VOCATIONS to the PRIESTHOOD

During this Year for Priests one of our highest priorities here in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is the encouragement and promotion of vocations to the priesthood.

Last Fall we were blessed with 21 new seminarians for our Archdiocese. This coming Fall also looks promising for a large group of new men.

We have two different seminary locations: Juan Diego House in Gardena, where men are able to complete the required studies in philosophy and other needed courses before entering theology studies at our major seminary; and St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, where the men study theology for four full years, with an internship assignment in a parish during the year between second and third theology.

I am grateful to all of you for your continuing Prayers for Vocations--as Jesus Christ encouraged us. Prayer, especially at Mass or before the Blessed Sacrament, is so important for our overall efforts.

But we also must intensify our personal invitation to men to consider whether Christ may be calling them to serve Him and the Church as a priest. Often we see in our parishes men who attend Mass frequently during the week, who are involved in various parish ministries, and who show the signs and characteristics we are looking for in our future priests. A word of personal encouragement and invitation to these men is part of God's call to them.

Here in our Archdiocese we have a Prayer for Priestly Vocations, below. Please pray that Prayer often with your family members.

Father, in every generation you provide ministers of Christ and the Church. We come before you now, asking that youcall forth more men to serve our Archdiocesein the ministerial priesthood.
Give us priests who will lead and guideyour holy people gathered by Word and Sacrament.

Bless us with priestly vocations so that we can continueto be a truly Eucharistic Church,strengthened in our discipleship of Jesus Christ,your Only Son.

Raise up, we pray, men who are generous in their service,willing to offer their lives and all their giftsfor your greater glory and for the good of your people.We make our prayer in the presence and powerof the Holy Spirit, through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

May I recommend the following websites for more information on Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life:

OFFICE of VOCATIONS:

http://www.lavocations.org/

ST. JOHN'S SEMINARY:

http://www.stjohnsem.edu/

JUAN DIEGO HOUSE:

http://www.juandiegohouse.org/

COMING NEW ROMAN MISSAL

The Bishops of eleven English-speaking countries have completed a new English translation of the Latin Roman Missal, Editio tertia, and the new English Roman Missal is under final review at the Vatican.

The new Missal will be the first new translation since the current Missal was published in 1974--some 36 years ago.

It is anticipated that the new English Roman Missal will begin full use on the First Sunday of Advent, 2011--less than two years from now.

Since the 1974 version was translated in haste, there were many errors in the translation which rendered the Missal inaccurate in many places.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles just completed a series of Workshops for all of our priests to inform them about the coming new Missal, reasons for changes, and a good grounding in the efforts taken to produce a Missal which is more theologically correct.

A whole series of Workshops are being planned for everyone involved in the planning and celebration of the Eucharist: permanent deacons, parish liturgy committees, members of the various ministries, and the like. As we get closer to the launch of the new Missal, we will have several weeks of catechesis for all our people about the new Missal and the changes which will affect them in their responses at Mass.

There are two websites which contain a lot of background and information on the new English Missal. I recommend these two:

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
www.usccb.org/romanmissal

The Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions:
www.fdlc.org/roman_missal.htm

The coming months will be very important to the life of the Church in the English-speaking world, and I encourage all of us to become as informed as we can about the new English Roman Missal.

AMERICANS MORE PRO-LIFE

A Gallup Poll taken May 7-10, 2009 finds 51% of Americans calling themselves "pro-life" on the issue of abortion and 42% "pro-choice." Gallup reports that this is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.

This is good news for all of us who follow the Gospel of Life and who pray and work for the pro-life efforts of our Church.

I am convinced that it is through prayer and quiet persuasion that we have reached this dramatic shift in opinions about human life and abortion.

The use of Obstetric Ultrasound has also made it obvious to expectant mothers that there is truly a developing human life in their uterus--with a heart beating, and with a clear delineation of the human form of the unborn baby. Those graphic photos have convinced many mothers to carry their baby to term and delivery.

Today's young people are growing up used to seeing prints of ultrasounds of developing human fetuses attached to the door of their refrigerators. They can easily see that this is a tiny human life, and those images are shaping their thoughts and attitudes about protecting human life.

We must continue to believe in the full spectrum of life issues outlined by the late Pope John Paul II in his landmark "The Gospel of Life," and we must be unafraid to proclaim the Gospel of Life and work for the integration of those principles in public policy.

