General: That the Christians of the Middle East may live their faith in full freedom and be an instrument of peace and reconciliation.

Mission: That the Church may be the seed and nucleus of a humanity reconciled and reunited in God’s one and only family, thanks to the testimony of all the faithful in every country in the world.

General: 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.

Mission: 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.

O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children. The Sea of Galilee obeyed your order and returned to its former quietude. You are still the Master of land and sea. We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control: the Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant, can awake from its seeming lethargy, overstep its conventional boundaries, invade our land and spread chaos and disaster.

During this hurricane season we turn to you, O Loving Father. Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time. O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother, we ask you to plead with your Son in our behalf, so that spared from the calamities common to this area and animated with a spirit of gratitude, we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son to reach heavenly Jerusalem where a stormless eternity awaits us. Amen.

From the Diocese of Lafayette

General: That the laity and the Christian communities may be responsible promoters of priestly and religious vocations.

Mission: 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.

General: That the Lord may bless the farmers with an abundant harvest and sensitise the richer populations to the drama of hunger in the world

Mission: That the Christians who work in areas where the conditions of the poor, the weak and the women and children are most tragic, may be signs of hope, thanks to their courageous testimony to the Gospel of solidarity and love.

This prayer is thought to have been composed by St. Patrick in his fight against paganism. The Irish monks were extremely influential in the devleopment of the Sacrament of Confession as we enjoy it today.  In the ancient church, regular sacramental confession was not allowed. So along with whatever other moderate merriment is in your schedule today, plan a trip to confession soon. It truly is a gift. Why not read this old post of mine on confession because there certainly hasn’t been enough original content around here lately.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

General: That the role of women may be more appreciated and used to good advantage in every country in the world.

Mission: That in the light of the letter addressed to them by Pope Benedict XVI, the Bishops, priests, consecrated persons, and lay faithful of the Catholic Church in the Popular Republic of China may commit themselves to being the sign and instrument of unity, communion and peace.

“Ardent Catholic” and holder of a 100% Pro-Choice Voting Record by NARAL, Nancy Pelosi met with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. Maybe I’m confused Speaker Pelosi, but I think Pope Benedict XVI is probably in a better position than any of us to define what makes an “ardent Catholic.” You see, in my humble outside-the-beltway opinion, that’s one of the things that sets the Catholic Church apart from the church down the block. There IS an authority and WE are not it.

That reminds me. If you haven’t heard of Red Envelope Day, click on this link and find out how you can participate. I think I am going to send some red envelopes to Nancy Pelosi too!! Why should the Holy Father being the only one beating his head against that brick wall. It sounds like fun and I think I’ll join him.

I participated in a conversation today regarding the value of Mardi Gras and whether a Christian (any Christian) could participate in any Mardi Gras observance. Debauchery was a theme that came up in the discussion and more than one judgment that nothing about Mardi Gras could possibly have a purpose acceptable to a practicing Christian. One person observed that it might be possible for a Catholic to celebrate Mardi Gras with a pure heart but that this person would be “hard-pressed to find even one.” Sigh.

First. Mardi Gras literally means “Fat Tuesday” and it is the day before Ash Wednesday which kicks off the observance of Lent. In times past, Lent was observed by all practicing Catholics by rigorous fasting. It is still observed by those in the Eastern Orthodox traditions with rigorous fasting. Mardi Gras was a last chance to clean out the pantry of those things which would be forbidden during the coming fast. Pancakes and sausage, which used up the remaining dairy, eggs, syrup, sugar, oil and meat were and are traditional foods for Mardi Gras. It had a practical origin. It still has a practical origin. Today in the Roman Catholic Tradition, the observance of Lent can involve rigorous fasting but that is optional. The Catholic Church suggests both the removal of worldly distractions (fasting but perhaps from the internet, or from TV as well as from food) and the addition of positive spiritual disciplines such as extra prayer time or Bible study. Some families choose to make a sacrifice as a family as well as more individual disciplines. If your family has chosen to give up sweets, getting that last bag of M&M’s out of the house so they don’t call to you during the night for the next six weeks is just a practical thing. It’s a human thing too. How many of us, and here I am looking right in the mirror, having decided firmly to begin a diet on Monday don’t look at the burger and fries on Sunday and say, “Yep. I’m having those and do they come with an ice cream sundae?”?

Are there places where Mardi Gras is marked by licentiousness, gluttony, and debauchery? No question about it, there are. But the fact that some people celebrate the New Year with drunken revelry, doesn’t mean that New Years celebrations are inherently wrong. Christmas is grossly commercialized and so is Easter, but should the Christian Church stop celebrating the birth and resurrection of Jesus? The same holds true for Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras has a practical and human purpose and for every single devout Catholic I know, its celebration is marked by family good times and a sure focus on the Lenten sacrifice ahead. Yes, my children will probably eat more sweets than they would normally. I hardly think that qualifies for “debauchery” or “gluttony” anymore than eating those nasty marshmallow creations that some people consume on Easter. Yes, I mean Peeps.

And in fact, some of the symbols associated with the traditional observance of Mardi Gras do have religious significance. The Mardi Gras season begins with Epiphany, where we celebrate the kings/wisemen finding Jesus. Thus “King Cake.” A baby, representing the Christ Child, is hidden in the cake. This represents Christ being hidden from King Herod who wanted to kill him and the wisemen not telling King Herod where he was. The Mardi Gras colors have meaning and are all originally intended to represent Christ bringing justice (purple), faith (green=growth of faith), and power (gold=Jesus is the King of Kings and ultimately holds all power).

The Mardi Gras season is a time when Catholics take some time for reflection and plan how best to observe Lent. I can’t tell you the number of conversations I have had with fellow Catholics in the last week or so about plans for Lent and all of them have centered around spiritual disciplines and reading material. Are some of them going to a Mardi Gras parade and catch some beads with all of their clothes on? Probably but that’s not what we talked about because that isn’t the important part. The focus of this time of year for most Catholics I know is not the fun aspects of King Cake, beads, and parades, but rather the serious spiritual aspects of refocusing, of re-evaluating, removing the distractions, and preparing ones heart to truly receive the Risen Lord.

It’s too easy to just look at the excesses of Mardi Gras shown in the media and that are used to market tourist packages and assume that’s all there is to it. If your religious practice does not include a rigorous observance of Lent, I would just like to ask that in charity, you also not jump to too many conclusions about the celebration of Mardi Gras in its proper place.

I would like to join my voice to those of the Catholic blogosphere, in praying for Amy Wellborn and her family. This last week her husband, Michael Dubruiel, collapsed and died while working out. He leaves behind a grieving family as well as devastated friends and colleagues and many, many grateful readers of his books. I am one of the latter. I have used his books in the religious formation of my children and have enjoyed his blog entries on Amazon for a long time. Michael was a young man; although, I must say it is amusing to me how the definition of “young” with respect to untimely passing is rapidly changing as I age.

With uncharacteristic brevity, Karl Marx had this to say for his last words. “Go on, get out - last words are for fools who haven’t said enough.” Having read hundred of pages of his writing when I studied communist political thought in college, I couldn’t agree more. He’d already said enough. But sometimes, last words are a gift that God allows as last blessing and Michaels Dubruiel’s last column most certainly falls into that category. In his last column, Michael weaves together an unlikely combination of the wisdom of Father Groeschel, the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and an antidote to “The Big Lie.” He concludes:

What is the opposite of the “big lie”? Trust.

When questioned by an English journalist about the future of the Religious Order that he co-founded, Father Benedict gave a simple reply, “We have no plans, except to be led by God.”

None of us knows what the future holds, but hopefully we can embrace what is inscribed in our coinage, “In God we Trust.”

May perpetual light shine upon him. His voice will be sorely missed. Please read the rest of his last column here. And buy his books and not just because the royalites will help his children go to college. They’re good.  

General: That the Pastors of the Church may always be docile to the action of the Holy Spirit in their teaching and in their service to God’s people.

Mission: That the Church in Africa may find adequate ways and means to promote reconciliation, justice and peace efficaciously, according to the indications of the Synod of the Bishops’ Special Assembly for Africa.

It’s been a couple of months since I’ve mentioned Kiva so it must be time to do it again. A small amount of money (that you get BACK!!) can change someone’s life. And that someone’s family, and their employees, and their village. That’s better than interest in my opinion, and substantially better than the return you get on Wall Street these days….by a long shot. Take a look at this short video:

Or swing by this Kiva Fellow’s blog to watch a more detailed video of just how Kiva works. Including footage of a Kiva loan recipient making her loan payment and seeing pictures of people who lent to her: A Fistful of Dollars The Story of a Kiva.org Loan.

Hackers broke into the electronic road signs around Austin, Texas. It was terrible. Guffaw. Awful. Giggle. They shouldn’t have done that. Snort. Shame on them. But it sure is funny…Here’s the link. I hope the culprits enjoy their 15 minutes of fame before the Dept of Transportation tosses them into the the pokey.

Thanks Jen!

I’m tired of being sensible. It seems to me that being Christian is a call to a life lived outside of the boundaries that society labels “sensible.” I am tired of being kept from doing what I know to be the kind and Christian thing to do by stories of mayhem and murder. I am sick and tired of my “inner censor” telling me that I should not give some money for lunch to the disreputable person because he/she might spend it on [fill in the undesirable substance which might be purchased].

And so almost a month into this new year, I find myself with a resolution to be less sensible. I have to say that in spite of the way the car smelled after this gentleman’s exit from my car, it was worth it.

Sarah has done a lovely job of hosting this week’s Catholic Carnival. It’s worth a special trip just to see the picture up for her blog’s heading, but the rest of the posts are worthwhile too. So go take a look and support Catholic blogging on the internet.

While I am at it, I have discovered the USCCB has a podcast available of the daily readings. Who knew? I didn’t, so I am passing it on.

And finally, if you’d like to hear Texas’ first cardinal, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, speak, and who wouldn’t, this man is truly brilliant and I don’t use that word lightly, then you can find two of his lectures here. One is on St. Augustine and the other on the Early Church Fathers. I haven’t listened to them yet, but just as soon as I hit publish they are going to be playing on my computer.