Good Friday 2016

The Pope treated this today:

Impress, Lord, in our hearts the sentiments of faith, hope, love and sorrow for our sins.

When Jesus bowed his head and said,

"Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,"

the hearts of his mother and his followers at the foot of the cross must have felt so devastated, so alone. Yet, he had told Dismas, the thief who from his cross had asked to be remembered in Jesus' kingdom: "Today you will be with me in Paradise." Somehow remembering that sentence must have lit a flicker of hope amid the sadness at seeing Jesus die such a brutal death.

With Pope Francis we repeat our prayer asking Jesus to engrave in our hearts a deeper faith, hope, love and contrition or sorrow for our own sins. When we were younger our mother told us that today, Good Friday, is a day of silence, a day to think about Jesus and what he went through for us. Perhaps you had to work today, or travel, or look after your own children or someone else's little ones. Offer your work as a living prayer, done for love of God and with the intentions Jesus has.

Believe me, placing a holy intention into what we do in our everyday tasks whether or not we get a salary for those works, is like putting the correct address on an envelope that we mail. That song that was around in the late 60's, What the World Needs Is Love, Love Sweet Love, is good for every year and every day. We need to build bridges and not walls of hatred, extend helping hands and not "turn our back on our own." In this Good Friday of the Year of Mercy, I look to the cross of Jesus from which mercy flows every day so I can benefit from God's mercy freely given to me. Because of this free gift, I hope to extend mercy to all around e, and to all who may read this blog. Each day in the Mass we renew the sacrifice of Calvary and Jesus offers anew his body and blood for us. I am so privileged to be able to attend Mass almost every day and receive the Body and blood given for me and for all. Have a good continuation of this holy Friday, this Good Friday which brought us the greatest Good--God's loving mercy and redemption. May you grow in love and in thanksgiving for the gift that is Jesus, our Lord and God.

A Sacred Three Days

At 5:30 this evening, Holy Thursday, two priests con-celebrated the Mass of the Lord's Supper in our chapel. The reading from Exodus reminded us of the Passover meal, and the blood of the lamb sprinkled over the doorways of the Hebrew households spared them from death as they prepared to flee Egypt. The reading from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians clearly teaches that the bread we eat and the wine we drink are the Body and Blood of Christ. Jesus gave us his Body and Blood to nourish us on our way in life. In Chapter 6 of John's Gospel, Jesus had promised that he would "give us his body as food and his blood as drink". Some people walked away from Jesus then. Jesus did not call out to them and say: "Hey, wait a minute. I meant to just give you a sign, a symbol of my humanity. Come on back. Forget what I just said." No, Jesus was a prophet and not a politician. He spoke the truth because he is The Truth. We believe Jesus' promise to care for us and actually nourish us who believe in his "Real Presence" in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Paul wrote that he received from the Lord what he handed down to us. Tonight we remember that Greatest of Gifts the Eucharist which is so available to millions of us throughout the world. God wired us so that we need to eat about three times a day. So why not feed our soul what it yearns for--that union of our whole self with the whole Self of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Tonight we keep watch with Jesus hidden in the Eucharist. On that first Holy Thursday Jesus went out into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He prayed face down on the ground begging the Father to spare him "the cup" of suffering. He shuddered at the thought that despite his love being poured out for each person, sinners would turn their back on him and reject his love. As John wrote: "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." That moral suffering of being rejected and the thought of bearing all the sins of the world must have weighed on him. Luke tells us that "drops as of blood fell upon the ground" St. Paul said that "He who knew no sin was made sin" as he gave himself up for us. When I meditate on Paul's words, I imagine Jesus being overwhelmed with a huge weight, a weight that is ugly, stinking with the rottenness of dead things, totally abhorrent. Doctors who have studied the Passion believe that Jesus heart even in Gethsemane was broken with sorrow. He begged his Father to spare him from drinking from the chalice of suffering humiliation, ridicule, apathy, scourging, and crucifixion. Yet, his prayer brought him into perfect alignment with the Father: "Not my will, but yours be done."

If you stay up tonight, or for reading tomorrow, take up the New Testament or just the Four Gospels and read the last chapters of each gospel to read and pray over their descriptions of Jesus' suffering or Passion. I leave you to pray in our "garden" set up where Jesus in the Eucharist is surrounded by Sisters and guests who want "to spend one hour" in his Eucharistic presence. Here is the "Garden" where Jesus in hidden in our midst in the small tabernacle prepared with love by our Novices. May the following two days of teh Sacred Threesome, Good Friday and Holy Saturday be grace-filled and peaceful for you.

