The Good Catholic Life

Summary of today’s show: The study and contemplation of Scripture among Catholics has made steady progress in recent decades, but Prof. Stephen Fahrig tells Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor, recording on location at St. John’s Seminary, that Catholics can learn to appreciate the Bible even more. They discuss the five facts every Catholic should know about the Bible; what it means for it to be divinely inspired; how to pray using the Scriptures; and what resources Catholics can use in their study of the Bible. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor Today’s guest(s): Prof. Stephen Fahrig, professor of Sacred Scripture Links from today’s show: St. John Seminary Today’s topics: Catholics and Scripture 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed Fr. Chris O’Connor to the show, recording on location at St. John Seminary in Brighton. 2nd segment: Scot and Fr. Chris welcome Steve Fahrig to the show. They discussed Steve’s advanced study in the Scriptures at Boston College and Scot asked him where his love for the Scriptures blossomed that encouraged him to study it at a high level. He said it began when he was in college when his own faith began to grow. He read the Bible from front to back over the course of three months, even though he doesn’t really recommend doing that to others. Instead he recommends people to start reading the Gospels, then the Acts of the Apostles. The Psalms are excellent for daily prayer. Then they can go back and sample the narrative parts of the Old Testament, including Genesis and the first half of Exodus, some of the historical books and the prophets, especially Isaiah. Fr. Chris asked him what his favorite Gospel is. He said if he had to choose it would be Luke, because he writes with great sensitivity and because some stories appear there that aren’t in the others, like the infancy narratives, the Prodigal Son and the Good Samaritan. John stands alone and apart from the other Gospels. The Gospel presents a much more divine Jesus. In others, we get more of Jesus’ humanity, whereas John retrojects the Risen Christ back into Christ’s ministry. When Jesus performs a miracle and then spends time explaining the miracle. In the other Gospels, we get short pithy sayings, whereas Jesus is much more voluble. They also note that there’s no infancy narrative, but the Christmas Day Masses include John’s beginning of the Gospel. Fr. Chris asked the five facts every Catholic should know about the Bible. Steve said he just wished every Catholic knew the Bible. They should know the overarching narrative. That said, Catholic should know that we as believing Catholics don’t read it from a fundamentalist perspective; as if every word is literally true. There’s a difference between truth and historicity. There are many forms of writing in the Bible, many types of literary genres, including parables and other stories, which are true, but not historical. Scot asked about the other genres. Steve said that’s point number two: there are many literary genres in the Bible. There is historical writing, letters, prophecy which includes poetic oracles and is not primarily about predicting the future but speaking the word of God about current issues. Apocalyptic genre, like Revelation and Daniel, are often misunderstood. It was a common genre at Jesus time. It was a way of speaking in symbol about present reality, especially persecution, encouraging people to remain faithful to God and have hope in him. He said there’s a theory that it was written in code so that if it fell into the hands of the persecutors, they wouldn’t be able to understand it. Another example is poetry, like the Psalms, which were meant to be sung in liturgy. The third point is that there’s an intrinsic relationship between the Bible and liturgy. He said much of the Bible was written to be read aloud when the community came together to pray. Paul’s Letters were written to communities he founded and he asked that they be read out loud when they assemble for worship. This isn’t unlike when Cardinal Seán asks a video to be played in all parishes. The Gospels were shaped for liturgical proclamation. Scot noted that so many of the prayers besides the readings come directly from Scripture. Steve said there’s a story from Scott Hahn in which he said the first time he attended Mass he was amazed at how much of the Mass came from the Bible he knew. With the new translation of the Roman Missal that has become even clearer. Point four is that the Bible is a collection of 73 different writings composed over a period of 1,000 years for people in very different circumstances. Thus point five, we have to keep in mind the big picture. Looking at the whole, we see the story of God’s plan to bring about the salvation of the human race. Creation is like a six-act play: creation, fall of Adam and Eve, God choosing Israel, the coming of the Savior and his death and resurrection, the life of the Church, and finally the return of Christ. Steve said our ultimate destiny according to the Scripture is that God will remake this universe he has created so that heaven and earth are united. Fr. Chris asked about divine inspiration. Steve referred to Rembrandt’s Inspiration of St. Matthew and said it communicates both a great truth and a falsehood. The truth is that God chose particular authors and worked through them to put things into writing that are necessary for our salvation. At the same time, God made full use of the human authors and their own voice comes through clearly. St. Paul once refers to the stupid Galatians, for instance. Divine inspiration communicates divine truth. Scot asked if the Old Testament and the New Testament are equally divinely inspired. Steve said the Church doesn’t make a distinction. All parts of Scripture are both inspired and canonical. The Church does state that certain elements in the Old Testament are temporary and incomplete. For example, the Mosaic Law’s dietary restrictions. Steve also noted that for much of their history, the Israelites did not believe in life after death, which is why you can just wrench Biblical verses out of context. Scot asked what percentage of the Bible would we hear from going to Mass every day and is the Church saying those are the essential texts we need to know. Steve said he guesses that the person would be exposed to about 60% of the Scriptures. If you add the Liturgy of the Hours, that would grow to 80 to 85%. He encourages a lectionary spirituality, prayer life based on daily readings. He said it’s always to go back from the lectionary to the same text in the Bible to read those verses that might not have been included. Fr. Chris asked how people can pray using the Scriptures. Steve said there are several approaches, but he does recommend the lectionary approach. The daily Mass readings are a good way to start. Another approach would be to start with one book. For instance during Advent, to read the infancy narratives in the Gospels and look at how each one offers a part of the Nativity story. One could also pray with the Psalms, which one of his professors call Hallmark cards to God: readymade prayers to which you can add some words. There’s a whole range of Psalms for all different needs. He said one could also pray a scriptural rosary. Before each decade you read the Scripture connected to the mystery being contemplated in that decade. Scot asked when you receive Scripture by yourself, what resources would he recommend to help answer questions and guide the reading. Steve said some aspects of the Bible are easily accessible, but other books can very confusing. He said it’s good to have a study Bible. He recommends the Little Rock Catholic Study Bible. He said the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible has a very good New Testament. For the Old Testament, the Navarre Bible is very good, combining good historical information along with reflections from the saints, church fathers, and popes. Fr. Chris asked for a demonstration of the way of praying with the lectionary. He said you have to prepared to not just to get through everything. One way of doing this is lectio divina, divine reading. You take a passage and read through it a few times, identifying words or phrases that jump out to you and then going to prayer and asking God what it has to say for you. He used the Sunday reading from the Book of Jeremiah as an example. Another possibility is Ignatian contemplation where one imagines oneself inside the Biblical story. Imagine what you would be like as different people in each scene. But once you hit upon something in which God is speaking to you, there’s no need to go on as if you need to complete a set amount of reading. Fr. Chris asked about St. Paul. Steve said Paul began as a Pharisee, who went from being a persecutor of the Church to being an advocate of Christ. He resists the idea that Paul was an evil person, because he was himself a devout Jew. It was only when the revelation of Jesus broke through that he was able to see the truth. Steve said in many ways St. Paul was the founder of the Christian church beyond the confines of Palestine. If someone wanted to start with St. Paul, he recommends 1st Corinthians, in which he deals with moral and ethical issues. His favorite is the shortest, the Letter to Philemon, where he’s urging Philemon to set his slave free and liberate. Romans is Paul’s theological masterpiece and that’s one of those where you’d need a guide to understand some of the more complex theological ideas. As to his favorite Scripture passage if Isaiah 43:1-7 in terms of realizing that he’s a person created and loved by God. God says that there “you are precious in my eyes and honored and I love you.” Just as God said it to the people of Israel, he says it to us today. Steve said his particular interest in Scripture is the relation between the Bible and liturgy. He said he believes that Hebrews contains veiled references to the Eucharist, which is a minority belief among scholars. When he wrote his thesis for the Licentiate in Sacred Theology, one of his readers disagreed with his interpretation of Hebrews so he decided that would be a good topic for his dissertation. Many people think Hebrews was written by St. Paul, but that’s almost universally rejected by Scripture scholars. There are several clues that Paul didn’t write, like the style of Greek and his reference to others being apostles. But they just don’t know who wrote it.

Summary of today’s show: On our last show before Christmas, Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell count down the top 10 Christmas hymns, according to Scot. Some on the list are expected, others are unexpected, and some cause a little good-humored arguments over the relative ranking of particular favorites. Also we hear the world premiere of Cardinal Seán’s Christmas message that will be played worldwide on Vatican Radio on Christmas Day. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell Today’s guest(s): Cardinal Seán O’Malley, OFM Cap, Archbishop of Boston Today’s topics: Countdown of the Top 10 Christmas Hymns 1st segment: Scot Landry said this our last live show from the studio this calendar year and our last show before Christmas. Fr. Mark O’Connell said he is especially glad that the world didn’t end today. Scot said Cardinal Sean recorded a Christmas message that will be played worldwide on Vatican Radio. We hear the first broadcast today. Cardinal Seán referred to the starry night and the angels bringing the message of God to the shepherds. The shepherds went in haste to Jesus, Mary and Joseph and went forth giving praise and glory to God. He asked what if the people didn’t believe and didn’t share the news? But they did believe and we celebrate that the Word of God became Man among us. In too many ways the darkness threatens to overshadow us. The Light of Christ shines through the darkness and sustains us in our most difficult moment. We must share our faith with those around us. We must work to dispel the darkness and help one another live lives called to holiness. Fr. Mark said the message from Cardinal Seán is to share the faith especially in this Year of Faith. Scot said when we receive the Good News, our call is to take that Good News and share it with everybody. God allows us to participate in His plan for salvation. To whom much is given, much is expected. If we’ve been blessed with good Catholic formation, we are obligated to pass it on to others. On today’s show, we’re going to countdown the top 10 Christmas hymns as determined by Scot. 10. Angels We Have Heard on High Come to Bethlehem and see Him whose birth the angels sing; Come, adore on bended knee Christ, the Lord, the newborn King. Gloria in excelsis Deo, in excelsis Deo Scot said other than the Gloria, there isn’t anything tremendously memorable about this song. Rick Heil said this is the song that separate the men from the boys in the choir because of the need for good breath control. Scot said Number 9 wasn’t one he’d heard as a child growing up in Lowell. He said it’s popular at the Archdiocesan Boy’s Choir School and among others and it’s recently become one of his favorites. 9. Once in Royal David’s City He came down to earth from heaven, Who is God and Lord of all, And His shelter was a stable, And His cradle was a stall; With the poor, and mean, and lowly, Lived on earth our Saviour holy. Scot said it’s a beautiful poem set to a beautiful melody. Fr. Mark said it’s a song he’d forgotten about but he does love it. Number 8 is a classic Scot has heard most of his life. 8. What Child Is This? Nails, spear shall pierce Him through, The Cross be borne for me, for you; Hail, hail, the Word made flesh, The Babe, the Son of Mary. Scot loves the part in which they say “this, this is Christ the King.” Fr. Mark said it makes him recall the carolers coming to his house as he was growing up. Rick said when he was in a choir, it usually came later in the program because it was so contemplative. Scot thinks number 7 will be controversial because most will think it should be number 1. 7. Silent Night Silent night! Holy night! Son of God, love’s pure light Radiant beams from thy holy face, With the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord, at thy birth Scot said the only reason this is number 7 for him is because it always made him sleepy on Christmas Eve. Fr. Mark said it might have been played too much. He said he’s heard a nice version by Christina Aguilera when she was 11 years old. Rick said he used to sing it in German. He said it’s one of the first Christmas songs you learn, but learning to sing it in German gave him a newfound respect for it. And because it’s slower, he loves it. Fr. Mark says it should be higher on the list and the next song doesn’t beat it. Scot said that’s makes this fun. Scot thinks Number 6 could be some people’s number 1. He thinks every Catholic parish sings this next one on Christmas Day. 6. Joy to the World Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare him room, And heav’n and nature sing, Joy to the earth! the Saviour reigns; Let men their songs employ, While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat the sounding joy. Fr. Mark said it’s often sung at the end of Mass. People are joyful, all dressed up and greeting one another. It’s a great way to celebrate Christmas. Rick said it’s one of the songs that the congregation knows by heart and sings heartily. Scot said Number 5 wouldn’t have made his top 10 in the past week, but since then 4 people he respects have said this is their favorite Christmas hymn and it made him reconsider it. 5. Lo, How a Rose E’Er Blooming To show God’s love aright She bore to men a Saviour, When half spent was the night. This flower, whose fragrance tender With sweetness fills the air, Dispels with glorious splendor The darkness everywhere. True man, yet very God, From sin and death He saves us And lightens every load. Scot said it’s one of the most beautiful harmonies he’s heard in church. Fr. Mark said it’s a beautiful song for a choir and so fun for them to sing. Rick said he agrees with Scot’s placement of the song on his list. Scot said there’s a lot of spiritual richness in the lyrics that are concrete and it all comes together in a way you may not expect. Fr. Mark said this was Number 3 on his list. Number 4 is one of Scot’s favorites to sing in church. This was his favorite performed by the Archdiocesan Boys Choir School, where his son goes. 4. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing Veiled in flesh the God head see! Hail, th’ incarnate Deity! Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel. Scot said there’s no doubt this could be Number 1. Fr. Mark said people could take this as a Christmas prayer and there’s so many profound thoughts in all of these songs. Scot said one of the things he loves about this is that people sing it loud. It’s something to participate in the Christmas Mass by amping up your volume to 10. Rick said this is another one of those congregation songs, that everyone sings, and it’s a good classic. He enjoyed it as a closing hymn. Scot said ranking the top 3 was tough for him. The next one was number 1 for a while. 3. O Come All Ye Faithful ‘Glory to God In the highest’; Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, Born this happy morning; Jesus, to Thee be glory given; Scot said this has been the opening hymn for 33 of the past 35 years of Christmas he remembers. Fr. Mark said this is the first of this list that he sang to himself here because it’s so familiar. Scot said it’s an appropriate song for the entire year. We come to Mass every week to worship God and adore Him at that altar. Fr. Mark said because Mass is so full at Christmas, hearing this song at full volume tells you that this is Christmas. Now cutting to Fr. Mark’s Top 4. His Number 4 is different. It’s personal and it’s favorite because of the story connected to it. Fr. Mark’s Number 4: Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas” Fr. Mark said it’s number 4 because when he was a young teenager and his father was very sick in the hospital and there was a huge snowstorm at Christmas, they couldn’t have a tree. But the storm was so violent it knocked the top off their blue spruce tree which they brought into their house. The song symbolizes how Christ brings hope to those who are sad at Christmas. Fr. Mark’s Number 3: In the Bleak Midwinter Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain; heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign. In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. What can I give him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; yet what I can I give him: give my heart. Scot said he’d never heard the song before. It would be wonderful as a Communion meditation. Fr. Mark said his number one matches Scot’s and Scot said Cardinal Seán agreed. He said his Number 2 is probably not in most people’s top 10. It’s also one of his favorite hymns of all time. 2. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand; ponder nothing earthly-minded, for with blessing in his hand, Christ our God to earth descendeth, our full homage to demand. Scot said he loves the lyrics and he said it rocks on the organ, the bigger the pipes the better. Fr. Mark said he would rank this one a lot lower on his list. Rick said it’s not a difficult song to sing, but it’s a very good reflective song. You can sing it to yourself and meditate on it. Scot said the theme of knowing God was taking on flesh that we should approach that mystery in silence with awe. And now Scot’s, Fr. Mark’s, Cardinal Seán’s favorite Christmas hymn. This version is the one recorded by Josh Groban. 1. O Holy Night Long lay the world, in sin and error pining, Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth; Fall on your knees, O hear the angels voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

Summary of today’s show: Our usual thursday panel of Scot Landry, Susan Abbott, Gregory Tracy, and Fr. Roger Landry consider the news headlines of the week, including the Catholic response to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut; the beginning of a new online faith formation course for the Year of Faith called Catholic Faith Essentials; local children winning a national artwork competition for the Missionary Childhood Association; Catholic Voices USA training in Boston for media evangelization; Women Affirming Life Advent breakfast; an award for My Brother’s Keeper; restoring a 100-year-old organ; and preparing for Christmas. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): Gregory Tracy, managing editor of the Pilot, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston, and Fr. Roger Landry, pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Fall River Links from today’s show: The Anchor The Pilot Some of the stories discussed on this show will be available on The Pilot’s and The Anchor’s websites on Friday morning. Please check those sites for the latest links. Today’s topics: Newtown, CT; Catholic Faith Essentials; Missionary Childhood Association; Catholic Voices USA; Preparing for Christmas 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed everyone to the show and announced that next week we’ll be running “best of” shows next week while the staff takes some time off. This afternoon, Cardinal Seán is celebrating a Mass for the staff of the Pastoral Center. The Pilot is taking a hiatus next week as well, but also preparing for the ordination of Bishop Deeley as they come back with a 50-page special edition. The ordination Mass is Friday, January 4 at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. Fr. Roger Landry said there’s a new venerable in the Church that many will know. Pope Paul VI has been declared venerable, meaning that after a lengthy study of his entire life, he has been declared to have lived Christian virtues to a high degree. Pope Paul led the Church through a very difficult time in society and in the life of the Church with all the upheaval of the Sixties and Seventies. In 500 or 1,000 years, what Paul VI wrote in Humanae Vitae will continue to be revered as preaching an important truth that was proclaimed heroically out of season. Scot said his primary memory of Pope Paul VI was hearing of his death from his parents. Susan said she has more memories of the Pope, of traveling to Rome during a Holy Year and going to an audience with the Pope. As the Pope came in, her son was lifted up to the Pope who blessed and kissed the child. Her son later wrote about the sense of importance attached to that moment for the rest of his life. After the audience, people crowded around to kiss the boy’s head. Scot said if miracles are attributed to the intercessory prayers to Paul VI he could be then beatified and canonized. One miracle is already being evaluated for his beatification. Fr. Roger encouraged listeners to ask the Lord specifically through the intercession of Venerable Paul VI for any needs they might have. Scot said the big news across the country is the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, last Friday. The coverage in Catholic news is slightly different, with focus on the Church’s response. Cardinal Seán’s Homily on Sunday, December 16, 2012 “‘No words’ can describe shock, sadness after shooting, says priest”, CNS, 12/17/12 “Pope expresses grief over Newtown shooting, calls for acts of peace”, CNS, 12/17/12 “Newtown pastor tells mourners child victims were gift from the start”, CNS, 12/19/12 Scot said this could have been any community near us. It was not at all unusual. Cardinal Seán preached about this at all of his Masses last weekend. Greg said it reminded him a little of 9/11 in how it shocked and shook people. Like 9/11 people are turning to their faith for answers to this senseless violence. The story in the Pilot was about the Mass at 11:30 that was scheduled for the Rite of Blessing of the Child in the Womb. He tied together the horror people felt, calling for a ban on assault weapons, calling for improved mental health care. He recalled the Feast of the Holy Innocents and how in this time of joy of Christmas there was also a great sadness of the loss of the innocents in Bethlehem. Scot said in the face of this madness, everyone wants to do something. One of our young Catholics in this Archdiocese, a young woman who was just confirmed in Needham, organized one of the largest candlelight vigils in the area. Jackie Arrondo, 16, of St. Joseph Parish wanted to do something. She rallied support from everywhere in town and 70 people came despite the cold rain that evening. Susan also said she heard from a friend who sent out emails to her friends, asking everyone to pray daily for one of the victims and their family. Scot said one of the faces of the Church’s response has been Msgr. Bob Weiss, pastor of St. Rose of Lima parish in Newtown. Fr. Roger said you could see the graces of his priestly ordination working through him. No one is ever trained for this as a priest. He had been clear that there are no magic words in a time like this. Just being present to someone, they show that God is with those in pain. Only God can give the definitive answer. The second thing way he proclaimed was by his tears. He broke down on national television and its important for everyone to see that we Christians grieve, but we grieve differently. We don’t grieve as if there is no hope. We had tremendous confidence in the salvation of these first-graders. Many of the parents have also given witness to their Christian faith. Fr. Roger said he changed his own homilies this past weekend to confront this reality because it’s on everyone’s mind. He tried to say that the one who mourns most is the One who lost 28 children that day, but that’s not where God the Father stops. He had sent His own Son into a world that was even worse than ours, even more violent. A man could kill his own family or his slaves for any reason. Herod could slaughter all the children legally. But Jesus came into that world and redeemed and over the course of time, we have built a culture on the Prince of Peace, a culture that respects other human beings. the most important thing we need to recognize that our culture needs God and that’s the biggest thing we need to change. Fr. Roger said he was happy at the interfaith prayer service that President Obama spoke at that no one was ashamed to turn to God. Scot said most of the opinion pieces in the Pilot deal with this and Scot said John Garvey’s is one of the best. Greg said Garvey says that we’ve devalued human life and in the end we’re reaping what we’ve sown. He writes about what all these recent mass murderers have in common including a lack of love and hope. Jesus gives us love and hope. It’s not inconsequential then when people tell us to keep our faith out of the public square. I think we won’t make real headway with the problem unless we change the culture, and that is a job for us, not for the government or the psychiatric profession. The culture that young men grow up in is one where violence is not just present but glamorized. At the national and corporate levels we see unjust wars and the arms trade. At the state level, capital punishment. At the individual level we give constitutional protection to abortion, to video games that simulate assault and murder, and in some places to assisted suicide. We teach our children that they are autonomous moral actors, responsible for defining their values. This produces a culture where the strong decide the fate of the weak. Then when something like this happens we want the government to protect us from the natural consequences of our own folly. When Cain killed Abel, he tried to deflect the Lord’s inquiry by suggesting that we are each in charge of our own affairs: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” We have to relearn Cain’s lesson. Yes, I am my brother’s keeper. All life is sacred. We must teach our children habits of virtue, not leave them to chart their own course through the moral life. 2nd segment: In the Pilot this week, we learn that the Archdiocese of Boston is beginning an online faith formation course starting on January 7 and continuing for 30 Monday nights in total. People can participate in their own homes or as groups in parishes. They will be webcast live at 7pm on Mondays or viewers can watch the recordings at their convenience. Year of Faith Boston: Catholic Faith Essentials r. Roger said online learning is becoming more popular and he’s thrilled that the Archdiocese of Boston is piloting a program like this. Especially in this year of Faith when we’re all called to live our faith better. Fr. Roger hopes to encourage his own parishioners to participate. It’s not just for Catholics in the Archdiocese or Massachusetts or even the US. We could have people throughout the English-speaking parts of the world because there aren’t similar offerings. Scot said this is free and he hopes that people from everywhere will participate. Also in the Pilot, the Women Affirming Life Advent breakfast took place on December 15. Susan said it was right after the Newtown shooting and it affected all those there. More than 300 people attended. She said it was good for them to be together for Mass and breakfast, especially in the busy-ness of Advent. The Cardinal spoke about it in his homily and also spoke about a woman in the Midwest who’d had quintuplets in the early 1960s and gained some fame for her openness to life who recently died. She said Msgr. James Moroney also addressed the group and offered a gentle wit and great insight and comforting words. Another story in the Pilot is a story about two local grade-school students who won a national artwork contest for Christmas. They do this contest every year and the winners go to Washington, DC, for a Mass in the Basilica. The Boston winners of the Missionary Childhood Association National Christmas Artwork Contest There are 24 winners nationwide and having two from Boston is a big deal. Dominic Udoakang, grade 4, from Cathedral Elementary School in Boston and Jacinta Jaranja, grade 4, from St. Patrick School in Lowell, were the winners. Catholic Voices USA Also in the Pilot, Catholic Voices USA will hold training for laypeople in the Pastoral Center at the beginning of March. Fr. Roger said it prepares bright, young Catholics to be defenders of the Church and her teachings in the media in particular. The group has already had an impact during the HHS mandate debates. Young people throughout New England will be trained to become good evangelizers. It’s not just goodwill and knowledge, but technique is also important for being effective. The training isn’t just for TV and radio appearances, but also for people engaging family members, friends, and local newspapers. They will learn how to frame issues and help people according to their own categories to come to the truth. Scot said they’ve already done trainings in Washington, DC, and