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April 28, 2005
Wanted: A New Pope Chant
Some friends of mine who will be attending World Youth Day in Germany were asking what chant they will use to show their love for the new Holy Father. There have been some good suggestions around the local blogs and I must say my favorite so far is "Papa B. We love thee" as suggested by An at a Being! or Nothing post.
In our home, there were great shouts of joy and excitement when the new Holy Father was announced. Bella remembers this keenly and whenever a picture of Pope Benedict comes up on the computer or the television she jumps up and down and waives her arms exclaiming, “It’s our Holy Papa! It’s our Holy Papa!” in her little pre-school voice. I’m just waiting for her to do that in front of some of our (ahem) less than enthusiastic relatives.
And elsewhere, I had to laugh when someone at the Catholic Answers Forum posted this story -
My boss came by the other day and saw my screensaver of the Holy Father. "Ah, the new Pope. What's his name?"I said, "Allow me to present His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. He's the new Catholic secret weapon--the B-16, a weapon of MASS INSTRUCTION!"
My boss ran out of the room with a coughing fit on that one.
HAHA! Now if that were a shirt, my mom would be wearing it!
Posted by bobbi at 8:57 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Catholic Americans and Veruca Salt
Thanks to a heads up from Jimmy Akin.org, I came across an excellent article entitled My Kingdom for the Pill by Abigail Palmer. Here are a few excerpts:
A certain figure has been looming unexpectedly in my mind over the last month. The adverb "unexpectedly" is the key -- it could not refer to the Holy Father, whose passing gripped the Church and the rest of the world. Pope John Paul II, may he rest in peace.(Read the entire article here.)Rather, the figure that plagues me was provoked by something quite removed from the Pope: whining. And that figure? Veruca Salt. There isn't a person in my generation who hasn't seen "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." Since the classic is soon to be remade (like all classics), I'm sure another generation will be made familiar with Miss (or Ms.? She might like that) Salt. For the reader who does not know this young lady, I'll make introductions.
While I regrettably have not read the book, I have seen the movie more times that I can count. Forgive me if I unwittingly diverge from Roald Dahl's text! Veruca Salt is one of the youths who wins a tour of Willy Wonka's candy factory. In this strange morality tale, almost every child (and accompanying parent) who wins the contest displays some kind of vice: one boy is obsessed with TV; a girl incessantly chews gum. All are spoiled, and each meets his bizarre demise. But Veruca, at least in my mind, is the most spoiled of all. The child of wealthy, pushover parents, she whines incessantly and throws violent tantrums....
...What in the wide world could possibly remind me of whining, and of dear Veruca, and of those lovely lyrics? I happened to watch the coverage of the Holy Father's death, which included much commentary. Some praised his charisma; others, his love of fellow man. Then there were those who would form their brows into a tragic crinkle, utter a sigh, and lament the fact that the Pope was out of touch with American Catholics. So right-wing! So divisive, with iron fist firmly grasped! This was usually followed with the "wise-up" argument, which went something like this: "you know, most American Catholics don't even follow the Church's teaching on birth control/divorce/premarital sex. We need someone who will move us into the 21st century."
In light of these kinds of laments, I can easily make a broad, extreme, and uncomfortable statement. American Catholics are the most spoiled Catholics on the planet. A Catholic in Baghdad just hopes that his church won't be bombed this Sunday; Sudanese Catholics hope that they can face another day without brutal, unspeakable religious persecution. In many of the dioceses of the world, a roof on the church or running water would be nice. And we, in all of our prosperity, want more ease. We can go to church when we like, say what we like, do what we like. We want, if it's even possible in this world, an easier life, a life less uncomfortable, and one that doesn't involve explaining "arcane" doctrines to non-believers. The idea of prosperous people sliding into laziness and insolence is not unheard of in history. The real outrage is that it is happening to a people who has received teachings that extol sacrifice, humility, fidelity, and love of the helpless and lowly. The excuse "But Zeus does it, too" won't work for us...
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April 27, 2005
Why the Name "Benedict"?
Thanks to Amy Welborn at Open Book for the post about today's General Audience.
"Resuming the Wednesday general audiences," he went on, "I wish to speak of the name I chose on becoming bishop of Rome and pastor of the universal Church. I chose to call myself Benedict XVI ideally as a link to the venerated Pontiff, Benedict XV, who guided the Church through the turbulent times of the First World War. He was a true and courageous prophet of peace who struggled strenuously and bravely, first to avoid the drama of war and then to limit its terrible consequences. In his footsteps I place my ministry, in the service of reconciliation and harmony between peoples, profoundly convinced that the great good of peace is above all a gift of God, a fragile and precious gift to be invoked, safeguarded and constructed, day after day and with everyone's contribution."The name Benedict also evokes the extraordinary figure of the great 'patriarch of western monasticism,' St. Benedict of Norcia, co-patron of Europe with Cyril and Methodius. The progressive expansion of the Benedictine Order which he founded exercised an enormous influence on the spread of Christianity throughout the European continent. For this reason, St. Benedict is much venerated in Germany, and especially in Bavaria, my own land of origin; he constitutes a fundamental point of reference for the unity of Europe and a powerful call to the irrefutable Christian roots of European culture and civilization."
The Pope appealed to St. Benedict for help "to hold firm Christ's central position in our lives. May he always be first in our thoughts and in all our activities!"
Before concluding, Benedict XVI announced that, just as at the beginning of his pontificate John Paul II had continued the reflections on Christian virtues begun by Pope John Paul I, in coming weekly audiences he would resume "the comments prepared by John Paul II on the second part of the Psalms and Canticles, which are part of Vespers. From next Wednesday, I will begin precisely from where his catechesis was interrupted after the general audience of January 26."
The Holy Father read out brief summaries of his catechesis, which he had delivered in Italian, in various other languages: English, French, Spanish and German. He then gave brief greetings to various groups in Croatian, Slovenian and Polish and concluded by addressing the 1,000 faithful from the archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia, Italy, who were accompanied by Archbishop Riccardo Fontana.
Raw Video Feed here (scroll down; click) with some snippets of riding in the Popemobile, speaking in Italian, English, German and Spanish.
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April 26, 2005
Demons Try to Stop Benedict XVI’s Election
During the homily of the EWTN Mass today Fr. Francis told the story of a priest he met in Rome at St. Peter’s. The priest told him about an Exorcism he attended a few days ago, which lasted six hours. There came a moment during the six hours when they were all getting weak, were attacked themselves and could feel the presence of evil in the room.
At one moment in particular, the person who was being exorcised actually began to speak out and to say some words. Apparently, he said that Our Blessed Mother had commanded this demon to speak out on Pope Benedict XVI. The demon spoke through the possessed person and said, “We tried to stop it. We tried to stop it. We tried to stop it,” over and over again, yelping and screeching in a horrific voice. The possessed person went on to explain that it was SHE – Our Lady – who enabled all this to happen and who was in fact commanding this demon to speak out and let them know that they tried to stop the Pope’s appointment but couldn’t.
If you didn’t catch the Mass, you can listen or watch the homily online at http://www.ewtn.com/audiovideo/index.asp under “Today’s Homily” (4/26). It’s about 13 minutes into the homily if you can’t listen to the whole thing.
Just a little reminder of the very real spiritual battle going on and how blessed we are to have Our Lady fighting with us!
Posted by bobbi at 7:46 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 22, 2005
In the Stereo
Okay, I can only take so much "heavy" reading until I need to unwind and relax, but before I do I'll pop my current top five cd's in the stereo:
Room Noise by Eisley
Lifehouse by Lifehouse
Fly Away by Paul Wright
Once Upon A Shattered Life by Seventh Day Slumber
The Everglow by Mae
(It's either that or veg out on the couch with Napoleon Dynamite.)
Posted by bobbi at 3:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
WSJ - Weigel on the Pope
Thanks to Being! Or Nothingness for the heads up on this article. Brian and I were just talking about the life of St. Benedict so it's particularly timely.
Light in a New Dark Age by George Weigel
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April 21, 2005
I'm an American and I'm Exultant!
Being! Or Nothingness has some great posts about our Holy Father so be sure to check it out. I especially love his comments about the moronic news coverage regarding disgruntled Catholics. He says:
All of this media frenzy about [Pope Benedict's] conservatism is laughable. As if John Paul II or any of his predecessors were somehow "liberal." It's so ridiculous. And moreso, the idea that all Americans are traumatized by the prospect of a conservative pope . . . lol . . . bring it on baby!
Amen, brother!
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Pope Benedict XVI's Message
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 20, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of Pope Benedict XVI's first full-length message, which he read in Latin at the end of a Eucharistic concelebration with members of the College of Cardinals. He presided over the Mass Wednesday morning in the Sistine Chapel - "A Church That … Has No Fear of the Future".
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April 19, 2005
Habemus Papam!
Welcome, Our New Papa! - Benedict XVI
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April 18, 2005
Our "Adopted" Cardinals
A group of Catholic families in CA started an "Adopt-A-Cardinal" project where a person or family spiritually adopts a cardinal(s) during the conclave, praying for them and asking the Holy Spirit to guide them. I thought that was an excellent idea so Brian and I both chose two cardinals to pray for. Brian has Cardinal Marian Jaworski of the Ukraine and Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estévez of Chile. I have Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán of Mexico and Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino of Cuba. May God be with them and all the Cardinals during this momentous point in history.
Posted by bobbi at 9:48 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Praying for the Conclave
Let us take an extra effort to unite our prayers with the Cardinals. May the Holy Sprit guide them in electing our new pope.
Lord God,
You are our eternal shepherd and guide.
In your mercy grant your Church a shepherd who will walk in your waysand whose watchful care will bring us your blessing.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(From the Roman missal, "To elect a Pope or bishop")
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April 10, 2005
"John Paul II Priests"
As a memeber of the JPII Generation, I was happy to read this article -
A Small, Sturdy Band of 'John Paul Priests'.
When the Rev. Jeffrey Njus thinks about why he spends his days encouraging other young adults to pray often and make lifelong commitments, he recalls the man who changed his life in 1993.Father Njus was a tourist with a group of fellow Protestant college students at the Vatican when Pope John Paul II strolled down the aisle and grasped his hand just long enough to create what he remembers as "an encounter with holiness," one that revealed to him "what God wanted to do with my life."
Twelve years later, Njus ranks among approximately 17,000 men ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood in America during John Paul II's 26-year pontificate. And when Njus speaks about what drives him, he echoes their dreams and the pope's as well for a world returned to upright morality.
"Our society is facing different issues than ... in the 1960s and '70s," says Njus, now associate pastor at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Brighton, Mich. "The social revolution from that time left the family wounded. So we priests who grew up in that generation are now addressing that wound..." Read Full Story
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April 2, 2005
Goodbye, Our Beloved Papa
The final message to his children -
"I am happy and you should be happy too. Do not weep. Let us pray together with joy."
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