#PrayforthePope

My husband Joseph and I have just been in shock this morning about the news of Pope Benedict XVI resigning.

My first tweet this morning was retweeted a few times, so I'm sharing it here:

Looking for another intention to pray for this Lent? @pontifex resigning and the election of a new Pope is a good start.
— Nancy Piccione (@readingCatholic) February 11, 2013

How interesting, too, that this news breaks on the World Day of the Sick and Our Lady of Lourdes.

From the Holy Father's letter announcing his resignation:

"After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering."

My husband, with his interest and knowledge of all things Catholic, starting sharing about the last pope to resign.  New Advent has the Catholic Encyclopedia about the last pope to resign, Celestine V.  It's not unprecedented, but it is really surprising.

We've had an interesting discussion here.  On the one hand, as Joseph mentioned, Pope Paul VI spoke about how it was important for people to see the Holy Father die in office.

Consider how Pope John Paul II's decline and death showed a generation the beauty and nobility of that.  On the other hand, Pope Benedict XVI resigning shows that stepping down is also a viable option, and strength and holiness can be shown through that.

This may not seem like the best way to say this, but there are many ways to grow old.   Blessed Pope John Paul II showed us one very public way, and perhaps Benedict XVI is showing us another, quieter way, more suited to his quiet personality.

Here's a brief article from Vatican Radio (and update, here is Rocco Palma's first, thorough analysis) detailing some of the specifics: Benedict XVI will not participate in the conclave to elect the new pope (and he is also too old to vote in any case).   He will move to Castel Gandolfo after his resignation becomes effective, and he will live in private apartments at the Vatican.   Joseph and I both thought he might have moved back to Germany to live out his final days there.  We just watched Cardinal Dolan interviewed on the Today Show, and he appears just as surprised as everyone.

Consider, too, that the Holy Father won't be like a former president.  The media won't get to interview him and ask how "the new guy" is doing. He will be living a completely private life.

Can we join in prayer as we approach Lent? I will be considering how prayer for Benedict XVI, as well as the new pope, will be part of my Lent.

Any special ideas you have to make this a fruitful Lent in prayer for the Holy Father and his successor?

"Authentic Friendship in an Age of Social Media" This Saturday, Feb. 3 UPDATED

Shamelessly taking from the blog post about this weekend's gathering here:


Have you ever questioned the role of friendship in your life?

Why do women have a need for authentic friendship - to be accepted, supported, and loved?

How has social media changed our idea of friendship, perhaps making it more easy to find like-minded friends, or more difficult to deepen new friendships?

How does authentic friendship relate to our femininity?

Please join us for an exciting and pertinent talk on

Authentic Friendship in an Age of Social Media

given by Sister Helena Burns and Lisa Schmidt

Saturday, February 2nd, 2013

Doors open at 7:10pm

Event begins at 7:30

Saint Philomena Catholic Church

3300 N Twelve Oaks Dr

Peoria, IL

There is no cost to attend this event,

though a small donation for this special event is very appreciated

------------------

I plan to attend this Saturday, and I'll be doing a book giveaway. I'm especially excited to get to see Sister Helena Burns and Lisa Schmidt again, as well in see in person so many women that I don't get to see very often.   I hope to see you there, too.

I thought it would be fun to have a Twitter hashtag for the event, and I thought #authenticfriendship  while a little long, could work.  I also thought #firstSaturday could be a good one, too, though also longish. Do you have any Twitter hashtag ideas for the gathering?

UPDATED: Dianna Kennedy, of The Kennedy Adventures, suggested on Facebook the hashtag #1stSat.   Works for me!  Any others?

A WinterJam Primer, or How to Keep Your Hearing, Your Faith, and Your Sanity, and Have a Good Time

Note: In lieu of Worth a Listen (normally appearing here on Wednesday), I'm writing this after the WinterJam just occurred in our area with a concert in Peoria Sunday night.  When I posted occasional updates on Facebook & Twitter from the concert, there were a lot of questions (on FB) about how the concert, how it was, should people bring their small children, etc. This is to answer those questions as well as talk about this great  I'll re-run this next year as WinterJam makes it way to our area again, so consider this a "primer" on how to encounter WinterJam successfully.

I'm a veteran, having just attended my third WinterJam.  I think I've got this "down" now and have a good strategy for attending and making the most of this great concert.

WinterJam, the largest Christian concert series in the world (and largest altogether if Wikipedia is to be believed) is a traveling concert series founded by NewSong and featuring more than a half-dozen Christian contemporary music (CCM) acts.

Read the rest of the story at my new website, Reading Catholic.  Click here for link to the rest of the article on Reading Catholic.  I invite you to follow me there!

Catholic App Spotlight: My Year of Faith

I have been a bad Twitter user in recent weeks (For those of you on Twitter, I'm @ReadingCatholic and I'd love to connect with you there).

I've been on Twitter very rarely lately, even with the excellent TweetDeck desktop. Officially, Twitter can be a time-waster, but when I am there I invariably learn some great things from the links people share.  Lately, I've been feeling too "busy" and harried with my to-do list, both online and off, to be able to spend any time on Twitter, or figuring out Pinterest, or any of the other social media goals I have.

But last Friday, I was procrastinating/trying to get my writing juices flowing, in the hopes of finishing a post on Advent books, when I decided to spend a few minutes on Twitter, just checking in and tweeting a few things.  I retweeted some great articles shared, and also an article from the last issue of The Catholic Post about my friend Amy Dyke, the new NFP coordinator.

One of the articles I saw tweeted was "Who Is Your St. Andrew?"  It's well worth a quick read if you have a minute.

The article was posted on a site called "My Year of Faith," and in exploring that I discovered that it is actually an App called "My Year of Faith" produced by Little iApps.  I've written about Confession, one of the first Apps produced by Little iApps, as well as one of their Novena apps here.   I really do use these Apps to aid in my own prayer life, as well as that of my kids.  I'd have to say that  the Universalis App on my iPhone is my most-used App, but I do use fairly often the various Little iApps that I have.

I've just downloaded My Year of Faith (a bargain at 99 cents) so I can't give a review yet, but I like what I see in the iTunes description and since I have found apps by Little iApps to be useful, well-designed and edifying.