New York. They’ve had hundreds of applications for the limited number of spots so Scot encouraged people to apply early. Also in the Pilot are two groups advancing toward ordination as Permanent Deacons. Greg said Cardinal Seán has been supportive of the ministry of permanent deacons in the Archdiocese. In recent years, ordinations have increased from every two years to annual. He said the Pilot is working with the Office of Permanent Deacons to give more visibility to the ministry of deacons. The 11 men who became acolytes are John D. Barry; John H. Beagan. Jr.; John J. Burkly; Paul G. Coletti; Richard J. Cussen; Timothy F. Donohue; Joseph R. Flocco; Joseph P. Harrington; William M. Jackson: Kevin P. Martin, Jr.; and William R. Proulx. The 10 men entering formation, and their home parishes, are: Timothy Booker, St. Bridget Parish (Abington); Paul Carroll, St. Theresa of Lisieux Parish (Sherborn); Joseph Dorlus, St. Angela Parish (Mattapan); James Kearney, St. Mary Parish (Wrentham); Kelley McCormick, St. Mary of the Assumption Parish (Dedham); Jonathan Mosely. St. Bernadette Parish (Randolph); Charles Rossignol, Immaculate Conception Parish (Marlborough); Jose Torres, St. Benedict Parish (Somerville); Roger Vierra, St. Helen Parish (Norwell): and Thomas Walsh, St. William Parish (Tewksbury). Scot said our friends from My Brother’s Keeper, Jim and Terry Orcutt, have won a national award from Holy Cross Family Ministries. “Easton Couple Receives Prestigious Holy Cross Award”, The Anchor, 12/21/12 Program #0105 for Wednesday, August 3, 2011: My Brother’s Keeper Also in the Anchor is a great story from St. Anthony in New Bedford about efforts to raise funds for their 100-year-old organ. Fr. Roger said some of the greatest organists in the country have given concerts there on this organ which is a masterpiece. Restoring an organ means all the wooden and leather parts which corrode over time need to be replaced. He said we can’t depend only on the poor people who live in inner-city New Bedford to pick up the whole cost. “Parish Continues to Raise Funds for 100-Year-Old Organ”, The Anchor, 12/21/12 St. Anthony, New Bedford Also in both newspapers is a lot of information about preparing for the last week of Advent and Christmas. Scot asked Susan about her preparations for Christmas. She said she tells herself that Jesus will come whether we are ready or not. “The Church is the Inn”, Fr. Roger Landry, The Anchor, 12/21/12 Bishops Coleman’s 2012 Christmas Message, The Anchor Susan said she was in a store recently and was appalled at what is being sold for Christmas cards. She wishes we could all remember the reason for the season. She couldn’t find a single box of Christmas cards with a religious theme. Scot said he’s noticed a lot of his Catholic friends have started sending cards that said Season’s Greetings or Happy Holidays, but this year almost all of the cards he’s received from Catholics have said Merry Christmas. Fr. Roger wrote in his column this week that the great scandal of Christmas is that there was no room at the inn and that we have to get right what the innkeepers got wrong. Too often we make those who come to Mass only on Christmas and Easter unwelcome. The New Evangelization is about making people welcome to come back again and again. We have to make these people feel welcome by our actions, by helping them feel comfortable being there and showing our love to them. Scot said the Pilot has a section each week called Faith Alive, which is a response to Cardinal Seán’s desire to have more faith formation material. The last few weeks it has focused on Advent and this week on Christmas.

Summary of today’s show: With less than a week to go before Christmas, Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams discuss with Michael Lavigne and Stephen Colella the Advent and Christmas traditions they grew up with and those they have acquired that help them and their families prepare for the beautiful celebration of the Birth of Christ. The panel also discusses why midnight Mass on Christmas Eve might be a new habit some will want to acquire and Our Sunday Visitor’s list of 30 ways to get the most out of Advent and Christmas. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams Today’s guest(s): Michael Lavigne, Stephen Colella Today’s topics: Celebrating Advent and Christmas as a family 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomes everyone to the show and notes that we are less than one week from Christmas, and we are preparing to commemorate the Nativity. He welcomed Fr. Matt Williams back to the show and asked if he’s recovered from the five nights of the God of This City Tour last week. Fr. Matt said it was so worth it. He said many members of the team worked all day then spent their evenings with the tour and didn’t get home until after midnight. It was the fourth tour since they started. Fr. Matt said what will remain with him will be the evening at the cathedral because it’s the mother church and the cardinal was there along with 700 young people. Also the company that did the sound and lighting for them this year brought in so much more for the money that they were paid or that Lift could afford. The visual images alone added to the praising the Lord will remain. Mother Olga did a great job on Friday in her reflections. But it will also be remembered on a sad note because the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, occurred that morning. They wondered how they could incorporate pray for that event during the evening. The cardinal was the one to address the matter and prayed for the families. The very next song called “Jesus Messiah” was perfect for the moment because it is an Advent song and it speaks of Jesus as our only hope. In the midst of tragedy and loss to whom else do we turn by Jesus? Today we’ll be talking about family traditions for Advent that make the season more meaningful. 2nd segment: Scot and Fr. Matt welcome back Michael Lavigne and Stephen Colella to the show. As we move through Advent, we want to make the Christmas experience as rich as we can for our friends and family. Stephen said he works with families and youth ministers and he helps come up with tools to help them form their young people. They speak of the ACES of learning acronym. They want Active learning, rather than passive. Keep the activity in the faith active. For example, if you’re reading the Christmas story, let the children read it themselves or take certain pieces of it. C stands for Communal. There is value in communal learning. For example, when lighting the Advent candle with the whole family, it becomes communal. We learn differently as a team than we do one on one. E is for Experiential. This means it’s hands-on. There are traditions like making certain kinds of food. Making a traditional food together and sharing stories of the family’s heritage. S is for Senses and we use all our senses. There are the colors of Advent and if we decorate the house in purple, for example, it sets a tone. When you can tie all four together it goes a long way. For example, a family puts the nativity set out all together. After dinner every night, they reflect on how they have welcomed Christ for others into the world and for each act they put a piece of straw into the manger. Stephen said in his own family, he recalls all the cooking that went on leading into Christmas day. They never went out, but people were invited over and it was a buffet all day long for friends, family, and those who had no place else to go. Scot asked Michael about some of his favorite memories. He said his wife is Greek and Italian and food is important to her too. Michael said at the beginning of Advent they went to a parish family Advent wreath-making. His instinct as a dad to jump in and do everything himself. But his wife jumps in and lets each child take part and explains to them what everything means. Then they use the Advent wreath during the season. Every night, they do bedtime prayers in the living room with the Advent wreath, lighting the candle, and singing a verse of O Come O Come Emmanuel. Each night a different child gets to blow out the candle. He said they’re very intentional during Advent. They spread out the preparations throughout Advent. Last week, they put up the tree and decorated it and did the blessing in the tree. They incorporate prayer into everything they do. Fr. Matt said for him growing up, they always had the fake Christmas tree. Scot outed himself as a fake tree person. Fr. Matt said having grown up with it, he appreciates it too. Stephen said he gets a real tree and it smells great. He loves having to water and nurture it. Michael lived in Maine for four years and he cut his own tree down. He would go to a tree farm, not just going into the forest on his own. Fr. Matt said his family would put the tree together and put up the nativity. The Christmas tree was always connected with the nativity set. It was an heirloom from his maternal grandmother. He remembers they never put the baby Jesus in the manger until Christmas and the three kings were kept away from the creche. Later, the family rosary became part of the ritual and they would pray and add straw to the manger. Later in his high school years, they prayed the St. Andrew’s Christmas novena that began on November 30 until Christmas Day. Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen. It became a pious tradition seeking an intercessory prayer but also calling to mind that beautiful moment of the Lord’s birth. It is prayed 15 times each day. Fr. Matt said in his family, his dad would lead them in the prayer 15 times after the family rosary. When he was at St. Mary’s in Dedham, Fr. Matt said they did a live nativity play. The middle school kids were the active participants and they rented live animals. After the 9:30am Mass, everyone was invited to the parking lot and the kids dramatized the Christmas story and sang Christmas carols. Afterward, they would have hot chocolate in the rectory. Stephen said his family would go to midnight Mass. Scot noted that tradition was more popular in the past than it is today. Stephen said it became a family tradition and his mother wanted to welcome Jesus first before they welcomed Santa. Michael said they went to midnight Mass too and then the family would open Christmas presents, going to bed after that. Fr. Matt said they didn’t go to the midnight Mass, but to the vigil Mass, and go out to Chinese food afterward. Later as their faith took a more active role in their family’s life, then it was the midnight Mass as well. Even the readings reflect that it’s the midnight celebration that is most significant. The readings at the Masses before are still anticipatory. It is the Mass when so many of the faithful, those who are the core of the parish are together and all stops are pulled out. Scot said he’s never been to a midnight Mass, although he’s watched the midnight Mass from St. Peter’s. But now his brother, Fr. Roger Landry, has been writing about the midnight Mass in his new parish’s bulletin about the importance of the midnight Mass and Scot read at length from Fr. Roger’s bulletin. Bulletin for Third Sunday of Advent, 2012, St. Bernadette, Fall River I am sure many of you are making plans for how you’re going to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I wanted to give you the Mass schedule. We’ll have a vigil Mass at 4 pm, the Midnight Mass at Midnight, and we’ll have a 10:30 Mass on Christmas Day. Please note that there will be no 8:30 am or 5 pm Mass on Christmas, as there normally is on Sunday. I would urge all of you who can to make the extra effort to come to the Mass at Midnight. I wrote in the bulletin a few weeks ago that there is something beautifully symbolic about the tradition of Midnight Mass. People who ordinarily never go out late at night and are often at that hour dressed in pajamas and sleeping soundly adjust their sleep schedules to get up, put on their best clothes and head out alert to their parish churches. The Christmas midnight Mass is the antithesis of the growing tendency to try to make the practice of the faith convenient and easy. It’s a bulwark against the propensity to fit the celebration of Christmas and the worship of God into our crowded life; it is, rather, an annual reminder that we are called to make our lives revolve around the mysteries of faith and that those mysterious realities are worth changing sleep patterns and inconveniencing ourselves. The annual tradition of Midnight Mass reinforces is an outward sign that we are awake and alert for the coming of the Lord and so excited for his arrival that we are willing to sacrifice everything else to greet him with joy and love as soon as he arrives. It is a public and personal reminder that we prioritize Christ over sleep, convenience, presents, family members, and everything else. In short, it manifests that God is God in our lives, that he is our highest priority, and that we would rather postpone everything else in life than delay giving him the response of loving adoration he deserves. Even for those who may struggle to live with this type of Christian receptivity and response throughout the year, it is at least an annual occasion to put things back in their proper order and restore God and our relationship with him to their proper places. The real meaning of Christmas, Pope Benedict said a few years ago, is that “God has set out towards us. Left to ourselves we could not reach him. The path is too much for our strength. But God has come down. He comes towards us. He has traveled the longer part of the journey. Now he invites us: ‘Come and see how much I love you. Come and see that I am here.” That is an invitation worth staying up for, worth receiving, wholeheartedly, worth journeying whatever distances with haste to correspond, and worth placing before all other things. So I’d ask you, even if you haven’t come to Midnight Mass for many years, to get up or stay up for God, to be as anxious to celebrate with Him as any child would want to get up in the middle of the night to see what Santa Claus may have left. It’s also a beautiful practice for Catholics to attend more than one Mass on Christmas, just like they will often attend more than one Christmas party. Scot said it’s making him re-think whether they should find a midnight Mass this year. It calls him not to do the minimum, but to find out what the maximum we can do in our faith. Stephen recalled attending midnight Mass at St. Peter’s in Rome one year and the sense of peace he experienced leaving the basilica this year. He admitted this column gets him to rethink his plans as well. Michael said growing up there wasn’t a vigil Mass, but they put emphasis on the midnight Mass. The pastor put votives around the church property. Michael said it’s tough to wake up your kids and go to midnight Mass, so for now they go Christmas morning, but they look forward to doing it again in the future. Scot said his parish, St. Agnes in Arlington, has 10 Masses scheduled for Christmas, 6 for the vigil and 4 on Christmas Day, including a 5pm on Christmas Day. Scot said he’s always gone to Mass on Christmas Day even if he’s gone the night before, but he’s sure that two-thirds of everyone in his parish is going to the Christmas Eve Masses as a convenience. What does it say that we opt for convenience. He said the introduction of the Saturday vigil Mass 50 years ago was intended to aid those who have to go then, but now it’s one of the biggest Masses so people don’t have to get up Sunday morning. Stephen recalled how many people around the world are grateful just to be able to go to Mass at all, whenever it’s available. We should also be grateful for our priests who do so much work on these days. 3rd segment: This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Carlos Torres of Melrose He wins Pray, Hope, and Don’t Worry: True Stories of Padre Pio Book II by Diane Allen. If you would like to be eligible to win in an upcoming week, please visit WQOM.org. For a one-time $30 donation, you’ll receive the Station of the Cross benefactor card and key tag, making you eligible for WQOM’s weekly raffle of books, DVDs, CDs and religious items. We’ll be announcing the winner each Wednesday during “The Good Catholic Life” program. 4th segment: Our Sunday Visitor Weekly has created a list of 30 ways to get the most out of Advent and Christmas: Go to Mass Adjust your attitude and expectations Stop comparing yourself to others Put everything in perspective Find goodness in each day Light an Advent wreath Cut back Curb excessive gift giving Stick to a budget Communicate. Talk with family members about what traditions to keep and simplify others. Celebrate the feasts of Advent Find ways to help others Eat slowly Keep moving. Exercise. Breathe Reflect on Advent as a time of waiting Read the Christmas story Step back in time Do something nice every day Forgive someone Receive the Sacrament of reconciliation Pray for patience Offer up something painful or difficult in your life Listen to Christmas music Take a prayer nap. Imagine you’re resting in the arms of the Lord. Meditate on the nativity scene Laugh Pray Start an Advent journal Thank God for all the good things Stephen said it is a season of prayer and penitence so that’s how they adjust the attitude. They also send care packages for Advent to nieces and nephews that include activity books, charity boxes for tithing, candy, Christian pictures, and the like. Michael said the idea of not comparing self to others is important. It’s easy to get caught up in that rather than be appreciative of who we are and what we have, especially modeling it for children. Fr. Matt said curbing excessive gift giving makes him think of a time when he was 21 and had done some missionary work in Bosnia. Coming back after seeing these people who had been ravaged by civil war and blessed just to be together, he had Christmas gifts up to his ears and he knew he didn’t need it. In his family, they’ve reduced the gift giving to a secret Santa. They now make a family donation to My Brother’s Keeper. That ties to #12. Stephen said you can give a gift on the Feast of St. Nicholas or give only three gifts or open one gift per day of the 12 days of Christmas. They also gave the things that they need. Michael said last Saturday they took the kids to see the lights at the LaSalette shrine and then went to the sacrament of reconciliation. He said Advent is also a time to slow down. All these things on the list make you more patient, more prepared to celebrate Christ’s birthday. Fr. Matt said he loves the idea of meditating on the nativity scene. An hour before celebrating the midnight Mass, he prays before the nativity he keeps in his room. There’s also something beautiful about going to daily Mass and praying the Liturgy of the Hours. As you pray within the Church’s calendar, the prayers o beautifully communicate the season we’re in. they help us to slow down and do many of the things we saw on this list. Stephen said they get together with a family on Christmas Eve Eve to read the Christmas story, which makes sure they are done with preparations 48 hours before.

Summary of today’s show: When a man is ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of Boston, he is made a promise that his medical, retirement, and other needs will be provided for now and in his elder years. The Christmas collection for the Clergy Funds is part of that promise keeping where the parishioners of the Archdiocese show their love and honor for the priests in their lives. Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor talk to Fr. Michael Medas and Joe D’Arrigo about the Christmas collection and Clergy Funds, about the priests who’ve affected their lives, and the meaning of the priesthood as a vocation of spiritual fatherhood. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor Today’s guest(s): Joe D’Arrigo, Executive Director of the Clergy Funds, and Fr. Michael Medas, Director of Clergy Personnel Links from today’s show: Clergy Funds Make a donation to the Clergy Funds Today’s topics: The Christmas Collection for Our Priests 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed Fr. Chris O’Connor to the show. They noted that the seminarians from St. John’s Seminary are taking their final exams and heading home for the holiday. Fr. Chris said he’ll be celebrating Mass for Christmas in three or four locations, including for the men at Norfolk State Prison. Scot said he just went to a going-away party for our colleague Anna Johnson who is taking a new job in Seward, Alaska. He said she’s one of the friendliest people in the Pastoral Center and has added a lot to our team. Anna and Karla take care of many of the behind-the-scenes aspects of the show. Scot said today we’ll talk to Joe D’Arrigo and Fr. Michael Medas about the Christmas day collection for the care of our retired and ailing priests. Fr. Chris said all the priests are grateful for the generous contributions people make for the care of their priests. 2nd segment: Scot said the theme of the show is “promises kept” because the Clergy Funds is in the business of keeping the promises made to our priests. Joe D’Arrigo said when a man becomes a priest he’s told that his medical needs, his housing needs, his retirement needs are taken care of. The Clergy Funds are responsible for the health and medical benefits for active and retired priests, stipends for retired priests, and Regina Cleri where 55 of our priests live with assisted care today. Joe said when a young man becomes a priests, he’s like other young men, not thinking about retirement or other factors later in life. Most men don’t start thinking about retirement until they hit about 60. Many of our priests are still active in their 70s and they start thinking about a transition to a life where they’re still active in the sacraments but they can slow down a bit. Clergy Funds makes sure they are taken care of. Many priests live on their own and Clergy Funds has a nurse who goes out to visit them. There are about 150 living on their own today, electing not to live at Regina Cleri. Fr. Michael Medas said about 303 priests are assigned to parish ministries. Beyond that there are priests in other ministries, like hospitals or the seminary. That makes up about 350. Another 350 are in retirement. However priests enter a life of service, so they don’t retire from ministry, but continue their service to the people of God. He can continue to live that life of service with the aid of the Clergy Funds. Generosity to the Clergy Funds directly impacts the lives of the people whose lives are touched by that priest. Every contribution allows ministry to continue to touch people’s lives. Scot said as we move forward in the Archdiocese, those senior priests will continue to be counted on as the number of active priests decline. Joe said the number of senior priests in ministry will exceed the number of active priests in a few years. The senior priests often allow the active priests to be able to take time off or to go to hospitals or prisons, allowing parishes to have coverage for Masses and other sacraments. Scot said they are senior priests because priesthood isn’t a job, like parenthood, it’s a vocation. Parents don’t retire from parenthood. Joe said he goes to Regina Cleri about once per week and every morning all the men are in the chapel at 8:30am celebrating Mass. It’s great to visit with them after they come out and you hear lots of great stories. Scot said every man in the pews is vested as a priest for Mass. Joe said there 2,800 years of priesthood at Regina Cleri. At the moment of consecration, you see the hands of every man move, even those who aren’t always coherent. It never leaves them. Those men are the history of the Archdiocese. Joe said Fr. Skip Jennings spent 46 years at St. Joseph in Somerville. He retired and went directly to Regina Cleri. He didn’t want to retire, but had a fall and needed to go for respite. He went to Regina Cleri and loved it and stayed. He was loved by his parish and the people love their priests. Joe said they hope for $4 million from the Christmas collection. They spent $6 million in medical benefits this year and $4 million in stipends this year. Scot said the Clergy Funds has tried to focus on the individual priests in our lives, to personalize the collection so that we can each honor the priests in our lives. Most of us had multiple priests who have impacted our lives. Joe said they often don’t know they’re having an impact on us. Joe talked about the priests that have affected him. He said his wife became ill about 20 years ago and they needed the last rites for her. They called a particular priest who came in about 15 minutes in the middle of the night. There was no question that he would come. Priests touch your heart on a daily basis for many of us. Even for those who don’t go to Mass on a regular basis, when they need someone, they are there. Joe said after the events of last Friday, people have turned to their priests. Scot said his own pastor said how proud he was of the pastor in Newtown, Connecticut, Msgr. Bob Weiss, who rose to the occasion. The loving representation of God in the person of the priest shows how priests can affect our lives on the toughest days of our lives. Joe said that could be any one of our priests in this Archdiocese on any given day. Fr. Chris said as he watched the footage and on that first night he wondered where was the Church, and it came out that Msgr. Weiss was with those parents receiving the terrible news. Fr. Chris said in the Boston Globe this week was a front-page story about Fr. Doc Conway in Dorchester, walking the streets, bringing Christ to the people of his neighborhood, both parishioners and not. “Searching for justice, finding no peace”, Boston Globe, 12/17/12 Fr. Michael said he was inspired by Fr. Henry Ronan. You could see his love for God, as his face reflected his love for Christ. He was so unassuming, yet so faithful to God. He was full of joy and you could see he loved being a priest, because he was rooted in service. Fr. Michael said he is very much aware that it is the people of the archdiocese who value the service and sacrifice of their priests. Fr. Chris said Fr. Dan Dunn at St. Mary’s in Dorchester as a senior priest affected him. He was a gentle, humble soul. He remembers Fr. Haley in Holliston who had dinners for all the priests of the area to foster camaraderie. He remembers that Fr. Haley had battles with the people of the parish but yet at his parish they all expressed their love for him and Fr. Chris realized that it was just like a father and his children who sometimes disagree but that there was still love. Scot said growing up he worked in the rectory of St. Michael’s in Lowell for six years. Fr. Paul Bailey was like a second father to him. Fr. Paul Sullivan spent time with Scot and his brother on the tennis courts. Fr. Lenny O’Malley worked with a lot of the teens while they were there and gave him great advice. Fr. John Mendicoa taught him how to love to eat. The native of Spain cooked a feast every Tuesday for the Bingo crew. Fr. Charlie Higgins who is now in Newton was a deacon there and gave Scot and his brother Roger invaluable advice as they prepared to go to college. 3rd segment: Scot said to promote this Christmas collection, the Clergy Funds team put together a video about the life of Fr. Skip Jennings. Joe said his reflection on his life as an active priest, what it meant for him, and his astonishment upon his retirement how his parishioners related to him were compelling. Our priests don’t realize how much they are loved. At the annual Celebration of the Priesthood dinner brings out 1,400 people. One thousand people write personal notes to their priests. When he has shown the video to priests, every priest takes the story to heart as their own story. Fr. Michael said he heard from Fr. Skip’s story how he had become family to the parish, not in some abstract way, but in a concrete way. Because he is a priest, they invite him in where outsiders aren’t usually welcome. Priests are blessed and honored to be brought int o the family circle. Every priest wants to become a good spiritual father. Fr. Chris said he’s been living at Sacred Heart in East Boston and St. John’s in Winthrop for up to eight years and he knows them and they know him. Christ is the common denominator, using His priests to communicate His love. It hit him profoundly when Fr. Jennings said there was no other life possible for him because it was the Lord’s calling for him. Scot said Fr. Jennings was blessed to serve 46 years in one place, but how difficult it must be for other priests to receive that call that they are to leave the people they know and love to minister to a new parish. He’s heard from priests how difficult it is to be sent somewhere else, but it’s part of being a priest. They are always being sent and they serve the people of God wherever the bishop wants them to go. Fr. Michael said the life of a priest is not to be a member of one family, but to serve all. They are called to bring that life of grace through service to many places. Joe said Clergy Funds today has expenses today of about $15 million for health, dental, stipends, disability, housing and more. $4 million is about one quarter of what they need to remain stable and the Funds are stable. Scot pointed out that the numbers of priests in need at advanced ages are increasing. It takes all of us to be even more generous than we’ve been just five years ago. Joe said it’s an increasing challenge. Joe said a 4 percent increase each year in the collection will allow them to remain stable. They have three collections per year plus the Celebration of the Priesthood dinner to provide support for our priests. Fr. Michael talked about how hard it is for priests to ask for people to be generous to themselves. But it is easier to ask them to provide for those priests who are retired now. Scot said it’s been since 1972 that the Christmas collection has gone to the Clergy Funds as a matter of equity. Previously the Christmas collection stayed in the parish for those priests, but those in wealthier parishes did better than those in poorer parishes. Joe said the driving principle in the Clergy Funds is to treat all the priests on an equal basis. Scot said people often give the same amount to each special collection that comes up, but now people may want to be a little more generous to this collection. Fr. Chris said the priests do rely on people’s generosity and costs for care are increasing. Fr. Michael said Christmas is about the gift of Christ to us. If you need more peace in your life or know someone who does, come to Christmas Mass to receive peace and joy. The envelopes will be in churches this weekend to be brought back on Christmas. People can also donate online. He said people should bring the envelope home and think about what priests have meant in their lives.

