Pope Benedict XVI

I am so glad that we have a great new Pope!! Pope Benedict XVI will be a great continuation of Pope John Paul II's work. My wife and I were very excited when we heard he was the next Pope while we watched the TV and EWTN simultaneously from our hotel room during our vacation. EWTN was from the computer, we turned off the TV's volume and listened to EWTN while watching the big picture from TV network. Pope Benedict will definitely be a shot in the arm that the papacy needed ever since Pope JPII's decline in the last few months. As Pope Benedict XVI has said many times already, we need to pray for him that he can do the work God wants him to do.

Visited St. Boniface in Anaheim and it is a great church

I was in Anaheim this weekend with my family and we decided to go to the 11 AM Mass at St. Boniface in Anaheim. What a terrific Mass it was, an almost perfect Vatican II Mass in every way. The Church is very beautiful with stained glass windows of the Seven Sacraments and then mosaics of the Stations of the Cross and what looked like the Mysteries of the Rosary. It also has a very beautiful organ and the cantor woman was excellent also. The homily was half done by a seminarian named Benedict and before someone gets into this discussion, let me say that orthodox seminarians have to give these homilies or they will be shown the door, so I would rather have them do the homilies and become priests, then lose them and just have the progressive priests. The seminarian gave a wonderful "talk" on what it means to be a Catholic - "to believe that Jesus Christ is our one and only Savior, and that he is THE only gate to the Father" and to believe in the teachings of the Catholic faith given to us by nearly 2000 years of prayerful men and women guided by the Holy Spirit. Thank you St. Boniface Church for being the Catholic voice in the entertainment mecca that is Anaheim. Here is their link:
http://www.rc.net/orange/stboniface/

John Paul II's priests

I enjoyed this article about the priests that were ordained during Pope John Paul II time as Pope:
http://www.duluth.com/placed/index.php?sect_rank=1&story_id=197869

My prayer is that when these priests become pastors and leaders in the Church, they will influence even more young men to become priests and then we can slowly remove ourselves from the dwindling priest crisis. Young men will listen to these priests and see the conviction of their calling, the conviction that Pope John Paul II instilled in them through his words and actions. Let us also pray that our next Pope will also be strong in conviction and also be a beacon of light for the young especially those who have heard a calling to religious life.

Saw my daughter in a beautiful Musical, "Feast of Life"

My daughter who is an older elementary school child has been practicing with a small group of girls for a musical play since October. I didn't know much about the play before the performances except that it was based on the Gospel of Luke. Their performances were on Friday and Saturday and I have to say it was very lovely and very moving, especially so I would think for younger children who sometimes do not understand the gospel scriptures. Here is a description of the play I found on the internet:

The Feast of Life reminds us of the fourteen banquets mentioned in Luke's Gospel and invites us once again to hear and experience the stories of Jesus. In this musical by Marty Haugen, a diverse group of adults and children gather around a banquet table to retell the parables in Luke's Gospel. The group tells and sings of "The Good Samaritan," "The Prodigal Son," "The Journey to Emmaus," and other parables, as well as the birth and the Passion of Jesus.

The play my daughter did had no banquet table or adults; however, they did have some props and some dancers to liven it up a little. I know some of you bloggers look down on Marty Haugen's music, but I think the music in the play was very nice for kids and adults also. I am sure my daughter learned a lot about the Gospel of Luke, although, I bet she knew most of the stories already because of all the christian videos we have that have touched on these stories from Gospel of Luke - but the time she spent on the play have reinforced her learning. I would love to see this musical done at more Catholic schools so that Catholic students can hear the Gospel of Luke at their level and maybe even produce a desire to delve more into the scriptures.

PS. I saw the first mass of the 9 days of mourning this morning on EWTN and I was happy to hear the priest tell the stories about the Pope, personal stories because he was good friends with the Pope since the Pope was only a bishop. The personal insight was very nice, I hope the other 8 homilists can share their personal stories of the Pope also.

