Oremus Pro Pontifice Nostro Benedicto

Pope Benedict has just announced his resignation.  Let us pray for this successor of St. Peter!  Below is the text of his address to the college of cardinals:


Dear Brothers,
I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.
From the Vatican, 10 February 2013

BENEDICTUS PP XVI

[00244-02.01] [Original text: Latin]

A Day in the Life of a Seminarian

Did you ever wonder we a seminarian does all day?  Here is a great video that explains it!

Communion Rails: Restoring a Sense of the Sacred

I'm for it.  After all, who told us to rip them out in the first place?

I think Deacon Kondra's article a good starting point to a needed reflection and revision on posture at communion.

Communion Rails: Restoring a Sense of the Sacred

Catholic Culinary Experience

I had (am having) a Catholic moment this weekend.  It involved the fact that the Church has obeyed the command of our Lord and Savior to preach the Gospel to all corners of the world (Matthew 28:19).  It also involves one of the necessities of life - food!

We Catholics are blessed with a world-wide communion which encompasses all nations and peoples.  All Saints parish is a microcosm of this phenomenon.  I can prove this simply by the food I was offered - and readily ate this weekend.

On Saturday morning the Vietnamese Community held its monthly fund raiser and they brought over some of their Vietnamese Pork Barbecue replete with rice and fish sauce!

Thịt Nướng – Vietnamese Grilled Pork

 For supper, I went over to some of our parishioner's restaurant:  Gosh Ethiopian.  I had the Kitfo - tasty! (plus you get to eat it with your hands!!!)

This morning, someone from our Hispanic Community had made tamales and dropped them off - so, hot tamales was my breakfast fare.

This afternoon we are hosting the monthly Philippino Mass and they may have some lechón (roast pig) among the other tasty dishes!

All I can do is say that the Lord is good!  We as Catholic know how to fast, but we also know how to feast.  We are a joy-filled people because we know the mercy of God!  We can't help but feast because the bridegroom is with us!  This experience reminds me of the famous quote by Hillaire Belloc:

“Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,
There’s always laughter and good red wine.
At least I’ve always found it so.
Benedicamus Domino!”

Leo XIII And Socialism

It is important for us as serious and faithful believers to look at the ramifications of certain ideas from their inception to their execution.  What philosophy undergirds a particular action or agenda?  Does it respect the dignity of man? Does it protect his God given rights?  Does it correspond to the true nature of man or does it distort the Imago Dei?  These are serious points to ponder and the Church's true social doctrine does just that!

That being said, there is a great article linked below.  What does the Church really teach about social justice?  You might be surprised!



Leo XIII Knew Socialism Would Fail Because it was Evil | Crisis Magazine

New Websites

The Diocese of Knoxville and the East Tennessee Catholic now have brand new websites!

Take a look:

The Diocesan Website - http://dioknox.org/

The East Tennessee Website - http://etcatholic.org/


They are both very user friendly and packed with content.  There are lots of new features including an interactive parish map, instant page translation service, active calanders, easy navigation between the diocesan office pages and tons of great videos hosted by YouTube and Vimeo.

Check it out!

Exitus - Reditus

Official Website

Dear readers of Praedica Verbum,

It has been a very long time since I have posted anything.  However, the requirements of the New Evangelization and the wonderful gift of the Year of Faith have inspired me to return to this mission field.

There are many and wonderful things that need to be told and Pope Benedict has called upon preachers of the Gospel to utilize the means of social networking to further the announcement of the Good News. It has occurred to me that this is in keeping with the very title of this blog:  Praedica Verbum - Preach the Word!  This is the season of the manifestation of Christ and we must make Him known to all corners of the world.   I will do my best to post meaningful and inspiring entries and to make this one of the ways in which I fulfill my priestly call to announce the Good News!

God Bless and have a wonderful YEAR OF FAITH!