24 Hours for Mercy

Tonight churches around the world are staying open for 24 Hours of Mercy. The Mercy emanates from the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession. Christ, through his Church, is inviting all Catholics who have not been in a confessional for a while to feel free to approach the Lord in the Sacrament of Mercy--Donfession. As Pope Francis wrote in his document, The Face of Mercy, Jesus is the Face of Mercy. Our God is indeed an awesome God. To make sure we do not hold back from embracing the love offered by God the Father, he sent Jesus, true God and true man, into this world to make us "children of God." If you cannot make it to confession tonighjt (or today depending on where you live on this planet), make a beeling for the nearest Catholic Church. Go on-line to find out their hours for confession. Or, if you think your personal state of soul needs greater attention, call the number for the priests' office or the rectory to make an appointment. To make a good confession, there are 5 steps to make it a good one: 1) make an examination of conscience--that is we recall how we have fallen short in keeping the Commandments,the teachings of the church, especially on morality. We look overour thoughts and behavior since our last confession. 2) We make a prayer of sorrow for our sins, that is, an act of contrition.where we admit our sins we found ourselves go aurselves together. Prayer books offer a variety of "penitential

March Meditation

We are in the middle of our Great Lent--the once a year time when we focus as a whole church on Christ's Passion and what caused that Passion: sin. Rather than on sin itself, which we are all aware of we zero in on Christ. His life and death redeemed us, made reparation for our sins. When he comments on Jesus' heading towards Jerusalem, the Scripture writer Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis sums up the purpose of Jesus becoming one of us like this:

The Letter to the Hebrews, having at its center the whole Christian theology of atoning sacrifice, spells out in clearest terms how Jesus' eventual self-oblation is the very purpose of the Incarnation, It also shows us how the holocaust of Jesus' life and body toward which he is ascending in Jerusalem like Isaac carrying the wood on his back up Mount Moriah, is the highest fulfillment of the Father's design.

One of our first Sisters in the USA often repeated that when it comes to living a good life and accepting the crosses which come our way, it is not a matter of having a "grin and bear it" attitude. That could be something forced and eventually will evaporate. No, rather Sister would say, "It is a matter of giving love for love." Christ died for love and with love. Love is what makes the ugly beautiful, the heavy light, and the unsufferable bearable. Jesus said that we can do nothing worthwhile for heaven by ourselves. But, as St. Paul passionately emphasizes, "With God I can do all things!" St. Paul did endure a lot of suffering, fatigue, shipwreck, beatings and an entire litany of sufferings. In the end he would say, "I can do all things in him [Christ] who strengthens me!" May your day be lighter and lovelier because of the love of God poured out on you. My prayers are with you for a very blessed day!

A Day for the Sick

Today is the World Day of Prayer for the Sick. This coincides with the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. In Lourdes, France, on this day in 1858, Bernadette Soubirous, a young illiterate girl, first saw the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary called herself The Immaculate Conception. When her Bishop heard Bernadette say, "The Immaculate Conception, he made the connection--this has to be real! Bernadette complete her earthly life as a religious Sister. Now she is St. Bernadette. Miraculous cures of all kinds happen at the spot where Mary appeared in Lourdes.

Here is just part of the story of Our Lady of Lourdes:

On 11 February 1858, Bernadette Soubirous went with her sisters Toinette and Jeanne Abadie to collect some firewood and bones in order to buy some bread. After taking off her shoes and stockings to wade through the water near the Grotto of Massabielle, she said she heard the sound of two gusts of wind (coups de vent) but the trees and bushes nearby did not move. A wild rose in a natural niche in the grotto, however, did move. "I came back towards the grotto and started taking off my stockings. I had hardly taken off the first stocking when I heard a sound like a gust of wind. Then I turned my head towards the meadow. I saw the trees quite still: I went on taking off my stockings. I heard the same sound again. As I raised my head to look at the grotto, I saw a lady dressed in white, wearing a white dress, a blue girdle and a yellow rose on each foot, the same color as the chain of her rosary; the beads of the rosary were white....From the niche, or rather the dark alcove behind it, came a dazzling light."[11]

This year the main celebration for this Day of Prayer for the Sick is happening in Nazareth, in the Holy Land. On this second day of lent, take some time to pray for the sick, especially those with chronic or terminal illness. Our Holy Father Pope Francis sent his message for this Day. Here is some of what he wrote: Illness, above all grave illness, always places human existence in crisis and brings with it questions that dig deep. Our first response may at times be one of rebellion: Why has this happened to me? We can feel desperate, thinking that all is lost, that things no longer have meaning…

