Congratulations

Auguri to the new Provincial of the Province of Our Lady of Sorrows (Naples, Italy), Father Enzo del Brocco. Father Enzo, seen in the centre of the photograph, was the General’s secretary until his election as Provincial Superior of the oldest province in the Passionist Congregation. The poor man had just arranged to begin his doctorate in moral theology (on the moral theology of Blessed Dominic Barberi), which may now take longer than he had anticipated.

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passionistvocations.org

After much waiting, we are finally launching our province vocations website at www.passionistvocations.org. There are still a number of things to be added, ironed out, etc., but it’s good to have it available for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

Meanwhile, I’ll be celebrating tomorrow’s Vocations Sunday with the (contemplative) Passionist Nuns at Whitesville, Kentucky, where today we are looking at the Spiritual Diary of Saint Paul of the Cross together.

The theme of Pope Benedict’s message for Vocations Sunday is “The Vocation to the Service of the Church as Communion”; he says: At the Last Supper, while entrusting them with the duty of perpetuating the memorial of his death and resurrection until his glorious return at the end of time, he offered for them to his Father this heart-broken prayer: “I made known to them your name, and I will make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (Jn 17: 26). The mission of the Church, therefore, is founded on an intimate and faithful communion with God. To read the full text of Pope Benedict’s message, click here.

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Where am I?

I’m in Chicago, at Immaculate Conception Monastery, on my way (tomorrow) to Louisville, Kentucky, to give a retreat to some Passionists of Holy Cross Province and, after that, something else for the Passionist Nuns at Whitesville, Kentucky, with a visit to the Passionist Nuns at Erlanger on my way home, returning to Scotland on the first Thursday of May, just in time to vote in the Scottish parliamentary and local elections. (That’s quite long for one sentence; sorry!)

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A Spring Day in Dublin

The sunlight was quite strong when I arrived at Mount Argus in the early afternoon, so the photos are a bit washed-out looking (Sorry, David!). I was there today for a meeting to discuss formation. A number of young men have asked to begin formation for the Passionist Life in our province later this year. This meeting was about how we prepare ourselves to receive new people who wish to share our life (not just for a time).

The cherry blossoms give a real sense of spring to this picture, as the news of the four people who wish to join us gave a sense of spring to our meeting. My visit to Mount Argus also allowed me to see the Canonisation Poster for Father Charles , with the new image by James Hanley RHA (Royal Hibernian Academy).

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He is Risen

No, it’s not Saint Mungo’s. It’s the Easter Vigil at Saint Joseph’s Catholic Cathedral in Bucharest, built during the time of Bucharest’s first Catholic Archbishop, Ignatiius Paoli C.P., under the direction of Brother Alphonsus Zeegers who was also Clerk of Works for the building of Saint Mungo’s some years earlier and who is buried in our community grave at Dalbeth, Glasgow. (Photo: Associated Press; h/t to Amy Welborn.)

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My yoke is easy and my burden light

Accipe, frater carissime, crucem Domini Nostri Jesus Christi; abnega temetipsum, ut habeas partem cum illo in vitam aeternam. Riminiscere frequenter te esse indutum in memoriam Passionis, et Mortis Christi Domini. Receive, dearest brother, the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; deny yourself, that you may share with him in eternal life. Remember often that you have been clothed in memory of the Passion and Death of Christ the Lord.
(From the Rite of Vestition of Novices, Passionist Rule and Constitutions, 1736)
Photo : REUTERS/Tony Gentile (ITALY)

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Happy Birthday

Congratulations to my classmate, Father Patrick Duffy c.p., who enters a new decade today. Here he is, between Father Martin Coffey and myself, at our Silver Jubilee Mass in Mount Argus in 2005. Father Pat spent many years working in religious formation in Ireland and in Africa. He is a member of our community at Salisbury Avenue in Belfast, where he works as as a pastoral and clinical psychotherapist, as well as providing Marriage Preparation courses in the Diocese of Down and Connor.

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