Friday, August 17, 2012
Book Review: Running with God Across America

I was recently given the opportunity to review Running with God Across America by Jeff Grabosky.  Before I share my thoughts, here is an excerpt:
What makes a person undertake a solo and unsupported 3,700 mile run across the United States? For Jeff Grabosky, it begins four years prior to his crossing with a series of tragic events. Jeff prays his way through his darkest days, and the prayers are answered – in a remarkable way. Jeff responds to the call on his heart to run across America to encourage people to pray. Jeff prays for thousands of prayer intentions sent to him from all over the world as he averages well over a marathon per day. The story of the transcontinental journey takes you through a wide variety of challenges on the road, in his mind, and in his heart. 
I initial chose to review this book because of the connection of exercise in my life.  Those who know me, know that I have been working to improve my health and fitness this year.  As part of that goal, I have been running nearly a 5K every day, in addition to other physical activities.  So, I chose this book because of my connection with running.

But what I found in this book was far more than the text of one man's amazing and awe-inspiring 3,700 mile across the United States.  I saw one man's dedication to prayer that surpasses that of most people.  Indeed, innocence of heart is a goal for all of us and Mr. Grabosky shows his dedication to a  mission of prayer more so than to simply running the equivalent of a marathon everyday for over 5 months.  The book does more than simply describe the physical dangers and perils of his journey - it shows the driving force behind his pilgrimage.

How many people would be willing (or physically able) to run the distance he ran without God's good grace?  And indeed, we know that no one can do anything aside from the grace of God (cf. John 15:5).  In the same respects, we read in 1 Corinthians 9:24, "Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain."  And so if so many run and practice with such dedication for an earthly prize (e.g. the Olympics), than why can we not all run with the same rigor and innocence of Mr. Grabosky to further spread the Gospel, bring about conversions, make reparation for sins, and bring out the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ?

I do recommend this book as an inspiring story of motivation and endurance.  It numbers 235 pages and it is not a challenging read.  I read the book over the course of two weeks while on my stationary bicycle, adding an extra challenge to help me better relate to his physical demands as I was reading the text.

Copies are available on Amazon.com.
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Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Archbishop Fulton Sheen on the Assumption of our Lady

"Mary becomes the first human person to realize the historical destiny of the faithful as members of Christ's mystical Body, beyond time, beyond death, and beyond judgement. Mary always seems to be the Advent of what is in store for man. She anticipates Christ for nine months, as she bears Heaven with her; She anticipates His passion at Cana and His Church at Pentecost. Now in the last great Doctrine of the Assumption, she anticipates heavenly glory, and the definition comes at a time when men think of it least." Archbishop Fulton Sheen (World's First Love, 1952)

A Blessed Feast of the Assumption to all of you.  Today is a Holy Day of Obligation for all Catholics.  Also keep in mind that prior to 1955, the Assumption was a Double of the I Class with a Common Octave.  Let us celebrate the Assumption of our Lady for the next week up through August 22nd -  the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
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Tuesday, August 14, 2012
SSPX Franciscan Vows and Habit-Taking Ceremonies


This year's vows and habit-taking ceremonies were preceded by a retreat given by Fr. Nicholas Pfluger, the SSPX's First Assistant to the Superior General. This occasion of August 2nd marks several wonderful milestones in the life of these consecrated religious:
  • One sister made her permanent vows (the second now for the community),
  • 2 postulants received the habit of novices,
  • one sister made her first vow,
  • two others renewed their vows.
Deo Gratias!  Photos and descriptions of this most special occasion are available on the website of the Society of St. Pius X.
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RefTagger: Now Available for Catholic Bloggers

I'm pleased to announce that RefTagger is now available for Catholics. I've taken advantage of their inclusion of the Douay Rheims Scriptures to install the RefTagger code on A Catholic Life.

