The Liturgy derives its greatness from what it is, not from what we make of it. Our participation is, of course, necessary, but as a means of asserting ourselves humbly into the spirit of the Liturgy and of serving him who is the true subject of the Liturgy: Jesus Christ.

-Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, July 2001

"Tis the Season!

What to give to a newly ordained priest?

Father Z's readers weigh in with their answers to this annual question.

If you want the very abbreviated version - cash=yes, children of the world stole=no.

Of course, we know you have many creative ideas as well, and look forward to reading them in the comments box!

Blast from the past

A vocations prayer booklet from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, imprimatur granted by Bishop Cousins in 1967 (found inside a secondhand book).




The Archdiocese of Milwaukee is a source for great hope- their ordination numbers over the last several years have been consistently good. Check out their priestly vocations website thinkpriest.org for ideas to foster vocations in the family.

Jan 10-17: National Vocation Awareness Week

The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week, January 10-16. “This week provides the opportunity for parishes across the country to promote vocations through prayer and education,” said Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. “It is our responsibility to encourage young people to be generous in their response as they discern the possibility of a call to service in the Church. We must also ask parents, families and our parish communities to assist with this work, vocations are everyone’s business. As we pray for an increased number of seminarians and candidates for religious life, we recognize the importance of safeguarding the gift of vocations.”

Several initiatives to highlight priesthood and religious life are on-going in 2010. The Vatican-sponsored Year for Priests continues through June 2010 http://www.usccb.org/yearforpriests/. Dioceses are highlighting the role of priests in diocesan newspapers, on their Web sites and with other events.

An exhibit on the contributions of women religious in the United States, Women & Spirit, opens at the Smithsonian institution in Washington, January 14. More information on this traveling exhibit can be found at www.womenandspirit.org. The Smithsonian is co-sponsoring this exhibit with the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

The U.S. bishops have also named promotion of vocations to priesthood and religious life as one of their current five priorities and are deciding on efforts to promote vocations, for example, through their Website, www.usccb.org.

Father David Toups, interim executive director of the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, added, “The church needs to help young people hear the Lord in prayer, so they can recognize him in their lives. “This week reminds us that it is our responsibility to pray for vocations and to invite young people to consider a call to ordained ministry and consecrated life.”

The observance of National Vocation Awareness Week (NVAW) began in 1976 when the National Conference of Catholic Bishops designated the 28th Sunday of the year as the beginning of NVAW. In 1997, this celebration was moved to coincide with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which falls on January 10 in 2010, marks the initiation of Jesus into public ministry. At his baptism Jesus is named the beloved Son of God. With this celebration the faithful recommit themselves to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. They are also initiated through their own baptism to be the Beloved of God, commissioned to proclaim Good News with their lives.

(from the USCCB)

Class of 2009

The USCCB has a created an electronic yearbook of the priests ordained in 2009. Mouse over each of them for a short bio. Pretty cool!

Looking for Advent reading?

If you liked Andrew Gawrych's "The Cross, Our Only Hope: Daily Reflections in the Holy Cross Tradition," I would recommend the companion volumes, "The Gift of Hope: Advent and Christmas Reflections" and the "The Gift of the Cross: Lenten Reflections."

Compiled by one of the Congregation's youngest priests, the books feature a quote from the Constitutions, Father Sorin, or Bl. Basil Moreau, followed by a meditation by a member of the Holy Cross community (priests, brothers, and sisters).

In the wake of The Cross, Our Only Hope, and The Gift of the Cross, this accessible Advent resource offers a scripture verse and brief reflection for each day of Advent and the Christmas season and makes an affordable introduction to the themes of the Holy Cross spiritual tradition. Readers will experience the vision of the Congregation to educate both the mind and the heart, and its desire to make God known, loved, and served. Among other notable Holy Cross contributors to this booklet are Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Joel Giallanza, C.S.C., Mary Ellen Vaughan, C.S.C., and Mary Ann Pajakowski, C.S.C. This resource is also ideal for use in parishes and schools during the Advent and Christmas season, and because it is not associated with any particular calendar year, it can be used perennially.

Props to the diocese of La Crosse

For including women religious on their diocesan vocations poster. And as a former Milwaukee resident, thanks for the bishop!

This one's for all the Pious Men

Reverend Know-it-all answers: "What's it like being a priest?"

Happy feast of St Charles Borromeo, patron of seminarians!

Beautiful thought of the day

My professional Church Lady occupation required researching religious communities today, and I came across this lovely passage:

"As he crossed the vast ocean, he dreamed of mounting any pulpit, stepping down any street, stopping into any hovel just to reach them, to touch them, to save them…

He was like many of the other good American priests, but there was something about him, something unique, something special. Was it because he was like the people? Was it because he was one of them, talked like them, used their words, knew their first names? He seemed always to be there. His church and rectory were open from dawn to dusk. Like his people, he, too lived a family life. He prayed and ate and laughed and lived in a home with his Redemptorist family. He waited on tables, washed dishes, did the shopping and sat around at night telling stories…

He looked on his days as days of privilege, wonderful moments of grace and life. He heard the laughter of their weddings, graduations and baptism. He tasted the tears of their sickness and death, their mistakes and sins. He got them out of trouble and into heaven by walking with them as one of them. And they grew old together."

-- Rev. John McGowan, C.Ss.R

All my bags are packed...