In these situations, faith in God is on the one hand tested, yet at the same time can reveal all of its positive resources. Not because faith makes illness, pain, or the questions which they raise, disappear, but because it offers a key by which we can discover the deepest meaning of what we are experiencing; a key that helps us to see how illness can be the way to draw nearer to Jesus who walks at our side, weighed down by the Cross. And this key is given to us by Mary, our Mother, who has known this way at first hand. At the wedding feast of Cana, Mary is the thoughtful woman who sees a serious problem for the spouses: the wine, the symbol of the joy of the feast, has run out. Mary recognizes the difficulty, in some way makes it her own, and acts swiftly and discreetly. She does not simply look on, much less spend time in finding fault, but rather, she turns to Jesus and presents him with the concrete problem: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). And when Jesus tells her that it is not yet the time for him to reveal himself (cf. v. 4), she says to the servants: “Do whatever he tells you” (v. 5). Jesus then performs the miracle, turning water into wine, a wine that immediately appears to be the best of the whole celebration. What teaching can we draw from this mystery of the wedding feast of Cana for the World Day of the Sick? The wedding feast of Cana is an image of the Church: at the centre there is Jesus who in his mercy performs a sign; around him are the disciples, the first fruits of the new community; and beside Jesus and the disciples is Mary, the provident and prayerful Mother.

Pray for and if possible visit the sick today. Have a very blessed Lenten day!

Ash Wednesday

The opening prayer of today, Ash Wednesday's, Mass goes like this:

Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christian service, so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint.

This prayer summarizes in a few phrases what Lent is all about. On Facebook this morning, someone kindly posted a quote from Saint John Paul on why ashes for today. Here it is:

May today's fast bring us clarity of mind, deeper love in our hearts and more life in our souls to begin this "holy campaign" against our own personal sin and failings, so that the whole Body of Christ will be more holy as we approach our Easter of Resurrection. As many Saints have told us: Keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. May we be joyful "ambassadors of Christ" as St. Paul tells us in today's reading from 2 Corinthians, and messengers of mercy.

Lent Begins

Tomorrow I will read from the Prophet Joel. His voice echoes through the millenia with the same message he proclaimed to the people of Israel:

Even now says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment....

The selection from Joel ends with these words of hope:

Then the Lord was stirred to concern for his land and took pity on hia people.

Lent is that recurring season that culminates in Easter. Before we get to Easter however, there is work to do, and suffering to endure. C. S. Lewis wrote that "nothing that has not been crucified will rise." A number of candidates seeking the office of our United States presidency have latched onto catch phrases such as "rise" and take up "greatness." Rising, just like the process of tiny plants during their growth crack open the seed and leave it behind as they push through the earth toward the sun, requires leaving the familiar and cozy behind to risk getting above ground and thriving in the light of the sun. So we need to crack open the shell of our old sinful patterns of allow the Light of Christ's grace to penetrate us to our very depths.

Even in our mundane world changes, many of them painful events transpire before positive changes are made to improve a family, a community, a nation. Physical trainers repeat the axiom, "No pain, no gain." It is so true that Christ saved us without us, but he wants us to correspond to that amazing grace with our own daily practice of virtue. Just as muscles rebel when made to exercise, so our human side can rebel at the very idea of change. Durig Lent we want to emphasize imitating Christ, even in some little thing every day. Certain folks give up chocolate, or ice cream, or going to movies. Why not fast from an hour of TV to do some good spiritual reading for an hour a day? If you are not a reader, you can listen to good audio books, or watch Catholic TV or EWTN if either or both of these are available to you. In Canada Salt & Light TV offers wholesome Catholic viewing. Pope Francis is asking us to remember those who are financially poor in this Year of Mercy. On the Internet I have seen how some families keep a supply of plastic "survival kit" bags in their cars. The kits contain bottled water, granola bars and other snacks. Others keep modest supplies of dental hygiene needs, bars of soap, shaving needs and other toiletries. I know of some people who purchase gift cards for Dunkin Donuts, or McDonalds and hand them to street people. I heard of a family that often has to drive through a depressed neighborhood. Before the couple and their teen children set out, they prepare bags of sandwiches to hand to any homeless people whom they see.

"Lent is like a long 'retreat' during which we can turn back into ourselves and listen to the voice of God, in order to defeat the temptations of the Evil One. It is a period of spiritual 'combat' which we must experience alongside Jesus, not with pride and presumption, but using the arms of faith: prayer, listening to the word of God and penance. In this way we will be able to celebrate Easter in truth, ready to renew the promises of our Baptism." -- Pope Benedict XVI

While most of us cannot physically retreat from our daily routine, we can always reflect more, examine our consciences on a daily basis, pray more intentionally, practice humility and patience. None of these practices are flashy or attention-getting. It is love for God lived out in the nitty-gritty of our lives; stuck in traffic, yet not cursing or complaining, but taking that time to pray or turn on the local Catholic radio, or listen to an audio book on the spiritual life...there are so many ways to return "love for love" in this Holy Season. These 40 days are a way for us to say a daily thank you to Jesus for coming among us, especially for suffering and dying and rising for us. I wish each of you readers a holy and grace-filled Lent. May it be the best ever!

