Sacerdos Institute for Priestly Life and Ministry

01/04/2013

Christos Aneste ("Χριστός ἀνέστη!" - "Christ is Risen!)

When I was in Jerusalem in February with a pilgrim group of priests, I had the chance to stay overnight — locked in — in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. It was thus that one could spent quality time in prayer right inside the tomb of Jesus, one of the holiest sites in Christianity. Yet, while praying, a phrase hit me very strongly, as if the same angel were telling it to me, “He is not here, he is risen.”

Jesus has no place among the dead, even if that place is a solemn one. Jesus is alive. He lives. He reigns from his place in heaven with the Father. He is alive in the Eucharist. He dwells in the soul of every baptized Christian. He is among us when two or three are gathered in his name. He is in the suffering, physically and spiritually.

With a little more faith, Jesus can be recognized in our world of 2013. Indeed he is risen; he walks among us!

Happy Easter and the blessings of the Risen Christ to all.

http://www.lessing-photo.com/p2/080401/08040166.jpg

24/01/2012

A serious challenge to the Catholic Church in the US, about which we cannot as priests cannot be silent. Perhaps the Lord is giving us an opportunity to educate our faithful in the pews clearly, passionately and compassionately concerning the truth about contraception, sterilization and artificial birth control. Issues include the objective gravity of evil of contraception, sterilization, etc.; the issue of material cooperation in grave evils -- which would be the case for employers who will be forced into buying into health insurance plans that cover such things; the relationship between contraception and foundational issues such as life, marriage and family; options for Catholics who wish to be faithful to the Magisterium's but who are currently contracepting.

Bishops Decry HHS Rule, Urge Catholics to Stand Up for Religious Liberty and Conscience Rights in Homilies at Vigil for Life

21/01/2012

Perhaps a bit outdated, but still interesting, the PICTURE project (stands for Priests’ ICT Use in their Religious Experience), surveyed 1% of Catholic priests, from November 2009 to February 2010. Some interesting facts: approximately 50% of the "ePriests" consider Internet as useful for better homily preparation and search for homily materials once a week. About 65% of "ePriests" have used the Internet at least once a month to pray the Breviary. About 65% agree that technology enables better ongoing priestly formation. Almost 3/4 of worldwide ePriests agree that new technologies allow for the enculturation of faith today. Interestingly enough, the majority of priests (41%) do not use social networks to get in touch with brother priests -- we'll have to see if this changes in the future.

The majority of priests, 94 percent, use internet each day. A study on how priests use the internet has confirmed this. It was carried out by two universitie...

05/01/2012

Today we celebrate the feast of St John Neumann, the third American saint, who continues to be an inspiration for the hard-working priest. Pope Paul VI's address at his canonization in 1977: "His love for people was authentic brotherly love. It was real charity: missionary and pastoral charity. It meant that he gave himself to others." He was ordained by New York Bishop John Dubois in old St Patrick's Cathedral in 1836, joined the Redemptorists in 1840, and served as bishop of Philadelphia from 1852 till his death of over-exhaustion in 1860. Congratulations to our friends in Philadelphia and the Redemptorists who will celebrate the closing Mass for the St John Neumann Year on June 23, 2012.

The Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province serve in parishes, preach missions, give retreats, and minister to the poor and most spiritually abandoned in the eastern United States.