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12 Back pew NORTH COUNTRY CATHOLIC The Diocese of Ogdensburg Volume 66, Number 6 MAY 11,2011 INSIDE YOUNG CATHOLIC VOICE THIS ISSUE Champlain Valley NONORTHRTH C COUOUNTRYNTRY RTL to celebrate 40 This Easter was different years l PAGE 4 Bishop LaValley glorious cross was my comfort and consolation. to lead pilgrimage to By James Franke One week: water and the Word. Contributing Writer Physically empty but spiritually overflowing, Italy l PAGE 5 CATHOLIC everything was changing. His voice was louder “O happy fault, o necessary sin of Adam, as my ears were now fully His. His providence which gained for us so great a Redeemer!”, “A more clearly seen as distractions were being re- MAY 11, 2011 reading from the Book of Genesis”, “from the moved from my sight. His love stronger as my Book of Exodus”, “from Baruch”, and so on… heart was no longer divided. Standing in St. John the Evangelist Cathedral, A mastering of bodily sensations, of my pas- these all too familiar words echoed through me, sions, of my very being, was allowing me to recalling the love story of salvation which we are freely and fully give of myself to the One who Why we pray... MORE THAN all a part of, God coming to meet man, redeem- has deserved all of me for so long, to my Jesus. ing us from sin and death. These Easter tears flowed so freely because VATICAN CITY (CNS) - People of suffering and of joy and Under a banner of Blessed very advanced in the spiri- A MILLION Christ had entered my heart, my life, oh so every epoch and in every cul- beauty, which spontaneously Pope John Paul II still hang- tual life feel a constant need ‘This Easter is special because freely. I had finally given Him what He has de- ture have prayed because and irresistibly push us to ing from the facade of St. to put themselves in the At St. Peter’s sired for so long... me, all of me. Me, myself, and human beings have always ask God for light and interior Peter's Basilica, Pope Bene- school of Jesus to learn how you made Lent special’ I, undivided, fighting to please no one and noth- recognized that there is strength," to save us in this dict began a new series of au- to pray." Square ing else but Him. A parked car cannot enter into something greater than life and assure us that there dience talks about prayer. Pope Benedict began the The reading then paused, and a single bell a garage cluttered with mowers, rakes, trash and themselves in the universe, is life beyond the grave, the "We want to learn to live series by explaining that ex- rang, followed slowly by a second and then a everything else that has been pushed and placed Pope Benedict XVI said. pope said May 4 at his more intensely our relation- amples of attempts to pray third. The bored children roused up and looked into it. "Human life is a mix of weekly general audience in ship with the Lord" through can be found even in classi- about for the source of the noise. Still the Our Jesus, our Lord, is infinite! There is simply good and bad, of undeserved St. Peter’s Square. prayer, he said. "Even those cal pagan cultures. melody grew louder and louder. The walls of the James Franke, a Rouses Point native, now works for the Family Mission no room for anything but Him! It is when, and Cathedral were soon the only thing that seemed only when, we empty ourselves as completely as to be containing the majestic and mighty sound Company in Abbeville, La. He is shown above during a mission trip we can, that He is free to enter us as fully as He that can only be described as the musical equiva- which he describes in this week’s Mission column on page 15. desires to! lent of D-Day, the sound of heaven finally break- thought would be a good discipline. However This Easter was special because this Lent was Clergy ‘THIS IS THE BODY OF CHRIST’ ing through the veils of space and time. half way through the Lenten season, in a number special. Once again He knocked at the door of At what seems to be the pinnacle of this heav- of ways, the Lord spoke to me and asked for my heart, of my soul, only this time, when I an- transfers enly sound, the angelic voice of the cantor be- more. He wanted me to go deeper, to give Him swered, there was room enough for Him to enter. gins to sing, “Give glory to God in the Highest! more, more of myself. In being taught to master myself, my passions, announced And peace to His people on earth!” I thought of the saints, of those who radically even my needs, I was able to draw closer to Him, Immediately I knew, that this was the moment lived for and loved my Jesus in the way that I so to make Him my passion, Him my only need. After a May 3 meeting of the Exsultet had just announced, when “heaven desperately wanted to. After a few days of I would not and do not recommend this fast, or the Committee on Assign- is wedded to earth and man is reconciled with prayer, I resolved to go the final three weeks of any fast, to anyone; as only God Himself can tell ments, Bishop LaValley an- God!”, and the tears began to flow. Lent on bread and water alone, no breaks, no us what He desires of each of us, what we are nounced changes in As the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass continued, I cheats. able to bear. I do however share this with you: assignments for 13 priests of CNS PHOTO/GIANCARLO GIULIANI, realized that this Easter was different. It was dif- Tough for the first few days, the Lord's grace Do not be afraid. the Diocese of Ogdensburg. CATHOLIC PRESS PHOTO ferent than any other I had ever experienced. soon filled me in a way that simple bread could Do not be afraid if the Lord calls you to some- Among the announcements It was not until I was kneeling after Commun- not. Daily, my prayers were intensified, my trust were retirements for three of Pilgrims crowd St. Peter's Square for thing difficult, for it only means that He has the beatification of the late Pope ion that I realized just why this year was differ- on Him was strengthened, my dependence in- something great in store for you. Never think the clergymen: Father An- ent than the rest, why it was special. creased. that His will is to great to bear, for nothing is too drew J. Amyot, pastor in Nor- John Paul II May 1 at the Vatican. With Christ dwelling within, I heard Him say The cross was made clearer, emptying oneself great for Him. folk and Raymondville; More than 1 million people crowded “This Easter is special, because you made this to be filled by something better was becoming a Do not step away from the cross, but run to it Father William G. Muench, into the square and surrounding Lent special.” reality I could only now understand. for comfort, for it is in our weakness that He is pastor in Ticonderoga and streets for the ceremony. Pope John Having been taught of the importance of the With Christ's glorious entrance into Jerusalem strongest! Crown Point; and Father Paul II was a true believer, a courageous being proclaimed from the ambo on Palm Sun- Lenten season, it was only now that this learning Now that Easter is here, I will of course feast Stephen Gratto, pastor in Port voice of truth and a man whose wit- was making its way from my head, through my day, my sincere prayer was that the Lord would along with the rest of my brothers and sisters in Leyden and Lyons Falls. heart, to my soul. In what had been without a enter my life, enter my heart in that same way. I The changes are effective ness to the faith grew more eloquent the Resurrection of our Lord! He is risen and He as his ability to speak declined, Pope doubt the most difficult Lent of my life, I was prayed that He would enter and radically change is living! A cause for the most joyous of celebra- June 29. now seeing His Divine Wisdom behind it all. my heart the way that He radically changed tions! However I know that when the Lord comes Benedict XVI and others who worked What began as a simple prayer of wanting to Jerusalem, changed the world, changed eternity closely with the late pope said at events knocking again, which He will, He always does, I FULL STORY, PAGE 3 live a radical Christianity, like that of the Apos- during that very first Holy Week. pray that I again have the strength to lay it all for his beatification. "John Paul II is tles and Saints, became a six-week, life-changing Jesus answered me, "Be a palm. Lay yourself down, to keep this discipline as something that blessed because of his faith -- a strong, experience bringing me closer to the Lord than I down before me, and I will enter." I responded, will continually draw me deeper and deeper into The killing of generous and apostolic faith," Pope have ever been. "Lord, what more can I give you?" Him and His Sacred Heart.