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Sheen Mass of Thanksgiving, Part 3: Wrapping Up and Keeping it Real

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This is my final wrap-up post about the Mass of Thanksgiving for Fulton Sheen.  You can read Part 1 here about before the Mass (perhaps destined to be known hereafter as “the mantilla post”?), and Part 2 about the Mass itself here.

This is basically the keepin’ it real edition, to explain some of the back story and to make fun of myself, share a family joke, and have an epiphany about online life and camaraderie and perspective.  I am definitely increasing the drama level here for effect, and I hope that works.  Perhaps it is only helpful to me, but I’m going to share it anyway.  Here it is:

No one tells me anything.

I’m not sure exactly how it came about, but since I’m from a big family, some of us became fond of complaining this to parents or other siblings, once we were mostly grown and away at college or starting careers.  Mom & Dad, you’re going to New York to visit another sister?  Someone got into law school?  Someone has a new boyfriend?

All purpose response: “No one tells me anything!”

Fortunately this had become a family joke before most of us started having children, so we had a very strict unspoken protocol of personally talking to each sibling when a new baby was on the way.

And no other sibling could spill the beans.  This meant that to avoid awkward conversations around that time, if you had heard from a pregnant sister (or sister-in-law), you usually didn’t answer the phone for a few days to be sure you weren’t going to get a different sibling who might not have heard the news yet.  Which would be me because… pause for effect here… No one tells me anything!

These days my siblings and I use the expression with each other because we are all almost too busy to keep in touch.  It’s also helpful to use if I am feeling left out about something with friends or those close to me, I  say that to myself, since it usually makes me laugh and realize that it’s not the case, and I need to just plug on and be positive.

As perspective on what I’m going to share, keep in mind that I wasn’t officially “covering” the Mass or the Sheen weekend events for The Catholic Post.  I’m a freelancer for The Post, writing my column and this blog. So I’m not in the know about every Catholic event, but I do like to sometimes write here on Reading Catholic about events from my own perspective.

So being out of the loop for me is not necessarily a bad or unusual thing–I’ve got my specialty here with books, and in general I like to stick to it.

My first “no ones tells me anything” moment when I found out that Lisa Hendey and a few other Catholic people I know online were coming to Peoria for the Sheen weekend.

I had another “no one tells me anything” moment after I saw late Saturday that there was some kind of reception at the Sheen Museum on Saturday night.  And there were Lisa Hendey and Alexis Walkenstein (of The Maximus Group), hanging out and having fun just a few miles away.

And what was I doing?  I was in my pjs, sprawled out with kids and dog, watching Love It or List It while also checking Facebook on my ancient iPad.  Nearby, my husband Joseph read something intelligent.  I am a morning person, so my brain shuts off around 8 p.m.  Love it or List It is just about right then.

I know this actually is exactly what I wanted to be doing then, but still… I can do that next Saturday night!  Tonight my online friends are having fun in the same area code as me.

Not only am I melancholic and insecure when it comes to online friends, but apparently I am also prone to jealousy and possessiveness.

I had one of those moments when when Brandon Vogt tweeted that he was going to see his “friend Monsignor Soseman,” and I thought, hey there, Monsignor Soseman was my friend first.

As a matter of fact, Mr. Brandon Vogt, Joseph and I were friends with Monsignor Soseman when there wasn’t an Internet.  We were friends with him back when you were probably still in grade school, young one!

Then I had my epiphany.

When you’re feeling “no one tells me anything,” remember: it’s okay.  You’re part of the family.

We are all part of the same Catholic online family, and I don’t have to know everything, and neither do you.  If I don’t know about some cool conference or some great reception (even in my own area code!), it’s all good.

Just like my siblings are always my siblings, we are all family no matter what.

If you’re in the Catholic online community, you’re part of the tribe–there’s no secret handshake or code.  (And if there is, you can just keep it to yourself, because that’s not the tribe I’m talking about).  I’m part of this, and so are you, however small our impact or own little corner.

When I reach out to other Catholic in online forums like Twitter or seek guest writers or feature some great bloggers, online friendships grow and flourish.  Some day those may and have lead to real-life meetings and most won’t, but we are all part of that same Catholic faith and support each other.

So if you are a Catholic blogger or Twitter person and feel left out or not in the loop when you see people posting photos or seemingly having a great time at a conference, or getting lots of comment or …..fill in your own blank here.  We all have our insecurities.  Just remember you’re not alone, and I feel the same.

After my epiphany, I got out of my “no one tells me anything” mood (and my pjs) by Sunday morning when it was time for Mass.