Do you know of any other Apps for The Year of Faith? How are you using your phone or tablet to help you live out the Year of Faith?

Q&A With Sister Helena Burns, Author of "He Speaks to You"

As I wrote in my October column, Sister Helena Burns is an expert on media literacy and Theology of the Body, a Catholic new media maven, and a great friend to the Peoria diocese, speaking here often and living in nearby Chicago.  Turns out she’s also a gifted author, writing the excellent and deceptively simple daily book for young women, He Speaks to You. 

Sister Helena, who is often busy at her own blog, Hell Burns, or on Twitter, graciously agreed to do a Q&A with me here.  Thanks, Sister, and thank you for your great book.

Q.  Sister Helena, tell Catholic Post readers more about you, your religious community, and your work.

The Daughters of St. Paul are an international congregation of women religious dedicated to evangelizing with the media. We try to use as many forms of media as possible, and now with the new media, we’re like kids in a candy store. When I was discerning my vocation, I was very drawn to sharing the Faith and helping people in spiritual pain (like I had been), and I thought: “What better way to bring God directly into someone’s heart and mind than through a book, a song, a magazine, a film?” I also loved that the Daughters had a kind of “mixed life”: contemplatives in action. Even though we’re an active order, we have approximately 3 hours of prayer each day, including an Hour of Eucharistic Adoration, which was very important to me. Our Founder, Blessed James Alberione, www.MediaApostle.com wanted us to “share the fruits of our contemplation in action.”

Q.  You write in the introduction: “The sisters and I have long talked about wanting to find a way to share ...basic principles of the interior life and how to live them in daily life.”   Why do you think this is so important, for young women in particular?

My Sisters and I often meet young women who want to pray more, go deeper with Jesus, but don’t always know how. Often they say: “I pray, but He doesn’t talk back.” We knew that if we could share some of the basics of prayer, of how the spiritual life “works,” we could really help young women not become discouraged, or give up on their interior life. Although each of our relationships with Jesus is unique, still, there are patterns that saints and mystics, spiritual masters and spiritual directors have identified that are universal.

I believe young women in particular need to look to and develop their interior lives because there really is a “war on women” today (but it’s the exact opposite of what the media says it is)! 

Ever since the Sexual Revolution and Women’s Liberation Movement, women have been encouraged to think and act like men interiorly and exteriorly. Women are told to squelch their essential feminine nature (body and soul) because it is “weak, irrational and limiting.” Women’s gifts (the feminine genius) are devalued, most of all by women themselves! But women are naturally “receptive,” (body and soul). We are receptive to men and to new life, but first of all to the Infinite, and we teach men and children how to be receptive to God. 

Women are supposedly “more religious” than men (the world over), but can we say that of our young women today? I’m afraid many (young and older) women’s “radar” is broken today. We don’t know what it means to be a woman. We don’t know our own identity in Christ, in Mary (the New Creation: the New Adam and the New Eve). But our radar can be fixed! It’s IN us. “He Speaks to You” is my little attempt to help “fix women’s radar.”

Q.  How long did it take you to write the book?

Approximately two years, very part time. Which was great because new ideas sprung up all along the way.

Q.  How did you come up with the themes for every month?

We tried to cover the essentials of a ground floor for the building of an “interior castle”!

Q. Was it difficult to write any one part of the book?  I enjoyed in particular the “speaking” quotes beginning each day from Jesus, and I wondered if it would be difficult to write so many.

I’m probably going to have an “extended stay” in Purgatory for putting words in Jesus’ mouth! A priest got it right, though, when he guessed: “Sister, is this how YOU hear Jesus?” Jesus is always comforting and challenging at the same time when He speaks to me, and I think that might be a universal for how He speaks to everyone. 

He also has a sense of humor. I think probably one of our biggest sins is to take the unimportant things too seriously, and the important things not seriously enough. Actually, Jesus’ parts in the book were the easiest to write. I’m REALLY hoping the Holy Spirit had a big hand in that, because I was asking Him to!

Q. Do you have a favorite section of the book?

I think it’s the month of October--dedicated to Our Lady--because the BVM is my BFF. I loved learning about her different titles and apparitions and sharing them in the book.

Q. What do you recommend as one or two good ways for a young woman to make the interior life and prayer a reality in our culture’s busy lifestyles?

Fidelity to daily prayer is essential. Sporadic prayer is like a sporadic relationship. You never really get to know the other person. There is NO other way.

Q.  You are busy with so many projects.  Anything in particular you’d like to share as particularly noteworthy?

We’re doing a 90-minute documentary on the life of our Founder, Blessed James Alberione. We’ve finished shooting, laying audio and are now completing the visuals. A rough cut is due January 25, 2013. We’re still fundraising for it and have a pledge of a $10,000 matching grant if we can raise that by December 31! The trailer can be watched (in 10 languages so far) at www.MediaApostle.com  and donations can be made securely on the website. 

GIFTS for donations to the Fr. Alberione Film (from November 1--December 31) are:

$20 donation--Fr. A medal

$50 donation--Fr. A medal and DVD when completed

$500 donation--Fr. A medal, book (biography), and DVD when completed

$1,000 donation--Fr. A medal, book, DVD, and 12" resin statue.

Q.  Is there anything you would like to add or wish I would have asked?

Yes, the question would be:  “If you were to write the same book today, would you do anything differently?” (I wrote it about four years ago.) 

The answer?  Yes. I would make it even more mushy, lovey-dovey with Jesus and stuff it with even MORE Theology of the Body. Women need to go to Jesus FIRST for their love, self-esteem, self-dignity and to feel beautiful. THEN go to your earthling guy. God’s love never changes.

Worth a Listen: Blessed John Paul Autotuned

(Sharing great songs that are inspiring, uplifting and/or are otherwise "worth a listen").  Explanation (of a kind) here.



HT Hell Burns, the blog of Sister Helena Burns.  The maker of this video is asking for suggestions about other videos to autotune, and some of the commenters suggested Cardinal Dolan's prayer at the end of the Democratic National Convention.

This reminds me a little of a video (I didn't actually realize it was a video until I Googled it.  I have the audio version in iTunes from way back when BXVI was elected, and a French girl living with us at that time shared it with me).

First, What Are You Reading? Volume 27, The All Saints/Marathon Edition

Happy Feast of All Saints!   Be sure to celebrate in style this great feast of the Church.

