Great news – one of my favorite blogs, Eirenikon, has returned from a (too-long) hiatus. Its author states:

I am an Orthodox Christian who hopes and prays for continued rapprochement and eventual reunion between Eastern Orthodoxy and the Roman Catholic Church. I am not a theologian, a philosopher, or an historian, but I hope to do what I can to facilitate friendly, irenic and constructive online discussion not only on the things that continue to separate Eastern and Western Christendom, but also those spiritual ties which still bind us together.

A worthy goal. I am very happy that it has returned and look forward to reading it regularly again.

Check it out!

I have not yet had an opportunity to read the Pope’s newest encyclical (and I’m not sure when I will be able to), but Jimmy Akin gives some good guidelines for anyone who is interested in reading it and understanding the Pope’s thoughts in this matter:

Early Tentative Thoughts on the New Encyclical

I especially thought the following point was important to note:

It is quite likely that a person reading the encyclical will find himself challenged at various points, no matter what his native political instincts are. This is part of the pope’s intention. He wants to challenge everybody and shake them out of the uncritical political orbits that people find themselves sliding into. One should therefore avoid two mistakes in reading the document: (a) One should not casually dismiss things that seem to conflict with one’s previous views; this is the Vicar of Christ talking, and we need to take what he says seriously. (b) One should not simply seize on things that seem to confirm one’s prior views and absolutize them; there is a very substantial element of nuance to what the pope says, he is deliberately leaving room for legitimate diversity of opinion even as he makes certain proposals, and he is not attempting to engage his infallibility and thus is deliberately leaving much of what he says open to future revision.

When I do get around to reading this encyclical, I will read it with the understanding that its author is not only the pope, but a really, really, really smart guy as well.

Back in the mid-1990′s I was in the Masters of Theology program at Franciscan University of Steubenville (and yes, I’m still trying to finish that degree!). I had recently completed my B.S. degree in Systems Analysis, so I was one of the more technically-able students in the program. Pope John Paul II released an encyclical, and I was the wonder of my fellow students and the professors because I was able to get a copy of the encyclical off of the “internet” – a wondrous and unknown land of unlimited potential. I remember one professor (who shall remain nameless) begging me to print out a copy of the encyclical (I think it was Evangelium Vitae, but I can’t remember for sure) so that he could read it before anyone else in the department.

Why do I bring this up today? Because you too can be the wonder of your friends and neighbors by finding the latest papal encyclical – Caritas in Veritate – on that wondrous world of the “internet.” All you need to do is click here.

This is cool: the world’s oldest bible, called the Codex Sinaiticus, is now online. From the website:

Codex Sinaiticus, a manuscript of the Christian Bible written in the middle of the fourth century, contains the earliest complete copy of the Christian New Testament. The hand-written text is in Greek. The New Testament appears in the original vernacular language (koine) and the Old Testament in the version, known as the Septuagint, that was adopted by early Greek-speaking Christians. In the Codex, the text of both the Septuagint and the New Testament has been heavily annotated by a series of early correctors.

The significance of Codex Sinaiticus for the reconstruction of the Christian Bible’s original text, the history of the Bible and the history of Western book-making is immense.

For as much as I worry about the negative impact technology can have on our culture and our ability to follow the Lord, it sure can have some great uses as well!

My favorite Eastern Catholic parish, Holy Transfiguration Melkite Greek-Catholic Church in McLean, Virginia, has recently revamped their website. It now has some beautiful music in the background, along with some gorgeous pictures from the inside of their church.

Check it out!

I recently had the following conversation with my son:

Peter: “Dad, Maria and I just made some bracelets. Do you know what they say?”

Me: “No, what do they say?”

Peter: “One says, ‘Go Nats’ for the Nationals.”

Me: “That’s a good one.”

Peter: “Another says ‘Go Reds’.”

Me: “Even better.”

Peter: “Do you know what the last one says?”

Me: “No, what?”

Peter: “Yankees stink.”

Me: “That’s my boy!”

(For those curious as to the title of this post, click here).

I have been a bit busy the past few weeks and I missed this when it happened, but Fr. Benedict Groeschel, one of the seven men who initiated the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and a popular author and EWTN mainstay, recently celebrated his 50th anniversary of priestly service.

From the CFR’s recent newsletter:

It was the summer of 1959, Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the third year of his second term as President of the United States. The jovial Pope, John XXIII, reigned as Supreme Pontiff. The Second Vatican Council was announced as a mere year-long gathering of bishops expecting to discuss some minor changes to the liturgy. Seminaries and Religious Houses of Studies were bursting with vocations. The Catholic Church appeared triumphant to many.

It was in this era of prospective change that a young, slender, red-bearded Capuchin cleric approached the high altar of Sacred Heart Church, Yonkers, New York. He knelt before the Most Rev. James H. Griffiths, Titular Bishop of Gaza, Auxiliary Bishop of New York, to be ordained a Roman Catholic priest in the Order of Friars Minor, Capuchins. His name to his confreres was Brother Benedict Joseph; to his intimates, “BJ”; to his family, Peter; but to those who know the full story, Robert. (You will need to ask a family member to get the full story.) The day was June 20, 1959, when Fr. Benedict Groeschel began his ministry of selfless service to those most in need as a priest of Jesus Christ.

