June 2009

Have you seen it yet?

June 6, 2009

Can you wait? Can you stand the excitement!? Neither can I…. It’s the Year for Priests

“Here I am everyone! Come unto me!”

I have the feeling I’m a bit cynical going into this. I truly want to be prayerful about it.

As we shortly commemorate the “150th anniversary of the pious departure to Heaven of St John Mary Vianney, the Curé d’Ars”, the Year for Priests will commence.

The Year for Priests, announced by our beloved Pope Benedict XVI to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the death of the saintly Curé of Ars, St. John Mary Vianney, is drawing near. It will be inaugurated by the Holy Father on the 19th June, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests. The announcement of the Year for Priests has been very warmly received, especially amongst priests themselves[oops.]. Everyone wants to commit themselves with determination, sincerity and fervour so that it may be a year amply celebrated in the whole world – in the Dioceses, parishes and in every local community – with the warm participation of our Catholic people who undoubtedly love their priests and want to see them happy, holy and joyous in their daily apostolic labours.

Well it’s certainly a good opportunity to get in the spirit of things. There are special indulgences attached:

A. Truly repentant priests who, on any day, devoutly recite at least morning Lauds or Vespers before the Blessed Sacrament, exposed for public adoration or retained in the tabernacle, and who, after the example of St John Mary Vianney, offer themselves with a ready and generous heart for the celebration of the sacraments, especially Confession, are mercifully granted in God the Plenary Indulgence, which they may also apply in suffrage to their deceased brethren, if, in conformity with the current norms, they receive sacramental confession, participate in the Eucharistic banquet and pray for the Supreme Pontiff’s intentions.

Furthermore the Partial Indulgence is granted to priests, who may likewise apply it to their deceased confreres, every time that they devoutly recite the prayers duly approved so as to lead a holy life and to carry out in a holy manner the offices entrusted to them.

B. The Plenary Indulgence is granted to all the faithful who are truly repentant who, in a church or in a chapel, devoutly attend the divine Sacrifice of Mass and offer prayers to Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest, for the priests of the Church, and any other good work which they have done on that day, so that he may sanctify them and form them in accordance with His Heart, as long as they have made expiation for their sins through sacramental confession and prayed in accordance with the Supreme Pontiff’s intentions: on the days in which the Year for Priests begins and ends, on the day of the 150th anniversary of the pious passing of St John Mary Vianney, on the first Thursday of the month or on any other day established by the local Ordinaries for the benefit of the faithful.

It will be most appropriate, in cathedral and parish churches, for the same priests who are in charge of pastoral care to publicly direct these exercises of devotion, to celebrate Holy Mass and to hear the confession of the faithful.

I am going to pray for the grace to be open to the upcoming Year for Priests.

On Taking the Train…

June 6, 2009

Air-France trauma continues, with more disturbing theories about flight’s possible demise:

Prior to the disappearance of the aircraft, ACARS messages revealed the indicated air speed (IAS) was unclear to the flight crew.[22] The systems involved in the calculation of airspeed are the Air Data Reference unit, the ADIRU (2 in normal operation and a 3rd in standby), and the control flight computers that generate and output to the primary flight display, and also can control the aircraft in Normal Law mode (see Automated messages and equipment malfunction. Three reports are on file at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) of Airbus A330 problems with the flight computer, and one with a Boeing 777.[Note 2][86] Another incident occurred outside of Australian airspace on an Airbus flying over the Western Pacific. These incidences begin similarly. The autopilot may automatically disengage, followed by warnings that an ADIRU unit has failed, and finally the Aircraft may engage in a steep climb or descent. Investigators with Airbus have found that the flight computers continue to use data from the ADIRU despite the fault, and that a multistep operation needs to be performed to keep the units from reporting faulty data to the primary flight computer. In the October 2008 incident, this fault caused injuries to passengers and damage to the Aircraft. A Qantas flight, QA 72, was forced into a dive by a malfunctioning ADIRU. Because of the complexity in ceasing faulty ADIRU output, the flight computer initially refused to allow pilot correction. The flight crew was able to regain control of the aircraft and make a safe emergency landing.

Using ACARS messages as the only source of information on AF 447, there are similarities with the QF 72. Both chain of events started with the autopilot disengaging on its own and sending ADIRU failure messages. Incorrect speed indications were also observed.[86] The airframe and the ADIRU involved in the QA 72 was also previously involved in another incident on Qantas Flight 68. The ADIRU unit on all four previous Airbus incidences was a Northrup Grummen device. However the ADIRU on AF 447 flight appears to have been made by Honeywell. On June 6, 2009, the agency investigating the crash said Air France had not replaced flight instruments such as the air speed measure on the Airbus A330 and therefore mechanical failures might have played a role.[87]

Ick.

"We the People" vs. "I Won"

June 4, 2009

Excellent Editorial by Sen. Jim Demint.

The Book of Tobit is a treasure. (Today’s readings rather alarmingly cuts from verses three to sixteen…) One of my friends was laughing over the story yesterday about bird droppings getting in Tobit’s eyes:

On the night of Pentecost, after I had buried the dead,
I, Tobit, went into my courtyard
to sleep next to the courtyard wall.
My face was uncovered because of the heat.
I did not know there were birds perched on the wall above me,
till their warm droppings settled in my eyes, causing cataracts.

As he becomes miserable and cantankerous, yet still speaks with an assumed long suffering nobleness, his equally long suffering wife chimes in:

So she retorted: “Where are your charitable deeds now?
Where are your virtuous acts?
See! Your true character is finally showing itself!”

They really are living in horrible times, in the diaspora after the kingdom has fallen. He’s blinded by bird doo, which can only be called unfortunate, and their life becomes a misery. The angel Raphael is sent to help them! And help them he does, eventually being an instrument of God’s healing for poor Tobit’s eyes.

A major point being, they live in horrible times yet they remain faithful. They experience tragedy, drama, the onslaught of evil, yet God finds a miraculous and mysterious way to help them. It’s a very human tale, with humorous moments, insights into the mysteries of Faith, and lessons in living through difficult times.

Tomorrow we backtrack through the Book of Tobit a bit, which makes no sense to me. Can’t we just read the story? If the point is to read through all of Scripture in three years, why chop it up so much? Especially Tobit which not many people read as it is.

It’s a short simple and delightful book. Highly recommended!

And you can tell everyone about the Archangel Raphael, one of only three Archangels found in Scripture, and about the great exorcism prayer that Tobit’s son Tobias(h) prays with his wife before they go to bed on their wedding night. A lot of people should read that prayer because they like to have it at their weddings, but that’s a different story, though no less charming.

Raphael tells some interesting things about how angels interact. He appears to be human, and they see him eating and walking with them, etc. But he eventually tells right before he leaves them, that what they saw was an illusion, since of course angels are spirits and don’t eat or drink, or really even walk for that matter.

Times may be difficult, but life doesn’t have to be lifeless. There is only life, and God is always reaching out to us in it, often through all the people, things and events of the world …. seen and unseen.

A Day in the Park

June 2, 2009

I was out of town the other day walking along a small river, when suddenly I saw something I’ve never seen before. Thank goodness I had my cellphone camera.

It was a flock of geese bringing the kids out for a swim on the river!