THE CONCHO PADRE POSTSorry folks, but I have had some health issues to deal with, which sort of kept me from posting a lot. Basically I got tired earlier in the day, and rested. Hopefully this will all be resolved soon. Nothing serious … just bothersome. Keep me in your prayers, please!
I will try to post as often as I can.
The Concho Padre
Have been traveling to Port Saint Lucie, Florida, to visit with my family. Will try to post some articles and links pretty quick.
The Concho Padre
Bipolar disorder can look very different in different people. The symptoms vary widely in their pattern, severity, and frequency. Some people are more prone to either mania or depression, while others alternate equally between the two types of episodes. Some have frequent mood disruptions, while others experience only a few over a lifetime.
There are four types of mood episodes in bipolar disorder: mania, hypomania, depression, and mixed episodes. Each type of bipolar disorder mood episode has a unique set of symptoms.
More to Come
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 120
Reading 1 Jer 38:4-6, 8-10
In those days, the princes said to the king:
“Jeremiah ought to be put to death;
he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city,
and all the people, by speaking such things to them;
he is not interested in the welfare of our people,
but in their ruin.”
King Zedekiah answered: “He is in your power”;
for the king could do nothing with them.
And so they took Jeremiah
and threw him into the cistern of Prince Malchiah,
which was in the quarters of the guard,
letting him down with ropes.
There was no water in the cistern, only mud,
and Jeremiah sank into the mud.
Ebed-melech, a court official,
went there from the palace and said to him:
“My lord king,
these men have been at fault
in all they have done to the prophet Jeremiah,
casting him into the cistern.
He will die of famine on the spot,
for there is no more food in the city.”
Then the king ordered Ebed-melech the Cushite
to take three men along with him,
and draw the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before
he should die.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 40:2, 3, 4, 18
R. (14b) Lord, come to my aid!
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me.
R. Lord, come to my aid!
The LORD heard my cry.
He drew me out of the pit of destruction,
out of the mud of the swamp;
he set my feet upon a crag;
he made firm my steps.
R. Lord, come to my aid!
And he put a new song into my mouth,
a hymn to our God.
Many shall look on in awe
and trust in the LORD.
R. Lord, come to my aid!
Though I am afflicted and poor,
yet the LORD thinks of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, hold not back!
R. Lord, come to my aid!
Reading 2 Heb 12:1-4
Brothers and sisters:
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us
and persevere in running the race that lies before us
while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
the leader and perfecter of faith.
For the sake of the joy that lay before him
he endured the cross, despising its shame,
and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.
Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners,
in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin
you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.
Gospel Lk 12:49-53
Jesus said to his disciples:
“I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
CATHEDRAL PILGRIMAGE TO FATIMA AND LOURDES, POST 1
We had little to none internet availability in Fatima, except for Matt, who always seemed to be able get through. After several days off line, here is a quick synopsis of our pilgrimage to Fatima and Lourdes at this time (Friday at 6:30 pm Central European Time).
TUESDAY, AUG 6:
We arrived on time at Lisbon and were greeted by our guide for Portugal and Spain, Rui. Our first prayer of thanksgiving is that everyone’s luggage arrived!
Rui took us on a bus tour of Lisbon with a few stops for picture taking. After that we hit the highway in our very nice custom coach to Fatima, which is about an hour and a half from Lisbon.
We arrived at Fatima shortly after 7 pm and checked into our hotel, the Hotel Fatima, located directly across the street from the Fatima Basilica and Shrine. Had a great dinner at 8:30 in the hotel. Most folks were very tired and went to bed, but some stayed up for the Candlelight Procession which begins at 9:30 pm every day.
WEDNESDAY, AUG 7:
After an early breakfast we all went to the Basilica/Shrine, where I was privileged to be the principal celebrant of Mass in the Chapel of the Apparitions, which is the outside chapel. There were hundreds of people at the Mass.
Following Mass, we went on a bus tour of several of the important sites including the homes of Jacinta and Francisco, and Lucia, the three young children to whom the Virgin Mary appeared beginning on May 13, 1917. We also visited the parish church of Fatima, the places of the three apparitions of the Angel of Portugal to the children, which took place for about a year before the apparitions of Our Lady. We also visited a beautiful park which had the Stations of the Cross and the site of the middle apparition of the Angel, and also the site of the special apparition of Our Lady on August 19, 1917. She did not appear to the children on August 13 that month because the children were in custody and being questioned by the authorities.
