It’s sad that Catholics no longer observe Rogation Days — the three days prior to Ascension Thursday when Catholics were invited to pray that fields would yield a great harvest.
It just so happens that today would have been the second of the Rogation Days. It is also the Feast of St. Isidore the Farmer. Formal observance or not, pray that the yields of the fields are bountiful.
Something about which to be excited: In more than 35 years of covering diocesan and archdiocesan meetings, rarely have I been as enthused about them as I was the archdiocese’s May 5 evangelization summit. The connection to the upcoming Year of Faith is a natural one.
Archbishop Listecki and Bishop Hying explained the why and how of evangelization not in terms of another archdiocesan program — thank you, God — but as the baptized carrying out their mission to proclaim the Gospel. Bishop Hying said it best: “We can’t stay in the basement; we have to get up on the roof.”
Don’t expect the faithful to take the express elevator to the roof. Several parishioners noted that Catholics aren’t comfortable talking about their faith, while others said they needed the tools in order to be able to do it. Nonetheless, not only is the intent there, but the training to make it happen is going to be provided. Read more about the summit at http://www.chnonline.org/news/local/11238-out-of-the-basement-up-to-the-roof-catholics-called-to-evangelize.html.
With friends like these… It’s one thing — a terrible thing — to have the Obama Administration poke Catholics in the eye on the matter of religious freedom, but did Georgetown University have to select Kathleen Sebelius as a speaker during the university’s Public Policy Institute’s awards ceremony on May 17? As Health and Human Services Secretary, she is the point person on the president’s plan to require Catholic health institutions to either violate their consciences or cease to provide services.
What’s next at Georgetown — Vice President Joe Biden being named a guest lecturer in moral theology?
Meanwhile… On the other side of town, The Catholic University of America’s commencement speaker May 13 was Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan. His address on “The Law of the Gift” included this rimshot moment: ” … But this (commencement) this morning is especially meaningful for me, as I myself am a proud and grateful alumnus of this institution of highest learning, having left here thirty years ago . . . and just finished paying my tuition . . .” http://instantrimshot.com/
Be chipper: Since I began by talking about food, it is my responsibility to inform you that today is National Chocolate Chip Day.
