Casual dress for Mass ABC news clip

Not a fan of ABC, much less most mainstream media venues, this caught my attention.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/too-casual-for-mass-14467299#.TnnMbLdpBPs.email

Pope "Astounded" at How Much He's Written

Exhibit Collects 600 Volumes in Dozens of Translations

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 15, 2011 (Zenit.org).- An exhibition organized by the German publisher Herder and the Vatican Publishing House was enough to bring Benedict XVI to be "slightly astounded," he said today.

The exhibition, which the Pope visited today at Castel Gandolfo, brings together some 600 volumes of the various language editions of works written by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI.

The exhibition was organized in the lead-up to the Holy Father's visit to Germany later this month.

"I thank you for your efforts and commitment in seeking to make the works I have written known to the world, as I prepare for my apostolic trip to Germany," he said. "For me, that journey will also be a moment to reflect upon what, through my ministry, I can do for the world and the Church."

"I am moved and slightly astounded to see the amount of books I have created," the Holy Father added. "My hope is that the words they contain may not just come and go, but that they help men and women to find their way."

The Pontiff also thanked all those who were behind the scenes in his publications.

"The author does his part and enjoys the fame, the others remain behind the scenes and work without appearing but, in the silence, all are present," he said. "I feel truly obliged, at this time, to express my thanks for all of this."

The exhibition was put on display for the Holy Father at Castel Gandolfo, but it will also be available Friday to tourists at the Vatican and Sept. 24 at the headquarters of Herder in Freiburg.

The volumes represent more than 25 countries. For example, the exhibit contains the Romanian edition of "Salt of the Earth" and also the Chinese edition of "God and the World."

The director of the Vatican Publishing House, Giuseppe Costa, remarked: "As the publisher with the rights to the Pope's writings, it is a motive of great satisfaction for [Libreria Editrice Vaticana] to see them brought together in volumes translated into the most important languages of the world."

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Our Lady of Sorrows

Our Blessed Mother inspires me; her silence, her faith, undaunted strength as the mother of God's son both divine and human makes me shake my head in so many ways.

When Our Lady is described as Our Lady of Sorrows, I think of the Pieta, Christ's heinously tortured dead body draped across His sorrowful mother's lap.  What it must have been like to stand by helpless and horrified as her son was crucified.  Oh my Gosh, what pain and torture thinking about this scene in her sandals is unbearable.  Motherhood is not always the easy job to begin with, but this is the one part, watching a child being mistreated, tortured, mock, mortally wounded is beyond any job description, but it is part of it.  Also, knowing how the child would fine great consolation in the sight of their mother being nearby can't be denied.

During our time here on earth, there are times when hearing our mother's voice, receiving her motherly advice and encouragement, feeling her love in her voice, or from a hug gives us that strength to get through life a little bit further.  Not everyone has a nurturing mother as what I describe, but that's where Our blessed Mother comes in.  The prayer that she gave us, the rosary, is the perfect communication to her that we have.  The form of this prayer lends to our everyday schedules, busy or not, we can all fit in a decade or two here and there and the repetitiveness of this prayer is like a small child's constant call to it's mother for attention and consolation.  We are all Her children, all calling out in supplication for support.  The rosary is her gift to us and vindication of our calling out to her, "Mamma, mamma, mamma!"

Lose yourself in Her prayer today, call out to her for some motherly nurturing and support.  Our Mother's gift is our consolation in the repetitious prayers of the rosary:

 Hail Mary!          Oh Momma!
Full of grace!         Our help!

Fear

OK, this is not another 9/11 tribute or story, however, these thoughts have had their root in that infamous day.

Earlier this evening, my 14 year old sat quietly and attentively to the special her daddy and I were watching about the 9/11 events.  After awhile, she cuddled up next to me and just sat there in silence.  Asking her if something was wrong, she told me that she hadn't really known what happened on September 11th.  She thought only one tower fell and so she was rather taken back by all the devastation and horror the real day has been served.  "I just never realized, Mom."  I had to confess that at age 4, we really didn't feel the need to subject her to the bare facts and the recycling of news videos of the 9/11 and that as the years have gone by, we never thought about it.  So, now here we are with a young 14 year old facing the reality of 9/11 for the first time 10 years later.

She understood our reasoning in not exposing her to whole truth, but it didn't take away the shock for her.  She was still frightened.  I didn't know exactly what to say at first, gut feeling kicked in and the Holy Spirit too, since I am always asking for guidance here and then I asked her.  "Do you wonder how people get through these horrible events?"  She nodded.  Not wanting to sound too preachy I simply said, "Faith".  God is for everyone, here I'm thinking about the newly revised Roman Missal, but not everyone accepts Him.  We have a freewill that we make our decisions with and some refuse God's presence in their lives.  The ones who accept Him are the ones who allow Him to help them get though what ever life dishes them.  There is something far bigger than the events on 9/11 or anything else our society can dish out, far bigger and that is God and having faith in Him and feeling His presence.

We must remember, but never forget. We must remember what happened and be watchful for the next thing that may happen, but we must never forget that God is much bigger that anything in the world.

It's my prayer that this can help someone else....somewhere.

Hurricanes, tornados, and thunderstorms, OH MY!

So with all these natural happenings going on around me today, I must turn to prayer.  So, alone as the front door closed behind me and my knight and 2 daughters head to their new school and the lab, I turned to one of my favorite podcasts, Among Women.   Pat Gohn leads us in prayer during one of her beautiful podcasts, this one with a fellow Catholic blogger and friend, Kate Wicker and her new book: Among Women podcast, here it is:


THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER (attributed to Pope Clement XI)


Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith.
I trust in you: strengthen my trust.
I love you: let me love you more and more.
I am sorry for my sins: deepen my sorrow.
I worship you as my first beginning,
I long for you as my last end,
I praise you as my constant helper,
And call on you as my loving protector.


