♪ hello on on behalf of the archdiocese of san francisco welcome to mosaic. today we follow up on something we discussed your last october, one of the most sacred and solemn and yet five . and vigorous moments in the archdiocese with the consecration of the archdiocese to the immaculate heart of mary on our website are videos and slideshows prayers and articles documenting and celebrating that day, october 7th. on that day the arch bishop spoke to us and said, if this wonderful day becomes just the

cherished memory, i don't know if it will make a difference, i'm convinced he said, that it will make a difference if people begin to heed the request to appropriate this in their everyday lives in very concrete ways, how do we accomplish that? today we will discuss this as well as -- one of our priests, the blessed mother mary of jesus. one of her favorite children one of my favorite priests. we find ourselves in the middle of lent as well, the question how do we combined our lenten observance with a special focus on the kids we can receive from and give to our mother mary. after this brief pause, please rejoin us for a discussion of living the consecration every day.

hello and welcome to mosaic. today, my guess is father kevin nick kennedy. he is the pastor of our lady of -- byzantine catholic church. father kennedy i mentioned that the consecration to the virgin mary on october 7th, you were there i am presuming with your parish. >> i had celebrated mass at saint monica church that morning, so i wasn't able to be there at the cathedral on time for the mass celebrated by the

arch bishop, i can duhi wonderful homily, and the statc precession, which extended blocks around the cathedral afterwards, such a great representation from various parishes and communities of the archdiocese on that beautiful morning . >> you are in the byzantine catholic right? you're going to show some byzantine icons later, but i wanted to show you a few things you hadn't seen before, one of the consecration events was a student art contest so students could make artistic representations of the blessed virgin mary, i'd like to run those slides now, we can look at the student art and i will give the students credit with this thing here is quite beautiful. the cathedral with mary above and that tiny figure is the bishop i believe with his arms spread in blessing, this is by ernest who is a seventh grader, and is reused as the cover of

the pdf file, let's see the next one. now father, you recognize that, that's going to be the heart of the blessed mother with a sword piercing at the symbolizing her sorrows, that's an icon or a theme about which we will talk more today, and this is by -- -- this is gabriel a sixth grader who did this, and the next one if you please. his rosary encircling the world is quite nice, my notes say that this is from a second grader. and the next one please. this i think this is the favorite one that i have, that i've seen, this is by miley, a third grader at saint veronica school, such a motherly mary. and what about another one? and there's another representation of mary with roses around her, on a cloud,

and this is by peter, he is a fourth grader at holy name of jesus school, and we have another i think. here, this is a children at -- this is a representation of the blessed mother, there is a waterfall and moon and all kind of symbols, this is by teresa nathan from our lady of mercy school, very interesting student art. let's get to the question i raised at the beginning which is how do we live with the consecration? it's the arch bishop's turn to live it out he spelled out a requester program for living the consecration in concrete ways, let me show this there we are. i hope it's readable, this is living the consecration by the

arch bishop, this is his program for this is a holy carter prayer card you can download from our website, and why don't you read out for me father, the elements of this, can you see from there? >> prayer of course is central, the daily rosary, the recommendation of the week the family rosary. these are actually the same things that we are encouraged to do during the season of lent, so they coincide living the consecration and lent. the speaker you are going to explain the rosary, >> fasting, and prayer and penance on fridays we have the stain from meat, or skip a meal or do some other bodily fasting, works of charity, confession at least once a month, prayer before the sacrament. star of the sea church has adoration that's a wonderful place to go for prayer.

before the sacrament exposed, at least once a week if someone is able to do that in any parish. and the devotion of the five first saturdays which is specific to the devotion that our leader requested people to go to confession to celebrate mass, receive and meditate on the rosary for 15 minutes, especially in the union with her heart. the mystery of her heart which again, we will talk about as we reflect upon the rosary. >> i'm interesting with fasting and penance we associate with lent typically. then, the question of confession it seems to me that catholic practice of confession has fallen off somewhat come as a pastor what can you say about that? >> the invitation to come and see, and to overcome any nervousness that a person might have, that this is an opportunity to be free, and to enter into a new fresh start a new beginning of one's life

