Love in practice is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.
The Significance of Cardinal Newman
Come see a slide presentation by Mike True on the recently beatified John Henry Cardinal Newman, Catholic convert, theologian, and extraordinary voice for conscience and faith.
Wednesday, May 18: 7:00 pm
SS. Francis and Therese Catholic Worker
52 Mason Street, Worcester, MA 508 753-3588
Refreshments to follow. Free and open to the public.
Mike True, a professor emeritus of English at Assumption College, is a devoted admirer and student of Newman.
Today Fr Bernie Gilgun, priest and Catholic Worker, was buried in the cemetery in front of Saint Anne’s Church in Shrewsbury.
It was a beautiful service with wonderful music.
Father Bernie Gilgun, at age 84, quietly breathed his earthly last in the company of family and friends at the Grenon ICU Center of the University of Massachusetts Hospital in Worcester in the early afternoon of Easter Monday, April 25, 2011. Father Gilgun was widely known for his holiness, his preaching, and his love of the poor. His loss is acutely felt by his followers who viewed him as wise priest, expert leader in prayer, and teacher.
Continue reading “Bernard E. Gilgun: Worcester’s Catholic Worker Priest”
Just got word that Father Bernie Gilgun, Catholic Worker and priest, has died. He had suffered a stroke over the weekend.
Here’s a remembrance from Michael Boover. There are many older Pie and Coffee items about him.
Father Bernie prepares for mass, 2006
Update: The wake will be on Thursday, April 28, 2011 from 3:00-7:00 PM, and the Mass of Christian Burial on Friday, April 29, 2011 at 11:00 AM, both at Saint Anne’s Church in Shrewsbury.
Elsewhere:
The day before Holy Week began, I attended a wedding at St. Columba’s United Reformed Church in Oxford, UK. St. Columba’s is down an alley near some of the Oxford colleges. It’s a normal sort of church inside, with a vestibule and facade that make it look like an office building.
Most churches stand out. St. Columba’s is hidden. Attending church there was like going to a house mass—nobody walking past suspects you’re going to a sacred gathering.
(Best wishes to the bride and groom—your lovely wedding is an auspicious start to your lives together.)
Continue reading “Holy Week church-hopping and other items”
So far, so good. Sticking with about 70% of my Lent plans, which is much better than most years.
One unexpected and helpful addition to my Lenten prayer schedule has been Susan Stabile’s series of daily meditations, with a weekly podcast of her remarks to students who are doing this “Lenten retreat in daily life” as well. Worth checking out if you need to jump-start your final week of Lenten prayers.
The best thing I’ve read about Lent this year is a brief essay by Jacob Berendes in his monthly newspaper Mothers News. It’s not at all religious, but it’s funny and a great piece of writing. In exchange for being able to quote me saying “The best thing I’ve read about Lent this year,” Jacob graciously agreed to let me reprint it, below.
Continue reading “Lenten update”
From mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Worcester.
Colin is a friend of this blog, and we’re proud to see him in the pulpit.
Above: The Duffy Bros. present “The Real Saint Patrick.”
Also, here’s the only known audio of Catholic Worker co-founder Peter Maurin. He’s reading his essay “Makers of Europe,” also known as “When the Irish Were Irish.”
Originally published in the April/May 2011 issue of The Catholic Radical.
Ding Dong! “Good Grief!” I grumbled as I dragged myself out of bed. “Who the heck could be at our door at 2 a.m.?” I went into our chilly hall to see a young couple on our front porch.
I asked them in and quickly learned that they are musicians from Illinois who were sleeping in their van in a Walmart parking lot until it got too cold.
“Our van died in front of your house,” the husband said gesturing toward a vehicle jutting out at an angle from Mason Court into Mason Street. “We know the Saint Louis Catholic Worker,” he concluded, as if that pretty much told all we needed to know. Continue reading “Mason Street Musings”
Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God. For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.
—Joel 2:12-13
Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Many Catholics attend mass today and receive a blessing of ashes on their foreheads.
The liturgical imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday is a sacramental, not a sacrament, and in the Roman Catholic understanding of the term the ashes themselves are also a sacramental.
This morning at St. Peter’s, Msgr. Scollen suggested that we avoid taking on too many Lenten projects, and just focus on one:
We know that if we try to do 10 things, or 5 things, or 3 things, that we’re going to do nothing.
I’m finally at the point in my life where I see the wisdom of this advice, and this Lent I’m trying to be constant rather than ambitious in my practice. For more on sustaining changes in behavior, Leo Babauta has solid advice that’s helped me.
“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
—Matthew 6:16-18
Also: