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Antonio Banderas, a Jesuit priest?
Rented a movie called “The Body” (2001) that I don’t remembering hearing about. It has Antonio Banderas playing a Jesuit priest, investigating a crucified body found by an archeologist in Jerusalem. In the spirit of religious conspiracy fiction like The Da Vinci Code (2006), it explores the ramifications of finding the buried body of Jesus for Christianity and Palestinian-Israeli relations.
It could have had a better developed storyline. It ended too suddenly. But I especially like the interaction between the Jesuit priest (Banderas) and the Dominican priest. Personally, I thought the faith of the more mystical Dominican would withstand the challenge.
–– Interesting movie. Banderas was a pretty convincing Jesuit. 🙂
CCD hs: Catholic pop quiz + Saints assignments (day 2)
In our high school Confirmation class (at St Mark’s), Jose & I gave a POP Quiz with 23 questions to see what our kids know to better gauge how much to review. I didn’t expect much, and wasn’t disappointed. After introductions and time to fill it out, we went over the first 10 questions in large group discussion. Here are some of the questions:
- How many Catholic friends do you have? (ranged from none to 12 to 1,000 to many)
- What Catholic tradition do you like? (sign of the cross, Eucharist, Holy Week, Lent, Christmas, Christmas Novena readings, )
- What Catholic tradition do you not understand? (Ash Wed, Halloween)
- What is the name of the Pastor here? (only 4 of 24 got it right … not good)
- Name 3 ministries in this parish.
- What prayers do we pray in the Rosary?
- What is the name of the current Pope? (who’s George III?)
- What is the Eucharist?
- Why do we have confession?
- What do we celebrate on Good Friday?
After some discussion about the questions, we paired up kids and assigned a Saint to present, one per day, with a schedule of presentation. Great class, quiet but very insightful discussions. Definitely a great year of catechesis ahead! Praise God!
ASSIGNMENTS: handouts + write 5 questions you have about your Catholic faith
CCD 7th: P.R.A.Y.S. + angels + Yom Kippur (day 2)
Today, in our 7th grade pre-Confirmation class, we handed out journals & wrote on inside cover …
In my BAPTISM, I …
- PRAISE = God for who He is … God
- REPENT = confess + rec forgiveness + change
- ASK = for me + other (“5 finger prayer”)
- YIELD = be open to God’s voice
- SHARE = my faith with others
In my CLASS, I …
- PRAISE = encourage others
- REPENT = take responsibility for wrongs
- ASK = learn by asking questions
- YIELD = respect speaker + listen
- SHARE = contribute + respect privacy
Difference between angels + humans?
- Angels = pure spiritual beings
- Humans = body + spiritual beings
—Yom Kippur = Jewish “day of atonement”
- fast, no work, pray, make reparations for sins
- “scapegoat” takes sins of the people = Jesus
HOMEWORK:
(1) Decorate Binder Cover with “ME” … on a sheet of paper, make a collage of you, your hobbies, likes, etc.
(2) do the “Doxology” prayer exercise from last week if you haven’t done it yet.
Dedication of Mary mosaic @ SJVCS
Today, at St John Vianney College Seminary, was the highly anticipated dedication of the new mosaic of Mary, the New Eve and Star of the Sea in the one of the chapel gardens around St Raphael Chapel. Orlando Bishop Wenski celebrated Mass and the blessing and dedication of the new mosaic. Artist (and seminarian) Peter Dionne (SJVCS class of 2008) was present along with friend, family and supporters of SJVCS.
Also see picture of mosaic conception through completion and prayer of consecration to Mary.
[these pictures taken by Cliff Whitty, a SJVCS seminarian]
prayer of consecration to Mary
† PRAYER OF CONSECRATION †
Most Holy Trinity, Our Father in Heaven, who chose Mary as the fairest of your daughters; Holy Spirit, who chose Mary as your spouse; God the Son, who chose Mary as your Mother; in union with Mary, we adore your majesty and acknowledge your supreme, eternal dominion and authority.