I'm interrupting my marathon story (here are Part 1 and Part 2) to post my monthly "what are you reading?" questions, with a focus on a book about someone who probably is a saint, as well as one book about running by a prayerful young man.

The questions, as always, are:

first, what are you reading?
what do you like best about it?
what do you like least?
what's next on your list to read?


As always, I hope you'll consider your current reads on your blog and/or sharing here in the comments or on Facebook or Twitter.  Happy reading!


First, what are you reading?

I actually read Jeff Grabosky's book Running With God Across America back in the summer, but I want to feature it now, because Jeff is a fellow LIFE Runner.  I also plan to do a Q&A with him in the future since he's agreed to do one.

I'm also in the midst of Leonie Martin:  A Difficult Life by  Marie Baudouin-Croix.

What do you like best about them?

I most enjoy Jeff Grabosky's voice and honesty in talking about his spiritual journey in Running With God Across America. 

Leonie Martin: A Difficult Life is quite moving.  I had read before in an article about Leonie that some believe that she, almost more than Therese, deserves formal recognition as a saint.  I'm not sure about that, but reading about her mental health issues and how she worked to overcome them and persist in seeking to fulfill her vocation has brought me to tears on several occasions.

What do you like least?

I am surprised at how much I enjoyed all of Running With God Across America.  I receive a lot of review copies of self-published books, and the vast majority have major issues, whether style, content or grammar/typo issues.  Jeff's book, while self-published, genuinely reads like a memoir from any major publisher.  I'm not sure if he had a great helpful editors or friends read through it, or just has a gift, or both.  He's a great writer and the story flows.

Leonie Martin was written in the French, and sometimes the translation  feels a little awkward.  It's easy to overcome, and certainly worthwhile to know more about this member of the Martin family.

What's next on your list to read?

I have a huge stack of books that are possibilities for my December column featuring good gift books.  So many great choices, but I'm on the lookout for more.  If you know of any great newer books that would also make great Christmas presents, please comment here or send me a tweet.

Youth Is Wasted on the Young?

Here is my October column that appears in this weekend's edition of The Catholic Post.  I invite your feedback here.

Like many moms, mine loved great maxims born of wisdom and long experience.  Because she had a great sense of humor, these sayings would sometimes morph, Mrs. Maloprop-style, to something like my personal favorite, “We’ll jump off that bridge when we get to it.”

One she never changed, but still intoned in her best mock-serious mother-knows-best voice: “Youth is wasted on the young.”

Now that I close in on the half-century mark, I begin to understand what that really means.

Yes, youth is wasted on the young.  All that free time!  All that energy!

I recall saying--more than once--to ungrateful, nap-resistant toddlers:  “I promise you, someday, someone will say to you, ‘why don’t you go take a nap,’ and you will say, ‘Thank you!’ instead of fighting it.”

Don’t get me wrong. I love my maturity and experience, even as I might covet what the younger me took for granted, like naps or a faster metabolism.

“Youth is wasted on the young” occurred to me as the fall books from Catholic publishers began to arrive, and with more than the usual number for teens and young adults.   I wish I could have had read these when I was 15, 25 or 35 for inspiration, for spiritual growth, or just plain fun.  So youth, don’t waste it, but take advantage of these great books, vetted not just by me but younger readers, to enjoy this fall:

*He Speaks to You by Sister Helena Burns, FSP.  Sister Helena is an expert on media literacy and Theology of the Body, a Catholic new media maven, and a great friend to the Peoria diocese, speaking here often and living in nearby Chicago.  Turns out she’s also a gifted author.

This book is a deceptively simple prayer/reflection book for young women.  Each page corresponds to a day of the year, with Scripture, reflection and action and journaling ideas.  It may sound basic, but He Speaks to You offers substantial, meaty topics in the context of consistent themes that run through an entire month.  For example, “His Will” in April, covers topics like discernment and vocation, and “In His Image” in August, focuses on body image and sexuality.

Sister Helena writes in the introduction, “The sisters and I have long talked about wanting to find a way to share ...basic principles of the interior life and how to live them in daily life.”    With the wisdom of the Daughters of St. Paul, mission accomplished.

*Be Beautiful, Be You by Lizzie Velasquez.

This is a sweet volume--all from a Catholic perspective--about loving yourself, overcoming setbacks, and recognizing what makes a person unique.  23-year-old Lizzie Velasquez was born with a rare medical syndrome, and she writes candidly about her struggles and how she has used them to grow emotionally and spiritually.

Lizzie’s stories, journal and ideas offer a much-needed antidote to our culture’s obsession with perfection and ways to overcome that.

*Fearing the Stigmata: Humorously Holy Stories of a Young Catholic’s Search for a Culturally Relevant Faith by Matt Weber.

Matt Weber is a Harvard grad and practicing Catholic--not at all a contradiction.  Fearing the Stigmata is his charmingly earnest and witty take on living as a Catholic young adult in the modern world.

I didn’t include this book simply so young men wouldn’t feel left out, but because it is a genuinely funny and spiritually edifying book.  I found myself laughing out loud at many, many vignettes in the book, from his love of the restaurant Olive Garden, to “nun volleyball,” to “the Dominic Code.”  You have to read Fearing the Stigmata to find out what those mean in the context of our Catholic faith, but you’ll thank me.

Print is Alive and Well: My CPA Midwest Wrap-Up

Last week, I had the great good fortune to attend the Catholic Press Association Midwest Regional Conference, hosted here in Peoria.  The editor of The Catholic Post, Tom Dermody, and his staff at The Catholic Post organized a terrific two-day meeting, and I for one came away with many great ideas and insights.

Regular readers of Reading Catholic will note that I usually refer to Tom as "my editor," but I started to feel strange about that, as if being "my editor" is his only job, working on polishing my monthly column for the print edition of The Catholic Post and giving me advice about writing and other things.  But however much it may surprise you (she says jokingly), he is actually really busy, whether in putting out a newspaper every two weeks, or organizing regional conferences.

That's one point of this post: to acknowledge and praise the work of print journalists in Catholic press, and share with my online comrades the amount of work that goes into print publications.  Back before there was an Internet, I worked in newspapers, magazines, and then in media relations during the high-tech days when we used to fax press releases to reporters.