Anyone who has been touched by Fr. Benedict’s preaching, his books, or the work of the CFR’s (and we are legion) should be sure to send a prayer of thanksgiving to God for his faithful servant Fr. Benedict.

St. Francis and St. Benedict, pray for us!

Some members of Call to Action and Voice of the Faithful appear to be taking steps to make formal that has been informally a desire of many hearts for some time – the creation of an “American Catholic church”:

In January, ex-Jesuit Robert Blair Kaiser, co-president of TakeBackOurChurch.org, formally announced the American Catholic Council, “aimed at creating a new kind of Church, both Catholic and American.” The proposal for such a council goes back to the summer 2007 newsletter of the Association for the Rights of Catholic in the Church – ARCC.

Reminiscent of the first Call to Action conference, convened in Detroit in 1976 amid bicentennial high hopes of creating a “democratic Catholic” church, the American Catholic Council will also meet in Detroit in the fall of 2011, the 35th Anniversary of that first Call to Action conference and the 50th Anniversary of the Second Vatican Council. Again, like the original Call to Action Conference of 1976, the American Catholic Council is being preceded by several years of preparation that include “hearings” and “recommendations” about Church “problems.”

Of course, any “church” set up outside the authority of the legitimate successors to the apostles – the pope and the bishops united to him – is de facto in schism. Yet the instigators of this movement are trying to side-step the “schism” charges:

Kaiser and Miller say there will be nothing schismatic about creating an American Catholic Church, modeled after all on “the Maronites, the Melchites, the Byzantines, the Copts and sixteen other autochthonous churches in the Middle East that are loyal to the pope, but glory in their own governance, their own married clergy, and their own liturgies.”

Frankly, this is an insult to the various Eastern Catholic Churches that are in union with Rome. Unlike this proposed “American Catholic church,” those Churches hold to the same faith as the Roman Catholic Church. As St. Paul write, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6). The Eastern Catholic Churches and the Roman Catholic Church make up “one body” because they hold to “one faith”; the new “American Catholic church,” however, appears to reject many parts of the “one faith,” such as the moral teachings on abortion and homosexuality.

I also found the following statement rich in irony:

Kaiser and TakeBackOurChurch.org co-founder Robert Miller are extremely supportive of the idea, speaking about it at Call to Action and associated groups’ conferences for some time, promoting an autochthonous – that is, “native” – American Catholic Church. Being American and therefore, presumably, holding democratic ideals as a cultural birthright, this new, American Catholic “church” would elect its bishops and write a constitution for itself “that carefully puts aside the Rome-based secretive, half-vast, culturally-conditioned legalisms codified in canon law in return for the kind of servant Church envisioned at Vatican II.”

These people reject the “culturally-conditioned legalisms” of Rome, yet they desire above all things to have a church which is 100% culturally American. Granting their argument that current Catholic laws are “culturally-conditioned” by Rome (which I think is a dubious statement), I would much rather follow laws that are culturally-conditioned by a culture with 2,000 years of Catholic history behind it, rather than laws culturally-conditioned by a 200-year-old Protestant and narcissistic American culture.

(I also wonder what they mean by “secretive, half-vast”. The code of Canon Law has been published for all to read – what is “secretive” about that? And what in the world is meant by “half-vast”? Is that like “half-fat” or “slightly pregnant”?)

Please pray for the instigators of this movement that they might recognize that true Christian discipleship lies in obedience to those Christ has put in authority in the Church.

This past weekend I received the newsletter for the Monastic Community of Maria Sedes Sapientiae – a new Benedictine order based in Norcia, Italy (birthplace of St. Benedict) which counts a good friend as a member (and of which I’ve blogged about before). They had exciting news to report:

July 7th, 2009 will mark the 2nd anniversary of the Motu Proprio of Pope Benedict XVI Summorum Pontificum. For this occasion, the monks of Norcia are pleased to announce a new liturgical apostolate, given to us by the Holy See. The Monastery of San Benedetto in Norcia has been asked to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in utroque usu -according to both the extraordinary and ordinary forms of the Roman rite.

This is quite an honor for this young order, and an important one. Pope Benedict very much wants to promote a “hermeneutic of continuity,” meaning that what Catholics believe and practice after Vatican II is in continuity with what they believed and practiced before Vatican II. The restoration of the Latin Mass is a key part of this campaign: nothing in Vatican II in any way abolished this form of the Liturgy, and its celebration today can help us to more properly celebrate the Norvus Ordo. The Community of Maria Sedes Sapientiae has quite a responsibility in celebrating both forms in such a way that Catholics can see both as legitimate – and beautiful – means of worship.

Read their newsletter for more details about this new apostolate.

My ordinary, Archbishop Donald Wuerl, has a fascinating mini-series now available on CatholicTV. Called the “Gospel in Mosaic,” the miniseries focuses on the Rosary using the mosaics of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception here in DC. Archbishop Wuerl is a well-regarded catechist, and he understands the importance artwork has played throughout Church history in the catechisis of the faithful.

