A Catholic Blog for Lovers2
~ Monday, November 18, 2002
~ Wednesday, October 23, 2002
~ Thursday, October 03, 2002
~ Friday, August 02, 2002
~ Thursday, August 01, 2002
A Love Affair
Pope and Mexican People
Thanks to EWTN I was able to watch a good bit of the Pope's visit to Mexico. To view this on TV brings actual images that can hardly be described adequately in the press and its reports or even the brief clips on the evening news, etc. And the only word I could use to describe what I saw with my own eyes is love affair. How those Mexicans expressed their exhuberant love for the Pope and how he seemed to be energized and look on them with such love. I thought none could compare in enthusiasm with the youthful admirers of JP2. Well, the Mexicans gave them a run for the money!!! It was sheer joy and exultation! And how they "waved" and serenaded their beloved father in God. It is not only a love affair but a family affair!
It disproves, too, that the Pope is the object of a "cult of the young." It is not only the young who love him, but all ages, races, and classes (even as some continue to despise him - as is to be expected in the real world and real Church).
O God, bless our Pope and give him a good rest after this triumphant visit to the Americas.
Thank you, Father, for the gift of John Paul II! Ad multos annos, JP!! Thank you for our great family!
Preface of Saint Alphonsus Maria Liguori
Lord, holy Father, all-powerful and ever-living God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
As you unceasingly instruct us
through the teachings of our blessed Father, Alphonsus Mary,
and by the example of his life,
so you strengthen us through his intercession with your many graces.
We rejoice on this festive day
and offer you a sacrifice of praise through Christ our Lord.
Through him the Angels praise your majesty, the Dominations adore you,
and the Powers tremble before you.
The Heavens and the Virtues of heaven,
and the blessed Seraphim acclaim you with sweet accord.
We pray you to let our voices be joined with theirs, as we sing in humble praise:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, etc.
Temporary Blog
Until my blog, A Catholic Blog for Lovers, is fixed I will post here and then hopefully transfer these posts to the original blog...... As of now I can't post or edit anything on original blog.
Thanks for visit. (I won't add comment feature so use the other one to communicate - that seems to be working).
My holy Father Alphonsus
St Alphonsus Liguori, artist of the gospel
A blessed feast (August 1) of the great Doctor of the Church, St Alphonsus Liguori. How fruitful he was for the Church of God! Like Ignatius Loyola, Alphonsus was larger than life.
Founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists), great preacher and evangelizer, author (he wrote dozens and dozens of books and a massive moral theology, and started writing when he was 50!), confessor par excellence (and is the Patron of Confessors and Moral Theologians), pastoral bishop of a diocese, great man of prayer and action, lover of Christ and His Church (and a great defender of the Pope's office).....and a poet and musician too! An artist of the Gospel!
Perhaps these verses from one of his many hymns shows us a glimpse of his heart, the heart of a saint. How I remember this beautiful hymn from my childhood and all through my growing up as a Catholic. How beautiful were the hymns like this that radiate such warmth and such a *personal* love and relationship with the "Blessed Three in One". Maybe I'll live long enough to see another generation of young Catholics singing their hearts out with this hymn of St Alphonsus Liguori - usually sung to a melody similiar to "Fairest Lord Jesus"
O God of loveliness, 0 Lord of heaven above,
How worthy to possess my heart's devoted love.
So sweet thy countenance, so gracious to behold
That one, one one only glance to me were bliss untold.
Thou art blest Three in One, yet undivided still,
Thou art the One alone, whose love my heart can fill.
The heavens and earth below were fashioned by thy Word,
How amiable art Thou, my ever dearest Lord.
To think Thou art my God - O thought forever blest!
My heart has overflowed with joy within my breast.
My soul so full of bliss, is plunged as in a sea,
Deep in the sweet abyss of holy charity.
O loveliness supreme, and Beauty infinite,
0 ever flowing Stream and Ocean of delight,
0 Life by which I live, My truest Life above,
To Thee alone I give my undivided love.
Saint Alphonsus wrote the most popular Christmas carol still in use in Italy, Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle. His Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are jewels of prayer, and many of us know his stunningly beautiful Stations of the Cross. Alphonsus knew how to reach hearts! And yet he wrote heavy tomes of Moral Theology, and is listed among the Doctors of the Universal Church.
Alphonsus knew suffering: he was bent over with arthritis (somewhat like our Pope is now), so badly that his
chin indented his chest! He wound up, due to politics and craziness, outside the Congregation he founded! But he never lost his faith, hope, or love or perseverance in prayer and most tender devotion to "Mama" Mary. To the left is a painting of Our Lady done by Alphonsus when he was a young man.
I grew up in a great Redemptorist parish, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in Brooklyn NY. I spent many years as well with the Redemptorists and so Alphonsus is very much "father" to me. His spirit has stamped itself into my very soul. I think this is one reason I see myself first and foremost as a "missionary" and an evangelizer as God allows. Alphonsus' motto for his beloved Congregation is mine: Copiosa apud eum redemptio, With Him there is plentiful redemption - Psalm 129: 7 announcing the good news to the poor and most abandoned.
O holy father Alphonsus, look upon your unworthy son and give me a love of Jesus Christ and of his Mother Mary. Alphonsus, intercede for all who visit here and read: give us all a portion of your spirit. Pray for the Church you have loved so passionately and faithfully. A blessed feast to all!