Most Holy Trinity, we put St. John Vianney College Seminary into the hands of Mary Immaculate, the New Eve and Star of the Sea, in order that she may present this seminary to you. Through her we wish to thank you for the great blessings you have bestowed upon us throughout our fifty years of service. Through the intercession of Mary, have mercy on the local churches we serve. Shower wisdom upon our bishops and all who assist them in their responsibilities of governance. Bestow strength to our seminary administration, faculty, and staff. Grant protection to those here discerning the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Call forth the precious gift of many vocations to the diocesan priesthood. Through the intercession of our mother, have mercy on the sick, the poor, the refugee, the tempted, sinners–on all who are in need.
Mary, Immaculate Virgin, our mother, patroness of our land, we praise you and honor you and consecrate our seminary and ourselves to your immaculate heart. O Sorrowful and immaculate heart of Mary, pierced by the sword of sorrow prophesied by Simeon, save us from degeneration, presumption, and despair. Protect us from all harm. O sorrowful and immaculate heart of Mary, you who bore the sufferings of your son in the depths of your heart, be our advocate. Pray for us, the community of St. John Vianney College Seminary, that acting always according to the will of your divine son, we may live and die pleasing to God. Amen.
[this prayer is especially used for today’s dedication of the new mosaic of Mary, the New Eve and Star of the Sea at SJVCS]
new mosaic of Mary, the New Eve and Star of the Sea
For the last couple of years, Msgr Michael Carruthers (rector of SJVCS) and Peter Dionne (artist & seminarian, SJVCS class of 2008) have been working on a new mosaic to our Blessed Mother for the chapel gardens. With today’s dedication of the new mosaic to Mary, the New Eve and Star of the Sea, here are some pictures posted by Fr Michael from mosaic conception through completion.
— Wow! Beautiful! Surely our Lady is happy.
Also see dedication ceremony here.
Consecration prayer to Mary here.
CCD hs: parents orientation (day 1)
A local parish, St Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church, needed catechists for their Religious Education program on Tuesday & Wednesday nights. Since I go to St Mark’s for Mass occasionally & Wednesday Bible study, I guess I consider it a “2nd home parish,” so I volunteered to help. I was paired up with Jose A., another former seminarian (3 years in Colombia), who’s very excited about our High School Confirmation class of 24 kids, so far. Most showed up today with their parents for a large group orientation with the DRE and pastor in the church. We got to introduce ourselves for about 20 minutes at the end.
— Even though it wasn’t really “planned,” I can already see the blessings that will come from my passion for catechesis being used on Sunday’s at my home parish with 7th graders and here on Tuesday nights with high school teens.
CCD 7th: Intro + prayer “sweet spot”
Today is day 1 of Religious Education (CCD) at my parish. I’m a catechist for 7th grade Pre-Confirmation class with my aide Donny. We had 13 of our 17 kids today, with apparently more signing up late as we speak. A very diverse group from “quiet” to “super-animated.”
We played a classic “get-to-know-you” icebreaker game called “Four Winds Blow.” It’s like musical chairs sitting in a circle. The person in the middle says 3 things about themselves. Then they say “Four winds blow to anyone …” (wearing jeans, wearing gym shoes, with blue eyes, wearing glasses, with ears, etc.) Then everyone that fits the profile needs to get up and get another seat (at least 2 seats over) while the person in the middle tries to get a seat as well. If you get stuck in the middle 3 time, you need to sing a song of your choice. The “Alphabet Song” and a Spongebob song were sang. Lots of fun for all.
I also gave a brief into to the curriculum and talked about finding our “prayer sweet spot” this year. Using a tennis racket and baseball bat, the kids taught me about finding the “sweet spot” to get the best result out of their uses … although similar for many, everyone has their own sweet spot in the way they play sports. Well, our prayer life is very similar. We need to each find what works best for our own individual prayer experience in order to grow. Some like Scripture, some the Rosary, some praise & worship, some music, some poetry, some adoration, some quiet meditation, etc. This year, we’ll have different prayer experience in order to help find our own prayer “sweet spot.”
