"I Desire Mercy, Not Sacrifice"

The death penalty has unfortunately been a topic of discussion as of late. First, Tennessee tried to execute its first woman in 200 years; there were court orders and stays and back-and-forths, but ultimately, Christa Pike received two lethal injections. And then she lived. And then there was the fallout of reviving a person condemned to death, the trauma imposed on her and those watching, and the discussion of what happens now. It’s been a mess from beginning to almost end.

Then, it was announced that not only would the Fort Hood shooter be executed, but that the firing squad execution would be live-streamed. Even people who generally approve of the death penalty found broadcasting it distasteful. (It now seems like the administration may pull back on this due to backlash.)

The Transitus of St. Francis

Today is the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi. Franciscans observe the day not just as the saint’s feast day but as the Transitus, or passage, celebrating his transition from this life to the next. They believe it is not an end of life but a continuation.

Francis is one of the most famous Christian saints. He was born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone into a wealthy family in Assisi in 1181. His father was a silk merchant and was travelling in France when Giovanni was born; he took to calling his son Francis in homage to his commercial success in France. As a youth, Francis helped in his father’s business and hung out with a lavish crowd. Even then, he had a heart for charity; he once gave away his entire purse to a beggar, which resulted in mockery from his friends and anger from his father.

In 1202, Francis joined a military expedition and was taken prisoner. He spent a year as a captive in the village of Collestrada. After his release, he resumed his previous lifestyle. In 1205, he left to reenlist, but on the way, he had a vision that called him to a more religious life. Francis felt called to identify with the poor, saying that he was marrying “Lady Poverty.” He returned to Assisi and avoided the parties and spending of his former friends. He made pilgrimage to Rome.

Blessed Fulton Sheen

Today, Fulton Sheen became Blessed Fulton Sheen, one step closer to canonization. He was born Peter John Sheen in El Paso, Illinois, in 1895 to Irish immigrants. He came to be called Fulton (his mother’s maiden name). After college, he decided to become a priest and was ordained in the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois in 1919. He continued his studies in D.C. and then Leuven, Belgium. His doctoral thesis was titled "The Spirit of Contemporary Philosophy and the Finite God." He was the first American to win the university’s prize for best philosophical treatise.

After two more years of study in Rome, he returned and served in Peoria. Both Columbia and Oxford offered him philosophy teaching positions, but he turned them down. His bishop ultimately sent him to teach in D.C. and London.

In the 1930s, Sheen began a weekly radio program, “The Catholic Hour.” He spoke about contemporary issues in theological terms. By 1950, he had about 4 million listeners a week. In 1940, he commentated for a broadcast of the Easter Mass in D.C., one of the first televised religious services.

In 1950, he became the national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, which coordinates assistance for missionaries. While serving as director, he was also appointed as an auxiliary bishop of New York.

Monday Motivation: Augustine on Happiness

"Since the highest good is known and acquired in the truth, and that truth is wisdom, let us enjoy to the full the highest good, which we see and acquire in that truth. For those who enjoy the highest good are happy indeed. This truth shows forth all good things that are true, holding them out to be grasped by whoever has understanding and chooses one or many of them for his enjoyment." - St. Augustine

Ask and It Will be Given

What is the purpose of asking God for things? Doesn’t He already know what we want, and more importantly, what we need? C. S. Lewis asked this question as well: if petitionary prayer requires faith that the request will be granted (Matthew 7:7), how can petitionary prayer also account for submission to the will of God and a possible response of “no”?

If God has promised that for those who ask, it will be given, then it shows a lack of faith to place conditions on the request. To acknowledge that God might not fulfill the request either means God has gone back on His promise or that the one making the petition lacks true faith.

However, there are examples in the Bible of prayers that seem to hedge in their requests. Most notably, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39). He asks that this cup be taken from Him, but He conditions it, “if it be Your will.” The Father’s will come first, before any other request. He asks that the cup be taken, but the answer is no. Surely we cannot think that Jesus’ faith faltered so egregiously in the garden.