I'm ready to go to Seminarian Pat's transitional diaconate ordination!

As a memento of the occasion, I have assembled a Seminarian Emergency Kit containing:

Cardinal Cushing's Social Manual for Seminarians
Irish Saints (Emergency Spiritual Reading)
Sewing Kit
Lint roller
Green Scapular (because you never know when you'll need one)
Deck of playing cards
Emergency Latte Fund
Our Lady's University decal for the Paschal Mystery Machine Central Edition
Holy cards to give to the children (a long time dream of Seminarians Joseph & Pat)
A trophy for the best altar boy in the parish

and the sign for when neighbors of the House with Mary on the Gazebo pick me up at the airport!

Year for Priests

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – In the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the death of the saintly Cure of Ars, St. Jean Marie Vianney, the Holy Father Benedict XVI announced this morning that, there will be a special Year for Priests June 19, 2009 to June 19, 2010, with the theme: “Faithfulness of Christ, faithfulness of priests." The Holy Father will inaugurate the Year with Vespers on June 19, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Day for the Holiness of Priests, in the presence of the relics of the Cure of Ars, brought for the occasion by the Bishop of Belley-Ars. He will close the Year on 19 June 2010, presiding at a "World Meeting of Priests" in St. Peter's Square.

During this Jubilee Year, Benedict XVI will proclaim Saint Jean Marie Vianney “Patron Saint of all the priests in the world.” A "Directory for Confessors and Spiritual Directors" will also be published, as will a collection of texts by the Supreme Pontiff on essential aspects of the life and mission of priests in our time.

The Congregation for the Clergy, together with diocesan ordinaries and superiors of religious institutes, will undertake to promote and co-ordinate the various spiritual and pastoral initiatives which are being organised to highlight the role and mission of the clergy in the Church and in modern society, and the need to intensify the permanent formation of priests, associating it with that of seminarians.

Image source: Society of St Charles Borromeo

Real Heroes

Check out this beautiful video, The World Needs More Heroes, from NYPriest.com and Grassroot Films (the same people who brought you God on the Streets of NY), recently shown at the St John- Notre Dame men's basketball game.

"You have to be a real man if you want to be a priest."
-John Cardinal O'Connor

Gift ideas for Father

A guest post from FrB

Obviously the gift will depend on how close a friend the recipient is, how much money you're willing to spend and whether or not you're pooling with a bunch of people.

Now, the obvious gift for an ordination is a vestment of some sort... If you know the ordinand's taste well then this can be a very much appreciated gift. If you don't mind it not being a surprise, then I'd strongly recommend you consult with the ordinand first. He may already have enough stoles, etc... or he might want one in a particular colour. It'd be annoying to receive 4 white stoles and to have to go out and buy a purple stole after ordination. Another nice gift for an ordinand to receive is a liturgical book. Again, consult with the recipient. A considerate priest-friend gave me 'Pastoral Care for the Sick' (the rite for Communion for the Sick, Viaticum, Anointing, etc...) when I was made a deacon and it's obviously something which I've used a huge amount. Likewise, my copy of The Order of Christian Funerals and The Rite of Penance were gifts, and I'm reminded of the donors when I use them. Fr Sean Finegan's 'Consecrations, Blessings and Prayers' is an excellent resource, and I think any priest would appreciate it. A gift token for a liturgical/theological bookshop might be appropriate too.

I wouldn't recommend getting a pyx. I got one when I was ordained deacon, and another 4 or 5 when I was ordained priest. I think most newly ordained priests probably have several pyxes. Anyway, liturgical gifts are ideal... practical and very meaningful, but I'd strongly recommend consulting the recipient first. Newly ordained priests also probably receive enough nice pens to last them a lifetime.

Moving away from the liturgical, probably the most practical gift I received in my first year of ministry was the GPS my brother gave me. Parish ministry involves a lot of driving, sometimes in unfamiliar areas, and there are lots of addresses to remember. Other useful bits and pieces that I've received - black shoulder bag suitable for an alb and stole, leather folder for documents and a number of pieces of art to decorate my rooms in the parochial house. In terms of clothing, a warm cap, gloves or scarf might be appreciated by a priest for the winter.

The Catholic Priest Today

Check out Midwest Theological Forum's video, The Catholic Priest Today, available online from Milwaukee's St Francis Seminary for testimony of the beauty of the priesthood and the need for the Church in the modern world.

Windows version
Mac version

Adopt a Seminarian

While visiting the Institute of Christ the King's St Mary's Oratory this weekend, I learned about this laudable venture, Adopting a Seminarian:

The expense of maintaining a seminary, and of lodging, feeding, providing instruction and supplying the necessary study materials to approximately sixty young men is very high. Our seminarians are thus asked to contribute the relatively small amount of $750 per month toward these costs; but many are not able to afford this contribution.

Would you be willing to adopt a seminarian and help support him throughout his seminary years? While occasional donations to the Seminary are gratefully accepted, we would be deeply thankful if you could commit a monthly amount to fully or partially cover the expenses of one of our American seminarians.

To adopt a seminarian, (1) please use this form or (2) go to www.institute-christ-king.org/support.cfm, check bullet "For American Seminarians," and fill out the Credit Card donation information (there is an option for recurring monthly parcels at "For recurring monthly donations").