We wrote down the simple Doxology prayer on index cards and will use it this week as a homework prayer experience. Everyone needs to try praying it at different time, days and ways this week. Next Sunday, we’ll share what worked and what didn’t.
As we discussed the Doxology prayer, we asked the questions like “What is a creature? Can a rock praise God? What’s the difference between angels & humans? What’s a Holy Ghost?” — a very vocal and curious group … we’re blessed to be journeying in our faith together!
— I prayed the Doxology during this post. 🙂
Doxology prayer by Nicole Nordeman
In our religious education class today, we used this short Doxology prayer for reflection. Short, simple, glorifying God, and powerful!
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host:
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
songs for prayer + formal prayers
These links are scattered on by blog, but wanted them easy to access. I added the following to the bottom of my PRAYER page. I hope they help you pray!
FORMAL PRAYERS:
- Prayer for God’s Will — by Thomas Merton
- Prayer for the Grace of Letting Go
- B.A.P.T.i.S.M. = different forms of prayer
- 5 Finger Prayer = a way to pray petitions & intercessions
- Litany of the Blessed Sacrament — full prayer
SONG FOR PRAYER:
- “Pray” by Kendall Payne — soft, Christian contemporary (personal humbling prayer)
- “I Can Only Imagine” by MercyMe — soft, Christian praise & worship (heaven)
- “This is a Call” by Thousand Foot Krutch — medium, Christian rock (effectiveness of prayer)
- “Gone” by TobyMac — medium, Christian hip-hop (bad dating relationship)
- “Leaving 99” by Audio Adrenaline — soft, Christian rock (parable of Lost Sheep)
- “Replace Me” by Family Force 5 — hard, Christian rock (submitting to God’s Will)
- “Dare You to Move” by Switchfoot — medium, Christian rock (sin, shame, forgiveness)
- “Meant to Live” by Switchfoot — medium, Christian rock (finding purpose)
- “Somewhere I Belong” by Linkin Park — hard, (feeling & healing)
- “Rise Today” by Alter Bridge — very hard, (finding purpose)
- “Pjanoo” (Original Mix) by Eric Prydz — instrumental, trance
- “Birth of an Angel” by Armin van Buuren — instrumental, trance
prayer is trust, not clarity + Mother Teresa + Kendall Payne
I was looking for a video of Kendall Payne performing her song “Pray” to go along with my post last February. I was not disappointed! Here is a video of per performance at a church.
She tell the story of a man asking Mother Teresa to pray for him. Check it out …
A great song by Kendall Payne (one of my favorite Christian vocalist) that focuses on what real prayer is all about, appropriately titled “Pray” from her latest album, “Grown.” Light guitar, soft vocals, profound meaning, worth posting:
I will pray for you now, for you have been my faithful friends,
While the road we walk is difficult indeed.
I couldn’t not ask for more than what you’ve already been,
Only that you would say these prayers for me.
May your heart break enough that compassion enters in,
May your strength all be spent upon the weak.
All the castles and crowns you build and place upon your head,
May they all fall, come crashing down around your feet.
May you find every step to be harder than the last,
So your character grows greater each stride.
May your company be of humble insignificance,
May your weakness be your only source of pride.
What you dooo unto others,
May it all be done to you.
May you meeeet the One who made us,
And see Him smile when life is through.
May your bleeessings be many,
But not what … you hoped they’d be.
And when you looook upon the broken,
May mercy show you what you could not see.
May you never be sure of any plans you desire,
But you’d learn to trust the plan He has for you.
May your passions be tried and tested in the holy fire,
May you fight with all your life for what is true.
I have prayed for you now all my dear and faithful friends,
But what I wish is more than I could ever speak.
As the way wanders on I’ll long to see you once again,
Until then, would you pray these prayers for me?
Oh, that you would praaay for me.
can laity replace priests?
