Today the liturgy permits the Optional Memorial of St. Peter Claver, the apostle to the slaves arriving in South America: Peter Claver (1580-1654) devoted great care to slaves just arriving in South America despite the social convention that did not consider them human.

For 35 years the Jesuit showed boundless compassion for abandoned people, living out the dictum of the St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, "Look for God in all men and serve them as images of him."

Claver first encountered Jesuits in Barcelona during his university studies. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1602 and studied philosophy on the island of Majorca at the college of Montesión whose doorkeeper, Brother Alphonsus Rodríguez, was already known for the holiness that would later be recognized by the Church when it canonized him.

The saintly brother encouraged the young Jesuit's desire to do something great for God and suggested he consider being a missionary in the New World.

Claver offered himself for the missions, and the provincial sent him to Colombia in 1610. After he finished his study of theology in Bogotá, Claver went to Cartagena on the Caribbean coast where he was ordained a priest in 1616 and where he would spend the rest of his life ministering to slaves who arrived in that port from Africa.

Cartagena was one of two Spanish ports designated to receive slaves; an estimated 10,000 of whom passed through the port each year during Claver's time. They were usually in horrible condition after the long voyage. Claver waited on the dock with food he had begged.

Accompanied by former slaves who served as interpreters, the Spanish Jesuit then boarded the ships and greeted those on deck before descending into the ship's hold to care for the sick. He cleansed wounds, applied ointment and bandages and spoke about God.

Slaves only remained in Cartegena for a few days, so Claver worked very quickly to prepare people for baptism. Instruction was necessarily limited, and Claver baptized a great number of slaves. He also visited hospitals, one of which cared for lepers, and saw Dutch and English prisoners of war.

A plague struck Cartagena in 1650, and eventually took Claver as a victim after he had cared for others afflicted by the disease.

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O God, who made Saint Peter Claver a slave of slaves and strengthened him with wonderful charity and patience as he came to their help, grant, through his intercession, that, seeking the things of Jesus Christ, we may love our neighbour in deeds and in truth. Through our Lord.

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CALLED TO HOLINESS: THE SAINTS AMONG US

The Second Vatican Council in its dogmatic constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, expressed the call that each person--no matter their state in life--has received from God: to be holy (and, therefore, like God).

This is the theme of the Pastoral Year 2010-2011 that we are beginning with the resumption of full parish activities after a summer pause.

This theme will allow us to reflect on how some among us in Canada, many in Ontario and Quebec, fulfilled this divine vocation.

This is brought to mind by the upcoming Canonization of Brother Andre (Alfred Bessette) in Rome on October 17.

There will be additional celebrations: a Mass of Thanksgiving with many of the bishops of Canada in Montreal's Olympic Stadium on Saturday, October 30 at 2PM.

Finally, our own Ottawa Archdiocese will hold a special celebration on his feast day, January 6, 2011 at 7:30PM in Notre Dame Cathedral.

The Church, whose mystery is being set forth by this Sacred Synod, is believed to be indefectibly holy. Indeed Christ, the Son of God, who with the Father and the Spirit is praised as "uniquely holy," loved the Church as His bride, delivering Himself up for her. He did this that He might sanctify her. He united her to Himself as His own body and brought it to perfection by the gift of the Holy Spirit for God's glory.

Therefore in the Church, everyone whether belonging to the hierarchy, or being cared for by it, is called to holiness, according to the saying of the Apostle: "For this is the will of God, your sanctification".

However, this holiness of the Church is unceasingly manifested, and must be manifested, in the fruits of grace which the Spirit produces in the faithful; it is expressed in many ways in individuals, who in their walk of life, tend toward the perfection of charity, thus causing the edification of others; in a very special way this (holiness) appears in the practice of the counsels, customarily called "evangelical."

This practice of the counsels, under the impulsion of the Holy Spirit, undertaken by many Christians, either privately or in a Church-approved condition or state of life, gives and must give in the world an outstanding witness and example of this same holiness. (Lumen Gentium, #39)

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NEW LOOK

After a year and a half, the "look" of this blog has been refreshed. I hope regular and new visitors like it.

Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337), Birth of Mary (in Scrovegni Chapel in Padua)

The Nativity of Mary is celebrated nine months after the solemnity of her Immaculate Conception, celebrated on December 8.

This feast, like that of the Assumption of Mary, originated in Jerusalem. It began in the fifth century as the feast of the basilica Sanctae Mariae ubi nata est, now the Basilica of Saint Anne.

In the seventh century, the feast was celebrated by the Byzantines and at Rome as the feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The feast is also celebrated by Syrian Christians on this day and by Coptic Christians on May 9 (1 Bashans).

The scene was frequently depicted in art, as part of cycles of the Life of the Virgin.

Late medieval depictions are often valuable records of domestic interiors and their fittings - at this period the setting was often in a wealthy household.

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Impart to your servants, we pray, O Lord, the gift of heavenly grace, that the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin may bring deeper peace to those for whom the birth of her Son was the dawning of salvation. Through our Lord.

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SACRED OBJECTS EXHIBIT IN ORLEANS

On Sunday afternoon, I travelled to St. Joseph's Parish in Orléans to take in the Exhbition of Sacred Objects put on in the context of its year-long 150th Anniversary celebrations.

The show is very well laid out in two of the rooms off the Parish Hall; guides are proud to explain the treasures they have on exhibit and to answer questions. Here is the official description of the presentation, the hours it is open and several photos of the rich treasures on display:

EXPOSITION D’OBJETS SACRÉS: Paroisse Saint-Joseph, Orléans

Dans le cadre des activités entourant son 150e anniversaire de fondation, la paroisse Saint-Joseph à Orléans présente une exposition d’objets sacrés en l’église, du 3 septembre au 3 octobre.

On y retrouvera divers objets, tels que des vêtements sacerdotaux et religieux, des ornements d’autel, des pièces d’orfèvrerie, des statues, des photos, de vieux missels et des livres anciens.







Des bénévoles seront sur place pour offrir des visites guidées.





La Société du 150e d’Orléans nous invite tous et toutes à venir voir cette exposition. Les écoles sont particulièrement invitées à venir en groupes afin de permettre aux élèves d’aujourd’hui de se familiariser avec leur histoire religieuse à travers ces objets.





L’exposition sera ouverte au public les samedi, dimanche, mardi et jeudi de 9h à 17h. Les réservations pour les groupes peuvent être faites en téléphonant au 613.824.2472.

In the last ten days, I have had the pleasure of receiving visitors, both family and friends.

It has been delightful to get caught up on relationships, tour the Capital with those who are charmed by the beauty and orderliness of Ottawa (prescinding, of course, from the construction chaos found all around on our streets).

Jesuit Matthew Livingstone dropped in while visiting his parents in Oxford Mills; we were able to catch up on his teaching of philosophy at Campion College, his studies in Damascus, Syria this summer to assist with his interest in Arabic philosophy and his anticipation of embarking on studies preparatory to the priesthood at Regis College, Toronto.

My niece Patricia and her husband Peter came from Burlington to help with their daughter Katie's move into residence at the University of Ottawa where she will start her studies in Fine Arts.

Dear friend Msgr. Michel Palud superior of the Mission Society of Mandeville, a diocese in Jamaica, was a welcome weekend visitor. Some photos:

Matthew Livingstone enjoying the sun deck with Fr. Vernon Boyd

Patricia and Peter Lawson

Katie joins us for dinner in the nearby Byward Market

The Parliament Buildings viewed from Nepean Point make a great photo backdrop

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A NEW BOOK ON SEXUALITY FOR CATHOLICS AND OTHERS

From time to time, I am asked to read a manuscript to provide a comment for the publisher's blurbs that are on the dustjacket or inside the book.

Recently, I did so for an author with roots in Canada (Halifax and Montreal). Though I knew the book had been published, I had not seen a copy on sale until I noticed it among the new books on display at St. Patrick's Basilica's book store (a good source for a wide selection of Catholic literature). It sells for C$15.95, and is listed at Amazon for US$12.95 (but then there are shipping and handling charges).

Here is what I said:

In Sex au Naturel, Patrick Coffin defends Pope Paul VI’s controversial encyclical Humanae vitae and John Paul II’s subsequent papal teaching on sexuality now known as The Theology of the Body.

Witty, provocative and informative, this vademecum for a new generation proud to affirm allegiance to sound Catholic principles will delight and challenge its readers.

A book that is eminently readable, I am pleased to recommend it with enthusiasm.

Here are some other details taken from the Emmaus Road publisher's website:

Sex Au Naturel: What It Is and Why It’s Good For Your Marriage by radio host Patrick Coffin is a bracing ride across the landscape of the Catholic sexual ethic. If you’re looking for intellectual ammo with which to defend and explain the teaching of Humanae Vitae, or if you reject it altogether, you’ll agree that Coffin approaches the topic from a wide array of new and persuasive angles. With humor and enthusiasm—and a total absence of moralizing—you'll learn:

• Why Paul VI’s landmark 1968 encyclical was widely rejected a generation ago and why it’s gaining new respectability now
• Where exactly the Bible teaches against birth control
• The differences between contraception and natural family planning (hint: they’re more profound than you think)
• The meaning of the natural law and how it applies to birth control
• How the dogma of the Blessed Trinity implicitly condemns birth control
• That every single Protestant denomination rejected birth control until 1930
• Why the myth of overpopulation is used against the Church, and how to answer it
• How faithful adherence to the teaching of Humanae Vitae is causally related to marital happiness and longevity
• Why it’s not too late to start over, even if you’ve been sterilized
• How to rely on the ever-present grace of God rather than your own strength in faithfully following this challenging, life-giving aspect of Christian discipleship
• Much, much more!

Patrick Coffin is the host of Catholic Answers Live, the number-one rated Catholic radio show in America, heard nationwide Monday to Friday, 3PM-8PM Eastern. He has published dozens of articles, essays, and interviews.

Born in Nova Scotia, he is an alumnus of Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, McGill University in Montreal, and Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, where he obtained a master's degree in theology. He lives in San Diego with his wife, Mariella, and their two daughters [-- www.emmausroad.org].

Today is Labour Day, a transition day as the lazy, hazy days of summer become memories and give way to the activity of the approaching academic and pastoral years

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THE NEW ROMAN MISSAL IN CANADA

From time to time, because of my service on the Vox Clara Committee, I am asked about the status of Canada's use of the new Roman Missal. Recently there was some news on this front, to wit:

The Bishops of Canada have been informed that the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has now received from the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments (CDWDS) recognitio (confirmation, authorization) for use of the new Roman Missal in Canada.

However, the CCCB is still awaiting confirmation from the CDWDS regarding proposed adaptations requested for Canada, which the bishops have submitted, as well as the proposed Proper Liturgical Calendar for the Dioceses of Canada (for example, when to celebrate Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, Saint Alfred Bessette [Brother Andre] and other such matters).

Apart from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, all the other English-language Conferences of Bishops are also awaiting confirmation of their respective adaptations and liturgical calendars.

The CDWDS has indicated that their staff is working through the remaining requests by Episcopal Conferences as quickly as they can.

