THE YEAR OF THE EUCHARIST

 

It is hard to believe that the year dedicated to the Eucharist in our Archdiocese comes to a close  tomorrow. 

Our Archbishop, Paul Etienne, had these words:

 Our Church is built upon the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. On the solemnity of Corpus Christi, we renew our faith in this mysterious but true presence of Christ in the eucharistic elements of bread and wine, which become his body and blood. It is this presence of Christ in the Church and all its members that makes the Church at once divine and human.

 To be all we are called to be as members of the Body of Christ, it is imperative that we celebrate well and regularly receive the Eucharist. 

 I know there are many things in this world competing for our time and attention — and the pandemic has created yet more obstacles — but for us to be fully Catholic members of this one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, we must grow in our understanding of the importance of regular reception of the Eucharist. It is the one thing Christ asked us to do for him: “Do this in memory of me.”

 A deeper appreciation for the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is significant not only for the moment of celebrating Eucharist, but also for the great impact it is meant to have in transforming and redeeming individuals and the world in which we live. We are sent forth from every Eucharist to love and serve the Lord and one another.

The Eucharist (and the Church) is Christ’s chosen means of remaining with us until the end of time. As we receive Christ into our bodies, he is continuing the work of redemption, conforming us more and more to his truth, and transforming our priorities to the priorities of the Kingdom.

 We are to carry this same presence and person of Christ with us into the world and be authentic witnesses to the reality of his death and resurrection and his promise to come again. This is the process by which the world is conformed, transformed, converted into the Kingdom of God which has yet to come in all its fullness.

 How do I allow this presence of Christ in me to “speak” in moments of trial and temptation? How do I bring this presence of Christ in me to others? 

 As Christ poured himself out for our sake, so are we to give fully of ourselves to others. To do so is to empty oneself, and this gift of self (which is the gift of Christ) can only be “refilled” by renewing his life within us at the eucharistic feast.

 Thus, we see the unending cycle of life in our daily Christian life: dying to self, rising in Christ that the work and will of the Father might be fulfilled. This is our belief, that through the ordinary events of our daily life, the extraordinary work of Christ continues until the end of time, when he will return to make all things new.

                                                —  June 2021

I highly recommend Magnificat's Magazine "Adoration Companion".

TRINITY SUNDAY

 

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity’s prayer:

                                                    (Anna Kolisnyk- Ukraine)

 

O my God, Trinity whom I adore, let me entirely forget myself that I may abide in you, still and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity; let nothing disturb my peace nor separate me from you, O my unchanging God, but that each moment may take me further into the depths of your mystery!

Pacify my soul! Make it your heaven, your beloved home and place of your repose; let me never leave you there alone, but may I be ever attentive, ever alert in my faith, ever adoring and all given up to your creative action. 

A NEW OWL AND ANGEL of the AMAZON

We have been seeing many more owls on our small island, than in past years-  the great horned and the barred- but it isn't often in my bird search that I find a bird that is connected to a nun.

SISTER DOROTHY MAE STANG (June 7, 1931 – February 12, 2005)  was an American-born, Brazilian member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who was murdered in Anapu, a city in the state of Pará, in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. 

Sister had been outspoken in her efforts on behalf of the poor and the environment and had previously received death threats from loggers and landowners. Her cause for canonization as a martyr and model of sanctity is underway within the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Because of her fight to save the environment,  she has had a newly discovered, rare owl  named after her -  the Xingu screech owl  (Megascops stangiae). The common name Xingu Screech Owl refers to the area where the new species is found, between the Tapajos and Xingu rivers, where Sister was a very active community leader until her killing.

This  genus,  commonly known as screech owls for their piercing calls, inhabit a wide variety of habitats.There are 21 species of  Megascops  in the Americas. This South American owl is one of two newly described species this year, the other from Northeastern Brazil.These cute little owls, 5-6 inches long,  come in a variety of hues from brown to gray and have  tufts of feathers on their heads.

While this species is new to science, it is  already in danger of disappearing forever, being threatened by deforestation. The Xingu screech owl is endemic to the most severely burned area of the Amazon by the unprecedented 2019 fires.

Sr. Dorothy was born in Ohio and entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur community in 1948 at the age of 17.  She went to Brazil in 1966 to live with the poor. There, she witnessed first-hand ranchers and loggers exploiting farmers and indigenous people, stealing land, cutting down forests, and murdering those who spoke up. Sr. Dorothy said that “only a profound change in our way of living–our values and attitudes–can bring new life to our world.”

"We are only here on the land a few decades. Use every day to bring joy and not greed to our tired land so full of anguish.”