Monday Motivation: Dolly

With the passing of Dolly Parton last week, it truly felt like the world came together in a moment of mourning. Especially here in East Tennessee, Dolly was more than a legendary musician. In fact, her six-decade career was remembered secondary to her kindness and generosity. That's what made her so beloved. She loved openly. She did so much good with what she had:

• She established Imagination Library, sending children books every month for their first five years. More than 300 million books have been given. 
• She brought economic investment to the region through Dollywood and offered employees free tuition for higher education.
• She supported the school children of Sevier County, bringing the dropout rate down from 35% to 6% through incentives. 
• She supported Gatlinburg wildfire victims who lost their homes, giving families money for six months as they rebuilt. Her telethon raised another $13 million. 
• She poured the residuals from Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You" into the black community of Nashville.
• She funded marching band uniforms for black schools.
• She established an eagle sanctuary for non-releasable bald eagles. 
• She funded pediatric cancer and infectious disease research that led to the Moderna vaccine against COVID. 
• She gave more than $1 million toward disaster search-and-rescue and relief following Hurricane Helene in East Tennessee and western North Carolina. 
• And so, so much that never got the credit it deserved.

To be remembered for joy and kindness above all other accomplishments is a true blessing, and the world was blessed to have someone like Dolly. May her legacy and music continue to inspire others to live such a good life. 

"Better Get to Livin'"

"Coat of Many Colors"

"Jesus and Gravity"

Blessed James Duckett

Blessed James Duckett was born in the 16th century in the English Lake District.  He was raised Protestant. As a young man, he moved to London to become an apprentice to a book printer. There, a friend lent him a Catholic book, The Foundation of the Catholic Religion, which led to his conversion to Catholicism, which was banned at the time.

Twice he was arrested for failing to attend Protestant services. Both times his employer interceded and got him out, but he then asked Duckett to leave. He went on to make a living as a tailor. In 1590, he married Anne, a Catholic widow. They had one son, who would later go on to join a Carthusian monastery and become the abbot.

Duckett used his skills as a tailor and a printer to support the underground Catholic Church. He made vestments and altar linens for priests, and he printed illegal copies of Catholic literature. He was arrested several times for printing and distributing Catholic literature. He spent nine out of twelve years of his marriage in prison.

In 1601, a bookbinder, Peter Bullock, who had been arrested himself, turned in Duckett in order to obtain his own release. However, the plan of betrayal did not work, and Bullock and Ducket were taken to their executions at Tyburn in the same cart on April 19, 1601. Upon arrival at Tyburn, where Catholic martyrs and other criminals were killed, Duckett forgave Bullock and urged him to accept the Catholic faith. He did not.

James Duckett was hanged on April 19, 1601. He is a patron of booksellers and publishers.

Our Lady of Africa in Ceuta

Ceuta city has a fascinating history as the crossroads between Europe and Africa, and it has come up a few times in the past week through reading a book about Al-Andalus and in current events. A small peninsula off the African coast that juts into the Atlantic and Mediterranean, Ceuta has had a presence since the time of the Phoenicians. It fell under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate in the 700s, when Muslims moved through North Africa and conquered a large portion of the Iberian peninsula. The division between Africa and Europe was less distinct. The Umayyads were known for their pluralist society of science of arts, where Muslims, Christians, and Jews intermingled freely. After the fall of the caliphate, it fell under various Muslim rulers who were more restrictive with the Christian and Jewish populations.

Then, in 1415, Portugal conquered Ceuta. King John I gave a statue of Our Lady holding the crucified Christ to the city. This statue became known as Our Lady of Africa or Our Lady of Ceuta. A few years later, Prince Henry the Navigator, who participated in the conquest, sent a sacred image/statue to the city to consecrate the continent to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Portuguese conquest shifted Ceuta’s position from a northern post for Muslim, African rulers to reach Europe to a southern port for Christian European rulers to stage further expansion into Africa.

The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus

The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus were a group of youths in 250 who faced persecution. According to the legend, seven young men were accused of following Christianity. Instead of recanting the faith, and knowing they would face death, they gave away their possessions to the poor and went away to a cave to pray. The seven young men (and their dog) fell asleep. Rather than going in and pulling the men out, the emperor ordered the cave be sealed up, thus sealing the fate of the men inside.