Of course I was genuinely thrilled to see Lisa Hendey, who I haven’t seen in several years.  She is just delightful and upbeat in person, as she is on her terrific Catholicmom.com, as well as her always-encouraging writing for Faith & Family Live.

Here we are with the aforementioned Brandon Vogt, whose energy and output rivals that of Sheen.

I also loved getting to meet Alexis Walkenstein of The Maximus Group, who is just as cute and endearing in person as she is online, but curses, I didn’t get a photo of her.

I also got to see a lot of local friends, some that I see often and some that I don’t.  Quite a few have blogs that are featured on the sidebar here, Catholic, Local and Online.  Many of them have done their own excellent blogging about the Sheen Mass.  Here are just a few of the bloggers who were there, and please let me know me if I left anyone out, and I will update here.  I am linking to their Sheen Mass post if they have one:

*Britta of “By Prayer and Petition.”

*Marie of “Help Them to Heaven.” 

*”I Wonder Why.” 

*”Stumbling on the Way to Emmaus.”

And Bonnie Engstrom of A Knotted Life.  Especially if you feel you may have had a tough day, head over to Bonnie’s post about her family’s experiences during the Mass. (Kind of makes me a little sheepish about those “no one tells me anything” moments).

As many know, their son James Fulton’s recovery after 61 minutes not breathing after birth is what is technically called the “alleged miracle” being put forth for Sheen’s beatification.

During the Mass, my husband asked me several times, “Where are Bonnie and Travis?”  I kept looking, but never did see them until after the Mass, but didn’t hear about their travails with Travis’ shirt and tie, nursing baby and so forth, until I read about it on Bonnie’s blog.  Here’s the photo I snapped of Travis and James Fulton after the Mass, Travis by this time being minus his more formal wear.

Hey! There’s Tom Dermody, the editor of The Catholic Post, just behind James. I did get a photo of him after all.  Here is his CNS story about the Sheen Mass.

The Engstroms were also popular with the Catholic (and other) papparazzi. I couldn’t resist getting a photo of that.

I also got to visit with the talented and energetic Brandon Vogt.  I even took a photo of him with Monsignor Soseman.

But remember,  Brandon, he was my friend first.

What’s your best memory of the Sheen Mass?

Do you have an epiphany about Catholic online life to share?

What do you think about mine?

Sheen Mass of Thanksgiving, Part 2: The Mass

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Yesterday, in Part 1, I shared what happened before the Mass of Thanksgiving.

Today, Part 2  is all about the Mass itself at the Cathedral on Sunday to celebrate local son Archbishop Fulton Sheen being named Venerable, one more step on the path to sainthood.

Oh how I wish this were a better photo of Monsignor Stanley Deptula!  Monsigor gave the terrific homily at this Mass to celebrate Fulton Sheen (here is the video link to that sermon), and he has been.  I snapped this photo in the sacristy as we were walking through to process through the Cathedral.  My photo of him giving the sermon is very far away, so this is the best it gets.  Monsignor Deptula has been on the forefront of Archbishop Sheen’s cause, as it is near and dear to his heart.  The most popular tweet of Monsignor Deptula’s sermon (that I saw later), was from Alexis Walkenstein of The Maximus Group, who tweets as @spokeswmn: “When God works a miracle, it is an expression of his love” – Monsignor Deptula.  Nice!
Here is the opening prayer led by Bishop Jenky.
The Mass had a lot of media coverage.  I neglected to get a photo of a half-dozen photographers on the other side of the church from here, right in my sightline, but here is Anna Yee, a local newscaster, who filmed just beside where we were seated.
There was a lot of “Catholic papparazzi” present– here is Lisa Hendey taking photos.  I tried several times to snap a photo of my editor at The Catholic Post, Tom Dermody, who was very active taking lots of photos, but was unsuccessful.  All of my photos of him are blurs.  Here is Tom’s excellent CNS version of the story of the Sheen Mass.
After Communion, I noticed my husband reading some after-Communion prayers in a book.
I read several of the prayers along with him, and then asked him to let me take a photo of the front of the book.
It’s a small prayer book put out by the Melkites, an Eastern rite (but in union with Rome) Catholic Church, thus the different looking font on the front.  The prayers themselves are also very … Eastern Catholic.  Here’s a little more about the spirituality of it.  
Interesting Eastern Catholic/Fulton Sheen trivia:  did you know that Fulton Sheen was something called “bi-ritual,” which means he could celebrate both Roman Catholic Mass and Byzantine Catholic Liturgy?  You can read all about that here.
After the Mass, Monsignor Deptula explained more about the positio, the large box of materials that were submitted to the Vatican for Archbishop Sheen’s cause.  Copies of the positio were given to various donors and supporters of Sheen’s cause.
I was right behind a pillar, so it might be a little hard to see here the positio box (a small brown box) being given here.
Tomorrow, Part 3, will be a lot more lighthearted as I share an epiphany I had about Catholic online life through the course of the weekend.
Do you have any memories to share from the Sheen Mass?   I’d love to know how others saw the Mass.

