We do indeed need to show joy as Catholics. My motto — “Be happily and uncomplicatedly Catholic.”

Michael J. SheehanArchbishop of Santa Fe

My favorite priest, layperson, breathing saint or organization

As the Executive Director of the Religious Formation Conference, Sister Violet Grennan of the Missionary Franciscan Sisters is a dynamo of energy and enthusiasm.  The purpose of the Conference is to enrich Catholic religious women and men by helping them to gain new knowledge and skills in their pastoral ministries. She is benefiting us Joyful Catholic by endowing our spiritual guides with fresh and effective tools. Sister Violet, we love you!  

Now, tell me about your favorite Catholic priest, layperson or organization that is making a difference.

joyfulcatholic@comcast.net 

Quiz

Last week, the winner of the autographed copy of Light Reading for Good and Wayward Catholic is Susan Fox in New Orleans. Here are the answers:

1. The sons of Jebedee whom Jesus nicknamed “Sons of Thunder” were James and John.
2. 130 is the maximum number of Cardinals permitted to elect a

(Comment, I wish the maximum age were 50.)

1. The patron saints of farmers is Isidore. 

News flashes

-         Bishop Felipe Arizmendi in Mexico lit a blaze when he blamed child abuse by priests on eroticism on television.

-         Commenting on the U.S, Conference of Catholic Bishops publication of “Setting the Record Straight,” Commonweal magazine said, “If the authors of this publication wish to seize a ‘new opportunity for the Catholic community to come together in defense of human life,’ they can start by not questioning the motives of those Catholics who disagree with them about how best to interpret the provisions of the new health-insurance law.  On questions such as this, disagreement should not be understood as a threat to unity, but as a sign of the church’s intellectual vitality.

       “American bishops too often seem to fear that any acknowledgement of the complexity of the issue of the church’s teaching on abortion would weaken their own position.”

(Comment – AMEN!)

-         Even though half of Catholic schools have closed since 1965, with a 20% drop in enrollment in the past ten years, Timothy Dolan, New York’s archbishop is working on a strategic initiative to save the Catholic schools in his archdiocese by co-operating closely with Catholic universities. This is in opposition to converting the schools into charter status (as in Washington, DC) and they no longer operate as religious establishments.

(Comment – Congratulations, Bishop Dolan, may other Catholic educators follow your lead.)

 

-   A sign outside the Church of God in Phoenix: HONK IF YOU LOVE  JESUS; TEXT WHILE DRIVING IF YOU WANT TO MEET HIM.

 Interesting sayings

Once I was at vespers and was gazing at the cross. And while I was thus gazing at the cross with the eyes of the body, suddenly my soul was set ablaze with love; and every member of my body felt it with the greatest joy. The joy which seized my soul in this moment can in no way be spoken of. And in no way whatever can I be sad concerning the passion; on the contrary, my joy is in seeing this man, and to come to him. All my joy now is in this suffering God-man.

Blessed Angela of Foligno, who died in 1309, was a wife and mother, and later a Franciscan tertiary and mystical writer.

 When you are going through hell, keep going.

   A waitress in Atlantis, FL

It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.

James Thurber 

Communiqués

The avalanche of messages from “The Pope is Pregnant” blog deserves a whole blog of its own.  They were both favorable and unfavorable, including a few threats.  So, be patient until I put it together.

 Chuckle time

In the book. How to Become a Bishop Without Being Religious, the author said there were two major requirements to be a bishop:

(a)  grey hair

(b)  hemorrhoids to give you a sorrowful look.

 

Special Intentions List

  As you pray with a broad brush, please include these loved ones, who have been submitted by our readers. You, too, are invited to send me names of your special persons who are in need of prayer.  My address is joyfulcatholic@comcast.net. They will be on the list for 60 days. At the end of that time, if prayers are still needed, you merely have to renew the name.

