VATICAN INSIDER: TWO PRIESTS, TWO BROTHERS, TWO TALES OF PRIESTHOOD – CARDINAL PAROLIN: AVOID ESCALATION IN UKRAINE, BUCHA CIVILIAN MASSACRE “INEXPLICABLE” – FLORISTS, GARDENERS AND TECHNICAL WORKERS TO BEAUTIFY ST. PETER’S SQUARE FOR EASTER

VATICAN INSIDER: TWO PRIESTS, TWO BROTHERS, TWO TALES OF PRIESTHOOD

My guests this week in the interview segment of Vatican Insider are two of my dearest friends, two priests, two brothers, native Chicagoans, who are both in Rome at the same time: Msgr. Michael Boland, a consultant to Catholic Charities USA following 30 magnificent years as head of Catholic Charities in the archdiocese of Chicago, and his brother Fr. Jeremiah Boland, pastor of a parish I know and love, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glenview, Illinois. Fr. Jerry is in Rome on sabbatical at the North American College’s Institute of Continuing Theological Education.

They both recently celebrated anniversaries of their priesthood : Fr. Jerry 40 years, Msgr Michael, 35.

They are two of my most cherished friends and, as I note in our conversation, there are two things that bind us in friendship: celebration of the Eucharist, Mass, and meals! I know you will hear that friendship when we talk!

I forgot to take a photo while they were in my office but here we are, breaking bread, after I conducted the interview (Fr. Jerry on the left; Msgr. Michael on the right)

IN THE UNITED STATES, you can listen to Vatican Insider (VI) on a Catholic radio station near you (stations listed at www.ewtn.com) or on channel 130 Sirius-XM satellite radio, or on http://www.ewtn.com. OUTSIDE THE U.S., you can listen to EWTN radio on our website home page by clicking on the right side where you see “LISTEN TO EWTN.” VI airs at 5am and 9pm ET on Saturdays and 6am ET on Sundays. On the GB-IE feed (which is on SKY in the UK and Ireland), VI airs at 5:30am, 12 noon and 10pm CET on Sundays. Both of these feeds are also available on the EWTN app and on www.ewtnradio.net ALWAYS CHECK YOUR OWN TIME ZONE! For VI archives: go to https://www.ewtn.com/radio/audio-archive and write the name of the guest for whom you are searching in the SEARCH box. Below that, will appear “Vatican Insider” – click on that and the link to that particular episode will appear.

CARDINAL PAROLIN: AVOID ESCALATION IN UKRAINE; BUCHA CIVILIAN MASSACRE “INEXPLICABLE” 

On the sidelines of an event at Vatican Radio, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin comments on the recent revelations of the massacre of civilians in Bucha, and confirms the possibility of a papal trip to Kyiv and a separate meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill. Parolin: Avoid escalation in Ukraine, Bucha civilian massacre ‘inexplicable’ – Vatican News

FLORISTS, GARDENERS AND TECHNICAL WORKERS TO BEAUTIFY ST. PETER’S SQUARE FOR EASTER

You may recall that, in January, I published a piece about Dutch Florists who, for the first time in 35 years, would not be able to embellish St. Peter’s Square for Easter with thousands of flowers, plants, palm trees and shrubs: 35-YEAR TRADITION OF DUTCH FLOWERS IN THE VATICAN AT EASTER TO END  | Joan’s Rome (wordpress.com)

Well, it seems from a press release today from the Governorate of Vatican City State that there will still be some Dutch participation:

Continuing the Holy Week tradition of decorating St. Peter’s Square with hundreds of floral compositions and decorations, workers from the Infrastructure and Services Service of the Governorate of Vatican City State will prepare the altar area of the square, working alongside those who have offered plants and flowers. In particular, on Palm Sunday, April 10, olive branches provided by the National Association of the City of Olio, by the mayors of the City of Olio and the Lazio Region, and by the Caputo family of Taranto in the Puglia Region will be distributed.

The supply of “Phoenix palms” ** will be handled by the Supreme Pontiff’s Office for Liturgical Celebrations. Parmureli from the city of Sanremo will also be present.

