The Latest & Greatest
With so many outstanding resources to grow deeper in your faith being produced today, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, throw up your hands, and just give up.
Hang on! We’re here to help!
A few times each week I’ll write a short post, either sharing a thought or telling you about a resource. The goal for each is the same: to offer you something that I think you might find helpful as you seek to draw closer to Jesus yourself and help others do the same. It might be a new book, an ancient homily, a livestreamed Mass, or something in between!
It is beautiful and silent—so silent that you might not believe the feed is live if not for the occasional flicker of a flame caused by one Benedictine nun of Tyburn convent moving in and bowing as she takes her place before the Blessed Sacrament, while another bows and takes her leave. And then, of course, there is the perpetual movement of light and shadow as the day progresses—another reminder that the image on your monitor is not a static photograph, but something alive, being transmitted via “live feed” directly to where you are. To where each of us are. Whatever is happening within the mysterious waves and crackles of electricity—a live energetic force that few of us really understand—what it is being delivered to us in real time is access to the Real Presence…
One of the teachings of the Church which is indeed most relevant to us today is that of Divine Providence: that there is nothing which happens which is beyond God's control and concern. In this short video I do a brief "deep dive" into what the Church teaches about God's providential care for all of creation. Take a look! https://youtu.be/qgSc0RQHn-E
If you haven't yet, consider taking a few moments to watch Bishop Donald DeGrood's homily from this last Sunday's Mass for the Fifth Sunday of Lent. He speaks powerfully about how the Spirit of God gives us all that we need, despite the difficulties which we currently face in the midst of the pandemic and will face throughout our lives... https://youtu.be/VPeuBOglGlA?t=1004
Here's a fantastic video from Bishop Robert Barron on "The Coronavirus and Sitting Quietly Alone". It's well worth the fourteen minutes it'll take you to watch and ponder his words: https://youtu.be/8_VJhBBqE5Y
Am I a pilgrim or a tourist? Like one of the chief questions one is asked when crossing into another country, “What is the purpose of your visit?” this question gets at the root of why one is making a journey, the journey’s purpose and its mode of being lived out. This question is also a good one to consider in traveling through life. Those are the opening lines of this fantastic article by Laura Dittus at the National Catholic Register. Go read the entire thing.
Last Friday, Pope Francis offered a special prayer event, given a homily, spending time in adoration, and then offering the Urbi et Orbi blessing ("urbi et orbi" is latin for "to the city [of Rome] and to the world"). This is a blessing that popes typically only give when they are elected and then twice a year: on Christmas and Easter. Pope Francis prayed this unique Urbi et Orbi for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a very powerful event, but you missed it, you're in luck: you can watch it and read his homily online. As we begin the final two weeks of Lent (traditionally called Passiontide), consider watching, reading, meditating and praying with the video and/or homily. The text of Pope Francis' address is here, and…
The Dominicans are a religious order within the Catholic Church which is devoted to fostering and sharing the fruits of contemplation and the intellectual life of the Church, particularly through preaching and teaching. Founded by the spanish priest St. Dominic in the twelfth century, the most famous Dominican is probably St. Thomas Aquinas. The Dominicans who serve the eastern United States are members of the Province of St. Joseph, and an apostolate which they've recently started is aptly called The Quarantine Lectures. One the most recent of the lectures was offered by Fr. Dominic Legge, on the topic of Grace and Anxiety: Spiritual Growth in a Time of Turmoil. It's on YouTube, and I've embedded it here as well: https://youtu.be/ghQF82bQqq0
If you're a registered member of a parish in the Diocese of Sioux Falls and have given your email address to your parish, then last week you should've received an email from Bishop DeGrood inviting us all to fast and pray for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you didn't receive that email, it contained a video message from Bishop DeGrood which you can find below, as well as links to a prayer for the pandemic from Archbishop Jose Gomez of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and to a litany of saints in time of need. The video is below and the link to Archbishop Gomez's prayer is here and one for the litany is here. https://youtu.be/3eQcJx2I9bA Personally, I'm trying to pray these prayers daily and fast on Fridays.…
Last week, Bishop DeGrood shared a video message with us about the need to suspend Masses with a congregation for the time being because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In that message, he referenced the Gospel story of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee. I thought it was an incredibly powerful and appropriate story for this moment in which we're living, and I recorded a short 12 minute video offering a bit of a "deep dive" into St Matthew's account of this event. Check it out below! https://youtu.be/1qKI0UKCjI8
Another great site for all sorts of resources to deepen your faith while stuck at home during the pandemic!
I highly recommend the article Praying Through Mass-less Sundays by Dr. Mark Miravalle of Franciscan University of Steubenville... you'll find it to be incredibly helpful and edifying.