Mother Thecla Anniversary and More

Tomorrow we Sisters, Daughters of St. Paul will officially close our 1st Centenary Year. This date was chosen since our 100 year anniversary coincided for a time with the centenary of the entire Pauline Family. February 5th is significant because it is the date that the first Suprior General of the Daughters of St. Paul, Mother Thecla Merlo entered eternal life on February 5, 1964.

Mercy Mindfulness

In the last several years, schools and houses of prayer have recommended the practice of mindfulness. In other words it means paying attention to what we are doing or experiencing in the here and now, We tell kids to "eat mindfully" and to savor each bite of food. When we hear music, we can be mindful of the lyrics, the mood the music creates, the rhythm, and perhaps memories or images that music brings to us. On December 8th, 2015, Pope Francis initiated the Jubilee Year of Mercy. The Pope reminds us to be merciful and to receive mercy. The sacrament of penance/reconciliation or confession is one of the greatest ways to experience God's mercy in our life. The Pope recommends practicing the 7 Corporal and the 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy. No doubt you practice many of these "works" everyday without being mindful of them showing "mercy." If someone inadvertently steps on your toes, you may practice mercy by saying "That's OK, my toes have endured worse than that." Or you might even be in a position to apologize yourself, if your feet were in someone's path. There are myriads of occasions to forgive, and to receive forgiveness everyday. Lent begins a week from today. As a positive Lenten practice, why not practice at least one each of the works of mercy each day. That resolve may seem trivial to some. Yet, remaining faithful to practicing virtue--AKA a work of mercy--is a sign of love for God and for neighbor. The "neighbor" could be your spouse, your child, your roommate, your co-worker, a street person, or a total stranger. In Matthew Chapter 25, verse 31 and following to the end of that chapter, Jesus says he will consider done to him or denied to him works of mercy we either carried out or neglected.

For more information on the Year of Mercy see The US bishops' website:usccb.org/jubilee-of-mercy, and our Sisters' website: www.pauline.org. God bless you!

Candlemas Day, The Presentation

While every February 2nd some folks in our Northern Hemisphere check groundhogs to find out if they see their shadows, this morning we gathered in our chapel for a special feast, the Presentation of the Lord. Joseph and Mary had taken their son Jesus to the temple for a rite of purification of the mother and a presentation of the child to the Lord. Because Jesus is the Light of the World, this day has been called Candlemas Day for centuries in the English-speaking world. Candles are blessed to be used at prayer services at home and in chapels. This morning in our chapel, candles were blessed, lit and then held high as we processed into our spacious chapel.

When the Baby Jesus was brought into the Temple two elderly people sensed in that Baby Jesus the presence of God, the arrival of the Messiah. Simeon and Anna, both advanced in age, were prompted by the Spirit to be in the Temple just at the right moment. Luke's gospel says, "Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God saying,

Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.

Luke goes on to say, "There was also a prophet, Anna....She was of great age....At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Israel." (Luke 2:36) Both Simeon and Anna proclaimed the Good News that the Messiah had arrived. I pray that when I get to be really advanced in age that I will be capable of listening to the urging of the Holy spirit. I guess one has to begin early to be attuned to the suggestions of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual writers suggest that we read the Scripture often to see examples of what God did for others. Regular daily prayer helps as well as an effort to quiet our minds. This is a prayer to invoke the Holy Spirit:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful And kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth. Let us pray: O God, by the light of the Holy Spirit you have taught the hearts of your faithful. In the same Spirit, help us to know what is truly right and always to rejoice in your consolation. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Catholic Schools Week

During the past month of January the Church celebrated a number of Saints who were officially declared "Doctors" of the Church. That is, their teaching is not only to be admired but held up as worthy to treasure and study. As the year began two friends from the area once known as Cappadocia were honored: Basil the Great, and Gregory Nazianzen. Their homeland is in the middle of what is now known as Turkey. Basil and Gregory were friends who loved to pray and to study. They became hermits for awhile until each was named a Bishop. St. Basil is considered the founder of monasticism in the East. Gregory for a time was bishop of Constantinople. Then he returned to his hometown of Nazianzen. Both Saints died between 370 and 390 AD. Each defended the Faith from the Arian heresy which denied the divinity of Jesus. Saint Hilary became the Bishop of Poitier in France around the year 350 where he too had to defend his flock from Arian influence.

