Book review: A Catholic Woman's Book of Prayers

Review of A Catholic Woman's Book of Prayers, by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle (Huntington, IN, Our Sunday, 2010, 80 pp., $7.95)

I should say at the outset that Donna-Marie is a friend of mine. Even were she not, however, my review would be no less glowing. How is it possible that so much spiritual wisdom resides in one woman? How fortunate we are to have such a gem of an individual in the Church today to help us focus on that which is truly important.

After all, there is no dearth of books on all the things wrong with the Church, whether it be on politics or teachings or scandals or anything else.

Yet in this tightly written, compact, and attractive book (it would make a terrific gift item), Donna-Marie has given us a book that focuses on the one thing that will cure the above problems and so many more: prayer, deepening our relationship with God, giving ourselves up to Him and His ineffable will, not in spite of our daily duties, but precisely in the midst of them.

My wife, who also looked at the work, did have an issue with the layout of the text. She thought it could have stood some more thought before publication.

But that has nothing to do with the treasure Donna-Marie has created for us. Now the only question remaining is: Who will come out with such a book for us men?

Get this book, read this book, and then get this book again to give away this book. It deserves dissemination far and wide.

The poor you shall always have with you

Currently, I'm reading Our Oriental Heritage by the incomparable Will Durant. In it he writes, "Slowly the increasing complexity of tools and trade subjected the unskilled or weak to the skilled or strong; every invention was a new weapon in the hands of the strong, and further strengthened them in their mastery and use of the weak."

 

If the above is true -- and it certainly has the ring of truth -- what I draw from this is the following:

 

1) You cannot stop progress because man being man will always seek to create, build upon whatever foundations are laid before him, and invent;

2) In general, such progress will always be to the benefit of some to the exclusion of others;

3) Such progress will also typically enable the poor to find ways to keep themselves poor (e.g., spending money on an iPhone when a TracPhone will do, and then spending untold sums on various aps and downloads);

4) Therefore, it should not surprise us that the gap between rich and poor is widening. As Durant wrote back in the mid-1930s, "So in our time that Mississippi of inventions which we call the Industrial Revolution has enormously intensified the natural inequality of men."

 

Indeed, in a time of creative revolution such as we've seen over the last 50 years, it would be a surprise and indeed alarming were this not to happen. What is certainly surprising is that it surprises us that the gap is widening.

 

These things, it seems if we look at history, are cyclical. They ebb, they flow. Such will it ever be. It simply reinforces what my college professor, the great Dr. Ron Rietveld, once told us, and which for 20+ years has run in my ears ever since: "The only thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history."

 

It's absolutely true. We don't care about it. "Ahhh, old hat. Yesterday's news, pal. Who cares what happened back then?" And then we get surprised when what happened back then happens to us for precisely the same reasons it happened back then.

 

None of this, of course, excuses us from taking care of the poor and -- if we are rich -- using our surplus as a blessing upon the poor. That's why God gives us surplus: Not for our own use but so that we may be His loving hands toward others (just like Moses was His hand at bringing water to the Hebrews or the priest is His hand of Divine Mercy in the confessional).

 

Still, Jesus said, "The poor you will always have with you," and it makes an awful lot of sense.

 

I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. What do you think?

Some things to pray about

Please pray for the following intentions:

• For the repose of the soul of Eric Blackwood, who committed suicide
• For the graduates of Thomas Aquinas College and Christendom College, who matriculated this past weekend
• For a young woman named Olivia, who is trying to find her way in this world
• For a young woman named Angela, who is discerning her vocation
• For all Catholic politicians that they would uphold all gospel values in their public avocations and be a witness in their vocations to the splendor and beauty of truth
• For all parents whose lives are being disrupted, either by kids coming back home after graduation or other life changes, or for those who are broken hearted now that their grown children are leaving the nest to start their lives
• For all who travel this summer, that they would get to and return from their destinations safely.
• Finally, for those who are actively trying to live lives of holiness, but who are find that effort difficult beyond imagining, that God would give them the courage, stamina, and grace to persevere in their efforts to be saints

Recent happenings

This morning, I saw Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. He doesn't know me from Adam, but I walked up to him, shook his hand, and told him we were praying for him, the Irish people, and the Church in Ireland. From all I've read, he's the only bishop who has any confidence from the people in his country. That's really sad. I was struck by how thin he is. In pictures I've seen of him, I expected an almost fat man (or at least one who was certainly a tad pudgy). He's not at all; he's thin, almost rail thin, although not in an unhealthy way. And I also expected him to have some dark hair. Nope. All gray. He looked slightly older than I'd seen in recent stock images, too, almost weary. Then again, I suppose that's what happens when an ancient and venerable Church in a land with a history of Catholicism such as Ireland is imploding all around you, and you're the one seen as being the only person capable of putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.

