San Lorenzo in Piscibus

Benedict XVI celebrating Mass at San Lorenzo in Piscibus, does the guy on the far right look familar?

This is our second visit on this blog to the little church of San Lorenzo in Piscibus (literally, Saint Lawerance in the Fishmarket) near Saint Peter's. It is the tiny old brick church almost completely surronded by the building containing Ancora bookshop and a half-dozen Cardinals' apartments.

There is nothing that outwardly would impress a passing observer. In fact Pius XII wanted to have it torn down during the contruction of Via della Conciliazione. The Christian historian would note it is one of the oldest churches in Rome, serving as the fish market chapel for a number of centuries. Eventually the fish market left the neighborhood, and this little church became obsolete in the city filled with churches.

Benedict XVI leaving the International Youth Center at San Lorenzo in Piscibus, he looks revived doesn't he?

John Paul II established the Vatican's International Youth Center here over twenty-five years ago. And the youth come to gather there everyday. It is their own place in Rome to pray, to be free to pray. At first it seems odd that it is hidden away, but it is exactly this that makes it what it is. Here young people can pray and be nourished, hidden like an arrow in a quiver (see Isaiah, chapter 54 I think, but don't quote me). They come to be nourished by the water that wells up from within quenching all thirst, for the bread given by Moses in a forgotten time, but given in this moment by our Father in heaven. Strengthen they can face the battles they face as soliders of the "culture of life."

The Cross of San Damiano. It is through this cross that Christ spoke to Saint Francis, which started his Christ-centered revival of the Church.

Is this the renewal the Church needs? It is part of it. What makes this retreat so succesful is that in the center it there is Christ. The tabernacle and the giant Francisican crucifix that hangs above it form the visual axis of the church, letting all know that Christ is the center here in this place. This is the secret of every renewal movement that the Church experienced, it was Christo-centric. There was no agenda placed in the center -- be it women's ordination, married clergy, or lobbies for loosing Church roles about all sorts of things from inter-communion, to sexual morality, to abortion. Just the same there was no agenda about restoring a replacing the liturgy with the "mass of the ages," are returning the Church to a bygone golden age (that very well may only exist in the imagination). No -- all this is set aside -- Christ is put in the center -- and He is the center of all renewal and revival.

This was true of the great Apostle we celebrate this year – Saint Paul, who always preached Christ, and Christ crucified. This was true of Saint Francis, who was so Christo-centric he shared the very same wounds as Christ. And this was also true of John Paul II, who in his final days pointed to the crucified Christ instead of himself. And so it is true of us.

So let us for a moment of prayer put aside our agendas, what ever they happen to be. Let Christ stand central in that moment. Let him quench your thirst for goodness, let him satisfy the hunger for holiness. This is what will renew and revive our hope, our love for one another, and our faith in him, who only wishes to bless us.

A good ole Wisconsin boy speaks up...

H.E. Frank J. Dewane

2nd bishop of Venice in Florida

A photocopy of the letter, for your own prooftexting.

transcription:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As you are all aware next week our country will conduct its political elections in so doing, choose its public officials. Many of you have spoke and written to me on this matter sometimes requestion that I endorse a political party or candidate: that is something I cannot do.

However, as Bishop, it is my responsibility to instruct the faithful regarding the Church's teaching on moral issues, the most important being the right to life and dignity of every person, from conception till natural death. There issues are fundamental to the healthy of any society and should therefore, be carefully considered when voting for a particular candidate. After all, in voting we are making moral choices [my emphasis].

The Second Vatican Council has taught that the laity are not to reliquish their participation in 'public life,' but instead fulfill their proper task of infusing the temporal order with Christian values. This teaching would apply for instance, to the act of voting for a political candidate or public official [my emphasis], which I encourage you to do.

In assisting you in properly forming your conscience before voting, I would recomment that you consult the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Compendium fo the Social Doctrine of the Church. There two works highlight the Church's teaching on our moral responsibility to promote the common good [my emphasis, see note 1].

As Catholics, we are called upon to respect and protect the rights of all, especially, the unborn child [his emphasis], the weakest and most vulnerable among us. At the same time the family [his emphasis], the basic unit of society [my emphasis], must be safeguarded, promoted, and protected based on monogamous marriage between a man and a woman [my emphasis].