Summary of today’s show: The season of Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Christ and the best way to prepare is to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation to confess our sins and to receive the graces to live holier lives. Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor are on location at St. John Seminary where they talk with Vince Lynch, who gives his view from the pew as a Catholic who loves this sacrament and as a licensed social worker with insight into the human need for reconciliation and forgiveness. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor Today’s guest(s): Vince Lynch, Director of Continuing Education at Boston College’s School of Social Work Links from today’s show: The Light Is On For You “Sacrament of Penance”, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, The Gospel in the Digital Age Today’s topics: Sacrament of Reconciliation 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed Fr. Chris O’Connor, his co-host, to the show, recording on location at St. John Seminary in Brighton. It’s the season of Advent, preparing for Christ’s coming in three ways, in the Incarnation of Christmas, at the end of time and the Last Judgment, and at our own individual judgment. Fr. Chris said we celebrate Advent where we prepare for that great day of Christmas. As the days grow darker and the nights grow longer, we long for the light of Christ to come. Scot said one of the good steps to take to prepare for Christmas is embracing the Sacrament of Reconciliation sometime during the season of Advent. Fr. Chris said Isaiah talks of preparing the way of the Lord and making straight his paths, in language that refers to the destruction of sin, and preparing our hearts to be ready for the Christmas season. We can hear Christ himself speak to us through the priest that our sins are forgiven and we are to go and do better. Scot recalled Msgr. James Moroney’s admonition during an episode of TGCL earlier in Lent that as St. Joseph prepared the manger for the arrival of the Christ Child, we should clean out hearts as well. We clean out the garbage and sin and bad habits. We then receive an infusion of sacramental grace to enable us to live holier lives. Fr. Chris compared it to the energy and excitement of spring cleaning. We feel the urgency and expectation as we prepare to receive our newborn Savior. Advent calls us to begin anew and fresh and with a greater zeal. Fr. Chris advised that people to go to the Sacrament of Confession sooner rather than later and don’t wait until the last minute to go or you’ll be standing in lines. Fr. Chris said that people tell him that they don’t want to go to their parish priest for fear of embarrassment, so he tells them to find another parish nearby. They can look up parishes online at Pilot Parish Finder, which will show them the nearby parishes. He said people can also go to the many shrines and chapels throughout the archdiocese as well. We forget in this sacrament that our sins are forgiven and then God’s graces are showered upon us to do better in our lives. Scot said some people say they’d go, but they forget how. He said there are tremendous resources for adults and children at The Light Is On For You. But even if you can’t go to the website, go to the confessional and tell the priest that you don’t know what to do. He will be thrilled that you’re there and will be happy to help you out. Fr. Chris said all the Lord is looking from us is for us to say we’re sorry, and if we don’t know the formal Act of Contrition, we should express our sorrow in our own words. Scot said Vince Lynch will be joining them to talk about his experience and insight with the sacrament of reconciliation, both as a practicing Catholic and as a licensed social worker. Fr. Chris said Vince is a friend of the seminary, works with the seminarians and is a man of great faith himself. He’s here to give a view from the pew. The two phrases we need in all our relationships is “I’m sorry” and “I forgive you.” 2nd segment: Scot Landry welcomed Vince Lynch to the show. Vince said 15 years ago he made a decision to become more serious about his faith and during Holy Week he felt a strong desire to go to confession. He went to St. Anthony’s Shrine and was apprehensive and wasn’t sure where to begin. He met with a friar for face to face confession and told his sins to the priest. The priest welcomed him back and told him to thank God for the grace of this good confession, a phrase he’s heard time and again. He then heard the loveliest words this side of paradise: I absolve you of your sins. He said confession is a major treasure of the Church. Scot asked Vince how long it had been since his last confession. He said it had been a number of years where he had been lukewarm in his faith. For a number of years he had been gently led by the Lord to come back. He had been teaching near Worcester at Annamaria College and would attend the Liturgy of the Hours each day and was gradually drawn closer to the Lord again. Fr. Chris added that he can’t tell how many times he’s heard from people that it’s been decades and that they don’t know why they’re there now. But he knows why: The Lord has been calling to the person, to prompt them, to urge them to think in a new about this sacrament and how important God’s forgiveness is to them. Scot said many people don’t love going into the confessional and thinking about telling someone else about their sins. But people love the feeling after leaving the confessional. Vince said he felt like he was entering a new chapter of his life as he left the confessional that day. He said it felt powerful and didn’t want it to be a one-time experience. It’s now become almost second nature for him. He’s found in recent years that he enjoys experiencing confession with different priests in different circumstances and experiencing it differently each time. He’s come to see confession as a friend with spiritual and psychological benefits and no longer fears it. Scot thinks back to a conversation with a friend in marketing about how to describe confession in a way that connects with people. He told him that it’s hitting the reset button in your relationship with God and the Church. Once you’ve hit that reset button, for instance, confessing mortal sin you can go back to communion. Vince said one of the things that’s been powerful for him in going to frequent confession. In all that time, he’s never experienced a harsh word, a criticism or a belittling. It’s truly been a healing experience. Scot asked how frequent confession helped him in the spiritual life. Vince said as he become comfortable with his status as a sinner, someone who’s human and wounded like everyone, he can bring that woundedness to confession who brings healing. In talking to the priest, he’s talking to Jesus Christ who is present in the sacrament. Fr. Chris asked the difference between confession and a counseling session. He said it’s that confession is a sacrament, a gift instituted by God to give grace. It’s unique in that way. What he does as a counseling involves helping people look at areas of their life, and maybe even sin, which are stumbling blocks in their life and look at strategies to help them resolve. Confession provides relief for those symptoms, but is fundamentally about reconciling our relationships with the Lord. Scot said the act of verbalizing sins to God through the priest is taking ownership of those actions has a lot of human benefits. Vince said as we become aware of that woundedness, there’s a growing sense of humility with God and the people in our lives that allow us to relate in more comfortable ways. Scot asked what advice Vince would give to someone who thinks their sins would scandalize the priest or embarrass themselves. Vince said in his own experience with his confession with the friar is that people should pray for the desire to return to confession. The person needs to know that the priest is not judging you in some sense, he’s not going to grade you. Frequent use of confession enables that to grow. The sacrament becomes more and more a part of you. Fr. Chris added that the best confessors are themselves regular users of the sacrament and understand their own woundedness and need for the sacrament. Fr. Chris said we often carry around huge boulders and put the pebbles down. When we go to confession, get out the big sins first and the rest comes easily. Fr. Chris said the only thing that scandalizes him is that people don’t come to the sacrament enough. He said never remembers individual confessions. The priest isn’t concerned about the sin; he’s concerned about the soul. Scot said the Devil often distracts us by making us focus on our sins and not on God’s desire to forgive us. Vince said the Lord wants us to approach with a contrite heart and the rest will begin to flow. Fr. Chris said of Adam and Eve, they run from the Lord when they sin, but in the story of the Prodigal Son, we see the Father who runs to the Son. The Truth and sunlight are the greatest disinfectants, as Oliver Wendell Holmes said. 3rd segment: Scot said the topic of today’s show was inspired by the remarks of Cardinal Timothy Dolan at the fall meeting of the US Bishops Conference where he spoke powerfully about confession: But, the Sacrament of Reconciliation evangelizes the evangelizers, as it brings us sacramentally into contact with Jesus, who calls us to conversion of heart, and allows us to answer his invitation to repentance — a repentance from within that can then transform the world without. ​What an irony that despite the call of the Second Vatican Council for a renewal of the Sacrament of Penance, what we got instead was its near disappearance. We became very good in the years following the Council in calling for the reform of structures, systems, institutions, and people other than ourselves.That, too, is important; it can transform our society and world. But did we fail along the way to realize that in no way can the New Evangelization be reduced to a program, a process, or a call to structural reform; that it is first and foremost a deeply personal conversion within? “The Kingdom of God is within,” as Jesus taught. The premier answer to the question “What’s wrong with the world?” “what’s wrong with the church?” is not politics, the economy, secularism, sectarianism, globalization or global warming …none of these, as significant as they are. As Chesterton wrote, “The answer to the question ‘What’s wrong with the world?’ is just two words:’I am,’” Vince said one of the troubling things about our culture today is the loss of the awareness of sin. An awareness of sin can translate into greater empathy, greater love of God and our neighbor. Fr. Chris said we live in a world in which everything is okay, there’s no sin. Vince said in counseling they have an idea called evidence-based practice. They may see in their work with clients that they minimize their problems in life as no big deal and don’t affect their life. As a therapist, they bring to the attention of the client the evidence of how those things really impact others. Scot said he likes how the cardinal says the sacrament evangelizes the evangelizers. Reflecting on the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, you can truly appreciate how you are loved by God. When we are aware of that, it becomes easier to love others and ourselves and to carry out what we know we should do. Vince said fear of the Lord is not based on punishment, but that we love the Lord so much we fear falling short. Scot said the words “I’m sorry” and “I forgive” are very freeing. Vince said after hearing those words, the anger and upset begins to melt away. I am! Admitting that leads to conversion of heart and repentance, the marrow of the Gospel-invitation. I remember the insightful words of a holy priest well known to many of us from his long apostolate to priests and seminarians in Rome, Monsignor Charles Elmer, wondering aloud from time to time if, following the close of the Council, we had sadly become a Church that forgot how to kneel. If we want the New Evangelization to work, it starts on our knees. Remember a few years back, when Cardinal Cahal Daly led us in our June retreat? Speaking somberly of the Church in his home country, he observed, “The Church in Ireland is in the dirt on her knees.” Then he paused, and concluded, “Maybe that’s where the Church is at her best.” We kneel in the Sacrament of Penance because we are profoundly sorry for our faults and our sins, serious obstacles to the New Evangelization. But then we stand forgiven, resolute to return to the work entrusted to us – as evangelizers of the Gospel of Mercy. Vince said it speaks to the humility mentioned earlier. If one can embrace this call and humble oneself to acknowledge one’s shortcomings. But to experience that and do it in a way that you can feel forgiven and then rise and carry on with our efforts to evangelize. Fr. Chris said of the story of the woman caught in adultery, you see in that public scene where Christ writes in the sand and the crowd drifts away. The woman is on the ground and Christ is right there with her to lift her up. Christ does that in confession, lifting us up from all that mires us down. Scot said Christ came into the world to reconcile all of us to the Father. This was the purpose of His Incarnation, his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. But we need to participate in this, we need to respond. Vince said God loves us so much He sent His Son. As I began my talk this morning, my brothers, so I would like to end it, with Blessed John XXIII. It was the Sunday angelus of October 28, 1962.The message the Holy Father delivered on that bright Roman afternoon never even mentions the phrase New Evangelization.But it