RefTagger is a free tool for bloggers that replicates Logos’ rollover and reference features. Want to see what I mean? With RefTagger enabled, when you hover your cursor over the passage, a box appears revealing the beginning of the excerpt. Click “more” to open the reading on Biblia.com. All I had to do was type that reference into my blog post!  See here for an example: Matthew 20:20–28

RefTagger works well with Blogger, WordPress, Movable Type, Drupal, Joomla!, and other sites, and incorporating it into your blog is an unbelievably simple process (even for the least tech-savvy among us). Simply select your “online Bible version” (I recommend “Douay-Rheims”) and any other settings you want in our online form, then copy and paste the JavaScript that’s automatically provided. Not sure where to paste the JavaScript? RefTagger can help with that, too.

Once RefTagger is installed on your site, you’re covered. It pro- and retroactively links every Bible reference on your blog. Worry free and labor free. Don’t bother typing out Bible verses anymore—with RefTagger, a reference is more than enough.
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Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Sermons in Honor of St. John Vianney

According to the 1962 Roman Catholic Calendar, today (August 8) is the Third Class Feast of St. John Mary Vianney.  As a side note, in the 1954 Calendar (still in use by some Traditional Catholics), the Feastday of the saint, with a rank of Double, is not until tomorrow (August 9).  And to complicate matters, in the Novus Ordo 1969 Calendar, St. John Vianney's feastday falls on August 4th, which is traditionally the Feast of St. Dominic.

From “Saints to Remember from January to December,” by the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
This glorious parish priest was born in eastern France, three years before the French Revolution broke out. He was a simple farmer’s boy. He received his first Holy Communion secretly in a barn when he was thirteen years of age. He later began studies or the priesthood. Because of the simple innocence of his mind, he found it very hard to pass the seminary examinations. His great devotions were to the Blessed Sacrament and to Our Blessed Lady. After months of prayer to Our Blessed Lady, he finally obtained the favor of being ordained a priest in 1815. He got encouragement to pursue his vocation to the priesthood at the tomb of Saint John Francis Regis. He was first made an assistant pastor at Ecully, and later a pastor at the little village of Ars. He stayed there for forty-one years, until he died. He is always referred to as the Cur’e of Ars. So great was his sanctity that people from all over Europe came to see him. He used to spend from sixteen to eighteen hours in the confessional every day. Heads of the State, army officers, university professors, bishops and priest, all went to him for direction. Toward the end of his life, nearly 20,000 pilgrims visited him every year. Pope Pius XI proclaimed him the patron of all parish priests. He was one of the most loved priests in the history of the Catholic Church. Everyone remembers him either as siting in the confessional or kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament or before an image of Our Blessed Mother, always with the rosary beads in his hand.
In honor of the Feastday of this patron saint of priests and champion of Christ, please send some time reading some of his many sermons.  They are recorded below:
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Monday, August 6, 2012
Purpose of the Transfiguration of Christ

Transfiguration by Giovanni Gerolamo Savoldo, 16th century 

Each year on August 6th the Church recalls and celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we recall Christ's divinity showing forth on Mount Tabor. This event foreshadowed the glorious Resurrection and Ascension of Christ that would occur after His death on the Cross.

The Transfiguration wasn’t in and of itself the greatest part of this mystery, but what is even greater is that Christ humbled Himself and hid His immense glory while on earth.

As Our Blessed Lord ascends Mount Tabor and is transfigured before His closest disciples, there appears to Him both Moses and Elijah -- symbolizes the Law and the Prophet, surrounding the Son of Man. The radiance of Jesus in the presence of Moses refers to Moses' radiance in the presence of the Lord.  St. James the Greater, along with Peter and John, was one of the few that witnessed Our Lord's Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor, the raising of the daughter of Jairus, and Our Lord’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane before His passion.

As the beginning of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s section on the Transfiguration states: “Three important scenes of Our Lord’s life took place on mountains.  On one, He preached the Beatitudes, the practice of which would bring a Cross from the world; on the second, He showed the glory that lay beyond the Cross; and on the third, He offered Himself in death as a prelude to His glory and that of all who would believe in His name” (Life of Christ by Fulton J. Sheen, p. 158, © 1970)

The following commentary is excerpted from the Navarre Bible Commentary:
2-10. We contemplate in awe this manifestation of the glory of the Son of God to three of His disciples. Ever since the Incarnation, the divinity of our Lord has usually been hidden behind His humanity. But Christ wishes to show, to these favorite disciples, who will later be pillars of the Church, the splendor of His divine glory, in order to encourage them to follow the difficult way that lies ahead, fixing their gaze on the happy goal which is awaiting them at the end. This is why, as St. Thomas comments (cf. "Summa Theologia", III, q. 45, a. 1), it was appropriate for Him to give them an insight into His glory. The fact that the Transfiguration comes immediately after the first announcement of His passion, and His prophetic words about how His followers would also have to carry His cross, shows us that "through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).