I encourage you to access the full Gallup Poll report by going to the link shown below:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/118399/More-Americans-Pro-Life-Than-Pro-Choice-First-Time.aspx


Photos of the Archdiocesan Requiem Mass for the Unborn, January 23, 2010 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels:







(photos by: Victor Aleman)

HAITI and OUR RESPONSE

We are all understandably upset with the horrendous destruction and devastation that struck the country of Haiti two days ago. The photo images are so unreal, so difficult to comprehend the vast loss of life, of injuries, and of complete turmoil.
But anytime a natural disaster occurs, I am always impressed with the incredible response of our people--especially here in the United States.
Great efforts are underway to assist those devasted people, along with our fervent prayers.

Here in the Archdiocese, we have launched two special efforts:
1. The first is to support Catholic Relief Services [CRS] in their on the ground efforts in Haiti.

2. And to launch the "Hats for Haiti" Program whereby children
in our Catholic elementary and high schools will assist
children and young people in Haiti by wearing a hat
next week at school, and donating one dollar for the
privilege to wear a hat at school that day. We have
80,000 Catholic school youngsters, and we hope to raise
both awareness and funds for Haiti relief. We also have
a local donor who will match, dollar for dollar, all that
is collected up to $100,000.

CRS is the organization of the Catholic Church in the United States to assist in all kinds of disaster relief efforts throughout the world. They have been in Haiti for years, and have some 300 personnel--mostly Haitians--working with the poor and with disaster relief.

All of the funds collected the weekend of January 16 and 17 will be sent directly to CRS for immediate use in Haiti.

Please visit their website: www.crs.org

Let us continue to intensify our prayers for the peoples of Haiti, and to demonstrate our solidarity in our Lord Jesus Christ through out generous gifts.

God bless you!!

BISHOPS on RETREAT

One of the great graces the Bishops of Southern California experience every year is our annual six-day retreat. It always begins the evening of Jan. 2 and concludes the morning of Jan. 9; held at the Cardinal Timothy Manning House of Prayer for priests in the foothills of Los Feliz.

Our retreat is a directed retreat. Rather than have conferences given to all of us togther, we journey forward with individual priest-directors--always Jesuits from the California Province. They meet with us daily, and assist us with our themes and Scripture meditations. The entire retreat is lived out in complete silence.

As I begin my final full year as the Archbishop of Los Angeles, my personal focus this year is on the centrality of the Eucharist in my life and in the lives of our wonderful Catholic people. I will be using various Scriptural themes: Jesus and the Bread of Life; the Multiplication of Loaves; the Last Supper; Paul and the Eucharist; Disciples on the way to Emmaus; and the REsurrection appearances--their Eucharistic meanings.

I will also be using the wonderful new book, Born of the Eucharist: A Spirituality for Priests,edited by Msgr. Stephen J. Rossetti. This collection of brief reflections by priests and Bishops will help me focus on my own love and priority of the Eucharist.

Each and every one of you will be remembered day by day during these six marvelous days of silence and listening to our Lord Jesus Christ speaking to me. Please pray for all of us as well.

Jesus, Bread of Life, pray for us!

New Cathedral Construction Book

Once construction began on our new Cathedral in January of 1998, I visited the site almost every week and took a roll or two of photos--over 9,000 photos in all.
A selection was made of those photos, and a book of 232 pages resulted.
The book is about 90% photos with brief captions to describe the building activity. Most people are unaware of the complexity of a structure as large as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
The book is available at the Cathedral Gift Shop.

Great Pizza Place in Rome!

You can't visit Rome without trying their terrific pizza! My favorite is the really thin pizza cooked in a wood-fired oven. Nothing like it! Our Los Angeles pizzas tend to be way too thick--too much dough. The thin ones pick up the wood cooked flavor nicely!

The place is called La Sacrestia--The Sacristy! That's the large room where the priests vest for Mass, and all of the liturgical items are stored. And it's on Via del Seminario--Seminary Road! Good friendly service.

My favorite is the one with fresh sliced mushrooms as the main topping!

In my opinion, this is the best wood-fired pizza restaurant in Rome--and they have wood-fired pizza for both pranzo and cena [lunch and dinner]. Most places only serve wood-fired pizza for cena.

La Sacrestia
Via de Seminario, 89
Rome
Closed Wednesdays

Really easy to find--just to the left of the Pantheon in the heart of old Rome. As you are facing the front of the Pantheon, via del Seminario is to your left. Just a few doors down you will find La Sacrestia.

After a great pizza with some fine Italian wine, allow yourself some riposo time--a little nap!