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Belated Pentecost Reflection 

On that day of Pentecost, a fire was lit; it burned in the hearts of all disciples of Jesus. They went out and began proclaiming the Good News, by word and actions, and they passed on that fire to others. During times of persecutions, the flame may have dwindled, but it continued to burn in the hearts of the survivors. It would eventually spread throughout the world.

Now it appears to some that the flame is dying out, in Europe, England, Canada, and the United States. A church historian would describe this area as “the ice belt.” Aspects of modern culture, rampant consumerism, breakdown of civility, loss of trust in Church leadership, have dampened the flame. Many are looking to the faith communities of the southern hemisphere to keep the flame alive. But I say that as long as there is a tiny flicker in our communities, in our hearts, the Spirit can blow, and the flame will burst forth again.
Posted by Deacon Jonathan Jones ofs at 11:53 PM No comments: Labels: fire, flame, Holy Spirit, Pentecost


Time To Move On. Time For New Beginnings. 


Franciscan Family Offers Support to the Pope. 

Posted by Deacon Jonathan Jones ofs at 11:09 PM No comments: 


National Catholic Reporter Interview with Archbishop Sean Cardinal O'Malley OFM CAP 


The Times They Are A Changing!! I was recently going through a local magazine, “The Improper Bostonian,” when I came across an article about Ayla Brown, daughter of Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts, former contestant on American Idol, and a student at Boston College. In the article was this picture of her working out with a group of other students. As I looked at the picture, I recognized the building they were in.

Many years (Okay, decades!) ago, I was a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Boston, attending St. John’s Seminary. It was a large campus, with the seminary’s college, and school of theology, archdiocesan offices, and the Archbishop’s residence. In the days, before my time, seminarians were pretty much restricted to the campus. They had built a small gym building, so that they would get needed exercise. When I was there, the building was a little rundown, but still saw a good number of basketball and volleyball games.

When the Archdiocese was deep in debt, on top of the settlement payments to victims of clergy abuse, it sold just about all of the campus to Boston College. It appears that BC is making use of the old gym as a exercise hall. Where once male seminarians played indoor sports, now male and female students are working out. Near the old gym building is the tomb of William Cardinal O’Connell, the first Archbishop of Boston to receive the red hat, and who was a bit of an ecclesial tyrant. He must be spinning in his grave!
Posted by Deacon Jonathan Jones ofs at 10:08 PM No comments: Labels: Archdiocese of Boston, Ayla Brown, Boston College, gym, St. John's Seminary


Mary Protectoress of the Franciscan Family, My May Column for Fraternity Newsletter “Toward the Mother of Jesus he was filled with an inexpressible love, because it was she who made the Lord of Majesty our brother. He sang special Praises to her, poured out prayers to her, offered her his affections, so many and so great that the tongue of man cannot recount them. But what delights us most, he made her the advocate of the order and placed under her wings the sons he was about to leave that she might cherish them and protect them to the end.” (Second Life of St. Francis, Thomas of Celano)

“Mary, Mother of Jesus, is the model of listening to the Word and of Faithfulness to vocation; we, like Francis, see all the gospel virtues realized in her. The brothers and sisters should cultivate intense love for the most holy virgin, imitation, prayer, and filial abandonment. They should manifest their own devotion with expressions of genuine faith, in forms accepted by the Church.” (Art. 16.1, General Constitutions, Secular Franciscan Order)

At St. Bonaventure University in New York State, the University Chapel has a small side chapel. On the wall behind the altar was a mosaic depicting Mary with the Child Jesus, surrounded by friars. It illustrates how important Mary was to Francis and to the Franciscan Family. Francis asked her to be the Advocate for his order, his movement, before God. She is a model for us on how to live as a follower of Jesus. It begins with listening to His Gospel, then meditating on it, then living it.

One practice of meditation we have is the Franciscan Crown, a form of rosary where one meditates on seven joyful mysteries of Our Lady: 1) The Annunciation; 2) The Visitation; 3) The Birth of Our Lord; 4) The Presentation of Jesus; 5) the Finding of Jesus in the Temple; 6) the Resurrection of Our Lord; 7) The Assumption of Our Lady. The Franciscan Crown dates back to the early 15th Century, it officially became a devotion of the Franciscan Order in 1422. The Crown is a part of our spiritual legacy, during this month of May, Mary’s month, we should strive to learn more about it and practice it, in honor of Our Lady and Protectoress.
Posted by Deacon Jonathan Jones ofs at 7:55 PM No comments: Labels: Franciscan Crown, Franciscans, fraternity, Mary the Mother of God, Rosary


Impact on the Future Church Posted by Deacon Jonathan Jones ofs at 7:07 AM No comments: 


Time of Change Coming Closer The National Catholic Reporter website is carrying a Catholic News Service story on the completion of the new English translation of the Roman Missal, and its presentation to Pope Benedict XVI. It is suppose to be a closer translation of the Latin, and has more formal liturgical tone. The versions that have adaptations for specific English speaking countries should be approved soon.

As I may have written in an earlier post, I am not too crazy about this translation, at least as illustrated by the samples shown on the National Catholic Conference of Bishops website. I think people will find it awkward and does not flow as it currently does. I have no idea how music composers are going to convert these words into new hymns. From my point of view, the goal of liturgy, of good liturgy, is to help people to encounter, to experience the divine. Experience it as a worshipping community; experience it by witnessing the coming of the Lord Jesus in consecrated bread and wine. Liturgical language must then aid this experience, must speak to the minds and hearts of the community. This can lead to a tension between being faithful to the Tradition handed down since the time of the Apostles; and speaking to the people of this time and place.

Still, no matter how any one of us may have felt about this translation, how it was put together, it is going to be a part of our liturgical life soon. We will just have to trust in the Holy Spirit, that it will guide us and inspire us as we gather to worship.
Image from CNS.
Posted by Deacon Jonathan Jones ofs at 11:27 PM 1 comment: Labels: English translation, liturgy, National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Roman Missal

St. Anthony of Padua By Bonafacio De Pitata (Photo by Jack Wintz, OFM) Welcome to all! By Monastery Icons Favorite Web sites Massachusetts Bible Society 

Hillary Ottensmeyer, OSB
monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey San Damiano Cross Prayer Before the Crucifix

St. Francis of Assisi