I've also learned from a reliable source that a bishop in a Midwestern diocese is thinking about making his See's finest church into the new cathedral. The city in question is crumbling. It's terrible. Driving through it recently for the first time in almost 10 years, I was struck -- struck in the heart in the saddest of ways -- by how nothing was better, only worse. The one fast food restaurant in the city center has closed. Indeed, there are very few retail businesses left in the city center. All the business growth is on the outskirts of town. So it's understandable that the bishop does not want the current oh-so-chic-for-1950 cathedral as the place for his episcopal chair. It would be like the archbishop of San Francisco having his cathedral in the Tenderloin or the bishop of Pittsburgh having his amidst a bunch of crumbling steel factories.

The problem with this plan to take the diocese's finest church and make it the cathedral is that he would likely take immediate steps to make it the formerly-finest-church in the diocese. The church still has its beautiful altar rail (I know a couple who are married with several children precisely because of that altar rail, actually) and its beautiful marble high altar. Were His Excellency to come in and make this his cathedral, those things would automatically go out. That's the considered opinion, in any event, of the source with whom I spoke. Apparently, the bishop likes nothing that smacks of traditionalism. Brings up bad lingering tastes from his childhood, apparently. Thus, evidently, hating the traditional things -- in terms of practices, liturgies, and disciplines, NOT doctrine or orthodox teaching, mind you -- is basically an instinctive, habituated reflex on this man's part. He can't abide it.

It's too bad. In that same city in which I was recently, I had the opportunity to go into this church, and it was more beautiful than before, not less. It seemed to glow, and they'd even turned the old baptistry back into a baptistry from a storage closet. Magnificent! It looks like a cathedral should. I only hope that will still be the case after -- and if -- the bishop to make this move.

Finally, I got around to reading some old clippings at long last. One was on a proposal by the UK's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to reform the House of Lords. Judging by the article, it seems like it's high time. There are 792 peers in the House, and it's such a large number, many don't even have offices or even desks. When the House is in session, peers actually fight over seats because there isn't enough space in the chamber for them all.

But here's what struck me almost dumb: According to the article, "The Prime Minister is said to favour the idea because he is determined that the House of Lords is not turned into a secular institution and that it retains a link with faith-based organisations." Later in the article, a Tory (i.e., ruling party) insider is quoted as saying, "We must have a spiritual element to the Lords."

OK, first a little background: In the House of Lords, you have peers such as the Duke of Essex, but you also have -- and have had since time in memorial -- the "Lords Spiritual." Bishops, in other words, and they sit as full voting members in the upper house. It would be like Cardinal O'Malley having a seat in the US Senate. In the proposed reform, they're considering bringing in Lords Spiritual for other faiths: Catholics, Methodists, and black Pentecostals (and possibly even imams).

Now there are two ways of looking at the above quotes:

1. They're going to be getting rid of a bucket load of seats in the House of Lords, and in the process, they want to ensure that, if the bishops' seats are amongst those lost (Anglican bishops currently hold 26 seats there), then they'll simply bring in those of other faiths.
2. Or the Anglicans have become so secular, that part of the rationale for reform is driven by bringing in those who are thought to have not caved into the ways of the world so keenly as Their Excellencies (or Graces, if you prefer) in the established church. That's my suspicion.

What do you think?

Why Islam cannot prevail

In preparing last night's post, I came upon this website. (Warning: Do not attempt to go to the original site; be content with Google cached site, as pulling up the original site initiates what it calls a "virus scan.) Undoubtedly, some of what you see on this list is due to the depopulation of Christians. However, if you know anything about how governments in majority Muslim countries do business -- even in officially secular countries such as Turkey -- then you know that just as undoubtedly many of these churches were confiscated. It is quite sobering to see this. Islam cannot prevail. Pray, do penance, fast, and commit yourself to living an ever more perfect Christian life and bringing others to do the same.

Otherwise, it will.

Persecution of Christians in the Middle East

The Turkish government plans to destroy the world's oldest monastery, which was built at the end of the 4th century. Never mind they have stolen 24 hectares of the monastery's land, now they want to destroy the buildings.

