Cool News From St. Paul

The Vatican as declared the Cathedral of St. Paul as National Shrine.

From the Cathedral's web site:

Vatican Designates Cathedral of Saint Paul as National Shrine

The Vatican has designated the Cathedral of Saint Paul to be the first national shrine in honor of the Apostle Paul. This special distinction was granted by the Office of the Holy See and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, following a request by The Most Rev. John C. Nienstedt, Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

This will be the first national shrine in the State of Minnesota and the only national shrine in North America dedicated to honor Saint Paul.

According to canon (church) law, “The term shrine signifies a church or other sacred place to which the faithful make pilgrimages for a particular pious reason with the approval of the local ordinary (bishop).”

Those wishing to participate more fully in the life of the National Shrine can become members of the Archconfraternity of the Apostle Paul.

Tens of thousands of people, particularly tourists, already visit the Cathedral of Saint Paul every year. Bus loads of children also come to learnabout the role of the Mother Church of the Archdiocese. The number of visitors is expected to increase significantly as a result of this designation as a national shrine dedicated to Saint Paul.

Over the decades, the Cathedral developed as a catechism in stone and glass by evangelizing through its grandeur and beauty. The patron Saint Paul is particularly honored through a series of bronze grills that depict major events in his life, from his conversion to his martyrdom. The Shrine of the Nations, which features patron saints of ethnic groups from Europe who settled the area, serves as a reminder that the work of the Apostle to the Gentiles continues through every age.

BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR JUNE

VATICAN CITY, 1 JUN 2009 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for June is: "That international attention towards the poorer countries may give rise to more concrete help, in particular to relieve them of the crushing burden of foreign debt"

His mission intention is: "That the particular Churches operating in regions marked by violence may be sustained by the love and concrete closeness of all the Catholics in the world".

BXVI-PRAYER INTENTIONS/JUNE/... VIS 090601 (80)

BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR MAY

VATICAN CITY, 30 APR 2009 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for May is: "That the laity and the Christian communities may be responsible promoters of priestly and religious vocations".



His mission intention is: "That the recently founded Catholic Churches, grateful to the Lord for the gift of faith, may be ready to share in the universal mission of the Church, offering their availability to preach the Gospel throughout the world".

BXVI-PRAYER INTENTIONS/MAY/... VIS 090430 (80)

Bishop LeVoir Comments on Notre Dame

An article on LifesiteNews.com has quoted Bishop John LeVoir among others regarding Notre Dame.
Here is what he says:

Like the majority of the U.S. bishops against the scandal, Bishop LeVoir of New Ulm, MN reacted to Notre Dame's decision by recalling the U.S. Bishops Conference 2004 directive against honoring pro-abortion politicians.

"Since President Obama has taken stands that contradict the fundamental moral principles of the Catholic Church, e.g., the approval of abortion and embryonic stem cell research, he 'should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for his actions' at a Catholic university," said Bishop LeVoir in an April 13 statement.

"The decision of the University of Notre Dame makes it much more difficult for the Church to carry out her vital mission to transform our culture into a culture of life and love," he concluded.

Jesus said there would be days like these...

Today in my mailbox was an anonymous letter, well, it wasn't really a letter. It was more like a printed copy of someone's website. So not only did the person who sent it to me not sign his or her name, but they did not even use their own words to express themselves. It was chock full of the typical ignorant, anti-Catholic silliness. I have actually been to this web site before when I was in the process of converting to Catholicism and was pretty much not impressed with their scholarship. They quote only the parts of scripture that seem to make their point. Anyone can quote parts of scripture and use it to prove their point. Many times you can open up your Bible and read the words around what was quoted and a whole different meaning comes to light. That is exactly why Jesus gave us the Church, to help us understand the true meaning of the scripture so that we can keep it in context.

I have to admit that I am a little curious as to who sent it to me. It came from Marshall. Did they think that I would switch sides and become born again? Did they think I would become offended and spout vile words at them? Nah! I have more important things to do with my time.

I will say this though. To whomever sent me this: I love you. If you want to talk with me about why I am Catholic I will be more than happy to discuss it with you. Bring your own word though, because what I will not do, is debate this tired old nonsense that you have sent me. Go to Catholic Answers for that information. They have it all covered.

Ambassador Glendon Declines Laetare Medal

Former Ambassador to the Vatican Mary Ann Glendon declines Notre Dame's highest award in the wake of the university's decision to honor president Obama. Here is the brief article that Fox News has on the story.

I have to give Ambassador Glendon a lot of credit. She is standing up for what she believes. She is defending the teachings of the Church and the USCCB even though it is costing her something very prestigious (althought maybe not as prestigious as it used to be).

I find it ironic that Notre Dame is seeking to gain the prestige of having a fairly untested president speak at their commencement while Ambassador Glendon, who has earned Notre Dame's award is willing to stand on her Catholic values and give up her award. Three cheers for Mary Ann Glendon!

You can read the ambassador's letter to Fr. Jenkins here.

And With Your Spirit

Something that is not being talked about much (at least not around here) is the upcoming changes to the translation of Mass. Our bishops have been discussing the new translation and as a matter of fact the translation for the Ordinary of Mass (the parts that stay the same) has already been approved by the Vatican. Work is still being done on the Proper of Seasons. In a couple years we can look forward to some changes at Mass.

The Church is trying to make the new translations a more faithful reflection of the original Latin texts. The official Mass of the Latin rite (the Mass we attend every week) is written in Latin and all translations come from it. Unfortunately for us English speaking folks they did not translate the Latin very closely. They instead used a translation model called Dynamic Equivalence the result was the loss of a great deal of the beauty in our Mass prayers (that would be my opinion).

I thought I would start looking at the new translations and share my thoughts with you here. You can find a study copy of the Ordo Missae at the USCCB website.

If you follow that link one of the first changes that you will run into is the greeting:

2. Then the Priest, extending his hands, greets the people, saying:

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all.

Or:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Or:

The Lord be with you.

The people reply:

And with your spirit.

What's up with that?

The Latin text from where this comes is: "et cum spiritu tuo". And with your spirit is clearly a more accurate translation, but why?

Some think that it is a bit awkward to say "and with your spirit", but it is a reference to Paul's second letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:22). Paul also uses this form of address in his letter to the Galatians (Galatians 6:18). If you read Paul's letters he talks quite about about the actions of the Spirit in his life. It was important to him and it should be to us as well. By saying "And with your spirit" we are recognizing the Holy Spirit who was poured out upon the priest at his ordination, the same Holy Spirit who provides the Eucharist for us though the consecrated hands of the priest.


The words and actions that the Church has selected for the Mass have meaning and are important. I hope to continue to explore and share my thoughts on these changes as I get further in to the new translations.