It's been a month since my last post, and even longer since I really shared something here. Tomorrow morning my family and I will fly out to attend our sister, Sr. Anna Sophia's first profession of vows with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, TN. This is a really special moment for her and for us, considered in the terms of religious life to be her wedding day! And I think I can share similar sentiments with the exclamation: "My little sister's getting married!" Only in our case, without the anxiety that often accompanies it.
So I humbly ask your prayers for her and for our travels. I also ask you for your prayerful support of our newest Oblate priest, currently Deacon John Luong, OMV, who will be ordained by Archbishop José Gomez the following Saturday, August 4, 2012 at St. Peter Chanel Catholic Church.
This summer has been a very packed summer for me, working full time doing technical work and having little time at home. The family time that I have had has been great, and it's nice to be in my hometown to also visit with friends from high school and college and go to some of the places we frequented when we were studying together.
It has also been nice to be close to the Oblate community here, to have that sense of continuity, even though I am not living at the rectory or taking part in all of their daily schedule.
In my ongoing discernment, I am continually reminded of one of the more common signs of vocation, identified in a powerful way by an Apostle of the Sacred Heart sister during my visit with the Redemptorists in New York a few years back. And that is that we can discover our vocation and become convinced of what we discover by the deepest desires of our heart. A question I pose to myself and which others have asked me recently is: "How sure are you?" And by boiling down the signs I have received and my peace of mind and precisely these deepest desires, I am able to say: "I'm sure!" We have to leave room for God to intervene and understand Him to have said that I was supposed to be there then but that there are new plans. That is a possibility, and it is also a possibility that I have made mistakes in discernment and treated as clear something that was not. But moments like the one I had last week serve to confirm what I have discerned thus far - waking up with the singular phrase and sentiment: "In my heart of hearts, I want to be in Boston." And it is these treasured moments that carry us through.
So we set off with a lot of excitement to spend time with our new extended family of new Dominicans and their families, and then visit more family in the southeast before coming home for a couple weeks before I return to Boston for First Theology. Again, quite the appropriate finish to my jam-packed summer!
Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca
Friday, July 27, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
For Religious Liberty
As so many pastors and Church leaders have taken the opportunity today to extend the Bishops' invitation to stand up for the full meaning of Religious Liberty to their flocks, I also wanted to provide some resources via this blog. From Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, find his opening message and homily on YouTube. From the Archdiocese of Boston, find Cardinal Sean O'Malley's address and various materials: www.bostoncatholic.org/Freedom.
Today's celebration is particularly interesting because June 24 is the Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist. As Fr. Bill Neubecker, OMV pointed out this morning at St. Peter Chanel, John was an outspoken activist politically, challenging the immorality of his king, Herod. This characteristic makes him a great patron of this particular movement in the Church and in our country, giving us an example of where we must draw our bottom line in insisting upon the dignity of all of humanity and the standards that this dignity demands. Fr. Bill and Archbishop Gomez both insist that Religious Liberty has always encompassed more than freedom of worship and faith; it also includes the freedom of conscience, to be able to follow our faith-based morality without coercion.
Fr. Larry Darnell, in his brief talk this past Thursday to open the Fortnight observance at St. Peter Chanel, addressed the fact that most charitable activities of the Catholic Church, if they are not limited to serving only Catholics, effectively declassify that church or institution of its religious status. That is, by exercising the Christian spirit of charity toward all human persons in their basic needs, those institutions become legally non-Christian and thereby waive their First Amendment protections. This is huge! This kind of disqualification policy certainly does not flow from the sentiments in which our founding fathers fled their homeland and certainly does not reflect the decades of legal and judicial process in this country up to this point.
As Fr. Bill also pointed out this morning, echoing the warning of Pope Benedict XVI during the US Bishops' Ad limina visit to the Vatican, what we are experiencing is a radical secularization in our culture - a forceful removal of God from every public equation, and now extending into citizens' private affairs as well. And the Pope has written extensively on the topic of secularization and its dangers both here and in various European countries, as I was fortunate to read in my Contemporary Philosophy class this past Fall.
Joining with the whole Church, let us again implore the intercession of Mary Immaculate and the Forerunner, John the Baptist, for the restoration of the protections that millions of Americans agree religion deserves, and for the swift repentance of this great nation in every way.
Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca
Today's celebration is particularly interesting because June 24 is the Solemnity of the Birth of John the Baptist. As Fr. Bill Neubecker, OMV pointed out this morning at St. Peter Chanel, John was an outspoken activist politically, challenging the immorality of his king, Herod. This characteristic makes him a great patron of this particular movement in the Church and in our country, giving us an example of where we must draw our bottom line in insisting upon the dignity of all of humanity and the standards that this dignity demands. Fr. Bill and Archbishop Gomez both insist that Religious Liberty has always encompassed more than freedom of worship and faith; it also includes the freedom of conscience, to be able to follow our faith-based morality without coercion.