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157th ANNIVERSARY OF NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL'S DEDICATION

At the Lord's Day Masses this weekend at the basilica, we celebrated the Anniversary of the Cathedral's Dedication on September 4, 1853 as a Solemnity.

There were many visitors and incoming university students from out of town (residents of Drummondville, Gatineau, Kitchener, Montreal, Toronto, Waterloo, Winnipeg are some I met) as well as people from out of the country (citizens of England, France, India, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, USA are some that I recall) who worshipped with the regular congregation.

Thus, there were quite a few photo ops after the Masses. Herewith a small selection of those taken:







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THE POPE'S VISIT TO THE UNITED KINGDOM

The Holy Father's Pastoral Voyage to England and Scotland is drawing near (September 16-19). He will meet with Catholics there but also with civic and religious leaders.

As well, Benedict XVI in his talks and homilies will address the challenges to believers in an increasingly secularized and post-Christian society. Finally, he will beatify John Henry Cardinal Newman.

It seems to me that the potential for pastoral fruitfulness is great and that there are risks as well. Those who wish to do so are invited to join me in a novena of prayer for God's blessing on this trip beginning tomorrow, September 7 and extending to September 15.

O God, who in your providential design willed that your Church be built upon blessed Peter, whom you set over the other Apostles, look, we pray, on Benedict our Pope and grant that he whom you have made Peter's successor, may be for your people a visible source and foundation of unity in faith and of communion. Through our Lord.

This Sunday, the Archdiocese of Ottawa recalls in prayer the 157th Anniversary of the Dedication of Notre Dame Cathedral, though the readings are those of the 23rd Sunday, whose psalm refrain sees the believer's true abode is in God ("Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations").

In the second reading Paul writes a letter to the church that meets in the home of Philemon and Apphia his wife. The contents of the letter are to be read aloud to the "church" so that Philemon will not be able to wiggle free of the implications of Paul's request.

Whether meeting in a house church or a cathedral, the Church is, above all, the presence of the Body of Christ in time and space: assembled to hear God's Word, meditate on it in community, celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice and, nourished with the Bread of Life, to go forth to bear Good News to the world in service of all, especially the poor who are God's predilection.

Onesimus being received by Philemon

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year "C") - September 5, 2010 FACING THE CHRISTIAN'S DILEMMA WITH PHILEMON, [Texts: Wisdom 9:13-18; [Psalm 90]; Philemon 9b-10, 12-17; Luke 14:25-33]

Masaccio's Saint Paul

At twenty-five verses, Paul's epistle to Philemon is among the shortest of New Testament writings. And its theme, the treatment of Philemon's runaway slave Onesimus, might appear to have no relevance today. But its subtle handling of the demands of brotherhood--insofar as they surpass the requirements of justice--speak to every era, including ours.

Paul also observed that, though he could command Philemon to do the right thing, he would much rather allow the Spirit to lead Philemon to choose the loving way.

Philemon, a wealthy Christian, had experienced the loss of a valuable asset when Onesimus fled his household after defrauding him. Having come to know Paul, Onesimus sought asylum with him in prison and there became a Christian ("whose father I have become during my imprisonment").

According to Roman law, fugitive slaves had to be returned to their masters; anyone harbouring a fugitive slave was subject to a fine. Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon bearing this letter. He asked Philemon to accept him "no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother."

In his rhetorical appeal, Paul made a pun on Onesimus' name, which means useful ("formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful both to you and to me").

Receiving Onesimus as a brother implied that Philemon had forgiven Onesimus a debt at Paul's request. This led Paul to muse aloud to Philemon about how much he owed Paul for the gift of faith!

Lastly, though ostensibly written to Philemon, the letter was addressed also to Apphia (likely Philemon's wife) and the congregation that met in their house. Did Paul consciously put Philemon on the spot--challenging him to be generous--by asking that the letter be read in the house church assembly?

Philemon's dilemma pitted his rights (what was owed to him in justice) against letting himself be led by love's demands. Though Paul did not recommend the abolition of slavery (a major social institution of his time), he urged his fellow Christian not to treat a slave as property but as a human person.

Paul also left him free to make his own decision in love.

We do not know how Philemon handled the dilemma handed him by Paul. But an early tradition tells of a bishop named Onesimus and this may account for the preservation of this brief Pauline letter.

The gospel suggests that Paul learned to set dilemmas before Christian disciples from Jesus himself. Surrendering to the demands of the Kingdom means viewing Jesus as the only teacher.

And Jesus will not let those who want to follow Him squirm out of the implications of his teaching. Nothing must get in the way of following Jesus, not even family ties if they take one away from His way.

In the sentence, "whoever comes to me and does not hate father, mother ... and even life itself," the word hate is being used figuratively. It refers to a priority relationship, as we can see from the parallel version in Matthew's gospel, "whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me..." (10:37).

Jesus and the kingdom are the priority relationship; all else comes after.

To illustrate, Jesus tells two stories about a person building a watchtower and about a king going to war. Each must calculate the cost in resources, whether the initiative is totally one's own (building the tower) or is forced from outside (a king discovers that he is outnumbered two to one).

Entering into these exercises leaves the disciple realizing that he or she must reflect on what it will take to finish the project of being Jesus' disciple: not less than everything!

"So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions."

How inscrutable is this wisdom taught by Paul and Jesus in dilemmas and parables!

And this is precisely the point put in a variety of ways by the Book of Wisdom: "for who can learn the counsel of God?"

But divine wisdom helpful for living life well in this world is given by God's Holy Spirit: "people were taught what pleases you and were saved by wisdom".

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« Suivre le Christ coûte… » : 157e anniversaire de dédicace de la Cathédrale Notre-Dame d’Ottawa - 23e dimanche du temps ordinaire (C), 4—5 septembre 2010, [Textes : Sagesse 9, 13-18; Psaume 89; Philémon 9b-10.12-17; Luc 14, 25-33]

Les dernières paroles de l’évangile d'aujourd'hui provoquent probablement chez vous la même réaction que chez les contemporains de Jésus : « Est-ce que je suis vraiment disciple? » Nous savons que les paroles de Jésus sont vraies. Mais il faut du temps pour les laisser prendre racine en nous, pour les traduire dans nos vies.

Lorsqu’on décide de suivre le Christ, on ne doit laisser rien ni personne y faire obstacle. « Celui qui aime son père et sa mère plus que moi n’est pas digne de moi ». Il s’agit de priorités dans nos relations. Paul fait en quelque sorte allusion à ce dilemme dans la deuxième lecture.

Dans une courte lettre adressée à Philémon et à la communauté qui se réunit régulièrement chez lui, l’Apôtre rappelle les exigences de la fraternité. Paul renvoie à Philémon son esclave Onésime qui s’était enfui après lui avoir probablement fait du tort.

On découvre la délicatesse de Paul et l’esprit nouveau qu’apporte le christianisme : frère dans la foi, fais-en vraiment un frère en lui rendant sa liberté. Paul pourrait dicter que le maître reprenne son serviteur. Il préfère laisser l’Esprit susciter la générosité de son cœur.

Au livre de la Sagesse, nous avons entendu que Dieu donne la Sagesse (son Fils), et qu’il envoie son Esprit Saint pour révéler à l’humanité son plan de salut. Dieu nous a dit ce qu’il faut faire. Il ne nous laisse pas deviner. Il faut cependant prendre le temps de réfléchir sur l’aide divine nécessaire pour l’accomplir. Dieu nous a créés libres; il respecte notre liberté.

La vie spirituelle se transmet essentiellement par la parole de Dieu dite et entendue, d’un fidèle à un autre. Là où la Parole est prêchée et accueillie dans la profession de foi d’une communauté, cette communauté devient Église. Elle est présence vivante et sainte du Christ dans l’histoire. C’est vrai pour nous à Ottawa, en 2010.

Dans l’écoute communautaire au cours de la célébration, nous recevons non seulement le message, mais le Messager. Aujourd’hui, nous entendons Jésus proclamer dans l’assemblée : « Celui qui ne porte pas sa croix… » Lue dans la solitude, cette parole est difficile à entendre. On peut se décourager devant ses propres faiblesses. Lue au cœur de la célébration, elle prend une résonance nouvelle. C’est la grâce de la liturgie.

À l’eucharistie, le Christ se rend présent, dans sa parole et dans son sacrifice – sa mort et sa résurrection. Sa parole et son sacrifice nous entraînent. Portés par la prière de la communauté, nous trouvons la force de donner une réponse lorsque nous disons au moment du Notre Père : « Que ta volonté soit faite. » En recevant entre nos mains le pain de la vie qui fait de nous les disciples, nous répondons : « Amen ». Nous recevons le courage et la force de marcher à la suite du Christ.



L’église-cathédrale est l’église mère d’un diocèse. Elle est l’église de l’évêque et, d’une certaine façon, tous les fidèles du diocèse en sont les « paroissiens ». Ce fait est vécu ici non seulement lors des grandes fêtes, mais à tous les dimanches, puisque des gens viennent de partout célébrer ici.

Le 4 septembre 1853, notre magnifique cathédrale était consacrée. En union avec nous, toutes les paroisses du diocèse en font mémoire aux célébrations de ce dimanche. Bien qu’elle soit un lieu touristique très fréquenté, elle est surtout le lieu de rassemblement de « pierres vivantes », de chacun de nous.

Vous êtes les éléments les plus importants de ce lieu. Et les générations à venir pourront en profiter dans la mesure où nous nous serons mis sérieusement à la suite du Christ.

Septembre signifie la reprise du quotidien : étude, travail, autres activités. C’est au cours de la semaine que nous vivons de la grâce reçue le dimanche. Le dimanche est bien le premier jour qui répand sa clarté sur toute la semaine. Du moins, c’est ce qu’il devrait être.

On ne s’engage pas sur la voie à suivre Jésus sur un coup de tête. On devient disciple de Jésus en marchant à sa suite et en portant sa croix. L’important, c'est de persévérer, de prendre les moyens d’aller jusqu’au bout. Un de ces moyens essentiels offerts à nous est l’assemblée eucharistique du dimanche.

OBSERVING THE DEDICATION OF THE CATHEDRAL IN 2010:

On September 4, the Church of Ottawa celebrates the dedication of Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica on that day in 1853.

The importance of the cathedral church in the liturgical life of the diocese flows from the role of the Bishop as the high priest of the Lord’s flock.

Every parish community is related to the Bishop, and therefore the anniversary of the cathedral church’s dedication as a place of worship is celebrated throughout the diocese.

The anniversary of the dedication of a cathedral church is to be observed on the date of the church's consecration, with the rank of a solemnity in the cathedral itself and of a feast in the other churches of the diocese; white vestments are worn.

As this liturgical observance falls on a Saturday in 2010, it is recommended that, in the Lord’s Day Masses of Saturday evening and of Sunday, September 4&5, the Prayers and Preface of the Dedication of the Cathedral (celebrated outside the cathedral in the case of the parishes and chapels) be combined with the readings of the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

At the cathedral, I will preside in French at the 17h15 Masses on Saturday and Sunday and in English at noon on Sunday.