In the afternoon we visited the Basilica, and also the special museum at Fatima. There we saw many things, but most important is the crown that is put on Our Lady’s statue for special occasions. It contains the bullet that struck Blessed John Paul II in the assassination attempt at the Vatican. He brought it to Fatima on this thanksgiving visit. Miraculously, it fits perfectly into a space in the crown, and needed no extra drilling or engineering. That evening we all went to the Candlelight Procession. It was very moving with thousands of people in attendance. It began with the recitation of the Rosary in several different languages. It was marvelous to hear all the people responding in their own languages, no matter what language was being used for the particular mystery. Then followed the Procession of the Statue of Our Lady of Fatima (Our Lady of the Rosary) around the open-air courtyard. Again following the Virgin, and singing Marian hymns, were probably 8 to 10 thousand people. It was quite a moving experience.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 8:
I celebrated Mass for the group at the Chapel of the Holy Family, newly constructed on the left side of the portico of the Basilica.
Following Mass, we checked out of the hotel and boarded our bus to go the northern Portuguese city of Oporto. The story continues in the next posting!
The Concho Padre
On Sunday evening Pope Francis ended his apostolic journey to Brazil and the World Youth Day. Nostalgia gives way to hope for a better future with the seed sown on good soil: the life of young people. Read more.
The Concho Padre
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis landed at Rome’s Ciampino airport this morning, marking his return from World Youth Day 2013.
The 12-hour flight from Rio de Janeiro marks the end of Pope Francis’ first overseas Apostolic Voyage.
The weeklong youth event ended Sunday with Mass on Rio’s famous Copacabana beach, an liturgy attended by approximately three million people.
After his arrival at Ciampino airport, the Holy Father chose to stop at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major to offer a brief prayer to the Blessed Virgin for World Youth Day.
Seeing the Pope as he entered the Basilica, a group of young people approached him and offered him a T-shirt and a ball. Pope Francis later offered the gifts to the Madonna.
Vatican Radio
Click here to see today’s Mass readings from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
“A sower went out to sow”
Now if you ask me what Jesus Christ means by the sower who goes out early to sow seed in his field: my dear brethren, that sower is the good God himself! He began his work for our salvation from the beginning of the world by sending his prophets to us before the coming of the Messiah to teach us what we had to do to be saved. And, not satisfied with sending his servants, he came himself, marked out for us the way we should take, and came to preach his holy word.
Do you know what those people are like who aren’t sustained by that holy word or who abuse it? They are like the sick without a doctor, like a traveller who has gone astray without a guide, like a poor man without means. Let us rather say, my brethren, that it is altogether impossible to love God and please him without being nourished by this divine word. What is there that can draw us to attach ourselves to him if not because we know him? And what enables us to know him with all his perfections, beauty and love for us if not God’s word, which teaches us all he has done for us and the good things he is preparing for us in the life to come if we try hard to please him?
Saint John Marie Vianney
Patron of Parish Priests
The Concho Padre
(Vatican Radio) Final preparations are continuing in Rio De Janeiro for the opening of World Youth Day 2013. Pope Francis will depart from Rome to Brazil on Monday. While there the Pope will participate in numerous events including liturgies, the Via Crucis and a prayer vigil with young people. This will also be the Holy Father’s first apostolic journey. Thousands of young people have already arrived in Rio but there are still many who are on their way to be with the Pope in Brazil.
One of those getting ready to depart from Ireland is Anna Keegan who is a Faith Development officer in the Archdiocese of Dublin. Anna is no stranger to the WYD having been to four previous encounters. Anna told Lydia O’Kane that she is also looking forward to this event because it will be first time she will be attending a World Youth Day presided over by Pope Francis. “ Pope Francis seems to be really outgoing and really fun and I think because he is going to South America, you know, where he is from, I think it will be great and I am really looking forward to seeing what his message is, to be honest, to young people.”
Vatican Radio
The Concho Padre
THE CONCHO PADRE POST 
Tuesday of the 17th week in ordinary time
Click here to see today’s readings from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
In today’s Gospel passage Jesus offers a point-by-point explanation of the parable that He preached in the passage proclaimed in the cycle of Ordinary Time weekdays two days earlier. The evangelists rarely offer us examples of Jesus explaining one of His parables, so today’s passage is insightful not only in terms of the content of this specific parable, but also in terms of Jesus’ method of using parables.
We might wonder, to start with, what the significance is of the evangelist telling us that it’s after “Jesus dismissed the crowds” that “His disciples approached Him” to ask for an explanation of the parable. This is an important distinction that the evangelist didn’t have to note for Jesus’ explanation to make sense. Perhaps the evangelist is highlighting the importance of petitioning God for deeper insight into His revealed Word.
Jesus explains the meanings of seven persons or things from the parable. This allegorical explanation of the parable is important because it’s in accord with the method of interpreting Jesus’ parables commonly found in the writings of the saints in the patristic and medieval periods of Church history. This method is often rejected today by scholars who offer their own theories about the interpretation of parables. It’s important to note that among those whom modern scholars criticize are not only canonized saints whose holiness is proven, but also—as we hear today—Our Lord Himself!