strikes right at the heart of the mission entrusted to each of us as shepherds. “I feel something touching my spirit that leads to serenity,” Good Pope John remarked. “The word of the Gospel is not silent.It resonates from one end of the world to the other, and finds the way of the heart. Dangers and sorrows, human prudence and wisdom, everything needs to dissolve into a song of love, into a renewed invitation, pleading all to desire and wish for the establishment of the Kingdom of Christ. A kingdom of truth and life; a kingdom of holiness and grace; a kingdom of justice, love and peace.” How could we not see it alive in those holy men and women of every time and place, the heroic evangelizers of our faith, including most recently St. Kateri Tekakwitha and St. Marianne Cope? We have beheld it in the Church’s unrelenting corporal and spiritual works of mercy, in the heroic witness of persecuted Christians, in the Church’s defense of unborn human life, the care of our elders and the terminally ill, advocacy for the unemployed, those in poverty, our immigrant brothers and sisters, victims of terror and violence throughout our world, of all faiths and creeds, and in our defense of religious freedom, marriage and family. And, I have suggested today, that as we “come and go” in response to the invitation of Jesus, we begin with the Sacrament of Penance.This is the sacrament of the New Evangelization, for as Pope Benedict reminds us, “We cannot speak about the new evangelization without a sincere desire to conversion.” (Homily for the Opening of the XIII Ordinary General Synod of Bishops). With this as my presidential address, I know I risk the criticism. I can hear it now: “With all the controversies and urgent matters for the Church, Dolan spoke of conversion of heart through the Sacrament of Penance. Can you believe it?” To which I reply, “You better believe it!” First things first! Vince said the words touched him deeply because he reflects on how perhaps he hasn’t been doing such a good job of bringing the Good News out to others about his experience of the Sacrament of Penance. Scot said the New Evangelization begins with conversion of ourselves first so we can be effective witnesses. Fr. Chris said the Church understands who we are. We receive most of the sacraments only once, but the Church understands that there’s sin, repentance, conversion, repeat. Greater than the fall into sin is the Cross of Christ.

Summary of today’s show: Canon law trivia is back! Scot Landry and Dom Bettinelli were posed some head-scratchers on ordination, confirmation, anointing of the sick, confession, and baptism by Fr. Mark O’Connell, who is in addition to the co-host also the Judicial Vicar for the Archdiocese of Boston. Who won this round of trivia? You’ll have to listen to find out. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell Today’s guest(s): Dom Bettinelli Today’s topics: Canon Law Trivia Quiz II Because of Dom’s participation in the show, we don’t have our usual transcript which he usually types up. We revisited the canon law trivia that was so popular in a previous broadcast and dealt with questions related to ordination, anointing of the sick, confirmation, and baptism. Scot Landry started the show discussing the tragedy today in Newton, Connecticut, asking for prayers from our listeners for all those affected by these events. The show ended with a discussion of the readings from this Sunday’s Mass, which is Gaudete Sunday.

Summary of today’s show: Our usual Thursday panel of Scot Landry, Susan Abbott, Gregory Tracy and Fr. Roger Landry consider the headlines of the week, including Pope Benedict’s first tweets on Twitter; the Roman symposium marking the 15th anniversary of the Ecclesia in America synod; the Supreme Court taking up two cases on same-sex marriage; concerns over a possible elimination of the charitable tax deduction; and Christmas gift giving that makes a real impact. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): Gregory Tracy, managing editor of the Pilot, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston, and Fr. Roger Landry, pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Fall River Links from today’s show: The Anchor The Pilot Some of the stories discussed on this show will be available on The Pilot’s and The Anchor’s websites on Friday morning. Please check those sites for the latest links. Today’s topics: Papal tweets; Ecclesia in America; Supreme Court consider same-sex marriage; charitable deductions; Christmas gift giving 1st segment: Scot welcomed everyone to the show and talked with Susan Abbott about the visit of her children and grandchildren over the week, including a massive family portrait. Scot said he was able to go to part of the God of This City tour in Wakefield last night. The photos are available at http://www.BostonCatholicPhotos.com. Tonight, they will be continuing at Immaculate Conception Parish in Stoughton, 7-9pm, and at Cathedral of the Holy Cross tomorrow, 7-10pm. 2nd segment: Scot and Susan welcomed Gregory Tracy and Fr. Roger Landry back to the show. Scot said this week Pope Benedict launched his new Twitter feed and as opf this morning he has 1.6 million followers already. Fr. Roger said the questions the pope responded to where about what Fr. Roger expected. He’s not surprised that Pope Benedict is so good at being profound in 140 characters because this was already his nature. He hopes that this doesn’t become so routine that we take these tweets for granted. Scot read one of the questions and response: “How can faith in Jesus be lived in a world without hope?” “We can be certain that a believer is never alone. God is the solid rock upon which we build our lives and his love is always faithful” Susan said she isn’t surprised either and there’s a lot to meditate on. Another pair was: “Any suggestions on how to be more prayerful when we are so busy with the demands of work, families and the world?” “Offer everything you do to the Lord, ask his help in all the circumstances of daily life and remember that he is always beside you” Greg said this is another great pearl of wisdom and he often finds himself struggling to work in some prayer time. He admits he didn’t think Twitter would be a great medium for the Pope. He used to be able to find 150 words in the speeches of Pope John Paul II that is one coherent thought, but it was difficult to find that in Pope Benedict’s writings. “Pope launches Twitter account, tweets to more than 1 million followers”, CNS/The Pilot, 12/12/12 The Pope on Twitter Cardinal Sean on Twitter Scot said he was interviewed by Ira Kantor of the Boston Herald yesterday and he was asked why the Holy Father isn’t following back the people following him. Scot said it’s too difficult to follow everyone and the hashtag #askpontifex is the answer to the dialogue. Scot said the reporter also asked if Cardinal Seán would be communicating directly with the Pope on Twitter. Scot said the Church has developed lines of communications over the centuries and this type of communication isn’t necessary. Fr. Roger said the launch of the initiative on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is significant, that invoking Mary who brought to the world, Pope Benedict wanted to do the same thing. And because she is patroness of the Americas and the Americas is where Twitter was born and is especially active. Scot pointed out that you don’t have to have a Twitter account to read the Pope’s tweets. Just go to the webpage linked above. Also going on in Rome this week was a symposium to discuss the 15th anniversary of the post-synodal exhortation Ecclesia in America. Scot said Cardinal Sean gave a speech in Spanish that has been reviewed as being fabulous. “Pope: Americas need renewed missionary spirit, well-catechized laity”, CNS/The Pilot, 12/10/12 Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in America, Pope John Paul II Greg said the synod was an effort to bring unity of effort in the Churches throughout the Western Hemisphere, which are dealing with many similar issues. Scot said the eyes of the Church worldwide often look to where we are as the Church in the Americas. He said he was astounded to learn that the apparition of Guadalupe occurred at exactly the center of the Americas on Tepeyac Hill outside Mexico City. Susan said the Holy Father’s comments were insightful as he started with an encounter with the living Christ and formation with fidelity to the truths of the Church. She notices in document after document is the emphasis on love. When you take a step back, you see such hateful dialogue and conflict and the Pope is calling us back to love. Fr. Roger described his front-row seat as a seminarian in Rome for the Synod for the Americas that this was the anniversary of. He said that Pope John Paul II insisted that Our Lady of Guadalupe is patroness of America, not the Americas, to emphasize that unity. He said the recommendations of the synod and document have been virtually unimplemented and so this symposium is an attempt to look at them again to revisit them. Fr. Roger said he hopes that Cardinal Seán’s speech is posted on his blog in both Spanish and English to show Cardinal Seán’s facility with the language and the passion with with he preaches and speaks in Spanish. Scot said Cardinal Seán says that he never said a Mass in English until he was made a bishop. Greg said the speech was 45 minutes long so it might be difficult to get into the blog. He noted that the language in which you’re speaking affects the way you say it and the passion with which you preach. Scot said Cardinal Seán is so good with Spanish that the keyboard on his own computer is a Spanish keyboard. 3rd segment: Scot said the Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases related to same-sex marriage. One case challenges the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act. The other case is a challenge to Proposition 8 in California. Both cases allege that the laws have unconstitutional bans on marriage between of the same sex. “Family advocates pleased Supreme Court will hear marriage cases”, CNA/EWTN News, 12/7/12 “Supreme Court to hear cases on same-sex marriage”, CNS/The Pilot, 12/7/12 Greg recounted the history of the Defense of Marriage Act and how it was a response to concerns about the full faith and credit clause of the constitution. He noted it only concerns federal law in relation to marriage, not state law. The Obama administration recently said it won’t defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court. He said the Supreme Court may decided to rule on the full constitutionality of same-sex marriage, which is an all or nothing situation, which is a bit unnerving. Scot said this decision could be as big as the Obamacare decision last June. Fr. Roger said the two cases cover both state and federal levels and he said he can’t believe that the Court would agree with the Obama administration that bans are unconstitutional discrimination against gay and lesbians, but he also doesn’t think they will say that same-sex marriage itself is unconstitutional. Instead they will leave it to the states to pass laws through referendum or the legislative process to define marriage. He thinks the decision will be tight. Greg agreed with Fr. Roger’s assessment. The current Court has generally been ruling in terms of strict constructionism. “If charitable deductions are in peril, will contributions be, too?”, CNS/The Pilot, 12/7/12 Scot said many charitable organizations are making their case in Washington DC this month as we face the fiscal cliff that their futures are in peril if it results in the loss of charitable deductions. Many charities are struggling today, especially smaller church organizations that rely on small donations. There are also two articles in the Pilot this week about some of the year-end appeals that occur in the Archdiocese. Joe D’Arrigo talked about the Christmas collection as the primary source for the care of our retired priests. Scot focused on Christmas gifts that make an impact. We often spend money on things we end up not even liking. He talked about how much he dislikes the tradition of Yankee Swap in his family and how a gift to anonymous homeless man from his parish’s giving tree prompted him to consider the true gift of giving gifts that make an impact. He also included an appeal for the Pilot, for people to support the newspaper because subscriptions and advertising no longer support the cost of running the newspaper. Donate to the mission of The Pilot The Clergy Funds Susan said the column shows we sometimes sell kids short, that they are not necessarily consumed with getting more things, but that they can be motivated on their own to want to sacrifice for another. Scot said Fr. Roger wrote this week that we should “give the Giver” meaning Jesus. Fr. Roger said in this Year of Faith, that should affect the gifts we give at Christmas. Especially for kids, we often give them gifts that foment their idolatries instead of getting them gifts that emphasize Christ in their life. He made specific suggestions in the column on the gifts that would be appropriate. “US bishops recommend prayers for Year of Faith”, Catholic News Agency, 12/9/12 Scot read a list of the ten prayers for the Year of Faith offered by Bishop Ricken of Green Bay. The Nicene Creed. The Lord’s Prayer. The Hail Mary. The Glory Be. The Magnificat. The Canticle of Zechariah. The Memorare. The Acts of Contrition, Faith, Hope and Love. The Angel prayers. Prayer for the New Evangelization. Fr. Roger would have added the rosary and substituted the Athanasian creed instead of the Nicene creed. Scot asked for listeners to submit their own top 10 lists of prayers with the reason why to [email protected] for consideration in a later show.

