Rev. Eric Bowman

I don't know much about St. Jude's new Pastor besides the fact that he was a seminary classmate of the world-famous Rev. Geoffrey Drew (scroll down after you click to see the face made for EWTN Radio), but I did find two interesting articles featuring Fr. Bowman. This one from 2002 highlights his involvement with pro-life ministry as a seminarian. This other more recent article is from the also-world-famous Rev. Kyle Schnippel's Cincinnati Vocations web page).

Fr. Bowman is the Associate Pastor at St. Charles Borromeo, Kettering, and also a theology teacher and football team chaplain at Kettering-Alter High School. May God bless Fr. Bowman, Fr. Rick, and all Pastors and priests. Pray for vocations.

CarePages updates

Great news from the Daniel's (keepdaninyourprayers) and Kurzhals' family (TheWrongGuy) Care Pages. Both Daniel and Bob are home, though still facing intense continuing treatments.

News from Daniel's mom (updated 4/29):
We are home and doing fine! No hospital visits last night. Dan had a lot of energy this weekend, which is good to see!

Great Bobby Brady reset from the same post:

His voice is also changing a little bit. It is higher pitched than usual. I tease him and call him Bobby Brady. Of course, he has no clue who I am talking about.

Daniel and his family continue to inspire and share their faith:

We have had mostly positive things to say about what is happening with Dan. I think we have done this, because he has actually been dealing with this in a very positive way. We really have not had to deal with all the bad side effects that could be happening when he has his treatments. I think we have our moments where we can't believe this is happening, but we have to be strong for him. It is quite stressful at times when you sit back and take everything in. It's also a thing where you learn a lot of patience, because things take time and you have
no control over what is going on. Thanks for the continued support and prayers!!!!!!!!!

If you're still having trouble counting your own blessings, read Bob Kurzhal's most recent post (from 4/25):

I do not mean to minimize the experience, but we really haven’t loss anything that is truly meaningful, as some of you have. In fact, I know our family has gained a stronger deeper faith, which, isn’t that what the Christian life is/should be all about.
Please allow me to pontificate. God answers all prayers, He just doesn’t always answer prayers in the way we want. If he did it would, we would all be running around like overly-indulged, spoiled little Christian (or maybe non Christian) brats. If needs or requests are delayed in a balanced manner, the individual becomes stronger, and develops, patience, faithfulness, and self-control.
God sent a bunch of angels to the aid of our family. Don’t take this the wrong way, but part of the problem is that many of you do not exactly look like angels (ie., wings), but nevertheless in my/our eyes you are.

The feast of St. Peregrine is May 4 - Pray, pray, pray!
Graciously hear the prayers for Daniel and Bob which we present O God, to you in honor of St. Peregrine, your beloved servant and patron of those suffering from cancer or other life-threatening disease. Grant that we may receive help in our needs through the intercession of him whose life was so pleasing to you. Hear us in the name of Christ, our Lord. Amen.

4/30 Update

Bob has had a setback and returned to the James a little early. Keep praying, and keep the faith for Bob, Kamela, and their girls.

Young Adult Catholic Fellowship

This festival sounds ambitious and awesome. St. Gertrude seems to be renowned for conservatism and contemporary music. God bless Theology on Tap, the St. Gertrude young adult ministry, JTM, and other sponsors for putting up the resources for a regional celebration. If you go, let me know how it turns out.

Gonzales vs. Carhart - Catholic angles

Of course, the Supreme Court's decision last week upholding the federal ban on partial-birth abortions has Catholic angles, especially since the majority opinion consists of the 5 Catholic justices, and it may represent some form of conversion for Justice Anthony Kennedy. If you're interested:

This article (HT The Corner) covers and refutes biased claims that the majority justices "have failed to respect the fundamental difference between religious belief and morality” (as described by University of Chicago former dean and provost Geoffrey Stone). At the end of this article, I learned that Justice Thomas had converted from Episcopalism to Catholicism since his selection to the Court.

This First Things recap and Fr. Neuhaus' reflections make me wish I was smart. For now, I'll settle for seeing the truths of the Church revealed as the consequences of following Roe v. Wade to its logical conclusions unfold before us. All life is sacred...always has been, always will be.

Audrey's First Communion

Eating,

Drinking,

and being merry at the Table of the Lord.

God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.

Congratulations to the 70-something First Communicants from St. Jude Parish. May our tribes increase, and may we live our faith so those who need the Gospel will want the love, joy, and peace Jesus gives us.

The longest-running joke that no one's ever heard of...

...seems to be the 'Motu Proprio' that many expect will relax the permissions necessary to use the 1962 Missal. I got caught up in the excitement last month and took the bait (and posted ignorantly about this here) - many (myself included) were looking for the MP when B16 gave us Sacramentum Caritatis.

Amy Welborn gets in on the act, and makes some interesting side points in the process. I was unaware of potential concerns about inter-religious relations because of the 1962 language.

I don't envy the task the Vatican appears to have to anticipate the concerns of other faiths, traditionalists, liberals, liturgists, and anyone else waiting to be offended by an optional change to a 400-year old tradition. Given the apparent hitches, the Vatican appears to be proceeding cautiously, indeed.

It's a Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad World

So sad it can make one sick. Prayers for the souls of those who lost their lives, families and friends who lost loved ones, and the entire Virginia Tech community as it tries to move beyond the shock and fear of such carnage.

Amidst the tragedy:

Heroes young and old (HT Powerline).

Irony (this editorial was published in the Roanoake (VA) Times last summer - HT RCP).

Hope (HT Hugh Hewitt).

and, as always, the LORD.

Did you know the Pope is depressed?

According to this article, anyway.

Evidently, preaching about '"darkness" threatening the world in the form of war, oppression and hate. ' makes one 'downbeat'. I couldn't spot the 'gloom and doom' the headline promises, but I did see some typical media spin here:

The conservative Benedict, though less warm and spontaneous than his predecessor, has drawn similar-sized crowds so far in his young papacy, according to Vatican figures, though the numbers are falling.

No need to worry about any facts here - just ominous warnings about what being less warm and spontaneous than JPII (as well as conservative) will get you.

Happy birthday, Holy Father!

Upon Further Review...

...or as Emily Litella might have said, "Never mind" about the Lost Tomb of Jesus.

Christ Is Risen! Alleluia!

Happy Easter to all. Now that I've survived Holy Week, I hope to resume more frequent posting (after several weeks of posting less than Fr. Kyle Schnippel).

At St. Jude, it's a privilege to have a wonderful children's choir, a beautiful adult choir, several talented musicians, and the resources to hire a brass quartet for Easter Masses. I pray that all we have to be grateful for leads us to be more aware of how much God loves us, and helps us love each other as selflessly as Jesus did.