Jen’s Journal

I’m one of those people that tends to be fond of tradition and history, and attending Midnight Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore this year appealed well to both of these inclinations.  In the case of tradition, no, my family does not have a long-standing practice of attending Mass at the Basilica on Christmas (in fact, this was the first time that I ever set foot in the building!), and no, the Mass was not celebrated according to the Tridentine Rite (nor would I have appreciated it if it were).  I did grow up attending Midnight Mass on Christmas eve, however, and this is where the tradition part comes in.  You see, so many parishes near where my family lives now no longer offer a Midnight Mass.  Rather, they offer a Solemn Mass at 10pm or some other seemingly random time.  According to Church law, this is all good and fine.  Indeed, we have vigil Masses in the early evenings every weekend, right?  But, I like the traditional understanding of vigil, that is, a keeping watch prayerfully at night during the hours when one would normally be sleeping.  And so, when it comes to Christmas, I like the idea of attending Mass at midnight, of welcoming in the first seconds of the new day, the day in which we remember Christ’s birth, with celebration, praise, and thanksgiving.  In the past few years, I have given in to attending the 10pm Mass at my parish on Christmas eve, primarily out of convenience, but this year, I decided that wanted to go back to that tradition of truly keeping vigil into the early hours of the new day by attending Midnight Mass.  And this decision meant that I needed to find a Church which could fulfill my longing for a prayerful and joyous midnight celebration.

Enter the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  In searching for a parish to attend for Midnight Mass, a couple of options popped into my head.  I could go back to my old parish that I attended during middle school.  But that parish is really small now and many of its members are up there in age, so the celebration might be rather lacking in enthusiasm.  Another option would be the parish that I originally attended as a child, the parish where my Midnight Mass attendance first began.  But, Midnight Mass at this parish was always in Polish and English, so it was super long, and these days, the new pastor tends to disapprove of non-Polish parishioners (he wouldn’t let my sister-in-law’s mother do RCIA there because she isn’t Polish!), so that might not be a great choice either.  Searching a bit deeper, I thought of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in DC, but that would mean getting home really late because of the hour commute each way.  Or the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore, but the Mass there would probably be packed and perhaps a bit too showy for my tastes.  And that’s when I thought of the Baltimore Basilica, co-cathedral of Baltimore and the nation’s first cathedral!  Midnight Mass at the Basilica would be celebrated by the Urban Vicar rather than the Archbishop, so things were bound to be well-done but perhaps not as intense at at the Cathedral.  And, I had never been to the Basilica before!  How could I, the one who loves history and all things Catholic, have never set foot in the first Cathedral in the United States when it has been here in my backyard for my whole life?!

So, I did indeed attend Midnight Mass at the Basilica, and the whole experience was just perfect.  The church itself has recently been renovated to restore it to its original design, and while this renovation brought about serious changes and therefore controversy, I must say that the church looks absolutely beautiful.  The design is very simple and modeled after the design of the famous buildings of DC (think Capitol, White House, etc).  Indeed,  the same architect was responsible for both the DC buildings and the Baltimore Basilica – Benjamin Henry Latrobe.  But the simplicity is definitely elegant.  Another notable feature of the church’s design is the very light interior.  The pews are white, the marble floor is white, the ceilings are light-colored.  And to contrast with this white, the presider’s chair and the lectern are adorned with beautiful and bold red and yellow fabric.  Here are some pictures:

In addition to the beautiful setting for the Mass, the Mass itself was also really well-done.  The choir and musicians sounded great, yet it was also obvious that they were parishioners rather than professional musicians hired for the occasion.  Bishop Madden celebrated the Mass with the rector of the Basilica concelebrating, but that was it.  No huge to-do with a million priests.  The lector was a woman, most likely a regular parishioner.  And for communion, several lay people assisted the two priests with distribution.  All in all, the Mass was reverent, joyful, participative, and relatively controversy-free, just the way a Mass should be!  

To learn more about America’s First Cathedral, visit the Basilica’s website at www.baltimorebasilica.org.