On February 12, 2005, on a dirt road in a rural area in Para, Sister  was blocked by two men who worked in a livestock company. They asked if she had any weapons, and she claimed that the only weapon would be her Bible.  She then read a passage from the Beatitudes.  "Blessed are the poor in spirit ..." She continued a couple of steps but was suddenly stopped when one of the men called her "sister".  The other man fired a round at her abdomen and as she lay on the ground another round was fired into her head.  The men were later tried and found guilty of her murder.  The  whole  affair was a tragic mess, as the men were later released due to corruption in the courts.

In 2008, the American filmmaker, Daniel Junge,  released a documentary titled “They Killed Sister Dorothy”. The film is narrated by Martin Sheen. The film received the Audience Award and the Competition Award at the 2008 South by Southwest Festival, where it had its worldwide première. It is hard to watch, but one gets the idea of what is happening, even to this day, in the Amazon, due to greed.

Sister is often pictured wearing a T-shirt with the slogan, "A Morte da floresta é o fim da nossa vida" which is Portuguese for "The Death of the Forest is the End of Our Lives".

"I don't want to flee, nor do I want to abandon the battle of these farmers who live without any protection in the forest. They have the sacrosanct right to aspire to a better life on land where they can live and work with dignity while respecting the environment." 

                                                    “The death of the forest is the end of our life” Icon by Rev. Bill McNichols, SJ.

Sr. Judith Clemens, a friend of  Sister Dorothy said: "I think it is so beautiful that an owl, which is a nocturnal animal and a symbol of great wisdom, be the animal to honor her. Dorothy had that kind of wisdom."

 

TWO MORE SAINTS FOR POLAND

The beatification of CARDINAL STEFAN WYSZYNSKI , the former Primate of Poland who heroically resisted communism, will take place on Sunday, Sept. 12. in Warsaw.  SISTER ROZA MARIA CZACKA,  a Polish nun who died in 1961 after a lifetime of service to blind people will take place at the same time.

 

The Cardinal, whom I can remember praying for as a child, is credited with helping to preserve and strengthen Christianity in Poland despite the communist regime’s persecution from 1945 onwards. In 1953, Cardinal Stefan was placed under house arrest by Communist authorities for three years for refusing to punish priests active in the Polish resistance against the Communist regime.

 Born Aug. 3, 1901, in Zuzela, Poland, Stefan Wyszynski was ordained in 1924, serving as a chaplain to Poland's underground Home Army, the AK, under wartime German occupation.

He was named bishop of Lublin by Pope Pius XII in 1946, becoming the country's youngest prelate, and was elevated to archbishop of Warsaw-Gniezno two years later.

Raised to cardinal in 1953, three years after signing a controversial "understanding" with the communist regime, he was forcibly prevented from receiving his red hat until 1957.

He also helped to secure the approval of Karol Wojtyła as archbishop of Kraków in 1964, which ultimately led to Karol Wojtyła’s election as Pope John Paul II in 1978.

Cardinal Wyszyński died on May 28, 1981, 15 days after Pope John Paul II was shot in an assassination attempt. Unable to attend the cardinal’s funeral, John Paul II wrote in a letter to the people of Poland: “Meditate particularly on the figure of the unforgettable primate, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński of venerated memory, his person, his teaching, his role in such a difficult period of our history.”

 Cardinal Wyszynski died during strikes by the Solidarity movement, and his Warsaw funeral was attended by tens of thousands of Catholics in a show of anti-communist defiance.

He is known as the “Primate of the Millennium” because as Primate of Poland he oversaw a nine-year program of preparation culminating in a nationwide celebration of the millennium of Poland’s baptism in 1966.Cardinal Wyszynski died May 28, 1981, during strikes by the Solidarity movement, and his Warsaw funeral was attended by tens of thousands of Catholics in a show of anti-communist defiance.

The Polish parliament declared 2021 the Year of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, in anticipation of his beatification.

 

 SISTER ROZA MARIA CAZCKA was a Dominican sister who was proclaimed Righteous Among the Nations  (see Blog   April 17,2021).

She was born in 1908 in the town of Kiełczewo, (German Empire), now in Kościan County, Poland.

At age 21, she joined the Dominican sisters in Kraków  and  made her final vows in 1934.  In 1938, she went to Vilnius to establish a new monastery with a group of Dominicans. The sisters worked on a 12-acre farm outside the city, living in a wooden house with a small chapel.

 During the World War II occupation in Vilnius, with other nuns, she helped many refugees. The nuns also sheltered fifteen Jewish refugees from the Vilna Ghetto from the youth scouting group Hashomer Hatzair,  including Abba Kovner, Izrael Chaim Wilner, Haika Grossman, Elye Boraks, Chuma Godot, and Izrael Nagel.