Here are some historic notes gathered from various sources including the cathedral website where one can make a "virtual tour" or request a guided tour (www.notredameottawa.com):

The cathedral's site at Sussex and St. Patrick was originally home to a small wooden church dedicated to St. James (Saint Jacques) built in 1832. This structure was demolished in 1841 to make way for a larger church, designed by local builder Antoine Robillard and Father Cannon who requested a Neo-classical design.

However, in 1844, after the lower section was completed, the Oblate Fathers took over the parish and Father Telmon was sent from France to finish the construction.

Father Telmon decided to redesign it to be a more standard Neo-Gothic structure, a style which was growing in popularity. This left the lower features, such as the main entrance, Neo-Classical, while the rest is Neo-Gothic, for example, the large windows over the doorway features Gothic pointed arches and tracery.

The main structure was finished in 1846, but it was not until 1866 that the spires were installed. The steeples are topped with standard French-Canadian tin and bells.

The cathedral's exterior is fairly reserved, but the interior is as far more ornate, designed by Georges Buillon; it is brightly painted and decorated with carved features, exquisite stained glass windows and hundreds of statues of various religious figures. Louis-Philippe Hébert completed thirty large wooden sculptures in the choir.



Above the high altar is Christ the King reigning in glory, bestowing a crown on his Mother Mary as the Queen of Heaven, with St. Joseph attending. Below this scene there are large statues of Saint John the Baptist and Saint Patrick, the holy patron saints of fracophone and English-speaking [Irish] Catholics.

Mgr Joseph-Eugène-Bruno Guigues, OMI, First Roman Catholic Bishop of Bytown/Ottawa

In 1847 the church became a cathedral when Most Reverend Joseph-Eugène-Bruno Guigues, O.M.I. was appointed the first Bishop of Bytown; he is honoured with a lifesize statue to the right of the Cathedral (corner of Sussex and Guigues; his successor, Archbishop Thomas Duhamel's statue is on the corner of Sussex and Guigues). The cathedral was given the honorific title of basilica in 1879.

The Cathedral Basilica of Notre Dame is the oldest church in Ottawa and the seat of the city's Catholic archbishop. Its twin spires and gilded Madonna are easily identifiable from nearby Parliament Hill and the surrounding area.

The church was recently renovated and restored in the late 1990s. Services are held in both French and English. Composer Amédée Tremblay notably served as the church's organist from 1894-1920.

With the growth of the diocese under the second Bishop of Ottawa, Most Reverend Thomas Duhamel, and with the impetus of a visionary artist, Canon Georges Bouillon, the cathedral was finally completed in 1885.

Dedicated to the Immaculate Conception on September 4, 1853, the Cathedral underwent a major restoration in the 1990's (resulting in the closure of the cathedral for close to two years), to prepare for the celebration of the diocese's sesquicentennial in 1997. This $10M updating was generously provided for by a subscription campaign.

It was the first phase of a multi-year project; most recently (2009-2010) a new steel roof was installed and, to take advantage of the scaffolding erected for this project, the exterior windows were painted and the cross on the south side o the roof was gilded. Donations to this $1.8M amelioration are still being received by the cathedral.

A marker inside Notre Dame cathedral commemorating the blessing of the cornerstone of Eglise St-Jacques-Bytown on October25, 1841

O God, who care for your people with gentleness and rule them with love, through the intercession of Pope Saint Gregory, endow, we pray, with a spirit of wisdom those to whom you have given authority to govern, that the flourishing of a holy flock may become the eternal joy of the shepherds. Through our Lord.

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Today's liturgy is a memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great.

Son of Gordianus, a Roman regionarius, and Saint Silvia of Rome. Nephew of Saint Emiliana and Saint Tarsilla. Great-grandson of Pope Saint Felix III. Educated by the finest teachers in Rome, Italy.

Prefect of Rome for a year, then he sold his possessions, turned his home into a Benedictine monastery, and used his money to build six monasteries in Sicily and one in Rome. Benedictine monk.

Upon seeing English children being sold in the Roman Forum, he became a missionary to England.

Elected 64th Pope by unanimous acclamation on September 3, 590, the first monk to be chosen.

Sent Saint Augustine of Canterbury and a company of monks to evangelize England, and other missionaries to France, Spain, and Africa.

Collected the melodies and plain chant so associated with him that they are now known as Gregorian Chants.

One of the four great Doctors of the Latin Church. Wrote seminal works on the Mass and Divine Office, several of them dictated to his secretary, Saint Peter the Deacon.

Born c.540 at Rome, Italy; died March 12, 604 at Rome of natural causes.

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Abbé Gérard-Majella Séguin (1919-2010)

Demain à 10h00 dans la basilique cathédrale de Notre Dame, je présiderai les funérailles de l'abbé Gérard-Majella Séguin, décédé la nuit du 30 août.

Agé de 91 ans, l'abbé Seguin s'est dévoué au service du peuple de Dieu comme prêtre de paroisse et formateur des séminaristes:

Ordonné en 1944, l’abbé Seguin a été vicaire à Saint-André-Avellin (Québec) (1944-46) et curé de ces paroisses d'Ottawa: St Rémi (1966-69), St Louis Marie de Montfort (1969-73), Notre Dame de la Présentation (1973-85).

Il a aussi été professeur au Petit séminaire d'Ottawa (1946-62); administrateur de la Mission Nativité de N.S.J.C., Ottawa (1962-63); et vice supérieur du Petit séminaire (1963-69).

Requiescat in pace.

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STEPHEN HAWKING'S BOLD CLAIM: SCIENCE ELIMINATES GOD

Yesterday's on-line edition of the Ottawa Citizen featured prominently Stephen Hawking's claim in his latest book that one can no longer postulate God as an explanation for the universe. Instead, spontaneously on account of the law of gravity, everything came from nothing.

The comments following the article were extensive and many of them withdrawn as unsuited to civil dialogue.

Promptly on the Catholic Herald website, there was a rejoinder, one of many we are likely to find in coming days.

Here is an initial reflection by Quentin de la Bedoyere (www.catholicherald.co.uk):

Stephen Hawking still can’t explain how something came from nothingEven if physicists had a Grand Theory of Everything, they could not solve creation.

So that’s that then. Stephen Hawking has assured us that the laws of physics are sufficient to explain the universe we live in – and that we have no need to posit the possibility of God. His book, The Grand Design, will be published on September 9.

This is neither the time nor the place to focus on the detail of his arguments, and no doubt plenty of description will be forthcoming in the popular press and elsewhere. I want to focus initially on one remark he makes: “philosophy is dead.”

Bang goes the wisdom of two and a half millennia. But philosophy is not only not dead, it was never needed as much as it is now. One of the most important tasks in philosophy is to ensure that the right questions are asked and that the arguments which proceed stand up to rigorous examination. No wonder Hawking would like philosophy to be dead because he is wrong on both counts.

The drive of Hawking’s approach is that the theory, or rather the family of theories, he espouses leads to the possibility of 10 to the power of 500 different universes (try that on your calculator and watch it explode). Thus the extraordinary fine-tuning required for a universe which would eventually be able to support human life is not evidence for a designer God; it has in fact come about by chance. Since our universe is, by definition, the only one we can experience, we are fooled into thinking that it is the only one which exists, or has existed.

M theory, as it is known, is highly controversial within the scientific community; indeed there are eminent names who claim that it cannot properly be called a scientific theory at all. The idea of multiverses to explain the fine-tuning has been known as the “last refuge of the agnostic”. But let us assume that it is true, that there is an infinity of universes, and that our universe is an inevitable result of chance at work – where does that get us?

First, we are reminded of the theory of evolution. We have no difficulty in reconciling our belief in God as creator with evolution in which myriads of tiny chances, inevitably filtered by fitness to survive, develop into higher forms of life. God is not some sort of inventive superman who performs in the same sort of way as we do – but at an infinitely higher level. He transcends the universe; his creative action is utterly beyond our ken. If we use terms like “designer” it is only because the human mind and human vocabulary has no further reach. Our descriptions are only useful if we always bear in mind their gross inadequacy.

Similarly, if all the physical laws had been explained and proved (known as the Grand Theory of Everything) – which is a million miles from the case – our understanding of the actions of God would not be one whit greater: his existence and his actions are of a different order.

Most particularly it would not touch the question of how something existing comes out from nothing. That is a question which science cannot answer, and will never answer, because nothingness is not within its domain. Hawking apparently does not address this question – which is the true and ultimate Theory of Everything. But what philosophy can teach us is that neither he, nor you, nor I will ever explain creation, except through faith.

Today in places where there is deep commitment to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the optional memorial of Blessed Frederick Ozanam (1813-53), its founder, is possible.

Frederick died on 8th September, but as that is also the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary, his feast has been brought forward to the second.

An accomplished linguist and Dante scholar, he also found time to care for the poor. The society he started has over a million members in 32 countries.

Frederick was one of four out fourteen children in his family to survive infancy.
His father was an officer in Napoleon's army. Frederick was born in Milan, but the family moved back to Lyon.

He studied at the College Royal and was interested in both law and literature. He became involved with a group of liberal Catholic intellectuals - Emmanuel Bailly, historians Montalambert and Chateaubriand, the Romantic poet Lamartine and the Dominican preacher Lacordaire.

This group along with a Daughter of Charity named Rosalie Rendu began the lay institute dedicated to caring for the physical and spiritual well-being of the poor.

Frederick took his doctorate in law in 1836 and although his father died around this time, he went on to gain a doctorate in literature with a thesis on Dante's philosophy.

In 1845 Frederick moved from Lyon to Paris and married Amalie who soon gave birth to a daughter. He combined an academic career with lecturing to the Cercle catholique and visiting the poor.

An accomplished linguist, he was promoted to professor in 1846 and began a project on the literary history of the Middle Ages from the fifth century to Dante. But he contracted tuberculosis and his health began to fail.

With Lacordaire he started a journal expounding Christian socialist principles. He went to Italy in 1853 partly for health reasons but also to collect a prestigious award for his work on Dante. On the return journey he collapsed and died at Marseilles on 8th September 1853.

Pope John Paul beatified him in August 1997, expressing the hope that more married people would be canonized.

The Society of St Vincent de Paul has over a million members in 32 countires (thanks to Patrick Duffy--www.catholicireland.net).

* * * * * *

The Capital's Congolese Community Celebrates Confirmation

On Sunday afternoon, I presided at a late-summer celebration of Confirmation for six members of the Congolese community that gathers each Sunday afternoon at 3:30PM at Eglise Saint-Charles Borromee on Beechwood.

The music is rhythmical and passionate, and the dress is "Sunday best" and colourful.

Plus, after photos for all and sundry, not just the confirmands, there followed a reception in the parish hall with a tasty spread of food from Congo's best cooks.

Herewith some photos of this special occasion.

Today's blog features statues: for the Capital contains many of them along with explanatory plaques.

About a week ago, in reading the notation besides the Terry Fox statue on Wellington and Metcalfe streets, opposite Parliament Hill and outside the Information Office, I noticed that Terry was forced to end his 1980 Marathon of Hope on September 1 of that year, making today the 30th anniversary of that moving day.