Mother Seton and St. John Neumann are two American citizen Saints who were great educators. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Mother Seton, was a convert from the Episcopalian faith. Even as a devout Protestant she helped the poor. She began a Catholic school in Emmitsburg, Maryland around 1810. In Philadelphia, the saintly Bishop John Neumann, himself an immigrant, organized the Catholic Parochial School System. He died on January 5, 1860. On January 28, one of the greatest theologians ever, is celebrated as a Saint and the patron of Catholic students and Catholic schools: St. Thomas Aquinas. Born around 1225, Thomas' family was determined to get him married off to a suitable bride. He would hear none of it, despite family members various efforts to dissuade him. Thomas wanted to devote his life to God in the Dominican Order. He had already studied at Monte Casino. After joining the Order of Preachers (known as the Dominicans), Thomas was sent to study in Paris and Cologne. He even studied under St. Albert the Great. Thomas soon became a professor and a prolific writer. His books are still published and sought after today. He was not afraid to incorporate the best parts of the philosophy of the Greek Aristotle with theology. Thomas also learned from the Jewish philosopher Maimonides. Thomas would introduce a tenet of faith, or a question about a religious topic then he would say: This particular matter is true, however to the contrary, this is also true. In Latin it is named "sed contra"--but on the other hand....

While Thomas worked mainly in the halls of great centers of learning, the last Saint honored in January was St. John Bosco. Hailing from Northern Italy, John was concerned about the many young people caught up into and victimized by the Industrial Revolution. John realized that without guidance, knowledge of the Faith, and solid training for life skills, many of the boys on the streets would end up not only in poverty but in a life of crime. Don Bosco as he was called, employed a cheerful, balanced and prayerful method of teaching. He also wrote and published books to instruct the wider public who were ignorant of their faith. St. John Bosco started the Salesian order of priests and the Sisters of Our Lady Help of Christians, Salesian Sisters to carry on his work of education. His religious orders spread throughout the world prepare thousands of young people academically, spiritually and practically to contribute to building a civilization of love.

Fittingly the week which we now experience is Catholic Schools Week. Support your local Catholic Schools. If you are able why not donate some Pauline editions for the school library. Of course, it is a wise thought to ask the principals and librarians which books or audio/visuals they may need. You might even suggest that the school host a "JClub" Catholic book fair in the school. Just let me know in your comment line if you need more information. Pray for Catholic school personnel, teachers and principals as well as the young boys and girls who attend. Let us pray for young people so they may grow as Jesus did in wisdom, age and grace!

Happy February

I write during the final hours of January 2016. Tomorrow we begin the shortest month of the year. Smallest of months, yet it has a lot packed into it. February 2nd is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. The next day is the feast of St. Blaise and the annual blessing of the throats. Tradition says that Blaise was presented with a young boy choking on a fish bone. He was miraculously cured after Blaise blessed him. February 10th ushers in the great season of Lent. Now is the time to prepare for Lent. Find a good book to accompany your Lenten journey. In this Year of Mercy, make sure to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession to experience a flood of God's tender mercy for yourself. On Ash Wednesday don't be afraid to receive blessed ashes. That black cross shaped smudge on our foreheads speaks loudly that "I am a sinner who resolves to repent of any sin and follow Christ!" The Pauline Books & Media Centers around the USA and in Toronto offer a wide variety of daily Lenten reading. For those who commute often, there are books on CD that you can use while on the road. See their addresses at the Pauline website: .www.pauline.org. One of the books which offers daily Lenten reading uses the gospel of each day to read and pray over. Another term for This form of praying and reading and taking the Word to heart is called "Lectio Divina", or holy/devine reading. It is called Lenten Grace from Pauline Books & Media.

One of my family's neighbors is a Presbyterian. She once told me she was a vegetarian. During one Lent she had given up eating meat. That Lent marked a change in her lifestyle. For some of us "giving up" may mean giving of our time to do a good deed, a work of mercy. That might entail slowing down to notice the needs of someone in our family or our neighborhood, perhaps a senior citizen, who needs a ride to the grocery store, or to a doctor's appointment. Or, giving up may mean giving up complaining or just plain being negative. When you are about to put in your two cents worth about something, just cut it out. That's giving up some of your ego to let Christ take over. The Year of Mercy askes us to practice the "works of mercy." The list of seven spiritual and seven corporal or bodily works goes like this:

The Corporal Works of Mercy are: Feed the Hungry Give drink to the thirsty; Clothe the naked; Shelter the homeless; Visit the sick; Visit the imprisoned; Bury the dead The Spiritual Works of Mercy are: Counsel the doubtful; Instruct the ignorant; Admonish the sinner; Comfort the afflicted; Forgive injuries; Bear wrongs patiently; Pray for the living and the dead.