My parish's Memorial Mass for Pope John Paul II

I attended my parish's Memorial Mass for Pope John Paul II and it was a very nice Mass. I really enjoyed the readings picked for the Mass, though I do not know who picked them. First reading was from Isaiah 41:8-13. Second reading was from 2nd letter to Timothy, chapter 4:1-8. The gospel was from John chapter 21:15-17.

Here is Isaiah 41:8-13

8But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, offspring of Abraham my friend--

9You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth and summoned from its far-off places, You whom I have called my servant, whom I have chosen and will not cast off--

10Fear not, I am with you; be not dismayed; I am your God. I will strengthen you, and help you, and uphold you with my right hand of justice.

11Yes, all shall be put to shame and disgrace who vent their anger against you; Those shall perish and come to nought who offer resistance.

12You shall seek out, but shall not find, those who strive against you; They shall be as nothing at all who do battle with you.

13For I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, "Fear not, I will help you."

Pope John Paul II was indeed God's servant and he heard God's voice as he always told people "Be not Afraid" because John Paul II knew that God was with him and is with us. God strengthened him and helped him and he was victorious over nay-sayers.


Here is 2 Tim 4:1-8 :

1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who willjudge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power:

2proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.

3For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers

4and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths.

5But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry.

6 For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand.

7 I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.

8 From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.

If that doesn't sound like modern times, I don't know what does - people finding their own teachers and going away from truth and follow myths. And who did what Paul asked? Of course, Pope John Paul II and he also did what Paul did. He put up with hardship, he was an evangelist and fulfilled his ministry and kept proclaiming the truth. He finished the race and competed very well and of course kept the faith and is now rewarded by the Lord, a place in heaven.

The gospel reading is when the glorified Jesus asks Peter three times, do you love me? Then feed my sheep. As Pope John Paull II is a direct descendant of Pope Peter, Jesus also asked John Paul II the same thing, and John Paul did feed his sheep even though he was a sinful man just like you and me (yes, Popes are sinners too, hopefully not very good sinners :) . The Pope's main job is to feed his (Jesus') sheep. I think all would agree that John Paul II did that in abundance.

We should all pray that the new Pope will embrace these three scriptures and be the Servant of God who preaches the truth and feeds the flock with truth and love.

More comments on Pope John Paul II

I was talking about the Pope to my daughter ad said that if he was to be a saint, he would probably have his feast day as April 2nd. But I was thinking that it would be more appropriate if his feast day was near divine Mercy Sunday since we all now he had a great love for Divine Mercy Sunday and Sr. Faustina. So it came to me that it would be great if they did something very unusual about his feast day and assigned his feast day to the Saturday before Divine Mercy Sunday - I know that would mean it would be a different day every year but I think that would be very neat, a moving feast day!!

It was amazing to see the number of people coming to St. Peter's to view the Pope's body. I wonder if this is the most people ever to view a body before a funeral. Though you would think that some leader in China or India might have had a lot of people also. I know a lot of people saw Lincoln's body but his was a little different as his body traveled the country, I heard that Teddy Roosevelt saw his body as a young child in New York.

Saint John Paul the Great

The Catholic Church has lost one of its all-time leaders and his presence will be missed - even his presence as an invalid old man that showed strength through his suffering. Pope John Paul II was the perfect pope for Vatican II, he was the Holy Father that could bring the Church into the 21st Century and he did it with charisma, political will, unwavering faith and an outstanding prayer. Pope John Paul II died on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday and I do think that was planned by the Pope, he held on to life so he could die on Mercy Sunday, a day he implemented in the Church to honor one of fellow poles, Sr. Faustina. Can you imagine the welcoming party in heaven as all the Saints line up to greet John Paul II? It would be a big event in heaven. I also think the Pope planned out his long serene slow death at the Vatican. He knew the cable news would be with him during his slow path to death, and what does that mean? 24 hour exposure on Cable news channels for the Catholic Church mostly positive stuff (all positive for Fox News). I will Pope John Paul II, but he is in a better place and he can now be an intercessory to Jesus for all of us. I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide the Cardinals to pick a Pope that can continue Pope John Paul II's legacy.