In this episode of Word to Life, Fr. Gabriel Gillen, O.P and Fr. Allan White, O.P., discuss the readings for the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God.
Brother Innocent Smith was recently interviewed by The Kernel about how Catholics are creating a flourishing new media scene. Below is an excerpt from that article.
[Brother Innocent Smith] re-founded the student friars’ magazine “Dominicana”, which had died off sometime after the changes of the Vatican II generation. A new piece is now published by the student friars on Dominicana from Monday to Friday, addressing topics from apologetics to theology to spirituality.
Brother Innocent notes that the employment of technology by the Church today extends beyond websites and social media. “One of the most remarkable developments of the last several years has been the growing availability of theological and catechetical texts on devices such as the Kindle and the iPhone,” he points out. “To mention just one example, the US Council of Catholic Bishops recently released the complete Catechism of the Catholic Church in Kindle format, which allows one to easily consult the text, including the footnotes, on a variety of devices.”
It is not just in Catholic teaching and apologetics that new media is providing opportunities for the Church, but also in the re-assessment or re-discovery of Catholic culture.
“One of the most impressive uses of new media in the service of Catholic culture I have seen,” notes Brother Innocent, “is the Corpus Christi Watershed website which, amongst other things, has collated the Gregorian chant propers for both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite in a format where you can look at the music and hear recordings for each chant in a way that anticipates the current or upcoming liturgical day. This is a good example of utilising the distinctive ability of the internet to combine text, image, and sound that is dynamically presented to the user.”
The London Merchant or The History Of George Barnwell
The ArtsBeat blog of the New York Times recently included a notice of an upcoming play (The London Merchant) to be produced by Blackfriars’ Reperatory Theater, established by the friars of St. Joseph Province:
“‘The London Merchant,’ a tragedy from 1731 that was one of the first British dramas to focus on the middle and working classes – and that has apparently never received a professional production in North America – will be performed Jan. 6-28 at the Theater at the Church of Notre Dame in Morningside Heights in Upper Manhattan. Written by George Lillo, “The London Merchant” is about the downfall of a young apprentice who is led astray by a prostitute. It was highly popular in the 18th century. The Storm Theater Company and Blackfriars Repertory Theater will jointly produce the work, directed by Peter Dobbins, Storm’s artistic director. A spokesman for the production, Pete Sanders, said on Monday that the producers had done research on the history of the play and could not find evidence that it had been performed professionally in the United States or Canada.”
In 1940, Dominican Fathers Urban Nagle and Thomas Carey founded and conducted the original Blackfriars Guild: a national association of Catholic theatre companies comprised of twenty-two chapters throughout the country. In addition, Fathers Nagle and Carey together ran the only professional level theatre sponsored by a Catholic organization in the United States, and the first religious theatre ever tried in New York City. The Blackfriars Theatre–until recently, popularly regarded as the American stage’s oldest continuous Off-Broadway theatre–was Located at 320 West 57th Street. Blackfriars provided the proverbial great first break to several acclaimed theatre artists including playwright Robert Anderson, actors Geraldine Page, Eileen Heckart, Patricia Neal, Anthony Franciosa, Darren McGavin, and Shelley Berman, and producer Elizabeth McCann.
Blackfriars Repertory Theatre preserves the philosophy and ideals of the original Blackfriars Guild dedicated “to producing plays of artistic merit which reflect the spiritual nature of man and his destiny.” Under the artistic direction of Fr. Peter John Cameron, OP, the theatre is comprised of a devoted company of priests and lay people. Blackfriars Repertory Theatre is committed to producing high quality theatre of all kinds that edifies, uplifts, entertains, and inspires. Blackfriars Repertory Theatre works in close collaboration with the Providence College Theatre Arts Department, with Compagnia Elsinor, an association of three theatres throughout Italy under the direction of Franco Palmieri and with St. Malachy’s Church–the Actors’ Chapel–New York City.
Tickets for this production may be purchased online.
Each week, a Dominican member of the Provincial Preaching Advisory board prepares this Preacher’s Sketchbook in anticipation of the upcoming Sunday Mass. The idea of the Preacher’s Sketchbook is to take quotations from the authority of the Church–the Pope, the Fathers of the Church, documents of the Councils, the saints–that can help spark ideas for the Sunday homily. Just as an artist’s sketchbook preserves ideas for later elaboration, so we hope the Preacher’s Sketchbook will provide some ideas for homiletical elaboration.
Sketchbook
Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium
Predestined from eternity by that decree of divine providence which determined the incarnation of the Word to be the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin was on this earth the virgin Mother of the Redeemer, and above all others and in a singular way the generous associate and humble handmaid of the Lord. She conceived, brought forth and nourished Christ. She presented Him to the Father in the temple, and was united with Him by compassion as He died on the Cross. In this singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Saviour in giving back supernatural life to souls. Wherefore she is our mother in the order of grace.
