Pope Benedict XVI

Wooo hooo ... way to go, Holy Father!

HT: the ever gracious, Alice at Cottage Blessings!

IL Papa -- prayers especially this week ...

... tomorrow, 16 April, is the Pope's 81st birthday, and Saturday 19 April, will mark the third anniversary of his election to the pontifical throne.

Viva Il Papa! Ecce Homo

Ecce Homo (behold, the man) arrives today! He'll arrive at Andrews Air Force Base around 2 p.m. and be picked up by President Bush (an unprecedented event!) and driven to the White House. The Pope will be in Washington for a few days and then head up to NYC for meetings at the UN and with Seminarians from across the country (including, hopefully, our NeoCat seminarian who is still trying to get a plane ticket).

Here are some links to the Pontiff's schedule and events surrounding his visit:

• Catholic Faith Education has compiled some sites of interest, including links to a series done by Ave Maria Press as background information.
• EWTN has created a separate section on their website with lots of articles and links about the Pontiff, his visit and other bits of info.
• Link to the Pontiff's message to the US before coming today.
• Our Sunday Visitor's site with lots of info/coverage of the visit.
• Pflaum's site has lots of activities and stuff for the kiddoes (thanks Marilyn W.)

Here's the Pope's schedule (note all times are Mountain Time - 2hrs earlier than EDT):

• Tuesday, April 15 at 2:00 p.m. ARRIVAL - Pope Benedict XVI arrives at Andrews Air Force Base and is greeted by President and Mrs. Bush, local dignitaries of the Church, and the apostolic nuncio.
• Wednesday, April 16 at 8:00 a.m. THE WHITE HOUSE -- Pope Benedict XVI is received by President and Mrs. Bush at a White House welcoming ceremony, followed by a private meeting between the President and the Pope, and the dignitaries of the two states.
• Wednesday, April 16 at 3:00 p.m. ADDRESS TO THE BISHOPS OF THE UNITED STATES -- Pope Benedict XVI gathers with the bishops of the United States for a prayer service and address at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.
• Thursday, April 17 at 7:30 a.m. MASS AT NATIONAL STADIUM, WASHINGTON DC -- Pope Benedict XVI offers Mass at the new Nationals Baseball Park in Washington D.C.
• Thursday, April 17 2:30 p.m. MEETING WITH EDUCATORS AT CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA -- Pope Benedict XVI will address hundreds of Catholic University heads and diocesan superintendents on the importance Catholic education at the Catholic University of America.
• Thursday, April 17 4:00 p.m. MEETING WITH EDUCATORS AT POPE JOHN PAUL II CULTURAL CENTER -- Pope Benedict XVI meets with representatives of various religions for a prayer service at the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington D.C.
• Friday, April 18, 7:30 a.m. ARRIVAL -- NYCArrival at JFK International Airport.
• Friday, April 18, 8:30 a.m. ADDRESS AT THE UN -- Pope Benedict XVI will address the United Nations,
• Friday, April 18, 3:00 p.m. VISIT TO SYNAGOGUE & ECUMENICAL MEETING AT ST. JOSEPH’S CHURCH, MANHATTAN -- Visit to Park East Synagogue and prayer service with leaders from other Christian denominations at St. Joseph's, founded by German Catholics, in Manhattan.
• Saturday, April 19, 7:00 a.m. MASS AT ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL, NYC -- Mass for priests, deacons and members of religious orders at St. Patrick¹s Cathedral in the heart of New York City.
• Saturday, April 19, 2:00 p.m. MEETING WITH YOUTH AT DUNWOODIE SEMINARY -- Pope Benedict XVI meets with thousands of young people from around the country; the event includes a rally/prayer service and a speech from the Pope.
• Sunday, April 20, 7:00 a.m. VISIT TO GROUND ZERO -- Pope Benedict XVI visits the former World Trade Center site known as Ground Zero in New York City.
• Sunday, April 20, 12:00 Noon HOLY MASS AT YANKEE STADIUM, NYC -- Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Holy Mass at Yankee Stadium in New York bringing his historic U.S. visit to a close.
• Sunday, April 20, 5:30 p.m. DEPARTURE -- Pope Benedict XVI leaves the US.

That is one grueling schedule! But what a wonderful chance for so many to see, hear and meet with the head of the Catholic Church! We'll have to follow his visit online and through transcripts of his talks (why couldn't he have come in June when we'll be back that-a-way!) -- but we'll take a hiatus from our regular school days to do a unit on this man who is the heir to the Chair of St. Peter!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Pope Benedict XVI!

Thanks to a reminder from Jenn at Family in Feast and Feria, I could wish the Holy Father a happy 8oth birthday (and you can too by following the link).