Sheen Mass of Thanksgiving, Part I: Before the Mass

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As I’ve mentioned already, the Mass of Thanksgiving for Archbishop Fulton Sheen being named Venerable held here in Peoria on Sunday was truly amazing.

I wanted to share some personal photos from the morning, some taken with my iPhone and some (that would be the really good ones) taken by my husband Joseph on his Canon.  Because there is so much to share, this will be split into several posts.
My goals here are: 1. to introduce you to some Peoria diocesan people who are worth knowing, 2. to explain some Catholic culture and the interesting world of papal orders, and 3. to have fun exploring the sights, personalities and emotions around the Mass itself.

First, there was a lot of media interest in the Mass.  Here is Bishop Jenky being interviewed by local newscaster Anna Yee (here’s the link to her story):

Our family arrived early for the Mass, and I dropped off our children in the St. Thomas More Chapel, which held overflow seating for the Mass.   Most of St. Mary’s Cathedral was filled with ticketholders, and I’m not sure how those were obtained, but there was room for various people in overflow places.  People I knew who were there were split pretty evenly between those who had tickets and those who didn’t.
Another family agreed to let our kids be with their family, since Joseph and I were to be in the procession.  I’m so grateful to them (hi Lucy and Rick!), because although our kids are old enough to be at Mass by themselves, it was nice to know they were covered.  I was also relieved that also in the Thomas More chapel  was another family that are pretty much family to us.
Here’s a stained glass portrait of St. Thomas More, just outside the chapel itself.
The reason that Joseph and I were in the procession is that we are both members of the (yes, this is the real name) Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (EOHSJ hereafter).  You can read about the founding of the Order here.  
How did we come to be members of this order?  Nine years ago (interestingly, when I was pregnant with our youngest), our former Bishop, John Myers, nominated us.   He is now the Archbishop of Newark, NJ, but was in Peoria for the Mass and, a few days before, to celebrate 25 years as a bishop. After we accepted, we had our investiture with a large group at the cathedral in Indianapolis, where the annual conference was held that year. 
I could write tons about the EOHSJ, but since that would be a completely new post, I will resist.  Among the many expectations, I consider three to be most important and what we focus on:  to pray daily for the peace of Jerusalem, to support Christians in the Holy Land, and to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  Joseph and I have not yet made our pilgrimage.  My desire is for our whole family to go on a Footprints of God pilgrimage (hosted by Steve & Janet Ray) once all our kids are teenagers.  I keep announcing it and putting away funds for it, so I hope it will really happen in a few years for us.
The either cool or slightly awkward part of being in EOHSJ is that we have ceremonial dress.  
Here’s another one of the Ladies in her ceremonial robe and behind her, one of the Knights in his ceremonial robe.  This particular Lady’s name was Judy and she has a great sense of humor, so we had a lot of fun that morning.
You’ll notice the mantilla. 
Allow me a short digression here: 
I’ve been in Facebook and real-life conversations with young mommy bloggers about mantillas, as a strangely large number  have written or talk in the past few years about wanting to start wearing a mantilla or headcovering at Mass.  I find this completely fascinating, since I don’t share the desire at all.  I share my own story that, as someone who is occasionally required to wear a mantilla, I don’t recommend it for regular use.
That is just me.  Intellectually, I’m okay with whatever a woman wants to do.  But at the same time, the conversations have been pretty candid (with me saying things like, “No! No mantillas! No!”).  That is definitely a completely different post, and I think Simcha Fisher or some other smart young blogger has already covered this topic and related issues in depth.
So as we were getting into our robes before the Mass, I tweeted to @BonnieEngstrom (who was in one of the online conversations along the way) something along the lines of “Putting on my mantilla for you! :-)”  My awkward attempt at mantilla humor.
Here I am, in mantilla, ready to process.  Notice my iPhone ready to snap photos.  Also notice the Jerusalem cross on the robe, an ancient symbol and one of the main insignia of the Order.
One nice part of being in EOHSJ is that when we are participating in a liturgy, we process and get to be with the celebrants beforehand, usually the bishop and some variety of priests and monsignors. Our family has a lot of priest friends, and so this is a nice chance to catch up and visit.  
Here is Joseph with Monsignor Stephen Rohlfs, now rector of Mount St. Mary’s seminary.  He’s a priest of the diocese of Peoria, and one of Joseph’s oldest local friends and theologian mentors.  
Okay, now this is going to get confusing, if you weren’t confused already.  You will notice that Joseph is not wearing the EOHSJ ceremonial dress.  That’s because he actually outranks us EOHSJ folks.  
When we became EOHSJ, Joseph was already a member of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. (He’s wearing the insignia of the Knighthood on his jacket).   Knights of St. Gregory the Great, who are appointed directly by the Holy Father, can also wear ceremonial dress, but aren’t required to.