Besides a couple of pictorial angles on the statue, here is the Wikipedia entry on Fox:

Terrance Stanley "Terry" Fox, CC, OD (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) was a Canadian humanitarian, athlete, and cancer research activist.

In 1980, with one leg having been amputated, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Though the spread of his cancer forced him to end his quest after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 mi), and ultimately cost him his life, his determination and example created a lasting, worldwide legacy.

The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is now the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research; over C$500 million has been raised in his name.

Fox was a distance runner and basketball player for his Port Coquitlam, British Columbia high school and Simon Fraser University. His right leg was amputated in 1977 after he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, though he continued to run using an artificial leg. He also played wheelchair basketball in Vancouver, winning three national championships.

In 1980, he began the Marathon of Hope, a cross-country run to raise money for cancer research. Fox hoped to raise one dollar for each of Canada's 24 million people. He started with little fanfare from St. John's, Newfoundland in April and ran the equivalent of a full marathon every day.

Fox had become a national star by the time he reached Ontario; he made numerous public appearances with businessmen, athletes, and politicians in his efforts to raise money. He was forced to end his run outside of Thunder Bay when the cancer spread to his lungs. His hopes of overcoming the disease and completing his marathon ended when he died nine months later.

Fox was the youngest person ever named a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian award. He won the 1980 Lou Marsh Award as the nation's top sportsman and was named Canada's Newsmaker of the Year in both 1980 and 1981. Considered a national hero, he has had many buildings, roads and parks named in his honour across the country. --www.wikipedia.org

* * * * * *

MGR JOSEPH-THOMAS DUHAMEL 2ND BISHOP, 1ST ARCHBISHOP OF OTTAWA

Statue of Mgr Joseph-Thomas Duhamel outside Ottawa's Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica (corner of Sussex and Guigues)

On this day in 1874, Blessed Pope Pius IX named the pastor of the Parish of St. Eugène on the eastern boundary of the diocese as the 2nd bishop of Ottawa. Earlier that year, the first bishop of Ottawa, Mgr Joseph-Eugène-Bruno Guigues, O.M.I. had died on February 8.

On June 8, 1886, Duhamel would become the 1st archbishop when the see was elevated to metropolitan status. The following is a brief description of some of Mgr Duhamel's time of service (www.fr.academic.ru/dic.nsf/frwiki/888002):

Joseph-Thomas Duhamel (6 novembre 1841 - 1909) était le deuxième évêque d'Ottawa et le premier archevêque d'Ottawa.

Né à Contrecœur, il fut ordonné prêtre le 19 décembre 1863 après des études au collège d'Ottawa avec les oblats.

Curé de Buckingham, ses qualités admistratives sont reconnues et il fut envoyé pour construire l'église de la paroisse de Saint-Eugène. Il assista au concile Vatican I avec son évêque en tant que théologien.

Pie IX le nomma évêque d'Ottawa le 1er septembre 1874 et il fut consacré le 28 octobre suivant par Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau.

Le 8 juin 1886, son diocèse est élevé en archevêché et il est nommé archevêque. Très dévoué à la cause de l'instruction, il fonde plusieurs écoles et paroisses dans sa région et améliore la condition des francophones catholiques.

En outre, il ordonne Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve à la prêtrise et fonde le vicariat du Pontiac.

Il fut témoin du grand incendie de Hull de 1900 et il vit l'Université d'Ottawa tomber proie aux flammes le 2 décembre 1903. Ces événements assombrirent la fin de son épiscopat.

Après avoir donné sa vie entière pour le bien de sa communauté, il mourut le 5 juin 1909. La municipalité de Duhamel a été nommée en son honneur.

Tomorrow is the beginning of September and there is a change in the Pope's monthly prayer intentions. Here are the new ones (September 2010):

•General Intention: The Word of God as Incentive for Social Development. That the proclamation of the Word of God may renew people's hearts, encouraging them to work toward authentic social progress.

•Mission Intention: End of War. That by opening our hearts to love we may put an end to the wars and conflicts which continue to bloody our world.

* * * * * *



Urban Mural in Lower Town/La Basse Ville

At my Sunday visit to Ottawa's Patro, I saw notices of the dedication of a large mural at the Park located at 400 Clarence Street, in effect right next door.

So, I spent a few minutes searching it out and then taking photograph's of the interests of the youth who painted the mural.

Hope they brighten up your day, as they did mine:

Yesterday, I presided at the installation of frere Edouard Ntiyankundiye, c.b.y. as the administrator of Paroisse Sainte Anne in Lower Town.

We had thought that the church, which suffered the collapse of its west transept in spring 2009 and recently has been undergoing repairs, would have been the venue for this service when planning began for it earlier in July.

Initially, hopes had been raised that parishioners would be able to return for Sunday Mass on August 15.

However, City of Ottawa inspectors recently expressed ongoing concerns about safety issues for those entering the church. So occupancy of the church by parishioners has been put off yet again; it is hoped occupancy can be restored by the early fall.

The church, built in 1873 and possessed of a heritage site designation, is no longer completely surrounded by the barrier of a fence, but some parts of the grounds are off limits as repairs continue.

Scaffolding is visible next to the rectory:



The new parish priest's ministry was duly inaugurated and a reception was held in the Patro d'Ottawa, near the church, where Lord's Day Masses and Feast Days have been celebrated since the church was closed to parishioners last year.







Now, it is my hope to return for a Thanksgiving Mass to celebrate the return of parishioners to their church, once inspectors give the green light indicating all is safe.

Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year "C") August 29, 2010 "THOSE WHO HUMBLE THEMSELVES WILL BE EXALTED" [Texts: Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; [Psalm 68]; Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a; Luke 14:1, 7-14]

Around the year 180 B.C., Jesus the son of Sirach, gave instruction on wisdom to the youth of Jerusalem. His counsels and maxims told how one could become a success in life. How one could please God and other people.

Modesty and humility were part of the ideal toward which the would-be wise person aspired. For these virtues were a reflection of Israel's God who had chosen to be close to the poor and needy ("Father of orphans and protector of widows is God in His holy habitation. God gives the desolate a home to live in; He leads out the prisoners to prosperity").

Sirach pointed out that the humble person "will be loved by those whom God accepts". Within God's household, then, all should come to share a single outlook. Sirach's principle was: "the greater you are the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favour in the sight of the Lord".

Gospel humility is not the fawning humility of a Uriah Heep in Dickens's David Copperfield. Rather, true humility is that which acknowledges one's primary status as that of a creature of God. Each person is made in the divine likeness and constantly receives all good things from God: life, abilities, achievements, all that one has come to have and possess ("to the humble the Lord reveals His secrets").

Therefore, no one claims talents or endowments--or the achievements which these allow one to accomplish--as anything other than divinely-bestowed gifts, to be used for God's glory. The honour or status that a person receives through recognition by others is put into true perspective only when one realizes that the only true standing is that which one has in the eyes of God.

In the ancient world, meals were important social ceremonies where little was left to chance. In Luke's gospel, we find observations that people noted where and with whom one ate (5:29-30), whether one performed hand-washing rituals before meals (11:38) and where one sat to eat.

Pliny the Younger's Letters critiqued the meal etiquette of his day, noting that the amount and quality of food depended on how close one sat to the host: "some very elegant dishes were served up to himself and a few more of the company; while those which were placed before the rest were cheap and paltry".

Jesus exposed the grasping dispositions that motivated both host and guests. Though some think He simply counselled guests how to play the game more shrewdly ("so that when your host comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'"), Jesus did not suggest the guest take a place several notches below his or her station. Instead, Jesus advised His disciples to take the "last place".

The "honour" or "glory" each would receive resided as much in God's presence as in their standing among mortals whose perspective was limited. Jesus hints at the end-time reward of heaven: "for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted [by God]".

Likewise, Jesus' advice to hosts is directed at God's end-time rewards. Hosts are prone to being hooked by the reciprocity system, thinking "those I invite must invite me in return; I will benefit not only from good meals but also by the honour and status associated with the wealthy and powerful".

Gospel values require that one not invite "your friends or your brothers or relatives or rich neighbours" but "the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind". Because these cannot repay you now, their patron--God!--will repay you at the "resurrection of the righteous".

Following the advice of Jesus means entering into a new value system where God does the rewarding and continues giving generously.

God's abundant giving also underlies the passage from Hebrews. There the Christian assembly is invited to see itself joining God's festal gathering where all share the status of "the firstborn who are enroled in heaven" and "the spirits of the righteous who have been made perfect" by the "new covenant" God established through Jesus.

This is not a frightening reality--as one might imagine the encounter at Mount Sinai was--but implies being part of an assembly permeated by joy and peace.

* * * * * *

SOEURS DE SAINTE MARIE DE NAMUR

Hier matin, le vicaire pour les réligieuses et réligieux du diocèse, l'abbé Daniel Berniquez et moi sommes allés visiter nos voisines du 101 rue Parent à l'occasion d'une visite de la Supérieure Générale, Sr. Rejeanne Roussel, SSMN.

Après la messe à la mémoire de Saint Augustin, on a pris un léger petit déjeuner, en partagent des informations sur le plan international et des nouvelles de la communauté au Canada.

"Un esprit dynamique de simplicité et de joie a permis aux Soeurs de Sainte-Marie de Namur de répondre aux besoins changeants de l'Eglise.

Je crois qu'en continuant à lire les signes des temps, en accompagnant ceux qui sont dans le besoin ou qui souffrent, en nous tenant comme des phares d'espérance et en vivant les béatitudes, nous pouvons rendre différent ce monde vulnérable.

Veuillez nous soutenir par votre prière."

--Sr. Rejeanne Roussel, SSMN (www.ssmn-e.com)

Today in the liturgy, the Church rightly celebrates the memorial of one its greatest theological minds and spiritual writers, Saint Augustine (November 13, 354 – August 28, 430).



The Confessions or The City of God alone would be a monument to any author, but there are hundreds of other writings of this striking personality that have shaped the Church as he defended the truth ["Veritas in the painting] against the manifold errors of his day (Donatists, Pelagians, etc).

* * *

Renew in your Church, we pray, O Lord, the spirit with which you endowed your Bishop Saint Augustine that, filled with the same spirit, we may thirst for you, the sole fount of true wisdom, and seek you, the author of heavenly love. Through Christ our Lord.

* * *

My favourite excerpt from the Confessions is the text for the Office of Readings for today's memorial:

Urged to reflect upon myself, I entered under your guidance the innermost places of my being; but only because you had become my helper was I able to do so. I entered, then, and with the vision of my spirit, such as it was, I saw the incommutable light far above my spiritual ken and transcending my mind: not this common light which every carnal eye can see, nor any light of the same order; but greater, as though this common light were shining much more powerfully, far more brightly, and so extensively as to fill the universe. The light I saw was not the common light at all, but something different, utterly different, from all those things. Nor was it higher than my mind in the sense that oil floats on water or the sky is above the earth; it was exalted because this very light made me, and I was below it because by it I was made. Anyone who knows truth knows this light.

