The baptism of our son Leo. You can read about it at our new location, http://chaplaincy.newmantoronto.com/media/blog/baptism-literally-awesome.

Blog has moved...

Hey friends, I am now blogging on our new-ish website. You can get recent posts at http://chaplaincy.newmantoronto.com/media/blog.

Thanks for the interest! God bless you!

Josh Canning

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati's Perennial Intrigue

A talk given at the Newman Centre on March 30th, 2011 by its former chaplain, CEO of Salt and Light Television, Fr. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B.

There is a perennial intrigue and ever growing interest in Pier Giorgio Frassati who Pope John Paul II called "the man of eight beatitudes," "of prophetic apostolic modernity," at his Beatification Ceremony in St. Peter’s Square twenty-one years ago.  Let us look at some of the highlights of this young man’s life that combined in a remarkable way political activism, solidarity, work for social justice, piety and devotion, humanity and goodness, holiness and ordinariness, faith and life.

Pier Giorgio was born in 1901, at the turn of the last century in Turin, Italy.  His mother, Adelaide Ametis, was a painter.  His father Alfredo, an agnostic, was the founder and director of the liberal newspaper, "La Stampa", and was influential in Italian politics, holding positions as an Italian Ambassador to Germany.  Pier Giorgio was educated at home with his sister Luciana, who was one year younger than him, before attending with her a public school and finally a school run by the Jesuits.  There he joined the Marian Sodality and the Apostleship of Prayer, and obtained permission for daily Communion (which was rare at that time). 

He developed a deep spiritual life which he never hesitated to share with his friends.  The Eucharist and the Blessed Mother were the two poles of his world of prayer.  At the age of 17, in 1918, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society and dedicated much of his spare time to serving the sick and the needy, caring for orphans, and assisting the demobilized servicemen returning from World War I.  What little he did have, Pier Giorgio gave to help the poor, even using his bus fare for charity and then running home to be on time for meals.  The poor and the suffering were his masters, and he was literally their servant, which he considered a privilege. 

This spirit of selflessness was nurtured by daily communion with Christ in the Holy Eucharist and by frequent nocturnal adoration, by meditation on St. Paul's "Hymn on Charity" (I Corinthians 13), and by the writings of St. Catherine of Siena.  He often sacrificed vacations at the Frassati summer home in Pollone (near Turin) because, as he said, "If everybody leaves Turin, who will take care of the poor?"

Pier Giorgio loved the poor.  It was not simply a matter of giving something to the lonely, the poor, the sick - but rather, giving his whole self.  He saw Jesus in them and to a friend who asked him how he could bear to enter the dirty and smelly places where the poor lived, he answered: "Remember always that it is to Jesus that you go: I see a special light that we do not have around the, sick, the poor, the unfortunate.”  A German news reporter who observed Frassati at the Italian Embassy wrote, “One night in Berlin, with the temperature at twelve degrees below zero, he gave his overcoat to a poor old man shivering in the cold.  His father, the Ambassador scolded him, and he replied simply and matter-of-factly, ‘But you see, Papa, it was cold.’”  He embraced the Gospel of Life and the Culture of Life as he spent his life for others.

Pier Giorgio decided to become a mining engineer, enrolling in the Royal Polytechnic University of Turin, so he could "serve Christ better among the miners", as he told a friend.  He would never complete his studies, and on the centenary of his birth in 2001, the University of Turin granted him his degree posthumously.  Although he considered his studies his first duty, they did not keep him from social and political activism.  Beneath the smiling exterior of the restless young man was concealed the amazing life of a mystic.  Love for Jesus motivated his actions. 

In 1919 he joined the Catholic Student Federation and the organization known as Catholic Action.  In opposition to his father's political ideas, he became a very active member of the People's Party, which promoted the Catholic Church's social teaching based on the principles of Pope Leo XIII's encyclical letter, Rerum Novarum.  He even thought about merging the Catholic Student Federation and the Catholic Workers'  Organization.  "Charity is not enough; we need social reform", he used to say as he worked for both.  I personally think that Frassati was the first saint or blessed to live the meaning of Rerum Novarum.          

Being the son of a diplomat, Pier Giorgio was entitled to the comfortable life on Embassy row.  He shunned that lifestyle and while in Germany, on October 1, 1921, was introduced to a family by the name of Rahner.  The mother of the family, Louise, a remarkable woman, showed Pier Giorgio affection and understanding and admired his simplicity of life.  The Rahner family had seven children, including two sons named Hugo and Karl.  We know that both brothers entered the Society of Jesus, and became great theologians of the Church.  Biographers of Karl Rahner spoke of the deep impact that Frassati had on him in his youth.