Juanita Caldwell, Isola Todd, David Abbey, Amie Ellis,

Linwood “Skip” Williams, Gerry Paradiso, Tom Medved, Eileen Grotsky, Roseanne Somlock, Nicholas Gallagher, Tom Lewis, Donald Whitcomb, Violeta Zepeda, John Aylor, Rev. Joseph Marini, Enrique Portillo,

 Sharon McPike, Tom Ryan, Joseph Normile, Jim Quimby, Russell Edwards,

Gertrude Goldstein, Rev. Stephen Huffstetter, Hugh Cannon, Eric Moore, Joan Barrett, 8-year-old Michael Fotta and his parents, Lolita Alvarez, Camilus Musselman, Jack Conner, Ed Block, Isobel Milligan,

Peter Bartkiewiez and his family, Joe Toles, Grace Toomey,

Camilus Musselman, Bob Kehlhofer, Ed Cole,Bishop Thomas Olmsted,

Rev. David Granfield, Mort Barron, Jay Parker

As you note, because of miraculous healings, several names have been deleted and added to our Deo Gratias list.

I Could Have Baby-Sat the Pope

Being converted is simply meeting yourself for the purpose of going to the very end of your being. Conversion means a willingness to see the truth of things and conform one’s conduct to it.

                   Antonin Sertillanges

                   French spiritual writer 1863-1926

 

I Could Have Baby-Sat the Pope

          But Benedict XVI has been in the Church longer than I have because he is a born-Catholic and I didn’t convert until I was in my late twenties. 

As Archie Bunker said, “Ah, those were the days!” On the second Sundays of each month, over forty of us men in the Holy Name Society would gather for a rollicking breakfast in the basement of the church. Our occupations varied between a cab driver and construction worker to a federal judge and two doctors.  The many no-nonsense women in the Sodality made their presence known. And every Saturday there were lines outside the confessionals.  

          On each First Friday we had Nocturnal Adoration with good participation. I remember that the desk clerk in my apartment building was always puzzled when he would see me leave at 1:30 AM and return in good spirits two hours later.

          Back then, the Sacrament of the Eucharist was treated as the Holiest of the Holy. We would not receive Communion unless we had recently been to Confession and fasted since midnight. This time during the Mass was treated with quiet awareness and awe for one of the greatest Mysteries of our Faith.  In recognition of what was taking place there was respectful silence. Following the distribution of the Host, we had continued quiet time for thoughtful meditation.

          Today, the Church authorities have done an admirable job of watering down the importance of the Eucharist. They have achieved this by eliminating silence for depth of thought and by adding distractions to prevent more than two noiseless seconds.  The effective disconcerting things to keep the parishioner from being aware of the spiritual majesty of the Eucharistic include singing, announcements and the frequent second collection.

          Now, at Communion time, every Tom, Dick and Harriet line up like school children getting ready for recess and proceed to the front of the church.  As one parishioner told me, “Why not take Communion? It’s like a spiritual vitamin pill.  It can’t hurt and, besides, it’s free and part of the service.”

          I understand that if the present distractions had not succeeded in weakening the importance of the Eucharist, the bishops had planned to have ushers tap dance in the aisles with castanets. So be it.

          Back to Pope Benedict XVI, baby-sitting for him would have been a treat. I would have like him because I bet he was a bright and joyful kid who didn’t kick the dog.

          I do today.

(And you, who also are of vintage age, let me know your thoughts.)

joyfulcatholic@comcast.net

Interesting sayings

 Making your unknown known is the important thing—and keeping the unknown always beyond you — catching crystallizing your simpler clearer vision of life. The form must take care of it self if you can keep your vision clear. I some way feel that everyone is born with it clear but that with most of humanity it becomes blasted — one way or another.  

                                                Georgia O’Keefe 1926

 

 

Faith is not the refuge of the weak-minded but the domain of the brave.