O eternal Truth, true Love, and beloved Eternity, you are my God, and for you I sigh day and night. As I first began to know you, you lifted me up and showed me that, while that which I might see exists indeed, I was not yet capable of seeing it. Your rays beamed intensely on me, beating back my feeble gaze, and I trembled with love and dread. I knew myself to be far away from you in a region of unlikeness, and I seemed to hear your voice from on high: “I am the food of the mature: grow, then, and you shall eat me. You will not change me into yourself like bodily food; but you will be changed into me”.

Accordingly I looked for a way to gain the strength I needed to enjoy you, but I did not find it until I embraced the mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who is also God, supreme over all things and blessed for ever. He called out, proclaiming I am the Way and Truth and the Life, nor had I known him as the food which, though I was not yet strong enough to eat it, he had mingled with our flesh, for the Word became flesh so that your Wisdom, through whom you created all things, might become for us the milk adapted to our infancy.

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.


[Saint Ambrose baptizing Saint Augustine by Benozzo Gozzoli (c. 1464-65), apsidal chapel, Sant'Agostino, San Gimignano, Italy]

* * *

Flood the Path with Light,
God of our life,
there are days when the burdens we carry
chafe our shoulders and weigh us down;
when the road seems dreary and endless,
the skies grey and threatening;
when our lives have no music in them,
and our hearts are lonely,
and our souls have lost their courage.

Flood the Path with Light,
turn our eyes to where the skies are full of promise;
tune our hearts to brave music;
give us the sense of comradeship
with heroes and saints of every age;
and so quicken our spirits
that we may be able to encourage
the souls of all who journey
with us on the road of life,
to your honour and glory. [attributed to St. Augustine]

* * * * * *

CARDINAL OUELLET TAKES UP HIS NEW CHARGE

Unless there has been a change in plans, today sees Cardinal Marc Ouellet begin his new ministry in Rome. His Eminence is pictured left with Deborah Gyapong at a final interview in Quebec prior to his departure for Rome.

August is usually a quiet time in Rome but the memorial of the great Bishop of Hippo and Doctor [i.e. Teacher] of the Church seems a particularly apt occasion for His Eminence to begin his new duties. He will be searching out candidates for episcopal office to recommend to the Holy Father according to certain criteria.

In his interview with Deborah Gyapong, Cardinal Ouellet, described the kind of ecclesial leaders he senses the Church of Christ requires in this particular moment of salvation history: bold “men of faith” who have “the guts to help people live it out.”

A bishop has to lead the community, so he needs a deep supernatural vision as well as the capacity to assess the political, cultural, and sociological context.... Above all, a bishop must be “audacious in proposing the Word and in believing in the Power of the Word and the power of the Spirit.”

“We have to dare to speak to the deep heart, where the Spirit of the Lord is touching people beyond what we can calculate,” said Ouellet. “We need spiritual discernment and not just political calculation of the risk of the possibility of the message being received.”....

The need for unity and solidarity goes far beyond any political statements, he said, but involves a personal commitment that rises beyond a dogmatic faith to an “existential faith that means spiritual discernment of the presence of God and of God’s will.”

We are in a world where the Christian heritage being strongly contested, so we have to recognize that and propose it better, though not through an attempt to restore the past, he said.

“We have to tell people about the Crucified and Risen Lord, who is shaping the Church today, with people faithful to His Word, to His Divine Presence and to the community he wants to see living of His Spirit.”

A bishop must always take a personal approach, he said. Bishops not only must state dogmatic positions, they must believe in them deeply, “then you have the power of conviction.”

“If you state it only formally and in the end you do not really want to see it applied because you don’t believe that it is possible that people accept it, you are in trouble for the transmission of the message,” he said.

Bishops must also be close to people, he said. Being spiritual does not mean keeping a distance.

“The Lord has given us his own heart to be a presence of His heart in the midst of the people,” the cardinal said. “So we have to be aware of that and cultivate what we call holiness, unity with Him, daily unity, in a way that is very human and very spiritual.”

He advocated an ascetical attitude in prayer to maintain purity of heart. “The love of the people is fulfilling the life of the priest.”...

Ouellet called for openness to new movements in the Church, and expressed hopes those already in Quebec, such as Famille Marie-Jeunesse, Catholic Christian Outreach, and the Eucharistic movement around the Youth Summit/Montee Jeunesse will “multiply.”

“I believe deeply there will be a new evangelization,” he said.

The Cardinal also called for a new intellectual dynamism, especially a reform of education to “recapture the spirit of Christianity and “create a new Christian culture.”

“We need intellectuals for that, theologians, philosophers, Christians who really believe in the Gospel and share the doctrine of the Church on moral questions,” he said.

“We have suffered from this mentality of dissent” that is “still dominating the intelligentsia.”

“There is no real discipleship there, real discipleship,” he said. “The discipleship that is emerging is from those who believe and who really love the Church.”

* * *

Mgr Lacroix Quebec Administrator

Meantime, yesterday the bishops of Canada were informed that Auxiliary Bishop Mgr Gerald Cyprien Lacroix has been chosen diocesan administrator for the Archdiocese of Quebec until the nomination of a successor to Cardinal Ouellet.

Best wishes to, and prayers for, Bishop Lacroix as he assumes these new responsibilities.

Andrea del Verocchio, Saint Monica

O God, who console the sorrowful and who mercifully accepted the motherly tears of Saint Monica for the conversion of her son Augustine, grant us, through the intercession of them both, that we may bitterly regret our sins and find the grace of your pardon. Through our Lord.

* * * * * *

Today the church remembers Saint Monica, a saint especially revered by mothers because of her tireless prayers for the conversion of her wayward son, Augustine, was born of Christian parents in Tagaste, North Africa in 333, and died in Ostia, near Rome, in 387. She was married young to a government official, Patricius, who was not a Christian, and had a bad temper, though she bore her burdens patiently, and their life together was relatively peaceful. Three children were born to, Augustine, Navigius, and a daughter, Perpetua.

Augustine, the eldest son, though brilliant, was, according to his own account, a lazy and dissolute youth whose bad behavior caused his mother much grief ­ especially so after he went away to school at Madaura and to Carthage. Although Patricius became a Christian not long before he died, Augustine persisted in his pursuit of pleasure, and, as a nineteen-year-old student, joined the heretical Manichaean sect. When he began to spout heresies, Monica became alarmed, and intensified her efforts to bring him to Christ. In the Confessions, Augustine recounts Monica's dream which consoled and encouraged her:

"In her dream she saw herself standing on a sort of wooden rule, and saw a bright youth approaching her, joyous and smiling at her, while she was grieving and bowed down with sorrow. But when he inquired of her the cause of her sorrow and daily weeping (not to learn from her, but to teach her, as is customary in visions), and when she answered that it was my soul's doom she was lamenting, he bade her rest content and told her to look and see that where she was there I was also. And when she looked she saw me standing near her on the same rule." (Confessions, Book III, 9.14).

During this anguished period of prayer for her son, Monica consulted a bishop who had himself been a Manichaean before he became a Christian. He declined to intervene with Augustine, whom, the bishop correctly observed, was not open to hearing the truth. She persisted tearfully, but he refused to intervene.

Nevertheless, the bishop consoled Monica that "the child of those tears shall never perish", which she took as a sign from God. Though he continued in his heresies for nine years, Monica followed Augustine to Rome and then to Milan.in an effort to rescue her son from his errors. In Milan she met Ambrose, who helped lead Augustine into the true faith.

A few months after his conversion, Augustine, Monica and Adeodatus, set out to return to Africa, but Monica died at Ostia, the ancient port city of Rome, and she was buried there. Augustine was so deeply moved by his mother's death that he was inspired to write his Confessions, "So be fulfilled what my mother desired of me--more richly in the prayers of so many gained for her through these confessions of mine than by my prayers alone" (Book IX.13.37)

An account of Monica's early life, her childhood, marriage, her final days and her death, is given in Confessions Book IX, 8-12. He expresses his gratitude for her life:

"I will not speak of her gifts, but of thy gift in her; for she neither made herself nor trained herself. Thou didst create her, and neither her father nor her mother knew what kind of being was to come forth from them. And it was the rod of thy Christ, the discipline of thy only Son, that trained her in thy fear, in the house of one of thy faithful ones who was a sound member of thy Church" (IX.8.7).

Centuries later, Monica's body was reburied in Rome, and eventually her relics were interred in a chapel left of the high altar of the Church of St. Augustine in Rome.

* * * * * *

The day now approaching whereon she was to depart this life (which day Thou well knewest, we knew not), it came to pass, Thyself, as I believe, by Thy secret ways so ordering it, that she and I stood alone, leaning in a certain window, which looked into the garden of the house where we now lay, at Ostia; where removed from the din of men, we were recruiting from the fatigues of a long journey, for the voyage.

We were discoursing then together, alone, very sweetly; and forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, we were enquiring between ourselves in the presence of the Truth, which Thou art, of what sort the eternal life of the saints was to be, which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man. But yet we gasped with the mouth of our heart, after those heavenly streams of Thy fountain, the fountain of life, which is with Thee; that being bedewed thence according to our capacity, we might in some sort meditate upon so high a mystery.

And when our discourse was brought to that point, that the very highest delight of the earthly senses, in the very purest material light, was, in respect of the sweetness of that life, not only not worthy of comparison, but not even of mention; we raising up ourselves with a more glowing affection towards the ‘Self-same’, did by degrees pass through all things bodily, even the very heaven whence sun and moon and stars shine upon the earth; yea, we were soaring higher yet, by inward musing, and discourse, and admiring of Thy works; and we came to our own minds, and went beyond them, that we might arrive at that region of never-failing plenty, where Thou feedest Israel for ever with the food of truth, and where life is the Wisdom by whom all these things are made, and what have been, and what shall be, and she is not made, but is, as she hath been, and so shall she be ever; yea rather, to ‘have been’, and ‘hereafter to be’, are not in her, but only ‘to be’, seeing she is eternal. For to ‘have been’, and to ‘be hereafter’, are not eternal. And while we were discoursing and panting after her, we slightly touched on her with the whole effort of our heart; and we sighed, and there we leave bound the first fruits of the Spirit; and returned to vocal expressions of our mouth, where the word spoken has beginning and end. And what is like unto Thy Word, our Lord, who endureth in Himself without becoming old, and maketh all things new?

We were saying then: If to any the tumult of the flesh were hushed, hushed the images of earth, and waters, and air, hushed also the pole of heaven, yea the very soul be hushed to herself, and by not thinking on self surmount self, hushed all dreams and imaginary revelations, every tongue and every sign, and whatsoever exists only in transition, since if any could hear, all these say, We made not ourselves, but He made us that abideth for ever—If then having uttered this, they too should be hushed, having roused only our ears to Him who made them, and He alone speak, not by them, but by Himself, that we may hear His Word, not through any tongue of flesh, nor Angel’s voice, nor sound of thunder, nor in the dark riddle of a similitude, but might hear Whom in these things we love, might hear His Very Self without these (as we two now strained ourselves, and in swift thought touched on that Eternal Wisdom which abideth over all);—could this be continued on, and other visions of kind far unlike be withdrawn, and this one ravish, and absorb, and wrap up its beholder amid these inward joys, so that life might be for ever like that one moment of understanding which now we sighed after; were not this, Enter into thy Master’s joy? And when shall that be? When we shall all rise again, though we shall not all be changed?

