Prayer To Parish Mission

God our Father,

We thank you for this time of renewal.

Make our hearts hungry and thirsty for you.

Recreate our minds and hearts with the fire of your Word during our mission.

Open us to the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit.

We want to be filled with joy and peace.

We pray for the grace to say "Yes" to you.

We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Source:
Parish Mission
Preached by Fr. Cedric Pisegna
At St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church
Plano, Texas
March 31-April 2, 2003

The New Associate Pastor

The new associate pastor, nervous about hearing confessions, asks an older priest to listen in. Several penitents later, his mentor offers a few suggestions.

"Cross your arms over your chest and rub your chin with one hand," he says. "Try saying things like, "I see, yes, go on. I understand. How did you feel about that?"

The new priest tries out the words and gestures. The old priest says, "Good, now, don't you think that's a little better than slapping your knee and saying, 'No way! You did what?'

Source: The Book of Catholic Jokes

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The Book of Catholic Jokes

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.

Two Jesuit Priests Murdered In Moscow

Source: BBC News
Otto Messmer (left) and Victor Betancourt were murdered in Moscow.


We have some bad news from Russia:

The bodies of Otto Messmer, 47, leader of the Russian Jesuit order, and Ecuadorean priest Victor Betancourt, 42, were found on Tuesday night.

The door was found ajar and there were no signs of any theft from the flat in upmarket Petrovka Street.

Police said they had suffered severe head injuries and the bodies had lain undiscovered for at least a day.

The attack on Father Betancourt is believed to have happened at the end of last week as he did not turn up for mass as usual on Sunday, according to Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican's chief press spokesman.

I didn't know there were any Catholics in Russia. I hope they find the murderers and bring them to justice.

---

UPDATE NOVEMBER 8, 2008
CathNews reports the following development:

Russian police have detained a suspect in the killings of two Jesuit priests brutally murdered in Moscow last week.

Russia's Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor General's Office says the 38 year old Russian citizen was detained in the capital on Thursday, Associated Press reports.
[...]
The detainee's said he had killed one of the Jesuits because of "sudden dislike, while the second murder was committed in order to remove the witness, another Jesuit who happened to visit his colleague," the investigative committee told Tass.

Help Neven Pesa To Become A Priest

Neven Pesa is a young man who wants to follow in the footsteps of St. Peter and St. Paul. He simply wants to become a priest. He wrote in his email to me:

I recently got accepted to the Byzantine Catholic Order of Basilian Salvatorian Fathers in Massachussets - a semi-contemplative order of Catholics of the Eastern Rite. I belong to the Melkite Catholic Church of the Virgin Mary in Brooklyn.

I am supposed to start my Novitiate this September 2008, but I first need to pay off the large college student-loan debt I've incurred from attending Franciscan University of Steubenville for 4 years.

To remedy this - I just finished recording an original Catholic album to help raise money so that I become debt free in order that I may freely pursue my vocation, financially unhindered towards the priesthood.

He introduces us to his life via an article he published in The Catholic Exchange, where he wrote:

I'm a son of Croatian immigrants who first emigrated to Italy and subsequently to America in the 70's. Within two years of their marriage, my brother and I were both born.

My mother lovingly tells me that God willed very much that I come into this world because I came as a "happy surprise" to both my parents, having been conceived only 4 months after my older brother had been born.

My parents gave me the name of "Neven," which is a Christian name of some very early obscure saint, "Neven: meaning "everlasting" in Croatian. I was raised in a typical Catholic household and am happy to say that I enjoyed a particularly joyful childhood.

My Dad, whom I admire very much, had a noticeable handicap which was the result of an accident he had at the age of five. This left him with only one usable arm. His injured arm was permanently atrophied and was rendered almost useless. But this did not deter my father nor did he allow anyone to pity him. Although limited in his job options, he always seemed to find work. My mother was employed evenings as a cleaning lady at a Manhattan office building. This arrangement allowed for at least one of my parents to always be home with my brother and me.

The first peek into God's call on my life was when I was about 2 or 3 years old. My mother had walked in on me once in prayer, and saw me standing in front of a high table that had a number of Holy cards neatly arranged and splayed out. My mother took note of this occurrence and brings up the memory of it since it had obviously left a significant impression on her.

I promised Neven to publish his story and promote his music CD, which you can hear and buy by clicking on this link.

Please, spread the word to help Neven become a priest.

The Catholic Eco-Confession

Source: EDP24


I hadn't been to confession in a long time. I'm not sure why. Probably because I keep repeating the same faults over and over again. So, reading about the eco-confession caught my attention. The U.K. EDP24 reports:

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned… I have not recycled my tin cans and I have booked a holiday to Australia.

It may not be a typical confession, but it is exactly what you will hear next weekend when people line up to admit their green sins. The eco-confessions will be a new attraction at the Waveney Greenpeace fair, which will be attended by thousands of people.

And on hand will be none other than a Catholic priest, Fr Anthony Sutch, to hear confessions...

Fr Anthony joked: “I don't know what the bishop will say!”

When I lived in Australia, my neighbors and I took the recycling of cans, bottles and paper very seriously. Neither Dallas nor Beaumont are big on recycling. I feel guilty because I drink many bottles of water and Diet Coke. I hope my next neighborhood or city of residence is an eco-friendly place.

