Which is one of the reasons why, when my wife told me that the Catholic moms who run her favorite blog were looking for someone to help them design a web site with fuller capabilities than their free blogging site, I agreed to help out.

The other reason is that I enjoy reading the site, too. While I may skip over the posts on car seats and baby food, there is some real theological meat to many of their discussions.

There’s still a few loose ends to tie up on the site, but the (nearly) finished result was launched today at www.BuildingCathedrals.com.

Rev. Msgr. Carl Kemme, our diocesan administrator, delivered the homily and I have to say: it probably ranks in the top five homilies I have ever heard and is the most moving reflection on the priesthood I can remember. Here’s a short sound bite:

To my brother priests in this presbyterate I want and need to invite something very important from us. These men to be ordained are a gift to us, gifts not to be taken for granted, but cherished and honored. It behooves us to offer them and those who come after them, in union with our bishop and his successors, a presbyterate that is healthy, supportive and joyful. To that end, I would humbly submit that we have work to do. We cannot afford to allow them or any of us, to be subject to the destructive forces strong in our world today, which have gripped far too many priests in our church, the evil that is isolation, the inclination to cynicism, or the abandonment of the hopes and dreams of the Church for us, in exchange for spiritual apathy and moral indifference. Rather, with courage and love we must invite them and ourselves to stand firm in the faith, to unite in a stronger bond of prayerful and priestly fraternity and to together become saints for nothing less is expected of us as priests after the mind and heart of the Good Shepherd.

My estimable friend Fr. Daren Zehnle has the complete homily posted on his blog. It is definitely worth the read.

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of the Archdiocese of Chicago to be the new bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. He succeeds Archbishop George J. Lucas, who was named archbishop of Omaha last June.

The appointment was announced at 5 a.m. April 20 in Washington, D.C., by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

“We are grateful to God, to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and to Francis Cardinal George for choosing such a gifted and dedicated priest and bishop to serve us,” said Msgr. Carl Kemme, diocesan administrator, who introduced Bishop-designate Paprocki to the community during a news conference later that morning at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield.

“We are most grateful to Bishop Paprocki for accepting this appointment. Together, we pledge our prayers, support and loving cooperation to him in the ongoing work of proclaiming the Gospel,” Msgr. Kemme said.

Although he has been an occasional visitor to Springfield, Bishop-designate Paprocki said he sees his new ministry as bishop of the diocese and a “blessing” and looks forward to learning more about the Catholic community of central Illinois.

“I am deeply grateful for the confidence shown by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, in appointing me to serve as the ninth Bishop of Springfield in Illinois,” Bishop Paprocki said. “I look forward to working with the priests, deacons, men and women religious, the lay Christian faithful and all people of good will here in our State Capital to carry out the mission entrusted to us by Jesus Christ to proclaim the Gospel. I pledge to do my best with the help of God’s grace to build on the fundamental blessings established through the dedicated ministry of the previous bishops of Springfield, especially my immediate predecessor, the Most Reverend George Lucas, now Archbishop of Omaha.”

Bishop-designate Paprocki is a native of Chicago, born Aug. 5, 1952. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 10, 1978 in Chicago. He is a canon lawyer, with a doctoral degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (1991), and is also a graduate of DePaul University College of Law in Chicago (1981).

In addition to his parish assignments, he served the Archdiocese of Chicago as vice-chancellor (1985-2000) and chancellor (1992-2000). He was ordained auxiliary bishop for the Chicago Archdiocese on March 19, 2003. He serves Chicago Cardinal Francis George as vicar for Vicariate IV; the cardinal’s liaison to Polonia (the Chicago Polish community); the cardinal’s liaison for Health and Hospital Affairs.

An installation liturgy and Mass of Welcome will be held Tuesday, June 22, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield. More information on the installation and related events will be announced later.