I definitely think I made a good choice for Christmas Eve and hope that I can make it back to the Basilica sometime in the near future to check out the historical displays and other fascinating aspects of the church.

“In the beginning was the Word: Dominic, Preacher of Grace.”

This is the theme which Br. Carlos Aspiroz Costa, OP has invited Dominicans everywhere to reflect on in the coming year.  Below is the text from the Master’s 2008 Advent message (which can also be found here ):

Dear brothers and sisters in St. Dominic and St. Catherine:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:1.14).

There are few scripture texts that better capture the spirit of the Advent and Christmas seasons than this one from the Prologue of John´s Gospel.  In few words, the evangelist invites us into the fullness of the mystery of the Incarnation.  This is not a spectacle that we contemplate from afar, for as the text says, the Word came to dwell “among us,” as one of us.  At the closing of the XII Synod of Bishops on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church, the Synod delegates, in their Message, wrote, “In the original Greek, there are only three fundamental words: Lógos sarx eghéneto, `the Word was made flesh´.  And yet, this is the summit not only of that poetic and theological jewel which is the prologue to John´s Gospel (Jn 1:14), but it is the actual heart of the Christian faith” (II, n.4).

The birth of the Word “among us” takes on an even greater urgency in a year in which several paths cross in the life of the Church and the Order.  First, we celebrate and give thanks for the recent Synod on the Word of God, which itself took place within another grace-filled context: the year of the great apostle to the Gentiles, St. Paul.  And both of these events coincide with the ongoing unfolding of our own Dominican Jubilee Pilgrimage which will culminate in 2016, with the celebration of the 8th Centenary of the confirmation of the Order by Pope Honorius III.

For Dominic, too, the Word of God was present “in the beginning” of the miracle that gave birth to the Order of Preachers.  His entire life, lived in intimate union with the Word, invites us into a profound contemplative listening to the Word and a bold commitment to preach that very same Word to the world today.  In the Dialogue of our sister, Catherine of Siena, we read, “[Dominic] appeared as an apostle in the world, sowing the seed of my Word with great truth and luminosity, dissipating the darkness with the gift of light” (n. 158).  The Word of God that became flesh and burned in the heart of Dominic was the very same Word which he preached with ardent zeal, setting Europe on fire with the love and tender mercy of Christ.

The Blessed Dominic had a great and burning thirst for the salvation of souls, for which he was an unequaled apostle.  He gave himself to preaching with great fervor, and he exhorted and obliged his brothers to announce the Word of God by day and by night, in churches and in homes, in the fields and along the byways – in other words, in all places to speak only of God.

His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, in opening the Synod on the Word of God, reminds us that, “It is important that individual believers and communities enter into ever increasing intimacy with God’s Word…[for] to draw nourishment from the Word of God is [the Church’s] first and fundamental task.”  Therefore, as part of our ongoing Jubilee pilgrimage that began with the celebration of the 800th anniversary of the founding of the community of Prouilhe, the whole Dominican Family is invited to pause and focus on the following theme throughout this year of 2009:  “In the beginning was the Word: Dominic, Preacher of Grace”.  With the help of this theme, we commit ourselves to sit with Dominic at the feet of Christ, and with him, “to draw nourishment from the Word of God.”

This is the heritage of grace is shared by all of us – friars and nuns, apostolic sisters and lay Dominicans, young and old, rich and poor.  And we well know that once we have been nourished by the Word, we face the other great challenge that St. Paul had to face, summed up in his apostolic cry: “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16).  Therefore, following the example of Dominic, we make St. Paul´s cry our own, and we do so by making it the overall guiding theme for these years of Pilgrimage, from now until we reach the Jubilee celebration of 2016.   To do this, though, we recognize the need to make one small, yet essential modification: as Dominicans we can only be true to our vocation if we cry out as a community:

“Woe to us if we do not preach the gospel!”