                                                Psalm 116 (12) 

Do not be deterred from taking part in Sunday Mass, and help others discover it, too. This is because the Eucharist releases the joy that we need so much, and we must learn to grasp it ever more deeply, we must learn to love it.

                                                Pope Benedict XVI

 

 

(And what are a few of your favorite sayings?)

joyfulcatholic@comcast.net

Fancy words

(this one is good for us Joyful Catholics)

          theosophy (def: being wise in the things of God)

(this is a no-no for us)

          solipsism (def: that self is the sole existence)

News flashes

After the worst snow storm in 100 years, the South End Baptist Church in Frederick, MD, posted this on their outdoor sign: “Whoever is praying for snow, please stop.”

In chapter “What can priest do to help themselves?” in Light Reading for Good and Wayward Catholics, I recommend that a priest go shopping once a week in a supermarket where he can see and be seen. I read this week that Rev. Anita Naves, pastor of Cathedral of Life with no church, goes to the Giant Supermarket in Prince George County, MD, and accompanied by a saxophonist she offers to bless and pray with each customer. She has become so popular that she now has a sizeable following and has been given a location for her church. (Hey, you Catholic priests, are you paying attention?)

As I noted in the last issue, with the NBC’s poll on the question of whether to keep “In God We Trust” on our currency, 86% voted “yes”. However, with sneaky bureaucracy-at-its-best, the newly released dollar coin no longer has this phrase. I have received many blogs, recommending that we believers refuse to accept the new dollar coin when offered at the bank.

Contributions

This week I sent donations to:

St. Joseph’s Indian School in South Dakota (desperately in need of funds to cover their winter heating bills.)

Roman Catholic Heroes (doing good TV work for us Joyful Catholic.)

 

Other recommended Catholic Blogs

        Creative Minority Report

        Onward and Upward

        Roman Catholic Heroes

 Communiqués received

In regard to “Blessed are the poor” Beatitude, note that the Ten Commandments are negative and the Beatitudes are positive. 

           Charley Myers, Atlanta, GA 

Ain’t it a shame we can’t keep the spirit of Lent going throughout the year!

                                      Elmer Ruffson, Buffalo, NY 

I enjoy your blog which I share with friends. It is refreshing and oh so American.

                                      Alice Appleton, London, UK 

Yes, so long as people do not understand Scripture and Tradition regarding women deacons, there will be division and conflict. Hope you and all interested will use this as an opportunity to recover the historical diaconate for women in Christianity.

                                      Phyllis Zagano, Ph.D.

                                      Visiting Professor of Theology and Religion

                                       Saint Leo University, FL

My favorite religious priest, layperson or organization

This week I want to recognize Bill Clinton.  In serving as the U.N. representative in Haiti, he didn’t go there as do many celebrities who rush to a place of emergency to be photographed and quoted. Instead, he rolled up his sleeves, pitching in to help with his administrative skill and international influence.   President Bill, with your tireless effort, you set an example for all of us!

(Now, tell me about your favorite Catholic priest, layperson or organization that is making a difference

joyfulcatholic@comcast.net)

Quiz

The first to send the right answers to joyfulcatholic@comcast.net will receive a gift copy of Light Reading for Good and Wayward Catholics.

 1. In what year did Martin Luther tack his 95 theses on the church door in   Wittenberg?    

2.  Which of the disciples had been a follower of John the Baptist? 

3.  Who was the first America to participate in a papal election?

Chuckle time

(From our friend, Father Van Windsor, Episcopal Priest in Little Rock, AR.)

 One Sunday morning, Father Van noticed a six-year-old boy staring at the large plaque in the back of the church with American flags mounted at the top. When the youngster asked what it was, he explained it was a memorial to the young people who had died in the service.

          Then the kid asked, “Which service, the 8:30 or the 10:45?

Special Intentions List

As you pray with a broad brush, please include these loved ones, who have been submitted by our readers. You, too, are invited to send me names of your special persons who are in need of prayer. My address is joyfulcatholic@comcast.net. They will be on the list for 60 days. At the end of that time, if prayers are still needed, you merely have to renew the name.

