Aways Be Ready

Saint Peter encourages us to "sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope" (1 Peter 3:15)

Now sometimes a person may ask you, clearly and straightforwardly. And other times one may sense that a person is being very careful NOT to ask you about your hope in Christ Jesus.

However, I find that most commonly the asking is more ambiguous and requires discernment and a gift for God in that there may seem to be a question but the person does not really want to know why you hope in Christ and, in that case, trying to give an explanation is a waste of time. Or, on the other hand, a person may be indirectly asking about something else when they really DO want to know about your Christian hope and one needs to respond gently and with patience.

My recent, few months experience with Communion and Liberation (see prior posting) has helped me to give more attention to this 'who asks' aspect of Saint Peter's exhortation.

April 12th talks

Tim Staples of Catholic Answers is coming to Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Sandy, UT on Saturday, April 12th from 9:00am-2:30pm. Tim is a popular speaker and a frequent guest to Catholic Answers Live on Immaculate Heart Radio 1010AM. The day will include 3 separate talks with the common theme of Catholicism in Today’s Culture. For General Admission attendees, a goodwill donation will be
gratefully appreciated.

Encyclicals

Within Catholicism in recent times, an encyclical is generally used for significant issues, and is second in importance only to the highest ranking document now issued by popes, an Apostolic Constitution. Encyclicals indicate high Papal priority for an issue at a given time. Pontiffs define when, and under which circumstances encyclicals should be issued.

Recent Encyclicals (links to Wikipedia articles):

• Pope Paul VI (1963–1978)
  • Ecclesiam Suam 1964
  • Mense Maio 1965
  • Mysterium Fidei 1965
  • Christi Matri 1966
  • Populorum Progressio 1967
  • Sacerdotalis Caelibatus 1967
  • Humanae Vitae 1968
• Pope Blessed John Paul II (1978–2005)
  • Redemptor Hominis 1979
  • Dives in Misericordia 1980
  • Laborem Exercens 1981
  • Slavorum Apostoli 1985
  • Dominum et Vivificantem 1986
  • Redemptoris Mater 1987
  • Sollicitudo Rei Socialis 1987
  • Redemptoris Missio 1990
  • Centesimus Annus 1991
  • Veritatis Splendor 1993
  • Evangelium Vitae 1995
  • Ut Unum Sint 1995
  • Fides et Ratio 1998
  • Ecclesia de Eucharistia 2003
• Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013)
  • Deus Caritas Est 2005
  • Spe Salvi 2007
  • Caritas in Veritate 2009
• Pope Francis (2013 to present)
  • Lumen Fidei 2013

Catholicism Adult Formation Program

CATHOLICISM 

On 1st & 3rd Tuesdays, 7-8:45pm in the Social Hall of St Ambrose Catholic parish (1975 E 2300 S, Salt Lake City) and continuing through July, we will be watching the Catholicism video series and then will have small group discussions about what we've seen. There have been over 50 folks attending at each session so far; each session is fairly independent and you do not have to attend all sessions.

Fr Robert Barron's Catholicism documentary is a ten episode video series, filmed at 50 locations throughout 15 countries, presenting the history, teaching, and culture of the Catholic Church via high quality cinematography (the series has run on the BBC).

Noted author George Weigel describes the 10 hour series as “A stimulating and compelling exploration of the spiritual, moral, and intellectual riches of the Catholic world. This is the Catholic story told from inside, with knowledge, sympathy, and passion, rooted in friendship with Jesus Christ.”

Episode titles:

March 5th: Amazed and Afraid: The Revelation of God become Man

March 19th: Happy are We: The Teachings of Jesus
April 2nd: The Ineffable Mystery of God: That than which nothing greater can be 

thought
April 16th: Our Tainted Nature's Solitary Boast: Mary, the mother of God

The Indispensable Men: Peter, Paul and the missionary adventure

A Body both Suffering & Glorious: The mystical union of Christ and the Church

Word Made Flesh, True Bread of Heaven: The Church's sacrament and worship

A Vast Company of Witnesses: The communion of saints

The Fire of His Love: Prayer and the life of the Spirit

World without End: The last things

Come and See

Meeting Rev. Robert Barron

Yesterday was a great day, an exciting day, and if you’re familiar with Rev. Robert Barron, the Catholic priest and theologian, you’ll understand my enthusiasm. I was lucky enough to meet Father Barron while he was here in Salt Lake City speaking at a convention of cathedral people. I’m not sure exactly who cathedral people are or what they do, but I was thrilled they decided to meet here in Salt Lake City, and that they invited Father Barron to attend their convention as a keynote speaker.

