Comments on: On a Mission from God http://catholicexchange.com/2009/06/19/119526/ Catholic News, Catholic Articles, Catholic Apologetics, Catholic Content, Catholic Information Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:46:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 By: tommymore http://catholicexchange.com/2009/06/19/119526/comment-page-1/#comment-40671 tommymore Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:13:20 +0000 http://catholicexchange.com/2009/06/18/119526/#comment-40671 Wow, how great to see Msgr. Esseff's name and to hear he is still alive. I was a college seminarian 20 years ago and he lived in our seminary that year. There were only 20 of us, so I got to know him fairly well. Prairie Hawk is 100% correct about his eccentric personality. I remember arriving at the seminary on the first day and joining the welcoming line. Everyone simply shook hands and exchanged pleasantries but Msgr. came right up to me, looked me in the eye, and said "Be a lover, not a fighter, just like the apostle John." Not exactly the suave social etiquette of a statesman, but his remarks are the only ones I remember from that day 20 years ago. I can see him doing the same thing to Osama if given the chance, although it will never happen. By the way, he has a great love for the Blessed Mother. Wow, how great to see Msgr. Esseff’s name and to hear he is still alive. I was a college seminarian 20 years ago and he lived in our seminary that year. There were only 20 of us, so I got to know him fairly well. Prairie Hawk is 100% correct about his eccentric personality. I remember arriving at the seminary on the first day and joining the welcoming line. Everyone simply shook hands and exchanged pleasantries but Msgr. came right up to me, looked me in the eye, and said “Be a lover, not a fighter, just like the apostle John.” Not exactly the suave social etiquette of a statesman, but his remarks are the only ones I remember from that day 20 years ago. I can see him doing the same thing to Osama if given the chance, although it will never happen.

By the way, he has a great love for the Blessed Mother.

]]> By: patti http://catholicexchange.com/2009/06/19/119526/comment-page-1/#comment-40669 patti Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:04:51 +0000 http://catholicexchange.com/2009/06/18/119526/#comment-40669 No, you were not nit-picking, NF. You brought out some good information that further promotes this mission. It's a powerful devotion that has been with us from the start. We need to continually rediscover it. Now, it's being promoted anew for the times we are in. God bless, Patti No, you were not nit-picking, NF. You brought out some good information that further promotes this mission. It’s a powerful devotion that has been with us from the start. We need to continually rediscover it. Now, it’s being promoted anew for the times we are in.

God bless,
Patti

]]> By: noelfitz http://catholicexchange.com/2009/06/19/119526/comment-page-1/#comment-40667 noelfitz Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:24:24 +0000 http://catholicexchange.com/2009/06/18/119526/#comment-40667 Patti, many thanks for your reply to me. I hope I was not nit-picking in a negative way. You wrote abour Monsignor Esseff: "He is teaching us to love each other and love God completely." Aren't they wonderful and Christian things to do? Regards, NF PS: PrairieHawk, thanks for your comments also. You make the holy Monsignor seem a very warm and human person. Patti,

many thanks for your reply to me. I hope I was not nit-picking in a negative way.

You wrote abour Monsignor Esseff:
“He is teaching us to love each other and love God completely.”

Aren’t they wonderful and Christian things to do?

Regards,

NF

PS: PrairieHawk, thanks for your comments also. You make the holy Monsignor seem a very warm and human person.

]]> By: PrairieHawk http://catholicexchange.com/2009/06/19/119526/comment-page-1/#comment-40657 PrairieHawk Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:52:50 +0000 http://catholicexchange.com/2009/06/18/119526/#comment-40657 I had the very great honor of having Msgr. Esseff as my spiritual director for two years while he was a regular visitor to a seminary in the next town. I believe that he is a saint. I remember him with gentle affection because he was also a very odd duck. Our appointments were in his room; instead of clericals, he regularly wore a sweatsuit. He used to brush his teeth during our meetings and one time he fell asleep on me (I snuck out quietly). He had a gift of discernment that peered right into me, stripping away layers of personality to get right at my very essence. He quite evidently had a powerful prayer life, and I actually thought he seemed much younger than he is. He also had an idiosyncratic way of giving absolution, but he did always use the words "I absolve you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." His idiosyncracy was not even remotely a sign of disobedience; he just did some things his own way. My money is on Monsignor too. I had the very great honor of having Msgr. Esseff as my spiritual director for two years while he was a regular visitor to a seminary in the next town. I believe that he is a saint. I remember him with gentle affection because he was also a very odd duck. Our appointments were in his room; instead of clericals, he regularly wore a sweatsuit. He used to brush his teeth during our meetings and one time he fell asleep on me (I snuck out quietly).