when the lord forgives he forgets he takes it away as if it would never happen, our sins cast off as far as the east is from the west, often times people say they are very nervous going into the confessional they leave and presumably after a good confession leave walking on a cloud because there is a great joy in being restored to the moment of one's baptism. and it's a great joy indeed. >> the question of adoration commits a term we use in catholicism without thinking about it twice, but it's deep. what a my adoring if i'm in front of the blessed sacrament? >> that the blessed sacrament is the presence of the lord himself. that outside we reserve it for the sick especially, but that is the sacramental presence of the lord, and so we offer that

presence, our worship, our loving adoration, especially this is a tradition in the western church of exposition, and adoration of the blessed sacrament. so, it's a wonderful time to have that intimate prayer with the lord, sacramentally present prints. there's something very attractive about it in a tiny sacred thing, the universe, the world, i really respond to that. so we will come back after this brief break and we will talk more about lent, mary ann devotion in making the consecration visible in our lives everyday. please come back and join us.

welcome back, father kevin

kennedy you are a priest of the archdiocese of san francisco, a roman catholic priest. many of us including myself don't know much about the byzantine world but you got involved, and got interested in this method of worship. >> i became interested in high school, and even more so in college. in the visiting orthodox churches, i always thought what a beautiful form of worship, the icons, delay trilogy, i wished to be of course in full communion with rome wouldn't it be wonderful to have this tradition in that full communion. that's what byzantine catholicism is. there are groups of orthodox christians that throughout the centuries have sought to reenter into the unity that existed in the first millennium in the history of christianity, the union between east and west. so, these byzantine catholic

communities have their own hierarchies separate from the roman catholic hierarchy, the latest of the communities to form in the early 20th century the russian byzantine catholic church is so small it doesn't have its own hierarchy, so we are entrusted to the local latin ordinary, in this case archbishop -- who appointed me pastor of this russian byzantine catholic parish, and he was visiting us just this last january 7th for our christmas so we were delighted to have him and we rejoice in his support for us. >> to me it's an exotic world, can you reassure us the services are in english. >> everything is in english, it's in the byzantine form, you fulfill your sunday obligation by joining us, we have a lunch afterwards to which everyone is invited and we are getting more and more people coming. because they enjoy it.

>> i think i will be there. it's interesting in my view, last year was the anniversary of -- i think of it as a very western sort of event, there it is in portugal western church, but your church is byzantine catholic church of our lady of fatima. you combined the eastern and the western, and you're a great student of mary, and i wanted ask you to fill us in on what it means that we have consecrated ourselves to her heart. i know you have some byzantine icons to share with us, so please go ahead . >> part in the biblical sense refers to the person himself or herself, in this case our lady, her intimate, her unique self, no one else. mary, what is unique about her? the center and core of her interior life, her love for god, wholehearted dedication to the mystery of her son, her love for us, the members of the body of christ, and so that

love, that obedience of faith, her memory, her intellect, her will or her heart, all of that is the treasure that we are invited through to focus upon as a way to lead us ever closer to god. >> let me ask you about the icons you've chosen to show. because these seem to do with her sorrows, her pain, and explained that please if you will. >> in the second chapter of the gospel of luke in verse 19 and again in verse 51. our lady, is described as holding, pondering, treasuring all of these things in her heart, the heart is a just described in the biblical sense. what things, her son, the whole mystery of christ, in its entirety is held in her heart as a vast treasure. with a mother's love she

reflects upon and treasures all of this to bestow this memory, living memory this reality to us through her heart . >> let's bring up the icons you've chosen should've had a graphic warning but here is the lady with swords piercing her heart. >> this is a reflection of the prophecy of simeon as the lord is presented in the temple, simeon says to her you yourself a sword shall pierce, her soul, her heart her innermost being is pierced with the reality of we were talking earlier about greek, the kind gnosis of the lord is his humility, that he enters into the human condition on our behalf, that his self emptying love is a model for us, and redeems us. and so mary enters into that kind gnosis in a very unique and intimate way.