The nuns' monastery became a base of the local Jewish resistance, where the Jewish resistance organization  was formed. In 1943, the Germans arrested the mother superior and closed the monastery, but the nuns, though deprived of their main base, continued their activities. In 1944, Sister Roza became a prioress.

That year she also took in two children whose parents were murdered during the war. After the war, due to the borders' change and the loss of Vilnius by Poland, she returned to Kraków.

She had many functions in the Dominican convent in Kraków. She was a porter, organist, and cantor. She was also a prioress of the monastery several times.  

In recognition of her merits, she was awarded the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" in March 1984, at age 76. On March 25, 2018, she celebrated her 110th birthday, and was  called "the oldest living Cracovian" (inhabitant of the city of Kraków). She died in Kraków on November 16, 2018.

All the photos I have found of her show a woman who radiates the joy of her Spouse.

MEXICAN MARTYRS

 

Today we celebrate ST. CRISTOBAL (Christopher)  MAGALLANES JARA,and his companions.  He was  a priest and martyr  who was killed without trial on the way to say Mass during the Cristero War after the trumped-up charge of inciting rebellion.

With the mess in Mexico today, I think he is a good intercessor for his people. He was  canonized by Pope St. John Paul II on May 21, 2000.

St. Cristóbal was ordained at the age of 30 at Santa Teresa in Guadalajara in 1899 and served as chaplain of the School of Arts and Works of the Holy Spirit in Guadalajara. He was then designated as the parish priest for his home town of Totatiche, where he helped found schools and carpentry shops and assisted in planning for hydrological works, including the dam of La Candelaria. He took special interest in the evangelization of the local indigenous Huichol people and was instrumental in the foundation of the mission in the indigenous town of Azqueltán.

When government decrees closed the seminary in Guadalajara in 1914, he offered to open a clandestine seminary in his parish. In July 1915, he opened the Auxiliary Seminary of Totatiche, which achieved a student body of 17 students by the following year and was recognized by the Archbishop of Guadalajara, José Francisco Orozco y Jiménez, who appointed a precept and two professors to the seminary.

St. Magallanes wrote and preached against armed rebellion, but was falsely accused of promoting the Cristero Rebellion in the area. Arrested on May 21, 1927, while en route to celebrate Mass at a farm, he gave away his few remaining possessions to his executioners, gave them absolution, and without a trial, he was killed four days later with Agustín Caloca in Colotlán, Jalisco.

His last words to his executioners were "I die innocent, and ask God that my blood may serve to unite my Mexican brethren." He was succeeded as parish priest of Totatiche by José Pilar Quezada Valdés, who went on to become the first bishop of the Archdiocese of Acapulco.

 

Also a martyr who lived and died for his people was ST AGUSTIN CALOCA CORTES, who was born in San Juan Bautista del Teúl, Zacatecas, on the ranch of La Presa. His parents, Eduwiges and María Plutarca Cortés Caloca, were simple peasants.

 He began his clerical studies at the Guadalajara Seminary, but in 1914 this campus was closed due to the anticlericalism of the Carrancista leaders. He then went to the Auxiliary Seminary of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Totatiche established by  (St) Cristóbal Magallanes Jara. In 1919 he re-entered the Guadalajara Seminary to study Theology. He was ordained on August 5, 1923, in the Cathedral Church of Guadalajara.

 At the request of St. Cristobal, Agustin was assigned as a parish priest and as prefect of the auxiliary seminary. In December 1926 he had to flee with eleven fifth year students to Cocoatzco, where he remained until April 1927.

 

In May, he arrived at the seminary to announce that Mexican government soldiers were approaching Totatiche. He ordered the students to abandon the seminary and disperse among the town's population. After helping the students escape, he was taken prisoner and transferred to a jail in Colotlán where he was reunited with St. Magallanes. He was offered his freedom by a military officer on account of his young age, but St. Agustin refused unless freedom was also granted toSt. Cristobal.

His last words before execution by the  firing squad were, "We live for God and for Him we die."

 

FATHER OF EUROPE

 

With major strife in the Middle East, it is good to be reminded of someone who spent their life striving for unity in the world.

Pope Francis could declare venerable the French statesman ROBERT SCHUMAN, a key “founding father” of the European Union.

Robert Schuman dedicated his life to serving the common good, seeking peace and reconciliation with Germany to create a community of European states.

His work involved putting an end to the infernal cycle of war, the humiliating defeat, the desire for revenge and more war.

 Father Bernard Ardura, an official in charge of the proposed French canonization said  Robert Schuman’s efforts were ‘“the work of a Christian, which serves as an example, even if the statesman “remained very discreet about his personal life and his faith.”

