to live at peace with one another."
-Pope Benedict XVI

This evening's Mass commemorates The Last Supper.  The Gloria is sung.  "During the singing of the Gloria the church bells are run and then remain silent until the Easter Vigil...."  After the homily, the main presiding priest washes the feet of twelve men as Jesus did to his disciples.  After the Prayer after Communion, Mass is ended, and we begin the Transfer of the Holy Eucharist.  The priest processes with the Blessed Sacrament from the main Tabernacle to the Altar of Repose.  This is Jesus' Agony in the Garden of Gethsemene.  Following the Transfer of the Holy Eucharist, the altar is stripped bare and the main Tabernacle is left empty.  "The faithful should be encouraged to continue adoration before the Blessed Sacrament for a suitable time during the night, according to local circumstances, but there should be no solemn adoration after midnight."  The Agony in the Garden is where Eucharistic Adoration is born, when Jesus asks, "Could you not watch one hour with Me?"  The Apostles continually fall asleep. 

Christ suffered so much in The Garden, He sweated blood.  Let us join in His agony.  He yearns to love your soul and to be loved in return.

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10:11:18 AM CDT

The Church solemnly enters into Her most sacred days starting with Holy Thursday.  The first Mass of Holy Thursday is the Chrism Mass.  When Christ instituted the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, he also instituted the Priesthood.  As many priests as possible come together to the Cathedral of the diocese to celebrate Mass with the bishop.  They show their unity with the bishop and renew their dedication to the priesthood.  The sacred Chrism oils are mixed and blessed for the year.  These oils are used for the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, and Holy Orders.  There are three oils, oil of the sick, oil of the catechumens, and Chrism Oil.  A representative from each parish attends the Mass.  The Bishop presents the representative with the Holy Oils and they take the oils back to their parish.  I had the honour of being that representative for my parish one year, and it was one of the most beautiful Masses I had ever attended.

We say the Gloria today at Mass, because of the celebratory mood of the events. 

The video is the procession of priests out of Mass for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis.  I encourage anyone interested in viewing this weekend's events but aren't able to attend, to visit www.ewtn.com and watch the TV programs they will broadcast.  They will have all these Masses on television from the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and/or The Vatican.

I will be posting more as today and the Triduum progresses.  Let us begin the final walk to Calvary and the Glory that awaits at the end of suffering.

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5:10:33 PM CDT

In the 1840's and 1850's, Ireland suffered through the potato famine.  With such poverty, nothing to eat, and no help from the British, families were seperated as those who could, emmigrated to America.  While those who left made promises to write, return, or send for their families, chances were high that they would never see each other again.  Boarding the boats for America was like dying in many ways to those left in Ireland, so the night before the person left, family and friends would gather to wake the person; they would celebrate good times, memories, and have one last chance to spend time together.  They would have an American Wake.

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3:20:11 PM CDT

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY,
is the Lord God of Hosts!
Heaven and Earth are full of Your Glory!
Hosanna in the Highest!
Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the Highest!

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