Finding the truth about liturgy…

Dear Friends,

You wouldn’t know it by the content of this site, but I love the liturgy of the Church. I have prayed the Liturgy of the Hours since becoming Catholic. I am often mesmerized by every movement at Mass. I love the rhythm of the Church – the music – the seasons – the feasts – the solemnities. I am moved by the thought that as I engage in the liturgy I am engaging with billions of people both inside and outside of time who are joining together in worship that is not bound by time and space. I am awestruck by the idea that we meet Christ Himself every time we receive Him in the Eucharist. Still, I avoid the topic as a normal course on this blog.

Why? Because like me, the topic gets under your skin. And when it gets under the skin of a writer, and under the skin of the readers, and under the skin of responders, fights break out in the comboxes and divisions emerge; ugly and shameful divisions. The good news is that very little of that has happened here – my goal is to keep it that way.

Liturgy is just hard and challenging to deal with. So, instead of covering it on this site in a less-than-helpful way (at least not as a primary focus) I want to point you to a rock solid and trustworthy source on the subject, the Adoremus Bulletin.

For those of you confused, saddened or just positively curious about what you have experienced, Hellen Hull Hitchcock and the team at Adoremus will provide a light of clarity and precision. For those of you who love what is good, true, and beautiful, you will be deeply encouraged and reinforced in your love for Christ in the liturgy of the Church. For those of you who energetically agree with me about liturgical matters, but who will be far more effective when you clearly understand the mind of the Church on these matters, you will be blessed and armed for the necessarily gentle but persistent battle to restore a proper sense of reverence and awe in our worship of the God of the Universe. If you love the liturgy, please visit Adoremus… subscribe, learn, support. You won’t be sorry.

Having John Paul II over for Christmas…

If you are a fan of Blessed John Paul II, or if you know a fan, here’s an idea for a Christmas gift.

Last October, in anticipation of the first feast day of the newly beatified John Paul II, CCC of America released a special edition of a 4-DVD set on the papacy of John Paul II. Originally produced by renowned Italian journalist Alberto Michelini, this English language edition includes ten, 30-minute documentaries with live video and audio footage from the late pope’s life. Each of the ten volumes is dedicated to a specific theme: JPII and children, JPII and young people, JPII and the family, JPII and the Blessed Virgin Mary, etc…

The collection was produced by a journalist, so it’s fresh and lively. But the journalist has a deep Catholic faith, and he understood not only John Paul II’s charismatic appeal, but also the depth of his love for Christ and the power of his contribution to Catholic history and teaching. And that’s what comes across most in these videos. Each one is almost a meditation. Inspiring images of the pope’s travels combined with ample excerpts from his own discourses to make for a documentary that captures the imagination, touches the heart, and stimulates the mind.

For those of us who followed John Paul II when he was still with us here on earth, these DVDs are like a family photo album. Watching them brings back memories and stirs up a deep appreciation for all that God did in our lives through the exceptional leadership of Blessed John Paul II. They move at a refreshingly relaxed pace, unlike the dizzying and superficial dazzle of so much of today’s news reporting. Since a lot of the footage is from the 80’s and 90’s, it doesn’t have the high definition we are used to in the second decade of the twenty-first century, but the abundance of substance makes up for the dearth of glamour (although I have to admit, there are some truly amazing visual segments!). The ten episodes deeply respect and brilliantly portray the message, the man, and the mission of this servant of the servants of God, and in so doing, they strengthen the viewers own commitment to building Christ’s Kingdom.

So, if you are looking for a stocking stuffer that will last a lot longer than a lollipop or a candy cane, I sincerely recommend John Paul II: The Man, The Pope, The Message. Here’s a brief preview:

John Paul II: The Man, The Pope, And His Message – DVD series trailer from Tim Evans on Vimeo.

An interview with Archbishop Naumann on Spiritual Direction and a New School For Spiritual Direction

I recently had the opportunity to interview with his Excellency Archbishop Naumann of the archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas for Register Radio on an important work going on in his archdiocese to train spiritual mentors. Because of the time constraints of the show we had to cut it down quite a bit. Below you will find the content of the longer interview.

Archbishop Naumann has a deep commitment to the spiritual welfare of those under his care and has demonstrated that commitment through tangible and significant means of catechesis and formation that I hope inspires other diocese and laypeople to pursue the same. I have had the opportunity to review the content of a number of the courses provided by the School of Faith and I highly recommend them, particularly to those who believe they are called to provide spiritual direction. Here’s the transcript of the interview:

Archbishop Naumann, welcome to the program.

Thanks Dan, it is good to be with you.