However, almost 200 years later in 447, a local landowner opened up the sealed cave, hoping to use the space as a cattle pen. He found the young men inside, awake, and thinking only a day had passed. They sent of their number down into Ephesus to buy food. Upon entering the city, the man was surprised to see Christianity openly practiced, with crosses on buildings. In turn, the townspeople were surprised to find a man trying to buy food with coins from the reign of Decius.

The bishop summoned the men and questioned them, determining they instead were the men thought martyred two centuries earlier, miraculously spared.

St. Pantaleon

Pantaleon was born in 275 in Nicomedia, Turkey to a wealthy pagan father and Christian mother. Though his mother raised him in the faith, he fell away from the Church after she died. He studied medicine under Euphrosinos, who was widely well-known and was able to get Pantaleon a position as the emperor Maximian’s physician.

The bishop of Nicomedia, Hermolaus, met with Pantaleon and convinced him to come back to the Church after convincing him that Christ was the ultimate physician. Pantaleon realized that worldly knowledge did not compare to spiritual truth. Hermolaus supposedly asked him, “"But, my friend, of what use are all thy acquirements in this art [medicine], since thou art ignorant of the science of salvation?”

Upon his conversion, he freed his slaves and distributed his wealth to the poor. He not only continued his practice of medicine but also miraculously healed a blind man and paralytic.

Colleagues, jealous of Pantaleon’s position, turned him in during the Diocletian persecution. He refused to recant the faith and was sentenced to death. But killing him turned out to be a great task.

Old Traditions, New Schisms: Part 3

Part 1
Part 2

After the excommunication of Lefebvre for his opposition to the pope and unauthorized consecration of bishops, many followers left the society. Some formed new groups, still dedicated to the pre-conciliar Mass but operating within the approval of the Church.  

And that’s how things stayed for about 15 years, even after Lefebvre died in 1991. In the early 2000s, efforts were made to reconcile members of SSPX with the Church. In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI authorized use of the 1962 missal as an “extraordinary” form of the Mass, to be used in limited circumstances. In 2009, he remitted the excommunications of 1988. But discussions on the issues of religious liberty, ecumenicism, liturgy, and sacraments stalled, as neither side would concede. In 2012, one of the men consecrated a SSPX bishop in 1988 administered the sacrament of confirmation to about 100 people; the act had not been authorized by society leadership. The society expelled the bishop. Apparently it was virtuous to illicitly administer sacraments when opposing Vatican leadership but not when opposing SSPX leadership.

In 2015, as part of the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis authorized that SSPX priests could licitly offer the sacrament of confession. In 2017, he authorized diocesan bishops to grant SSPX priests facilities to officiate marriages, meaning SSPX priests could come into a diocese at the local bishop’s discretion in order to officiate valid Catholic marriages. These were small but significant steps in bringing the society back into good standing with the Church.

Old Traditions, New Schisms: Part 2

Part 1

After losing his position as the superior general of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit and watching many of the documents passed at the Second Vatican Council go against his conscience, Lefebvre was approached by others in the traditionalist movement and asked to open a conservative seminary. He received permission from the bishop of Fribourg, Switzerland and opened a small seminary in Econe. In 1970, he established a society of priests called the International Priestly Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). Pius X was chosen as the patron because of his opposition to socialism and his anti-modernist stance. The society initially received episcopal blessing and adhered to call canonical norms. Additional seminaries were opened in Michigan in 1973 and Rome in 1974.

The society focused on the formation of priests, believing well-formed, traditional priests was the most effective means at reforming the Church and society. It viewed the Second Vatican Council critically, believing it to be in line with the modernist and socialist movements of the 20th century, which they believed caused religious and social decline. The society does not outright reject the council, but it questions and even dismisses many of the council’s documents, especially those regarding religious tolerance, ecumenicism, unity, and liturgy.