I love going to the Shrine with my kids – each time we seem to find some new mosaic or other artwork that can be used to teach my children (and myself) about the faith. If you are ever in DC, you need to make sure to visit. If you go between November 20, 2008 and November 20, 2009, you can receive a plenary indulgence in honor of the Shrine’s 50th anniversary!

There is an interesting commentary at the CNN website by the former Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court who is calling for the end to “disposable marriage.” She tells a heartbreaking story about the damage caused to her own family by divorce, and she (correctly) sees the ease in which a divorce can be obtained as extremely detrimental to our society:

No-fault divorce’s broad acceptance as an unquestioned social good helped usher in an era that fundamentally altered the seriousness with which marriage is viewed. It effectively ended marriage as a legal contract since either party can terminate it, with or without cause. This leaves many people struggling to remake their lives after painful divorces that they do not want. It also left many parents cut off from, or sidelined in, the lives of the children they love….

This may sound like heresy, but I believe the United States and a host of Western democracies are engaged in an unintended campaign to diminish the importance of marriage and fatherhood. By refusing to do everything we can to stem the rising rate of divorce and unwed childbearing, our country often isolates fathers (and sometimes mothers) from their children and their families.

There is a lot of controversy today about homosexual “marriage” and its possible harmful effects on marriage in our society. But my personal opinion is that the institution of marriage in our culture has already been fatally wounded by the unholy trinity of contraception, pornography and easy divorce.

The desire to normalize homosexual “marriages” is only the consequence of these other, previous, attacks on marriage. Contraception within marriage broke the inherent connection between marriage and child-bearing. Easy access to pornography lead to the objectification of other people for our own personal sexual desires. And easy divorce turned marriage into a contract instead of a covenant between a man and a woman. All of these factors radically changed what marriage is, so that the idea of a “marriage” between two men or two women is no longer seen as an abnormality, but instead as a matter of justice.

Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin, pray for us!

The intercession of two possible saints is in the news today:

• Pope Benedict XVI signed a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to John Henry Cardinal Newman. This now clears the way for Newman’s beautification.

• Closer to (my) home, an Annapolis woman has been healed of cancer through the intercession of Blessed Fr. Francis Seelos, a 19th century Redemptorist priest who served in the United States, including in Annapolis.

These two miracles are a great testament to the constant intercession of the angels and saints in our lives. We should always strive to be aware of their presence and ask for their assistance whenever we need it (which is most of the time for some of us!).

John Henry Newman and Blessed Francis Seelos, pray for us!

Today is the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, my favorite apostle (with the possible exception of St. Peter). St. Thomas, of course, is most well-known for his disbelief of the Lord’s Resurrection. Yet we have a number of other bits of information about him that help us to have a better picture of his personality than most of the other apostles.

In John’s Gospel especially we get instructive snippets of this great man. When Jesus tells the apostles that he is going to Lazarus, even though it will be very dangerous for him to go towards Jerusalem, Thomas says to the rest of the apostles (one of the few times we see anyone other than Peter “leading” the apostolic college), “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (John 11:16). Later, at the Last Supper, when Jesus tells the apostles that they know the way to the place he is going, Thomas replies, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” to which Jesus famously responds, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:5-6). And, most significantly, after Christ’s post-resurrection appearance to Thomas, the apostle cries out the greatest declaration of Christ’s divinity in the New Testament: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

St. John Chrysostom said about Thomas:

“Thomas, being once weaker in faith than the other apostles, toiled through the grace of God more bravely, more zealously and tirelessly than them all, so that he went preaching over nearly all the earth, not fearing to proclaim the Word of God to savage nations.”

Thomas became a great missionary to the East, and in fact, we have more information about his post-resurrection activities than any apostle save Peter, James and John. Tradition tells us that he traveled as far as India and planted a church there – a church which still exists to this day.

You were a disciple of Christ
And a member of the divine college of Apostles.
Having been weak in faith you doubted the Resurrection of Christ.
But by feeling the wounds you believed in His all-pure passion:
Pray now to Him, O all-praised Thomas to grant us peace and great mercy.
Troparion for Holy, Glorious Apostle Thomas

St. Thomas, pray for us who are weak in faith!

Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson, who left his wife and kids years ago and is openly homosexual (and currently lives with his “partner”), had the following comment to make about the new Anglican Church of North America:

“A church that does not ordain women or openly gay people – I don’t see a future for that”

I guess the “sell-by” date for churches that follow Christ’s commands is about 2,000 years according Bishop Robinson, promises of the gates of hell not prevailing notwithstanding.

Based on recent events, a church that is founded upon a man’s desire to divorce his wife – I don’t see a future for that.

Those who follow this blog know that I am interested in the impact new technologies such as Twitter and Facebook are having on our culture and our ability to relate to each other. What is not known (and would be shocking to most who do know me) is that I am a big fan of “West Side Story.” I first saw the movie back in the 80′s and for some reason unknown to me I loved it.

So it should go without saying that I really, really enjoyed this video called “Web Site Story”: