Picture Of The Day

This great picture is from a Polish Jesuit blog entitled, A Pilgrims Story see the picture (here)

Jesuit On Our Lady

The Virgin Mary has been a woman of many names throughout history, but differing perceptions of her role in Christian theology share some important underlying currents, according to a historical theologian who spoke Dec. 8 at Fordham College at Rose Hill.

The Catholic and Orthodox churches' differing views of Mary were the subject of the Loyola Lecture delivered by Brian Daley, S.J., (FCRH '61), the visiting St. Ignatius Loyola Chair in Theology.

Father Daley began with the critique by some Anglicans and Protestants that "the theory and practice of Catholic devotion to Mary raises serious questions about the Christian legitimacy of the Catholic Church itself."

The Catholic focus on Mary in art, liturgy and prayer has led some to say that, for Catholics, "she shares a place parallel to that of Jesus in God’s plan to redeem the world," he said.

The Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches have real differences on these issues, but both faiths have evolved a strong sense of Mary’s importance, he said.

Link (here) to the Fordham News

P.S. Dear Chris Gosier (Author of the original article), your title is less than suitable and should be changed to protect the reputation of Fordham University

D.C. To Manila

Professor John J. DeGioia, president of Georgetown University, a Jesuit school founded in 1789 and located in Washington DC, will be the keynote speaker at a gathering of Filipino and foreign university leaders to be hosted by the Ateneo de Manila University on January 22-24, 2009 at the Ateneo’s Loyola Heights Campus in Quezon City.

Link (here)

Playing Cards And The Famous French Jesuit

I have seen in the possession of M. de Ganieres a pack of cards of the original fashion: there were a pope, emperor, and four kings, who warred against each other, distinguished by different colours. Their size was between seven and eight inches. This invention took place in Italy about the fourteenth century.

I have seen in a little book of Father Claude-Francois Menestrier, the Jesuit, a quotation from an Exchequer account of monies paid for cards, to divert King Charles VI. who was then a madman.

This was in 1391.

Link (here) to the book entitled The French Anas, by Jacques D. Du Perron published in 1805

Picture is not of King Charles VI

Dull Dulles On Liberation Theology

The intellectual stature of the man was intimidating, but once someone encountered him personally, one found the gentle, humble soul of a sincere Christian. He had a mischievous sense of humor which was evident to anyone who noticed him driving a beat up old car around campus with a small bumper sticker promoting the local airport, “Fly Dulles” (named after his father).

Once, while a passenger in that car, we were speaking about liberation theology and he said: “Sitting in that very seat you are in right now was (mentioning the name of a prominent liberation theologian). When he asked why I drove such an old clunker, he became rather uncomfortable when I told him it was a gift from my uncle Allen. He looked for wiretaps the rest of the trip.” Even though some referred to him as “Dull Dulles,” I found that being in class with him was an exhilarating experience.

It was akin to witnessing a train slowly leaving the station. Initially the student (this student!) would feel satisfied that the material was clear and comprehensible. Point would begin to build upon point, stretching the mind. And just at that precise moment when it all became too complex and difficult to follow, Fr. Dulles would take it up just one more notch, and then ... the class bell would ring.

Link (here) to the Acton Institute's blog post entitled, Avery Cardinal Dulles (1918-2008).

Alaskian Jesuit To Celebrate Traditional Latin Mass

From the January 11th parish bulletin of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Bethel, Alaska –

"Father Chuck will celebrate a Latin Mass on Saturday, January 31st at 7:00 pm. However, those who wish to participate in the Mass must attend "practice" sessions each Saturday at 5 pm. These sessions will last approximately 1 hour."

Father Chuck Peterson, S.J. is a missionary priest to the primarily Yup’ik Eskimo of western Alaska. We are the last missionary diocese in the United States. When Father first arrived here in the mid-1960’s travel between villages was still by dog team in the winter. He is a wonderful priest full of love for God and his parishioners. Yet, like all people he is also a product of his times and his order, and I suspect was a bit resistant or possibly concerned about the requests he was receiving for a Mass in the Extraordinary Form. However, the requests were polite and came from more than one person and in time he became quite agreeable and enthusiastic.

We had our first meeting last night where we practiced our Latin, discussed at length the meaning and importance of the priest’s and server’s prayers and discussed what seem to be some of the positive and negative ramifications of the interpretation of the Novus Ordo.

We’re all pleased and thankful.

Hat Tip to Fr. Z at his blog WDTPRS (here)

Photo is of Fr. Chuck being interviewed and saying a prayer by KNOM's Katy Clark at a Jesuit cemetery over a Jesuits grave at Pilgrim Hot Springs in Alaska in July of 1995.

Jesuits Wrote A Portuguese-Chinese Dictionary

The first consistent system for transcribing Chinese words in Latin alphabet is thought to have been designed in 1583-88 by Matteo Ricci, S.J. and Michele Ruggieri, S.J. for their Portuguese-Chinese dictionary - the first ever European-Chinese dictionary. Unfortunately, the manuscript was misplaced in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, and not re-discovered until 1934. The dictionary was finally published in 2001. During the winter of 1598, Ricci, with the help of his Jesuit colleague Lazzaro Cattaneo, compiled a Chinese-Portuguese dictionary as well, in which tones of the romanized Chinese syllables were indicated with diacritical marks. Even more unfortunately, this work has been lost as well and not rediscovered.

Link (here)
Painting is of Matteo Ricci, S.J.

Jesuit Reflects On The Spiritual Dimensions of New Years Day

On the first day of the year, the Catholic Church does not celebrate the ‘new year’ since her calendar begins on the first Sunday of Advent.

However, this day is also very significant to the Church’s liturgy because it commemorates several feasts of Jesus and Mary: The Holy Name and Circumcision of Jesus; The Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Holy Mother of God; and the World Day of Peace as proclaimed by the Pope.

Let me try to put all these things together, but using the Holy Name of Jesus as its structure. We, Jesuits, are celebrating its feast because we are named after Jesus (Society of Jesus).

Link (here) to the Filipino Jesuit Fr. Jessel Gerrard, his post is at his blog Faith of a Centurion

Painting of the Child Jesus and a New Year's blessing (here)

The Jesuit Cardinal Of Indonesia

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, speaking at the national Christmas celebration, encouraged all citizens to respect and appreciate pluralism in the country. “We must be thankful for our pluralistic nation and accept our plurality as a gift from Almighty God,” he told about 6,000 mostly Christians attending the Dec. 27 celebration at the Jakarta International Convention Center. Also attending were Vice President Jusuf Kalla, and several Cabinet ministers, legislators and foreign diplomats. Jesuit Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja of Jakarta was among Catholic and Protestant Church leaders at the event.

Link (here)

The General Was In Japan

The Jesuit Superior General, Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, arrived in Tokyo safe and sound on Sunday (2008-12-21)--accompanied by Fr. Jose de Vera, who served for many years as the PR man of the Jesuits in Rome--in time for lunch with his former Jesuit colleagues at Sophia University. He looked relaxed, healthy, and cheerful as usual. Many were relieved to see him still the same: casual, cordial, jovial, warm, and committed to fulfilling his responsibilities. Keeping a busy schedule, he addressed Sophia University Faculty and Staff on Monday morning, although his time for the session was extended from 15 minutes to nearly an hour. In the afternoon, he addressed Sophia University students and interested outsiders. There was a large crowd despite the fact that his address was scheduled during class time. The Metropolitan Archbishop of Osaka, Leo Jun Ikenaga, S.J., too came all the way from Osaka to meet with the General and listen to his address.

Link (here) to Brittonia blog.

Pro-Capitalism At Boston College

A young man asked heatedly, and to loud, though somewhat scattered, applause, whether one should view the government bailout

“as an attack on the fundamental principles of capitalism.”

Murphy reassured the questioner that the government would sell off its stake in banks as soon as the economy recovered. “But,” he admitted, “we will see some rethinking of the regulatory structure” to ward off future crises. Calling himself “a little more sympathetic to [the] question,” Strahan voiced concern that under tighter regulations “capitalism may be less dynamic for a while,” and recovery slowed.

Link (here) to the Boston College Magazine article
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand (here)

"Rest In Peace" Fr. Frank P. Lihvar, S.J.

The Rev. Frank Lihvar, 81, who died Thursday, taught Latin and Greek at John Carroll University for the past 38 years, eight of them after officially retiring.

The Cleveland native and 60-year Jesuit graduated from Benedictine High School, West Baden College of Indiana and the University of Chicago, where he earned a doctorate in classical languages. While at JCU, he was also chaplain to the Sisters of Notre Dame at Regina High School.

His funeral will be Tuesday, 7 p.m., at Gesu Catholic Church, University Heights.

Link (here)

He has recently completed a translation of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit of St. Bonaventure.

From The "You Have Got To Kidding Me!" File

Aims to explore "spiritual transformation" needed to replace "deadly" economic systems

Xavier University in Cincinnati will provide a venue for the EarthSpirit Rising 2009 conference next June. An aim of the conference is to “explore the cultural and spiritual transformation needed” to replace current “outdated” and “deadly” economic systems.

David Korten, the principal “planetary” speaker, is a “visionary proponent of a planetary system of local living economies.” Korten’s website is replete with ecological alarmist and anti-establishment rhetoric. On the site Korten says that the key to putting us on the right course is to “displace the prevailing” prosperity and security with “Earth Community” prosperity and security. Sister Miriam Therese MacGillis, another “planetary” speaker, espouses and teaches a kind of New Age spirituality which seems to deny the Catholic Dogma of the Trinity. She said in an interview, “The divine Father-God and the Mother-God and the animal spirits are all images of the divine - none of them exhausts the possibility of the divine.” Source: EarthSpiritRising.org .

Link (here) to the Cardinal Newman Society article

Photo is of Sister Miriam

P.S. I am not a Focalizer

A Jesuits Walk's In Ignatius' Footprints

We left Manresa on May 16 and went to Montserrat on the same day. Interestingly, the mountain of Montserrat could be seen from La Cova and was a beautiful site for us to behold during the retreat. We heard mass at the Church of our Lady together with the hundreds of other pilgrims that were there. As we know, Montserrat was very important to Ignatius because this was where he offered his sword, the sword that meant a lot to him, before he went to Manresa.

After Montserrat we went to Barcelona and stayed there until May 19. Like what we did in Manresa we also had our Ignatian walk here, visiting the places that were significant to Ignatius. It was also in one of the churches that we visited and had our mass where we saw the actual sword that was offered by Ignatius in Montserrat.

Link (here) to the blog Center for Ignatian Spirituality and full post by entitled, CIS Jubilee Pilgrimage: A Jubilee Gift.

Photo is of the cave at Manresa or also known as the Cave of St. Ignatius

Georgetown President Tells Protestant Clergy To................

Officials at Georgetown University, a Catholic Jesuit institution, have directed Protestant campus ministers to be “welcoming” to the university’s newly established LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Questioning) Resource Center by holding at least one joint activity, according to The Washington Times religion editor Julia Duin.

Duin’s report is posted at http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/
jan/08/college-decrees-welcome-for-gays/.

“Four evangelical Protestant chaplains, all of whom are from ministries that believe homosexual activity is sinful, confirmed they got this mandate from the Rev. Constance C. Wheeler, the lead Protestant chaplain, who was passing along instructions from the president of Georgetown University, John J. DeGioia,” Duin reports.

Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society, lamented yet another blow to Georgetown’s Catholic identity. “If Georgetown officials would once and for all stand up for the Catholic identity with which they are entrusted, rather than bowing to every politically correct mantra, they would be more concerned about The Vagina Monologues and pro-abortion activity on campus than bullying Protestant ministers.”

Link (here) to the full article at Catholic Online.

McCormick Foundation Invests $200,000 In Chicago Jesuit Initiatives

The Board of Directors of the McCormick Foundation approved grants to two Jesuit institutions These fourth quarter grants support the Foundation's focus on its hometown and on encouraging citizens to become more active, informed and engaged.

The Foundation, part of the legacy of former Chicago Tribune publisher Robert R. McCormick, has a long history of leadership in citizenship, journalism and early childhood education issues, both locally and nationally.

These most recent grants are targeted directly at Chicago-area needs and reflect McCormick's ties to the city and its people. "Although Robert R. McCormick was a true citizen of the world, his heart, and his major contributions, were always in Chicago," said David L. Grange, president and chief executive officer, McCormick Foundation, "The McCormick Foundation is part of his legacy and, like McCormick, the Foundation seeks to improve civic health. We are proud to help fund these important initiatives and to be part of efforts to support our city, our communities, and our citizens."

Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory High School $100,000
Cristo Rey Jesuit High School (Chicago) $100,000

Link (here)

Photo is Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory High School

Built By Jesuits

The Catholic Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, built by Jesuits in the French Gothic style from buff sandstone, is praised for its `great architectural daring'. Byrne describes how the church shows the growing confidence of Lancashire's Catholic community in the Victorian era.
Link (here)

Philippine Politics And The Jesuit In The Middle Of It

In over 30 countries, agrarian reform failed. Only three succeeded. Taiwan and South Korea reversed successful programs when farmers migrated to urban industries. Small plots proved economically unviable. First World subsidies for agriculture and tariff intensify competition. In a globalizing world, the call is for land consolidation.

“Government has been remiss in its promise of a new day for our fellow farmers.” Politicians think of themselves first. They will give land reform as long they make money, at our expense. We have paid for this program for decades. Yet, our agricultural sector is in distress. (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) CARP turned us into a net importer of agricultural products, which we used to export.

Many farmers know the intent of land reform may be good. But if they are not ready for it, land becomes an insurmountable burden. Over 88 percent of “landlords” own 10 hectares or less and struggle to survive. These are retired teachers, civil servants who bought with their lifetime savings land for retirement.

It is easy to give up what is not yours. “Why is the Left blind to this fact?” Those who argue for land reform should give up their own property. That includes the Pope who has an entire city; Catholic bishops who’re the second largest landowners; Fr. Joaquin Bernas and his fellow Jesuits. “Don’t the poor need their property more than them?”

Individuals like Christian and Solita Monsod should give up their Dasmariñas Village and Subic homes.

And columnists? They should give 70 percent of their salaries to the poor — and up to 95 percent. “Sounds like a fair deal to me.”

Link (here)

More on Fr. Joaquin Bernas, S.J.

The Filipino Constitution and education (here)

Fr. Bernas interviewed in a Filipino TV interview on a constitutional problems (here)

An article on St. Ignatius of Loyola entitled, Let Me Talk Jesuit Today by Fr. Joaquin Bernas SJ (here)

Four Holy Families Make Four New Holy Jesuits Priests

Mangalore: Bishop Ordains Four Jesuit Deacons as Priests

News by Fr. Francis D’Almeida
Daijiworld Media Network—Mangalore (CN)

Mangalore, Dec 30: Four deacons of the Jesuits of Karnataka were ordained priests on Sunday December 28, at Fatima Retreat House Mangalore.

The ordination was conferred on Rudolf Noronha, Ronald Menezes, Cyril Menezes, and Jerald D’Souza by Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Bishop of Mangalore, in a ceremony held at 3.00 pm and attended by many.

The solemn Eucharistic celebration began with the introduction of the deacons by Br Austin D’Souza of Asha Kiran Jesuit residence. Fr Vijaykumar Prabhu, provincial, Karnataka Jesuits, invited the deacons to receive the orders of priesthood.

After the ordination ceremony, the four newly-ordained priests were felicitated. The ceremony was compered by Br Arun D’Souza of Loyola Prenoviciate.

The parents of the four, the provincial, and Fr Ronnie Prabhu, director, Fatima Retreat House, were present on the dais. Fr Melwy Sunny Pinto, lecturer, department of Journalism, St Joseph’s College, Bangalore, raised the toast.

On behalf of the new priests, Fr Rudolf Noronha thanked everyone and Fr Francis D’Almeida, campus minister, St Aloysius College, proposed the vote of thanks.

Fr Noronha hails from Ferar, and he will serve as a lecturer and hostel warden at St Aloysius College, Mangalore. Fr Ronald Menezes, from Moodbidri town parish, will be stationed at St Aloysius High School, Mangalore, as a teacher. Fr Cyril Menezes who has done his B Ed, hails from Modankap, BC Road, and will teach at St Joseph’s High School, Hassan, and Fr Jerald D’Souza, a lawyer by profession, has been assigned to (Great Link!) Bijapur Jesuit mission. He is from Nakre parish of Karkala taluk.

All these priests hail from devout Catholic families of DK and Udupi districts. All of them have completed nearly 15 years of training. Fr Rudolf has spent two years in Wimbledon at London.

Link (here) and see all twenty pictures chronicling the outside ordination.

A Holy Hour Prayer With Our Lord In The Garden

PREPARATORY PRAYER.

(To be said at the beginning of the Holy Hour.)

Accompany in spirit Jesus Christ to the Garden of Olives, and imagining that by a special favour He chooses you as He did His three most beloved disciples, to bear witness to the pains of His sorrowful Heart, and to unite you to the fervent prayers he is about to pour forth, make an act of faith in the presence of God, and say as follows:

O Eternal God! infinitely holy and just, I prostrate myself together with Thy Divine Son, in the presence of Thy Supreme Majesty, and in profound abasement I adore Thee, and acknowledge my nothingness before Thy infinite Greatness.

I offer Thee the agony and sorrows of the Heart of Jesus in satisfaction to Thy justice, and in sorrow for my sins, and the sins of the whole world; for the wants of the Holy Church both spiritual and temporal; to implore Thy mercy and pity upon all who are in their agony; to obtain for all Religious the first fervor of their institute; to repair the outrages which Jesus Christ receives in the Sacrament of His love ; to succor the souls in Purgatory; in prayer for the conversion of many sinners, and lastly to obtain Thy mercy on myself in my last agony.

O Father of infinite goodness, hearken to these my desires, and give Thy blessing to this prayer which I am about to make in union with Thy Divine Son my most loving Redeemer, and for the sake of His most amiable Heart; and by His merits I beseech Thee make me feel a lively sorrow for my sins, which caused such grief to Jesus my dear Savior in the Garden of Olives.

