Are You a Catholic Nerd?

H/T to Jean

Catholic Nerdity

I may be or at least I come very close to being one.

Kanaka Waiwai - The Parable of the Rich Young Man

English Translation of Kanaka WaiWai:

In the travels of Jesus
He met
a prominent young man
known for his wealth.
Said the youth,
"My good Lord
what must I do
to have eternal life?"

Chorus:
"Give, give away
your possessions.
Turn and follow me.
Thus have life eternal."

The youth treasured
his wealth.
He did not want to give all his possessions
to the needy and poor.
Jesus turned
and answered the youth,
"Being attached to worldly
possessions, you cannot reach
the kingdom of heaven."

I received an e-letter from Secretum Meum Mihi and it had an article about Patricia Devlin's favorite hymn which is a Hawaiian hymn. The video I chose to post here was created as a tribute to Queen Lili'uokalani. This beautiful hymn is playing in the background. I hope you enjoy that hymn as well as the old photos of Hawaii's beloved queen as much as I did.

(Born and raised in Hawaii, Patricia Devlin is the mother of two children and holds advanced degrees in psychology and counseling. She has been blind since birth, and has survived two bouts with cancer. She currently suffers from migraines and breast cancer. Her book, The Light of Love, is a compilation of conversations with her guardian angel, and later with our Lord. She lives in Lubbock, Texas and is under spiritual direction there with a priest of her diocese, in obedience to the bishop.)

The Catholic Prayer Club

You can receive a free e-letter from the Catholic Prayer Club

The following is from their website:

Helping Catholics discover their deeper individual selves and to strengthen their relationship with God through prayer, meditation, discernment and reflective living…

Local Artist 's Father Damien Mosaic to Be Unveiled

Beloved O'ahu artist Peggy Chun, who is almost completely paralyzed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), has completed a mosaic of Father Damien that took 18 months and a little help from a lot of friends.

Chun, who is able to communicate only by directing her gaze at an alphabet board, nevertheless directed the creation of a 4-by-8-foot mural made upfof 50,0000 small squares of paper, each painted to her specifications. The mural will be unveiled in a ceremony at the State Capitol at 12:45 p.m. March 14, with readings and music, after a resolution commending her is read on the Senate floor.

Ailing Peggy Chun's Damien Mosaic Unveiled

The Preventative System of Education As Implemented by St. John Bosco

Fr. Bing Arellano of the Alliance of the Holy Family talked about education of our children during St. John Bosco's time and in the present time. His show is aired on EWTN in the afternoons here in Hawaii.

Don Bosco's method of the Preventative System of Education according to the Blessed Virgin Mary produced in his boys, holiness, purity and saints. The education system forced on our society today which includes emphasis on sex education produces as its fruits homosexuality and child molestation.

Fr. Bing says we have to counter the harmful education system we have today. One way of doing so is through homeschooling.

This Preventative System of Education comes from the Four Pillars of Salesian Spirituality.

First pillar: devotion to Mary Help of Christians

For Don Bosco, the Immaculate Virgin, Mary Help of Christians, was the ever-present Mother who helps her children daily, going to their rescue and leading them to Jesus. "Be devoted to Mary Help of Christians", he would habitually say, "and you will see what miracles are!".

Second pillar: devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist

The second pillar of Don Bosco's spirituality was devotion to Jesus in the
Eucharist, which he saw as the heart of every Salesian house. He used to remind young people: "If you want many graces, pay many visits to Jesus in the Sacrament; if you want few graces, pay him few".

Don Bosco was a "vir eucharisticus", that is, a saint formed through and through by the Eucharist. He was so passionate about the Eucharist that he communicated his passion to the young people he carefully prepared for communion with the Lord through the sacrament of Reconciliation. For Don Bosco, Confession and the Eucharist were the two sacraments that inculcated in young people the Christian virtues and holiness.
On this topic he wrote in 1877:

"Frequent Confession, frequent Communion and daily Mass are the pillars that must support an educational building that we desire to protect from threats and scourges. Never force youngsters to receive the holy sacraments, but only encourage them and make it easy for them to do so" (John Bosco, Il sistema preventivo nella educazione della gioventù [1877], n. 4).

The 15-year-old St Dominic Savio is a shining example of this sacramental pedagogy which strengthened his virtuous habits and his union with Jesus, witnessed by his Eucharistic ecstasies during Holy Communion.

Third pillar: educational system based on joy, hope

The third pillar of Don Bosco's spirituality was his educational system of joy and hope. Dominic Savio, who once said to Don Bosco: "I am the fabric, you are the tailor; make me into a beautiful suit for the Lord!", had fully grasped this when he suggested to his young companions: "Let's make holiness consist in being very cheerful!"...

..."Run, jump, amuse yourselves as much as you like, but for pity's sake, don't sin!"...