While the lay faithful share in the “common priesthood,” they are not ordained ministers of Christ and His Church. “Hence,” the Pope cautioned, “it is important to avoid the secularization of clergy and the ‘clericalization’ of the laity.”
Check out the full article from the Catholic New Agency (CNA).
Project Rachel + Natural Family Planning (NFP)
I read an article on TheFloridaCatholic.org about Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries that offers weekend retreats for women suffering from post-abortion trauma. I added the link to my Sexuality page along with Project Rachel, a ministry available in most diocese for post-abortion counseling.
I also started finding some good links about Natural Family Planning (NFP). It inspired me to finally post the lecture we had on NFP at IPF this past summer. The post is here, with some good external links also on my Sexuality page.
Christopher West with Theology of the Body at SJVCS
Today my seminary friends at St John Vianney College Seminary in Miami were blessed with a day of lectures on Pope John Paul II’s ” Theology of the Body” by renown speaker Christopher West, founder of the Theology of the Body Institute.
I’m guessing his lecture was very similar to the 2-day lecture he gave at IPF this past summer on “Priestly Celibacy and the Redemption of Sexuality.” See day #1 at IPF (plus video of Christopher West lectures). See day #2 at IPF.
current news item: Following debate, two bishops affirm ‘strong support’ for Christopher West
Weblinks to Theology of the Body resources:
- Christopher West homepage
- Theology of the Body Institute
- Theology of the Body — other resources, speakers, Theology of the Body International Alliance
- Theology of the Body — John Paul II’s 129 lectures
- Theology of the Body — wikipedia info
[thanks to Javier Barreto for the picture]
CSS Bible study on Romans
Tonight was the first night of a 25 week Bible study on the book of Romans that a friend told me about. It is a strictly Catholic group study by Catholic Scripture Study International. The $50 individual registration comes with a binder of lessons and study sheets. The weekly study involves facilitator guiding us through the teachings, DVD’s and individual sharing homework answers. This study of Romans is written by Scott Hahn, a well renown Catholic convert.
The book of Romans is probably the single most disputed Biblical book between Catholics and Protestants. This book written by St. Paul is the book from which Martin Luther built his doctrine of “justification by faith alone”. Luther twisted St. Paul’s words to fit his own false teaching and even added (in his Lutheran Bible) the word “alone” to Romans 3:28 in his attempt to further enhance his doctrine of “Sola Fide” (meaning that by faith alone we are saved).
There are over 100 participants in my area. The study is done at two Catholic parishes: St Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church in Southwest Ranches, FL and St Bernadette Parish in Hollywood, FL.
Monday … 8:45am to 10:15am … @ St Bernadette Parish
Wednesday … 7:30pm to 9:00pm … @ St Mark Parish
Thursday … 8:45am to 10:15am … @ St Mark Parish
Thursday … 3:30pm to 5:00pm … @ St Mark Parish
— There’s about 30+ in the Wednesday night class so far. I’m excited.
SJVCS enrollment at 35-year high
There’s a great article in the Florida Catholic.org this week about the 50th Anniversary of St John Vianney College Seminary in Miami have a record enrollment of 76 men discerning the priesthood, which is a 35-year high. Check out the article.
— There are a couple of great picture of my seminarian brother Jason Priela praying in the newpaper. I’m still praying for all the guys at SJVCS, old friends & the newbies. 🙂
SJVCS Seminary Life Album
July '09 -- hospital chaplains @ IPF
Easter '09 -- Miami SJVCS friends
the Son always finds a break in let the clouds
Feb '09 -- school vocation talks @ AMHS
Feb '09 -- cold breakfast with brothers (Matias, Fenly & Randy), now at SVDP and Imad (at SJVCS)
Superbowl '09 -- eating great @ SJVCS
Sept '08 -- Worklist Coordinators?
St Raphael Chapel mural @ SJVCS
Sept '08 -- retreats @ SJVCS
"It's not easy being green"
Catholic Kermit 
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