The Flora Olanda wholesale floriculture company in Rome will lend large olive trees to be placed near the statues of Saints Peter and Paul at the foot of the churchyard. The floral decorations in St. Peter’s Square on the occasion of Holy Easter will be made thanks to the generous contribution of the florists and the professors of floristry of biotechnology of Naklo in Slovenia, with the collaboration of the Vatican gardeners who will work throughout Good Friday to prepare and finish the decorations by the next day.

** Phoenix canariensis is a species of flowering plant in the palm family, native to the Canary Islands

A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS: THE REAL JOY OF GIVING

A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS: THE REAL JOY OF GIVING

I became aware of the possibility of having a very different Christmas in the U.S when I spotted a blog just days after Thanksgiving that featured five individuals, wearing white aprons and broad smiles, who had just served Thanksgiving dinner to some of Chicago’s homeless through Catholic Charities Chicago.

I wrote the blog author, congratulating him and saying that was something I would love to do. He wrote back and, with a lot of exclamation marks, said they would be doing it again on Christmas Day, that I was most welcome to join the volunteers and he then told me how and where to participate!

And so my Christmas Day 2017 began.

Well, Christmas Day really began, of course with Mass at one of my favorite churches in America, Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. The presider at the 9:30 Mass – though I did not know this when I decided on that Mass – was Msgr. Michael Boland, head of Catholic Charities in Chicago and a long time friend. Here are a few photos I took before and after Mass.

The “Resurrection Cross”

I returned briefly to my hotel after Mass to pick up some special items I had brought for the occasion, including several hundred holy cards that featured a picture of Pope Francis and some of his words that I wanted to leave with the homeless.

When I arrived at the CC office on LaSalle street shortly after 11, I was surprised and delighted to note the large number of volunteers, especially because it was Christmas and also because there seemed to be quite a number of families. You somehow picture families at home, sharing breakfast, opening gifts, kids playing with new toys, etc.

The volunteers all lined up to receive a white plastic apron and pair of plastic gloves. We were ushered into the dining room where, on one side round tables of ten were set for over 100 people and, on the other side, were long tables with abundant servings of many, many kinds of foods.

 

 

Each volunteer had a specific assignment. Those with more experience were table captains and they directed each of us carrying a tray to those tables where people had yet to be served. Each volunteer who was to serve food received a tray with two plates on it, and each plate was filled to overflowing by the volunteers serving behind the food stations.

Smaller tables were set up with desserts and beverages – it was almost exclusively the turf of the younger  family members!

 

 

 

I joined what I called “the dessert brigade” where each of us was given a plate with several desserts and one soft drink. We followed those with the dinner plates to the tables, and returned to our stations to repeat the same process. Yet others were assigned to fill water glasses and coffee cups.

Msgr. Boland was present to the very end, even when the first group of homeless had finished dinner and those waiting to eat were ushered into the dining room – a festively decorated room, I might add.

We served several hundred people by the end of the lunchtime, and I have to say it was such a heartening experience for so many reasons. I especially loved the idea that we were serving people at tables, not making them stand in a long buffet line. That certainly preserves an iota of human dignity for people who may not feel very dignified for the greater part of each day.

There was not very much time, as you could imagine, to speak individually with each homeless person but everyone with whom I spoke was cordial and polite and full of smiles – especially if you asked their name! I learned that there were some who were not homeless but rather people who do not have much and who live simply, perhaps in a one-room apartment, but have trouble connecting with others. The people they know best and are most comfortable with are those they break bread with at the food kitchens for the homeless.

The homeless also have networks. They know where to get lunch and dinner every day, be it in the city or the suburbs, be it in a church or a school or the hall of some fraternal organization, and they share that info among themselves. They know where bathrooms are available and also know where the warming shelters are, such as those needed right after Christmas when temperatures plummeted so far that anyone sleeping outside would have surely died of the cold.

All of the food served through Catholic Charities five days a week is donated by Chicago restaurants! It is cooked and ready to be served when it arrives at the food kitchens. The diversity of the menu and the quantities offered were staggering – at least to me, a first time volunteer.

When the Christmas guests left the CC center, each one received a pair of gloves and one of the holy cards I had brought from Rome. Who knows…..

Individual parishes or organizations such as the Knights of Columbus or the Knights of Malta serve the meals Monday through Wednesday and volunteers come from the specific parish or organization. Holy Name Cathedral staff and parishioners volunteer on Thursdays and Fridays.

