Viva Cristo Rey!

In 1927, two years after Pope Pius XI gave the Church the Solemnity of Christ the King (the feast we celebrate today), the persecution of the Church in Mexico was in full furor. A Jesuit priest, Father Miguel Agustin Pro, knelt in prayer before the firing squad that was to take his life for being a Catholic priest. As Father Pro rose from his prayers, he threw out his arms in the form of the Cross and proclaimed: "Viva Cristo Rey!"..."Long live Christ the King!" Blessed Miguel Pro, pray for us!

Mysterium Fidei...An Ineffable Wonder

As we enter into the Advent Season next Sunday (November 29), perhaps the most important thing we can do is work on "recapturing" the mystery of our life with God (the one and only purpose of genuine Catholic liturgy)...the mystery of Emmanuel ("God with us")...the mystery of God's unbounded and unconditional love for us. Most things in our world conspire against us...against the sense of mystery...ineffable wonder, awe, and marvel. The kind of thing in which we can only marvel. We cannot understand it. We cannot truly "know" anything about it. We cannot explain it. We can only experience it. Yes, this Advent, let us work on "recapturing" the mystery of our faith, of our lives, of our existence..."for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." Happy Advent!

Truly A Sight to Behold

Is that a beautiful sight or what? Downtown Kansas City literally "closed" for a Eucharistic Procession...courtesy of the over 22,000 Catholic youth participating in the National Catholic Youth Conference which ends today. "What's the matter with kids today?" Looks to me like they're doing just fine! Praised be Jesus Christ now and forever!!

Assisi at Its Finest

Beautiful...spiritual...medieval...rustic...prayerful....wonderful Assisi! This morning, to end our retreat, we celebrated Holy Mass at the tomb of Saint Francis. We also celebrated Holy Mass in the Church of San Stefano, the Cathedral of San Ruffino, the Chiesa Nuova (built upon the site of St. Francis' boyhood home), and the Basilica of Santa Chiara (in the Chapel of the Cross...the San Damiano cross that "spoke" to Francis). What a marvelous retreat and five days of unseasonably warm and sunny weather! November is definitely the time to go to Assisi...almost no one there but the locals...so peaceful, so quiet, so Franciscan!

The photo above of the church in the mist is a shot of Santa Maria degli Angeli, the location of the "Portiuncula"...St. Francis' "little portion" chapel.

A Week with Claire and Francis

I'm off to Assisi, the home of Saints Francis and Claire, tomorrow morning for a week-long retreat; my last respite before returning to "work." But, I gotta say, "Shiner, Texas...you never looked so good!"

Please pray for me while I'm on retreat as I promise my prayers for you!

To the Tomb of Cyril

Today, on behalf of the people of the parish, I made pilgrimage to the Basilica of St. Clement, the burial place of St. Cyril. St. Cyril died in 869 A.D. and was buried in the 4th century basilica that now is the lower basilica of the present-day basilica (built in the 12th century). St. Cyril was buried in this basilica at the request of his brother, St. Methodius. Pope Paul VI placed St. Cyril's relics in the altar of a side chapel (shown above) of the upper basilica in 1969. At this altar I lit a candle for the people of SS. Cyril and Methodius parish in Shiner.

The Basilica of San Clemente is a remarkable site and should not be missed on any pilgrimage to Rome! By simply walking down a few stairs, one goes from the 21st century to the 1st century in just moments. Many excavations of the 4th century basilica and below have been done since the 1850's. Work on the excavations continues to this day.

Below the 4th century basilica is an entire 1st century Roman alleyway including several homes...complete with running water! The water continues to run to this very day 2000 years later. How's that for reliable plumbing?!!

This level also contains a Mithraic temple and school. The cult of Mithra was outlawed in the Roman Empire in 395 A.D. and it was at that time that its property was taken over by the Church for the building of the 4th century basilica. Prior to that, the Christian church was meeting in the home of someone named Clement; hence, the name of the basilica, Saint Clement.

Worth A Thought

As you may have heard in both the ecclesiastical and secular press, the Vatican is conducting a visitation of women's religious orders in the United States. Women religious in the United States are represented by two organizations: 1) Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), and 2) The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR). The LCWR claims that it represents 95% of women religious in the U.S. and, unfortunately, has sometimes been at loggerheads with the Vatican.

Thomas Peters, on his American Papist blog, reports receiving an email from a sister who belongs to CMSWR. The email said:

The LCWR represents approximately 80% of women religious in the USA. CMSWR represents 20% (about 10,000 women religious). We represent 80% of new vocations; LCWR 20% of new vocations.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, could the Holy Spirit be trying to say something?!