Another Man for All Seasons

 

During this Fortnight for Freedom, Cardinal Timothy Dolan reminds us that our religious liberty is foremost among American freedoms and must remain more than a dream or vision.  Here is an excerpt from his June 21 homily, where he invokes St. Thomas More, whose feast day is today.

The Great Week

Palm Sunday, outside the Basilica of the Blessed Sacrament, Sacramento, California
(C) 2013 On Being Roman Catholic in America

For Catholics, the focus of the entire year is found in Holy Week, or what is sometimes referred to as "the Great Week"--as we re-live the Passion of Our Lord, Jesus Christ and ponder the power of unconditional love and utter freedom found in obedience to the will of the Father.

Pater, si non potest hic calix transire, nisi ibam illum: fiat voluntas tua. (Luke 22:42)

No News?

Life advocates march in downtown San Francisco
(C) 2013 On Being Roman Catholic in America

Despite some 50,000 people in support of life flowing like a river down Market Street in San Francisco, California, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon on January 26, 2013, it hardly made the news at all. 

Odd.  No news?

First, news because the event marked the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade 1973 legal ruling by the United State Supreme Court that set into motion the legal-ized killing in the United States of an estimated 55,000,000 human lives to date--with no end in site. 

Second, news because the number of life advocates continues to appear on the rise in polls and, over this weekend, in person.  In Washington, D.C., on Friday, January 25, some 500,000 people marched in protest to the steps of the United State Supreme Court.  The next day, on the West Coast, in the City of Saint Francis, some 50,000 showed up, but, thanks to the mainstream media, unaccounted for.

Third, news because technological changes, such as 3-D ultra sound imaging, is offering stark truth about the reality of abortion on demand.  And changing hearts--and minds.

Fourth, news because a growing number of young women--and young men--are rejecting the false truths of our "culture of death"--as evidenced especially in advertising, movies, television, and video games--in favor of choosing life.

Fifth, news because recent legal decisions and legislative actions are, at last, beginning to cause the unravelling of Roe '73.

At least five news angles for a thoughtful exercise in journalism.  And here's one more:  the fact that there was hardly any reported news over this weekend from our "Fourth Estate," well, that's the real story!   Need pictures?

Hold the press!

-30-

JMJ

Creche at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, Pismo Beach, CA
(c) 2012 On Being Roman Catholic in America

JMJ - Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  The Holy Family.  Years ago, and perhaps still today, Catholic school children wrote JMJ across the top of every paper.  The Most Reverend Fulton J. Sheen popularized JMJ as he wrote the initials across the top of the blackboard during his weekly television series.  Once, as he "signed in" as a guest on the popular television show, What's My Line? he wrote JMJ and then his own name.

The Holy Family--Jesus, Mary and Joseph--models the love of the family unit, which instructs us in the perfect Love of our Triune God found in the relationship of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  During Christmastide, we are reminded of the formational love of the Christian family, which love, by its example, teaches us to reach out to all "men of good will."  

In establishing the tradition of the nativity scene, St. Francis continues to teach the world about the love of the Holy Family.

Mary, Full of Grace - Patroness of the United States

Immaculate Conception - Side Altar, Basilica in Denver, Colorado (C) 2012 On Being Roman Catholic in America

 



On December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, we celebrate Mary, full of grace.  We celebrate Mary's participation in salvation history by her faithful "yes"--her acceptance, fiat, of God's will.  On this day, of all days, we are reminded that our relationship with God, the Creator, begins at the moment of our conception.  We ask Mary, Patroness of the United States, to pray with us for an end to the evil that promotes a cultural of death, and especially to safeguard and protect the child in the womb.

Deeply Gladdening

Can a university be both Catholic and American?  While too many Catholic universities in the United States have failed the test of late, the answer is surprisingly simple:

Is not a big part of our gladness and pride this happy morning of graduation a grateful recognition that this university does indeed exude such “ecclesial communion and solidarity?” That this university is both CatholIic and American, flowing from the most noble ideals of truth and respect for human dignity that are at the heart of our Church and our country? That a university’s genuine greatness comes not from pursuing what is most chic, recent, or faddish, but what is most timeless, true, good, and beautiful in creation and creatures? That the true goal of a university is to prepare a student not only for a career but for fullness of life here and in eternity?

123rd Annual Commencement Address

  Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York

  East Portico, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

  May 12, 2012

In his moving commencement address, Cardinal Timothy Dolan also speaks of marriage in the context of "the law of the gift."

Read the full commencement address here.

Lessons from the Garden

(Source:  NASA photo; Visible Earth)

On Earth Day, April 22, 2012, we might, for a moment, stand back and look at the earth from a distant perspective and consider the relationship between man and creation. To the extent that we exercise dominion as honest stewards of our environment, we recognize, at last, a renewed longing for unity between man and the Garden itself. In a profound sense, this natural longing for unity is a reflection of our hope for peace on earth. And we recognize, too, that the source of this longing for unity is our ultimate desire to be one with the Creator, the “I AM,” being outside of man and creation, who is Lord over all.

"If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation. The quest for peace by people of good will surely would become easier if all acknowledge the indivisible relationship between God, human beings and the whole of creation. In the light of divine Revelation and in fidelity to the Church's Tradition, Christians have their own contribution to make. They contemplate the cosmos and its marvels in light of the creative work of the Father and the redemptive work of Christ, who by his death and resurrection has reconciled with God "all things, whether on earth or in heaven" (Col 1:20). Christ, crucified and risen, has bestowed his Spirit of holiness upon mankind, to guide the course of history in anticipation of that day when, with the glorious return of the Savior, there will be "new heavens and a new earth" (2 Pet 3:13), in which justice and peace will dwell forever.”

 (source: Message, World Day of Peace, January 1, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI)

"The Church has a responsibility towards creation and she must assert this responsibility in the public sphere. In so doing, she must defend not only earth, water and air as gifts of creation that belong to everyone. She must above all protect mankind from self-destruction. There is need for what might be called a human ecology, correctly understood. The deterioration of nature is in fact closely connected to the culture that shapes human coexistence: when “human ecology” is respected within society, environmental ecology also benefits. Just as human virtues are interrelated, such that the weakening of one places others at risk, so the ecological system is based on respect for a plan that affects both the health of society and its good relationship with nature." 

          (source: Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, June 29, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI)

Emmaus

As the story of Easter continues, we hear today about the sojourners on the road to Emmaus, who, eventually, recognize Christ in the breaking of the Bread. (Luke 24:13-35.)   As Catholics, we re-live the Emmaus experience in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: The Word of God broken for us, to feed us, in the Scriptures and in the Holy Eucharist. Emmaus remains, then and today, a place of faith.