Because I now work primarily online and love so much about it, I had forgotten the intense amount of effort goes into print publications, until I got the chance to be with those print journalists for several days.

My ultimate message for Catholic people active online?  Keep doing it, but at the same time be sure that you are supporting and reading print publications.  If you don't already subscribe to your diocesan newspaper, please take a moment to do so.  Here's where you can subscribe to The Catholic Post, for a start.

There are also many worthy national print publications.  Having those "strewn" around the house for kids and adults to find is a way to create a Catholic culture in your house.

One real-life example:  Several months ago, my 11-year-old was delighted to see Pysanky eggs featured on the cover of the beautifully-produced  CNEWA's magazine One,  since we enjoy doing Pysanky during Lent.   I'm not sure how she would have seen that otherwise; even though the magazine is online, I wouldn't necessarily have found it or linked it, and she's not online like we grown-ups are.  Because we give to CNEWA, we get the magazine, and it's "around" for people in our house to discover.

Now on to the CPA Midwest and some of my snaps from the two-day conference:

Here is Billy Atwell, director of Communications for the Diocese of Venice, Florida, and Penny Wiegert, editor of The Observer, newspaper of the diocese of Rockford, Illinois. Penny is a true force of Catholic media, being a past president of the national Catholic Press Association.  She was great to meet and hear from, as were so many others, from Chicago to downstate Illinois, to St. Louis, to Iowa to Indiana, Florida and Washington, D.C.

Here is Tom Dermody with Sonia Nelson, advertising manager of The Catholic Post.

The general session was "Communicating Across Today's Generations" by Dominic Perri, a consultant to the USCCB and others.  I don't have a non-blurry photo of Dominic, but his presentation was very informative about how different generations experience Church life.  What was most helpful in experiencing this firsthand was when Dominic broke us into generational groups each group we answered questions about what we wanted other generations to know about ours, what we wanted to know about other generations.

Here's a blurry photo of the baby boomers working on their answers.

Later that day I attended two great breakouts--one by Tammi Finch of a local web company, Web Tech Services on social media--I have tons of take-aways from that; and one by Bob Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, on "When Politics and Religion Intersect." Bob's talk was both very thorough but rather depressing (sorry, Bob!), since he explains so much of the way things are going from a legislative perspective.  Ultimately, there is hope, because there are good people in Springfield and Washington, D.C. who work for Catholic values and rights.

Before dinner, Monsignor Stanley Deptula, celebrated Mass for the attendees in the St. Thomas More chapel of St. Mary's Cathedral for the convention-goers.

Monsignor Deptula shared that that day, September 20, was the anniversary of Archbishop Fulton Sheen's ordained in this very cathedral--St. Mary's Cathedral.

After the Mass and a walk through the cathedral, we boarded a Peoria Charter Coach bus, and Pat Kellogg, who is retired from the diocese, gave us a wonderful short tour of downtown Peoria and Grandview Drive on our way to a terrific dinner at a great local restaurant.  Here's a kind of dark photo of Pat "touring" us:

The next day's focus was on Archbishop Sheen, as Monsignor Deptula, executive director of the Sheen Foundation, gave a funny and incisive presentation on "Lessons from a Great Catholic Communicator" about the life of Sheen and the cause for his canonization.  Everyone took copious notes and asked many, many questions during his talk.  Afterwards, Bonnie Engstrom, a nationally prominent blogger in the Peoria diocese whose son's healing is the "alleged miracle" put forth for Sheen's beatification, spoke about her family's experience.

I was tweeting from the conference (@ReadingCatholic on Twitter) because I had my laptop there and it was easy to do so while listening to the speakers.  In fact, tweeting an event is basically a form of taking notes, and is helpful in keeping me focused on what I'm hearing.  I tweeted for the first few minutes of Bonnie's talk, but stopped.

I had read through Bonnie's story before on her blog, but had never heard her speak in person about it in detail.  It was amazing, truly so.  I just had to close up my laptop and listen to and soak up all she had to say, and so did everyone else.  Wonderful.  The story of the alleged miracle told by Bonnie is remarkable and beautiful, and should be heard widely.  If you are in the market for a speaker for a Catholic event, please consider contacting Bonnie about it.  She had a room full of experienced journalists enthralled.

Afterwards, while we all snapped photos and talked with Bonnie in front of a photo of her son James Fulton, Tom Dermody (that would be my editor Tom Dermody) said the funniest line of the day, which I did tweet eventually:

"We have to use 'alleged' before miracle, but we don't have to use alleged before 'adorable.'"

Have you been to a conference lately?  What positive experiences and insights did you come away with?

Worth a Listen: TobyMac and Jamie Grace

(Sharing great songs that are inspiring, uplifting and/or are otherwise "worth a listen")

As I (over) shared last week, I'm not keeping under wraps any more my love of great Christian music.  Lately we've been listening to the new TobyMac release, which debuted several weeks ago at number one, the first time a Christian release has done so in 15 years.  We especially enjoy "Me Without You," but it's only been a few days since I downloaded the new album, so I'm sure we will have other favorites.

Here's just a portion of a live performance of a Jamie Grace song that features TobyMac.  

Do you have a favorite TobyMac song?  I think mine is "Lose My Soul."

Sheen Mass of Thanksgiving, Part 3: Wrapping Up and Keeping it Real

This is my final wrap-up post about the Mass of Thanksgiving for Fulton Sheen.  You can read Part 1 here about before the Mass (perhaps destined to be known hereafter as "the mantilla post"?), and Part 2 about the Mass itself here.

This is basically the keepin' it real edition, to explain some of the back story and to make fun of myself, share a family joke, and have an epiphany about online life and camaraderie and perspective.  I am definitely increasing the drama level here for effect, and I hope that works.  Perhaps it is only helpful to me, but I'm going to share it anyway.  Here it is:

No one tells me anything.

I'm not sure exactly how it came about, but since I'm from a big family, some of us became fond of complaining this to parents or other siblings, once we were mostly grown and away at college or starting careers.  Mom & Dad, you're going to New York to visit another sister?  Someone got into law school?  Someone has a new boyfriend?

All purpose response: "No one tells me anything!"

Fortunately this had become a family joke before most of us started having children, so we had a very strict unspoken protocol of personally talking to each sibling when a new baby was on the way.