SSPX is probably best known for its opposition to the liturgical changes of the Second Vatican Council. The New Roman Missel was published in 1970, which made significant changes to the prayers and readings of the Mass and allowed for the use of vernacular language, ad populum positioning, new music, and greater congregational participation. The society rejects the legitimacy of the post-conciliar Mass and openly expresses doubt of the validity of the universal Mass celebrated by more than a billion Catholics. Therefore, the society celebrates the Mass according to pre-conciliar missals.

Old Traditions, New Schisms: Part 1

Last week, the Vatican formally excommunicated the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). It was a long time coming, but it still made for big news. The society claims to support the Catholic Church and the pope yet also rejects many of the Church documents of the past 60 years. The Church has tried different approaches in bringing the group in line, ultimately drawing a line in the sand, hoping tough love will lead its supporters back into proper communion.

SSPX was founded by Marcel Lefebvre in 1970. Lefebvre was a conservative Catholic priest from France. In the 1920s he went to Rome to study, as his family thought the French seminaries too liberal. His political and religious positions were deeply shaped by his family and by French society in the early 20th century. His father was a monarchist who believed the Revolution had been Masonic and anti-Catholic; French monarchists believed a monarchy and powerful Church was the best structure for a Catholic society. Lefebvre later supported political movements like the Vichy government and National Front that suppressed religious liberty and tolerance.

In 1931 Lefebvre joined the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. He served in Gabon as a missionary then in the order’s seminary in France. In 1947, he was appointed vicar apostolic in Dakar and given the responsibility of overseeing Church matters across French Africa. In 1959, Lefebvre was one of 120 appointed to the preparatory commission for the Second Vatican Council.

America the Beautiful

This year the United States celebrates 250 years since it declared independence. It has been a difficult anniversary to embrace: the country feels like it's tearing apart, that democracy is waning, that we're falling further and further away from the ideals of its founding.  

But I do think the ideals are worth celebrating. Our founding broke all the preconceptions of what made a nation. Forged on paper, wholly new, established on ideals and ruled by the people. The Declaration of Independence asserts that people have natural rights, endowed by their Creator. We have the right life, to liberty, to pursue our happiness. We have the right, even the duty, to overthrow tyrants. We have the right to form our own form of government and challenge and change it as needed. 

This new country would have no kings, no nobility, no inherited titles. Lawmakers would be decided by an ever-expanding electorate of the citizens. Their power would come from the consent of the governed. No one person, not even one branch of government would have total control; there would be checks and balances to ensure that justice ruled over might. The purpose of the government would not be one of top-down power but of securing the rights and security of all its people. 

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Today is the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The devotion is getting extra attention this year as the U.S. bishops consecrated the United States to the Sacred Heart yesterday as part of their observance of the country’s 250th anniversary. The feast is celebrated on the third Friday following Pentecost.

The devotion of the Sacred Heart is a newer devotion, though it can be traced back to older devotions of the wounds of Christ and His redemptive love. The Sacred Heart focuses on Jesus' immense, boundless, and sacrificial love for humanity. In 1673, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a nun in France, began having visions. Over the next few years, these visions revealed to her the devotion of the Sacred Heart.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is depicted as a pierced or bleeding heart surrounded by flames, crowned with thorns, with a cross on top. Each element has its own meaning. The pierced heart represents Jesus’ humanity, His love, and the pouring forth of His grace. The flowing blood represents his pierced side, blood and water flowing like His outpouring of mercy. Blood and water also represent the elements of the sacraments Eucharist and baptism. The flames represent the burning desire for humanity to be reconciled to Him. The crown of thorns represents His sacrifice and suffering for humanity. The cross represents our redemption through His suffering.

While I don’t have a particular devotion to the Sacred Heart, I do find it interesting to learn about different devotions and reflect on the symbology. There are so many ways to view and reflect on Jesus; as Pope Leo XIV recently said in Magnifica Humanitas,  “the truth of the Gospel…can also be illustrated by the image of a multifaceted polyhedron, in which the one truth of the Gospel is reflected from different angles.”

For the Game. For the World.

This week begins the World Cup, hosted here in North America. Like the Olympics, the World Cup is one of the few times I get deeply invested in sports. There is something about the international commonality of everyone watching and rooting for their country that I find hopeful and peaceful. It seems to dilute cultural and political differences, if only superficially and momentarily.