The Death of a Romanian Nun

UPDATE Feb. 20, 2007
Justice has been served to the priest and nuns responsible for the death of the Romanian nun Maricica Irina Cornici. The Australian reports:

A ROMANIAN priest was sentenced to 14 years in prison yesterday for causing the death of a nun during an exorcism ritual.

Four nuns were also sentenced in connection with her death...
[...]
One of the nuns - Nicoleta Arcalianu - was sentenced to eight years in prison, and the other three - Adina Cepraga, Elena Otel and Simona Bardanas - each received five-year sentences.

R.I.P Sr. Cornici.

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UPDATE Dec. 27, 2005
South African Independent Online has new details of Romanian nun Maricica Irina Cornici's cause of death:

Bucharest - A Romanian nun crucified by a priest and other nuns in an exorcism rite was still alive when she was rescued, but died of an overdose of adrenalin mistakenly administered by a medic, press reports said Saturday.
[...]
The latest development dominated Saturday's press, with the mass circulation Libertatea headlining the story "killed by the doctors."

Cornici was chained to a cross, gagged and deprived of food and water for several days at the remote monastery in June. Authorities had maintained the treatment proved fatal and she was already dead when other nuns called for an ambulance.

But the new autopsy, carried out after the nun's body was exhumed in September, showed that she died after a medic in the ambulance injected her with six doses of adrenalin which over-stimulated her heart, causing it to fail.

Read more...

This new revelation doesn't make the priest and four nuns less responsible for her death. What happened to her was inhumane.

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ORIGINAL POST Jun. 18, 2005
I read the following report with disbelief:

A Romanian nun has died after being bound to a cross, gagged and left alone for three days in a cold room in a convent, Romanian police have said.

Members of the convent in north-west Romania claim Maricica Irina Cornici was possessed and that the crucifixion had been part of an exorcism ritual.

Cornici was found dead on the cross on Wednesday after fellow nuns called an ambulance, according to police.

On Saturday a priest and four nuns were charged in connection with her death.
[...]
Mediafax news agency said Cornici suffered from schizophrenia and the symptoms of her condition caused the priest at the convent and other nuns to believe she was possessed by the devil.

Read more...

Hmmmmm, I didn't know we were living in the Middle Ages.

Yet Another Case of Corrupted Catholic Priests

As much as I love the Catholic church, I despise criminal priests who pop up here and there. Here's the latest case as reported by The Associated Press:

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. - Two Roman Catholic priests stole millions in offerings and gifts made to their parish over several years, authorities said Thursday.

Monsignor John Skehan, who was pastor at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church for four decades, was arrested Wednesday night on charges that he stole $8.6 million from the church, using the money to buy property and other assets, investigators said.
[...]
The Rev. Francis Guinan, who succeeded Skehan three years ago, has disappeared and was being sought, authorities said. He is alleged to have stolen an unspecified amount of money to take gambling trips to Las Vegas and the Bahamas.

"Millions of dollars that should have gone to helping the homeless folks or the school itself" didn't, said Amos Rojas Jr., a special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Read more...

Nothing is going to replace the mistrust and disappointment of the parishioners in their priests. Hopefully, the new priest will be more trustworthy.

Murder of a Russian Orthodox Priest

mosnews.com reported:

Moscow region authorities are continuing their investigation related to the brutal torture and murder of Archimandrite Herman, the abbot of the Voznesenskaya Davydova Pustyn monastery, 85 km from the Russian capital. The priest was found dead in his cell in the monastery on July 26.

His body was tied up, and, according to law enforcement officials, it appeared that Father Herman had been tortured before he was murdered. For reasons yet unclear to the investigation, it took fellow monks two hours to notify the authorities after they found the body around 2:20 p.m., the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily newspaper reported on Thursday.

According to the latest police findings, the abbotÂ’s murderers took $200,000 in cash from a safe box in his room. They didn't bother to check his desk drawer, though, missing an additional $5,000 that detectives found later.

Read more...

It was obviously about money. I wonder if he was a target too, or he just happened to be at the monastery at the time of robbery.
 

Prayers For Priests

 
Fr. Edward A. Sousa Jr. has asked the readers to pray for priests. He directed us to a beautiful Web site called "Prayers For Priests." I chose two prayers to share with you:

The first prayer is by St. Theresa of Lisieux

O Jesus, eternal Priest,
keep your priests within
the shelter of Your Sacred Heart,
where none may touch them.

Keep unstained their anointed hands,
which daily touch Your Sacred Body.

Keep unsullied their lips,
daily purpled with your Precious Blood.

Keep pure and unearthly their hearts,
sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.

Let Your holy love surround them and
shield them from the world's contagion.

Bless their labors with abundant fruit and
may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and
consolation here and in heaven their beautiful
and everlasting crown.

Amen.

The second prayer is by the late John J. Cardinal Carberry:

Keep them; I pray Thee, dearest Lord.

Keep them, for they are Thine
The priests whose lives burn out before
Thy consecrated shrine.

Keep them, for they are in the world,
Though from the world apart.

When earthly pleasures tempt, allure --
Shelter them in Thy heart.

Keep them and comfort them in hours
Of loneliness and pain,

When all their life of sacrifice
For souls seems but in vain.

Keep them and remember, Lord,
they have no one but Thee.

Yet, they have only human hearts,
With human frailty.

Keep them as spotless as the Host,
That daily they caress;

Their every thought and word and deed,
Deign, dearest Lord, to bless.

Please keep priests in your prayers.