When World Youth Day 2011 kicks off on Tuesday, August 16 in Madrid, the Congregation of Holy Cross, of which Ave Maria Press is a ministry, will be there on the ground! Not only are Holy Cross religious leading youth groups from the congregation's parishes and education institutions on this major Catholic spiritual pilgrimage, but they are also hosting everything from concerts to a Vocations Café to handing out Rosaries to the young pilgrims. Read the full story here on the Congregation's website.
Charles K. Wilber, University of Notre Dame emeritus professor of economics, has released his new book, Catholics Acting and Spending Justly, a timely resource for Catholics looking to incorporate Church teaching into their everyday economic decisions, and modeled after the See-Judge-Act method of Catholic practice popularized by Cardinal Joseph Cardijn and formally recognized by Pope John XXII in his encyclical Mater et Magistra.
With U.S. stock markets in dramatic flux, and the increasing strain this places on the global economy, the moral implications of economic decisions are brought into sharper focus—at both a national and individual level. At the May 2011 Vatican conference sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, which convened to find ways to communicate how Catholic social teaching speaks to issues of finance and economics in a globalized world, Margaret Garding, a member of the justice and peace commission in Sweden, said, “The biggest weakness is that many Catholics are not even aware of the Church’s social teaching.”
The newest addition to the series that started with Catholics Going Green, Catholics Acting and Spending Justly organizes its lessons into an eight-week program designed to help Catholics make informed decisions about the spending of limited human, natural, and monetary resources. After an introductory session, the lesson for each week focuses on one of the seven core themes of Catholic social teaching:
Dignity of the Human Person
Community and the Common Good
Rights and Responsibilities
Preferential Option for the Poor
Dignity of Work
Solidarity
Subsidiarity
Wilber expertly guides Catholics through key economic questions and encourages readers to challenge themselves between meetings to apply what they are learning about Catholic social teaching to their own lives, from studying family consumption patterns to helping someone who is unemployed find a job.
Catholic evangelist and Ave Maria Press author Christine Watkins was interviewed as part of an ABC Nightline documentary that aired on Wednesday, July 13th. The documentary coincided with the thirtieth anniversary of the first reported Marian apparition at Medjugorje and examined the life and lasting effects of the Holy Mother throughout history. The producers and host Bill Weir traveled the world, from Bethlehem and Jerusalem to the Vatican, in order to tell Mary's story and to show her universality in the modern era.
In Full of Grace, Watkins tells her own story of miraculous healing, along with the stories of five other people whose encounters with Mary of Medjugorje radically altered the course of their lives.
Notre Dame, IN—Christine Valters Paintner, spiritual guide and regular contributor to Patheos, introduces a twelve-week journey to connecting creativity and spirituality in daily life through lectio divina, reflection, walking, and a variety of artful projects. Each chapter has a different creative goal, with projects that include making wisdom cards, writing poetry from prompts, or gathering items for a personal art altar. All activities focus on connecting the work of the hands with internal reflection on spiritual truths.
“Every aspect of our lives can be an arena for creative work,” Paintner writes, “When we make space to breathe deeply—in our jobs, relationships, and leisure—we open ourselves up to give voice to vision and birth to newness.” The journey toward creativity and monastic practice is a gentle one, Paintner claims. She encourages readers to welcome each day as a new beginning, quoting St. Benedict: “Always we begin again.” Paintner believes that the greatest freedom and spiritual insight will come as the reader allows herself to be imperfect. “Give yourself permission to make mistakes,” Paintner writes, “to make bad art, or to write something that doesn’t sound even close to perfect. This is the way we begin to cultivate inner freedom, by allowing ourselves a full range of expression as a journey of discovery.”
Easily adapted for use in a reading group or book study, The Artist’s Rule is a powerful and down-to-earth read. Paintner writes from the heart about her own experiences in spirituality as well as sharing valuable lessons from historical leaders and poets such as Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton, Albert Einstien, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Notre Dame, Ind.–-On Friday, July 1, an historic union will officially take effect when the former Eastern Province of Priests and Brothers merges into the Indiana Province to form the new United States Province of Priests and Brothers.
The merger was approved at the Congregation of Holy Cross’ general chapter meeting in Rome in the summer of 2010. In December, the two Provinces agreed that the merger should be effected by the Superior General on July 1, 2011, on the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
“This merger is a union and an act of God,” said U.S. Provincial Superior Rev. David T. Tyson, C.S.C. “Holy Cross has trusted in God’s Divine Providence from the beginning. Today with this union, He continues to bless us. With more than 100 seminarians, we are now more than 500 strong. We are men of different ages, cultures, and ministries, but we are united in the common mission of Holy Cross: to make God known, loved and served!”
Nearly 400 Holy Cross religious from the Indiana Province and the Eastern Province gathered in a joint Assembly, held June 13-16 on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. At the meetings, Father Tyson reflected that the “mission of the new United States Province is the Lord’s mission. The Lord works through us, our work, and our ministry. This union brings not only new opportunities for us, but also for the people we serve at our parishes, educational institutions, and missions.”
The ministries of the new U.S. Province include four colleges and universities: the University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, Ind., 1842); University of Portland (Portland, Ore., 1901); King’s College (Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1946); and Stonehill College (Easton, Mass., 1948).