What most surprised and delighted me were the number of families who volunteered! And not just on Christmas Day – they come during the year as well. To see a family of 5 or 6 – Mom and Dad and the kids, even as young as 5! – was so very heart-warming!

To see the very young ones, and especially teenagers, have a good time, serve with joy and truly want to be volunteering was one of the biggest rewards of the day for me. My favorite was a little boy, about 5 or 6, whose name was Charlie. Charlie was the fastest member of the dessert brigade and probably had the biggest smile, I might add.

It was gratifying to think that these young people are learning at a tender age that there are people in the world who do not have what they have, a warm home, a family, an education and a much better chance in life to grow up and have their own family and home. These young people learn early about sacrifice, about helping others, about being altruistic, about the real meaning of charity.

There were no groans of “Mom, do I really have to be here!” or complaints about not being home Christmas morning. No pleading, “Are we through? Can we go home now?”

I saw – and experienced – the real joy of giving!

A VIDEO WELCOME FOR POPE FRANCIS’ VISIT TO NEW YORK – VATICAN HOSTS EXHIBIT ON ST. JOHN PAUL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE

A VIDEO WELCOME FOR POPE FRANCIS’ VISIT TO NEW YORK

Do you want to welcome Pope Francis to New York when he travels to the U.S. in September? You have almost two months of time to prepare – alone or with friends – a personalized video greeting for the Holy Father. And here’s how…

Catholic Charities of New York has created a special website for the papal visit –http://www.popefrancisnyc.org/charity-has-no-boundaries – that provides “a platform for everyone, regardless of place of origin or religion, to welcome him and share a message of charity.” Catholic Charities invites people to “send us your short video, photo or text welcome message. We’ll post it here. A collection of the videos will be shared with Pope Francis during his visit to New York City.”

In the video, in addition to their personal greetings, people are asked to recite these universal words of charity taken from the Gospel of Matthew (25:31): “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me…”

VATICAN HOSTS EXHIBIT ON ST. JOHN PAUL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE

(VIS)  “A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People” is the title of an exhibit opening today in the Vatican (Charlemagne Wing, July 29-September 17), previously displayed in a number of state capitals in the U.S.A., where it received more than a million visitors. (Photo news.va)

The exhibit, prepared as a gift to John Paul II for his 85th birthday, was inaugurated at Xavier University of Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 18, 2005, just a month after the Pope’s death. It then arrived in Rome and, while in Europe, its organizers wanted to bring it to Krakow, the Polish city where Karol Wojtyla was archbishop.

“A Blessing to One Another” describes the steps the pontiff took to improve the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people, and reflects the continuing relevance of the conciliar declaration “Nostra Aetate,” issued fifty years ago, in which the Catholic Church expresses her appreciation for other religions and reaffirms the principals of universal fraternity, love and non-discrimination.

Funded by various universities and private individuals and organizations who see inter-religious dialogue as a source of progress for humanity, the exhibition narrates John Paul II’s relations with those whom he defined during his historic visit to the synagogue of Rome on April 13, 1986 as “our elder brothers.” It is divided into four sections and consists of photographs, videos, recordings and other interactive sources.

The first section illustrates Karol Wojtyla’s early years in his birthplace Wadowice, what would become a lifelong friendship with the young Jew Jerzy Kluger, and the relations between Catholics and Jews in Poland during the decade 1920 to 1930. The second section is dedicated to the Pope’s university years in Krakow, and his work not far from his friends in the Ghetto who knew the horrors of the Shoah. The third describes his priestly and episcopal life, Vatican Council II and the change of direction it represented in relations between Jews and Christians, and the close link between the cardinal archbishop of Krakow and the Jewish community in his archdiocese.

The final section considers the figure of Wojtyla as the Successor of Peter, his visit to the Synagogue of Rome, and his trip to Israel in the year 2000 when he left a prayer in the Western Wall asking for divine forgiveness for the treatment that Jews had received in the past and reaffirming the Church’s commitment to a path of fraternal continuity with the People of the Covenant.

Visitors to “A Blessing to One Another” are invited to write a prayer to be placed in a reproduction of the Wall. They will be gathered and deposited in the Western Wall without being read.