CNS has the story of a 50-year veteran worker at Castel Gandolfo reflects on the various styles of the popes:

Pope John Paul was the first to really use the villa as a second home. Especially in the early years, he hosted evening meetings with young people where the youths would light bonfires, sing songs and tell stories about their lives.

Pope John Paul would pay frequent visits to the families of the 50 or so employees who live and work on the villa grounds, accepting a cup of tea and chatting casually with them, Petrillo said.

The employees' children, whenever they would see the pope walking in the gardens, would hide behind the bushes and jump out at him when he passed. The pope loved the game and played along, Petrillo said.

It was Pope John Paul who had a swimming pool built at the villa so that he could exercise, on the advice of doctors, the director said. When some critics objected to the expense, the Polish pope joked: "A new conclave would cost a lot more."

Petrillo said Pope Benedict impresses the villa staff with his extraordinary sensitivity and spirituality. The German pope finds the quiet villa a perfect place to write, and every evening the staff hears the pope at his piano, playing his favorite works of Mozart, Bach and Beethoven.

"It makes us happy because it means he really feels at home here," Petrillo said.

The 50-acre villa, built on the grounds of a Roman emperor's country residence, is perched in the Alban Hills south of Rome. Petrillo began working there in 1958, in the waning days of Pope Pius XII.

He learned that during World War II, Pope Pius had not only opened the doors of the villa to thousands of people fleeing the Nazi army, but on many occasions gave up his bedroom to expectant women among the refugees.

"Fifty babies were born in that room," Petrillo said.

Pope John liked the villa in part because he could slip out so easily.

"Every now and then he disappeared. He would go out one of the gates without telling anyone and without an escort," Petrillo said. The pontiff would make his way to nearby towns and just hang out with people.

One Sunday morning the staff received phone calls placing the pope at the sea town of Anzio, then at Nettuno and then at the lake below Castel Gandolfo. As his aides panicked, the pope returned calmly in time to lead the Angelus prayer at noon.

Pope Paul VI came to pray at the villa as a cardinal for a week before the 1963 conclave that elected him pope. When it came time for the cardinal to leave the residence for Rome, the villa's doorman said goodbye with the words, "Best wishes, Holy Father!"

By using the words reserved for addressing a pope, the doorman had, of course, violated the age-old rule of never wishing a cardinal good luck as he went into a conclave. The doorman received a burning glare from the villa's director.

When Pope Paul visited the villa, it was always for spiritual sustenance, Petrillo said.

"He prayed and that's all," he said.

Like Pope Pius, Pope Paul died at Castel Gandolfo, and his body remained there three days for public viewing before a simple funeral procession carried him back to Rome.

When Pope Pius died in 1958, Petrillo said he was surprised and saddened to see how the reduced number of papal aides at the villa made for a lonely death.

"Before I began working there, I thought the pope would always be surrounded by a big crowd of people, ready to respond to his every desire. But when I saw Pius XII dying, I realized how alone he was. No one was there," he said.

I use the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults with my seniors so I was particularly interested to read this. From USCCB/CNS:

The U.S. bishops have voted to ask the Vatican to approve a small change in the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults to clarify church teaching on God's covenant with the Jewish people.

The proposed change -- which would replace one sentence in the catechism -- was discussed by the bishops in executive session at their June meeting in Orlando, Fla., but did not receive the needed two-thirds majority of all members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at that time.

After mail balloting, the final vote of 231-14, with one abstention, was announced Aug. 5 in a letter to bishops from Msgr. David Malloy, USCCB general secretary.

The change, which must be confirmed by the Vatican Congregation for Clergy, would remove from the catechism a sentence that reads: "Thus the covenant that God made with the Jewish people through Moses remains eternally valid for them."

Replacing it would be this sentence: "To the Jewish people, whom God first chose to hear his word, 'belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ'" (Rom 9:4-5; cf. CCC, No. 839).

"Talking points" distributed to the bishops along with Msgr. Malloy's letter said the proposed revision "is not a change in the church's teaching."

"Catholics understand that all previous covenants that God made with the Jewish people have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ through the new covenant established through his sacrificial death on the cross," the talking points say.

"The prior version of the text," they continue, "might be understood to imply that one of the former covenants imparts salvation without the mediation of Christ, whom Christians believe to be the universal savior of all people."

Father James Massa, executive director of the USCCB Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, told Catholic News Service Aug. 11 that he did not "anticipate any tensions in the relationship" between Catholics and Jews as long as the proposed change is properly understood as arising from a need to "remove ambiguity" in the catechism.

"The catechism is not the place where you work out difficult theological problems," he said. "That's what scholars are charged to do."

It's becoming a popular text as the article notes:

Adopted by the U.S. bishops in November 2004 and later approved by the Vatican, the 664-page adult catechism is the first official catechism produced by the nation's bishops since the creation of the Baltimore Catechism, first published in 1885 and revised in 1941.

In the first two weeks after its July 31, 2006, publication, it sold more than 25,000 copies, according to USCCB Publishing.

Therese Brown, associate director for marketing, sales and service at USCCB Publishing, said about 190,000 copies of the adult catechism had been sold to date. Another printing of 50,000 copies took place in May and those copies are expected to run out around the middle of next year, she said.