I’ve be a Father Barron fan for years, I came across one of his YouTube videos while surfing the Internet looking for information on science and religion (needed to show my 15 year-old that you can believe in both). One thing led to another, which led me to his website, which led me to his 10 part Catholicism series and I'm happy to say that our parish is planning to present his magnificent series to our parishioner’s in the upcoming Year of Faith. Today, I was able to see and hear him in person at the Cathedral Ministry Conference.

He was as remarkable in person as I had hoped he would be.

I admire his vast knowledge, his infectious enthusiasm, his commitment to the church and to evangelization, but mostly I admire his speaking skills. Why? Because you can have all of the earlier mentioned qualities, but if you aren’t a great speaker the message gets lost in translation. Father Barron is a great speaker and his message comes across loud and clear.

Catholicism: It's Your Story 

Visit Father Barron's website. You might be surprised by what you find there, but you won't be disappointed!

Canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha

Canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha, in Rome this Sunday.

 And here in Utah, a celebration out in the Uintas — Sunday, Oct. 21, 11 a.m. at Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Mission, #1, 14 Duchesne County Road, Ft. Duchesne. Reception to follow at Saint Helen Catholic Church, 433 East 2nd North, Roosevelt. Blessed Kateri was born in 1656 in an Mohawk tribe.

She was the daughter of Kenneronkwa, a Mohawk chief, and Tagaskouita, a Roman Catholic Algonquin who had been adopted into the tribe after capture. Ten years before, three Jesuit missionaries had been murdered in the Mohawk Valley (they were canonized in 1930). Nevertheless, a Catholic mission to the Mohawk Indians was started.

 When Kateri turned 18, Father Jacques de Lamberville arrived to take charge of the mission in her village. Despite his misgivings, her uncle allowed her to be baptized as long as she remained in the village. Following her Baptism, Kateri lived a pious and faith-filled life, spending hours in prayer and fashioning crosses out of twigs. She also refused to marry, believing that she was married to God and that no man could take God’s place in her heart. Her beliefs were met with ridicule, hostility and threats. Thus, two years after her Baptism, she fled to St. Francis Xavier Mission, a Christian Mohawk village in Kahnawake, Quebec. There, she received her first Communion on Christmas Day 1677. She also made a vow of perpetual virginity on the Feast of the Annunciation in 1679. In Kahnawake, Kateri was known for her faith and holiness. She taught prayers to children, cared for the elderly and the sick, and would often attend mass at sunrise and sunset. Kateri’s health deteriorated in the last years of her life. She died of tuberculosis on April 17, 1680, shortly before her 24th birthday, and was buried at St. Francis Xavier Mission. Her final words were: “Jesos Konoronkwa” (“Jesus, I love you”).

Year of Faith website

The Vatican has created a special website for the Year of Faith,

http://www.annusfidei.va/content/novaevangelizatio/en.html

which is a convenient site for links to many resources for the new evangelization. Check out, for example, the 'We Believe' tab which has links to major Church documents and the 'News' tab has current presentations, e.g. from the Synod of Bishops.

Advice for Converts

As a recent (2007) convert myself, I think the article Submerged in the Ocean is very useful. Here's an extract:

The Church’s very oceanic vastness means that even inside one can be tempted to look at only one small corner of it and label it “Catholicism.” Some converts become obsessed with Church architecture or a particular spin on Catholic social teaching or a Marian devotion or a particular aspect of the liturgy. One of the convert clergymen at Newman’s Birmingham Oratory was so enamored of the Church’s music of choice that he wrote a book on it. Upon reading the manuscript Newman protested that Father Formby seemed to say Christ died on the Cross for Gregorian chant. Newman observed that this was not theologically accurate.

My obsession was apologetics itself. When I first came into the Church I consumed Catholic apologetic literature in great chunks—most of it geared toward answering Protestant objections to the faith. I don’t regret that. As I said, I still read it and now I even write some of it. But not nearly as much anymore. At a certain point I realized that my own view of Catholicism had a tendency to be restricted by the types of questions that I used to ask. If I were not to be stuck in a kind of intellectual and spiritual bubble I would have to continue looking at Christ from different perspectives. I would have to learn my Creed not just from the negative point of view.

Looking more deeply from other perspectives allowed me also to see and appreciate other believers—and even non-believers—in a different light. When you come into the Church from somewhere else, particularly if friends and family from somewhere else have given you trouble about it, it is easy to become harsh and impatient about others’ not seeing what you see. It is altogether too easy to become wrapped up in what non-Catholics haven’t got and not be thankful for what they do have. This doesn’t mean squishy ecumenism, but a generosity of the sort Newman demonstrated in a letter to an Evangelical Anglican:

I believe what you do—but I believe more. I rejoice to think that you with all your heart and soul believe our Lord Jesus Christ to be the Saviour of the world, and of every soul who comes to him for salvation; and the sole Saviour. I wish you believed the whole counsel of God. But in this bad time, when there are so many unbelievers, I rejoice to think that you are not one of them. 