He had a gift of discernment that peered right into me, stripping away layers of personality to get right at my very essence. He quite evidently had a powerful prayer life, and I actually thought he seemed much younger than he is. He also had an idiosyncratic way of giving absolution, but he did always use the words “I absolve you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” His idiosyncracy was not even remotely a sign of disobedience; he just did some things his own way.

My money is on Monsignor too.

]]> By: patti http://catholicexchange.com/2009/06/19/119526/comment-page-1/#comment-40650 patti Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:55:38 +0000 http://catholicexchange.com/2009/06/18/119526/#comment-40650 Yes, you are right. As the article said, "The Catholic Church has always had a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a symbol of this great flow of divine love." Thanks for pointing out some historical instances of this devotion. It really is at the core of our faith. What is different is the fact that a global team has been assembled to spread this devotion and that support of Cardinals all the way up to the Pope is the goal to make a specific plan to aggressively spread this devotion world-wide. What is also different is the world we live in. The moral decay and terrorism which we face have many fearful. Msgr. Esseff is leading the way as a Catholic priest. He is teaching us to love each other and love God completely. He is also reaching out to Osama bin Laden in a powerful way. You are right this is an old devotion, but Msgr. Esseff is making waves with it in today's world. Yes, you are right. As the article said, “The Catholic Church has always had a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a symbol of this great flow of divine love.” Thanks for pointing out some historical instances of this devotion. It really is at the core of our faith.

What is different is the fact that a global team has been assembled to spread this devotion and that support of Cardinals all the way up to the Pope is the goal to make a specific plan to aggressively spread this devotion world-wide. What is also different is the world we live in. The moral decay and terrorism which we face have many fearful. Msgr. Esseff is leading the way as a Catholic priest. He is teaching us to love each other and love God completely. He is also reaching out to Osama bin Laden in a powerful way.

You are right this is an old devotion, but Msgr. Esseff is making waves with it in today’s world.

]]> By: noelfitz http://catholicexchange.com/2009/06/19/119526/comment-page-1/#comment-40648 noelfitz Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:26:17 +0000 http://catholicexchange.com/2009/06/18/119526/#comment-40648 Reading this I wonder is Monsignor Esseff introducing anything that is new. I see: Many of the Fathers present in Rome for the Vatican Council in 1869-70 asked that the Feast of the Sacred Heart be raised to a higher rank. In 1874 the Pope was requested to proclaim the feast one of the primary feasts of America. In 1875 Pius IX approved an Act of Consecration and invited all the faithful to consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart. Leo XIII in 1899 con­secrated the whole world to the Sacred Heart, and St. Pius X decreed the annual renewal of this consecration. (http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11187) Benedict XV fostered the consecration of families to the Sacred Heart. Pius XI in 1925 instituted the feast of Christ the King as a day of consecration to the Sacred Heart. Through two great encyclicals—Miserentissimus Redemptor (1928) and Calitate Christi Compulsi (1932)—he made the Feast of the Sacred Heart a day of reparation. Pius XII, besides his frequent encouragement of the devotion and his call for a crusade of world-wide reparation in 1942, consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Reading this I wonder is Monsignor Esseff introducing anything that is new.

I see:
Many of the Fathers present in Rome for the Vatican Council in 1869-70 asked that the Feast of the Sacred Heart be raised to a higher rank. In 1874 the Pope was requested to proclaim the feast one of the primary feasts of America. In 1875 Pius IX approved an Act of Consecration and invited all the faithful to consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart. Leo XIII in 1899 con­secrated the whole world to the Sacred Heart, and St. Pius X decreed the annual renewal of this consecration. (http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11187)

Benedict XV fostered the consecration of families to the Sacred Heart. Pius XI in 1925 instituted the feast of Christ the King as a day of consecration to the Sacred Heart. Through two great encyclicals—Miserentissimus Redemptor (1928) and Calitate Christi Compulsi (1932)—he made the Feast of the Sacred Heart a day of reparation. Pius XII, besides his frequent encouragement of the devotion and his call for a crusade of world-wide reparation in 1942, consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

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