And no other sibling could spill the beans.  This meant that to avoid awkward conversations around that time, if you had heard from a pregnant sister (or sister-in-law), you usually didn't answer the phone for a few days to be sure you weren't going to get a different sibling who might not have heard the news yet.  Which would be me because... pause for effect here... No one tells me anything!

These days my siblings and I use the expression with each other because we are all almost too busy to keep in touch.  It's also helpful to use if I am feeling left out about something with friends or those close to me, I  say that to myself, since it usually makes me laugh and realize that it's not the case, and I need to just plug on and be positive.

As perspective on what I'm going to share, keep in mind that I wasn't officially "covering" the Mass or the Sheen weekend events for The Catholic Post.  I'm a freelancer for The Post, writing my column and this blog. So I'm not in the know about every Catholic event, but I do like to sometimes write here on Reading Catholic about events from my own perspective.

So being out of the loop for me is not necessarily a bad or unusual thing--I've got my specialty here with books, and in general I like to stick to it.

My first "no ones tells me anything" moment when I found out that Lisa Hendey and a few other Catholic people I know online were coming to Peoria for the Sheen weekend.

I had another "no one tells me anything" moment after I saw late Saturday that there was some kind of reception at the Sheen Museum on Saturday night.  And there were Lisa Hendey and Alexis Walkenstein (of The Maximus Group), hanging out and having fun just a few miles away.

And what was I doing?  I was in my pjs, sprawled out with kids and dog, watching Love It or List It while also checking Facebook on my ancient iPad.  Nearby, my husband Joseph read something intelligent.  I am a morning person, so my brain shuts off around 8 p.m.  Love it or List It is just about right then.

I know this actually is exactly what I wanted to be doing then, but still... I can do that next Saturday night!  Tonight my online friends are having fun in the same area code as me.

Not only am I melancholic and insecure when it comes to online friends, but apparently I am also prone to jealousy and possessiveness.

I had one of those moments when when Brandon Vogt tweeted that he was going to see his "friend Monsignor Soseman," and I thought, hey there, Monsignor Soseman was my friend first.

As a matter of fact, Mr. Brandon Vogt, Joseph and I were friends with Monsignor Soseman when there wasn't an Internet.  We were friends with him back when you were probably still in grade school, young one!

Then I had my epiphany.

When you're feeling "no one tells me anything," remember: it's okay.  You're part of the family.

We are all part of the same Catholic online family, and I don't have to know everything, and neither do you.  If I don't know about some cool conference or some great reception (even in my own area code!), it's all good.

Just like my siblings are always my siblings, we are all family no matter what.

If you're in the Catholic online community, you're part of the tribe--there's no secret handshake or code.  (And if there is, you can just keep it to yourself, because that's not the tribe I'm talking about).  I'm part of this, and so are you, however small our impact or own little corner.

When I reach out to other Catholic in online forums like Twitter or seek guest writers or feature some great bloggers, online friendships grow and flourish.  Some day those may and have lead to real-life meetings and most won't, but we are all part of that same Catholic faith and support each other.

So if you are a Catholic blogger or Twitter person and feel left out or not in the loop when you see people posting photos or seemingly having a great time at a conference, or getting lots of comment or .....fill in your own blank here.  We all have our insecurities.  Just remember you're not alone, and I feel the same.

After my epiphany, I got out of my "no one tells me anything" mood (and my pjs) by Sunday morning when it was time for Mass.

Of course I was genuinely thrilled to see Lisa Hendey, who I haven't seen in several years.  She is just delightful and upbeat in person, as she is on her terrific Catholicmom.com, as well as her always-encouraging writing for Faith & Family Live.

Here we are with the aforementioned Brandon Vogt, whose energy and output rivals that of Sheen.

I also loved getting to meet Alexis Walkenstein of The Maximus Group, who is just as cute and endearing in person as she is online, but curses, I didn't get a photo of her.

I also got to see a lot of local friends, some that I see often and some that I don't.  Quite a few have blogs that are featured on the sidebar here, Catholic, Local and Online.  Many of them have done their own excellent blogging about the Sheen Mass.  Here are just a few of the bloggers who were there, and please let me know me if I left anyone out, and I will update here.  I am linking to their Sheen Mass post if they have one:

*Britta of "By Prayer and Petition."

*Marie of "Help Them to Heaven." 

*"I Wonder Why." 

*"Stumbling on the Way to Emmaus."

And Bonnie Engstrom of A Knotted Life.  Especially if you feel you may have had a tough day, head over to Bonnie's post about her family's experiences during the Mass. (Kind of makes me a little sheepish about those "no one tells me anything" moments).

As many know, their son James Fulton's recovery after 61 minutes not breathing after birth is what is technically called the "alleged miracle" being put forth for Sheen's beatification.

During the Mass, my husband asked me several times, "Where are Bonnie and Travis?"  I kept looking, but never did see them until after the Mass, but didn't hear about their travails with Travis' shirt and tie, nursing baby and so forth, until I read about it on Bonnie's blog.  Here's the photo I snapped of Travis and James Fulton after the Mass, Travis by this time being minus his more formal wear.

Hey! There's Tom Dermody, the editor of The Catholic Post, just behind James. I did get a photo of him after all.  Here is his CNS story about the Sheen Mass.

The Engstroms were also popular with the Catholic (and other) papparazzi. I couldn't resist getting a photo of that.

I also got to visit with the talented and energetic Brandon Vogt.  I even took a photo of him with Monsignor Soseman.

But remember,  Brandon, he was my friend first.

What's your best memory of the Sheen Mass?

Do you have an epiphany about Catholic online life to share?

What do you think about mine?

Sheen Mass of Thanksgiving, Part 2: The Mass

Yesterday, in Part 1, I shared what happened before the Mass of Thansgiving.

Today, Part 2  is all about the Mass itself at the Cathedral on Sunday to celebrate local son Archbishop Fulton Sheen being named Venerable, one more step on the path to sainthood.