Link (here) to the prayer book entitled, Holy Hour or the Intimate Union of the Soul with Jesus in His Agony in the Garden, translated from the Italian, written by a member of the Society of Jesus. Preface by Fr. A. Weld, S.J.

The Gospel of Mathew Chapter 26 (here)

Harold Pinter On Jesuits

Harold Pinter, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature, writes. An excerpt.

I spoke earlier about ‘a tapestry of lies’ which surrounds us. President Reagan commonly described Nicaragua as a ‘totalitarian dungeon’. This was taken generally by the media, and certainly by the British government, as accurate and fair comment. But there was in fact no record of death squads under the Sandinista ( real name is Sandinista National Liberation Front) government. There was no record of torture. There was no record of systematic or (except for the massacre of the Miskitos Indians, oh and (here) and (here) ) official military brutality. No priests were ever murdered in Nicaragua.

There were in fact three priests in the government, two Jesuits and a Maryknoll missionary.

The totalitarian dungeons were actually next door, in El Salvador and Guatemala. The United States had brought down the democratically elected government of Guatemala in 1954 and it is estimated that over 200,000 people had been victims of successive military dictatorships.

Six of the most distinguished Jesuits in the world were viciously murdered

at the Central American University in San Salvador in 1989 by a battalion of the Alcatl regiment trained at Fort Benning, Georgia, USA.

Note: The Sandinista's are and were a Marxist atheistic anti-Catholic regime

Link (here)

Harold Pinter's obituary (here)

The Wernersville Egg

I was walking down the hedgerow path at the old Jesuit novitiate in Wernersville a couple of weeks ago, when I spotted in the distance what looked like an ostrich egg. As I got closer, I realized there were a dozen or so scattered along the path. As I got closer, I could see they weren't ostrich eggs, but what were they? Alien pods? Fungi, I believe... The watch on this partially munched specimen gives you some sense of scale...

Link (here) to the Quantum Theology blog

Edward T. Oakes, S.J. Had This To Say

Contrary to popular wisdom, the highest authority of the Catholic Church is not the pope acting alone, reigning like some Jacobean absolute monarch. No, the Catholic buck stops when the pope teaches in communion with his fellow bishops. True, the pope can act alone, and when he does his writ is universal and without appeal.

Interested in what Father Oakes' had else to say? Go (here)

He Was A Iraqi War Interrogator And A Hard-Core Protestant, Now He Is A Catholic And Wants To Be A Jesuit

Joshua Casteel has a loose association with the Jesuits and earlier gave thought to joining, but he would have to get three years past his acceptance into the church, which was Easter 2006, to be seriously considered. In a recent e-mail from England, he wrote regarding the Jesuits that

"I’m lowering my gaze for a time, focusing on ‘normal life’ things.”

In the meantime, borders continue to fail to hold him. “Churches are really interested in the fact that I’m a soldier and Christian until they hear I was a conscientious objector,” he said.

Link (here) to the full and quite interesting article in the "Hold Your Nose" National Catholic Reporter.

Chicago Area Democrat With Jesuit Connections

Thanks to the media circus swirling around the governor of Illinois and his schemes to fill President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat, little attention is being paid to the race to succeed Rahm Emanuel as he moves from the House of Representatives to White House chief of staff.

That's a shame, because voters in Mr. Emanuel's 5th district, largely composed of Chicago's North Side, will have the chance to redeem their state's reputation. They will likely have the chance to elect, out of a crowded race, a true reformer in Thomas Geoghegan.

Mr. Geoghegan is something of an oddity in Chicago. He is a respected lawyer, but he has spent his career in the unlucrative fields of labor law and advocacy for the poor. His connections are probably better with the Jesuits than with City Hall.

Link (here)

Read about the 5th Congressional seat (here)

The other guys running for the same seat

• Official website of Mike Quigley
  
• Official website of Charles Wheelan, Ph.D
  
• Official website of Sara Feigenholtz
  
• Official website of Justin Oberman

Tom Geoghegan's Jesuit connections

In Geoghegan's book, The Secret Lives of Citizen's he has a comparison of Jesuit's to Leninist's, which you can read (here)

Geoghegan to speak at Loyola Chicago Law School (here)

Some of Geoghegan's articles on Catholicism

"Confessions Of A 'Practicing' Catholic: A Yuppie Lawyer's Dirty Little Secret,"
September 30, 1985

"Popestock In Chicago: John Paul's Winning Battle In A Losing War,"
October 20, 1978

A complete list of articles in the New Republic (here)