Robert Schuman was born in Luxembourg in 1886. He had family roots in Lorraine, contested territory lost by France to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War. After Lorraine returned to France, he served as one of the region’s Members of Parliament, in the Christian Democrat political tradition. At one point during the Second World War, he was arrested by the Gestapo and secretly imprisoned, according to his biography on the website of the Robert Schuman European Centre.

He was France’s Minister of Foreign Relations when he announced the forming of the European Steel and Coal Community on May 9, 1950. The move is considered a first step towards the creation of the European Union.

He was also a key negotiator for the North Atlantic Treaty and the European Coal and Steel Community. He served as the first President of the European Parliament which named him “Father of Europe” when he left office.

Robert Schuman died in the Diocese of Matz in 1963. His cause for sainthood began there over 30 years ago.

Last October, Pope Francis discussed Schuman in the context of contemporary Europe.

                                                                                          We can either continue to pursue the path we have taken in the past decade, yielding to the temptation to autonomy and thus to ever greater misunderstanding, disagreement and conflict, or we can rediscover the path of fraternity that inspired and guided the founders of modern Europe, beginning precisely with Robert Schuman…

Today, as many in Europe look to its future with uncertainty, others look to Europe with hope, convinced that it still has something to offer to the world and to humanity..The same conviction inspired Robert Schuman, who realized that ‘the contribution which an organized and living Europe can bring to civilization is indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations.’ It is a conviction that we ourselves can share, setting out from shared values and rooted in the history and culture of this land.”

In November 2003 remarks to the Robert Schuman Foundation, France’s main research center on Europe, St. John Paul II called Europeans to remember and cherish their Christian roots. He praised Schuman for spending his political life “in the service of the fundamental values of freedom and solidarity, understood fully in the light of the Gospel.”

The monument (at right) "Homage to the Founding Fathers of Europe" in front of Schuman's house in Scy-Chazelles by Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli, unveiled 20 October 2012. The statues represent the four founders of Europe – Alcide de Gasperi, Robert Schuman, Jean Monnet and Konrad Adenauer.

A SCOTSMAN FOR THE PEOPLE

 

We certainly know from artists who write about why they do what they do,  that  it comes from a place deep within them and if it comes from a deep faith, then we are all the better for it. This goes for music as well as visual arts.

We have over the years listened to JAMES MacMILLIAN's  “Seven Last Words from the Cross” during Holy Week.  I came across an article a few weeks ago which led me do some research on this Scottish composer, who many think is one of Britain’s best today.

Sir MacMillan's music is infused with the spiritual and his Roman Catholic faith has inspired many of his sacred works, such as, Magnificat (1999), and several Masses. This central strand of his life and compositions was marked by the BBC Symphony Orchestra in early 2005, with a survey of his music entitled “From Darkness into Light”

Sir  MacMillan and his wife are lay Dominicans, and he has collaborated with Michael Symmons Roberts, a Catholic poet, and also Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Perhaps his most political work is Cantos Sagrados (1990), a setting of Latin American poetry by Ariel Dorfman and Ana Maria Mendoza, combining elements of liberation theology with more conventional religious texts. He has explicitly stated that his aim in writing this work was to emphasize 'a deeper solidarity with the poor of that subcontinent' in the context of political repression.

Scottish traditional music has also had a profound musical influence, and is frequently discernible in his works. When the Scottish Parliament was reconvened in 1999 after 292 years, a fanfare composed by him accompanied the Queen into the chamber. Weeks after the opening ceremony,  he launched a vigorous attack on sectarianism in Scotland, particularly anti-Catholicism, in a speech entitled "Scotland's Shame".

His Mass of  2000 was commissioned by Westminster Cathedral and contains sections which the congregation may join in singing.  Similarly, the St Anne's Mass and Galloway Mass do not require advanced musicianship, being designed to be taught to a congregation.

One of his most important commissions (by the Bishops' Conferences of England & Wales and of Scotland) was to write a new Mass setting for choir and congregation to be sung at two of the three Masses celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI during his Apostolic and state visit to Great Britain in 2010. 

First sung at Mass at Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, on 16 September it was sung again at the Mass and beatification of John Henry Newman at Cofton Park, Birmingham, on 19 September).

“My first aspiration is getting my music to work: to have its own consistency, and a message and a meaning; and then to be able to communicate it, through fellow-musicians, to the listener. It’s a three-way communication that is mystical and magical, and can be really wonderful."

He is a passionate advocacy of community involvement in music and set up the burgeoning music festival The Cumnock Tryst in 2013. Much of his music reflects his strong Scottish roots and interest in all aspects of musical tradition.

“I think music today is as important as ever. It’s a language that speaks beyond words and images, and that’s why it’s so mysterious, and so strangely beautiful.”

There is a wonderful interview on  EWTN- 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY5K-pCD8Ks