tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-173098962024-03-18T09:28:08.735-04:00Maior autem his est caritas<strong>"The greatest of these is love"</strong><br>
Catholica, Indica, Et Cetera. <br>The occasional blog of Fr. Gaurav ShroffFr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.comBlogger3103125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-63763044266045523722024-03-17T17:19:00.007-04:002024-03-17T22:36:23.485-04:00Feminist harpies and fairly tales: attending a Jordan Peterson talk[The title of this post is shameless clickbait!] On Friday night, I was at State Farm Arena in downtown Atlanta in a crowd of some 10-12,000 people. Largely young, largely male. They had come out to listen to a talk on "We Who Wrestle With God" by the wildly popular Canadian psychologist, author, and one of the few, frankly, who could be called a public intellectual in our day and time, Dr. Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-9734454833324158142023-09-25T16:56:00.004-04:002023-09-25T16:57:29.308-04:00The forest advances(Cumberland Island, GA, 2020)I've spent a relaxing afternoon on my day of rest in my favorite local coffee shop with the latest issue of First Things. Louise Perry, the author of The Case Against the Sexual Revolution, herself not a believer, and a self-described agnostic on abortion, but clearly discomfited by it, writes of what is at stake in this particular debate of the "culture war." Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-60998737192617039142023-07-10T07:34:00.004-04:002023-07-10T07:34:56.798-04:00PenitentiaryThe Apostolic Penitentiary that is. I expect to write a few posts on the recently concluded visit to the Roman Curia that I participated in, from my Canon Law Faculty at St. Paul University in Ottawa. I'd been sharing daily updates on Instagram Stories, and this question showed up from one of my followers (and a dear friend!). So is the excommunication theoretically, also internal for Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-88430550158229706012023-04-04T23:51:00.003-04:002023-04-05T06:57:08.359-04:00Chrism Mass 2023(Photo of the Altar during the Eucharistic Prayer, taken from the Facebook feed of Archbishop Hartmayer)And after that the Lord gave me brothers (St. Francis of Assisi, Testament, 1226)"It is important for priests not to live off on their own somewhere, in isolation, but to accompany one another in small communities, to support one another, and so to experience, and constantly realize afreshFr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-32980605429548833562023-01-25T22:32:00.006-05:002023-01-25T22:32:59.851-05:00Republic Day 2023 January 26, 1950.Newly independent India's new Constitution goes into effect, superseding the Government of India Act of 1935. The Dominion of India becomes The Republic of India, after 107 years of being subject to the British Crown.The day is celebrated as Republic Day, with a signature military parade down Rajpath in New Delhi, with the President and Prime Minister, and other dignitariesFr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-23431014635837747922022-11-29T20:11:00.001-05:002022-11-29T20:11:03.725-05:00St. Therese of Lisieux and the Thief(resumen en español abajo) In my homily for the First Sunday of Advent, I expounded on the fact that the Lord says He will come like a thief, and I paraphrased the following story about St. Therese: During the last couple of years of her life, as she was dying of tuberculosis, she began to relate to Jesus as “Le Voleur,” the “thief,” more and more. She wanted to help the thief steal herFr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-13548201904622968412022-11-07T13:19:00.000-05:002022-11-07T13:19:29.520-05:00COP27 I The 27th Conference of Parties of the UNFCC (“COP27”) begins today at Sharm-al-Shaikh in Egypt. As Catholics, the Holy Father has asked us to pay attention to the issue of climate change, because of its impact on human beings, human society, and human flourishing. I.e. it is something that concerns the moral sphere of analysis and action. Climate change is a global problem with graveFr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-9211825921046023312022-09-01T23:11:00.005-04:002022-09-02T09:21:54.276-04:00How is your wonder going? Mass with Pope FrancisThe stairs at the end of the Braccio di ConstantinoI wanted to title this post: "I attended Latin Mass with Pope Francis," but figured it would be too click-baity. :-) But, yes, it was a Mass largely in Latin, celebrated by (well, sort of), Pope Francis. And if I'd written "I concelebrated Latin Mass with Pope Francis," that would give it away -- that this was, of course, a Novus Ordo