What happened at the Transfiguration? To understand this miraculous event in Christ's life, we must remember that in order to redeem us by His passion and death our Lord freely renounced divine glory and became man, assuming flesh which was capable of suffering and which was not glorious, becoming like us in every way except sin (cf. Hebrew 4:15). In the Transfiguration, Jesus Christ willed that the glory which was His as God and which His soul had from the moment of the Incarnation, should miraculously become present in His body. "We should learn from Jesus' attitude in these trials. During His life on earth He did not even want the glory that belong to Him. Though He had the right to be treated as God, He took the form of a servant, a slave (cf. Philippians 2:6)" (St. J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 62). Bearing in mind WHO became man (the divinity of the person and the glory of His soul), it was appropriate for His body to be glorious; given the PURPOSE of His Incarnation, it was not appropriate, usually, for His glory to be evident. Christ shows His glory in the Transfiguration in order to move us to desire the divine glory which will be given us so that, having this hope, we too can understand "that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).
To continue reading, please see my prior post on the Transfiguration and consider the online course through CatechismClass.com on the Life of Christ, using Fulton Sheen's text as one of its many resources.
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Novena for the Assumption Starts Today

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Thursday, August 2, 2012
Fr. Jean-Pierre Herman: 25th Ordination Anniversary

The above photo is in honor of Fr. Jean-Pierre Herman, who celebrated the 10am Solemn High Mass at Saint Francis de Sales Oratory in Saint Louis on the occasion of his 25th Anniversary to the Priesthood. The choir performed the Vierne Mass, Messe Solonnelle, on this joyous occasion. 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, Chief Shepherd of the flock, we pray that in the great love and mercy of your Sacred Heart you attend to all the needs of your priest-shepherds throughout the world. We ask that you draw back to your Heart all those priests who have seriously strayed from your path, that you rekindle the desire for holiness in the hearts of those priests who have become lukewarm, and that you continue to give your fervent priests the desire for the highest holiness. United with your Heart and Mary’s Heart, we ask that you take this petition to your heavenly Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Prayer for the Olympics

With the Olympic Games set to open in London this Friday at 6:30 PM CDT, we are less than three days away to the start of one of the greatest shows of athleticism in the world.  Please join me in praying for all of the men and women who will be competing in these games, that they will be safe from harm and humble in their accomplishments.

For all athletes out there, I recommend the Prayers Before and After Work to be said before and after an athletic competition.  May God be glorified in all things.

Before Work 

O Lord Jesus Christ, Only-begotten Son of your eternal Father: You have said with your holy lips: "Without Me, you can do nothing." My Lord, I embrace your words with my heart and soul, and bow before your goodness and say: Help me, your unworthy servant, to complete this, my present undertaking, in the name of the Father and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

After Work 

O Most sweet Jesus, You are the fulfillment of all blessings. Fill my soul with joy and gladness and save me. Grant that your Name be glorified: for not to us, but to your Name are forever due honor, glory, and adoration. Amen
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Tuesday, July 24, 2012
13 Video Conference Series: Bishop Williamson on the SSPX and Rome


The following message was forwarded to me this morning.  I wish to make it available to all of my readers for your edification, if you are interested in hearing His Excellency Bishop Williamson speak on matters concerning Archbishop Lefebvre, Rome, Traditionalism, and similar themes. These are recently released videos. 
Dear all.

I can happily inform you that I have spoken directly with Bishop Williamson yesterday morning to get his consent to make the conferences public again. I apologise for the frustration you may have had trying to view them last time due to the unexpected request to disable them for public viewing. 

Below are the links to all the videos which are now uploaded:


That being said, I hope the videos help to crystallise the situation for you as clearly as actually being present at conferences did for me at the time.

Hugh
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