Archbishop, Pope Benedict has consistently encouraged the faithful to pursue spiritual direction during his pontificate. On his recent visit to the Teresianum he went as far as to recommend it “not only to all those who wish to follow the Lord up close, but to every Christian who wishes to live responsibly his baptism, that is, the new life in Christ.” I have two questions related to the Pope’s comments. First, what exactly is spiritual direction, and second, why do you think the pope is so strongly recommending it to all Christians?

Spiritual direction is accessing a spiritual guide who can help you grow more rapidly in your spiritual life than you could on your own. It is going to someone who has training and expertise in guiding a person through the spiritual life, helping them see the opportunities for growth and holiness and then charting with them a plan to do that. It is really somebody that accompanies you on your spiritual journey and serves as a guide. Just like a personal trainer for your physical well-being can help you get in shape more quickly, so too a spiritual director is a trainer in the spiritual life.

Regarding the Pope’s recommendation of spiritual direction to all, I think the Holy Father has a pastors heart and he realizes that the aim of, the goal of the Church, is to help people draw close to Jesus and to grow in relationship to the Lord in holiness. And, for all of us, not just for priests, consecrated, or religious, spiritual direction can be a great help to anyone that is serious about really growing closer to the Lord and learning how to better pray and build a spiritual life.

It is interesting that the Pope says “not only to all those who wish to follow the Lord up close” which seems to be a reference to priests, consecrated, and religious, but really, this should be the desire of every Catholic – to follow the Lord up close. I think he is encouraging all Catholics to do what is prudent, what can help all Catholics get closer to Christ more quickly; and that would be to have a spiritual director, spiritual mentor, or guide in the spiritual life.

Around the time the Pope was speaking these words, a new school opened in your diocese for spiritual mentors – can you tell us about that? What was the impetus behind this effort?

I hope the impetus was the Holy Spirit, not necessarily a brain child of mine. But it developed because of the unique ways we have been blessed in the Archdiocese. We have a group that has really helped us with adult catechesis called the School of Faith. They originally began their efforts at the University of Kansas at the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center.  At that same center, some years ago, we were able to attract a new religious community called the Apostles of the Interior Life. They were a complement to this catechetical program because the program was opening people to the beauty of the truths of our faith and creating a desire for them to want to know the Lord more. The charism of the Apostles of the Interior Life is spiritual direction so we had these young people who were primed to pursue their spiritual development and then we were able to support them with spiritual directors.

Then, the School of Faith wanted to broaden their offerings beyond the St. Lawrence Center to reach more adults and I specifically asked them if they could help with the formation of our Catholic school teachers. As they did this, then we had a greater number of people looking for spiritual direction. Because we only had six of the members of the Apostles of the Interior Life, we were limited as to how many people we could support in spiritual direction.

I asked the Apostles if they would consider helping to train more spiritual directors in order to increase the availability of spiritual direction to meet the demand.

Their school opened in May?

Yes, they had their first gathering in May to start a two and half year process. Individuals come for an entire week for catechetical training, personal spiritual development, and the training in how they can help others that they would accompany in the spiritual life. Four times during the course of the year they will come together for a full week, in between these times there are online materials that they work through. The school doesn’t provide the full training that the Apostles of the Interior Life has for spiritual direction (they have graduate degrees from universities in Rome). Still we believe it will be enough to be able to provide sound mentoring to those who are trying to be able to grow in their spiritual lives.

I hear that the response has been great. How have people responded to the spiritual mentoring course offerings? Did the courses generate a lot of interest?

We were hoping we could get at least thirty people to launch the effort in order to make the economics of the school work. We were thrilled when we had over sixty come and we had to put a cap on the number of attendees.

Archbishop, in some informal research that I have done on the topic of spiritual direction and the interest out there I have had 6,000 people respond to a simple question, about their perspective on spiritual direction. Almost 2,000 responded that they are in a spiritual direction relationship. Over 4,000 indicated that they wished they were in a relationship or that they were yearning for a deeper relationship with Christ and wanted and understood that a director might help them to achieve that. Do you have any ideas or encouragement for people about how to find a spiritual director or mentor in other diocese?

That is a great question. The numbers don’t surprise me. As a pastor you hope that you can create a hunger in people to want this fullness, this abundant life that Jesus talks about that is really the fruit of a strong rich relationship with the Lord in prayer. For finding a spiritual director, I would encourage people first of all to start with their pastor to determine if he himself is willing and able to help depending on the size of their parish and his workload. Your pastor may also be aware of other resources. If there is a monastery in your area often times the monks or in the case of sisters, they may be equipped to do that. If there is a retreat center near you often times they will provide directed retreats and they might have a list of potential spiritual directors as well. These are some of the ways that I would encourage people begin looking. They could go to your website, your blog as well probably. [Archbishop was referring to my blog, Roman Catholic Spiritual Direction]

Thank you, that’s a good plug. I’ll have to add the information that they can find out more tips on how to do that [I created an index you can find here.]. It is a challenge sometimes to find a director. But we do understand that our priests are overloaded. Sometimes, is it not true that in confession we can ask our priests for practical advice can’t we?