In affirming these right of natural law [my emphasis, see note 2], it is often argued that Catholics are promoting their own "personal values" which do not apply to other citizens. This accuation is false inasmuch as rights, such as the right to life and dignity of ever person are common to all people [my emphais - common to all people, not just Catholics, and Catholic is always pro-life for all], regardless of their personal belief. These fundamental rights cannot be denied by any individual or group as they are intrinsic God-given rights which we must affirm [my emphasis, see note 3], and above all protect.

As you discern your choices of public official, be assured of my prayers for you and your families.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

+Frank J. Dewane

Bishop of Venice in Florida

Notes:

(1): This term, common good, is very much misunderstood. Often people think of what society, most specifically government can provide for them in a material and fiscal sense. This is not the common good, but rather an exercise in distrubative justice. The common good actual is not material, it is the benefit that a person receives from being a member of that society in and of itself. This is seen by looking at a marriage: When a man and woman marry, we say that they enter into a marriage. If unfortunetly they divorce, as they stand before the family court judge they cannot ask for "half-the-marriage" in the final settlement. Each of them benefited from being part of this marriage, but neither of them would be able to point out what this benefit was materially. So the interest of the common good actually means to promote what makes the nation better.

(2): Natural law are the moral norms that any healthy and sound person (and many unhealthy and unsound people for that matter) can arrive at through the exercise of reason. It is objective true for all, since human nature is the same for all. While often used in various systems of ethics developed by various religious systems, natural law is not dependent on any religious doctrine. It can be used just as easily in the secular sphere, as in the religious sphere.

(3): From the Declaration of Independance: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men" (paragraph 2). In its founding documents the state, and in Her teachings the Church, agree that human rights are not created by man, but for man, and are given to him by God. As such it is also a common teaching of both state and Church, that the state cannot create new rights. Any attempt to do so is a violation of the concept of rights in general. These "new rights" are necessarily "false rights," and hence will ultimately conflict with each and every genuine right.

I mean this last sentence as a prophetic utterance, unless false rights, such as the "right for two men or two women to marry each other," the "right to abortion," the "right to redistribution of property," etc. are not absolutely opposed, all other rights will in practice be eroded. There will be limits on freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of the free exercise of religion (this is not just the running of parishes, congregations, and dioceses, but also the running of schools, hospitals, and other social outreaches, which are intrinsic to the mission and character of the Christian religion), the freedom of parents to educate their own children as they see fit, etc. will be severly limited.

A short treatise on Sarah Palin's ability to swim.

Benedict XVI, noticably very happy to have his hat returned to him.

Sarah Palin was invited to meet with the Pope while both were vacationing in Venice. The liberal press reluctantly watched the semi-private audience, hoping they will be able to allot minimal coverage, if any. The Pope asks Governor Palin to join him on a Gondola ride through the canals of Venice. They're admiring the sights and agreeing on moral issues when, all of a sudden, the Pope's hat blows off his head and out into the water. The gondolier starts to reach for the Pontiff's hat with his pole, but this move threatens to overturn the floating craft. Sarah waves the tour guide off, saying, 'Wait, wait. I'll take care of this. Don't worry.' She steps off the gondola onto the surface of the water and walks out to the Pope's hat, bends over and picks it up. She walks back across the water to the gondola and steps aboard. She hands the hat to the Pope amid stunned silence. The next morning the topic of conversation among Democrats in Congress, CBS News, NBC News, ABC News, PBS, CNN, the New York Times, MSNBC, Hollywood celebrities, and most of the people in France and Germany is:

'Palin Can't Swim.'

With special credit to Some Have Hats

REVIEW: Seminarian Summer Update

Market Square in Krakow, picture courtsey of Michael Nowak.

Peace and blessings to all of you. I hope that the summer season has found each of you as well as it has found me. My summer was divided between three main activities: Tertio Millennio Seminar on the Free Society at Krakow in Poland, parish internship at Lancaster in England, and an orientation team member back at Rome for the men just starting out at the North American College. Each offered its own rewards and challenges, but God graces worked through it all.

