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Monday, August 10, 2009

CATHOLIC WORLD NEWS: MON. AUG. 10, 2009


Catholic World News: Mon. Aug. 10, 2009:
VATICAN CITY: Angelus of Sunday: Jesus is the Bread of life:
EUROPE: Germany: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in Lucerne:
AUSTALIA: Full Seminaries in Sydney:
ASIA: Cambodia sees its 1st native Salesian:
AMERICA:Utah celebrates "Cathedral Week":
AFRICA: Peace efforts among Christian & Muslim leaders:

VATICAN CITY
Angelus of Sunday
The Pope invites us to be "transfigured by the Eucharist the source of all love". "The Bread of life offers Himself to us in the Eucharist and promises us eternal joy in the house of the Father." He invites all to the "Lord 's invitation to active participation in the Mass...
During his address the Pope stressed the Eucharist as the Bread of Life and the importance of participation at Mass. He encourages the faithful to pray for vocations to the priesthood.
EUROPE
Germany: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in Lucerne
Lucerne (kath.net) who during week which enters Leonhard Chapel two, sometimes even a whole dozen or more found in this medieval space at least a prostrate man, perhaps. You come all this place to meet God in silence. A fine light illuminates the Golden monstrance in the presbytery, collects views and thoughts and depends on the essentials, the presence of God.
The young worship project is under construction good two years and is supported by the parish of St. Leodegard pastoral care team and the Chorherren in Lucerne. Target is to create a quiet location in the city of Lucerne which invites day and night to pray. Over 100 volunteers regularly took a prayer time. "Wonderful!" So little amidst the city! "women and men say say young and used like time a moment to give God between purchase and city walk!"Now it is "Silence worship" already during five days and nights each week opened." The 8. August has been opened a new night. You devoted a special prayer: marriage and family. During 12 hours, volunteers have the experienced pleasures and beauties, but also the suffering and needs from marriage and family before God. You and please meet the quiet worshipping in the chapel during this time.
Various issues of marriage and family, the Initiativgruppe accepts and is before God: "my wife and I lived us apart, we ask for the fire of love!" "" "Our children's overwhelming us." They support us in prayer. "" "I am looking for a good spouse." "" You should entrust is God more - and already positive changes make one!
20-30 Couples are ever on three times in the year and take the Gebetswache. Who would like to join this prayer and the young initiative, is welcome! Without obligation visit prayer in the chapel or binding the "silent" prayer chain join - both is possible, the small team thanks you for any support! "" Registration and more information by Marlene in oak (041 / 458 12 81).

For more information on Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in Germany see:







AUSTRALIA
Full Seminaries in Sydney


CathNews Australia reports that Sydney seminaries are full for the first time in 10 years, as 60 men prepare for the priesthood, three times as many as there were in 2000, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
Eighty percent of the seminarians are under the age of 30, some of whom cite the World Youth Day as their inspiration, while others describe a calling to the life.
The youngest seminarian is 19, and the majority are in their early or mid-20s, the report adds, saying the men are determined to be part of a revolution bringing people back to the Church.
Father Anthony Percy, who runs Homebush's Seminary of the Good Shepherd, said having the younger generation aspire to be priests was encouraging, and would help resolve the problem of Sydney's priest shortage. The facility has 40 men studying for the priesthood, 31 of whom are below the age of 30, the report said.
"There is definitely a renewed interest in the Church and the priesthood," Fr Percy said. "We had the ordination of four priests a few months ago ... that hasn't happened since 1983."
He said one reason for the shift in attitude was a reaction to a post modern world with fluid values.

(Edited from http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=15659
ASIA
Cambodia sees its 1st native Salesian
UCAN reports that the Salesian nuns in Cambodia have cause to celebrate. For the first time since the congregation started here 16 years ago, a local member of their congregation made her first vows.
Wearing a white habit and with her head covered, Sister Mary Tang Sovathanak, 29, described the occasion as "a special day" since she is now a "bride of Christ."
"I don't have anything to give him back," she said, "only my life to him."
More than 150 people attended the special Mass, concelebrated by the heads of the three Church jurisdictions in Cambodia, to mark the occasion on Aug. 5.
Monsignor Antonysamy Susairaj, apostolic prefect of Kompong Cham, where Sister Sovathanak comes from, presided at the Mass, held at the Don Bosco Vocational Training Center for girls at Tek Thla, Phnom Penh.
Sister Sarah Garcia, superior of the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco in Cambodia said she is overjoyed at the occasion. "My prayer is that she will be able to live out her journey faithfully," she said.
All the other 20 Salesian nuns in Cambodia are foreigners.
Bishop Susairaj, in his homily, said he is aware that Sister Sovathanak's parents may not be entirely happy with her decision. However, he reminded everyone that being a nun does not mean leaving one's family.
Moreover, the bishop asserted that Sister Sovathanak, in responding to God's call, "will help many young people who need education" through her ministry.
The bishop also pointed out that Sister Sovathanak's mother was one of the first Catholics in Kompong Cham when the Church revived here in the 1990s after decades of civil war and religious persecution.
Sister Sovathanak studied at the Don Bosco Vocational Training Center for girls, run by the Salesian congregation, and graduated in 2003 in secretarial and computer studies. It was while studying at the center that she first decided to become a Salesian nun.