Summary of today’s show: Fr. Rick Martignetti grew up in the North End of Boston before becoming a Franciscan priest of the Order of Friars Minor. The Lord has returned him to his old neighborhood where he serves at St. Leonard’s Parish among the people he grew up with. Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams talk with Fr. Rick, who was at St. Joseph’s in Wakefield where he was preparing to speak on the third night of the 2012 God of This City Tour. They discussed how to discern God’s call in our lives and how we can best respond in love and faithfulness. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams Today’s guest(s): Fr. Rick Martignetti, OFM Links from today’s show: Fr. Rick’s website St. Leonard Parish, Boston Franciscan Friars, Immaculate Conception Province God of This City Tour Today’s topics: Fr. Rick Martignetti, OFM 1st segment: Scot Landry wished everyone a happy feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Scot welcomed Fr. Matt from St. Joseph Parish in Wakefield where they’re preparing for the third night of the God of This City Tour. He said they will be having Mass at St. Joseph’s for the feast tonight. For him, Our Lady reminds him of the dignity and humanity of the unborn. He noted that in that miraculous image, Our Lady is pregnant with Jesus. He said Our Lady has been the protagonist for his priestly ministry. Scot noted that Cardinal Sean published a rare non-Friday message on his blog today about this feast and also gave a major address in Spanish in Rome today at a conference on the Church in the Americas. Cardinal Seán’s Blog: “Embracing the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe during this Year of Faith” 12-12-12 is an interesting date, as it represents the last time in this century that the month, day and year will all match. But December 12 for Catholics, during this Year of Faith, is also a very important day. First, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI (@pontifex), begins his tweeting ministry, symbolizing in a new way the Church’s embrace of technology and tools of communication as a way to share the eternal and saving Truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ. The other reason for the day’s importance, and one of the factors in Pope Benedict’s choosing of this day to launch his newest communication initiative, is that it is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, who we revere as the Mother of the New Evangelization and the Patroness of all the Americas (North, South and Central). After Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego 481 years ago, one of the most rapid periods of evangelization in the history of the Church began. During this Year of Faith, I ask all Catholics to study the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego. Our Catholic brothers and sisters from Mexico and in Central and South American countries are devoted to her motherly care, but many Catholics raised in the United States are not as aware of what happened in December of 1531 as I hope they soon will be. Now is a great time for this connection with Our Lady of Guadalupe to be established, renewed or deepened. We can begin by attending Mass and praying a family Rosary on December 12. Scot asked Fr. Matt how the first two nights of the tour have gone. Fr. Matt said the first two nights were in Framingham and Marshfield. The focus of the first night was the meaning of the word “revelation”, which literally means lifting the veil. He used as an example a scene from the movie Elf where the main character meets a fake Santa and is able to tell the difference between the real Santa and the fake because he knows him. The second night featured Jason Deramo speaking on being called. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Rick to the show. He posed to him and Fr. Matt the questions that Pope Benedict have answered on his twitter account today. First was How we can celebrate the Year of Faith better in our daily lives. Fr. Rick said anything that moves us closer to Jesus is good. For some it might be going to Mass more than Sundays. It’s a way to say the Lord that I’m here not just for obligation, but because I love you. Scot posed this one to Fr. Matt: “How can faith in Jesus be lived in a world without hope?” Fr. Matt quoted the Holy Father’s response: “We can be certain that a believer is never alone. God is the solid rock upon which we build our lives and his love is always faithful.” The third question was “Any suggestions on how to be more prayerful when we are so busy with the demands of work, families and the world?” Fr. Rick said we’re all so busy, but we don’t have to run 24/7. Sometimes we need to push back for 5 or 10 minutes at a time. Slowing down is an art which takes practice. The Holy Father’s Twitter account @Pontifex Scot’s sense that the questions the Holy Father will answer from the hashtag #askpontifex will be the bigger questions of life. Scot asked Fr. Rick about his background. Fr. Rick said he’s from Boston originally and it’s been 16 years since he’s lived here. For the last four years he was at Franciscan University of Steubenville, which has about 2,500 students all on fire for their faith. He said he grew up knowing the friars at his home parish of St. Leonard’s Parish and Christopher COlumbus high School in the North End. He got away from the faith in college and a pilgrimage got him back into his faith and the friars were there for him at 23 years old when he was asking the big questions of life. It was an experience of coming home in coming back to the friars. Fr. Rick said he is with the Order of Friars Minor and he is in the Immaculate Conception Province. St. Leonard’s is their formation house for young men discerning whether they are called to the order. From there, they could become novices with the order. Fr. Rick was struck by the friars as men of prayer, who made Our Lady part of their lives and spent time in daily prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Daily prayer has become more important than food or oxygen. The Holy Spirit does the real work. All we have to do is lead people to Christ and set up a structure for them to hear him daily. In time, Jesus will reveal to the young men and young women where they are called to be. Fr. Matt asked how he responds to the question, How do I know? Fr. Rick said young people often want to know everything immediately. He encourages them to go slowly and begin a life of discernment, not just a program of discernment. We start to take steps based on hunches. He was drawn to the Franciscans and spent time with them and the Lord confirmed this as the months went by as he felt more and more at home with these men. He was surprised and excited to be back in Boston at this time. He loves what Fr. Matt and Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults are doing. He thinks the faith is taking root in Boston again among young people looking for Christ. This wasn’t going on when he left 16 years ago. Scot said it’s uncommon for a priest, religious or diocesan, to be given the task of pastoral care of the community that nurtured him. He said it’s been fun coming back to his roots. He could have ended up anywhere but it’s a beautiful gift to be called back to Boston and the Italian community in the North End with the festivals. He grew up doing that. Scot said the Church looks to Franciscan University for the way it conducts ministry for young people. He asked what Fr. Rick has learned. He said the summer conferences get the most attention. They are based on the belief that young people can meet Jesus, have fun, and receive fulfilment. They have wonderful speakers, great music, and the sacraments. They lead them to Jesus and let Him do the rest. To speak to young people today, you have to be into modern technology and music. Fr. Matt agreed that music plays a huge role. We were created to worship God and that includes singing. It’s how God has wired us. It’s important for people to learn the Church’s music, from chant to modern hymns and even Christian music in popular genres. He’s also learned that large event gatherings—like conferences, World Youth Day, the March for Life—they learn they are not alone and they see the Church on the national or international level. In those gatherings you see priests in habits and collars and religious in their habits. All of this is meant to help young people come to a personal encounter with Jesus in his Church. Franciscan University packages these dynamic practices together and offer them in a weekend format. Scot asked about people who don’t see how Christian rap or heavy metal can lead young people to God. Fr. Rick said the Lord transcends culture and taste. The Lord is everywhere; how do we express our love for him best. The trouble comes from trying to put Jesus in a box. Jesus is for everyone an he came to set us free. When we take our need to worship and bring it to Jesus, we discover our purpose. 3rd segment: This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Denise Sherman from Lakeville She wins two CD’s from Michael John Poirier: “The Voice of A Child: Advent” and “The Voice of a Child: Christmas”. If you would like to be eligible to win in an upcoming week, please visit WQOM.org. For a one-time $30 donation, you’ll receive the Station of the Cross benefactor card and key tag, making you eligible for WQOM’s weekly raffle of books, DVDs, CDs and religious items. We’ll be announcing the winner each Wednesday during “The Good Catholic Life” program. 4th segment: Scot asked why Fr. Rick is speaking on the third night of the tour. He noted that it’s Prince Spaghetti Day (a reference for older folks who remember the old TV commercials). He said he will talk to tonight about how God equips those he calls. They will look at the story of Jonah who finds himself in the belly of a fish, realizing he needs to rethink his life. He is a model for going in the right direction and having the courage to be a voice for God. Fr. Rick said St. Francis has a beautiful story with some key turning points. One is when he encounters a man suffering from leprosy. He’d avoided people like that his whole life, but he feels the movement of God in his life so much he embraces and holds the man. He later said that’s when everything in his life changed. The Lord led him to the people with leprosy and everything changed. What he’d been avoiding his whole life was actually the means of salvation. From then on, he lived among them. Fr. Rick said his experience is that ministry is called out of him; other people sometimes call you to something. He feels more comfortable that something is of God when others ask him to do it. He used to be terrified of public speaking and being called to the priesthood, he tried it and met God there. When Fr. Rick thought of teaching he was terrified, but when he thought of it as faith sharing that became do-able. Before he preaches he looks for the personal message in the Scripture and then share it with others, inviting them to a space where they can hear something. Once the focus shifted from him to Jesus, it got a lot easier. Scot said beyond the music and speaker, at God of This City, people take concerns on their minds and bring them to the Lord. Fr. Rick said where the Church is alive and being renewed you find Eucharistic adoration. People don’t know the power of just being in the presence of Jesus. Scot asked him why Eucharistic adoration is so important to him. Fr. Rick said the vows he takes of poverty, chastity and obedience only make sense when he meets Jesus in the Eucharist. Jesus offered his body on the cross, but it makes offering of the body for celibacy seems a natural response. Scot said another aspect of tonight will be confessions. When people pray in an intense way before the Eucharist, they feel the call to the sacrament of confession. Fr. Rick said he was away from the sacraments in college and when he finally back after 7 years. He found receiving Christ through his priest felt welcoming and an experience of coming home. He said the Lord stands with his arms wide open waiting to embrace you. Of St. Anthony Shrine, he said it’s a beautiful ministry and it’s beautiful to see people stop in all day long to hear confessions. He talked about taking people on pilgrimages to Assisi and how permeated by the spirit of St. Francis it is. Fr. Rick said they try to keep St. Leonard’s open all night long for the sake of the people visiting the North End. He said about once per month the Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults also does Jesus in the North End for college students and young adults. He said it’s a haven for those in a busy neighborhood needing a place to be quiet for a few moments, which is just as important as finding a good cannoli. Scot said you can see the amazing photos from the God of This City events at http://www.BostonCatholicPhotos.com or at the Archdiocese of Boston’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/BostonCatholic.

