I Said a Prayer For You Today

I Said a Prayer For You Today.

I know God must have heard.
I felt the answer in my heart.
Although He spoke no word.

I didn't ask for wealth or fame;
I knew you wouldn't mind.
I asked Him to send treasures
Of a far more lasting kind.

I asked that He'd be near you
At the start of each new day,
To grant you health and blessings
And friends to share the way.

I asked for happiness for you
In all things great and small.
But it was for His loving care
I prayed the most of all.

Source: Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate

Rev. Tim Vakoc Dies On The Eve of Father's Day

Source: The Star Tribute
Father Tim with some of the troops he ministered in Iraq. (Photo provided by his family)


Many people think priests have an easy job. It's not true. I know how hard the priests at my church work all week long.

We've all heard of Army chaplains. But, not many of us have heard about Rev. Tim Vakoc who was gravely injured in Iraq in 2004. The Star Tribune reports:

Five years after being gravely wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq, the Rev. Tim Vakoc, a well-known and well-loved Roman Catholic priest from Minnesota, has died, his family said Sunday.
[...]
Father Tim, as he was known, was the first military chaplain grievously wounded in the Iraq war. He was injured by a roadside bomb as he was returning from celebrating mass with troops on May 29, 2004, the day before the 12th anniversary of his ordination as a priest.

Say a little prayer for Fr. Tim. He has moved to a better place. But, he'll be missed by those whose lives he touched while he was with us on earth.

What Makes a Dad?

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so,

He called it ... Dad

-- Author Unknown

Novena Prayer to St. Eugene De Mazenod

St. Eugene,

By your example, touch me to see Jesus in others, to help those in need, and to have the courage to do God's will.

I ask you to intercede on my behalf for a special need.

May God, through your intercession, guide me to accept the difficulties in my life and to work toward a happy and healthy solution.

May I accept God's will in my life with strength and love.

I ask this through His Son Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Source: Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate

The Vatican Goes Green

Last year, I wrote about the Vatican's plans to turn green. Since then, the Vatican has decided to go green completely. Bloomberg reports:

Advised by German solar-panel maker Solarworld AG, the Holy See is running counter to many governments that say harnessing sunlight on a grand scale is too costly to help curb global warming, especially in the deepest recession since World War II.

“Now is the time to strike,” Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, the Vatican City’s governor, said in an interview from his study overlooking the Michelangelo-designed Basilica of St. Peter’s. “One should take advantage of the crisis to try and develop these renewable-energy sources to the maximum, which in the long run will reap incomparable rewards.”
[...]
The Germany-born Benedict has been outspoken on environmental issues since becoming pope in 2005. During an address for World Peace Day in 2006, he said: “The destruction of the environment, its improper or selfish use, and the violent hoarding of the Earth’s resources cause grievances, conflicts and wars, precisely because they are the consequences of an inhumane concept of development.”

Let's hope this project succeeds.

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ORIGINAL POST - November 30, 2008
On November 26, I was delighted to learn of the following good news from the Vatican:

Pope Benedict XVI today launched a crusade against climate change in his own tiny country by holding his first "ecologically friendly" public gathering at a Vatican audience hall newly powered by solar panels.
[...]
The solar panels will produce about 300,000 kilowatt hours of clean energy a year, offsetting the Vatican's annual Co2 production estimated at 10,000 tons. The system is part of the Vatican's commitment to using renewable energy for 20 percent of its needs by 2020, a goal most European Union countries are striving toward. In so doing, the Vatican will become more self-sustainable and less dependant on Italy for its energy supply.

And there's more to read:

The pope has shown concern for the issue of climate change linked to global warming for some time. The Vatican hosted a scientific conference last year on climate change and global warming and issued a set of suggestions this summer to travellers and tourist to minimize and offset environmental damage. This included taking less luggage on planes and car journeys, planting trees to offset tourists' carbon footprints and choosing vacation spots in clear harmony with nature.

The Vatican has also been involved this year in a reforestation project in Hungary designed to offset its carbon emissions. The first saplings of oak, white willow, black poplar and wild fruit trees in the Vatican Climate Forest were planted this month in more than 600 acres of forests along the Tisza River.

We should follow in the footsteps of the Pope and The Vatican in taking care of the environment.

Jesus & the Robber

A robber breaks into a home and hears a voice say, "Jesus is watching you."

Startled, he asks, "Who said that?"

Again, the voice says, "Jesus is watching you."

The robber turns around to see a parrot. He asks the parrot what his name is. The parrot replies, "Cornelius."

The robber asks, "Who names a parrot 'Cornelius'?"

The parrot replies, "The same person who named that rottweiler behind you Jesus."

Source: Comedy Central

Genuine Love

I desire to love you, O my God, with a love that is patient, with a love that abandons itself wholly to you, with a love that acts, and most important of all, with a love that perseveres.

Just as one who loves a creature thinks of it often, so let the lover of God have him often in his thoughts.

The mirror into which we must look in order to attain divine love is Jesus Christ.

If the actions of our neighbors had a hundred sides, we ought to look at them on the best side.

When an action is blameworthy, we should strive to see the good intentions back of it.

Let us do everything for love and, remembering that love longs for love alone, nothing can appear hard to us.

-- St. Theresa Margaret

Source: Mystics & Miracles

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Mystics & Miracles

Benedict XVI: Way of the Cross

When I ordered the Pope's book from Amazon, I wasn't sure that I would like his writing style.