Oh how I wish this were a better photo of Monsignor Stanley Deptula!  Monsigor gave the terrific homily at this Mass to celebrate Fulton Sheen (here is the video link to that sermon), and he has been.  I snapped this photo in the sacristy as we were walking through to process through the Cathedral.  My photo of him giving the sermon is very far away, so this is the best it gets.  Monsignor Deptula has been on the forefront of Archbishop Sheen's cause, as it is near and dear to his heart.  The most popular tweet of Monsignor Deptula's sermon (that I saw later), was from Alexis Walkenstein of The Maximus Group, who tweets as @spokeswmn: "When God works a miracle, it is an expression of his love" - Monsignor Deptula.  Nice!

Here is the opening prayer led by Bishop Jenky.

The Mass had a lot of media coverage.  I neglected to get a photo of a half-dozen photographers on the other side of the church from here, right in my sightline, but here is Anna Yee, a local newscaster, who filmed just beside where we were seated.

There was a lot of "Catholic papparazzi" present-- here is Lisa Hendey taking photos.  I tried several times to snap a photo of my editor at The Catholic Post, Tom Dermody, who was very active taking lots of photos, but was unsuccessful.  All of my photos of him are blurs.  Here is Tom's excellent CNS version of the story of the Sheen Mass.

After Communion, I noticed my husband reading some after-Communion prayers in a book.

I read several of the prayers along with him, and then asked him to let me take a photo of the front of the book.

It's a small prayer book put out by the Melkites, an Eastern rite (but in union with Rome) Catholic Church, thus the different looking font on the front.  The prayers themselves are also very ... Eastern Catholic.  Here's a little more about the spirituality of it.  

Interesting Eastern Catholic/Fulton Sheen trivia:  did you know that Fulton Sheen was something called "bi-ritual," which means he could celebrate both Roman Catholic Mass and Byzantine Catholic Liturgy?  You can read all about that here.

After the Mass, Monsignor Deptula explained more about the positio, the large box of materials that were submitted to the Vatican for Archbishop Sheen's cause.  Copies of the positio were given to various donors and supporters of Sheen's cause. 

I was right behind a pillar, so it might be a little hard to see here the positio box (a small brown box) being given here.

Tomorrow, Part 3, will be a lot more lighthearted as I share an epiphany I had about Catholic online life through the course of the weekend.

Do you have any memories to share from the Sheen Mass?   I'd love to know how others saw the Mass.

Sheen Mass of Thanksgiving, Part I: Before the Mass

As I've mentioned already, the Mass of Thanksgiving for Archbishop Fulton Sheen being named Venerable held here in Peoria on Sunday was truly amazing.

I wanted to share some personal photos from the morning, some taken with my iPhone and some (that would be the really good ones) taken by my husband Joseph on his Canon.  Because there is so much to share, this will be split into several posts.

My goals here are: 1. to introduce you to some Peoria diocesan people who are worth knowing, 2. to explain some Catholic culture and the interesting world of papal orders, and 3. to have fun exploring the sights, personalities and emotions around the Mass itself.

First, there was a lot of media interest in the Mass.  Here is Bishop Jenky being interviewed by local newscaster Anna Yee (here's the link to her story):

Our family arrived early for the Mass, and I dropped off our children in the St. Thomas More Chapel, which held overflow seating for the Mass.   Most of St. Mary's Cathedral was filled with ticketholders, and I'm not sure how those were obtained, but there was room for various people in overflow places.  People I knew who were there were split pretty evenly between those who had tickets and those who didn't.

Another family agreed to let our kids be with their family, since Joseph and I were to be in the procession.  I'm so grateful to them (hi Lucy and Rick!), because although our kids are old enough to be at Mass by themselves, it was nice to know they were covered.  I was also relieved that also in the Thomas More chapel  was another family that are pretty much family to us.

Here's a stained glass portrait of St. Thomas More, just outside the chapel itself.

The reason that Joseph and I were in the procession is that we are both members of the (yes, this is the real name) Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (EOHSJ hereafter).  You can read about the founding of the Order here.  

How did we come to be members of this order?  Nine years ago (interestingly, when I was pregnant with our youngest), our former Bishop, John Myers, nominated us.   He is now the Archbishop of Newark, NJ, but was in Peoria for the Mass and, a few days before, to celebrate 25 years as a bishop. After we accepted, we had our investiture with a large group at the cathedral in Indianapolis, where the annual conference was held that year. 

I could write tons about the EOHSJ, but since that would be a completely new post, I will resist.  Among the many expectations, I consider three to be most important and what we focus on:  to pray daily for the peace of Jerusalem, to support Christians in the Holy Land, and to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  Joseph and I have not yet made our pilgrimage.  My desire is for our whole family to go on a Footprints of God pilgrimage (hosted by Steve & Janet Ray) once all our kids are teenagers.  I keep announcing it and putting away funds for it, so I hope it will really happen in a few years for us.

The either cool or slightly awkward part of being in EOHSJ is that we have ceremonial dress.  

Here's another one of the Ladies in her ceremonial robe and behind her, one of the Knights in his ceremonial robe.  This particular Lady's name was Judy and she has a great sense of humor, so we had a lot of fun that morning.

You'll notice the mantilla. 

Allow me a short digression here: 

I've been in Facebook and real-life conversations with young mommy bloggers about mantillas, as a strangely large number  have written or talk in the past few years about wanting to start wearing a mantilla or headcovering at Mass.  I find this completely fascinating, since I don't share the desire at all.  I share my own story that, as someone who is occasionally required to wear a mantilla, I don't recommend it for regular use.

That is just me.  Intellectually, I'm okay with whatever a woman wants to do.  But at the same time, the conversations have been pretty candid (with me saying things like, "No! No mantillas! No!").  That is definitely a completely different post, and I think Simcha Fisher or some other smart young blogger has already covered this topic and related issues in depth.

So as we were getting into our robes before the Mass, I tweeted to @BonnieEngstrom (who was in one of the online conversations along the way) something along the lines of "Putting on my mantilla for you! :-)"  My awkward attempt at mantilla humor.

Here I am, in mantilla, ready to process.  Notice my iPhone ready to snap photos.  Also notice the Jerusalem cross on the robe, an ancient symbol and one of the main insignia of the Order.

One nice part of being in EOHSJ is that when we are participating in a liturgy, we process and get to be with the celebrants beforehand, usually the bishop and some variety of priests and monsignors. Our family has a lot of priest friends, and so this is a nice chance to catch up and visit.  