Other ministries include 15 parishes in the U.S. and Mexico; André House in Phoenix; the Downtown Chapel in Portland; Ave Maria Press in Notre Dame; Holy Cross Mission Center serving people around the world; and Holy Cross Family Ministries (HCFM) in North Easton, Mass. HCFM was founded by Servant of God Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., and encompasses Family Theater Productions, Family Rosary, and Father Peyton Family Institute. The United States Province is also present in Mexico, and the Districts of Chile, Peru, and East Africa (which includes Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania).
The United States Province’s religious members number more than 410 priests and brothers, plus 102 seminarians currently in formation. The administrative offices of the new Province will be located in Notre Dame, Ind.
The Congregation of Holy Cross is a Catholic religious order formed in 1837 in the little town of Sainte-Croix, (which translated means Holy Cross) France. Founder Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., joined a group of parish priests with a band of teaching brothers to fill the educational and spiritual void left by the upheaval of the French Revolution. Today there are approximately 1,500 Holy Cross religious working to educate both the heart s and minds of believers of Jesus Christ in 16 countries on five continents.
Holy Cross presence in America began in 1841 when Blessed Moreau sent one of his new, young priests, Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., to do mission work in the “New World.” Within a year, Fr. Sorin founded the University of Notre Dame—the world’s most renowned Catholic university.
To learn more about the mission of the United States Province of Priests and Brothers, please visit us at www.holycrossusa.org.
Contact:
Lucha Ramey, Director
Office of Communications
574.631.1359
lramey@holycrossusa.org
www.holycrossusa.org
Notre Dame, IN—In her new book, A Willing Heart, bestselling author Marci Alborghetti explains how the trauma of a home robbery became the catalyst for a renewed vision of Christian service. Alborghetti shows readers how they too can incorporate service into their chaotic and busy lives in ways that are both rewarding and manageable. Alborghetti uses anecdotes from her own life and the lives of saints such as St. Paul and St. Francis of Assisi, combined with meditations on service, excerpts from psalms, and practical tips, to guide readers into a spirituality of service for everyday life.
Alborghetti describes the process of healing and growth she went through after her apartment was robbed. She writes in the first chapter of her book, “I know now what I didn’t begin to understand then: God was leading me by the hand. Grace was at work.” Alborghetti decided to donate part of her insurance check to charity, and she refers to this experience as a wake-up call to Jesus’ message. Alborghetti writes of her hope , “I pray that through my rather ordinary journey and the sometimes extraordinary journey of those I’ve been blessed to know, as well as saints and other towering models of service, we can come to serve Jesus as much as we love him.”
A Willing Heart is the perfect guide for the person who feels overwhelmed by the problems of the world and struggles to find a balance between serving others and fulfilling the obligations of work, family, and daily life. Alborghetti suggests taking simple steps, such as making a charitable donation that matches the amount of tickets to a concert or writing to a service organization and thanking them for everything they do. Her book provides an ideal solution for those eager to emulate Christ’s model of selfless giving in small ways in all aspects of their lives.
Notre Dame, IN—In Living the Rosary, Rev. John Phalen, C.S.C., provides readers with reflections on the mysteries of the Rosary that will enrich their love for this vital Catholic practice. Phalen writes in the introduction to his book, “With a very short attention span and two sisters who rather looked forward to my antics, I did my best to subvert the family Rosary.” Years later, Phalen became an international champion of the “Gospel in miniature,” as the Rosary is often called. Phalen is the current president of Holy Cross Family Ministries, founded by Servant of God Patrick Peyton, CSC, who coined the phrase, “The family that prays together, stays together.”
Blessed Pope John Paul II particularly encouraged Catholics to pray the Rosary, a practice that originated in its current form around the fourteenth century. Phalen invites readers to imagine Mary praying the Rosary with us, as if she is turning the pages of a photo album of the events in her son’s life. Mitch Finley, author of The Rosary Handbook, writes, “The Rosary’s mysteries are as much about today and about your life as they are about events that happened long ago! Phalen’s book will help you learn to make this connection and enrich your praying of the Rosary a hundred times over.”
In Living the Rosary, Phalen invites readers to find the rhythms of their own lives within the Rosary. Phalen writes that the mysteries are in correct proportion to the experience of human life—the categories of Joyful, Luminous, Glorious, and Sorrowful reflect that there is generally three times as much joy as there is suffering in life. Phalen writes that the purpose of the Rosary is “remembering Christ with Mary, learning Christ with Mary, being conformed to Christ with Mary, praying to Christ with Mary, and proclaiming Christ with Mary.” Phalen uses stories from scripture and from his own pastoral experience to lead readers into deeper communion with God through the Rosary.
Ave Maria Press author Joyce Rupp will give the Thursday night banquet address at the twentieth annual Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit (RBTE) on June 2, 2011, in St. Charles, IL.
In Rupp's address, titled "The God Past All Grasping," she will explore the many-faceted metaphors used to communicate with the divine and offer reflection on their influence regarding personal transformation and religious diversity. Rupp will also be autographing copies of her newest book, Fragments of Your Ancient Name, for registered RBTE attendees from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 2nd.
RBTE, a regular trade show for Ave Maria Press, is the annual gathering of the religious marketplace from Catholic, Episcopal, and other liturgical traditions. RBTE takes place at the Pheasant Run Resort.
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