You can read all about the Order on the Vatican website, and no, I don’t understand it very well, either.   Generally, people who have a long history of service to the Church are named to the Order.  Joseph received the honor at a relatively young age, and it’s my theory ( but keep in mind here I’m a lay person and not an expert here, even though I’m his wife and biased), some of it had to do with his working prayerfully and diligently as a theologian and lawyer in Catholic health care ethics and mission, a challenging field.  

Here is Dr. Clement Cunningham in the ceremonial dress (minus the hat) for the Order of St. Gregory the Great. Dr. Cunningham is a local Peoria diocesan hero and supporter of so many wonderful local and national Catholic efforts.
Here is Dr. Cunningham being helped through the corridor between the rectory and the cathedral by the kind and dear Dick LaHood, a fellow Knight of St. Gregory the Great.  
One of the tweets I sent just before the Mass was something like, “It’s really loud in here, but it’s not me, but Father Apostoli and all the priests talking.”
I meant it in a lighthearted way, and really, everyone was talking, not just Father Apostoli (sorry to single you out, Father!). My goal was to give a feel of what it was like to wait for the procession, behind the scenes.  The reason for the noise is there is a small corridor between the Rectory and the Cathedral, so with several dozen people talking, it got pretty loud.
I will stop here.  Part 2, coming tomorrow, will cover the Mass itself and what happened there.

Local Effort Seeks One Million to Pray the Rosary

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The Mass of Thanksgiving for Archbishop Sheen was truly amazing, and I’m putting together several posts about the Mass itself, replete with photos and some fun stories.  I had hoped to have this up today, but there are too many great photos and stories right now, and I need to pare it down.

Today I’m digressing for a great cause.  

I want to share an ambitious new effort spearheaded by a small local group that has a mighty goal:  getting one million people to say the Rosary on  Sunday, October 7.

Coincidentally (providentially?), it was the inspiration of a longtime friend, Michelle Rebello, who is also a member of the women’s Sheen book group featured here on the blog last week.

Here’s the message from Michelle: 

We are asking you to join one million of your fellow Catholics in saying the Rosary for our country on Sunday, October 7, 2012 at 3 pm EST. (You can say it wherever you are, or can go to St. Vincent dePaul church in Peoria to pray it at 2:00pm right before the Life Chain.) We are praying for our country to return to God and His laws. 

Visit rosaryvictory.com to pledge your support and be counted. Please help spread the word through email, facebook, twitter, etc (you can  go to those at facebook.rosaryvictory.com and twitter.rosaryvictory.com) to help us reach our goal of one million people! 

Bishop Jenky has asked for people to consecrate themselves to Jesus through Mary on that day; it would be a great way to honor Our Lady and help our country to say the rosary all together on that day. 

Thank you for all of your help in spreading the word and in praying the rosary on Oct. 7th. Remember, we need people to go to the website and put their email address there and the number of people in their family that will say the rosary so that we can tally up all the pledged rosaries–to 1 million and beyond!

Quotable, Venerable Fulton Sheen: Books

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Today is the Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Mary’s Cathedral.  I think it should be an inspiring morning.

Here’s a quote for today.  I have so many great ones, but when I came across this I thought, Yes!  Now here’s another reason why Fulton Sheen is one of the patrons of this blog:

“Any book which inspires us to lead a better life is a good book.” 

–Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Thoughts for Daily Living

Quotable, Venerable Fulton Sheen: On Children

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The first question a child asks when he comes into this world is the question: Why?  Every babe is an incipient philosopher.

–Fulton Sheen, Religion Without God

There are so many great quotes from Fulton Sheen that I plan to post a selection here and there this month.  I have some of my own quotes, but the wonderful (and sadly out of print) The Quotable Fulton Sheen (I reviewed it in my September column here) has a lot of great ones I’ll be sharing, as well.

This weekend is #celebrateSheen on Twitter and elsewhere, as Peoria Catholics (and many from elsewhere) will take part in a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria.  Read more about the events on the Celebrate Sheen website.  I’ll be at the Mass, and using the hashtag #celebrateSheen.  I don’t expect to be tweeting during the Mass, but before and after, certainly!   And my thanks for the reminder to use the hashtag from the ever-excellent Julie Enzenberger, administrator of the Sheen Foundation.