Such things was I speaking, and even if not in this very manner, and these same words, yet, Lord, Thou knowest that in that day when we were speaking of these things, and this world with all its delights became, as we spake, contemptible to us, my mother said, ‘Son, for mine own part I have no further delight in any thing in this life. What I do here any longer, and to what end I am here, I know not, now that my hopes in this world are accomplished. One thing there was for which I desired to linger for a while in this life, that I might see thee a Catholic Christian before I died. My God hath done this for me more abundantly, that I should now see thee withal, despising earthly happiness, become His servant: what do I here?’ (Confessions, IX.)

There follows St Monica’s final sickness, and then her passing. Finally, in , St Augustine writes:

On the ninth day then of her sickness, and the fifty-sixth year of her age, and the three-and-thirtieth of mine, was that religious and holy soul freed from the body. . . . For we thought it not fitting to solemnise that funeral with tearful lament, and groanings; for thereby do they for the most part express grief for the departed, as though unhappy, or altogether dead; whereas she was neither unhappy in her death, nor altogether dead. Of this we were assured on good grounds, the testimony of her good conversation and her faith unfeigned (Confessions, IX.xi-xii).

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SEMINARY FORMATION PROGRAMS RESUME



In a few days the new seminarians will be reporting for their orientation programs and, a few days later, returning candidates for the priesthood will be taking up studies again or entering upon the pastoral internship year.

So it was that several members of my staff, the vocations committee and some residents joined with most of the seminarians [a couple were absent] for a brief gathering yesterday afternoon and evening.

There was Mass in the Archbishops' Chapel, followed by supper on the patio at my residence and, for those who had not yet taken part, a brief overview of the history of the Archdiocese through visiting the formal reception rooms at 143 St. Patrick Street.

Please join in prayers of gratitude for the new men who have been accepted into the priestly formation program, keeping them and their formators at the seminaries and parishes in thought and prayer.

Ongoing prayers for vocations are still needed for the many other future priests we need.

The Vocation Director Father Tim Mccauley guides the Quo Vadis meeting to reflect on vocational matters on the Third Friday of each month. Men interested in discerning a vocation to priestly service of God's people in this forum or by private encounter may contact Father Tim Mccauley (tmccauley@archottawa.ca or [613] 738-5025, ext. 218) for help in discerning a possible call.

One hundred years ago today, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in Albania. To mark the occasion the United States of America is issuing a commemorative stamp as have other nations.



After entering the Loretto Sisters in Ireland, and spending her first years as a religious teaching in Darjeeling India, she was inspired, in responding to "a call within a call" to found the Missionaries of Charity some sixty-four years ago on September 10, 1946.

Known to the world as Mother Teresa, the sari-habited nun proclaimed the joy of serving Christ in the "poorest of the poor", even as she experienced deep interior spiritual desolation, a profound test of faith (cf. her spiritual notes in Come Be My Light).

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate died on September 5, 1997 and, in record time for modern recognition for sanctity, was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 19, 2003.



* * *

The Missionaries of Charity, the religious order founded by Blessed Mother Teresa, has no set plan for the future, revealed the current Mother Superior.

In an interview released on Monday by Fides news agency, she said that Mother Teresa left them only with her constant advice: to become ever more holy.

German-born Sister Mary Prema spoke with Fides as the 100th anniversary of Blessed Mother Teresa's birth, celebrated on Aug. 26, approaches.

Mother Teresa's "only goal" of loving Jesus and transmitting that love to others is the legacy she left to the Missionaries of Charity, said Sr. Mary.

Asked what major challenges the order under her direction expects in the future, she answered that the Missionaries of Charity don't make plans too far in advance. "We try to remain open to what God asks of us," she explained.

"Only Jesus will tell me what is the next step. So, in the spirit of Mother, I'm not the one who controls things. God is the one who decides."

Mother Teresa, she explained, "never gave us any indications of future plans besides the fact that we should always strive to become more holy! This was her constant advice."

As Mother Superior she continues to follow the example of Mother Teresa as the head of the order, making informed decisions based on discussion and considering all the information available, she explained.

In responding to the challenges offered by the world in her day, the founder had a way of listening to Jesus and to the world, recalled Sister Mary. "She was very generous towards God and towards those suffering beside her. In this, we want to imitate her."

Remembering the strong witness of the founder, she said, "Through her life, her work, her charisma, she brought those around her to God. She did not preach, but she testified with her own life."

People continue to approach Sister Mary today to recount their experiences of moments shared with Mother Teresa. Many, she said, Hindus included, were only in her presence for a short time, but "that one moment changed their lives forever."

While they may not have converted, she said, "they began to see their lives and their work with different eyes and have become other people, living in a different way, based on love and mercy, within their own families."

Asked when the blessed might be canonized, Sr. Mary said she didn't think that it was important.

"Everyone knows that she is a saint - both Hindus and Christians here in Calcutta and in most places where we are present - this is beyond doubt. Everyone expects a miracle … but Mother Teresa was the same miracle for the world and humanity."

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CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN OUTREACH (CCO) MEETS IN OTTAWA

The National Executive of CCO is meeting at the Diocesan Centre, August 25-26.

Members have come from Dartmouth, Gatineau, Ottawa, Saskatoon, Calgary, Vancouver and San Diego to consider long-term strategy and issues such as recruitment and retention of missionaries, training needs, benefits, etc.

CCO this coming academic year will expand to the University of Calgary and, in Halifax, the team will widen its scope from Dalhousie University to embrace also Saint Mary's University (www.cco.ca).

The National Staff members of CCO are meeting at this time, for a more extended period, until August 31, which affords the Board and Staff the opportunity to interact at Mass, meals, praise and worship, some common sessions.

A very dynamic Spirit-led movement as may be seen in these photos:

Today, along with the Wednesday of the 21st week in Ordinary Time, the Church's liturgy also permits the celebration of one of two optional memorials: that of a saintly French monarch or the Spanish founder of a religious community that offered free education to the children of the poor:

Grâce aux Chroniques écrites par Joinville, ami très proche du Roi, la mémoire populaire française garde de Louis IX l'image d'un souverain rendant la justice à l'ombre d'un vieux chêne proche de son château à Vincennes.

Saint Louis a en effet frappé ses contemporains par son sens de la justice, sa profonde piété et sa grande charité envers les pauvres.

A vingt ans, il épouse Marguerite de Provence et leur amour sera tendre et fidèle. Quand il part pour délivrer la Terre Sainte en 1248, il s'embarque avec elle. Le roi est fait prisonnier. Une fois libéré et rentré dans son royaume, il y entreprend de grandes réformes en particulier l'interdiction du duel judiciaire.

Il fonde des hôpitaux et des monastères. Il réalise son grand projet : construire la Sainte-Chapelle comme une châsse de lumière et de vitraux destinée à recueillir des reliques, surtout la Couronne d'épines qu'il a acquise auprès de l'empereur latin de Constantinople. Il donne à sa soeur, la bienheureuse Isabelle, le terrain de Longchamp pour y fonder une abbaye de religieuses de Sainte-Claire.

Son royaume connaît une période de plein développement culturel, intellectuel et théologique. Saint Louis aime recevoir à sa table saint Bonaventure et saint Thomas d'Aquin. Avec Robert de Sorbon, il fonde la Sorbonne (1257). Il suit avec attention l'achèvement de la cathédrale Notre-Dame et surtout les grandes rosaces (1255) et les porches (www.nominis.cef.fr).

Son plus grand souci est de pacifier, de réconcilier les ennemis et d'éteindre les conflits, en particulier entre la France et l'Angleterre (1258). Mais il rêve de retourner en Terre Sainte et de convertir le sultan d'Egypte. Il n'ira pas plus loin que Carthage, l'actuelle Tunis. La maladie a raison de lui le 25 août 1270.

* * *

O God, who brought Saint Louis from the cares of earthly rule to the glory of a heavenly realm, grant, we pray, through his intercession, that by fulfilling our duties on earth, we may seek out your eternal Kingdom. Through our Lord.

* * * * * *

St. Joseph, Founder of the Piarists



Goya, The Last Communion of Joseph Calasanz

From Aragon, where he was born in 1556, to Rome, where he died 92 years later, fortune alternately smiled and frowned on the work of Joseph Calasanz. A priest with university training in canon law and theology, respected for his wisdom and administrative expertise, he put aside his career because he was deeply concerned with the need for education of poor children.

When he was unable to get other institutes to undertake this apostolate at Rome, he and several companions personally provided a free school for deprived children. So overwhelming was the response that there was a constant need for larger facilities to house their effort.

Soon Pope Clement VIII gave support to the school, and this aid continued under Pope Paul V. Other schools were opened; other men were attracted to the work and in 1621 the community (for so the teachers lived) was recognized as a religious community, the Clerks Regular of Religious Schools (Piarists or Scolopi). Not long after, Joseph was appointed superior for life.

A combination of various prejudices and political ambition and maneuvering caused the institute much turmoil. Some did not favor educating the poor, for education would leave the poor dissatisfied with their lowly tasks for society!

Others were shocked that some of the Piarists were sent for instruction to Galileo (a friend of Joseph) as superior, thus dividing the members into opposite camps. Repeatedly investigated by papal commissions, Joseph was demoted; when the struggle within the institute persisted, the Piarists were suppressed. Only after Joseph’s death were they formally recognized as a religious community.

No one knew better than Joseph the need for the work he was doing; no one knew better than he how baseless were the charges brought against him. Yet if he were to work within the Church, he realized that he must submit to its authority, that he must accept a setback if he was unable to convince authorized investigators.

Even in the days after his own demotion, Joseph protected his persecutors against his enraged partisans; and when the community was suppressed, he stated with Job, to whom he was often compared: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21b).

While the prejudice, the scheming, and the ignorance of men often keep the truth from emerging for a long period of time, Joseph was convinced, even under suppression, that his institute would again be recognized and authorized. With this trust he joined exceptional patience and a genuine spirit of forgiveness.

* * *

O God, who adorned the Priest Saint Joseph Calasanz with such charity and patience that he laboured tirelessly to educate children and endow them with every virtue, grant, we pray, that we who venerate him as a teacher of wisdom may constantly imitate him, for he worked in harmony with your truth. Through our Lord.

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ANNUAL SUMMER BARBECUE

In August before folks return to school and to regular ministry, I invite my Jesuit confreres in Ottawa and those who happen to be passing through over to a barbecue on the residence's patio.

This year these included Jesuit Provincial Father Jim Webb; Father Bill Russell of the New England Province; Father Bill Robins originally from Winnipeg and for many years missioned to Kathmandu, Nepal, on home leave to celebrate his Golden Jubilee as a Jesuit and visiting his sister and nieces in the Capital).

In addition, those in attendance included two Jesuits moving this week to Toronto: Father William (Bill) Ryan, who has been in Ottawa since 1984 and Jason Vaz, a scholastic who recently completed his philosophical studies at Dominican University College.

