Call to Holiness 2007: Dr. Robert Fastiggi

I mentioned in my previous post that I would supply info for how to get video and audio of the Call to Holiness 2007 talks. I decided to first make this post because it is the perfect lead-in for plugging those things. I loved all of the talks, but this may very well have been my favorite. It was content rich, well-ordered and referenced, and just plain simple to understand the way the speaker explains his subject.

Dr. Robert Fastiggi of Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit gave an excellent talk entitled, "Can the Church err?". In that talk, he explained the different levels of assent, for which he provided an outline. In perfect professor fashion, he layered his information, building a foundation, then stacking the bricks. I watched his talk again on DVD last night and will likely let it run in the background over and again until the information is ingrained.

Dr. Fastiggi provides the perfect package for dealing with dissenting Catholics because it is a primary area of confusion among disoriented theologians, who have left in their wake, disoriented Catholics. In fact, Dr. Fastiggi gets into some examples - in particular, that of the laicized priest, Professor Daniel McGuire, whose disorientation as a theologian was the subject of a strong statement by the USCCB recently. If someone with whom you are discussing an issue doesn't get these basic things taught by Dr. Fastiggi, you won't get any further. Hence, it becomes a starting point for any good dialogue on Catholic matters.

Dr. Fastiggi at the OLMC Site in the PM

Dr. Fastiggi at the St. Rene Goupil Site in the AM

OTHER CTH 2007 POSTS:

• Photo Post 1: Bishop Flores at OLMC
• Photo Post 2: Marcus Grodi at OLMC
• Photo Post 3: Bishop Bruskewitz at St. Rene Goupil
• Photo Post 4: Dr. Alice von Hildegrand at OLMC
• Call to Holiness notification post 2 (with speakers)
• Call to Holiness notification post 1 (with poster)
• Photo Post Series on Call to Holiness 2005

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

Call to Holiness: 2007 - Bishop Bruskewitz at OLMC

Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln Nebraska also spoke at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (OLMC), in Wyandotte, Michigan, after he spoke at St. Rene Goupil on the East Side of metro Detroit. His talk was entitled, The One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, Church.

My next post will give you information on how you can obtain audio and/or video of these conferences. I have already received my DVD's and my MP3-CD.

The pictures came out a little dark, but not too bad considering no use of flash to distract the speakers and which minimized distraction of participants. Quality I would like is still not there, but much of it has to do with the continuous movement of the speakers, without the aid of flash.

Call to Holiness 2007: Dr. Alice von Hildebrand at OLMC

Here are a couple of photos of Dr. Alice von Hildebrand at the Call to Holiness - Our Lady of Mt. Carmel site. Dr. von Hildebrand is a well known Catholic philosopher, theologian, author and lecturer who spoke on the topic of "Women & the Priesthood".

This talk and all others from the Call to Holiness can be obtained on DVD, CD or MP3 CD. Details will follow.

This is the same photo cropped two different ways.

The photos below were sent to me from Debbie Bloomfield, wife of Deacon Richard Bloomfield seen seated with Bishop Bruskewitz and Dr. von Hildebrand in the bottom picture. I am assuming this was taken at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel rectory at lunch time.

OTHER CTH 2007 POSTS:

• Photo Post 1: Bishop Flores at OLMC
• Photo Post 2: Marcus Grodi at OLMC
• Call to Holiness notification post 2 (with speakers)
• Call to Holiness notification post 1 (with poster)
• Photo Post Series on Call to Holiness 2005

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

Call to Holiness 2007: Bishop Bruskewitz at St. Rene

Grotto Photographer Jeff Williams has emailed me these photos of Bishop Bruskewitz from the St. Rene site - one of two locations to which each speaker traveled. Jeff explained that he too was dealing with the challenging lighting conditions without flash.

The Bishop Speaks!

Below, Bishop Bruskewtiz is speaks with Fr. Eduard Perrone - the pastor of Assumption Grotto in Detroit. Patrick Fabian of OLMC, who was assisting that day, looks on.

Bishop Bruskewitz mingling with participants of the conference

Some views inside of St. Rene Goupil parish in the suburban Detroit community of Sterling Heights.

More photos tomorrow.....

Just a reminder - within the next few days, I will be making a separate post providing details of how you can order audio and/or video of the conference.

OTHER CTH 2007 POSTS:

• Photo Post 1: Bishop Flores at OLMC
• Photo Post 2: Marcus Grodi at OLMC
• Call to Holiness notification post 2 (with speakers)
• Call to Holiness notification post 1 (with poster)

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

Call to Holiness 2007: Marcus Grodi at OLMC

Tomorrow I will post some photos from the St. Rene Goupil site that fellow Grotto photographer Jeff Williams has sent me. For now, I leave you with some shots of Marcus Grodi at the OLMC site.