If you or someone you know is struggling to be free of the scourge of pornography, I recommend a brand new book which offers help on how to be rid of this moral addiction. The book is called "Cleansed, A Catholic Guide to Freedom from Porn." This too is from Pauline Books & Media.

February brings us Black History Month, and Presidents' Day when we celebrate Lincoln's birthday on Feb. 12, and George Washington's on February 22. Happy and holy February!

A Correction

The Actor whom I site in the blog about Risen, the movie, has an older brother Ralph Fiennes. It was Ralph who starred in The Constant Gardener. Joseph Fiennes played in Elizabeth and many other films. I look forward to writing more. Good movies, religious and secular, can help evangelize our culture. Have a blessed Sunday!

A Movie to Bolster Our Faith

Last night a few of us Sisters, Daughters of St. Paul from the Boston community went to the Cinema at Legacy Place in Dedham, Mass. to view a new movie: Risen. The wide theater screen certainly gave a "you are there" feeling of being in first century Palestine. The story's focus is on Clavius, a Roman Tribune, the commanding officer of all the troops in turbulent Judea. The film shows Pontius Pilate as a slippery sort of politician. The Tribune, played by Joseph Fiennes, is a master of military tactics. Although a pagan who worships Mars the god of war, he displays some feeling for his own fallen soldiers as well as a minimal respect for the Hebrew population. Pilate leaves the Tribune no peace as he calls on him continually to quell the rumors that Jesus has risen from the dead. Pilate wants to eliminate any mention of a risen King of the Jews. After making Clavius question "witnesses" at the tomb of Jesus, the Tribune is charged with producing the dead body of Jesus or face dire consequences. Clavius was too honest to lie. The film shows Clavius as being present at Jesus' death and witnessing the centurion Longinus' faith, as well as his own mighty efforts to seal Jesus' tomb. The film shows his trailing the Apostles to Galilee where he actually meets the Risen One. What happens next is for the reader to find out by going to see the film when it comes out February 19. Fiennes is an excellent actor. Some of you may remember him in the Constant Gardener, a film hard to watch but with a powerful social justice underpinning. I would recommend the film for teens on up. The opening scenes of Roman soldiers quelling rebels of the Jewish Zealot Party may be a bit too "real" for a younger audience. Fiennes plays his role very well. I am happy the film is coming out at the beginning of Lent. It is a good way to meditate on what Jesus endured for each of us.

Here is part of a conversation about the film quoting the main actor: Joseph Fiennes:

I think we got it right, and it seems there's an overwhelmingly positive reaction from theologians and Christian ministers from whom we sought council during filming and the editing process. I'm just a small component in that. It's like a detective story. Clavius goes on this mission, and on that mission, his conditioning and his understanding of the world as he knows it is undone, irrevocably. That was a big challenge, really, to get that believability to the character and also to remain true to Scripture and also to make it a great cinematic event.

Enjoy these last few days of January. God bless you and go to see Risen when it's in your neighborhood!

Happy New Year

This is my very first post of 2016. As I write I hear the popping sound of fireworks welcoming this new year. On New Year's Eve in our Boston chapel, we Sisters, Daughters of St. Paul, prayer together an Hour of Eucharistic Adoration. Our readings and reflections were mainly from Pope Francis' writings. When I stay up to midnight and beyond, I find myself running on "slow and stop" speed the next day! We Catholics celebrate New Year's Day with a Mass in honor of Mary, the Mother of God. Jesus entrusted the first 30 years of his life to his mother Mary. So we can do well to imitate the Master and entrust ourselves to Mary as we enjoy the gift of a brand New Year. We have already begun the Year of Mercy. We celebrate God's mercy extended to us in many ways: through our families who put up with us and know how to live with our quirks and character flaws; God's mercy flows through us to others as we forgive offenses done to to us, and when we admit our sins and mistakes and ask forgiveness. Pope Francis says to practice the Spiritual Works of Mercy as well as the Corporal Works of Mercy. The homeless in our own neighborhoods, the kids who misbehave in religious ed class, and on and on goes the list.

Merry Christmas!