These words of St. Paul, said Pope Benedict in his opening address of the Synod, are, “a cry that becomes for every Christian a pressing invitation to serve Christ.”  And so we take to heart these words, recognizing in them the very Gospel that gave birth to the preaching mission of our Holy Father St. Dominic who, carying the Gospel of St. Matthew and the letters of St. Paul with him as he traveled, truly became God´s Preacher of Grace.  Each time we sing the O Lumen we invoke Dominic under this title: Prædicator Gratiæ, for it is he, the preacher, the disciple of the Word, who promises to walk with us and renew in us the gratuitous out-pouring of the Word that was present when the first seeds of the Holy Preaching were sown in the fertile ground of southern Europe.  May he unite us as a family gathered around the Word, and give us a contemplative, obedient heart, willing and ready to respond in freedom to the challenges of the Gospel in our day.

On a more personal note, as we make our way through these days of Advent towards the contemplation of the Word-made-flesh beneath the night sky of Bethlehem, I would like to add here my wishes for a most blessed and joyous Christmas for each and every member of the Dominican Family worldwide.  “Bethlehem” – the house of bread – is a reminder to us of two important realities.  First, the Incarnate Word has come to nourish us.  May we feed at his table of mercy and compassion each day of the new year.  And secondly, in a world that continues to face massive hunger and the ongoing scourge of war, let us look again to Christ, whose “words proclaim justice, instill courage to the disheartened and offer forgiveness to sinners” (Synod Message, IV, n.13).  May his words become our words, so that we, too, might proclaim the gospel of peace in his name.

Brothers and sisters, we walk this pilgrimage of faith together, as a family, encouraging one another along the way.  May the Holy Spirit anoint us as we journey forth in hope, and may St. Dominic bless us and inspire us to be ever faithful to the great heritage which he has left us.

Your brother in St. Dominic, Preacher of Grace,

bro Carlos A. Azpiroz Costa, OP
Master of the Order

- Message of the Master (Advent 2008)

Here’s an article from catholicnews.com:

Evangelization in 21st century: Arkansas bishop joins Facebook

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (CNS) — The days of Facebook only being for college and high school students are long gone. Little Rock Bishop Anthony B. Taylor is believed to be the first U.S. Catholic bishop to join the popular Web site. As of Dec. 11, he had 894 friends worldwide and counting. Started in 2004, Facebook rivals MySpace as one of the largest social networking sites on the Internet. Shortly after being ordained as Little Rock’s bishop in June, Bishop Taylor said he was told a fan club had been created about him on Facebook. When he went online to look at the page, he realized he had to sign up to see it, so he did. Not long after posting his information and a photo, the word spread fast and before long he had more friend requests and group invitations than he could keep up with. “I want to be available and accessible to everybody in the diocese,” Bishop Taylor said of his membership on Facebook. “This is a way to be present to the younger people of the diocese.”

While you’re checking out Bishop Taylor’s profile and scanning for the Benedict XVI fan page, be sure to check out AI’s page on Facebook as well and become a fan of your favorite school of theology/ministry!

Here is a recent article from the Catholic News Service website.  I’m not sure of what comments I have regarding it yet, but I will at least post the article for your reflection.

Theologians’ task is to reflect on truth taught by church, pope says
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

If each person and each society recognized the tenets of natural law, he said, it would guarantee that everyone’s freedom and dignity would be recognized and it would protect them from “ideological manipulation and exploitation” by those who happen to have more power.

I forgot to include this in my last post on Advent, but Dorothy Murphy, the Provincial Council President of the Lay Dominicans of the Eastern Province, recently quoted an address by JPII in E-Lumen (the e-newsletter of the Eastern Province Lay Dominicans) which I think goes along well with my Advent musings.  In 2002, JPII declared

ʺThe liturgy of Advent helps us to understand fully the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas. It is not about commemorating he historical event, which occurred some 2,000 years ago in a little village of Judea. Instead, it is necessary to understand that the whole of our life must be an ʹadvent,ʹ a vigilant awaiting of the final coming of Christ. To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, one day will come to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Advent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously.ʺ