As many of you already know, Marcus - a former Protestant minister - is host of The Journey Home on EWTN, and he is responsible for The Coming Home Network where he helps ministers with their transition into the Catholic Faith. In the first talk following Mass, Marcus talked on the Biblical Defense of Catholicism.

A Scene from Call to Holiness
I couldn't resist photographing two dads cradling their baby girls in the back of OLMC during the talk given by Marcus. I bring to you photos of our youngest CTH attendees: Maria (in the foreground), and Margaret - posted with permission of their parents.

Go ahead, say it: Awwwwwwwwwwww.....

The slight blur is the result of rocking daddies, dim environment, and no use of flash.

OTHER CTH 2007 POSTS:

• Photo Post 1: Bishop Flores at OLMC

Te Deum Laudamus! Home

Call to Holiness 2007 - Photo Post 1: Bishop Daniel Flores at OLMC

Since Call to Holiness 2007 was at two locations this year, we were fortunate to have more than one volunteer photographer working the sites. When I get photos from the St. Rene location, I will make posts featuring those. There will also be several more posts during the week of other speakers, which included Marcus Grodi, Dr. Alice von Hildebrand, Bishop Bruskewitz, Fr. Neil Roy, and Dr. Robert Fastiggi.

For those who could not make it, or were too far away to come, I will be posting info on how to get video, CD's or an MP3 CD of the talks.

This morning, I would like to share a few shots of Detroit Auxiliary Bishop, Daniel Flores, who recently came to us from Texas, and was ordained on November 29, 2006 by Cardinal Adam Maida.

What little I heard of the Bishop's homily was profound (I explain below an interesting side story for the day, which had me running a tad late for the Mass).

As I looked through the 300mm camera lens, I saw a man who was not reading a written homily, even though it appeared as such because he periodically looked down. Rather, he was in very deep reflection and he was conveying that reflection on the fly. He looked up; he looked down; he looked to the side - often pausing in between. His deep voice cut through the echo of the old Church, making his words very clear even with the 50% hereditary hearing loss I have in both ears.

If anyone would like to offer their thoughts on the homily - from either site, or talk about key points, please feel free to do so in the combox.

I headed up to the balcony for the rest of Mass so that I would not disturb anyone during their worship. The environment was very dim - more dim than Assumption Grotto, but the natural lighting gave off a beautiful golden glow. The Paschal Candle in the center made it challenging and I went as far to the right as I could go.

Below, from left to right, we have the pastor of OLMC - Fr. Walter J. Ptak and behind him Deacon Richard Bloomfield, with Bishop Daniel Flores in the center. Perhaps someone can email me at TeDeumBlog@aol.com or make a note in the combox for the remaining two, whose names I do not know. I believe the fourth person is a priest of Miles Christi.

After Mass, the Bishop noted that it was the feast day of St. Louis de Montfort, who is responsible for the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary, which profoundly guided Pope John Paul II. Bishop Flores, the deacons and concelebrants, and the altar boys all knelt in the sanctuary before the Blessed Sacrament and led us through a renewal of the consecration prayer which was on the back cover of the CTH booklet. This photo taken during the consecration prayer is a little dark, but you get an idea of OLMC's beauty.


MORE ON ST. LOUIS DE MONTFORT

Fr. John Corapi on the Total Consecration (6 talks on CD)
The Writings of St. Louis de Montfort (Montfort.org)
Pope John Paul II and Totus Tuus (The Work of God)

ERROR OF THE DAY - Doh!
I made the mistake of accidentally leaving at home (50 minutes away) a little 1-inch square piece which connects the camera to the tripod. As I set up my camera just minutes before the morning Mass at OLMC (Our Lady of Mt. Carmel - Wyandotte), I realized I was in BIG trouble. There is simply no way to take photos without flash in the dim lighting of a church without having the camera mounted (that is, without very expensive stabilizing lenses). I flew out the door (God bless the men who saved my parking space), and ran to a nearby Meier where I bought a new tripod. I made it back mid-homily and in time to get some shots off from the floor before heading up to the balcony for the rest of Mass.

ADDITIONAL CAMERA NOTES
I used the 400 ISO setting and kept playing with the exposure meter. The camera was mounted on a tripod that was a little different than my original one and, I found that it would shake for up to 10-15 seconds after I finished moving it. It was not robust. This accounts for some slight lack of clarity in some photos. In addition, most of the speakers were in constant motion. I had the aperature at the lowest setting for a given lens and strength and there was only so much I could do without a better stabilizer lens - as far as I know.

For further photostories of the 2007 CTH, and other Catholic discussions, visit the Te Deum homepage

• Photo Post 2: Marcus Grodi at OLMC

Deo Gratias!