Here is Joseph with Monsignor Stephen Rohlfs, now rector of Mount St. Mary's seminary.  He's a priest of the diocese of Peoria, and one of Joseph's oldest local friends and theologian mentors.  

Okay, now this is going to get confusing, if you weren't confused already.  You will notice that Joseph is not wearing the EOHSJ ceremonial dress.  That's because he actually outranks us EOHSJ folks.  

When we became EOHSJ, Joseph was already a member of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. (He's wearing the insignia of the Knighthood on his jacket).   Knights of St. Gregory the Great, who are appointed directly by the Holy Father, can also wear ceremonial dress, but aren't required to.

You can read all about the Order on the Vatican website, and no, I don't understand it very well, either.   Generally, people who have a long history of service to the Church are named to the Order.  Joseph received the honor at a relatively young age, and it's my theory ( but keep in mind here I'm a lay person and not an expert here, even though I'm his wife and biased), some of it had to do with his working prayerfully and diligently as a theologian and lawyer in Catholic health care ethics and mission, a challenging field.  

Here is Dr. Clement Cunningham in the ceremonial dress (minus the hat) for the Order of St. Gregory the Great. Dr. Cunningham is a local Peoria diocesan hero and supporter of so many wonderful local and national Catholic efforts.

Here is Dr. Cunningham being helped through the corridor between the rectory and the cathedral by the kind and dear Dick LaHood, a fellow Knight of St. Gregory the Great.  

One of the tweets I sent just before the Mass was something like, "It's really loud in here, but it's not me, but Father Apostoli and all the priests talking."

I meant it in a lighthearted way, and really, everyone was talking, not just Father Apostoli (sorry to single you out, Father!). My goal was to give a feel of what it was like to wait for the procession, behind the scenes.  The reason for the noise is there is a small corridor between the Rectory and the Cathedral, so with several dozen people talking, it got pretty loud.

I will stop here.  Part 2, coming tomorrow, will cover the Mass itself and what happened there.

Local Effort Seeks One Million to Pray the Rosary

The Mass of Thanksgiving for Archbishop Sheen was truly amazing, and I'm putting together several posts about the Mass itself, replete with photos and some fun stories.  I had hoped to have this up today, but there are too many great photos and stories right now, and I need to pare it down.

Today I'm digressing for a great cause.  

I want to share an ambitious new effort spearheaded by a small local group that has a mighty goal:  getting one million people to say the Rosary on  Sunday, October 7.

Coincidentally (providentially?), it was the inspiration of a longtime friend, Michelle Rebello, who is also a member of the women's Sheen book group featured here on the blog last week.

Here's the message from Michelle: 

We are asking you to join one million of your fellow Catholics in saying the Rosary for our country on Sunday, October 7, 2012 at 3 pm EST. (You can say it wherever you are, or can go to St. Vincent dePaul church in Peoria to pray it at 2:00pm right before the Life Chain.) We are praying for our country to return to God and His laws. 

Visit rosaryvictory.com to pledge your support and be counted. Please help spread the word through email, facebook, twitter, etc (you can  go to those at facebook.rosaryvictory.com and twitter.rosaryvictory.com) to help us reach our goal of one million people! 

Bishop Jenky has asked for people to consecrate themselves to Jesus through Mary on that day; it would be a great way to honor Our Lady and help our country to say the rosary all together on that day. 

Thank you for all of your help in spreading the word and in praying the rosary on Oct. 7th. Remember, we need people to go to the website and put their email address there and the number of people in their family that will say the rosary so that we can tally up all the pledged rosaries--to 1 million and beyond!

Quotable, Venerable Fulton Sheen: Books

Today is the Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Mary's Cathedral.  I think it should be an inspiring morning.

Here's a quote for today.  I have so many great ones, but when I came across this I thought, Yes!  Now here's another reason why Fulton Sheen is one of the patrons of this blog:

"Any book which inspires us to lead a better life is a good book." 

-Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Thoughts for Daily Living

Quotable, Venerable Fulton Sheen: On Children

The first question a child asks when he comes into this world is the question: Why?  Every babe is an incipient philosopher.

--Fulton Sheen, Religion Without God

There are so many great quotes from Fulton Sheen that I plan to post a selection here and there this month.  I have some of my own quotes, but the wonderful (and sadly out of print) The Quotable Fulton Sheen (I reviewed it in my September column here) has a lot of great ones I'll be sharing, as well.

This weekend is #celebrateSheen on Twitter and elsewhere, as Peoria Catholics (and many from elsewhere) will take part in a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Mary's Cathedral in Peoria.  Read more about the events on the Celebrate Sheen website.  I'll be at the Mass, and using the hashtag #celebrateSheen.  I don't expect to be tweeting during the Mass, but before and after, certainly!   And my thanks for the reminder to use the hashtag from the ever-excellent Julie Enzenberger, administrator of the Sheen Foundation.

Meet a Reader: Bonnie Engstrom

I'm delighted this month to feature a young mother I know in real life as a friend, an insightful writer and influential young leader in our area.  Of course, it may be obvious that we would be friends since she loves both The Hobbit and Jane Austen, but still ....  I'm grateful for Bonnie for being willing to be featured this month, when Reading Catholic is focused on all things Sheen.

  
How you know me:  Along with my personal blog, A Knotted Life (formerly "Learning to be a Newlywed"),  I am also a regular contributor to the online magazine Ignitum Today.  Also, I have been honored to serve as the Associate Director for the Behold Conference for the last three years.  My husband, Travis, and I are the parents of four small children—Lydia, Bennet, James and Teresa.  We are members of St. Luke parish in Eureka.  Our third child, James Fulton, was stillborn and came back to life after being without a pulse for sixty-one minutes.  His alleged miracle is attributed to the intercession of Venerable Fulton Sheen and was officially submitted to the Vatican for Sheen's beatification.

Why I love reading:  I love reading because it makes anything possible.  Sitting in a waiting room I can suddenly be in another country, time, or world.  By reading I can connect with another's heart, see a different perspective, grow in virtue, partake in an adventure, witness forgiveness and beauty, and know the love of my God.

What I'm reading now:  Right now I am making my way through J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and I love it.  There's something about a hobbit that is so endearing.  Also, every day I read From Head to Toe by Eric Carle about a billion times.