Absolutely, I think that in most cases priests would welcome that. It is an advantage if you can have a spiritual director who also can be your confessor. This is a great blessing. Regular use of the sacrament of penance or reconciliation is one way that you can find a lot of good help and guidance.

Archbishop, thank you so much for joining us here on Register Radio. Thank you for what you are doing in the Archdiocese. It is a great encouragement to hear of the resources you are providing to train spiritual mentors. From what I hear as well, people can come to your school from outside of the state to get training?

Yes, about two-thirds of the participants are from our area and a third are from all over the country. We hope we can assist other dioceses in this way as well.

Archbishop as we close can you give us your priestly blessing?

May the blessing of God descend upon all of our listeners and remain with them forever. Amen

To find out more about faithful catechesis go to www.SchoolOfFaith.com. To learn more about the Apostles of the Interior Life click here.

Catholic Bible Study Software? Catholic Study iPhone Apps? Really?

To some of my evangelical friends “Catholic Bible Study” may sound like a kind of oxymoron. But, those of us who know the best kept secrets of Catholicism know that there is more scripture read aloud and reverently in the Catholic Church across the world on any weekday than in all of the protestant Churches of the world combined on any Sunday. I don’t say this to cast aspersions on our protestant brothers and sisters but to simply point out the bible is a Catholic book birthed by the Catholic Church and revered by the same as the highest form of public revelation for two thousand years. So, it should be no surprise that in our time there is such a thing as “Catholic Bible Study Software.” Even better, how about software that not only provides a wealth of scripture study tools but also includes a vast library of searchable and cross-referenced resources from the rich tradition of Christ’s own Church. Here’s a video that explains this amazing resource better than I can.

Logos is really the best Catholic Study Software in the known universe. There is nothing out there like it. Here’s what I suggest:

1. Buy it
2. Pray for someone to buy it for you (send them this post as a hint – Christmas is coming after all)
3. Buy it for someone else (i.e. your priest, a seminarian, or your iPad wielding on-fire-for-Christ apologist grandmother)
4. Open the Logos web page daily as an act of mortification and offer it up if you can’t buy it – but keep praying that it will arrive as a gift
5. Go fishing in a near-by lake and look in the mouth of the first fish you catch. If you don’t find enough money to buy it, go back to options 2, or 5.
6. As a favor to me and to support the good folks who put this together, please pass this post along to any serious Catholic looking to dig deeper into the endless riches of our glorious Church!

Finding Father Barron

I posted this over at the National Catholic Register and thought that you might be interested as well…

Finding Father Robert Barron these days is an easy task. This is good news for those who love the Church, and good news for those on the outside wondering if they should step in, or even back in as the case may be. Whether it be books, radio, DVDs, or television, Father Barron’s seemingly ubiquitous voice has been called “one of the Church’s best messengers” by Cardinal Francis George. With a nimble intellect and loving heart, Father Barron has given the faithful an arsenal of catechetical material. However, now he presents the Catholic faithful and a searching world a landmark production on a scale and quality rivaled only by Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. Father Barron’s 10-part miniseries Catholicism has been hailed by George Weigel as “the most important media project in the history of the Catholic Church in America.”

We agree, and so does EWTN.

The mentioning of a “Catholic miniseries” may invoke post-traumatic stress in some of our readers. Worry not. Catholicism is not a dry or banal presentation of the faith, but a tour de force, wrapping up the richness of Catholic theology and the beauty of the global people of God into a production of high media standards. Centered on our Lord Jesus Christ, the series expounds upon the Church, culture and nature as one cosmos ordered by God’s truth and beauty.

More good news: The Register and EWTN are your places to hear Father Barron and see Catholicism. Here at the Register, we keep close tabs on Father Barron’s ministry, and you can hear a recent interview with him on Register Radio here and read the latest print interview with Tim Drake here.

EWTN will provide several opportunities to engage with Father Barron’s groundbreaking work. If you are new to Father Barron’s ministry, there is a great opportunity to see him on EWTN’s Bookmark on Dec. 4 to discuss both his book and Catholicism with host Doug Keck.

Catholicism will be broadcast on EWTN according to the schedule below. All times are Eastern. Please make sure to double-check the schedule closer to the broadcasting date at www.EWTN.com. We here at the Register encourage you to set some time aside, grab the kids, invite over your Catholic and non-Catholic friends alike and enjoy Father Barron’s Catholicism.

Wednesday, Nov. 16
Catholicism: 9 p.m., 10 p.m., and 11 p.m.

Thursday, Nov. 17
Catholicism: 11 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 18
Catholicism: 10:00 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 19
Catholicism: 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 10 p.m., 11 p.m.