I was ordained to the diaconate, together with four others, on Sunday, May 22, in the Parish Church Neusimmering, Vienna. Here a few photos from the ordination. More photos may be viewed and downloaded from kathbild.fotoserver.at My thanks go to all who have supported and do support me on this path by their friendship, prayers, [...]
Archive for the ‘vocation’ Category
Only excerpts or summaries of the posts are shown on this page. Click on the title of a post to see the whole post.Ordination to the Diaconate
Thursday, May 26th, 2011Garrigou-Lagrange & Communicating Under Both Species
Thursday, March 17th, 2011Garrigou-Lagrange argues that since receiving the Sacred Blood, rather than only the Body of Christ in the Eucharist can be an occasion for additional devotion and an increase in grace, one who wants to become a priest in order to be able to communicate under both species (bread and wine) should not be dissuaded. This odd conclusion perhaps points to some general problems in modern scholastics.
Summer Discernment Program in Norcia, Italy
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011The Benedictine monks in Norcia, Italy, are offering a discernment program this Summer, July 4-29. The purpose of the program is to offer young men a time to discern God's will for their life in a more concentrated way than normal worldly circumstances permit.
Married Saints and Continence
Thursday, January 27th, 2011Why did so many married saints live in continence, that is, without having sexual intercourse with their spouse for a significant portion of their life as married persons.
(1) Because such continence is and was considered very helpful for growing in virtue.
(2) Because the holiness of such persons is more evident.
(3) Because persons advanced in charity and virtue are disposed to practice such continence.
Traditional Principles Regarding Salvation
Friday, December 10th, 2010the Church has "always held" the possibility of salvation for those who are not without qualification members of the Church and who do not know Christ explicitly, but only in an implicit manner, in that it always held that God wills the salvation of all, and thus makes it possible for all in the manner appropriate to their condition.
Ad Gentes on the Salvation of non-Christians
Friday, December 10th, 2010The early drafts of Vatican II's decree on missionary activity affirm that the Church has always held that those who through no fault of their own do not know Christ can be saved if they obey their conscience. This claim about what the Church has always held was dropped in the final text. Is it, nonetheless, true, or is this teaching on the possibility of salvation for non-Christians a radically new teaching of the Church?
Legionaries of Christ – Communiqué
Saturday, March 27th, 2010The leaders of the Legionary of Christ wrote a communiqué to the Legion's members, its friends, and to all those affected or wounded by the actions of their founder, Fr Marcial Maciel. They apologized for the injuries that were done and for their failure to listen to those who had brought these things to their attention. Moreover they commented on their attitude towards the future.
Priestly ordination of Thomas Bolin
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009On Oct 31, 2009, my brother, Thomas Bolin, OSB, was ordained to the priesthood by His Excellency Renato Boccardo. I was privileged to be present for the ordination, as well as his first Mass on the following day, for which I was also the subdeacon. Below are a couple photos from the ordination, and one [...]
The Spousal Meaning of the Body and Vocation
Thursday, July 30th, 2009This post on the importance of the spousal meaning of the body for vocational discernment is a guest article written by Robert McNamara, a graduate of the International Theological Institute (formerly in Gaming, and now in Trumau, Austria). He will be entering the seminary in Ireland at the end of August. Please say a prayer [...]
Legionaries of Christ
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009Fr. Thomas Berg points to four problems present to the Legionaries: (1) their inability to engage in communal, honest and objective self-critique; (2) a mistaken understanding of religious obedience that involves an excessive dependence on the superior and disallows criticism of a superior; (3) continuing to seek vocations as usual, in spite of the serious present concerns; (4) depriving their seminarians of honest information about the Legion, including the criticisms made against it and an admission from the major superiors of the Legion's errors
I am a Catholic seminarian and deacon in Vienna, and a teacher at the