A couple of weeks before Fr. John Flannery passed away on Palm Sunday, I had the privilege of hearing him pronounce the formula of absolution for me in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. While this would be the first and only time Fr. John would hear my confession, I know many brothers here sought him out for Confession and spiritual direction. In the very short time I’ve spent at St. Albert’s Priory, I knew Fr. John as a wonderful person to consult on many things, whether he had on his “O.P.” or even “M.D.” hat.  He is greatly missed by the community.

Now many of us, whether religious or lay, have our regular confessors. Those of us who have the luxury of choosing one for regular confession may take different things, perhaps familiarity or personality, into account for choosing one. No one with a healthy spirituality would choose to eschew the sacrament because he didn’t have his regular confessor available, but I don’t think that anyone would argue that there isn’t a routine that you develop with certain priests that might help the process bear more fruit. Now, never having been to Confession with him before, I had none of these routines in place with Fr. John. We got off to a bit of a rocky start. I have a low voice, and though I was sitting very close to him, he simply could not hear me. Near the end, I think the entire Priory had a pretty good idea of my sins. Now, despite this long-winded introduction, this blog entry isn’t about Confession, nor is it really about Fr. John. But as we concluded the Sacrament, he gave me some advice that has remained with me throughout Holy Week and the Easter Season: “Let God love you.”

Please read the remainder of this reflection at the student blog,
To God, About God

By Michele Jurich
Staff writer - The Catholic Voice

The Rev. Michael C. Barber, SJ, who will become Oakland's fifth bishop on May 25, has served as far away as Micronesia, Toronto and England, and as close to home as Menlo Park, where he helped train men who are serving as priests in the diocese.

He will be the first bishop of Oakland to have been baptized by a former bishop of Oakland. As an infant, Michael Charles Barber was baptized at Mission Dolores by then-Rev. John S. Cummins.

Please see the full article at The Catholic Voice.

For several years now, Fr. Bruno Gibson has been offering short retreats in a lovely setting.  "You see from Mount Tamalpais on one side, all over the Marin headlands, Belvedere Island, the Golden Gate, the Bay in between, stretching all the way over to Angel Island."  For more information about these retreats and a link to Fr. Bruno, see the article in the Catholic Voice.  The retreats are collectively called "A View from the Ridge."

The French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem has been an important research institute for more than a century. While modern photography was still developing, this series of exceptional photographs kept track of that rapid urbanization which is transforming biblical landscapes. With these photographs an attempt is made to restore the purity and poetry of the holy places. This exhibition invites us to enter in the Bible through earth and stones, after Chateaubriand, Pierre Loti and many pilgrims.

practical information

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem
Exhibition of photographs of the Holy Land, 4 to 17 June
Ambulatory of the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris

Theme: Art & Architecture

free admission

David Thomas Orique O.P. will conduct research as an appointed Visiting Research Scholar in the Las Casas Institute of Blackfriars Hall to build upon his previous domestic and international investigations related to two Dominican friars of the early Atlantic World—a period frequently called the Age of Discovery: Bartolomé de Las Casas (1484-1566) and Fernão (Fernando) de Oliveira (1507-1581). In addition, he plans to continue an ongoing project about certain Dominicans in the late-Spanish-colonial period of the southern Atlantic World.

Fr. David Orique, OP, son of the Western Dominican Province,  is Assistant Professor of Latin American, Early Modern European, and Atlantic World History at Providence College. Recent publications include: "Journey to the Headwaters: Bartolomé de Las Casas in a Comparative Context" (2009); "New Discoveries about an Old Manuscript: The Date, Place of Origin, and Role of the Parecer de fray Bartolomé de las Casas in the Making of the New Laws of the Indies" (2010). He is completing a manuscript on Las Casas's juridical approach, and is an editor for the Oxford Handbook of Latin American Christianity.

                                                                                                May 12, 2013

Dear Friends of Saint Albert’s,

            When I last wrote, the community had just come from Fr. John Flannery’s funeral, and I was packing to join members of the Order of Malta for their annual pilgrimage to Lourdes.  I arrived in Lourdes a couple of days early, as I usually do, to help the advance team arrange things, and on Wednesday, May 1, I had helped greet some of the three hundred or so Malta members, maladies, companions, caregivers, and volunteers who were making the pilgrimage. 

We had finished dinner and I had gone to my room, read, turned out the lights and fallen asleep.  An hour or so later I was awakened by one of the downstairs receptionists, who told me Fr. Augustine had called with news about Fr. Janko.  Fr. Janko was almost ninety-two years old, and his health had, for some time, been somewhat fragile.  A transatlantic phone call could only mean bad news, and Fr. Augustine confirmed my fears.  Our brother had fallen, injured his head, and died after a two-day stay in the hospital.

To read more go to the St. Albert Priory website or download a copy:

From the Prior's Window - May 2013:  MSWord  |  PDF

The Only Sin is not to be Kind

An old Italian woman once told me the only sin is not to be kind. It’s a wise summary of the greatest commandment: To love the Lord with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself.

Catholicism can be as easy as that. Over the years as a reporter I’ve heard some anecdotes that explain principles of the Catholic faith in easy terms.

You’re called to serve where your shadow falls. Some years ago, I interviewed a woman who worked with Mother Teresa and asked what got her into helping the destitute and dying in Calcutta. She said her husband was a U.S. diplomat in India and at night they’d dress up in fancy clothes for government receptions. When they came home in their finery they had to step over the poor sleeping in their portico. Any person with a heart had to get involved, she said, “I couldn’t just play bridge all day.”

Read more at the USCCB Blog