Fr. Larry Darnell, in his brief talk this past Thursday to open the Fortnight observance at St. Peter Chanel, addressed the fact that most charitable activities of the Catholic Church, if they are not limited to serving only Catholics, effectively declassify that church or institution of its religious status. That is, by exercising the Christian spirit of charity toward all human persons in their basic needs, those institutions become legally non-Christian and thereby waive their First Amendment protections. This is huge! This kind of disqualification policy certainly does not flow from the sentiments in which our founding fathers fled their homeland and certainly does not reflect the decades of legal and judicial process in this country up to this point.
As Fr. Bill also pointed out this morning, echoing the warning of Pope Benedict XVI during the US Bishops' Ad limina visit to the Vatican, what we are experiencing is a radical secularization in our culture - a forceful removal of God from every public equation, and now extending into citizens' private affairs as well. And the Pope has written extensively on the topic of secularization and its dangers both here and in various European countries, as I was fortunate to read in my Contemporary Philosophy class this past Fall.
Joining with the whole Church, let us again implore the intercession of Mary Immaculate and the Forerunner, John the Baptist, for the restoration of the protections that millions of Americans agree religion deserves, and for the swift repentance of this great nation in every way.
Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Fortnight for Freedom
It's been a month since my last post! How the time flies!
I've been working, doing software development and IT work up in Burbank, plus some website-related and Oblate-related tech work on the side. It's been great being home and spending time with friends and the Oblates out here.
In the name of both truth and charity, as this blog is named, I wanted to make sure you are all aware of the US Bishops' call to observe the two weeks beginning today as the "Fortnight for Freedom" - an observance of "prayer, study, catechesis, and public action" surrounding the topic of religious liberty. This time period was chosen as it leads up to the commemoration of Independence Day on the secular calendar, and contains several saints who fought for their rights to religion despite political persecution.
I therefore invite you to visit the USCCB page, and inquire at your local parishes as to how you can participate more fully in this event, which calls us to invest ourselves in learning about what religious liberty means and why it is important that it be preserved.
At our Oblate parish in Hawaiian Gardens, CA, Saint Peter Chanel Catholic Church (12001 East 214th Street, Hawaiian Gardens, CA 90716), we will host the following events:
I hope you can join us or find ways to participate in your area. Let us entrust this time and our nation once again to Our Lady of Guadalupe, our patroness, trusting in her motherly care for us and her powerful intercession with her Son on our behalf.
Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca
I've been working, doing software development and IT work up in Burbank, plus some website-related and Oblate-related tech work on the side. It's been great being home and spending time with friends and the Oblates out here.
In the name of both truth and charity, as this blog is named, I wanted to make sure you are all aware of the US Bishops' call to observe the two weeks beginning today as the "Fortnight for Freedom" - an observance of "prayer, study, catechesis, and public action" surrounding the topic of religious liberty. This time period was chosen as it leads up to the commemoration of Independence Day on the secular calendar, and contains several saints who fought for their rights to religion despite political persecution.
I therefore invite you to visit the USCCB page, and inquire at your local parishes as to how you can participate more fully in this event, which calls us to invest ourselves in learning about what religious liberty means and why it is important that it be preserved.
At our Oblate parish in Hawaiian Gardens, CA, Saint Peter Chanel Catholic Church (12001 East 214th Street, Hawaiian Gardens, CA 90716), we will host the following events:
- Holy Hour - June 21, 2012, from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm: praying that the religious liberty of the American Catholic can be preserved.
- Talk - June 25, 2012, from 7:45 to 8:45 pm in the Old Church: Fr. Larry will give a talk on St. Thomas More and the present crisis of Religious Liberty.
- Holy Hour - June 28, 2012, from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm: praying that the religious liberty of the American Catholic can be preserved.
- Talk - July 2, 2012, from 7:45 pm to 8:45 pm, in the Old Church: Fr. Larry Darnell and Fr. Ed Broom will have a talk on the Formation of Conscience on religious matters and politics. The life of some saints will be given as examples.
- Holy Hour - July 5, 2012, from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm: praying that the religious liberty of the American Catholic can be preserved.
I hope you can join us or find ways to participate in your area. Let us entrust this time and our nation once again to Our Lady of Guadalupe, our patroness, trusting in her motherly care for us and her powerful intercession with her Son on our behalf.
Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Home!
I'm now a quarter of the way through formation program with the Oblates! Of course, the numbers are less significant than the progress of actual formation, and the 8-year program that is mostly governed by academics is really meant to be sufficient foundation for ongoing formation.
All of that said, it is great to close out a wonderful year in Boston! We all grew tremendously, both individually and as a community. I continue to stress that my favorite aspect of this year's experience is the community aspect - recognizing that our having come together and everything that we shared together and all of our interactions and the ways that we learned from our struggles and supported one another are really a work of God in which we are mere cooperators. Yes, we came as full persons, each with his own story of calling, and yes, as persons, we engaged in all of the community experiences that we shared, but it was the grace of God that was present drawing us together and sustaining us through the exams and the housework, our ministry and our vacations.