Left to right: Jason Vaz, William Ryan

Father Ryan will have a lead role at the Jesuit Forum for Social Faith and Justice, while Jason will pursue a further degree in education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (O.I.S.E.)

Some photos of the visitors and the priest-residents:

Barbecued spare ribs, corn on the cob, salads and good company!

Left to right: Fathers Joseph Muldoon, E.V., Vernon Boyd, S.J., Jim Webb, S.J.

Canon Law students Father Lawrence Raisen (Diocese of Tyler, TX) and Deacon Hugues Bokouamanga, S.J. (Congo-Brazzaville) brace themselves for the new term at St. Paul University

Today the Church recalls the first century Saint Bartholomew, one of the Twelve Apostles. All that is known of him with certainty is that he is mentioned in the synoptic gospels and Acts as one of the twelve apostles.

Bartholomew's name is a patronymic and means "son of Tolomai"; scholars believe he is the same as Nathanael mentioned in John, who says he is from Cana and that Jesus called him an "Israelite...incapable of deceit."


The Roman Martyrology says he preached in India and Greater Armenia, where he was flayed and beheaded by King Astyages. Tradition has the place as Abanopolis on the west coast of the Caspian Sea and that he also preached in Mesopotamia, Persia, and Egypt (from Catholic On Line [www.catholic.org]).

* * *

Strengthen in us, O Lord, the faith by which the blessed Apostle Bartholomew clung wholeheartedly to your Son, and grant that through the help of his prayers your Church may become for all the nations the sacrament of salvation. Through our Lord.

* * * * * *

JESUIT VOW CEREMONY, MONTREAL

On Sunday, I attended the First Vows of five Jesuits who are completing their two-year novitiate in Montreal.

The Mass in the Church of the Gesu was presided by the new Jesuit Provinical of the Province of French Canada and Haiti, Pere Jean-Marc Biron.

Concelebrating with him were the English Canada Provincial Father James Webb and Jesuits from the two provinces.

The homilist was the director of novices, Father Erik Oland.

Following a Jesuit tradition begun at Montmartre in Paris on August 15, 1534 by St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Francis Xavier and their early companions, the vows are pronounced before the Eucharistic Lord immediately prior to Holy Communion (in that case, the presider was the only priest of their group Blessed Pierre Favre). It brought back happy memories of my First Vows on August 15, 1963.



At the close of Mass, the vovents received their "Vow Crucifix" from their respective provincial superiors.



A reception followed in the conference hall below the church:



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QUEENSHIP OF MARY HOUSE, OTTAWA

Members of a newly forming religious institute, under the patronage of Our Lady's title "The Queenship of Mary" celebrated their feast day on Sunday in their new quarters at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel's Parish House. They fed some 250 friends and benefactors in the parish hall after Mass.

As I could not attend, I presided at Mass yesterday as they began a week of intensive retreat and reflection on establishing their charism and its embodiment.

Following Mass, I was guided on a tour of their new quarters, then shared a coffee break and delighted in hearing recent news.

Pastor Father Stephen Liang banters with his new tenants

O God, you set Saint Rose of Lima on fire with your love, so that, secluded from the world in the austerity of a life of penance, she might give herself to you alone; grant, we pray, that through her intercession, we may tread the paths of life on earth and drink at the stream of your delights in heaven. Through our Lord.

* * *

Isabel de Santa Maria de Flores was born in Lima, Peru of Spanish parents and took the name Rose at her confirmation.

Noted for her beauty, she rejected all suitors and refused to marry. She became a Dominican tertiary and lived as a recluse in a shack in the garden she worked to help her parents.

She is depicted in this window wearing a Carmelite habit which was the customary garb of the day. She holds a red rose symbolizing her purity and her name. On her head is a crown of thorns.

She was deeply devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus featured at the top of the window. The heart is encircled with a crown of thorns and has a cross and flames emerging from it. This flaming heart represents religious fervor and devotion to Jesus Christ.

Rose is the patron saint of all South America.

Above the Sacred Heart is the fish and loaves of bread. The German inscription reads, "Given by the Young Ladies Sodality". In the first decades of the parish, the women of the parish had two organizations; the Young Ladies Sodality was for the unmarried young women.

This is a print of a watercolor painting by Jennifer Walterscheid in 2008. The window can be found in St. Anthony Catholic Church in Wichita, Kansas (www.stanthonywitchita.com).

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BAVARIAN CLERICS DISCOVER EASTERN CANADA

Father Hans Feichtinger is a priest of the Diocese of Passau (the home diocese of the Holy Father); he spent a year studying in Halifax in 2003-2004 before taking up ministry in Rome.

Deacon Konrad Bestle belongs to the Diocese of Augsburg, where he will be ordained to the priesthood in June 2011.

These youthful clerics recently paid me a visit before moving on to Montreal (where I accompanied them Saturday and briefly yesterday). They move on to Quebec on Tuesday, then to Boston and back home.

While we were together, we had a grand time and here are a few photos of part of the excellent adventure:

A stop-off at the Nunciature, [Left to right:] Cardinal Toppo, Archbishop Lopez Quintana, Deacon Bestle, Father Feichtinger

Celebrating Mass with vestment from the Cathedral collection

Making like Canadians at a Tim Horton's

Tucking into the sweets and the caffeine

Montreal: at the upper level outside St. Joseph's Oratory

Wilf life! Encountering a family of racoons at the Mount Royal lookoff

Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year "C") August 22, 2010 "LORD, WILL ONLY A FEW BE SAVED?" [Texts: Isaiah 66:18-21; [Psalm 117]; Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13; Luke 13:22-30]

Some years ago, while crossing the university campus where I worked, I was approached by a young person who asked whether I had been saved? "Yes, I believe I have..." I replied, then hurried on. As I walked away, I thought of the many nuances I would need to add to explain what was involved in saying "yes".

Many have had the same issue put to them at their doorstep or at the mall by evangelists who ask such questions as, "have you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour?" And the coming of the year 2012--with the Mayan prophecy of the end of the world that year--will surface concerns among many about who or how many will be saved.

In other words, things have not changed much since the time of Jesus. When people had been suggesting that perhaps nothing much would become of His movement of renewal in Israel, Jesus told two parables of God's Kingdom (Luke 13:18-22).

Though a mustard seed is the smallest it soon becomes a tree in which birds may nest. Once a tiny bit of leaven is mixed in with three measures of flour it soon leavens the whole batter. Discerning His message, someone asked Jesus, "Lord will only a few be saved?"

Typically, Jesus' answer was parabolic. The door is narrow. The owner of the house will refuse entry to many who presumed they had been invited. Still others from a long way off, however, will gain admission.

Faced with these facts, what is a disciple of Jesus to do? "Strive to enter through the narrow door". Jesus invited His hearers to "strive", a word used of athletes as they discipline themselves to win a competition. Though the Kingdom is God's gift, people must vigorously engage themselves in the process of their own salvation.

Paul summarized the paradoxical nature of salvation when he urged the Philippians to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (2:12-13).

Jesus engages His hearers by inviting them to imagine themselves outside a shut door. "You begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying 'Lord, open to us'". All of a sudden, the disguise is dropped and Jesus is revealed as the householder. He will say to the Galileans and Judeans of the first century, "I do not know where you come from; go away from Me all you evildoers".

Then, people will claim association with Jesus, "We ate and drank with You, and You taught in our streets". True companionship with Jesus, however, involves living by faith in God. So Jesus asked people to imagine themselves cast out where "there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" that they might have a change of heart, accept His message, and enter the end-time Kingdom.

When the Kingdom comes fully, many in Israel or the Church, who presumed themselves included, will be surprised to find themselves outside. By contrast, gentiles, the poor and outcast--whom others might have thought excluded--"will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the Kingdom of God".

In reply to the question, "Lord, will only a few be saved?" Jesus effectively answered "no". But His reply challenges each person with a counter-question, "will the saved include you?"

God's saving design for the whole world, proclaimed by Jesus, was beautifully foretold in the closing words of the Book of Isaiah. God's purpose is to take people from every nation, commissioning them for priestly service to the divine praise and glory.

The challenge in following Jesus was combined with a message of encouragement in the Epistle to the Hebrews. The author argued that God's discipline which comes upon Christians as they follow Jesus' way may seem painful at times. But each should realize that such trials are like the discipline which a parent gives a child and are signs of love and acceptance.

Finally, divine discipline yields an abundant harvest of righteousness. Therefore, Christians are exhorted to lift up their drooping hands and strengthen their weak knees "so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed".

* * * * * *

THE QUEENSHIP OF MARY

Though not observed liturgically this year, today is the octave (eighth day following) of the Assumption of Mary and known as the day on which Mary is honoured as Queen of Heaven, Queen of the Angels and the Saints.



O God, you have given us the mother of your Son to be our queen and mother.
With the support of her prayers, may we come to share the glory of your children in the kingdom of heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.

O God, who to safeguard the Catholic faith and to restore all things in Christ, filled Pope Saint Pius the Tenth with heavenly wisdom and apostolic fortitude, graciously grant that, following his teaching and example, we may gain an eternal prize. Through our Lord.



One hundred years ago this month on August 8, 1910, the Church began to encourage early (around age 7) admission of children to Confession and Holy Communion, recommending frequent, even daily reception of the Eucharist.

This centennial anniversary, on August 8, led the Prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Canizares to suggest that children could and perhaps should be encouraged to be admitted to the reception of Holy Communion even earlier. Parents, pastors, teachers and catechists will have thoughts on the desirability and practicability of this proposal.

Here are excerpts from the text of the decree approved by Pope St. Pius X, whose feast is celebrated today:

QUAM SINGULARI Decree on First Communion from the Sacred Congregation of the Discipline of the Sacraments

The pages of the Gospel show clearly how special was that love for children which Christ showed while He was on earth. It was His delight to be in their midst; He was wont to lay His hands on them; He embraced them; and He blessed them. At the same time He was not pleased when they would be driven away by the disciples, whom He rebuked gravely with these words: "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for of such is the kingdom of God." It is clearly seen how highly He held their innocence and the open simplicity of their souls on that occasion when He called a little child to Him and said to the disciples: "Again, I say to you, unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven....And whoever receives one such little child for my sake, receives me."

The Catholic Church, bearing this in mind, took care even from the beginning to bring the little ones to Christ through Eucharistic Communion, which was administered even to nursing infants. This, as was prescribed in almost all ancient Ritual books, was done at Baptism until the thirteenth century, and this custom prevailed in some places even later. It is still found in the Greek and Oriental Churches. But to remove the danger that infants might eject the Consecrated Host, the custom obtained from the beginning of administering the Eucharist to them under the species of wine only.

Infants, however, not only at the time of Baptism, but also frequently thereafter were admitted to the sacred repast. In some churches it was the custom to give the Eucharist to the children immediately after the clergy; in others, the small fragments which remained after the Communion of the adults were given to the children.