A friend was in Turkey on Divine Mercy Sunday. She posted pictures on her Facebook page of her and her pilgrimage group attending Mass at an abandoned church in secret. She wrote of how their Muslim guide stood guard outside the church. Looking at the pictures, it was all so surreal.

I encourage you to contact His Excellency Namık Tan, Turkish ambassador to the United States at:

The Hon. Namık Tan
Ambassador, Republic of Turkey
2525 Massachusetts Ave
Washington, DC  20008
Phone:
202-612-6700
202-612-6701
Fax:
202-6126744
Email:
contact@turkishembassy.org
embassy.washingtondc@mfa.gov.tr
Website URL:
http://www.turkishembassy.org/

Tell him it is odd that his country cries "discrimination" about not being let into the EU or its citizens being "discriminated" against in Germany, when this is the exact same thing. Cheeky buggers. Hypocrites. This is why we all should fear Islam, folks. This is what life under Islam would be like. Disagree? Show me one majority Muslim state where Christians have it good. Go ahead. I have all the time to wait.

Beatification and canonization cause news from the last month

Currently, there are 33 Doctors of the Church, and there is a proposal before the Vatican to make St. Juan of Avila, whose feast is May 10 and whose writings were very influential at the Council of Trent, number 34.

On April 25, Donald Cardinal Wuerl formally opened the beatification cause of Mary Virginia Merrick, foundress of the Christ Child Society and a remarkable woman.

Diocese of Monterey Bishop Richard Garcia has formally opened the beatification cause of Cora Louisa Yorgason Evans, a Mormon who came into the true Church at age 30. She was a mystic, visionary, and stigmatist.

Next Thursday, May 12, Norberta Cardinal Rivera y Carrera of Mexico City will oversee the transfer of the remains of the Servant of God Luis Maria Martinez, late archibishop of the Federal District, from the crypt to a chapel in the city's cathedral. Archbishop Martinez served as the ordinary for Mexico's capital from 1937-1956, a time of great upheavel in the wake the tumultuous Cristero War.

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has approved an examination of the Servant of God Teofilo Camomot's life. The late auxiliary bishop of Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, was forced by ill health to simply function as a simple priest in the Archdiocese of Cebu. Bishop Camomot is sometimes called "the Philippine Padre Pio," because he reportedly had the gift of bilocation and there was this mystical scent of roses, and levitation. When it was exhumed for the purpose of transferring it, his body was completely intact.

In other Philippine sainthood news, Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu has dismissed a flury of rumors that Visayan martyr Bl. Pedro Calungsod has been proclaimed a saint.

The Holy See has approved the opening of the beatification cause for the Servant of God Paul Xu Guangqi, who lived from 1562 to 1633. He was a Chinese scientist, astronomer and mathematician and collaborator of Italian Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci, himself a candidate for beatification.

Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio has officially approved the opening of the beatification cause of the late Msgr. Bernard J. Quinn, who was a tremendous servant to the black people of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Jamaica, NY.

The beatification processes for both Audrey Stephenson and Audrey Santo could begin early next year. Audrey Santo, of course, is the young woman who became bedridden and incapable of communication after falling into a pool at age 3 and then being given incompetent medical care. She died at age 23 with a reputation as a miracle worker. Audrey Stephenson is a little girl who died at age 8 of leukemia who was a little St. Therese. She possessed more holiness at age 4 than most people attain in a lifetime. While it seems Santo’s cause is still in the beginning stages, Stephenson’s beatification effort simply lacks a postulator. They thought they had one, but his superior thought him too busy to take on this additional work.

Pope Benedict XVI has approved beatification for Catholic economist and sociologist Giuseppe Toniolo. He made it safe for Catholics to reenter public life, kept the Masons from gaining complete control in Italy , and his scholarship paved the way for Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum.

Later this month, Peoria Bishop Daniel J. Jenky will present the Holy Father with the positio summarizing Abp. Fulton Sheen's life and holiness.

On April 2, His Holiness approved decrees of beatification for 5 people through the regular process and 23 through martyrdom (one from the French Revolution and the rest from the Spanish Civil War). One of the new beati is Ven. Clemente Vismara, a PIME priest who died of natural causes in 1988 and who lived 65 of his 91 years in the jungle of Burma. Pope Benedict also issued decrees making six individuals Venerable.

Finally, on April 2, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church canonized the thousands of men, women, and children massacred by the Ottoman Turks during the failed 1876 April Uprising in that country.