In the Hope of Everlasting Life

August 31, 2009, marks the 17th anniversary of the death of Bishop Cletus F. O'Donnell.

Bishop O'Donnell served as second Bishop of Madison for 25 years (1967-1992) steering our local Church through the many changes of the Second Vatican Council. Our records show that he ordained more than 80 priests of the Diocese, many of whom are still active. Most of these priests still have great affection for Bishop O'Donnell and Bishop O'Donnell's influence lives to this day.

He attended the Second Vatican Council as an auxiliary bishop of Chicago. His episcopal motto was In Spem Vitae Aeternae (In the hope of life everlasting). The chapel of the Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center bears his name--the Bishop O'Donnell Holy Name Memorial Chapel. He is buried at Resurrection Cemetery in Madison.

Almighty and merciful God,
eternal Shepherd of your people,
listen to our prayers
and grant that your servant, Cletus, our bishop,
to whom you entrusted the care of this Church,
may enter the joy of his eternal Master,
there to receive the rich reward of his labors.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
From the Order of Christian Funerals

Photo courtesy of the Madison Catholic Herald

Lectionary-based Music Resource

The National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM) has two wonderful resources to help musicians plan music which flows from the Sunday readings. They are definitely worth a look!

The NPM Music Planning Calendar includes suggestions of Psalms and hymns appropriate for each Sunday and holy day of obligation in the Church year. Each suggestion notes the hymnal(s) or other publication(s) in which the music is found.

The stated purpose of the Choral Anthem Project is

to list repertory suggestions for parish choir directors, independent of publishing industry interests, so that those responsible for selecting and preparing choral anthems may have a rich store of selections of high quality choral music related to the Sunday scriptures from which to choose.

Once again, each Sunday and holy day of obligation of the Church year is listed, although some days have few or no suggestions. Most of the music suggested is accessible to the average Catholic parish choir and embraces a wide-range of repertoire from historic music to compositions of today.

Both of these resources are one tool to help musicians plan. They should not be the sole resource for planning in your parish, nor should you feel bound to do something from these lists. Such lists are an excellent place to turn for ideas and I often find that when consulting them, new ideas pop into my mind.

The rest of NPM's website has a great deal of information for pastors, liturgists and musicians. There are catechetical resources, materials for liturgy preparation, and guidelines regarding professional concerns. It's a good place to bookmark and visit now and then.

"Nothing is lost with peace!"

Some Catholic websites are reporting today on a story from the Vatican's newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, commemorating the 70th anniversary of Pope Pius XII's radio message calling for peace on the eve of the Second World War.

The political situation in Europe had been deteriorating for some time, but things accelerated quickly in August of 1939. On August 23, The Soviets and Nazis signed a non-agression pact, surprising many that these ideaological enemies could come to this agreement.

On the next day (August 24), Pope Pius XII surprised the world by broadcasting a radio message "to the heads of state and peoples of the world faced with the immenent danger of war" from his summer residence, Castel Gandolfo. He told people (in my very sketchy translation, aided by Google),

It is through the force of reason, not weapons, that justice is achieved. Empires not founded by justice are not blessed by God...Nothing is lost with peace! Everything can be lost with war!

Unfortunately, the plea for peace fell on deaf ears and eight days later Hitler's army invaded Poland, bringing the world to war.

As we recall the days leading to World War II, it would be a good time to thank God for the countless sacrifices made by good people throughout the world to defend freedom, especially in World War II. It also might be good to ask God to grant us peace.

Lord Jesus Christ, who are called the Prince of Peace,
who are yourself our peace and reconciliation,
who so often said, "Peace to you," grant us peace.

Make all men and women witnesses of truth, justice,
and brotherly love.
Banish from their hearts whatever might endanger peace.
Enlighten our rulers that they may guarantee and defend
the great gift of peace.
May all peoples of the earth become as brothers and sisters.
May longed-for peace blossom forth and reign always over us all.
Pope John XXIII, Prayer for Peace

New Roman Missal Webpage

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has unveiled a pretty sharp website to help promote formation on the new Roman Missal at www.usccb.org/romanmissal. Much of the material was on their previous page of Roman Missal material, but there are some helpful additions including a brief historical timeline and separate sections for "Assembly" and "Celebrant."

The information on this page is very good. Still to come are the catechetical pieces that we can put in people's hands. We should start to see those rolling out early in 2010.

Two New Resources for Liturgical Ministers

There are a number of new publications out this Fall which help with the spiritual formation and catechesis of liturgical ministers.

Sunday Prayer 2010 (Liturgy Training Publications) contains each Sunday's Gospel (Advent 2009 through Christmas 2010) and a brief reflection. It is only slightly larger than a check book and is very inexpensive (in quantities of 30 or more the cost is only $1.00 per book). It would be a great gift for liturgical ministers to help them prepare for the Sunday Mass and would be useful for prayer at parish meetings, with RCIA groups, and people who are homebound.

Liturgical Press has expanded its Living Liturgy series with Living Liturgy for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and Living Liturgy for Cantors. While these books are slightly larger (and more expensive) than Sunday Prayer 2010, they also contain more Scripture from each Sunday and more prayer and reflection. (They still are smaller in size than the average missalette.)

The material also is geared more specifically to the ministries. For example, the book for cantors contains a section for each Sunday on "Connecting the Responsorial Psalm to the Readings" and "Psalmist Preparation." The more extensive booklet for cantors can be purchased in bulk (6 or more copies) for $6.95 each and the booklet for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion in bulk is $4.95.

These booklets would make excellent gifts or could be made available for individual purchase so that the cost to parishes is eliminated. These resources will help people prepare to participate even more fully in the Sunday Mass.

Workshop Added to Fall Schedule

The Office of Worship is adding an additional workshop for Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion on Thursday, September 17 at St. Joseph Parish in Baraboo. For more information, visit our website by clicking here.

A Cheerful Giver

Today (August 10) is the feast of one of the Church's most well-known martyrs, Saint Lawrence.

Lawrence was a deacon of the Church in Rome serving Pope Sixtus II. As with many early saints, the circumstances of his life and martyrdom contain few details which can be proven, but what has been passed down through the tradition is truly legendary!

The legend contends that in August of the year 258, during the persecution of the emperor Valerian, Pope Sixtus II was beheaded. His young deacon, Lawrence, met Sixtus on the way to his execution and asked to accompany him, to which Sixtus replied that he would...in three days.

As a deacon, Lawrence maintained many of the temporal goods of the Church, including vessels of precious metals and other riches. The Roman prefect demanded that Lawrence surrender these riches to the emperor. The deacon slyly asked for a few days to gather the vast riches. During that time, he sold the Church's goods and gave the money to those in need. At the appointed time he appeared before the prefect with the poor, the sick, widows and orphans, proclaiming these as the "treasures of the Church."

That, of course, was not well received so Lawrence was executed. They placed him on a gridiron (which he is holding in the picture above) and placed him over hot coals. He is said to have joked at one point, "This side is done. Turn me over." Thus, he became a cheerful giver.

Whether or not every (or any) detail of the legend is true, it is clear that St. Lawrence embodied the Lord's call to follow him, even through suffering and death. In an excerpt from one of St. Augustine's sermons (from today's Office of Readings), he says, "We too must imitate Christ if we truly love him. We shall not be able to render better return on that love than by modeling our lives on his."

The legend also causes one to reflect on how we view the Church's treasures today. We still lock up our gold and silver chalices in the sacristy safe even while we lock the church doors from unwanted visitors. One of the "Fruits of Holy Communion" named in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 1391 and following) is a commitment to the poor: "To receive in truth the Body and Blood of Christ given up for us, we must recognize Christ in the poorest, his brethren" (no. 1397).

Perhaps the best way to celebrate this feast is to ask ourselves how we recognize Christ in his treasured poor.

Father,
you called Saint Lawrence to serve you by love
and crowned his life with glorious martyrdom.
Help us to be like him
in loving you and doing your work.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
--Roman Missal, Prayer of the Day