The Diocese of Springfield in Illinois comprises approximately 146,000 Catholics in 131 parishes in central Illinois. The diocese includes the following counties: Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Christian, Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Greene, Jasper, Jersey, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Pike, Sangamon, Scott and Shelby.

More at www.dio.org/bishop.

A press conference will be held today at 10a at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception; plans are to stream the press conference live at the diocesan web site. Bishop Papricki’s installation will be June 22 at that same cathedral.

In the meantime, please keep Bishop Paprocki in your prayers!

Heavenly Father, you sent Jesus to shepherd your
people and the Holy Spirit to make your people one.

Send your Holy Spirit to anoint our new
Bishop-designate Thomas Paprocki, that he may continue
the work of renewal in the Church and unite our
parishes, priests and people in love, truth and wisdom.

Give him a true shepherd’s heart like that of Jesus,
that he may give strength to the weak, heal the
broken-hearted, console the lonely, bring back the
wandering and be a power against the evil of our day.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Why go? If it is to find a safer haven, a less corrupt Church, then I think that you will be disappointed. I too long for more transparent government, more open debate, but the Church’s secrecy is understandable, and sometimes necessary. To understand is not always to condone, but necessary if we are to act justly.

Why stay? I must lay my cards on the table; even if the Church were obviously worse than other Churches, I still would not go. I am not a Catholic because our Church is the best, or even because I like Catholicism. I do love much about my Church but there are aspects of it which I dislike. I am not a Catholic because of a consumer option for an ecclesiastical Waitrose rather than Tesco, but because I believe that it embodies something which is essential to the Christian witness to the Resurrection, visible unity.

When Jesus died, his community fell apart. He had been betrayed, denied, and most of his disciples fled. It was chiefly the women who accompanied him to the end. On Easter Day, he appeared to the disciples. This was more than the physical resuscitation of a dead corpse.

In him God triumphed over all that destroys community: sin, cowardice, lies, misunderstanding, suffering and death. The Resurrection was made visible to the world in the astonishing sight of a community reborn. These cowards and deniers were gathered together again. They were not a reputable bunch, and shamefaced at what they had done, but once again they were one. The unity of the Church is a sign that all the forces that fragment and scatter are defeated in Christ.

Really: go read the whole thing.

I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: “The Voice of the Irish.” As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.

Patrick, now a bishop, returned to Ireland where he baptized thousands, ordained native priests, and converted the sons of kings. He won over the people who had once enslaved him and is now the patron saint of the Emerald Isle.

Like the Irish of the 4th century, our diocese is waiting for a bishop who will “come and walk among us.” It has been extraordinarily heartening to see and hear of the many people around the diocese who are praying for our new bishop through intercessions, litanies and the Eucharist. Whoever he is, our new bishop has been cloaked in the prayers of the faithful and entrusted to the care of our Blessed Mother. And we pray that, like St. Patrick, he will teach us to walk in the joyful company of the Triune God.

Lord God,
you are our eternal shepherd and guide.
In your mercy grant your Church of Springfield in Illinois a shepherd
who will walk in your ways
and whose watchful care will bring us your blessing.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

I am writing today on behalf of our diocese’s 11,323 school children to urge that you propose funding for the Illinois Textbook Loan Program in your 2011 budget.

The Textbook Loan Program has provided secular textbooks, learning materials and instructional computer software to public and nonpublic school students since 1975. Although most of the program’s funding goes to public schools, Catholic schools have long depended on this program and have used the benefit to continually update math, science, and reading textbooks, as well as to purchase new instructional software for technology labs. Students cannot learn or succeed without effective and up-to-date learning materials. The Textbook Loan Program has helped ensure those materials are present in all schools.

According to the Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) published analysis, the Textbook Loan program impacts 2.1 million students and 164,000 educators. In Fiscal Year 2009, the program provided 849,214 instructional items to pupils in grades 7 through 12. There are not many grant programs in ISBE’s budget that have had as far-reaching an impact for as long a time. ISBE’s strategic goals cite service to “all students” and “all schools.” Unfortunately, last year’s budget cut the Textbook Loan completely and failed to reflect similar concern.

I understand that the state’s fiscal condition is dire. I understand funding cuts must be endured in these difficult times. However, when a long-standing program with a proven track record faces elimination, Illinois’ entire education system suffers.

Governor Quinn, I urge you to recommend that ISBE’s budget restore funding at the 2007 level of $29.1 million. Such a recommendation recognizes the current fiscal condition of the state but also makes some attempt to meet the state’s obligation to provide sound, up-to-date instructional materials to all children.

Catholic schools provide great savings to the state of Illinois: $1.5 billion annually. We do not deserve to lose the limited state support given back.

Thank you for your attention and support.

Sincerely,

Jonathan F. Sullivan
Director of Catechetical Ministries
Diocese of Springfield in Illinois

Catholic Relief Services has launched a major aid operation to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake. CRS has been working in Haiti since 1954. The CRS team in Haiti is in place to distribute emergency relief. Donations can be made online at www.crs.org or sent directly to them at:

228 W. Lexington
Baltimore, MD 21201-3413.

Prayers, of course, are absolutely needed. Many people from the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois have traveled to Haiti over the years with the diocese, Eastern Illinois University Newman Center, Quincy University, and through their sister parish relationships or with the Haitian priests who serve in our diocese.

The people of Haiti are ill-equipped to handle any sort of emergency situation, certainly one of this magnitude. The resilience and faith of the Haitian people are their only and greatest resource.

Which is to say, they are useful in a society that has largely abandoned the traditional family and the network of support it ensures.

In the past, the elderly were largely taken care of by relatives — usually adult children — in the context of an extended network of family who lived in geographical proximity to one another. There was no question of mom or dad moving to an assisted  living facility; they simply moved in and were cared for at home, with other family members offering support and assistance as needed.

Today, this reality no longer exists — as I see it, for two primary reasons. First, children no longer live close to their parents. I live six hours from my mother; many of the friends I know live even further than that from their parents. In a mobile society, distance limits the amount of direct care children can provide for their aging parents. And given the quality of health care seniors now receive, most are able to live more active lives than their parents are their age. (My mother certainly doesn’t want to leave her home to live with my family. We’d crimp her style!) Second, the Boomers had fewer children than their parents did. This means fewer children sharing the responsibility of caring for aging parents which leads to additional stress as family.

These two factors are only exacerbated when aging parents enter the final phase of their life on earth. Again, given the quality of modern health care, this phase is often marked by catastrophic illness that even the best hospitals and doctors are unable to treat. In this situation children are called on to make excruciating decisions regarding how their parents will be treated and what medical interventions are appropriate. Most are not prepared to make these decisions, either a) because they do not know what their mother or father  would want, or b) because their own unresolved emotional issues make them less likely to accept the reality of impending death and more likely to choose superhuman interventions that only prolong dying. (I’m speaking here extraordinary measures such as choosing to resuscitate a patient in a coma who has gone into cardiac arrest while in the final stages of pancreatic cancer, not ordinary care such as nutrition and hydration either naturally or artificially administered.)

Caring for the dying elderly, especially those we love, is a thankless and heartrending task! And given that reality, the truth is that death panels would be enormously efficient and useful by taking the messy, painful, difficult — and most of all human! – process of dying and placing it in the hands of an impartial and disinterested group of individuals.

And isn’t that what we all want for our loved ones?

The wellbeing of millions of children across Britain is being damaged by adults’ aggressive pursuit of personal success, a three-year inquiry by the Children’s Society concluded today.

The society – a charity allied to the Church of England – blamed the problems of young people on “a belief among adults that the prime duty of the individual is to make the most of their own life, rather than contribute to the good of others”.

It said this “excessive individualism” was the cause of high rates of family break-up, unhealthy competition in schools, unprincipled advertising and acceptance of income inequality that left millions of children living in poverty.

(h/t: First Things)