The Virgin as Lady Liberty? Plans unveiled for statue of Mary at U.S.-Mexico border

Last updated on: October 8, 2018 at 12:27 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: She will stand tall, with a torch held high, on a hilltop in San Ysidro, overlooking the U.S.-Mexico border region. Inspired by the Statue of Liberty, the 40-foot-tall monument of Mary, mother of Jesus, will stand as a symbol intended to welcome immigrants and refugees headed to the U.S. The statue will go up on the hilltop parking lot of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, where community members convened Friday to kick off a crowdfunding campaign to raise $1 million to build the... Read more

Ordination update: 14 new deacons for Rockford

Last updated on: October 7, 2018 at 6:05 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From The Observer: Fourteen men were ordained as Permanent Deacons for the Diocese of Rockford at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rockford on Saturday, Sept. 29. Bishop David Malloy celebrated the Mass, which included the Rite of Ordination for the men accepted to the Sacred Order of Deacon. “We are happy and we rejoice with you who have prayed and discerned and accepted a call to prayer and to a deeper and public service to the Church,” Bishop Malloy... Read more

Hymn of the Week: ‘Veni, Jesu, Amor Mi’

Last updated on: October 6, 2018 at 3:58 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Our choir will be favoring us with this gorgeous hymn during communion this weekend. The Latin text loosely translates as “Come to me, Jesus my love.” Some background on the composer, via Wikipedia: Luigi Cherubini (8 or 14 September 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries. Cherubini was born Maria Luigi... Read more

Ordination update: 8 new deacons for Boston

Last updated on: October 6, 2018 at 3:09 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From The Pilot: Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley ordained eight men from six parishes to the order of deacon in a ceremony at Holy Name Parish on Sept. 29, the Feast of Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels. The new deacons are Osvaldo Fernandez of St. Mary of the Assumption in Lawrence; David Giangiordano of St. James in Stoughton; Robert Philip Horne of St. Mary of Antioch in Burlington; Charles Kelley of St. John the Evangelist in Townsend; Julio Sanchez of... Read more

Young woman with same-sex attraction writes a letter to the Synod — and it’s beautiful

Last updated on: October 5, 2018 at 11:26 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From National Catholic Register: Avera Maria Santo is a 22-year-old U.S. Catholic who lives in Alabama and blogs at her website, Inside My Holy of Holies, about being same-sex-attracted and remaining faithful to the goodness, truth and beauty of what the Church teaches about human sexuality. In an open letter circulated in Rome to the bishops participating in the Oct. 3-28 youth synod, Santo told them she had been “devastated” to learn of the ongoing campaign by pro-“LGBT” groups that are trying to utilize... Read more

How the Kavanaugh nomination fight is dividing his Catholic parish

Last updated on: October 5, 2018 at 10:44 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

From The Washington Post: A couple of weeks ago, the prominent congregation of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament parish stood united in its shared anger at what its priest, the Rev. Bill Foley, called “silence and inaction” on the topic of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. Not long after, another kind of sex abuse scandal hit much closer to home — and the response among those in the Northwest Washington parish appears to be one of quiet... Read more

Spoiler alert: St. Francis of Assisi did not write the ‘Prayer of St. Francis’ — and it’s only about 100 years old

Last updated on: October 5, 2018 at 10:19 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Yesterday was the great saint’s feast day. So this seems an opportune moment to clear up a popular misunderstanding. Wikipedia puts it plainly: The anonymous text that is usually called the Prayer of Saint Francis (or Peace Prayer, or Simple Prayer for Peace, or Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace) is a widely known Christian prayer for peace. Often associated with the Italian SaintFrancis of Assisi (c. 1182 – 1226), but entirely absent from his writings, the prayer in its present form has not been traced back further than 1912.... Read more

Chaput at Synod: ‘LGBT’ should not be used in Church documents

Last updated on: October 4, 2018 at 3:52 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Edward Pentin reports: There is no such thing as an LGBTQ, “transgender” or “heterosexual” Catholic and such designations have never been true in the life of the Church, nor should they used in Church documents, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia said in his intervention at the Synod on Youth today. Reflecting on Chapter IV of the synod’s instrumentum laboris, or working document, Archbishop Chaput, who is a member of the synod’s permanent council, said what the Church “holds to be true... Read more

RIP Juan Romero: busboy who gave rosary to a dying RFK

Last updated on: October 4, 2018 at 3:19 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

He was in the news a few months ago, as the world marked the 50th anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination. Now, sadly, he is in the news again: On June 5, 1968, hotel busboy Juan Romero raced to congratulate Sen. Robert Kennedy moments after his victory in the California presidential primary. He had met the candidate the day before, bringing him room service at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. As Kennedy briefly paused to shake the hand of... Read more

Quote of the Day: A blessed reminder from St. Francis of Assisi

Last updated on: October 4, 2018 at 8:43 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

“Let us produce worthy fruits of penance. Let us also love our neighbors as ourselves. Let us have charity and humility. Let us give alms because these cleanse our souls from the stains of sin. Men lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve. We must not... Read more