At the Tertio Millennio Seminar I learned about Catholic Social Teaching, especially as envisioned by Pope John Paul II. This area of Catholic teaching is very dynamic at this time. It offers a truly Gospel challenge to a world that seems to turn away from the Gospel more and more each day. It explores the place and voice of the Church in the world and in politics. It looks at the Churches role in addressing poverty and other injustices. It included the study of the “just war theory,” also is the place of public moral reasoning – so it looks at issues like the “culture of life” vs. the “culture of death,” the death penalty, and other current issues like embryonic stem cell research. It as the question: What should the response of the Church be to each of these issues? How does the Church bring about a more just society?

It was particularly interesting studying it in Poland, since it was the principles of the Church’s social doctrine that inspired the revolution of 1989, which overthrew communism in Poland and the rest of Easter Europe. This was dramatic and a significant victory for the Gospel – but it is not an event that can remain in the past. The mission to justice and charity lays always before us, it needs to be constantly maintained, and constantly informed by the Gospel. Since the Gospel ultimately stands for justice, truth (which is true for all people), and above all Love, having the Gospel inform decisions such as voting and public policy is never an injustice and never a violation of religious freedom.

View of Lancaster from Saint Mary's Priory (unfortunately a Church property stolen by the Anglicans, but never returned and Castle Hill overlooking the town of Lancaster. The steeple is of the Cathedral where I did my apostlate, and the bell tower is the town hall, paid for by a Catholic family which remained faithful to Mother Church during the "penal days" when Catholicism was illegal in England.

Peace and blessings to all of you. I hope that the summer season has found each of you as well as it has found me. My summer was divided between three main activities: Tertio Millennio Seminar on the Free Society at Krakow in Poland, parish internship at Lancaster in England, and an orientation team member back at Rome for the men just starting out at the North American College. Each offered its own rewards and challenges, but God graces worked through it all.

At the Tertio Millennio Seminar I learned about Catholic Social Teaching, especially as envisioned by Pope John Paul II. This area of Catholic teaching is very dynamic at this time. It offers a truly Gospel challenge to a world that seems to turn away from the Gospel more and more each day. It explores the place and voice of the Church in the world and in politics. It looks at the Churches role in addressing poverty and other injustices. It included the study of the “just war theory,” also is the place of public moral reasoning – so it looks at issues like the “culture of life” vs. the “culture of death,” the death penalty, and other current issues like embryonic stem cell research. It as the question: What should the response of the Church be to each of these issues? How does the Church bring about a more just society?

It was particularly interesting studying it in Poland, since it was the principles of the Church’s social doctrine that inspired the revolution of 1989, which overthrew communism in Poland and the rest of Easter Europe. This was dramatic and a significant victory for the Gospel – but it is not an event that can remain in the past. The mission to justice and charity lays always before us, it needs to be constantly maintained, and constantly informed by the Gospel. Since the Gospel ultimately stands for justice, truth (which is true for all people), and above all Love, having the Gospel inform decisions such as voting and public policy is never an injustice and never a violation of religious freedom.

The parish experience, along with the silent retreat at the end of the summer, served as a great stimulus to my vocation. Just as Jesus instructed the woman at the well to draw deeply of the waters of eternal life, he instructed me to do the same. As I was feed by the daily experiences of serving at Mass and visiting the homebound, by desire to be a priest – one who lays down his life in sacrifice for others -- has grown. I know though that I cannot be a good pastor without drinking of these waters, and a vital reconnection was made between the Lord and myself during the retreat. Perhaps the married couples reading this update can relate to this experience. Ever get so busy in your married life and family life, that you forget to spend time with your spouse and your family? Well it can happen to a seminarian and to a priest too! So this retreat was greatly appreciated – and I hope to spend more time with the Lord this summer.

Finally some really great news – the Pontifical North American College has welcomed sixty-one “new men” this year. These are over sixty men who in four years will be raised to the order of priesthood in four years to lay down their lives for you as your pastors and teachers. This is part of a greater trend throughout the United States of more and more men saying “yes” to the Lord and the awesome call to be a priest. As many parish communities in our diocese continue to face the difficulties of not having a pastor to be with us, we must listen to the Lord when he say, “pray to the Father, that he may send harvesters…” Please pray for more men to answer the call. Encourage your sons, nephews, brothers, cousins, and friends – if they have a call to priesthood, God will provide all that they need to be happy, healthy and holy.

Lastly pray for me that I may be a happy, healthy, and holy priest.