Canisius College Catholic Studies Program

04/17/2025

On Holy Thursday, we commemorate the Last Supper, where Jesus first uttered those immortal words: "This is my body. ... This is my blood." Why, though, would he make such a claim? This reflection by Dr. Steve Chanderbhan considers why it is Jesus makes this bold proclamation - one that reaches to the roots of who Jesus was and is, and what this means for us who follow Him.

On Holy Thursday, we commemorate the Last Supper, where Jesus first uttered those immortal words: "This is my body. ... This is my blood." Why, though, would he make such a claim? This reflection considers why it is Jesus makes this bold proclamation - one that reaches to the roots of who Jesus was....

02/12/2024

What to do when Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day coincide? Check out this reflection by Steve Chanderbhan:

Ash Wednesday falls on Valentine's Day this year. Are they an impossibly odd couple? Or is there something they share so that, different as they are, we can celebrate both and each could learn something from the other?

06/01/2022

(Also at https://www.instagram.com/p/CeRL-AkrOtu/)

In 1899, in his encyclical Annum Sacrum, Pope Leo XIII declared the month of June as the Month of the Sacred Heart. Catholic devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus had existed for centuries before, most notably expressed in the mystical visions of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (17th C.) and Sr. Mary of the Divine Heart (19th C.). Devotion to the Sacred Heart focuses on the love of God for all humans, culminating in the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God, so that all who believe in Him may have eternal life. It focuses believers on all the offenses to God that pierce and wound that heart, which still beats with love and mercy for all, and calls upon us all to repent and to love more like Him.

One of Margaret Mary Alacoque's visions indicated the desire that the Jesuits in particular be consecrated to the Sacred Heart in a special manner and that they should practice faithfully the love and mercy of the Sacred Heart in their lives and their apostolic works.

Painting: Anonymous. "El Sagrado Corazón de Jesus." Oil on tin. Mexico, 19th Century. New Mexico State University Art Collection. See: https://wordpress.nmsu.edu/ezarur/sacred-heart-of-jesus/.

05/15/2022

“Whoever exalts race, or the people, or the State … above their standard value and divinizes them to an idolatrous level, distorts and perverts an order of the world planned and created by God; he is far from the true faith in God and from the concept of life which that faith upholds.“
- Pope Pius XI, “Mit brennender Sorge,” par. 8 (issued March 14, 1937)

Painting: “Pope Pius XI” by Serge Ivanoff (1937), oil on canvas. Available at: https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/ivanoff/pope-pius-xi-1937-oil-on-canvas/oil-on-canvas/asset/206310

04/27/2022

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On April 27, the Society of Jesus celebrates the Memorial of St. Peter Canisius. (The Roman Catholic Church in general celebrates his memorial on December 21.)

Born in Holland, he is regarded as he second apostle to Germany (after St. Boniface). Through his tireless work and devotion, it is said that he is largely responsible for the re-growth of Catholicism in that land in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. He became famed for the Catechisms he wrote, as well as his Summary of Christian Doctrine, in addition to his copious sermons and other writings, exhorting all (especially the clergy themselves) to reform their lives more closely to Christ and the teachings of the Church. His work on the theology of the Virgin Mary is also noteworthy; in fact, it is thanks to Peter Canisius that the "Hail Mary" prayer includes the words, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners."

The picture is from a painting of Peter Canisius located in the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Dillingen an der Donau in Bavaria, a town in which there was a College where Peter Canisius helped to organize the Jesuits who were charged to teach there. Available at: https://katakombe.org/gallery/image/st-peter-canisius.9p6fF.

04/25/2022

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Today, the Church commemorates the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist. Early historians record him as living from 12-68 AD and being associated with St. Peter in the early travels of the church.

Mark's gospel is the shortest, not featuring a narrative of the birth of Jesus but, rather, starting at His Baptism. There is also a widely held view among theologians that Mark's is the first Gospel written in full, though many scholars also reject the notion that Mark himself is the author based on accounts of who mark is and how the gospel's attribution with this person came about; though, this is disputed.

