Random B16 quotes on the Priesthood.

I've finally been able to catch up on some reading. I printed out the Q&A session the Holy Father had with Priests of the world at the celebrations marking the end of the Year for Priests (I know, that was LAST JUNE! I just got to it 2 weeks ago. I'm not proud, I'm just sayin'). So here are the quotes for my brothers out there:

"The temptation is great to take the matter into our own hands, to transform the priesthood -- into a normal profession, into a job that has its hours, and for the rest of the time one belongs to oneself, thus rendering it, as any other vocation, accessible and easy."

"I would say that we know the three fundamental priorities: they are the three columns of our being priests. First, the Eucharist, the sacraments: to render the Eucharist possible and present, above all to offer Sunday Mass, insofar as possible, for all, and to celebrate it in a way that it really becomes the visible act of love of the Lord for us. Then, the proclamation of the Word in all the dimensions: from personal dialogue to the homily. The third point is 'caritas,' the love of Christ: to be present for the suffering, for the little ones, for children, for persons in difficulty, for the marginalized; to really render present the love of the Good Shepherd.

And then, a very important priority also is the personal relationship with Christ. ... personal conversation with Christ is a fundamental pastoral priority, it is the condition of our work for others! And prayer is not something marginal: it is in fact the 'profession' of the priest to pray."

"Each of us should do everything possible to live our priesthood in such a way that it is convincing."

Apologies

Sorry I haven't written a flippin' thing for almost a month.

Yes, I'm alive. I promise to be back in the blogosphere soon.

The muse has hit me - MORE Haiku

Loads of committees.

Four people for Confession.

Successful parish?

Welcome back? Where ya been?

Soon parish churches will get noticeably fuller on Sundays. Once Labor Day comes and goes, the light goes on in the minds of those who treat church as if it was school (closed during the summer).

Let's put the following in the "How times have changed" file.

This morning a parishioner let me take home a "monthly calendar" (probably the forerunner of the church bulletin) from St. Mary's Church, South Amboy, NJ, from August, 1941. At the end of the booklet was this article.

First, it taught me that things were not so perfect before Vatican II. People missed Mass then, as they do now. The difference I've found is that, in 1941, you were obviously allowed to tell them that it's a sin.

I put it out there for Pastors to save and perhaps use next June, as the summer begins.

Pope on Solid Ground

From today's London Telegraph:

After the Pope presides at the beatification of Cardinal Newman in Birmingham later this month, he plans to travel to St Mary's College, Oscott, to have lunch and his customary siesta. When seminary staff checked the room he was due to stay in, they found that the joists, supporting the boards, were loose, making the room structurally unsound.

"The Holy Father wouldn't have fallen through the floor," Mgr Mark Crisp, the rector of Oscott, tells today's Tablet. "The strengthening of the room needed to be done so the Pope has done us a favour." Benedict XVI will stay in the Episcopium, the room normally assigned to travelling prelates. The Vatican recce team also felt the bed in the room was too high for the Benedict, who, at 83, needs to be able to climb in with ease, so a new one was acquired.

Happy September (part 2)

Welcome to September!