Not long ago I saw a Japanese movie called "Departures". I will not spoil your viewing by telling the story line. However one aspect of the film intrigued me: three non-Christian Japanese gathered around a table-top lighted Christmas tree. They each wished each other a Merry Christmas. Then to bring some music into their celebration, the main character in the film asks permission to play the Ave Maria on his cello. It was a lovely scene. Christmas has a strength of its own. the appeal of a tiny new-born is irresistible at least for me. Maybe it is my feminine nature, but I feel like cradling every tiny infant I see in my arms. This instinct was helpful last weekend when I attended a family gathering here in New England. During the day there were two infants, both about 6 months old. the little boy was not as big, since he had a number of problems at birth which slowed his growth. Yet his eyes kept following me. The 6 month old girl looked like a tiny elf with her red and white outfit. Yet how beautiful Jesus must have looked to Mary and Joseph. My nephew Ben was photographed as he planted the first kiss on his new born son, Bennett. I have that picture as a screen saver on my office computer. The tenderness of that photo reminds me of the tenderness God has toward each of us. Pope Francis often asks us to "be tender" with one another. Francis has declared the present time as a Year of Mercy. In his Letter which announced and explained what is the Year of Mercy, he shows us that God's mercy comes in several ways. One of the ways which people have neglected in the last several years is Confession/the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Why not take advantage of God's tender mercy given to us in the Sacrament of Forgiveness/Confession/Reconciliation. I pray that our celebration of Christ's birth as a tiny Infant will lead you all to experience for yourselves what the kiss of the Father is to his child, you and me, in the Sacrament of Confession and in the gift of his life in the Eucharist. I promise all my readers that I will pray for you at Mass tonight (Christmas Eve) and in all my Masses until the New Year. Merry Christmas! May your soul bask in the love that God has for you and be at peace as this new born baby.

Bishop Barron on Pope Francis and Mercy

Life Changed, Not Ended

When I was in high school, I studied Latin each year. When I saw the phrase, "Vita mutata, non toliter" I understood it: Life is not ended. It is changed." Today we celebrate the "changed life." We humans really have three kinds of physical life: First we are hidden and growing in the womb. Then we are born and live as long as the Lord permits. Lastly, we die to this life and go to life eternally with God. Today our morning Mass was offered in a special way for all our deceased Daughters of St. Paul from the USA/English-Speaking Canadian Province. At the Prayer of the Faithful Father Mike Harrington read the name of each Daughter of St. Paul who spent her life here in North America. I remembered also Sisters Teresina, Innocenza, and Nicolina who returned to Italy some years ago. These three Sisters also spent much of their lives evangelizing in the USA. Since I last wrote for this blog site, my middle brother Timothy died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack. I remember him with fondness, since of all my three brothers he was the smallest. Ten years younger than myself, he would tease me by reminding me how I had dropped him down a flight of stairs when he was an infant. I was ten years old at the time. So when Tim stopped crying I figured all was well. My mother was never informed of the incident until at leat 20 years of my convent life had passed! I do pray for Tim's soul that he may truly be at peace in the eternal presene of Jesus Christ--the Lamb of God, our Redeemer and God. I urge all of my readers to remember your own deceased with prayers today and during all of this month of November. They have all precede us to eternity. I pray not only for them, but for their intercession for my special needs. They are with God, so they are not restricted by time and space. Have a blessed day!

A Saint for Today

August 28 is the feast day of a most unlikely Saint, Augustine of Hippo North Africa. Today that section of North Africa includes Tunisia and its neighbor to the East, Algiers. Augustine was the son of Monica, a daughter of a Christian Berber clan. Berbers still live in North Africa in a variety of countries. At the time of Augustine (354--430)the city of Hippo now modern day Annaba, Algiers, was a Roman colony granting Roman status to its citizens. Patricius, Augustine's non-Catholic father had an overbearing hot temper. Monica lovingly put up with Patricius' outbursts. Eventually her husband and his mother embraced Christianity. Of her three children, records tell us that Augustine was her heart breaker. He had tasted and enjoyed the classical Latin education, Augustine soaked up philosophies, the current "intellectual 'buzz' A devout Catholic Mom, Monica urged her son to embrace Baptism, the Catholic Faith, and the sacrament of matrimony. Augustine dismissed his mother's urging to marry his live-in girl friend who had borne him a son. Ever the orator and intellectual, Augustine had fallen into the trap of the Manicheans. So very similar to the religious relativity common today, Manicheans were infatuated by a fake spirituality. Manicheans considered the soul and spiritual matters all important. What one did with his or her body didn't matter. They considered the body evil, therefore what one did with his or her body was considered of little or no importance. Amoral and promiscuous activity did not matter, since followers of Mani, the Persian, considered themselves above reproach. Augustine did not feel inclined to leave his girl friend, or even to bother to marry her. Partly to escape his mother's insistence on converting and leaving the double standards of the Minacheans behind him, Augustine snuck away to Italy. He ended up in Milan. A model of persistance, Monica had searched out and found her wandering son. Soon she and Bishop Ambrose of Milan were great friends. Worried about the eternal outcome of her son, Monica begged Ambrose for help. His homilies provided Monica with fuel to try to convince Augustine to give his life over to God. Someone had told him to read the gospels. He was bogged down by his distain of what he considered a boring presentation. A friend handed him the Letters of St. Paul. Augustine tells of that moment when Paul's words about putting aside sinful ways, and putting on Christ. The grace of God had finally penetrated like an arrow to the heart. As Paul said elsewhere suddenly for Augustine "grace abounded where sin had abounded." Before Augustine returned to Hippo, his mother died in Italy. Certainly she died happy to see her son be baptized and fully accepted into the Church. Augustine in his "Confessions" tells how God wore him down with his mother's unfailing concern and her continual non-stop prayers for his total conversion. Augustine absorbed the teachings of the faith so well that he preached beautiful sermons and volumes of books on virtues, and on the Faith. There is a religious order of men, the Augustinians, who trace their founding to a rule written by the man from Algieria. May we convert from whatever habit keeps us from Christ. If you have never read the Confessions of St. Augustine, put that book on your list. Have a blessed weekend!