The symbol most commonly associated with St. Mark is the winged lion, an allusion to his description of St. John the Baptist as "a voice of one crying out in the desert." (Mk 1:3). This traditional symbol is featured in artistic renderings of St. Mark (including the painting above), and notably at the Basilica of St. Mark in Venice.

This painting is entitled "Saint Mark" by Valentin de Boulogne, a French painter who lived from 1591–1632. It is oil on canvas, measures 47 1/4" × 57 1/2",and was likely painted between 1624–26. It is currently on loan to (but not displayed at) the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, NY. See: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/663775.

04/15/2022

In the Roman Catholic Church, today is Good Friday. St. Peter Canisius writes the following about the sufferings of Christ and Mary, His mother, on that day and some of its meaning for us: "What Christ says of all the elect — "In the world, you will only find tribulation" — applies to Mary as well as to the rest of us. ... For Son and mother alike, the way to glory lay through the cross. The more closely the mother shared the sufferings of her crucified Son, the greater would her happiness be when afterwards she came to share his kingdom. After all, the practice of true charity does require us to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with the mourner. ... Christ would not have us to be unfeeling, insensitive, devoid of all human sympathy: he likes us to be mild, compassionate and approachable, as he is himself—and no wonder, as he was born of that gentlest of creatures, the Virgin. He wants us to promote the good of others with all our hearts and rejoice when they gain an advantage; he would have us mourn their misfortunes as though they were our own."

(St. Peter Canisius, De Maria Virgine ... I.IV. c. XXV. Found at: http://latinhymns.blogspot.com/2020/09/st-peter-canisiusis-life-of-sorrow-of.html.)

The image of the Crucifixion is from Augsburg, a city where St. Peter Canisius preached for several years of his life. This print existed when he was there.

Erhard Ratdolt (printer), German 15th Century (Augsburg) "Christ on the Cross with the Virgin and Saint John," 1491. Color woodcut printed in black, red, blue, brown, olive, and yellow, and hand‐colored in blue, pinkish‐beige, and some touches of red; on vellum. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Lt. Col. and Mrs. William K. Konze. Available at: https://blantonmuseum.org/exhibition/imperial-augsburg-renaissance-prints-and-drawings-1475-1540/.

03/24/2022

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The Gospel for Daily Mass today (Lk 11:14-23) features Jesus casting out a demon from a man that was mute. The following drawing depicting a similar scene is from the Hitda Codex (originally from Cologne, Germany). It is dated to ca. 1000-1025 A.D. It may be found today at the University and State Library (Landesbibliothek) in Darmstadt, Germany (MS 1640, fol. 76.)

Available at: http://imaginemdei.blogspot.com/2018/01/illustrating-miracles-jesus-heals.html

03/21/2022

A Reflection on Today's First Reading
by Dr. Stephen Chanderbhan

How often is it that pride prevents us from taking our moral or spiritual medicine, when we wish we could just throw money at a problem and make it go away? How often would we rather stay miserable but comfortable, rather than engage in the hard and sometimes uncertain work of healing and growth? How often are we tempted to craft a narrative to bend reality to our will, rather than to accept what is true, even if inconvenient, and change accordingly?

All too often - at least at first - for Naaman the Syrian in the first reading (2 Kgs 5:1-15ab). He is a l***r, but is eventually cured upon washing in the Jordan River, as Elisha the prophet says he must do to be healed. Initially, the reading reports, Naaman refuses to do so.

Upon arriving, I can imagine Naaman saying to Elisha, "I am important and impressive. I have a bunch of money from my King to pay for your services. Touch me, cure me, and let's get this over with." At first, Naaman offers nothing from himself - his substance - to Elisha, the man of God, and expects a miraculous cure. He seems to think he can throw money (and it's not even his own money) at his problem.

When told to wash in the Jordan, Naaman is indignant. Apparently, the man of God says he can't just throw money at this problem. Naaman has to be inconvenienced to humble himself and it is this cost that is too high. He seems to say, to paraphrase again, "I'm not doing *that*. Better to be a rich l***r at home than to wash in the Jordan!"

