"That might (have been) our worst game of the year,"

…said Cubs manager Lou Piniella.
I once taught Lou’s son Derek, and have met him a few times back then.
But I am a Florida Marlins fan and so I was happy to be at Wrigley Field to witness what Lou calls “their worst game of the year!”
There is no better place to watch a baseball game, [...]

Motu Proprio This Week?

I know we’ve heard this before, but this actually makes sense–to link it to the Letter to China as an outreach to the traditionalist church there…
Father Z has the goods:
Der Spiegel: Motu Proprio THIS WEEK

Back to Ordinary Time (8th Week)

But not so in the old days, as Father Mark points out, in an excellent post on the “suppression” of the “Octave of Pentecost“ (similar to the Octave of Christmas and Easter) that was celebrated up unto 1969, He includes this anectdote:The story goes that on the Monday after Pentecost in 1970 His Holiness Pope [...]

The Pope’s New Book

Our Sunday Visitor will release the new book–The Apostles: The Origin of the Church and Their Co-Workers sometime this summer (July or August). It takes up where Jesus of Nazareth leaves off, but unlike that book which the Pope did not want to be considered part of his magisterial office–this one is and contains some [...]

Solemnity of Pentecost

From Vultus Christi

Those lacking in understanding

find themselves standing under tongues of fire.

Those once dark are illumined from within;

the flame over every head dances its way into every heart

and faces once abashed shine as they have never shone before.

Unveiled now, they “behold the glory of the Lord” (2 Cor 3:18)

and in every mouth there is the [...]

Pentecost at the Pantheon in Rome

Red roses fall from the sky!

Father Z has the details and pictures:

There is a tradition in Rome on Pentecost Sunday. At the Church S. Maria ad Martyres, the Pantheon, at the end of Mass red rose petals are let fall in great abundance through the oculus, the dome’s “eye” which is completely open to the [...]

Open Book/Annunciation’s Bestseller’s List

For May 2007
(as of May 27, 2007)
What Books People who Read Amy’s Open Book blog and Michael’s Annunciation blog are buying this month.
1. Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI
2. The DVD: Into Great Silence (Two-Disc Set)
3.A Pocket Guide to the Mass (A Pocket Guide to)
4. An Infinity of Little Hours: Five Young Men and [...]

Pope’s Regina Coeli Message for Pentecost

From Asia News Italy:
“In this extraordinray event – he continued – we find the essential and qualifying characteristics of the Church: the Church is one, as was the community of Pentecost gathered in prayer and ‘agreement’: ‘the community of believers was of one heart and mind’ (Acts; 4,32). The Church is holy, not because of [...]

Mary and the Muslims

From the National Rosary Crusade, written many years ago by the Servant of God Bishop Fulton Sheen:
MARY The Qu’ran, which is the Bible for the Muslims, has many passages concerning the Blessed Virgin. First of all, the Qu’ran believes in her Immaculate Conception, and also in her Virgin Birth. The third chapter of the Qu’ran [...]

Cardinal Martini Praises Pope’s Jesus of Nazareth

From Catholic World News:
Cardinal Martini, an influential and outspoken prelate who has sometimes clashed with the Vatican because of his liberal views, described Jesus of Nazareth as “a great and ardent testimony to Jesus of Nazareth and his significance for the history of mankind.”
Noting that the Pope had asked readers to consider his book [...]

Quote from the Pope’s Jesus of Nazareth

In a word, the true morality of Christianity is love, an exodus out of oneself, and yet this is precisely the way in which man comes to himself. (page 99…emphasis mine)
This quote occurs in the section on the Sermon on the Mount. I thought the play on the word “exodus” was brilliant and much [...]

Atheist Wilson Gives $22.5 Million for Catholic Fund

From Bloomberg:
Wilson, 80, said in a phone interview today that although he is an atheist, he has no problem donating money to a fund linked to Catholic schools.
“Let’s face it, without the Roman Catholic Church, there would be no Western civilization,” Wilson said. “Shunning religious organizations would be abhorrent. Keep in mind, I’m helping [...]

Bishop Testifies Immigration Reform ‘Crucial’

Orlando’s Bishop Wenski, from the Orlado Sentinel:
Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, representing the U.S. Catholic Church and its immigrant tradition, testified to a House committee today that reform of the system is crucial.
Wenski appeared before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration as the topic gathered momentum and the Senate debated a compromise bill negotiated in [...]

Pope Recalls Injustices Done to Indigenous Peoples

In his weekly audience, from Asia News Italy, (I actually watched this audience live this morning on EWTN without any commentary–which was like being there and even though I know next to no Italian, I knew from the words that he was addressing this issue):
In his address, Benedict XVI re-evoked various highlights of his journey, [...]

The Pope’s Answer to Islam: Quotes from Jesus of Nazareth

It is in Jesus that the promise of the new prophet is fulfilled. What was true of Moses only in a fragmentary form is now fully realized in the person of Jesus.: He lives before the face of God, not just as a friend, but as a Son; he lives in the most intimate [...]