"I was attracted to the simple life of the nuns. They are always smiling and putting their lives in God's hands, even though they encounter problems." Moreover, she said, "holiness does not come from just impressive deeds, but also from small acts carried out with love."
Sister Sovathanak is the oldest in her family of four children. Her father, a Buddhist, is director of a primary school, and her mother, a Catholic, is a vendor at the local market.
Speaking after the ceremony, Sister Sovathanak's father, Tang Phirom, 51, admitted he had wanted his daughter to marry and have children, but now accepts his daughter's decision.
The Salesian Sisters in Cambodia run a secretarial and computer program, a food and home management program, and a literacy and sewing program for girls in Phnom Penh and Battambang. They also run two kindergartens, one primary school, and a hostel for 20 high school girls in Phnom Penh.
Out of a total of about 100 nuns in Cambodia, only seven are Cambodians.
(Edited from: http://www.ucanews.com/2009/08/10/nun-is-1st-local-salesian-to-take-vows/


AMERICA
Utah celebrates "Cathedral Week"
CNA reports that Salt Lake City’s Cathedral of the Madeleine is preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary with an upcoming “Cathedral Week” of Masses, celebrations, lectures and musical performances. Cardinal William J. Levada will be among the many participants in the event.
Franciscan missionaries first visited the land that would become Utah in 1776, according to the Diocese of Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City itself was first settled in 1847 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormons, who remain predominant in both the city and the state.
The first permanent Catholic establishment came in 1866 when property was purchased in the city.
A small church on the purchased property served Catholics until the present cathedral was constructed by architects Carl Neuhausen and Bernard Mecklenburg at a different location. The cathedral’s cornerstone was laid on July 2, 1900 and was dedicated to God on August 15, 1909 by James Cardinal Gibbons under the patronage of St. Mary Magdalene.
The cathedral combines a Romanesque exterior with a Gothic interior. Its interior was renovated between 1991 and 1992, with the art, stained glass, and woodwork undergoing restoration.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the cathedral’s Madeleine Choir School is one of the few of its kind, with “highly regarded” adult choirs who sing in English and Spanish.
The diocese has declared August 9 to 15, 2009 to be “Cathedral Week.” The week will open on the evening of Sunday August 9 with a Centennial Civic Service in the cathedral, a diocese schedule reports. The service will highlight the cathedral’s role in education, arts and humanities, outreach to the poor and outreach to the growing Hispanic presence.
Bishop of Salt Lake City John C. Wester will preside over the celebration, which will include both the Cathedral Choir and El Coro Hispano de la Catedral.
Speakers will include President Thomas S. Monson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, University of Utah President Michael K. Young, Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon and Mexican Consul to Utah Ignacio Rios Navarro.
A Cathedral Centennial Lecture will be delivered by Deacon Owen Cummings on the evening of Tuesday August 11.
Wednesday and Thursday evening will feature a Centennial Concert performance of Sir Edward Elgar’s "The Dream of Gerontius." The work is a dramatic setting of the 1865 poem by the English theologian and Catholic convert John Henry Cardinal Newman, whose beatification is still pending.
On Friday of Cathedral Week there will be Vespers for the Solemnity of the Assumption and a children’s procession from the old 1871 cathedral location to the present cathedral.
The former bishop of Salt Lake City, Archbishop of San Francisco George H. Niederauer, will be homilist at the service. Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will be in attendance as will other visiting bishops.
That evening Son by Four, a Latin music group from Puerto Rico, will perform a concert at the cathedral to be followed on the plaza by a fiesta with special music and traditional foods.
On Saturday Bishop Wester will celebrate an afternoon Mass for the Solemnity of the Assumption, with Cardinal Levada as homilist. The annual Bishop’s Dinner to benefit the cathedral will be held in the evening.
On Sunday morning, August 16, Bishop Wester will celebrate a Parish Centennial Mass at the cathedral, while a Spanish Centennial Mass will be celebrated in the afternoon by Bishop Emeritus of Sacramento William K. Weigand, who until 1994 was the seventh bishop of Salt Lake City.
Msgr. Joseph Mayo, cathedral pastor, told the Salt Lake Tribune that the cathedral was modeled on ninth century cathedrals of Europe, which had plazas for public events as well as art and architecture for congregants.
"The whole combination of art and architecture and music found their home in the cathedral," Msgr. Mayo said. "They were basically gathering places."(Edited from: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=16797