Eventually, Naaman sees sense and listens to Elisha's words. I can imagine Elisha saying to him, "That wasn't so bad was it? And no - I don't want the money - not even as a gift. Don't make it seem like this money was worth anything in this interaction." Rather, through Elisha, God asks Naaman to rend his heart, not his garment. To love God from his substance, not his surplus, that God may heal him. To be humble before the Truth rather than to craft and live in his own comfortable, yet miserable, "truth."

This Lent, may we find grace to be willing to take our moral and spiritual medicine, to give God what He wants, not just what we're comfortable with parting with, that we may be healed, and to be humble servants to the Truth rather than to fashion ourselves according to our own values in narratives of our own contrivance.

Plaque from an altar retable showing the cleansing of Naaman, made in the Meuse Valley, ca. 1150–60. Gilt bronze and champlevé enamel, 10 × 10 cm. British Museum, London. Available at: https://artandtheology.org/tag/jordan-river/

03/18/2022

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In the Gospel for Daily Mass today (Mt 21:33-43, 45-46), Jesus references Psalm 118:22-23: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes."

This painting is entitled "The Stone Rejected by the Builder." It was painted in 2017 by Ronald Raab, CSC, pastor of a Sacred Heart Parish in Colorado Springs, CO. You may find it here: https://ronaldraab.com/2017/06/05/the-stone-rejected-by-the-builder/

Fr. Raab's website features other reflections and artworks as well.

03/08/2022

The Gospel for Daily Mass today (Mt 6:7-15) features Jesus teaching his disciples the "Our Father." Here is a performance of Tatiana Yashvili's setting of that prayer in Ukrainian by the St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church Choir(Toronto, ON), under the direction of Zhanna Zinchenko (performance was on 7 November 2015). For links to the words, including an English-alphabet transliteration, and a brief reflection on music in war-torn times and Music Mission Kiev by the composer herself, please see the comments of this post.

Вірую (The Creed – I Believe) (Татяна Яшвілі) (Tatiana Yashvili), performed by the St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church Choir (Свято-Миколаївська Українськ...

03/02/2022

With apologies for the long pause, the Catholic Studies Program will post occasionally this Lent with contributions from associated members.

Ash Wednesday Reflection by Dr. Stephen Chanderbhan, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Catholic Studies Program

In a day and age where everything can be so public, and when there is encouragement - even pressure in some cases - to go public, keeping things close to one's vest can be quite countercultural. Sure there are some things we can't - indeed, shouldn't - keep hidden from the world. But there are also things that, in the words of "Midnight Cowboy," are ultimately "between me and my confessor."

I think the things we really do for Lent - our prayer, our fasting, our almsgiving - should be like that: just a matter between me and my confessor ... and, of course, God. It is what the Gospel of today commands: "... when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. ... when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you."

Why? This way, you can be more sure that you're not doing the right thing for the wrong reasons - reasons like pride, clout, and public praise. You can be sure that your motivations are less tainted by confirmation bias and are more fully yours. This way, whatever conversion occurs within yourself through such acts of sacrifice becomes more sustainable, not at all dependent on contextual factors like the shifting sands of external affirmation, public acceptance, even clicks and likes on social media. "Return to me with your whole heart," the first reading says - your whole heart, he says, not your Instagram account.

Perhaps we must find our hearts first. Perhaps we must withdraw from the self we push out in public spaces that yearns for (and feeds upon) public adulation and return within ourselves, to the "me" that we cannot live without. After all, as St. Augustine says, "... truth dwells in the inner man." This self, this "inner man" - it is this that God has made. It is this self that God desires again for Himself.

May this Ash Wednesday put us to this task for the next 40 Days. Let it be a reminder to us that the outer self is but dust, but the innermost self endures - and must be reconciled to God.

May God have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Image: New York: Morgan Library, M. 933, fol. 57r of a Gradual; initial M beginning Introit of Mass for Ash Wednesday (Perugia?, c. 1260-1270). Link at: https://ima.princeton.edu/2017/03/01/ash-wednesday/.