Pope Today: Bring the Whole Family to Mass

I've written about this in How To Get the Most Out of the Eucharist even giving the example of how a three year old can aid us into dying to ourselves and accepting Christ in contrast to a modern innovation that seeks to rid itself of "distraction"...the Lazarus' at the gate as it were...in order to be "spiritual."

Here are some quotes from today's Angelus the full text is available

Here

In this unique Eucharistic period, one recurrent theme is that of Sunday, the Day of the Lord, a theme which was also at the heart of the recent Italian Eucharistic Congress held in Bari. During the final Celebration, I highlighted how Christians should consider attending Sunday Mass not as an imposition or a burden, but as a need and a joy. Coming together with our brethren, listening to the Word of God and being nourished by Christ – crucified for us – is a beautiful experience which gives meaning to life and brings peace to our heart. We Christians cannot live without Sunday.

This is why parents are called to enable their children to discover the value and significance of responding to Christ’s invitation to bring the entire Christian family together for Sunday Mass. A crucial leg in this educational journey is first Holy Communion, a real celebration for the parish community as it welcomes its youngest children to the Lord’s Table for the first time. God willing, to highlight the importance of this event for the family and parish, I will hold a special catechetical encounter on 15 October here in the Vatican for children who received their first Communion this year, especially those from Rome and Lazio. This joyous meeting will take place nearly at the end of the Eucharistic Year, when the Ordinary Assembly of the Bishops’ Synod focused on the Eucharistic mystery will be under way.

Memorial for Father Basil Pennington, OCSO

In gratitude for the life and ministry of Father Basil Pennington, ocso

Pat Madrid Answers the Tag

As someone pointed out, I forgot to link when I posted this a few days ago.

WEBLOG GAMES

The fish in case you missed it in the post below 

Sacred Miscellany Answers the Tag

Sacred Miscellany: Back from the Coast and Tagged?

Fishing:Joy and Horror

Joseph standing in front (about two feet) of his first catch--a fairly large catfish.

It was an hour of lessons learned. I kept telling Joseph, "You've got to watch your fishing pole or a big fish will come and pull it into the water right down the river." Which is exactly what happpened about ten minutes after this fish was back in the river swimming away. He wasn't watching it and I wasn't either. The pole was resting on a large rock and started making noise as it made the long trip over the rock, at which time Joseph began to cry. I was trying to calm him down and running after the pole at the same time, almost joining the pole as it submerged out into the river.

So we left without a fishing pole, with a container of worms. It was the third pole I've lost in my life to a fish. I remember my grandfather losing his pole once as he was tending to my pole (I was probably a few years older than Joseph at the time).

I can only imagine the "shark" that Joseph dreamt about last night as he replayed the fish that pulled his fishing pole into the water.

Basil Pennington Dies

I've met Father Pennington several times and enjoyed his writing. I first met him when I was a student at Creighton University some years ago. Most recently spent a day with him at Conyers where he was abbot at the time. He died on June 3 (Feast of the Sacred Heart), I'm surprised this didn't make more of a splash--he along with others mentioned by Amy et al was one of the "hit" Catholic authors of the modern age. Father M. Basil Pennington R.I.P.