I have learned too often that, as Renaissance writer Thomas Browne put it, “The cause of truth may suffer in the weakness of my patronage.”

HAP

Hike and Pray

A newly forming parish group, Hike And Pray (HAP), will be meeting weekly to hike various area trails. As we hike, typically for 2 to 5 hours, we will also be praying - both with the understanding and in the Spirit. In addition to providing exercise and fellowship, we hope this activity will also assist in what has been termed 'the new evangelization.'  We will carpool from St Ambrose parking lot.  Hikers are reminded to bring plenty of water and that midway we'll be stopping for a light picnic/snack.  For more info, contact: thomasgwyndunbar@gmail.com, cellphone 540 267-5625, or see the webpage: http://atstambrose.blogspot.com/2012/05/hap.html

Upcoming Hikes:

Saturday, July 7th, leaving at 10am for Mill Creek Canyon,

Past Hikes:

Saturday June 23th, leaving at 10am for Lake Mary - a 2.2 mile (roundtrip) hike. Will probably go on to Lake Martha, 0.6 miles further.

Saturday June 16th, leaving at 10am for Lake Solitude - a 3.4 mile (roundtrip) hike.

Saturday June 9th at  10am, Yellow Fork Canyon Trail - a 4 hour hike  up into the Oquirrh Mountain foothills. This is across the valley, over by Herriman.

Weather was perfect as Mary Jane & Morris, Lori & Scott, and Thomas hiked up to around 8000ft:

Faith and Reason in the Public Square

From Pope Benedict's Ad Limina address to the US Bishops earlier this year:

. . . .With her long tradition of respect for the right relationship between faith and reason, the Church has a critical role to play in countering cultural currents which, on the basis of an extreme individualism, seek to promote notions of freedom detached from moral truth. Our tradition does not speak from blind faith, but from a rational perspective which links our commitment to building an authentically just, humane and prosperous society to our ultimate assurance that the cosmos is possessed of an inner logic accessible to human reasoning. The Church’s defense of a moral reasoning based on the natural law is grounded on her conviction that this law is not a threat to our freedom, but rather a “language” which enables us to understand ourselves and the truth of our being, and so to shape a more just and humane world. She thus proposes her moral teaching as a message not of constraint but of liberation, and as the basis for building a secure future.

The Church’s witness, then, is of its nature public: she seeks to convince by proposing rational arguments in the public square. The legitimate separation of Church and State cannot be taken to mean that the Church must be silent on certain issues, nor that the State may choose not to engage, or be engaged by, the voices of committed believers in determining the values which will shape the future of the nation.

In the light of these considerations, it is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres.

The Vatican Website

The Vatican website, http://www.vatican.va/, includes a page listing the latest publications. For example, in the English translation of today's general audience, Pope Benedict XVI remarks that:

. . . today is marked by the spiritual joy of Easter, born of the Christ’s victory over sin and death. When the risen Lord appeared to the disciples in the Upper Room and showed them his saving wounds, their lives were changed. With the gift of the Holy Spirit, Christ gave them the peace which the world cannot give (cf. Jn 14:27) and sent them forth to bring that peace to the world. The mission of the disciples inaugurates the journey of the Church, the People of the New Covenant, called to bear witness in every age to the truth of the resurrection and the new life which it brings. Today too, the Lord enters our hearts and our homes with his gifts of joy and peace, life and hope. Like the disciples on the way to Emmaus, may we recognize his presence among us in his word and in the breaking of the bread. During this Easter season, let us resolve to walk in the company of the risen Christ and allow our lives to be transformed by faith in him and by the power of his resurrection.

Saint John Calabria

If you have non-Catholic friends with an interest in the Catholic Church, might I suggest that you ask Saint John Calabria for assistance in your prayers. There is a brief biography at the Vatican and here are a few quotes from that document:

He understood this radical and prophetic spiritual renewal in which even the laity could be involved. As a matter of fact in 1944 he founded "The Family of External Brothers" solely made up of laymen.

He prayed, wrote, acted and suffered for the unity of Christians. In view of this he kept in touch with protestants, orthodox and Hebrews: he wrote, spoke and loved but he never entered into discussions.

He conquered everybody's love. Even the Lutheran Pastor, Sune Wiman of Esklstuna (Switzerland), who had had several epistolary sharings with him, on the 6th of March 1964 in a Lettera Postulatoria to the Holy Father Pope Paul VI, asked that his venerable friend be glorified.

Although not mentioned in that biography, Fr Calabria had an interesting correspondence with C. S. Lewis and Lewis' side of the correspondence is printed in The Latin Letters of C. S. Lewis (edited, with English translation by Martin Moynihan).

Fr. Calabria was beatified by Pope John Paul II on the 17th April 1988.