she shares in his pain, sorrow, and suffering in such a way that the church has seen in her heart a model of that can gnosis put >> let's look at the next line, this is also byzantine in origin and the title of this icon is very interesting it's called "the softener of evil or cruel hearts" put >> mary is the softener . >> she softens even the most hardened of heart, the cruel or the most evil heart looking upon her participant patient in the sorrow of her son. her unique partaking in that suffering for us, would soften even the most hardened of hearts . >> i think it would, let's look at the next slide as well, d of the western-style slides? >> this is a variation of that, once again you see seven

swords, patterned after the the seven traditional showers of our lady. and again, it shows this depiction it depicts this prophecy of simeon, a sword shall enter your soul, and again there are a variety of sorrows that are depicted symbolized through these seven swords, the flight into egypt, the loss of the child in the temple, the meeting of our lady, the way of the cross, the crucifixion itself, the piercing of his heart, the taking down from the cross as he is laid in her arms, the famous -- would depict that reality, all of these express her sharing in the passion of her son, and in a to enrsf . swords piercing her heart, if like of my heart were evil and cruel it would be softened, inon

her, and yet because she enters into that passion is able to know the fullness of joy, the joy of the resurrection. she whose shares fully in the cross, and the burial in the tomb shares fully in the resurrection. so she is also known as the joy of all who sorrow. the cup hurt her of the afflict it, the searcher for those who are lost. quick to hear, quick to listen to and respond to the needs of her children. so, all of this is not modeling so much as it is the reality out of his pain and sorrow is born a new life, the joy of life in the spirit just the resurrection itself. because she's the model of the mother, we come back after this break we will talk about the way we meet mary through the rosary. please rejoin us.

welcome back we are going to talk to father kevin about the rosary, everyone knows the rosary can saying hail mary over and over while holding your needs, we have these things called mysteries. this is what we contemplate, can you explain that to us?

>> getting back to the heart of our lady, and why we should pray the rosary through her heart as it were is because she is the first one described in the gospel of luke who holds, and ponders, and treasures all of these things in her heart. christ, the mystery of christ in its fullness, the treasure those mysteries, so she's the best one to lead us through her heart, into the life, death, and resurrection of her son. a whole mystery of christ, through joy, through sorrow, through glory she leaves us through each of those mysteries. speak of these mysteries events in the life of jesus christ is what they are right? so as you are seeing the rosary reciting with your group you are also meditating on the distinctive episode mystery event in jesus's life.

recall the mysteries why is that? >> mystery is not so much something that conceals, or reveals a profound depth and meaning that takes us beyond the mundane but to the reality of god's love, his presence in the world which so many times we forget about. mystery takes us into the depths of love hidden in the lord himself. >> i can't recite all 15 of these mysteries, you take an arc through life, there is a set of five sorrowful, joyful, and then five glorious, coming to christ in his glory. i've taken up the rosary more frequently during lent, as the arch bishop requested. it's soothing. speak of the joyful mysteries is the birth of the lord, the central event of the sorrowful is his passion, his death on

the cross, his burial in the tomb and the central event of the glorious is the resurrection. and from the resurrection comes pentecost, a gift of the holy spirit and our lady as us. there are, in her own unique way, the gift of the spirit after the resurrection and the sanction of the lord is the ability for us to have god's own love within us that we are not just reflecting on past historical events, but in the mystery of the eucharist, and the rosary, we enter into christ, we relive, we read actualize his life, death, and resurrection. we are not just remembering past events, we are entering into the very life of christ, his death in order to share fully in our goal which is the resurrection. risen life, transformed life.

>> meant as a pathway toward the crucifixion that is the gate to the resurrection, that's the gate to the beginning of the church and our participation in a brand-new life. interesting article in the catholic san francisco newspaper the students at the lady of visitation school has started a daily rosary so a 15 everyday there is a rosary school houses down, the contemplate a mystery, and the principal says it's become a soothing and uplifting experience every day in the school. >> it's calming and centering, in a world with great need of that kind of peace, and in the angelic salutation itself, when we recite the hail mary, repeating the words that she gave, she says yes to this great plan of reconstituting the human race and bringing it to its goal which is oneness with god.

>> i want to show one slide to let people know where they can find resources for the observance of lent, you can go to our website and you can goad to the u.s. conference of catholics that lent page, and you are a pastor, not just a theologian, what would you want someone to take away from watching this show, can you sum it up in 30 seconds. >> we begin with images of the children. because any child understands the love of a mother, a mother's heart, her compassion, her presence, her caring and those images of a rosary agouof lady bringing children in. holding over the cathedral all of the people of god, it shows she's with us, she is present to us, she cares about us she is in fact what those icons say of her, the searcher for the lost the comforter of the afflicted. >> think you father very much,

and thank you for watching us on mosaic and have a wonderful lent and easter.

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