Fourth pillar: devotion to Church and Vicar of Christ

Don Bosco's fourth and last pillar is his devotion to the Church, to her Pastors and especially to the Holy Father. His love for the Pope was extraordinary and is an integral part of the Salesian formation and apostolate.

To read the above text in its entirety please visit EWTN's Library: The Four Pillars of Salesian Spirituality.

Lack of Self Control

According to Mother Angelica:

It is a lack of self-control that makes me--

lash out at my brother in a burst of anger,

show impatience with my neighbor,

talk about the faults of others,

speak before I think,

be intemperate in things that cause me pleasure,

buy things I cannot afford,

be brutally frank and caustic at times,

and

criticize the faults of others publicly.

From the Fruits of His Love by Mother M. Angelica,

The Living Bible

Shared by Wyman

His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college.

He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college.

Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it.

One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat.

The church is completely packed and he can't find a seat. By now, people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything.

Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet.

By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.

About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill.

Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can't blame him for what he's going to do.

How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?

It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy.

The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man's cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can't even hear anyone breathing. The minister can't even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do.

And then they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships with him so he won't be alone..

Everyone chokes up with emotion. When the minister regains control, he says, "What I'm about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget. "

"Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever read!"

Be a Blessing to Others

My friend Carlos gave me permission to share with you the following which he wrote for some friends:

Do people know that YOU care and do YOU look for opportunities to be a blessing to others?

Consider this my friends ....

Instead of complaining because your paycheck is too small, be grateful that you even have a paycheck. Consider the many thousands of people who are unemployed and frightened because they do not know where the next meal will come from to feed their families.

Instead of asking "what is in it for me?" consider what you YOU can do for a fellow member of God's human family as opposed to doing "it" simply because it benefits YOU.

Instead of spending five dollars on a pack of cigarettes or fifty dollars on a college or pro sporting event, why not send that five or fifty dollars to an organization or agency that helps abused children get back on track with their lives?

Instead of feeling sorry for yourself because YOU are alone, why not visit an aging brother or sister living in a senior home or a child in a hospital who truly understand the meaning of lonliness.

Instead of complaining about your boss, supervisor or co-workers, why not consider that they are people too. Consider that they are people who are loved just like you and people who are depended upon, just like you. They may not always be fair, right, or agreeable, but are we when it comes to others? Think about that!

Instead of complaining because YOU think that God isn't doing enough to change the world, why not start by looking at the world YOU live in and change that?

Instead of asking for raise after raise to support your indulgent excessiveness, why not become less material, needy, and wanting and more economical, practical, and sensible. Ask yourself, "Is it something I truly need, or just something that I want?" There is a difference.

I can go on, but I believe WE get the picture here.

"People don't care what you know, they just want to know that you care." It doesn't get any simpler than that.

I am ready to become a blessing to others. Are you?

Sincerely,

Carlos Michael Padilla

St. Dominic Savio

The following is from St. Michael Center for the BVM

On March 9 the Catholic church honors the feast of St Dominic Savio. He is the patron saint of the youth, choir boys, and falsely accused. He was an ordinary boy with an extraordinary love for God. He was a gentle, calm and cheerful lad who puts great efforts into his studies, helps others in every way, teaches the Catechism, tends the sick, sorts quarrels and other tasks. He was described by Pope Pius XI as “small in size, but a towering giant in spirit.” He set up the ‘Sodality of Mary Immaculate’ with a group of friends to carry out his apostolic work

When St Dominic received his first communion at the age of seven, he wrote down the following as his plan of life: “I will go to confession very often and go to communion as often as my confessor gives me permission. I will celebrate Sundays and feast days as holy days. Jesus and Mary will be my friends. Death rather than sin.”

Prayer to
St. Dominic Savio

Great model for God-loving boys and cherished pupil of the famous Don Bosco, you died prematurely, humanly speaking, but you had already attained mature spiritual wisdom. Your kindness won you many friends, but your love above all sought the Master who is present in our tabernacles. His praises you eucharistically sang. Make choir boys be singers like you, for the love of Jesus, our most loving Master.
Amen.

Quotable Quote on St. Dominic Savio

“You have many good boys, but none can match the good heart and soul of Dominic. I see him so often at prayer, staying in church after the others; every day he slips out of the playground to make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. When he is in church he is like an angel living in Paradise.”- Mamma Margaret, remarked to his son St John Bosco about St Dominic Savio

“In other circumstances, Dominic might have become a little self-righteous snob, but Don Bosco showed him the heroism of the ordinary and the sanctity of common sense.” -Rev. Clifford Stevens, The One Year Book of Saints

I highly recommend The Life of St. Dominic Savio by St. John Bosco.

5th Sunday of Lent

Painting by Giotto

St. John 11: 1-45