With God as my witness....

(too good not to share, a favorite in these parts)






Swiped from Lance.

Thoughts on Thanksgiving Day

First, I found the Preface for Thanksgiving Day to be a good initial reflection on the nature of this day. The line that really struck me: 'It happened to our fathers, who came to this land as if out of the desert into a place of promise and hope.' Reflect on that for a moment.....


And let's continue:

Naturally, on this day we stop to give thanks, and recall those things we are thankful for. I'm thankful for spending the day with my folks; I'm thankful I don't have to buy shampoo (really, is there any that's not froo-froo?)

But, really, it has to be something more than, eh? What's the most precious gift that we have been given, for which we should be most grateful? What is better than gift of Salvation wrought for us by Christ, the Lord?

On this day where we give thanks, let us focus most on that gift, from which all others flow.

Theology of the Laity, Part 2

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A continuation, here focusing on Pope John Paul II's Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the role of the Laity in the Church and in the World.

Theology of the Laity, Part 1

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Reflecting on Vatican II's Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, Fr. Schnippel shares some thoughts with how the laity are called to help build the Church in the modern world.

The Role of the Laity in the Church

My talk from last week, lasts about 35 minutes.

Read 'The Book' lately?

If you are looking for something to do while you're waiting for the popcorn in the microwave to pop or for your nails to dry or for your flight to board or for the light to turn green ... Hey, what are you doing checking email while you're driving?!? ... Anyway, when you have some time to kill and you are feeling especially holy, try this quiz about Famous Bible Stories.

Don't worry, nobody will know your score.

Except God.


http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/html_c0f86f94-f1ce-11df-9201-0017a4a78c22.html


(I'll post my score in the combox.)

The Priesthood and the Holy Grail?

Tomorrow night, I've been asked to speak on the Priesthood of the Faithful at the Holy Grail Tavern and Bar, West, located at the intersection of Ebenezer Road and Cleves-Warsaw Pike, Cincinnati.

The evening starts at 7:00 pm and generally follows a Theology on Tap format, so come and enjoy some food, drinks and an enlightening conversation on Vatican II, JPII, BXVII, and how the laity are called to remake the world in image of the Church.

As sources, we're using the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity from Vatican II and JPII's Christifideles Laici, with some highlights from Benedict's writing and pontificate as well.

Should be fun, eh?

Lord, Teach us to pray!

With these words, the Disciples make a request to Our Lord that He might teach them to pray as He prays. Recognizing that it is only the heart that prays who is able to recognize the call of the Lord to service in the Church; we have built this year's Vocation Awareness Week materials around this theme.

The packet is finally published online over at the new home of the Vocation Office. We hope that these materials are used widely throughout the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and offer them to the Church throughout the country.

Vocation Awareness Week falls from January 9-15, 2011, this year, following the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

Can't Resist....

A man comes into the Confessional. "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned, it has been a long time since my last confession."
"How long, my son?"
"Since grade school, Father."
"Tell me your sins."
(details omitted for obvious reasons, but it was quite the list!)
After some counselling, praising God for the gift of Faith, the priest continues:
"For your penance, pray 10 Hail Mary's."
"I'm sorry, Father, but I don't know that prayer."
"What about the Glory Be?"
"I don't know that one, either."
"The Our Father?"
"Nope."
"What prayer do you know?"
"Father, I could say the Angelus."
"Ok, say the Angelus as your penance."

Curious as to how he could not know some of the basic prayers, but still knows the Angelus, Father had to check it out.

Sneaking out of the Confessional, he approaches the man from behind when he hears him saying in a soft voice: 'Bong, Bong, Bong, Bong; Bong, Bong, Bong, Bong."


Thank you! I'm here till Tuesday! Try the veal, it's delicious.

Patron Saint of Vacationers?!

Today is the Feast of St. Martin of Tours. No, not those kind of tours (although they need our prayers, badly!), but Tours, France!

Former soldier, hermit, founder of monasteries and Bishop; he packed a lot into 80 years of life.

For more, his wikipedia page (yeah, I know, DON'T TRUST WIKI!; I have it on good authority that the page is legit, where I also swiped the pic above.)

And we're live!

If you get a chance, head on over to the NEW www.cincinnativocations.org! The site looks great, very, very happy! Big thanks to the tech wizards at US Digital Partners for all their work.

It's almost here......

The new online home of the Vocation Office of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati is nearly launched, keep tabs for more updates. I'm loving the new look, can't wait to share it.

In honor of the day...

Today is the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the Pope's Cathedral in Rome, seen here with the sun setting behind the statues at the top from my trip to Rome this past summer.

Verbum Domini!

Dr. Brant Pitre brings very welcome news, indeed!

The Holy Father's Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Word of God will be published this week!

From Zenit:

The papal text will gather the reflections and proposals suggested during the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which took place in October 2008, and which reflected on the theme "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church."


My day just got better!

Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November...

No, it's not just the line from a movie, but a remembrance of the failed gunpowder plot on this day, 1605, in Merry Old England. (Wikipedia Alert!)

At the time, however, it wasn't so Merry for Catholics. It was a tough time for the Recusants, those who kept to the Catholic Faith while facing stiff penal laws for doing so during the time of Elizabeth and her successors on the Throne of England.

Guy Fawkes, among others, was trying to establish some sort of freedom for Catholics on the Islands, and attempted an act of treason in trying to blow up Parliament. However, they were caught before the plan could be executed, and were summarily executed themselves.

However, it seems the joke was on them. Gunpowder was tightly controlled by the government at the time; so there is speculation that it was all a foil by the government to ensnare the Recusant Catholics. Anyone else love a good conspiracy theory?

For more, check Stephanie Mann's excellent blog: Supremacy and Survival or the Coming Home Network's 2006 Deep in History Conference on the English Reformation, a better series of lectures, I have not found.

How to Grow a Priest

So you still check New Advent daily, right? If not, missing great content!

Today, Good Sir Knight linked to Summa This, Summa That, which is a new blog to me, on 'How to Grow a Priest. It is a reflection on the Pope's recent 'Letter to Seminarians,' and includes the realization of the obvious (which is sometimes the hardest to see):


Here’s something I learned a little too late in life: Faithful priests come from, well, the faithful. The call to the ministerial priesthood grows out of the common priesthood that all the baptized share, since the People of God participate in the Christ’s three offices of priest, prophet and king.

So let us consider just how deeply we live out our own intimacy with Christ. We never know – we may be influencing a future priest in our midst!


Read the rest here.

What about hobbies?

A frequent question for guys discerning the priesthood involves, strangely enough, hobbies. Guys have interests beyond just the Church (we could safely assume St. Paul was a runner, no?), and want to know if they will have to leave all that behind.

Strangely enough, there is a movement afoot to enshrine a Catholic Priest in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Intrigued? I thought so:


Okay, Costello only played 15 regular season games and the 5 playoff games, but he is a Stanley Cup champion, and a junior superstar with two Memorial Cup championships before that. He spent most of his three professional seasons in the minor leagues.

That is hardly a Hall of Fame worthy resume. So why should the Hall of Fame induct Costello?

Campbell argues "Costello deserves to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame because, when you think about it, no man has ever used the game for a more noble purpose. That he died doing God's work through hockey makes the case for his induction as a builder that much stronger."