AFRICA

Peace efforts among Christian & Muslim leaders

CISA reports that Christian and Muslim religious leaders have made a joint commitment to intensify their fight in the struggle to build lasting peace in the Horn of Africa.The faith leaders called on governments of the region, people of good will and stakeholders to join the campaign.“We make a joint and firm commitment towards the journey of building peace in the Horn of Africa and invite all the people of goodwill, the Governments of the region and other stakeholders to join us,” the leaders said in a statement at the close of a recent meeting in the Ethiopian capital.The July 30-31 meeting in Addis Ababa was called to deliberate on peace building, healing and reconciliation in the Horn of Africa within the context of inter-faith relations in the region.The leaders said that they were deeply concerned about the endemic conflicts and persistent insecurity especially in Somalia, Sudan and Northern Uganda. They promised to seek and deepen their understanding and analysis of the root causes and agents of the conflicts.“We, the religious leaders representing the Christian and Muslim faiths from the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) countries, resolve to sustain and intensify our prayers for peace in the Horn of Africa,” the statement said.They cited economic stagnation and poverty, mistrust and suspicion, massive violation of human rights and other policies of exclusion and marginalization as major causes of these crises. The spiritual leaders pledged to actively continue engaging in sincere inter-faith dialogue, trust building and collaboration for peace in each of the countries and in the region.They said they will remain committed to the cause of peace, justice, healing, and reconciliation in the Horn of Africa and seek “to do everything within our capacity to reduce further escalation of violent conflict in the region.”They as well declared that they will establish linkages with Africa Union (AU) and IGAD, engage in value-based holistic civic education, initiate coordinated advocacy and lobby strategies for peace in the region and engage in humanitarian assistance to the affected population in the region.The meeting was organized by the African Council of Religious Leaders, Religious for Peace (ACRL-Religions for Peace) and All African Conference of Churches (AACC). Other participants included: Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa (FECCLAHA), Djibouti, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and Somalia.(Edited from: http://www.cisanewsafrica.org/story.asp?ID=4064


TODAY'S SAINT



St. Lawrence
MARTYR AND DEACON
Feast: August 10


Born:
225, Osca, Hispania (now modern-day Spain)
Died:
August 10, 258, Rome
Major Shrine:
Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura in Rome
Patron of:
Rome, comedians, librarians, students, tanners, chefs[

St. Lawrence, one of the deacons of the Roman Church, was one of the victims of the persecution of Valerian in 258, like Pope Sixtus II and many other members of the Roman clergy. At the beginning of the month of August, 258, the emperor issued an edict, commanding that all bishops, priests, and deacons should immediately be put to death. On the 10th of August of that same year, Lawrence, the last of the seven deacons, also suffered a martyr's death. The street where his grave is to be found, the Via Tiburtina and so the basilica of San Lorenzo remains to this day.When St. Lawrence was asked for the treasures of the Church However, in spite of this criticism of the later accounts of the martyrdom, there can be no question that St. Lawrence was a real historical personage, nor any doubt as to the martyrdom of that venerated Roman deacon, the place of its occurrence, and the date of his burial. Pope Damasus built a basilica in Rome which he dedicated to St. Lawrence; this is the church now known as that of San Lorenzo in Damaso. The church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, also dedicated to this saint, still exists. The feast day of St. Lawrence is kept on 10 August. He is pictured in art with the gridiron on which he is supposed to have been roasted to death.(Edited from: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/L/stlawrence.asp



SAINTLY QUOTE



Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my whole will, all I have and all I possess. You gave it all to me; to you, Lord, I return it. It is all yours: do with me entirely as you will. Give me your love and your grace: this is enough for me. St. Ignatius of Loyala



TODAY'S GOSPEL




John 12: 24 - 26
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.