Today’s Seven Quick Takes are brought to you by the letter . . . F.
– one –
I’m at Blessed Is She today, sharing some thoughts about observing the feasts and the fasts on the liturgical calendar.
You can read the post here, and sign up to receive the daily emails here, if you’d like.
– two –
Happy Feast of Blessed Theresa of Calcutta. She died on this day in 1997. What an inspiration is her life.
I’m pretty sure this is an authentic Mother Theresa quote. I found it in a book. But, wow, are there ever a lot of quotes attributed to her that are unverifiable or just flat out not true. They’re all great quotes. It’s just that other people said them. I guess she probably doesn’t mind too much.
– three –
There has been a lot of talk over the past couple of days about Venerable Fulton Sheen, and his cause for canonization. I cannot be unbiased, because I know and love the mother of the boy who was the miracle set to advance Archbishop Sheen to the ranks of the blesseds.
I would love to see Fulton Sheen beatified and then named a saint. HE doesn’t need it. He’s all set. We here on Earth, the Church Militant, WE need it. We need examples of holiness. We need to learn how to get to Heaven, to know that’s it’s possible. We need to see people we can identify with, who fought the good fight, and won. I love the idea that someone who had a TV show, who won an EMMY, could be a canonized saint. What an inspiration he could be to all the people in the entertainment industry. I’m disappointed that it looks like we’ll have to wait, at least a little while longer.
But mostly, what I am is disappointed that we the people, Catholic and not, are a party to these behind-the-scenes squabbles between good and holy men. Bishop Jenky, Cardinal Dolan, I’m going to tell you what I tell my kids: I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT. WORK IT OUT AMONGST YOURSELVES.
– four –
In all the hullabaloo concerning the reluctance of the Archdiocese of New York to allow the exhumation of the body of Venerable Fulton Sheen for inspection and for the collection of a first class relic, as is customary in these proceedings . . . it seems like there are a lot of questions from Catholics and non-Catholics alike on the question of relics. I’m hearing a lot of concern about what the deal is with relics.
The short answer is that the veneration of relics is a tradition that goes back to the time of the apostles, is referenced in the Bible, and was practiced by the Church Fathers. It’s just how we do.
I found this post really helpful:
– five –
In case you or anyone you know is interested in learning more about the Catholic Church, RCIA classes begin this week at most parishes.
– six –
I asked you guys for your prayers, then didn’t ever update you. Sorry! But the good news is that my husband, father, and son were successful in their Mt. Whitney climb! 14,505 feet! The took the main trail, which they got permits for by lottery. It took two days, two acclimatization stops, 21 miles and 6200 feet to get there. Jack is the toughest twelve-year-old I know.
If you have a few minutes to spare, you can relive the whole thing with them:
– seven –
And lastly, we went to the fair. Certainly, you’ll want proof of that.
Have a great weekend!
I loved the entire video of the Mt.Whitney climb…and I almost cried when they got to the top. What an amazing experience that they will remember forever!!!
Amazing climb! That's so great. I'm going to watch the video while I fold laundry 🙂
I'm pulling for Sheen's sainthood cause too, but the steps are really confusing me. He's Venerable – but that doesn't mean he's necessarily in heaven? We can request his intercession, though? And he needs another miracle to his credit to be canonized?
Yes! I'm very impressed with all of them.
As for Venerable, it's not until canonization that the church says, we are sure this person is in Heaven. The earlier stepped of Servant of God, Venerable, and Blessed are an acknowledgement by the Church that a particular group of people believes that this person is in Heaven, and giving that group permission to pray for that person's intercession. We might have every reason to believe that Grandpa is in Heaven, and we are even allowed to personally pray to as well as for him. But in order to have public or group devotions to someone, the church has to examine his life, and give permission.
This is a good summary of how the steps work: How does someone become a saint?
My 6 year old loved that video and now wants to climb a mountain. Goals are good, right?
What a great climb and video! I love the music btw. My husband would love to climb Mt. Whitney, first he has to properly climb Mt. Wilson and then Mt. Baldy.
I saw the controversy about Ven. Fulton Sheen's body and just rolled my eyes and said internally "grow up boys and work it out!" His beatification and canonization will be amazing, hopefully it will happen someday soon!
My dad has done Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Everest base camp as well, and he said Mt. Whitney was the toughest of them all!
I am so proud of our 3 guys for making it to the top of Mt Whitney under some difficult conditions but they say they had fun. Not my idea of fun but theirs. What an accomplishment!!!
PS Enjoyed your comments on the readings today in Blessed Is She. I heard the readings at 1st Friday mass and your thoughts helped put them together. Well done.
I guess I do want to know what is going on. As Catholics, I think it's very important to understand how the relationships are between people in the Magisterium and the basis for decisions being made. Bishops, priests, and Cardinals need to be held accountable for actions and decisions made otherwise there is not a check and balance system. Many Saints have written letters or protested injustices, heresies, etc. and that is how righteous anger is to be used. The anger is no longer righteous if it creates sin or allows sin/injustice to prevail.
Looks like they are going to find a solution to the Venerable Fulton Sheen controversy ….
http://www.eyeofthetiber.com/2014/09/08/dolan-jenky-to-settle-dispute-over-sheen-remains-in-octagon/
Note: In case it's not clear, the link is satire.