A note on the GIA website notes the passing of a noted sacred music composer:

With heavy hearts, the people of GIA Publications, Inc. mourn the passing of a liturgical and musical legend, Father Joseph Gelineau, SJ (1920-2008), pastor and visionary. His contribution to the world of liturgical music was both ground breaking and prolific. Gelineau devoted his life to liturgy and was instrumental in the movement toward the Second Vatican Council. He was most renowned for his numerous psalm tones (covering the entire Psalter), which were originally written for the Psalter of the Bible de Jérusalem, and were later applied to the Grail Psalter in English. For over 60 years he also composed for Brother Roger and the Taizé Community. The spiritual power of his music inspired many and now lives in the hearts and minds of Christians worldwide. He died in Sallanches, August 8, 2008 at the age of 87 after 67 years as a Jesuit priest.

Fr. Gelineau's funeral Mass was celebrated Tuesday, August 12, 2008, in the village of Vallorcine in the Savoy Alps.

May he rest in eternal peace with his Jesuit brothers in Grenoble, France.

A biography of Fr. Gelineau from GIA

In a letter of encouragement and inspired by the recent feast of Saint John Vianney, Bishop Tobin of Providence writes of "Priestly Fatigues Syndrome," including its symptoms and antidote. The Rhode Island Catholic has the story:

"I guess it's an inescapable reality of human life, regardless of our vocation or profession, that the initial joy of our first commitment often wanes as we get caught up in the burdens and cynicism of the world. It might be inevitable, but it's profoundly sad when it happens," he writes.

When days off rise to a higher priority than days spent ministering to a parish, when time spent in prayer and personal reflection is replaced by the time-consuming drudgeries of paperwork and personnel issues, when homilies become rote, he writes, a priest may be experiencing "priestly fatigue syndrome."

...

"Brothers, it's critical that we evaluate our commitment to the ministry of the Word. Do we devote sufficient time to the preparation of our Sunday homily? Do we immerse ourselves in the Word, spending time in prayer and reflection, taking it unto ourselves before we preach it to others? Are our homilies faithful, effective, challenging and joyful proclamations of the saving message of Jesus Christ?"

On the topic of celebrating the mysteries of Christ, Bishop Tobin encourages his brother priests to consider two of the most sacred sacraments – Eucharist and Reconciliation.

"Our daily personal attention to the Eucharist – faithfully celebrated, gratefully received, and humbly adored, is certainly one of the keys to maintaining the joy and enthusiasm of our priestly ministry," he writes.

Following his recent feast day, St. John Vianney's faithfulness to the duty of hearing confessions was Bishop Tobin's inspiration to encourage his brother priests to carefully analyze how they promote confession in their parish and how faithfully it is carried out. Are confessions limited to a few minutes prior to Saturday's 5 p.m. Mass or are they more readily available? "Even recent experience has shown that when the Sacrament of Reconciliation is explained and promoted, and when the priest is truly available, people will in fact frequent the sacrament. The message of forgiveness, reconciliation and peace is certainly something our Church and society need to hear," he writes.

Another ordination vow – to implore God's mercy on the people in your care – is promoted by Bishop Tobin as a means to reconnecting with the vocation. "The question reminds us that praying with and for our people is one of the primary responsibilities of the priest," he writes. Even St. John Vianney, a major source of inspiration for the letter, struggled to make prayer a regular, and indispensable, part of his daily life, Bishop Tobin points out. "We know that prayer is essential to our spiritual survival and ministerial effectiveness. Prayer is to priesthood what oxygen is to life," he writes.

Finally Bishop Tobin addresses the priestly call to be united with Christ: "Our desire to be ever more closely united to Christ, our desire to grow in holiness is indeed the work of a lifetime but a goal for which we can never stop striving."

Bishop Tobin ended his letter on an encouraging note: "Nothing is more effective, even in our jaded culture today, than the compelling example of a holy priest, in love with the Lord, enthusiastic about his work and completely dedicated to the people he is sent to serve. Your work is important, dear brothers, you do make a difference. Your people are watching, waiting, hoping and praying for your leadership and example."

I've emailed this to all of the organists who play at my new parish. Frankly, it's been a personal rule for me for a long time anyway so it won't change the way I program music for the liturgy.

In the light of what has been expounded, the following directives are to be observed:

1. In liturgical celebrations, in songs and prayers the name of God in the form of the tetragrammaton YHWH is neither to be used or pronounced.

2. For the translation of the biblical text in modern languages, destined for the liturgical use of the Church, what is already prescribed by n. 41 of the instruction Liturgiam authenticam is to be followed; that is, the divine tetragrammaton is to be rendered by the equivalent of Adonai/Kyrios: “Lord”, “Signore”, “Seigneur”, “Herr”, “Senor”, etc.

3. In translating, in the liturgical context, texts in which are present, one after the other, either the Hebrew term Adonai or the tetragrammaton YHWH, Adonai is to be translated “Lord” and the form “God” is to be used for the tetragrammaton YHWH, similar to what happens in the Greek translation of the Septuagint and in the Latin translation of the Vulgate.

From the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2008.

+ Francis Card. Arinze
Prefect

+ Albert Malcolm Ranjith
Archbishop Secretary

[Source]