Now I'm home for a few months (until late August), with time to relax (and enjoy the Long Beach weather) and time to work. I'm a bit sad, being separated from the Oblates who were involved in formation directly, as well as the others in the Boston community around St. Clement's Shrine, and the other seminarians at St. John's. But it's great to be home with family and friends, and still to be near the Oblates in Hawaiian Gardens.
As much as I get to look back on this past year, I also get to look forward to what the Fall will bring. Hopefully, we will have some new postulants in the house, and we'll also have some changes in the professed community. I will begin Theology studies, which will be a bit of a transition for me, with probably more reading and writing and a different kind of precision from science or philosophy, though the hand-in-hand operation of fides et ratio will certainly be in play.
So here's to an enjoyable summer!
Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca
All of that said, it is great to close out a wonderful year in Boston! We all grew tremendously, both individually and as a community. I continue to stress that my favorite aspect of this year's experience is the community aspect - recognizing that our having come together and everything that we shared together and all of our interactions and the ways that we learned from our struggles and supported one another are really a work of God in which we are mere cooperators. Yes, we came as full persons, each with his own story of calling, and yes, as persons, we engaged in all of the community experiences that we shared, but it was the grace of God that was present drawing us together and sustaining us through the exams and the housework, our ministry and our vacations.
Now I'm home for a few months (until late August), with time to relax (and enjoy the Long Beach weather) and time to work. I'm a bit sad, being separated from the Oblates who were involved in formation directly, as well as the others in the Boston community around St. Clement's Shrine, and the other seminarians at St. John's. But it's great to be home with family and friends, and still to be near the Oblates in Hawaiian Gardens.
As much as I get to look back on this past year, I also get to look forward to what the Fall will bring. Hopefully, we will have some new postulants in the house, and we'll also have some changes in the professed community. I will begin Theology studies, which will be a bit of a transition for me, with probably more reading and writing and a different kind of precision from science or philosophy, though the hand-in-hand operation of fides et ratio will certainly be in play.
So here's to an enjoyable summer!
Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Obama's stance on same-sex marriage
If you haven't seen the video yet, I think it's important to not only read what comes out of various offices and what is reported on various public figures' remarks, but also to hear and see it from them directly. Here is a link to an article with the video clip and somewhat of a transcript, as well as links to longer video segments:
http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/president-obama-affirms-his-support-for-same-sex-marriage.html
LifeSiteNews has a more critical article that incorporates Obama's history of statements on the issue, in more substantial detail:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/obama-says-his-support-for-same-sex-marriage-based-on-the-golden-rule
I think that it is important to note that Obama seems uncomfortable delivering these remarks, as though his "affirmation" (his term) is hesitating: "at a certain point I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married" could nonsubstantively be reduced to "I think same sex couples should be able to get married". It gave me great hope to see Secretary Sibelius (HHS) shifting her weight nervously and struggling to hold a blank expression as Obama announced the controversial January mandate to her department. Obama's hesitating expressions, especially in the critical moment in this statement on same-sex marriages, as well as Secretary Sibelius' nervous body language, give evidence of the intuitive notion that what was just spoken was incorrect. This realization is precisely the fissure in the dam that will ultimately burst wide the floodgates of truth.
Oh, how we pray for the day when those who hold tight to the self-defeating doctrine of relativism will realize their folly. It's not that "I have the truth and you don't," however true or false this may be, and in degrees of truth and falsehood; rather, it is the case that the truth is out there: I seek it, and relativists reject or ignore it. The truth speaks for itself, and sets us free.
Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca
http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/president-obama-affirms-his-support-for-same-sex-marriage.html
LifeSiteNews has a more critical article that incorporates Obama's history of statements on the issue, in more substantial detail:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/obama-says-his-support-for-same-sex-marriage-based-on-the-golden-rule
I think that it is important to note that Obama seems uncomfortable delivering these remarks, as though his "affirmation" (his term) is hesitating: "at a certain point I've just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married" could nonsubstantively be reduced to "I think same sex couples should be able to get married". It gave me great hope to see Secretary Sibelius (HHS) shifting her weight nervously and struggling to hold a blank expression as Obama announced the controversial January mandate to her department. Obama's hesitating expressions, especially in the critical moment in this statement on same-sex marriages, as well as Secretary Sibelius' nervous body language, give evidence of the intuitive notion that what was just spoken was incorrect. This realization is precisely the fissure in the dam that will ultimately burst wide the floodgates of truth.
Oh, how we pray for the day when those who hold tight to the self-defeating doctrine of relativism will realize their folly. It's not that "I have the truth and you don't," however true or false this may be, and in degrees of truth and falsehood; rather, it is the case that the truth is out there: I seek it, and relativists reject or ignore it. The truth speaks for itself, and sets us free.
Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)