Guide me by your wisdom,
Correct me with your justice,
Comfort me with your mercy,
Protect me with your power.


I offer you, Lord, my thoughts: to be fixed on you;
My words: to have you for their theme;
My actions: to reflect my love for you;
My sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory.


I want to do what you ask of me:
In the way you ask,
For as long as you ask,
Because you ask it.


Lord, enlighten my understanding,
Strengthen my will,
Purify my heart,
and make me holy.
Help me to repent of my past sins
And to resist temptation in the future.
Help me to rise above my human weaknesses
And to grow stronger as a Christian.


Let me love you,
my Lord and my God,
And see myself as I really am:
A pilgrim in this world,
A Christian called to respect and love
All whose lives I touch,
Those under my authority,
My friends and my enemies.
Help me to conquer anger with gentleness,
Greed by generosity,
Apathy by fervor.


Help me to forget myself
And reach out toward others.
Make me prudent in planning,
Courageous in taking risks.
Make me patient in suffering,
unassuming in prosperity.


Keep me, Lord, attentive at prayer,
Temperate in food and drink,
Diligent in my work,
Firm in my good intentions.


Let my conscience be clear,
My conduct without fault,
My speech blameless,
My life well-ordered.
Put me on guard against my human weaknesses.


Let me cherish your love for me,
Keep your law,
And come at last to your salvation.
Teach me to realize that this world is passing,
That my true future is the happiness of heaven,
That life on earth is short,
And the life to come eternal.
Help me to prepare for death
With a proper fear of judgment,
But a greater trust in your goodness.
Lead me safely through death
To the endless joy of heaven.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Servant of the servants of God: Pope Gregory the Great

An aristocratic-born Roman, Gregory served for a short time,then much like St. Francis and many others sold his stock in the good life to serve the Lord.

To his credit:
1.  founded monasteries in Rome and Sicily
2.  was ordained a deacon and served in Constantinople for 5 years
3. On Sept 3, was  elected Pope as the first Monk to be so elected
4.  Reformed the administration of the Church's estates
5.  Devoted the surplus to assist the poor and ransoming prisoners
6. Negotiated treaties with the Lombard tribes that were ravaging Northern Italy
7.  Cultivated good relationships with the Lombard and other barbarian groups
8.  Kept the Church's position secure in the areas were Roman rule was broken
9.  Propagation of the faith in England by way of sending Augustine of Canterbury and others there
10.  A proliferate writer on topics such as pastoral care, spirituality, and morals

Designating himself as the servant of the servants of God, Pope Gregory the Great devoted his life in the service of God and things good and peaceful.

Sounds like another pope we all know, love and miss dearly that we will hopefully deem "the great" as well.

St. Gregory the Great and Bl. John Paul II, pray for us!

Spiritual vs knowledgeable

First and foremost, I love God and have consecrated myself to Jesus Christ in all that I study.  My children are my responsibility to bring and offer back up to God with their own sacks of coins or talents directed to Him who is all holy and divine.  He's everywhere in our home, on my mouth and in my heart as their mom.

BUT, when my youngest was asked who was her two most spiritual influences in her life, she listed bl. John Paul II at the top of her list and Fr. Edward second.  These two are VERY good and Godly men, no doubt.  Others mentioned their moms and/or dad which says to me that they are doing a great job with their young charges in the faith department.

Thinking about it, I realized that spirituality and being knowledgeable are two very different gifts; those that can combine these are doing something right.  A few years ago, during Lent a speaker came to speak to the parish.  He was a priest with several degrees and an abundance of knowledge and he had very interesting talks with good points, but they just seemed somewhat empty.   Thinking more about it during the next day, I realized what was missing, spirituality.  I too feel at this point a lack of spirituality; forgiveness and bitterness have settled in as the current life lesson has been revealing itself to me lately.

What causes this?  Not enough time behind praying hands, adoration, or Mass attendance, perhaps?  Possibly getting all  forgiveness up-to-date and having close relationships with spiritual souls could feed and fuel ones own spirituality?   All the rosaries, bracelets, bumper stickers, and prayer cards won't make one spiritual if they are not attending to the most important things....communication.  Communing with God in the quiet slices of time during a hectic day could help and I rarely make time for that anymore.  My dearest friend, Denise in TX told me once or actually more than once, when she would find me depressed and sitting in a corner of my world not reaching out, "Looks like someone hasn't been in the Word lately!"  She is ALWAYS right and I am always convicted.

Heading back to the Word and camping out with my God.

Filipinos Ready to Pray 1 Million Rosaries

MANILA, Philippines, AUG. 31, 2011 (Zenit.org)..- The Family Rosary Crusade in the Philippines is spearheading a campaign to get 1 million Filipinos to pray 1 million rosaries in 200 days for all nations in the world.

Dubbed "A million roses for the world: Filipinos at Prayer: Peace for All Nations," the campaign aims to rally Filipinos to offer one rosary each day for a particular country in the world in 200 days.

The nationwide activity will begin Oct. 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and end May 31, 2012, Feast of Our Lady of All Nations.

Bishop Nereo Odchimar, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, lauded the campaign, saying that with 1 million peace-loving Filipinos praying together, "we can claim peace for the world from the hands of the good Lord and his mother."

Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, director of the Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education, which partners with the Family Rosary Crusade, also encouraged the faithful to join a similar rosary campaign for schools nationwide dubbed "1.1 on 11/11."

This initiative will bring students of Catholic schools, colleges and universities to pray simultaneously 1 million and 100 rosaries at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 2011.

"This campaign aims to teach our youth that prayer can change the world and people who pray can change the destinies of peoples," the archbishop said. "Indeed there can be no world peace without prayer."