Mass, and Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-48934917803338494082022-08-30T18:06:00.001-04:002022-08-30T18:06:21.072-04:00We are all missionaries: Glimpses of South Asian Catholicism Philip Jenkins wrote The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity twenty years ago, and the slowly changing demographics of the College of Cardinals reflects the shift in the center of gravity (as far as number of believers, but also spiritual vitality and strength) of the Christian world to the global South. This visit to Rome afforded an opportunity to get a sense of the Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-53930871522587129142022-08-29T18:15:00.007-04:002022-08-29T18:15:47.506-04:00Usque ad effusionem sanguinis Mosaic in side altar. Chapel, Pontifical Urban College The new Cardinals are entrusted with the service of love: love for God, love for his Church, an absolute and unconditional love for his brothers and sisters, even unto shedding their blood, if necessary, as expressed in the words of placing the biretta and as indicated by the colour of their robes.(Address of His Holiness Benedict Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-63248262005020322042022-08-15T00:13:00.002-04:002022-08-15T09:57:24.117-04:00The immortal great festival of freedom August 15, 2022, is the seventy fifth anniversary of India's (and Pakistan's, on the 14th) independence. I should say "15 August," following the normal British and Indian convention for dating. Pandrah Agast in Hindi (15 August), means, simply, Independence Day. Vadodara airport festooned with the Indian tricolor. 2017.During my recent trip to the Subcontinent, signs marking the Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-81622443562144462622022-08-04T00:39:00.002-04:002022-08-04T00:51:37.027-04:00Freedom in Christ I'm serving as a Chaplain this week at one of FOCUS's "Summer Projects" locations -- in Big Sky, MT. As part of the summer, the students get to attend talks by different speakers. This week at Big Sky, there was a talk by Kim Zember. She shared her powerful testimony of growing up Catholic, discovering her attraction to women, living that out, and her reversion as an adult, and findingFr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-30715071543882181242022-08-03T00:33:00.004-04:002022-08-03T00:34:10.156-04:00Unborn children qualify for tax exemption in Georgia In June I wrote a post about the contents of the State of Georgia's "Heartbeat bill" (which was allowed to go into effect by the 11th Circuit on July 20). Yesterday, the Georgia Department of Revenue issued a ruling on some provisions of HB481, which recognizes the personhood of a human fetus, from after the detection of cardiac activity. Here's the relevant bit: As such, onFr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-66194463775792046352022-08-03T00:12:00.002-04:002022-08-03T00:16:41.428-04:00The Kansas Vote [Originally posted on Facebook] A disappointing result from the heartland of "Red State" America, but one that doesn't surprise me (the margin of the vote did, though).Dobbs was only the beginning. The fact of the matter is, thanks to the narrative defined by the culture shaping institutions of the media, film and academia, as well as the desire to have back up birth control (a Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-63643779938930621732022-06-25T16:18:00.000-04:002022-06-25T16:18:11.239-04:00Georgia's LIFE ActWith yesterday's historic decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, the issue of the legality of abortion returns to the States, and to the democratic legislative process. Here's what's in the Georgia statute, HB481, signed into law on May 7, 2019 by Gov. Kemp, and that came into effect on Jan 1, 2020, and called the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act.[In Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-63900590916669227392021-08-02T09:38:00.004-04:002021-08-02T09:38:41.366-04:00Catholic Extension Last week, I was invited by Catholic Extension, one of the oldest charities in the US, on a "pastor immersion experience" to see what kinds of apostolates are supported by the funds they raise, in one of the 87 dioceses that they serve in the United States. It was a truly memorable event that took me and a handful of other pastors from around the country to the Diocese of Yakima in Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-7613032082509197212021-07-17T00:19:00.004-04:002021-07-17T09:15:50.733-04:00Pariahs[The Nuptial Mass according to the old Roman Rite, Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Atlanta, 2017]Pope Francis issued the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes today, issuing restrictions on celebrations of the Mass according to the Missal of 1962, and writing an accompanying letter to the world's Bishops explaining his reasons. It's Friday, a day that I normally don't follow social media, or post.Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-87108706343115654472020-07-19T22:36:00.000-04:002020-07-19T22:36:26.458-04:00Abusive obedienceAs yet another disheartening story appears of mismanagement, at best, of a case of sexual abuse by a cleric (in this case, involving an adult woman. Kudos to my buddy Chris Altieri for his reporting on this story), I was reminded of an article that I had saved away for future reading when the McCarrick affair exploded upon us back in 2018, but never actually got around to. It showed up again thisFr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-33945557325122748492020-05-10T22:32:00.000-04:002020-05-10T22:32:26.836-04:00"From Ragas to Responsories" [This is now a very very very occasional blog. ] The latest episode of Square Notes: Sacred Music podcast is a conversation with yours truly. [YouTube link to episode] George Sigalas from Athens (former parishioner of mine) had sent in my conversion story to Dr Jennifer Donelson (who teaches at Dunwoody Seminary) and Peter Carter, the hosts of the podcast, and they Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-87341253339644193722019-12-31T12:57:00.001-05:002019-12-31T12:57:17.968-05:00Small gestures
It's the last day of the year -- of the decade. I had dinner with a close friend of my parents, and the conversation turned to, a bit unexpectedly, a common (though, for me, long dormant) interest: Hindustani classical music. From the age of 8, till about 20, I had received regular vocal training in the Agra gharana (style of classical music). In Bombay, my guruji was the late Batukbhai Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-39593855492621261062019-04-07T23:15:00.000-04:002019-04-07T23:16:50.712-04:00Ex Voto
After the Spanish Mass, a young couple approached me at the back of the church and asked if I would accompany them to the statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe. They held a tiny infant — “She’s three weeks old. We had made a promise (voto) to Our Lady that if she was born safely, we’d go to church and go to her image on our knees.” The grandparents and godmother of the mother were also present. TheFr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-25310770400460627912017-10-08T15:03:00.001-04:002017-10-09T11:50:35.783-04:00On the "Latin Mass" ...
St. Josemaría Escriva offering Holy Mass.
Two recent pieces by Matthew Schmitz of First Things that are worth a glance: One in the UK Catholic Herald, and another in the NYT, (what? In the NYT???) on what is colloquially called the "Latin Mass," more formally, the "Extraordinary Form" or the "usus antiquior" or less technically correct, the "Tridentine Mass."
What I find fascinating Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-25646110915526818962017-07-03T15:14:00.000-04:002017-07-03T15:14:07.376-04:00St. Thomas and India
The large 16th century monolithic granite cross at Kaduthuruthy Palli
I'm in India on the patronal Feast of St. Thomas. (St. Francis Xavier is the other Patron ... ). The gift travel writer (and historian and author), William Dalrymple had a neat account of the historicity of the claim that St. Thomas founded the Church in India, in a piece in The Guardian dating from 2000.
The more you Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-89706852902117986762017-06-30T16:06:00.000-04:002017-06-30T21:30:46.296-04:00A curiosity
My nephew found some old letters and papers lying around at my folks' place - old letters my father had sent to my mother, other correspondence from half a lifetime ago. [There were also some letters addressed to me -- two in Russian from friends in Kazakhstan (that'll be another blog post!) and letters a friend from my pre-teen years had written after she'd moved away. I'd completely forgotten Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17309896.post-58003041420497289652017-05-29T16:38:00.002-04:002017-05-29T17:26:12.367-04:00"Zeal for thy house will consume me"
St. Paul at the Areopagus (Raphael, c. 1515)
[Homily preached at St. Andrew's Catholic Church on May 24, 2017, at a Mass in honor of the transitional deacon candidates of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.]
“Almighty God …
You grant that the Church, his body,
adorned with manifold heavenly graces,
drawn together in the diversity of its members,
and united by a wondrous bond through the Holy
Fr. Gaurav Shroff http://www.blogger.com/profile/04964314266441708310noreply@blogger.com0