OOOPS - Forgot Spy Wednesday!

Earlier this week, in regaling you dear reader with the highlights of Holy Week, I had forgotten today: Spy Wednesday. This is the day that Judas sells out Jesus and his ministry for 30 pieces of silver.

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What will you give me if I deliver him to you?" And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him (Mt 26:14-16).

Can you imagine, selling out the Lord for 50 pieces of silver? Or 100 pieces of silver? Or even 1000 pieces of silver?

Thanks to a suggestion from Jenn at Family in Feast and Feria, we'll be adding silver-dollar-sized wheat pancakes to our dinner tonight (which should improve dinner substantially as we're just having left-overs in order to clean out the 'frig before Triduum!). We'll use yogurt and raspberry jam to signify Jesus purity and the silver "blood money" and omit the blueberries and sunflower seeds!

UPDATED to add this meditation from the Holy Week issue of Magnificat:

Judas is neither a master of evil nor the figure of a demoniacal power of
darkeness, but rather a sycophant who bows down before the anonymous power of changing moods and current fashion. But it is precisely this anonymous
power that crucified Jesus, for it was anonymous voices that cried, 'Away with
him! Crucify him!"

Pope Benedict XVI

This is so ME! It's often so much easier to bow to what others want or are doing rather than say, "no, this is against my religion or my morals" -- I'm getting better but it's a long, slow rise up from the desert of the secular world!

And Here's What Our Current Pope ...

... had to say in memory of his predecessor and friend, John Paul II:

JOHN PAUL II WAS A TRUE SERVANT OF GOD

VATICAN CITY, APR 3, 2007 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon in St. Peter's Square, Benedict XVI presided at a Eucharistic concelebration with cardinals in commemoration of John Paul II. More than 30,000 people were present at the event, many of them having come from Poland to attend.

The aim of the celebration, said the Pope in his homily, is to give thanks to God for John Paul II, "for 27 years ... father and sure guide in the faith, zealous pastor and courageous prophet of hope, tireless witness and passionate servant of God's love."

Having addressed a special greeting to Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who for more than 40 years was the late pontiff's private secretary, the Holy Father turned to comment on the day's Gospel reading recounting the supper at Bethany during which Mary, sister of Lazarus, taking "a pound of costly perfume, made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair."

The Pope said: "Mary of Bethany's gesture has rich spiritual echoes and significance. It evokes the shining testimony that John Paul II gave of an unreserved and selfless love for Christ. The 'fragrance' of his love filled the house, in other words the Church. ... Are not the esteem, respect and affection that believers and non-believers expressed when he died an eloquent testimony?"

"The intense and fruitful pastoral ministry, and even more so the Calvary of agony and the serene death of our beloved Pope, brought the men and women of our time to understand that Jesus Christ truly was his 'all.'

"We know," the Holy Father added, "that the fruitfulness of his testimony depended upon the Cross. In the life of Karol Wojtyla the word 'cross' was not just a word. Ever since his infancy and youth, he had experienced pain and death." And, "particularly with the slow but implacable progress of his illness which little by little deprived him of everything, his existence became a complete offering to Christ."

"His pontificate was marked by his 'prodigality,' by his generous and unreserved giving of self. What moved him if not his mystical love for Christ? ... 'Magister adest et vocat te' - the Master is here and He calls you. On April 2, 2005, the Master returned ... to call him and take him home, to the house of the Father. And he, again, responded readily with his intrepid heart and whispered: 'Let me go to the Lord'."

"For a long time he had been preparing for this final meeting with Jesus, as evinced by the various drafts of his will. ... He died praying. He truly fell asleep in
the Lord. ... The fragrance of the faith, the hope and the charity of the Pope filled his house, it filled St. Peter's Square, it filled the Church and spread over the whole world."

"Servant of God," Benedict XVI exclaimed, "this is what he was and this is what we call him now in the Church, while the process of his beatification continues apace. ... Servant of God, a particularly appropriate title for him. The Lord called him to His service on the path of the priesthood and little by little opened ever vaster horizons before him: from his diocese to the Universal Church. This universal dimension reached its greatest extent at the moment of his death, an event that the entire world experienced with a level of participation never before seen in history."

"May the 'Totus tuus' of the beloved Pontiff encourage us along the path of giving ourselves to Christ by the intercession of Mary," the Holy Father concluded. "To her maternal hands we entrust this our father, brother and friend that in God he may find peaceful repose and happiness."
HML/JOHN PAUL II/... VIS 070403 (630)

excerpted from the Vatican Information Service's Daily Newsletter

It's interesting that Pope Benedict also mentions JP2's entrustment to Mary's love and care and his great "Totus Tuus"!