My favorite book: For a long time it was A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers, which is a slightly-scandalous-in-places memoir.  Recent favorites have been The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter.  And I will always love anything written by Jane Austen.

Sheen for All Readers: September Column

Here is my column that appears in this weekend's The Catholic Post. I invite your feedback here or on Twitter or Facebook.


It’s high time to visit--or re-visit-- the writings of local son Archbishop Sheen.

A few months back, Archbishop Sheen was named “Venerable,” one more step on the path to a potential declaration of sainthood.  A Mass and other events will be held in Peoria next weekend to celebrate Sheen’s new title, as well as his life and work.  What the experts call “an alleged miracle” that happened locally (see “Meet a Reader” on this page for details), has been examined and submitted to the Vatican for approval for Sheen’s cause.

No doubt, Sheen is worth reading, discovering and sharing.

So what book should you choose if you’re new or want a good recommendation among Sheen’s prolific output?

My very first review for The Catholic Post, more than two years ago, was Sheen’s excellent autobiography, Treasure in Clay.

 I still consider it the best introduction to Sheen’s writing style and his life.  I’m grateful to my editor Tom Dermody for suggesting it as a great “first book.”

As I wrote then, Sheen “is the master of telling a great story. Treasure in Clay is full of such stories; edifying, funny and illuminating, making it an inspiration for us to do more as Catholics.”

But after Treasure in Clay, I truly hesitate.  Not because Sheen didn’t write anything else “great,” but because there’s a lot of variety from which to choose.

I’ve been part of a women’s book group this past year that has read a different Sheen book each month.   What surprises me is how varied our responses are to the different Sheen works we have read.  Some women love a certain book that others have found really hard to get through.   (True confession: I’m one of the ones who found a few hard to “get through”).

 Not every Sheen book is going to speak to every reader.

Nevertheless, I want to encourage and inspire reading Sheen, and especially for readers not to give up if the first work sampled is not a “keeper.”  So I asked some local Sheen experts for some good ideas.

Julie Enzenberger, administrator of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation, has a great theory on her two favorite Sheen books.

 “I always say if you don’t know Sheen read Treasure in Clay and if you don’t know Christ read Life of Christ,” said Enzenberger.  “Life in Christ explains every parable in the bible and why Jesus did what he did in terms everyone can understand.”

Monsignor Richard Soseman, a priest of the Peoria diocese who now works for the Vatican in Rome and is Coordinator of International Outreach for the Sheen Foundation, suggests the relatively unknown Old Errors and New Labels, a commentary on modern thought.

“It’s a hidden "gem," Monsignor Soseman reports, and says that his college students love it.

Others have recommended Three to Get Married, Sheen’s popular book on marriage.

Two other Sheen books are worth mention:

*Ignatius Press has a handsome new edition of the well-loved classic The World’s First Love:  Mary, the Mother of God.  This was a favorite in my book group, as well as mentioned by plenty of people asked for Sheen suggestions.

*Regrettably out of print, but a terrific compendium, is The Quotable Fulton Sheen:  A Topic Compilation of the Wit, Wisdom and Satire of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, edited by George J. Marlin and others.  This book makes looking up quotes from the very-quotable Sheen easy, as it is organized by subject.

The CNMC "Following Along in Spirit" Edition

Well, I still have the badge on the blog saying that "I'll be there!" to the Catholic New Media Conference in Dallas this week, but this year, it's just going to have to be in spirit, or on Twitter, or something.  A little more than a week ago, for far-too-long-to-explain-here reasons, I had to cancel all my reservations for my planned trip to this great conference.

Last year, when I followed along with several of the sessions that were streamed from Kansas City's CNMC, I had determined that I would work hard to make it happen this year.  The plans did get made, but now it's not going to work out this year.  Doubly sad, I was planning to see two young friends at The University of Dallas--a neice and a daughter of my best college friend.  Because I won't be in Dallas, visiting them and seeing their college home won't happen.

I'm super disappointed about all of it, especially since at the CNMC I was going to get to see friends that I know, and meet many others that I know only online.  The conference is going to coincide with both the Catholic Marketing Network and the Catholic Writers Guild.  It's going to be a great experience for those who are going to network, learn about great books, movies and other Catholic media, and just in general soak up the atmosphere.  Attending a conference the first year is often a "lost" year, getting one's bearings, etc., but I think with all the great topics and speakers and sessions, I would have gleaned a lot from attending even this first-for-me conference.

So, though I am Emily of Deep Valley sad about this (and you can read all about what that means here, in my literary pilgrimage to Betsy-Tacy land), I do hope to make the best of being at home.

The conference starts today, so if you are attending or en route, please do tweet and updating those of us at home about it.  I will be following along on Twitter and Facebook.  And have a great conference!

New Links List: Catholic, Local and Online

One of the trickiest aspects of being a "local" Catholic blogger for a diocesan Catholic newspaper, The Catholic Post, but writing about books, which are generally not specific to the diocese, is balancing the local and more general audiences.   I've wondered, and had a few discussions with my editor, about ways to make the blog more local-friendly or help it have a local "flavor" at the same time.  I've added a new links list to help with that.

If you look on the right hand panel of this blog, you'll see a new links list: "Catholic, Local, and Online"

For some reason, this idea never occurred to me before now, but now I'm very excited to share and compile local Catholic online sources.  You'll notice I have everything from the Catholic Diocese of Peoria to various bloggers and other local-interest sites.

I made the list relatively local--not just people from our diocese, but those nearby.  I considered Sister Helena Burns and her blog "Hell Burns" in this "local" category, since she is such a friend of the Peoria diocese, speaks here often, and is just a short drive away in Chicago.  I'm really thinking of expanding to include St. Louis people as well, since there are quite a few Catholic folks active online there.  I also couldn't resist adding Lisa Schmidt, who blogs with her husband at The Practicing Catholic, since they are just in the next state over.

I have a number of requests out to local Peoria-area bloggers that I know locally to see if they would like to be added onto the list.  I'm really on the look-out for anyone who is active online with a blog, Twitter presence or other online resource.  Can you share your favorites?  And if you would like to be added onto the list, or have an idea for someone to add (even if not "strictly" local), then please comment on this post and I would love to add you onto this.

Eventually, I might consider making this a tab on the top of the blog.  If you have any ideas on that, please share away!