The book is beautifully written. It was very hard for me to put it aside once I started reading. Now, I'm actually ready to read it again. Reading the book was my best introduction to the writings of Pope Benedict XVI. It's also one of the best ways to reflect on Jesus' suffering during the Lent season.

The Pope's words, combined with the artwork by Dutch Symbolist painter Jan Toorop, makes the book an excellent campanion for people who want to deeply meditate and pray during Lent.



Benedict XVI:
Way of the Cross

Pretzels And Lent

I like soft, cinnamon-sugar pretzels. But, I never knew pretzels' history is connected to Lent. Stan Dyer writes:

Made from just flour and water, (salt is OK), they were the perfect Lenten food. Even the easily recognizable and tradition “twist” has its roots in religion. The folded twist is meant to resemble arms crossed in prayer. At one time, people crossed their arms across their chests in pretzel fashion when praying instead of simply putting their two hands together. In fact, in Latin, the word for these braids of bread was “bracellae”, or “little arms”. The word was later corrupted in German to “bretzel”, and, once the voicing was lost from the bilabial stop, it became “pretzel”. Many people following Catholic Law would only eat one meal a day during Lent, but would ease the in between time by snacking on pretzels.

So, I Googled the words "pretzel" and "lent" after reading Dyer's article. I was a bit surprised to learn of the connection between Lent and pretzels.

Fr. William Saunders wrote in the Catholic Education Resource Center:

According to pretzel maker Snyder’s of Hanover, a young monk in the early 600s in Italy was preparing a special Lenten bread of water, flour and salt. To remind his brother monks that Lent was a time of prayer, he rolled the bread dough in strips and then shaped each strip in the form of crossed arms, mimicking the then popular prayer position of folding one’s arms over each other on the chest. The bread was then baked as a soft bread, just like the big soft pretzels one can find today. (To be fair, some traditions date the story to even the 300s.)

Because these breads were shaped into the form of crossed arms, they were called bracellae, the Latin word for "little arms." From this word, the Germans derived the word bretzel which has since mutated to the familiar word pretzel.

Another possibility for the origins of the word pretzel is that the young monk gave these breads to children as a reward when they could recite their prayers. The Latin word pretiola means "little reward," from which pretzel could also be reasonably derived.

So, this Lent you may enjoy a pretzel and appreciate the history associated with it. I must wait until Easter to enjoy any pastry or candy. I gave those up for Lent. So far, I'm doing well.

One Wish Only

A bus carrying only ugly people crashes into an oncoming truck, and everyone inside dies. Then, they get to meet their maker, and - because of the grief they have experienced - he decides to grant them one wish each before they enter Paradise.

They're all lined up, and God asks the first woman for a wish. She said, "I want to be gorgeous."

God snaps His fingers, and it is done.

The second woman in line hears this and said, "I want to be gorgeous too."

Another snap of His fingers and the wish is granted.

This goes on for a while with each one asking to be gorgeous, but when God is halfway down the line the last guy in the line starts laughing. When there are only 10 people left, this guy is rolling on the floor and laughing his head off.

Finally, God reaches this last guy and asks him what his wish will be. The guy eventually calms down and said, "Make 'em all ugly again".

Longing For Peace

Israeli and Palestinians have been fighting each other for the last 61 years. I no longer understand the conflict. I only know that innocent women and children continue to die on both sides of the conflict.

Would peace ever prevail in the Holy Land? I doubt it.

You can't expect peace when children grow up in fear of the other side.

You can't expect peace without having the will to accept the similarities between you and your so-called enemy. Peace starts with dialogue between ordinary people, especially children and women, from both sides.

When the latest conflict started, I watched filmmaker B.Z. Goldberg's documentary "Promises." When the two sides reached a cease-fire this weekend, I watched the movie "Arranged."

Promises is a must-see documentary to understand the conflict from a children point of view. Children are the future. If we fail to bring them together, there won't be peace in the region no matter how much we try.

Arranged is a wonderful movie of friendship, understanding and tolerance between an Orthodox Jewish woman and a conservative Muslim woman both living in New York. The story shows how much both women have in common in a good way.

I gave up on governments in the Middle East to achieve peace for their people. I wonder if the people of the Middle East can reach a middle ground for peace - A word that lost its meaning in this long conflict.

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Promises

Arranged

The Vatican, The Pope And YouTube

I have been following the release of the Vatican YouTube Channel for a week now. It's a project in progress. CBS News has some details:

It is certainly a case of the old being fused with the new, but will the Pope's partnership with Google be a match made in heaven?

That's a question Catholics are asking as organized religion continues to expand its reach onto the Internet.

The Vatican announced Saturday that its radio and television arms will be collaborating with the Internet search engine giant – which also owns video sharing site YouTube – to bring news of the pontiff, as well as video and text of his speeches to the World Wide Web.

The Roman-Catholic church provided scant details, but promised to release more information about the project on Friday at a media conference so big it has a title and a subtitle: "New Technologies, New Relationships: Promoting a Culture of Respect, Dialogue and Friendship."

So, we must wait a few more days before we get more details about this exciting project.

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UPDATE January 23, 2009
Here's a link to the Vatican YouTube channel [Via MSNBC].

A Christmas Prayer

God of love and mercy,

in this season of Christmas we offer you our thanks and praise.

We want to spread the word of peace you give us through Jesus Christ.

May the birth of your Son overcome human suffering, calm our fears, and bring peace to our homes, our families and the world.

Amen,

Source: Sacred Heart League