Lent III
New Website and Store
We are announcing a new website: sggresources.org. This website has links to all of our most important resources, and has a small store for purchasing literature, processing donations, and requesting Masses.
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Restoration Radio: The Legacy of Benedict XVI, Part II
This is the second of a 3-part series on the legacy of Benedict XVI. This show will focus on the years 2006-2013
Our guests are Bishop Donald Sanborn of Most Holy Trinity Seminary and Fr. Anthony Cekada of St. Gertrude the Great Catholic Church. Both men have studied Benedict XVI and his actions over the years and have much useful commentary to share.
Listen here.
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Restoration Radio: St. Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas – scholar and saint.
While St. Thomas Aquinas has remained a highly controversial figure in the Church’s intellectual battles ever since he died, and is a shibboleth, almost, in terms of discovering neo-modermists before Vatican II, it is sometimes forgotten that as well as being the Universal Doctor of the Church he is also its Angelic Doctor, and a great saint and mystic – indeed shortly before he died he abandoned work on his Summa, because he felt that the spiritual revelations that had been given to him made his intellectual work into so much “straw.” In this show we are very pleased to welcome back His Excellency Bp. Daniel Dolan to discuss St. Thomas the man and saint, and to try to get a fuller picture of the man in the context of his times, and his deeply felt spirituality.
Listen here.
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This school year we will be publishing daily sermons from the previous week:
Feb. 25, 2013: St. Matthias by Fr. McKenna
Feb. 26, 2013: Elias & Frequent Communion by Bp. Dolan
Feb. 27, 2013: St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Virgin by Fr. Lehtoranta
Feb. 28, 2013: Thursday in the 2nd Week of Lent by Bp. Dolan
Mar. 1, 2013: The Holy Face of Jesus by Fr. Lehtoranta
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✠ The Bishop’s Corner ✠
Resignation and sequestration were the buzz words last week. Puccini has been sequestering himself with the young fathers, having resigned as pontifical cat. (He insists, however, he is not a copy cat. It was his idea first.) He will still wear white, but will reside now in Castel San Marco, where he gets plenty of attention and no curial infighting for the cat dish with Caravaggio.
The other night Puccini was sleeping as usual in Fr. McGuire’s upstairs office. Fr. McKenna accidentally shut the door. The litter box was sequestered downstairs. Disaster ensued, and in Fr. McGuire’s cassock, to boot! Father had flung it on his couch (I bet he won’t do that again) and the poor cat applied his moral theology about necessity knowing no law.
Fr. McKenna cleaned things up in the morning, and Fr. McGuire cheered up enough to laugh about it, even using this to illustrate his talk for the children’s recollection. They enjoyed the story too, and Puccini, my “cat emeritus,” even came by for a little breakfast. We see the hand of St. Thérèse in this. She wants to teach us to smile serenely at whatever God sends, or the cat leaves behind.
We had a wonderful children’s day of recollection on Wednesday. Over 50 came, and profited from the priests’ talks, Holy Mass, Rosary, the Sacraments, Stations and Benediction. I had the little ones for a story hour, which I quite enjoyed. I hope they did too.
Special thanks to our school principal, Mark Lotarski, who not only provided a hot lunch for everyone, but also a fine little “gift pack” for our participants. Each child received a special book for coloring with crayons, or reading for the older ones, a commemorative holy card, and a surprise Thérèsian rose, made of chocolate – a sweet ending to a great day.
Last Saturday’s adult day of recollection drew an overflow crowd. We even had to send out twice for chairs. Fourteen souls joined me for the day’s spiritual exercises, dedicated to the Little Flower. The retreatants listened to some of the Story of a Soul during meals, and assisted at Vespers, experiencing the beautiful prayer which St. Thérèse joyfully participated in seven times a day. We closed with Stations and Benediction.
We’re looking forward to having our altar boys for a special day this Saturday, March 9th. It’s not another “recollection day” but a special day just for them. We don’t usually manage meetings or practices throughout the year. This day will offer altar boy inspiration and instruction, as well as some good fun with the Fathers and the MCs. Parents, bring your boys, please!
Bishop Sanborn and Fr. Cekada have been presenting weekly radio shows (www.blogtalkradio.com/restorationradio) on Ratzinger’s retirement and his “accomplishments,” a lifetime dedicated to destroying the Catholic faith. These shows are interesting, entertaining even (they have been compared to NPR’s “Cartalk”), as they firm up your faith and arguments for Catholic truth. Meanwhile, I’m doing a monthly show about the saints and our lives. Yesterday’s topic was St. Thomas Aquinas. Again, you may listen to these Restoration Radio shows at your convenience, but this Thursday, March 7th, would be most fitting as it is the Feast of the Angel Doctor. Solemn High Mass will be celebrated in his honor at 11:20 Thursday morning. Those who assist are dispensed from the fast.
Let us not forget St. Joseph, whose month opened on First Friday. Someone suggested prayers to the Church’s patron and protector during these crucial days for the Catholic Church. We began a Novena to St. Joseph for the Church on March 1st, using the “October prayer” you will find in today’s bulletin. Won’t you make a Novena as well? We’re not sure what to ask for, but we know whom to ask – good St. Joseph.
May St. Joseph and Our Lady along with the Little Flower, bless your March with great progress in holiness.
– Bishop Dolan