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Is there a social justice angle to the Nativity story? This question may at first seem designed to quench any Christmas spirit. One would rather not think about politics when contemplating the heartwarming tableau of the Holy Family at Bethlehem. But Catholic social teaching is an expression of the magisterium of the Church, and thus rooted in the Gospel. So, of course, such a central mystery as the Incarnation speaks to the issue of social justice.
To start, the Incarnation teaches us about the dignity of women. Second class citizens in the ancient world, women have always borne a greater share of poverty and victimization than men. Yet the greatest event in history involved a young woman’s yes to God. Our salvation depended on the feminine virtue of Mary – not the male-imitating careerist model of modern radical feminism; but a moral strength precisely exhibited in motherhood, in a loving marriage, and in fidelity to Divine Truth. Modeled on the Blessed Mother, authentic femininity must be exalted for its potential to bear salvation to the world.
The story of Christmas is so familiar and beautiful that we can forget the heart-wrenching trials that Mary and Joseph went though in bringing Jesus into the world. They experienced homelessness and poverty, the indignity of being an afterthought in a great empire, and the hardship of being without friends or family at a vulnerable moment. Our awareness heightened by the story of Bethlehem, we as a society are called to a special concern for “those who are poor or in any way afflicted”. (Gaudium et Spes, para. 1) We now know for sure that no human being is insignificant, no matter how unfortunate his or her circumstances.
Then there are the three Wiseman, who came from the East to honor the newborn King. Their entry into the picture marks, in a way, the beginning of the story of the Church Universal, with its role of healing the divisions among the peoples of the earth. Christmas teaches us that men can lay down their arms, dispense with prejudices and petty hatreds, and discover their commonality as human beings, children of the same Father. Today everyone recognizes the message of peace that Christmas entails. The Christ child reminds us of the futility of violence.
There are other social justice lessons in the Christmas story as well: the Holy Family suffer the lot of refugees and the cruelty of a tyrant; they themselves demonstrate the importance of the institution of the family as the basic unit of society; and the baby Jesus gives the Divine stamp to the message of the dignity of every human from conception onward, even of those born into terribly trying situations. The Christ child transforms our personal lives and illuminates our individual faith lives indeed; but He was born into the world, not just our hearts. This Christmas may He be born again into our world, and may the light of His peace and justice shine in all the dark places.
In this episode of Word to Life, Fr. Gabriel Gillen, O.P., Fr. Bruno Shah, O.P. and Fr. Allan White, O.P., discuss the readings for the Christmas Midnight Mass.
Listen to Archbishop Augustine J. DiNoia, O.P., discuss the new translation of the Roman Missal. Archbishop DiNoia was recently a guest on the on broadcast of Catholic Matters, Washington D.C.’s Catholic Weekly information radio program heard on the Guadalupe Radio Network’s WMET 1160AM.
Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, O.P. preached the following homily at Altar of the Chair, in St. Peter’s Basilica, on the fiftieth anniversary of Cardinal Levada’s priestly ordination. The picture is of the statue of Saint Dominic which is to the left of the ambo at Altar of the Chair, in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent (December 20, 2011)
Isaiah 7:10-14 / Luke 1: 26-38
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. When we listen to the story of the Annunciation our attention is irresistibly drawn to its climax—to Mary’s fiat. And so it should be. If the angels in heaven—themselves in no need of salvation—waited with baited breath for Mary’s response to Gabriel, how much more are we keen to hear the words that launch the epoch of our salvation? We want Mary to say yes, to embrace the divine will, to accept the coming of the Holy Spirit upon her. And she does, fulfilling the original divine decree whereby she would give the world the Son of God in his human nature, and thus becoming the Theotokos. “A branch shall sprout from the root of Jesse, and the glory of the Lord will fill the whole earth, and all flesh will see the salvation of our God in her.”
This happy occasion heightens for us the significance of Mary’s fiat. For, in this celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, we joyfully mark the anniversary of the priestly ordination of our dear brother and friend, Cardinal William Levada, who, with fifty-three of his classmates, received Holy Orders here the Altar of the Chair fifty years ago today. We can say that they pronounced their own fiat before the whole Church on that day. This striking parallel between the Annunciation and the priesthood was drawn by Blessed John Paul II when he wrote: “Since the solemn invocation of the Holy Spirit and the eloquent gesture of humility during our priestly ordination, the fiat of the Annunciation has resounded through our life” (Letter to Priests, 1998, §7).
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In this video, Br. Gregory Maria Pine, O.P. speaks about the response of two different English Dominicans, Fr. Vincent McNabb, O.P. and Fr. Bede Jarrett, O.P. to the question “Why did you enter religious life?” In comparing these two responses, Br. Gregory shows the link between the objective good of religious vows as well as the personal element to joining a community dedicated to preaching the Gospel and the salvation of souls.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Br. Gregory Maria is currently studying philosophy and theology in his first year at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington D.C.