January 2005

Well, it was an amazing trip/retreat. Got back today in the wee hours of the morning, and I haven’t had the time to do a major write-up of my experience. Have no fear, though — I will. Too many graces to not share them.

One of those graces, however, you will find below. I brought along my palm pilot and keyboard, so I finally managed to pound out liturgy article #5 (part of my on-going series). It’s a biggie, and probably loaded with typos and other errors, but I thought I’d put it up anyway. Liturgy article #6 is now a work in progress!

This evening we had a gathering of the parents of children in our catechetical program. This year our parents are being strongly encouraged to partake of the sacrament themselves, partly to provide a good example for their children, and partly just because confession is good for the soul. But Reconciliation is still a sacrament that is shrouded in mystery for so many, so to help prepare I gave a 45-min presentation on the sacrament of Reconciliation. It was no-holds barred: I covered every detail regarding the sacrament I could think of.

I’m not one for simply posting links to other articles, but I haven’t seen this one yet around the Catholic blogs. Sooo….

According to the London Daily Telegraph, Regina Apostolorum university in Rome is going to start offering courses in exorcism. It will be a two month seminar series for priests to qualify them as exorcists.

I had a most interesting conversation today: a fellow called to tell me he has decided to start the RCIA process and enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. He then mentioned to me that it was a conversation we once had that stimulated him to seriously consider this new path for his life.

Today in class I mentioned how there have been Christian movements throughout history which tried to separate from the rest of society in order to found a perfect “Christian kingdom”. I mentioned how many of the early settlers in America were of this mindset: think, for example, of Ronald Reagan’s oft-quoted reference to America as the “city on the hill”. This is actually a Christian image, taken from a sermon given by John Winthrop in 1630, to describe the desire of the first pilgrims to America to found this “heavenly Jerusalem” on earth.

While in a bookstore today I came across Randall Sullivan’s book The Miracle Detective. It is the true story of a writer for Rolling Stone who decided to start to investigate a supposed apparition of the Blessed Virgin. But, curiously, as he continued his research, he found himself drawn more and more into his subject.

May 2005 be full of blessings for you.

In today’s homily I gave the congregation some homework for 2005, which I’d like to offer all of you as well. Draw up your family tree, as detailed as you can. As you do so, reflect on each member of your family, and think of a prayer intention for each of them. Then, take that family tree diagram out once per day, and pray for one member of the family on it.