And that unity was the intention of the founder of the World Cup, Jules Rimet (for whom the championship trophy is now named after). Football (soccer) had been gaining massive popularity in the early 1900s, and it had been played as an Olympic sport for several years. However, FIFA wanted to hold a tournament separate from the Olympics that would allow professional players.

Rimet was FIFA president at the time and worked to bring the World Cup to fruition. He had a deep belief that sport could be used to bring peace. Rimet was born in eastern France in 1873, a place and time massively affected by industrialization and political upheaval.

When Rimet was 17, Pope Leo XIII released Rerum novarum, the encyclical on the dignity of work and worker’s rights. In the encyclical, Leo XIII discusses the importance of men having the time and freedom to gather in associations for the support one another and the good of society (RN 50). Rerum novarum also discusses the need for proper rest; men need rest from labor both for physical recuperation and spiritual nourishment (RN 42).

St. Richard of Chichester

Richard of Chichester, also known as Richard de Wych, was born in 1197 in Worcestershire. He came from a noble family, but because his eldest brother was too young to inherit the estate when they were orphaned, the siblings struggled for many years. Richard was orphaned at a young age. He studied at Oxford, Paris, and Bologna, becoming a canon lawyer. He became chancellor of Canterbury.

Richard was said to live an extremely frugal, ascetic life. He wore a hair shirt and regularly abstained from meat. He refused to eat off silver.

Around 1240, Richard became a priest. In 1244 he was elected bishop of Chichester, but King Henry III refused to accept him, preferring another man. Both sides appealed to the pope, and the king confiscated the diocese’s properties. Pope Innocent IV sided with Richard and consecrated him a bishop at Lyons in 1245. But Henry refused to restore the confiscated properties for years until he was threatened with excommunication.

As bishop, Richard strongly condemned usury and corruption. He supported clerical reforms; he wanted clergy to uphold manners and morals, and he wanted greater reverence of the Mass. He believed priests shouldn’t mumble the prayers, praying sincerely and clearly enough for the laity to understand.

Monday Motivation: Magnifica Humanitas Presentation Video

Today Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, addressing technological changes and how humanity must always be prioritized. 

Why are you standing there?

Forty days after the Resurrection, the disciples still don’t get it. Which is something I like about the disciples; they love Jesus and are trying to follow Him, but what He’s saying is so radical, it always takes them awhile to figure out what’s going on. Here they have witnessed Him defeat death and listened to Him preach about the coming kingdom of God and baptism of the Holy Spirit.

They ask for clarification: “Are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). His response is not just no but that that isn’t even the right question. First, this is not about political rule. He is not overthrowing the occupying government and restoring a kingdom like they wanted. Second, stop speculating about specific timing and plans. Instead, Jesus tells them, the Holy Spirit is coming, and you have work to do, to spread the Gospel throughout the world.

They are asking if He’s going to do something, and His response is, “you are.”

Blessed Imelda Lambertini

Imelda Lambertini was born in 1322 in Bologna, Italy, the only child to devout parents. At age five, Imelda asked to receive the Eucharist. At the time, children did not receive First Communion until age 14. Her desire never waned. By age nine, she still longed for the Eucharist and asked to join a convent. She was sent to live with Dominican nuns, though due to her age, she could not take any vows.

On May 12, 1333, the feast of the Ascension, she was kneeling in prayer when a light and an image of a host appeared above her head. The sacristan, who witnessed the event, called for the priest. Upon seeing the vision, the priest felt compelled to give Imelda Communion.

After receiving the Eucharist, Imelda returned to her spot and continued in prayer. When a nun came by later to get her for dinner, Imelda was still kneeling with a smile on her face. When the nun called her name, she did not move. When the nun touched her shoulder, she collapsed on the floor, dead.

Her spiritual writings and the story of her determined desire for the Eucharist gained popularity among Dominicans and those preparing for First Communion.

Blessed Imelda Lambertini is on the path to canonization as a saint. Her feast day is May 12. She is a patron for First Communicants.