Juanita Caldwell, Isola Todd, David Abbey, Amie Ellis, Linwood “Skip” Williams, Gerry Paradiso, Nick DeCarlo, Tom Medved, Eileen Grotsky, Roseanne Somlock, Nicholas Gallagher, Tom Lewis, Donald Whitcomb, Violeta Zepeda, Rev. Joseph Healy, John Aylor, Rev. Joseph Marini, Enrique Portillo, Sharon McPike, Tom Ryan, Joseph Normile, Jim Quimby, Russell Edwards, Msg. Louis Quinn, Rev. Lawrence Boedt, Gertrude Goldstein, Rev. Stephen Huffstetter, Hugh Cannon, Eric Moore

As you note, because of miraculous healings, several names have been deleted and added to our Deo Gratias list.

You, Me and Tiger Woods

A Favorite quote

The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.

                                                                                                Psalm 126

You, Me and Tiger Woods

 

The three of us have three things in common.

(1)   When you and I count our blessings, we also are billionaires.  Valuating your inventory can start with $.50 for each of the cells in your body, $1 for each of the million cones and rods in each eye, $5 for each muscle, $35 for each bone, $50,000 for each limb, etc., etc., etc.  And then you can start putting a price on each beloved family member and friend.

(2)   You, Tiger and I are unique. There is not another person on the planet that is exactly like each of us. And, of utmost important, we are considered equally very special by God.

(3)   As with Tiger, wherever we go, we are in the spotlight.  At all times, we are being observed.  By what we do and say, we are required to play well our roles as Joyful Catholics.  If we don’t, the reputation of the Church is in jeopardy. 

 

  And what are your thoughts?  www.joyfulcatholic@comcast.net

 

Admired saying 

My child, you must strive diligently to be inwardly free, to have mastery over yourselves everywhere, in every external act and occupation, that all things be subject to you and not you to them, that you be the master and director of your actions.

                                                Father Thomas A. Kempis, 1471

 

I like this, when I think of the Muslims in Switzerland — and elsewhere.- Political and religious figures must speak out forcefully against discrimination intolerance—which they do not often do enough. And this is a two-way street: leaders in the Muslim world must reach out to the West, just as much as they expect the West to understand Islam.

 

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, president of Indonesia

 

  

News flashes

(Church in crisis)

 

* The Wilmington diocese has become the seventh diocese to declare bankruptcy.

* A study shows that since 1960, the number of those in religious life has decreased 63%, and today 75% of these men and 90% of the women are over 60 years of age.

 

 Ah, those hard-nosed Catholics

The aged Massachusetts deacon, Jack Sullivan, who is enjoying notoriety for having received a healing after praying to Cardinal Newman, first said he and his wife were most impressed about their private meeting with Cherie Blair. Later, when he found she was not 100% pro-life, he changed his tune and denounced her.

 

He reminds me of the Hindu in Calcutta who for two years enjoyed French fries at the local McDonald’s food chain. Then when he learned they used a bit of cow lard in the cooking, he went home and puked up for three days.

 

Let me have your thoughts about Deacon Sullivan’s act. joyfulcatholic@comcast.net

  

Haiku time (Send me yours: joyfulcatholic@comcast.net)

Since no one has submitted one this week, try this ditty:

 

                   Woman looking for a Catholic Church

 

                   The bus driver, who was tied up in traffic congestion, 

  Answered her with this frank suggestion:

                   Lady, dear lady in pancake hat,

                   Who don’t know there the hell you’re at,

                   In your frank and confusing state of condurkle

                   You’d better get off at Dupont Circle.