Summary of today’s show: The celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a holiday that brings all of Mexico to its collective knees in prayer and devotion, but as Fr. Paco Anzoategui tells Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor, this apparition of Our Lady is not just for Mexicans, but for all of the Americas. Our Lady of Guadalupe is Patroness of all the Americas, North, Central and South; of the unborn; and of the New Evangelization as her appearance in Mexico in 1531 initiated an explosion of the faith, unprecedented for its speed and breadth. Fr. Paco calls all Catholics, wherever they’re from, to get to know and love Our Lady under this title in a special way and understand her message for us today. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor Today’s guest(s): Fr. Paco Anzoategui Links from today’s show: Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in LaCrosse, Wisconsin Today’s topics: Our Lady of Guadalupe 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed everyone to the show. He said today’s topic is one of the biggest gatherings in the life of the Catholic Church in the Americas, the gatherings connected to the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In Chicago, more than 200,000 people gather to celebrate. Fr. Chris said he knows the basic story, but he’s excited to get into the details and why she’s patroness of the unborn and the New Evangelization. Fr. Chris noted that in Rome they’ve been having a Congress on the Church in the Americas. He noted that it includes North, Central, and South America and half of the Church are in the Americas. Scot noted that this past weekend at St. John’s Seminary was the Festival of Lessons and Carols. Fr. Chris said it was a beautiful celebration of music from the Americas, in which all the hymns and carols were chosen from those that originated in the Americas. 2nd segment: Scot said God has often called unlikely people to great missions. It was true with St. Peter, many of the saints, and for St. Juan Diego. This is a great lesson for all of us as we are all called to do our part in the New Evangelization. When the Blessed Mother appeared to Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill, he was a simple, humble, 57-year-old widower known for walking with his head down and shuffling his feet. He was an Aztec Indian who had been baptized only seven years before by the Franciscan missionaries. Every Saturday and Sunday he would walk 15 miles each way to Mass. As he was journeying one cold Saturday morning, he heard a voice calling from the top of a hill, “Juanito,” “Dieguito,” “Come here!” He scaled the rocky slope, where at the top he saw the Blessed Virgin Mary arrayed in splendor. Our Lady announced she was on a mission of mercy and wanted him to be her messenger to the bishop of Mexico City to ask him to build a church on Tepeyac Hill. Obeying simply and immediately, Juan Diego headed in his simple peasant’s outfit to the bishop’s residence, where he was forced to wait for hours in an outdoor courtyard. Eventually the bishop received him, treated him with kindness, but was skeptical regarding the message. Juan Diego left feeling like a complete failure. Returning to Our Lady on Tepeyac Hill, he said that he had struck out. “I beg you, Noble Lady,” he implored, “to entrust this message to someone of importance, someone well-known and respected, so that your wish will be accomplished. For I am only a lowly peasant and you, my Lady, have sent me to a place where I have no standing. Forgive me if I have disappointed you for having failed in my mission.” The Virgin smiled tenderly on him and said, “Listen to me, my dearest son, and understand that I have many servants and messengers whom I could charge with the delivery of my message. But it is altogether necessary that you should be the one to undertake this mission and that it be through your mediation and assistance that my wish should be accomplished. I urge you to go to the Bishop again tomorrow. Tell him in my name and make him fully understand my disposition, that he should undertake the erection of the teocalli (temple) for which I ask. And repeat to him that it is I in person, the ever Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, who send you.” With trepidation, Juan Diego went again. The bishop’s overprotective staff greeted him with exasperation. He was told the bishop was busy with more important matters. He told them he was willing to wait — and did, for several hours in the frigid outdoor courtyard. When he finally met the bishop again, he repeated, with fervor and tears, the message of Our Lady entrusted to him. The bishop asked some questions. Though moved by Juan Diego’s sincerity, he wasn’t going to build a church in a desolate spot on the basis of one native’s unsubstantiated word. To test the message, the bishop asked him for a special secret sign from Our Lady. Juan Diego left at once to ask for the sign. Arriving back at Tepeyac, the Virgin told him to return the following day to receive the sign to bring the bishop. That sign turned out to be Castillian roses, which had not yet been introduced to Mexico, growing on the top of a stony hill in frigid December temperatures. Juan Diego was instructed to bring them back to the bishop in his tilma (a tilma is a cloak or apron). When he returned to the bishop, as he opened up his tilma, the bishop saw the roses from his native Castille, the sign he was seeking. He and everyone else also saw something even more miraculous: some of the roses had melted into the tilma and produced the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe: our Lady, dressed like a pregnant Aztec princess, was giving witness that she was ready to give birth to Christ among the Mexican people and on our continent. The bishop immediately fell to his knees, and came to believe in Juan Diego’s message. A church was built on the spot of the apparition, as Mary had requested. Until that moment, there had been relatively few conversions among the Mexican people, who associated Christianity more with the conquistadors than the Franciscans. But in the decade after the appearance of the Blessed Mother as one of them, over ten million Mexicans were baptized. Juan Diego’s tilma has been the subject of much research. The tilma, woven out of coarse cactus and vegetable fibers, should have disintegrated after 20 years, but although nearly 500 years have passed the tilma is still in great condition. The pupils of Mary in the picture reflect the Indians and clergy present at the time of the first revelation of the image. No paint was used, and chemical analysis has not been able to identify the color imprint. Additionally, studies have revealed that the stars on Mary’s mantle match exactly what a Mexican would have seen in the sky in December of 1531. Juan Diego thought there were others who would have been more fitting ambassadors to bring such an important message from so important a person, but the Blessed Mother chose him and she helped him fulfill the mission. She will also help each of us fulfill our part in her Son’s plan of salvation. Scot now welcomed Fr. Paco back to the show. He said he loves to talk about this topic, Our Lady of Guadalupe and her work in the New Evangelization. He said he wouldn’t be here without her. Scot noted that Fr. Paco grew up with a devotion to Guadalupe, while Scot grew up with a more general devotion to Our Lady. Fr. Paco said in Mexico this apparition marks the beginning of Mexico and the feast is a general holiday. In his own life, at eight years old, Fr. Paco suffered medical problems in his legs, unable to walk without falling and feeling excruciating pain. His parents took him to hospitals in Mexico and while there they went to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe where he prayed for healing. Little by little the pain went away until eventually he had no pain. He attributes this as a miracle of Our Lady. Later in high school, in his gratitude he responded to the call to the priesthood, kneeling before the image of Our Lady in his parish and consecrating himself to her care. Fr. Paco said at the time of the appearance in 1531, there was no Mexico, no United States, or any other countries. And Tepeyac Hill where she appeared outside Mexico City is the exact center of the Americas. Thus she came not just for Mexico, but for all of the Americas. She said she wanted to be mother of everyone in the New World. Fr. Paco noted the difficulty of conversions to Christianity before she came because of the native peoples’ experience of the conquistadores as foreign invaders, but Our Lady came to them in their own clothes, wearing their clothes, and speaking their language and they could relate to her and accept her message. Jesus came as one of us so we could relate to Him and so Our Lady came to us like her Son did. Fr. Paco said the conversion of 10 million Mexicans in one year was due to this understanding of her message. Scot noted that 10 million people at the time would be virtually the entire population of Mexico. Scot said she literally gave birth to the evangelization effort in the Americas. In her apparition she appeared pregnant. Fr. Paco said she brought Christ to this New World. He noted that in the image she appears to be bowing her head, as if she were bowing to Christ in her womb. The black sash around her waist shows she is pregnant and she appears not for herself but to bring Christ to the New World. Fr. Paco said Pope John Paul II’s first apostolic trip was to Mexico and upon landing he went right to the Basilica. He said the work of evangelization in the Americas began on that spot. He also noted the role of Juan Diego who dedicated himself to telling the story again and again and becoming a role model for all the catechists who taught the people. Fr. Chris noted John Paul’s devotion to Our Lady, and how he turned to her at the time he was shot in St. Peter’s Square. Scot said John Paul went to Mexico five times and Mexicans call him the first Mexican Pope. He loved the Mexican people and that was reciprocated. Fr. Paco recalled the Holy Father’s first visit and how he was glued to the TV with his whole family and the whole country was electrified by it. There was a connection between the Pope and the people who revered him. Pope John Paul canonized Juan Diego and the Mexican martyrs because he valued the faithfulness and devotion of the many Mexicans who had never been acknowledged in the calendar of saints. Speaking of the story of Juan Diego, Fr. Paco noted that roses do not grow in December. He said of the tilma that it was made of cactus fiber that would have disintegrated after a couple decades at most. It was clothing for poor people. This one has last for 600 years. There have also been studies of the image she left on the tilma. Many scientists have concluded that the image is not printed or painted, but is almost floating over the tilma. When they look at the tilma from behind, the colors do not go through. And they haven’t been able to match the colors even after trying all kinds of materials to duplicate them. Our Lady of Guadalupe is like the eucharist, a gift from heaven. She isn’t painted on there, but will remain for us until the end of time. Fr. Paco said at the time of apparition, Juan Diego was torn because his last remaining relative was dying and had asked for a priest. So he didn’t want to have the Lady ask him to do something else so he tried to go another way to avoid the apparition. She appeared to him of course and so she told him not to worry, that she would take care of his relative. He believed Mary and all his worries disappeared. The uncle was restored to health and he became a messenger too. Fr. Chris asked Scot about his visits to the Shrine. Scot said the area has become very built up over the centuries. his first impression was how many people were praying in forms of self-mortification, praying the rosary while walking on their knees. He also noted the many signs of thanksgiving for miracles received, like thousands of crutches or notes of thanks. He also remembers the comparison in size between the old and new basilicas. The old basilica was smaller than he thought and looks like many older churches. The new basilica is huge like a 40-year-old Catholic version of a sports stadium, trying to seat as many people who want to come to the basilica. Fr. Paco said the beautiful thing about the basilica is that no matter what door you enter through, you see the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe right in the center. It’s the most visited basilica in the world after St. Peter’s. Fr. Paco said the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe now goes well beyond Mexico throughout the Americas. Fr. Chris asked about cultural elements of the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Fr. Paco said it is a holiday and that’s significant because many years ago the Mexican government was very anti-Catholic, yet on this feast they couldn’t stop people from celebrating this day. He said the tradition is to dress the children as Juan Diego and Our Lady then go to a local church. He recommends that anyone who wants to go to Mexico for the feast not to go to the basilica, but to go a local parish. Instead go to the basilica after the feast. In the new basilica you can get very close to the tilma and see the front and back. Scot said at other times, the crowds are so much smaller you can spend time there. Scot said you can’t help wonder at God leaving us this sign and wonderful image in which Our Lady looked like one of us. She took on the culture of the people at that time. God descends and His Blessed Mother descended to be like one of us to demonstrate she understands our problems and will take them to Her Son. Fr. Paco said when Our Lady appears she also teaches the native people that their old ways of worshipping their old gods through human sacrifice should end. She is seen as standing on the moon and in front of the sun, which were their gods. This is why the bishops have declared her as the Patroness of the Unborn, because she ended the human sacrifice, in which people were not treated in their full human dignity. She’s also standing on the snake, which was also one of the Aztec gods. The natives began to understand you don’t have to sacrifice people to appease God because God sacrificed himself for us. the Bishops in the United States went to Mexico City and received an authentic replica of the tilma and that image travels throughout the US promoting respect for life. Fr. Chris asked for a preview of Fr. Paco’s homily tomorrow. Fr. Paco said he notes the wave of violence in Mexico and how the Mexican bishops are going to ask the people to embrace Our Lady’s message for the end of violence. He noted that musicians gather the night before the feast in various places for what’s called mañanitas, songs and prayers. This will occur in the archdiocese at Holy Cross Cathedral tonight. He said during the Advent season we have two significant Marian celebrations, including Immaculate Conception. God is telling us that Mary is a true role model for us as a true disciple of Jesus. Mary helps us to prepare for Christ by listening more attentively to the Word of God and reflect on it, not being distracted by the commercialism. Fr. Paco said all the apparitions of Our Lady are important, but for us who live in the Americas, we should understand that Guadalupe came to us at the beginnings of our country and knowing her we will come to know how we are called to be united in this land and become a continent of hope for the entire Church. Scot said Pope John Paul had a greatdevotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe and if a Pole could have that devotion, then he as someone from this continent should have greater devotion to her.