Mountain climbing was one of his favorite sports.  Outings in the mountains, which he organized with his friends, "The Shady Characters", [I Tipi Loschi] served as ideal moments for his apostolic work and ministry among them.  He never missed an opportunity to bring them to Mass, to adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, to the reading of Scripture, and to other forms of prayer.  He often went to the theatre, to the opera, and to museums.  He loved art and music, and could quote large sections of the poet Dante Alighieri.

           

Like his father, he was strongly anti-Fascist and did nothing to hide his political views.  He was often involved in fights, first with anticlerical Communists and later with Fascists.  Participating in a Church-organized demonstration in Rome on one occasion, he stood up to police violence and rallied the other young people by grabbing the group's banner, which the royal guards had knocked out of another student's hands.  Pier Giorgio held it even higher, while using the banner's pole to fend off the blows of the guards.

Conversion: A Lenten Recollection for Catholic Students

The following is a personal reflection written by recollection participant Julian Alexander Barkin 

The Newman Center Chaplaincy at the University of Toronto, provides an extensive amount of programming, devotions, and ministries for students and other Catholic youth, in addition to Masses in the adjoining St. Thomas Aquinas parish. I was fortunate to have attended their last in-house retreat back in November ("Evangelization and the Heart") and could not pass up their winter semester in-house retreat held Saturday, March 12.

The title of the Retreat was “Conversion.” Throughout the retreat, Mass was held as well as several devotions: The Rosary, Stations of the Cross using the powerful reflections from Cardinal John Henry Newman, and Eucharistic adoration and benediction, with the opportunity for confessions. For the speaking portions, the main presenter was Cale Clarke of thefaithexplained.com. Cale is well known for his contributions to Catholic Insight, as well as being the creator of “The New Mass” app for the iPod. During the day, Cale gave a three-part talk on the role conversion played in his reversion to the Catholic Church, why genuine conversion to Christ is needed to evangelize to others, and a platform as to how to evangelize to others.

Cale began his talks with his own personal story of de-conversion and reconversion. Cale grew up as a “nominal” Catholic, having received all his sacraments of initiation. Upon reaching university, he had become an agnostic, a typical consequence of youth today who are poorly catechised and un- rooted in their Catholic faith. His conversion back to the Catholic faith began with an engagement with door-to-door Baptists and his eventually becoming a Protestant pastor. His journey took a decisive turn after an encounter with a Catholic convert from Protestantism at a Theology on Tap event. 

As well, he studied the early Church fathers, including St. Ignatius of Antioch. Cale’s most personal conversion event occurred when at a Catholic seminar,  Catholic apologist Patrick Madrid, with the help of Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium, answered a question about whether one can teach the Catholic faith yet avoid active participation: 

Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved … the bonds which bind men to the Church in a visible way are the profession of faith, the sacraments, and ecclesiastical government and communion … All the Church’s children should remember that their exalted status is to be attributed not to their own merits but to the special grace of Christ. If they fail, moreover, to respond to that grace in thought, word and deed, not only shall they not be saved but they will be the more severely judged.” (LG, 14)

This answer is what brought Cale full swing to convert himself truly to the Catholic faith. He realized that he had to truly convert himself to Christ and be an active participant in his faith.

Cale later began to speak as to the whys and hows of conversion in evangelizing to others, including other Catholics. The point that struck me the most was when Cale spoke about the tactics that are used by Christian sects in conversion such as “Masked Raider” events (similar to what he experienced initially), “Evangelization Strategies,” “Friendship Evangelization”, and “Needing the Right Tools.” These tactics merely reduce the person to an object or a means, leaving them more alienated and further discouraged from coming to Christ. 

True conversion is needed to successfully bring others to our Lord, first starting with a conversion of our interior self/life to Christ’s love. Following this is a need for us to perform works of Christ as an overflow of this interior Christian life. Lack of an interior conversion of our life to Christ or performing His works, allows one to fall into the fallacies of mere social activism or spiritual sloth respectively. Pope Benedict echoes this fact in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, when explaining the love of God (interior life) and the love of neighbour (works) as in the first letter of John: 

If I have no contact whatsoever with God in my life, then I cannot see in the other anything more than the other, and I am incapable of seeing in him the image of God. But in my life if I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be “devout” and to perform my “religious duties”, then my relationship with God will also grow arid. It becomes merely “proper” but loveless … (DCE, 18).

Once this interior and active conversion takes place, we can then begin on the conversion of others to Christ. The early Catholic Church communities practiced a true love of friendship (philia) with one another, the form of love between Jesus and his disciples (cf. DCE, 3). These relationships were in stark contrast to their Roman contemporaries, whose relationships were often superficial for the sake of material gain or personal benefits. Furthermore (and even in modern times), the true love of friendship over time allows someone to see the authentic Christ-centered lifestyle you practice and the Catholic community, and during that time can allow for deep discussion about faith and one’s relationship to Christ. Together, this can expose one to Christ and hopefully, they will desire even more to seek the same conversion and union to Him. 

Before ending his talks, Cale added an important word of caution: Even if a person isn’t moved to convert to the Catholic Church, a true love of friendship with another does not end when the person says “no” to Christ. It continues onward for the duration of that friendship. This point stresses the need to continually love that person as Christ would, regardless of their lack of desire to come to Him.

Once again, The Newman Center Chaplaincy has strived and succeeded to provide a spiritually enriching and meaningful experience, which will allow its participants to come away with new insight into actively practicing their Catholic faith in their lives.                           

Julian is a freelance writer in Toronto who is active in his ministries as lector and senior youth ministry member at Our Lady of Sorrows of Parish, Etobicoke. 

Live music at Newman Centre- Help spread the word and win!

As you can see in the ad above, we are hosting an Indie Music Night on Mon. March 7th. In order to get the word out to new ears we are having a contest. The prize is two CDs by Joe Zambon ("There and Here" and "You Are I Am"). To be entered into the draw, all you have to do is the following:

- Share the event page on your Facebook page

- Tweet something like "Going to see live indie music @NewmanUofT this Monday March 7! Joe Zambon & Kevin Heider, praising the Lord! See you there??"

- If you don't use twitter, make the above pic your profile picture for 1 day 

- Invite 1 friend to the show

Too easy, right? Once you are done,post that you have completed "the challenge" on the event page wall, and you will be entered. The draw will take place on the Sunday before (March 6) and the CDs can be picked up at the show.  

See you there!

"Refusing to believe in the devil won't protect you from him...": why you might want to see The Rite

Last week a student and I went to see the latest movie on the topic of demonic possession and exorcisms, The Rite. There are many good reviews of the film that you can find with ease, such as this one (or this story on the making of, or this story on the need for more exorcists). But for myself, I think this is a movie worth seeing. If you are considering going to see it, here are some surface thoughts.

1) Some things in this movie are clearly not as they would have happened. For a Catholic it’s not too hard to see some things which are a bit of a stretch (I won’t go into details because I don’t want to give large parts of the movie away). But at the same time, large portions are based on the experience of a priest sent to Rome for training as an actual exorcist. The two main characters are based on two real exorcists (as was the case in the original movie The Exorcist many years ago).  So it’s not total Fantasyland here.

2) Of the movies on exorcisms that I have seen, this one shows the most detail on things that actually happen in a case of demonic possession. (In fact, some of the things that might seem hardest to believe are closer to reality that we would like (such as the possessed person vomiting strange objects, exhibiting superhuman strength, knowing things that should be hidden, etc.). For the story on these kinds of phenomena, you need to check out Fr. Gabriele Amorth’s book An Exorcist tells his story, or it’s sequel (available on campus at Crux Books).

3) This movie challenges the modern atheism. In some of the best scenes, the old exorcist confronts the skepticism of his protege. After one of the more spooky scenes, where his counterpart reaches for natural explanations for what they just witnessed, his elder cautions him: “You know the interesting thing about us skeptics? We’re always looking for proof. The questions is, what on Earth would we do if we found it?”

4) Finally, this movie is scary, more than a lot of movies are because it is based on something real. We can benefit from reminding ourselves that there is a real devil called Satan. There are fallen angels called demons. And they are at work in the world. “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)  
Personally, I think it is important to be reminded that the devil is not some impersonal force, but a sinister person, working in the world with intellect and a will, and a goal to bring you down. There is a reason we are called the Church Militant.

But if you are someone who is prone to worry a great deal about the forces of evil, be comforted in Fr. Amorth's reminder (in his book) that the act of going to Confession and receiving Holy Communion is more powerful than the rite of exorcism.

And that nothing can happen except by God's will, active or permissive.

In the words of the great St. Augustine: “The devil is only permitted to tempt thee as much as it is profitable for thy exercise and trial, and in order that thou, who did not know thyself, may find out what thou art.”

Happy Valentine's Day, Love

I know the world makes a lot of this day, and while romance is great and all, I think we can go a little overboard if we feel on-the-outside-looking-in if we don't have a date today, start to get down on ourselves and re-evaluate our worthiness in the eyes of the opposite sex.

Here's my small thought: in the absence (or even the presence) of plans this evening, remember the Ultimate suitor.

"Behold, you are beautiful, my love;
behold, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.
Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved,
truly lovely." (Songs 1:15-16)

"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you." (Jer 31:3)

"Blessed be the LORD, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me." (Ps 31:21)

Whatever you do today, don’t mope. Make a date with the Lord. Have a nice hot chocolate (wink) or a glass of wine.  Smile, and think about the One who is Love, who loves you more completely and passionately than any boyfriend or girlfriend or even spouse could. Who gave everything to win you over. Who gave His life for you.

Happy St. Valentine’s day, Lord.