St. Josaphat

the incorrput body of St. Josaphat entombed in St. Peter's basilica,

the martyr of Christian Unity is buried in the basilica dedicated to the Apostle that Christ desired to unite Christians under,

"You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church."

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For the unity of Christians:

Let us pray:
for all our brothers and sisters
who share our faith in Jesus Christ,
that God may gather and keep together in one Church
all those who seek the truth with sincerity.

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Almighty and eternal God,

you keep together all those you have united.

Look kindly on all who follow Jesus you Son.

We are all consecrated to you by our common baptism.

Make us one in the fullness of faith,

and keep us one in the fellowship of love.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

R. Amen.

(from the solemn petitions of Good Friday)

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On the night before he died, Christ, himself, prayed, That they might all be one. In this prayer he desired to draw all men into one Church. Today's saint, Josaphat, responded to the Lord's desire for Christian unity. This angered those who prefer to go their own way, and Josaphat was killed by a mob.

Pray for the unity of all Christians.

St. Josaphat...

...Pray for us

St. Martin's Day

Today is a double holiday for American Catholics. It is both the feast of St. Martin of Tours and Veterans Day. These two holidays are connected by more than a date. St. Martin was a Roman soldier, who converted to Christ. At the time of his conversion he laid aside his sword. He knew that he was now a soldier of Christ in the "army of peace." So he became, and still remains, a powerful symbol of the peace that we await from Christ. Since he was a powerful symbol of peace, traditionally peace treaties were signed on his feast day. This custom was maintained even at the end of World War I, which is what Veterans Day commerates.

"Let us speak frankly of those who want to kill us."

I debated whether or not to re-post this editorial to my blog.

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The violence against Christians in Iraq continues though. Christian homes are being bombed. It is a religious determined genocide.

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After re-reading the editorial, I decided to re-post. The author refrains from stereotyping, but rather offers a frank commentary on the violence committed by Islamic-extremist against innocent Christians.

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If the situation was reversed, where let's say innocent Muslims were slaughtered in prayer by Christian extremist, we know the media machine would be all over this. But now they are silent. Where they are not silent, they are mis-leading. Most of the innocent Christians were killed before the police entered. The survivors confirm this.

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This type of violence is a most extreme violation of human dignity. Which god will praise these men for this? Which god is glorified by this act?

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This type of violence should not be hidden under the dark shadow of polite "tea talk," nor should it be hidden within the coward's den of "political correctness." It must be called in plain language what is it: sense violence committed against innocents by extremists.

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Does the author in fact seem angry? He certainly does. For this reason I was thinking of withholding this post. But we cannot forget that in the face of such horrific injustice, anger is the appropiate response. Only a man with a cold dead pathetic heart would not get angry in response to the massacre of the innocents.

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A brief quote from the author, "Let us speak frankly about those who want to kill us. 'Allah akbar,' (God is great!). So those Catholics on Sunday heard the jihadists shout in the church. Can there be any greater sacrilege than to kill the innocent at prayer, while shouting that God is great?"

Deacon Ordination.

There are two essential parts of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. If either of these parts is missing, there will be no sacrament. If either of these parts is missing the man does not become a deacon (or a priest). Thanks be to God that both parts were clearly present (they usually are). The first which is pictured above, is that the bishop will lay his hands on the head of the soon to be deacon (or priest). The second is the prayer of ordination in which we ask God, through the power of the Holy Spirit to transform the very being of the man into a deacon (or priest).
Immediately after the prayer of ordination is finished, the men, who just a moment before were not deacons, rise, and they are now new deacons. Since they are truly deacons, and will be for the rest of their lives, they can function as deacons immediately. I was one of the two fortunate new deacons, to be able to assist as a deacon for the rest of the ordination Mass. Above you will see new-Deacon James Dodson and myself assisting Bishop Hebda with the incensation of the altar.
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Below you see a number of my classmates, including myself, as newly vested deacons.
Immediately after the prayer of ordination is finished, the first liturgical action is the vesting of the new deacons as deacons. Just as all Christian "put on Christ" in their baptism, the deacons (and later the priest) "put on Christ" in a particular way at their ordination. This is what this part of the ordination mass symbolizes. In the prayer of ordination Christ configures the men to himself, makes their very being "look" like him in his servant-hood. This is an invisible change. By putting on the vestments of the deacon, the new deacons make the invisible change visible to others.

I have posted more pictures on Facebook if you would like to check them out.