 

 Recommended Reading

  

*       “Hidden Prayer in Yemen” by David Pinault in the December 7 issue of America. www.america@americamagazine.org  

-         “The 400^th Anniversary of a Spiritual Classic:

*

 St. Francis de Sales’s Introduction to the Devout Life” by Joseph F. Chorpenning. OFS in the winter 2009 issue of Spiritual Life.

www.spiritual-life.org

*      www.zenit.com (daily news from the Vatican)

 

         

Quiz

(The first to send the right answers to joyfulcatholic@comcast.net will receive a gift copy of Light Reading for Good and Wayward Catholics)

1.     Before Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, what was his name?

 

 

2.     Who was the only saint canonized by Christ?

 

3.     How old was Michelangelo when he carved La Pieta?  

24?

44?

64?

 

Communiqués received

*   I goofed when I quoted Jeff Ziegler from Ellenboro, NC, a writer with The Catholic World Report, with a saying actually made by Pope Benedict. To compensate, in a future blog I’ll credit the Pope with one of Jeff’s sayings.)

*       A note from Bishop Nickless in Sioux City, thanking me for my praise of his “Pastoral Letter on the Future of the Church.”

*         I was the quiz winner of a copy of your Light Reading for Good and Wayward Catholics.  I enjoyed it so much that I passed it on to my parish priest. Especially, I liked “Iggy’s Sure Thing.” That’s what I call folksy theology!

                                                          Luella Margaretta,

 *    You are right about Muskovy ducks being dangerous. I know because I used to raise them, and with their razor-sharp feet they can tear the hell out of a log.

          Elmer Kincaid, El Paso, TX

 Let me hear from you via joyfulcatholic@comcast.net)

 

 

Chuckle time

  In the Christmas story, if instead of three Wise Men, there had been three Jewish women:

1.     They would have arrived in time to help Mary deliver the baby, because they would have asked directions.

2.     They would have driven out the animals and cleaned up the stable.

3.     Instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh, they would have brought practical gifts of prepared food, blankets and diapers.

4.     Upon leaving, their conversation would have been:

“Did you notice that sandals Mary was wearing?”

“Their donkey has seen better days.”

“The baby doesn’t look like Joseph.”

 

 

My favorite priest

(Submit your favorite priest to joyfulcatholic@comcast.net)

As there is no current recommendation (shame on you!), I submit a very special layperson: George Thatcher in Gulfport, MS. With an impressive past career in banking and civic service, since 1997 George has confirmed his sense of awareness and awe by writing a daily newspaper column (3,744 in all) about his walks on the beach. Each article is a gem with the flavor of Henry Thoreau’s acknowledgment of the wonders of nature.  He serves as a wake-up call of all of us to appreciate the world around us.

As a prominent member of the Episcopal Church, George converted to Catholicism at age eighty and is a daily communicant. 

          Here is one of his writings:

          There are important lessons to be learned from the behavior of trees. Along the beach road most limbs are now leafless — leaves, nuts and flowers blown off by tempestuous winds.  Immediately after the hurricane the trees look as if it were mid-winter. Now green sprouts appear — a second springtime!  Think of the trees, too, during the hurricane — how they bend with each gust, complying mostly but not breaking.  Two lessons for us: Be resilient, bend with the wind, and then after the storm begin a new life.

 

Special Intentions List

As you pray with a broad brush, please include these loved ones, who have been submitted by our readers. You, too, are invited to send me names of your special persons who are in need of prayer. My address is joyfulcatholic@comcast.net. They will be on the list for 60 days. At the end of that time, if prayers are still needed, you merely have to renew the name.

Juanita Caldwell, David Abbey, Amie Ellis, Linwood “Skip” Williams, Gerry Paradiso, Nick DeCarlo, Tom Medved, Bob Haines, Eileen Grotsky,

Rebecca Matthews, Roseanne Somlock, Nicholas Gallagher, Tom Lewis,

Violeta Zepeda, Rev. Joseph Healy, John Aylor, Rev. Joseph Marini, Enrique Portillo, Sharon McPike, Joe Berger, Tom Ryan, Joseph Normile, Jim Quimby.