Celebrating the Circle of Life Here and Hereafter

I want to share with you some of the events we have been living as a Pauline Family during these weeks. On July 16th, one of our Sisters, Sister Gabriella (Violet) Tubick passed away. Sister had received the anointing of the sick and the sacrament of reconciliation just a day before. At 3:30 pm the next day, the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Sister was summoned by the Divine Master to enter her eternal life. Because Sister's closest relative, a Notre Dame missionary Sister was actually in flight that day, headed from Uganda to California, Sister Gabriella's funeral rites were delayed. Today the official wake and vigil service will take place in our Jamaica Plain, Boston Chapel. One of our Pauline priests happened to be visiting us on July 16th. He blessed Sister's body and prayed with the Sisters for the repose of the soul of Sister Gabriella. On Monday another Pauline priest, Father Goonan will preside at the funeral Mass and internment of Sister Gabriella.

Saturday morning, four of our Sisters celebrated Jubilees of religious profession. Sister Mary Augusta achieved 75 years of vowed life; Sister Mary Agnes celebrates 60 years since her first vows; and Sister Mary Jerome and Sister Hosea Marie are the young Silver Jubilarians. These milestones deserve to be celebrated. yesterday's Mass and the dinner following were festive and brimming with joy on the part of the Sisters and their families and friends. Father Michael Goonan, an Australian now transplanted in the USA, celebrated the Jubilee Mass. Along with two Pauline brothers, Fr. Goonan's presence as a member of the Society of St. Paul brought us more closely together as a truly Pauline Family. Remarkably, Father Goonan had met Sister Gabriella when she was assigned to our Sydney, Australia community in the 1970's. Sister had previously served in Pakistan. As Father shared with us at lunch today, he never thought that he would one day be the main celebrant at Sister's funeral 43 years later.

Our Mass this morning concluded with the entrance into Novitiate of three young women who spent two years in formation as postulants in our St. Louis community. Putri originally from Indonesia; Julie from Washington state; and Danielle from Michigan made their decisive step towards becoming professed Daughters of St. Paul. During another two years they will study our Pauline life and charism more deeply. They will be given more time for contemplation and study. They also will participate in various phases of our Pauline mission. During their second year of Novitiate these young women will spend about five months living, working and praying in one of our smaller communities. This experience will be a foretaste of what they may be experiencing for a good part of their future. As a member of our large Boston community, I am happy to accompany these young women--at least by my presence--as they grow into becoming full fledged Sisters. On August 15, two other young women, Sisters Carly and Chelsea, will pronounce vows for the first time as Daughters of St. Paul. Although separated by time from each other, each of these women share in the same Pauline life. All have gone through, or one day will mark the milestones that Sister Gabriella achieved. With love for and trust in Jesus our Master, we all want to reach the goal which Sister Gabriella and many other Sisters of our USA/English Speaking Canada Province have reached. As St. Paul tells us the goal is "Life on high with Jesus Christ." I ask your prayers for the repose of the soul of Sister Gabriella. Pray too for our Jubilarians that they may continue in their lives of service to Christ and the Church; and pray for our young women in formation. We are blessed to have novices, postulants and junior professed Sisters with temporary,(not yet final) vows. "Pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest!" To find out more about the Pauline Family check out the trailer of the DVD/movie on Blessed Alberione: http://mediaapostle.com/ You can also view some events and Sisters at www.daughtersofstpaul.com Have a very blessed final week of July. Be assured of my prayers for all those who ready my blog.