This practice later died out in the Latin Church, and children were not permitted to approach the Holy Table until they had come to the use of reason and had some knowledge of this august Sacrament. This new practice, already accepted by certain local councils, was solemnly confirmed by the Fourth Council of the Lateran, in 1215, which promulgated its celebrated Canon XXI, whereby sacramental Confession and Holy Communion were made obligatory on the faithful after they had attained the use of reason, in these words: "All the faithful of both sexes shall, after reaching the years of discretion, make private confession of all their sins to their own priest at least once a year, and shall, according to their capacity, perform the enjoined penance; they shall also devoutly receive the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist at least at Easter time unless on the advice of their own priest, for some reasonable cause, it be deemed well to abstain for a while."

The Council of Trent, in no way condemning the ancient practice of administering the Eucharist to children before they had attained the use of reason, confirmed the Decree of the Lateran Council and declared anathema those who held otherwise: "If anyone denies that each and all Christians of both sexes are bound, when they have attained the years of discretion, to receive Communion every year at least at Easter, in accordance with the precept of Holy Mother Church, let him be anathema."

In accord with this Decree of the Lateran Council, still in effect, the faithful are obliged, as soon as they arrive at the years of discretion, to receive the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist at least once a year.

However, in the precise determination of "the age of reason or discretion" not a few errors and deplorable abuses have crept in during the course of time. There were some who maintained that one age of discretion must be assigned to reception of the Sacrament of Penance and another to the Holy Eucharist. They held that for Confession the age of discretion is reached when one can distinguish right from wrong, hence can commit sin; for Holy Eucharist, however, a greater age is required in which a full knowledge of matters of faith and a better preparation of the soul can be had. As a consequence, owing to various local customs and opinions, the age determined for the reception of First Communion was placed at ten years or twelve, and in places fourteen years or even more were required; and until that age children and youth were prohibited from Eucharistic Communion.

This practice of preventing the faithful from receiving on the plea of safeguarding the august Sacrament has been the cause of many evils. It happened that children in their innocence were forced away from the embrace of Christ and deprived of the food of their interior life; and from this it also happened that in their youth, destitute of this strong help, surrounded by so many temptations, they lost their innocence and fell into vicious habits even before tasting of the Sacred Mysteries. And even if a thorough instruction and a careful Sacramental Confession should precede Holy Communion, which does not everywhere occur, still the loss of first innocence is always to be deplored and might have been avoided by reception of the Eucharist in more tender years.

No less worthy of condemnation is that practice which prevails in many places prohibiting from Sacramental Confession children who have not yet made their First Holy Communion, or of not giving them absolution. Thus it happens that they, perhaps having fallen into serious sin, remain in that very dangerous state for a long time.

But worse still is the practice in certain places which prohibits children who have not yet made their First Communion from being fortified by the Holy Viaticum, even when they are in imminent danger of death; and thus, when they die they are buried with the rites due to infants and are deprived of the prayers of the Church.

Such is the injury caused by those who insist on extraordinary preparations for First Communion, beyond what is reasonable; and they doubtless do not realize that such precautions proceed from the errors of the Jansenists who contended that the Most Holy Eucharist is a reward rather than a remedy for human frailty. The Council of Trent, indeed, teaches otherwise when it calls the Eucharist, "An antidote whereby we may be freed from daily faults and be preserved from mortal sins." This doctrine was not long ago strongly emphasized by a Decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council given on December 20, 1905. It declared that daily approach to Communion is open to all, old and young, and two conditions only are required: the state of grace and a right intention....

The Roman Catechism adds this: "At what age children are to receive the Holy Mysteries no one can better judge than their father and the priest who is their confessor. For it is their duty to ascertain by questioning the children whether they have any understanding of this admirable Sacrament and if they have any desire for it."


After careful deliberation on all these points, this Sacred Congregation of the Discipline of the Sacraments, in a general meeting held on July 15, 1910, in order to remove the above-mentioned abuses and to bring about that children even from their tender years may be united to Jesus Christ, may live His life, and obtain protection from all danger of corruption, has deemed it needful to prescribe the following rules which are to be observed everywhere for the First Communion of children....

1. The age of discretion, both for Confession and for Holy Communion, is the time when a child begins to reason, that is about the seventh year, more or less. From that time on begins the obligation of fulfilling the precept of both Confession and Communion.

2. A full and perfect knowledge of Christian doctrine is not necessary either for First Confession or for First Communion. Afterwards, however, the child will be obliged to learn gradually the entire Catechism according to his ability.

3. The knowledge of religion which is required in a child in order to be properly prepared to receive First Communion is such that he will understand according to his capacity those Mysteries of faith which are necessary as a means of salvation () and that he can distinguish between the Bread of the Eucharist and ordinary, material bread, and thus he may receive Holy Communion with a devotion becoming his years.

4. The obligation of the precept of Confession and Communion which binds the child particularly affects those who have him in charge, namely, parents, confessor, teachers and the pastor. It belongs to the father, or the person taking his place, and to the confessor, according to the Roman Catechism, to admit a child to his First Communion.

5. The pastor should announce and hold a General Communion of the children once a year or more often, and he should on these occasions admit not only the First Communicants but also others who have already approached the Holy Table with the above-mentioned consent of their parents or confessor. Some days of instruction and preparation should be previously given to both classes of children.

6. Those who have charge of the children should zealously see to it that after their First Communion these children frequently approach the Holy Table, even daily if possible, as Jesus Christ and Mother Church desire, and let this be done with a devotion becoming their age. They must also bear in mind that very grave duty which obliged them to have the children attend the public Catechism classes; if this is not done, then they must supply religious instruction in some other way.

7. The custom of not admitting children to Confession or of not giving them absolution when they have already attained the use of reason must be entirely abandoned. The Ordinary shall see to it that this condition ceases absolutely, and he may, if necessary, use legal measures accordingly.

8. The practice of not administering the Viaticum and Extreme Unction to children who have attained the use of reason, and of burying them with the rite used for infants is a most intolerable abuse. The Ordinary should take very severe measures against those who do not give up the practice.

His Holiness, Pope Pius X, in an audience granted on the seventh day of this month, approved all the above decisions of this Sacred Congregation, and ordered this Decree to be published and promulgated....

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In Hope of the Resurrection…

Two of my Jesuit confreres passed away in the last two weeks. Each had experienced a complex journey in becoming a priest and living out their ministry.

I only met Fr. Dick Macdonald on a few occasions but always found him most encouraging and supportive; he had served in Ethiopia, India, among Canada's Native Peoples and, in the last dozen years as a chaplain to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto.

Though he was older than me by a dozen years, I was Fr. Joe Fülöp rector during his seminary formation. His long road to the priesthood is heroic, as was the way he lived it out in illness and suffering.

Please keep these two ministers of the gospel, Christ's priests, in your thoughts and prayers.

Father Richard Macdonald died peacefully on August 6th, 2010 at Scarborough Centenary Hospital, Scarborough, Ontario. He was in the 83rd year of his life and 63rd year of religious life.

Richard "Dick" Macdonald was born in Westmount, Quebec, son of Alain Macdonald and Frances Minton. He studied at both St. Leo’s and then Loyola High School and entered the Society on September 13, 1947 at Guelph, Ontario. He returned to Montreal to study Philosophy at the Collège de l'Immaculée-Conception.

In 1954, he moved to Ethiopia in East Africa to teach English as a regency placement. From there he went to St Mary’s College, Kurseong in the Darjeeling district of North Eastern India where he studied Nepali for a year and then commenced his Theology studies.

After ordination in 1961 in India, he served as an assistant pastor at Our Lady of the Snows Parish, North Point, Darjeeling for a year and then to St. Joseph’s College, also in North Point, where he was professor of English and Moral Science. He served in different ministries in the Darjeeling district, St. John’s Church and Hayden Hall.

In 1979, he returned to Canada and worked at first in Toronto and Pickering. In 1981 he began his ministry with the Native People, first from Martyrs Shrine in Midland and then in 1984 moving to the Manitoulin District. He helped build the church in Little Current, Ontario. He lived and worked in native and non-native parishes, until 1997. At that time he became Chaplain at St. Joseph’s Motherhouse, Bayview Avenue, Willowdale, ON, until 2010. Throughout his life he was recognized as a compassionate pastor and a fine homilist.

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Father Joseph Fülöp was born in Szombathely, Hungary, on June 23rd, 1932. His elementary and high school studies were finished in his home town but, thinking already of priestly vocation, he enrolled in the Norbertine High School of St. Norbert. In 1948, the school was taken over by the State and it was renamed, so Joe graduated in the High School of Nagy Lajos, in 1950. After his graduation he began studies at the Sopron University in 1951, where he earned his geophysical engineering diploma in 1956.

In December of 1956, after the revolution, he left the country and with a branch of the University of Sopron arrived in Toronto. The Sopron Branch, with the help of the Canadian Mining Association and the University of Toronto, completed an English language course and he returned to school. In 1964, he was awarded the B.A.Sc. degree in geological engineering by the Faculty of Mining Engineering, University of Toronto. During the following year he was employed by the Gulf Oil Company in Calgary. In 1965-1967, he obtained a M.A.Sc degree (Soil Mechanics Option) at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Waterloo. Between 1967 and 1971 he worked as a project geophysicist for Huntec Limited and Kenting Limited. From 1971 to 1979 he was an independent geophysical consultant conducting surveys in Canada and overseas.

On January 25th, 1979 he entered the Hungarian Jesuit novitiate in Toronto, and after two years he made his first religious vows. He completed the necessary philosophical studies at the Fordham University, New York; (then) his theological studies took place in Regis College, Toronto, being completed in 1983 with an M.Div. degree. He was ordained priest at St.Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Toronto on November 19th, 1983 by Bishop Aloysius Ambrozic, auxiliary of Toronto. In 1984 he obtained a further theological degree, the M.Th.

In 1984-85, he spent a year of pastoral work in Montreal, at the Hungarian Church of Our Lady of Hungary. In 1985 he was appointed Pastor of St.Stephen of Hungary Church in Hamilton, where he spent 15 years taking care of the Hungarian congregation. On November 21st, 2000 he suddenly was stuck with inflammation of the brain-cortex through viruses, as well as a perforated stomach-ulcer and embolism. After three months of intensive hospital treatment he gradually got better, and moved to the Hungarian parish in Toronto, where unfortunately he was not able to do much pastoral work because of his limited speech. When his illness became more serious, he moved to St.Elizabeth Home in Hamilton, but had to be hospitalized occasionally. Finally, he died in the Home on August 15, 2010, in his 78th year of his life, 31st as a Jesuit, and 27th year as priest.

Visitation will be held at St. Stephen of Hungary Roman Catholic Church (130 Barton St E at Mary, Hamilton) on Tuesday August 24, 2010 from 7-9 p.m., with the Rosary at 7:30 p.m. There, the Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday August 25, 2010 at 11 a.m. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated in Toronto at St. Elizabeth of Hungary (432 Sheppard Ave. E.) on Friday, August 27 at 7 p.m., and another Mass will be offered at 11 a.m. on Sept. 3, 2010 in the chapel of St. Elizabeth Villa, 393 Rymal Rd. W., with interment following at 3:00 p.m. in the cemetery of St. Ladislaus Church in Courtland, ON.

R.I.P.