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Saturday, May 19, 2012

CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD : SAT. MAY 19, 2012


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
VATICAN : POPE : HEART OF CHRISTIAN - TRUE GIVING
AUSTRALIA : NATIONAL YEAR OF GRACE
ASIA : CHINA : ACTIVIST CHEN LEAVES FOR USA
AFRICA : BURUNDI : APPREHENSION OF FATE OF JOURNALIST
AMERICA : DOMINICAN REPUBLIC : PRAYER VIGIL FOR ELECTIONS
EUROPE : INAUGURATION OF ST. AUGUSTINE'S SHRINE
TODAY'S MASS ONLINE: SAT. MAY 19, 2012
TODAY'S SAINT : MAY 19 : ST. CELESTINE V
HOLY SPIRIT NOVENA DAY 2 FOR PENTECOST
 
 
RADIO VATICANA REPORT: The Ecclesial Movement of Cultural Engagement, the Federation of Christian Organizations for International Voluntary Service and the Movement of Christian Workers are a group of Italian based lay associations founded between 1932 and 1972. Their mission is to spread the Gospel through voluntary work which includes aiding those in need both in Italy and in other countries throughout the world, as well as defending human rights, promoting social justice and education.

Speaking to the three Associations gathered on the occasion of their respective anniversaries, Pope Benedict underlined that fact that their establishment can be attributed to the inspiration of Pope Paul the VI who as a priest and then Pope had been a vocal supporter of ecclesial associations such as these.

The Holy Father stressed the importance of the laity to the church in both the private and public sphere of society, adding that their selfless contribution was vital in the promotion of cultural action, human dignity and aiding those in need.

The Pope also told those present volunteering in whatever field it may be, was an irreplaceable resource and the true meaning of being Christian.

True giving, said Pope Benedict, is not something laid down by law or an economic acquisition.

In fact, the Holy Father explained it is the economy, and politics that is in need of people capable of mutual giving

AUSTRALIA : NATIONAL YEAR OF GRACE

Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese REPORT
18 May 2012



Bishop Peter here........"Grace-line"
A national Year of Grace will begin on Sunday week but it is not a "Year" during which we have to rush around, preparing and trying to accomplish a bucket load of goals.
It is more a time to just take a break, in fact small, regular breaks - for grace.
We are being encouraged to start afresh, to experience anew the gift of the Holy Spirit.
"We Catholics are prone to wrongly imagining that we need to do lots and lots of good things before God will recognise us, and before we will receive His gifts," Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Bishop Peter Comensoli says.
"This is not really the case. God is always present, always there for us, offering the gift of His loving self.
"So all we need to do is to receive this overflowing gift of grace, to recognise His loving presence in that gift, and thereby respond to him in thanksgiving."
During the Year of Grace, which will run from Pentecost Sunday this year to Pentecost 2013, there will be many helpful resources on the national website (www.yearofgrace.catholic.org.au)
As well as on the Archdiocese website and xt3.com
There will also be regular updates and "Grace Notes" in your local parish. You can also text your name to our special "Graceline" on 0407 621 609 to receive regular updates throughout the year.

ASIA : CHINA : ACTIVIST CHEN LEAVES FOR USA

ASIA NEWS REPORT:
It was announced by the dissident this morning. "I do not have a passport. I do not know when I will leave. I think I'll go to New York." Thus the events that began on April 26 with the daring escape of the blind activist, come to an end.


Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The blind dissident Chen Guangcheng is at the airport in Beijing and is waiting to leave for the United States. He announced as much this morning. "I'm at the airport. I do not have a passport. I don't know when I will be leaving. I think I'm going to New York"- he told AFP.

According to Chen, the Chinese authorities will give his passport directly to U.S. officials to fill out a visa for the U.S. before handing it over to him.

Chen, known worldwide for his battles against forced abortions and illegal expropriation of land, and his family were informed Saturday to "pack your bags and be ready to leave China" for the United States. The same activist reported the news to ChinaAid's president, Bob Fu, on Saturday.

This morning, a photographer who was outside the hospital where Chen was hospitalized reported seeing a motorcade leaving the building.

Chen Guangcheng's case exploded last April 26, when the dissident succeeded in escaping from the illegal house arrest that had been imposed on him by the regime after four years in prison. Chen took refuge in the U.S. embassy in Beijing, sparking a diplomatic battle between Beijing and Washington, engaged in the annual bilateral economic talks. After two days, the dissident left the embassy with the reassurance of being able to leave the country and was hospitalized.

AFRICA : BURUNDI : APPREHENSION OF FATE OF JOURNALIST

CISA NEWS REPORT -The journalists’ fraternity in the Eastern Africa Region has expressed apprehension over the fate of Burundi journalist Hassan Ruvakuki ahead of a court verdict due on May 20, 2012 following a prolonged trial.
Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) which brings together journalists unions and associations from 10 countries in the region has called for the immediate release of the journalist saying his arrest and trial was “politically motivated and an affront to press freedom”.
“We have followed the case closely and are convinced that the journalist’s arrest and trial is political. We urge the Burundi authorities to head our appeal and that of the entire international community to terminate the case against the journalist and release him immediately,” Said EAJA Secretary General Omar Faruk Osman.
The Provincial High Court in Cankuzo Province more than 100 kilometers from the capital, Bujumbura, which has been presiding over the journalist’s trial, is due to deliver its verdict on May 20, amid fear that it may sentence the journalist to a life in prison.
The journalist was arrested in November 2011 shortly after a visit to neighboring Tanzania where he interviewed a leader of a rebel group. The Burundian government accused him of complicity with “terrorists” and denies the existence of any rebels.
The journalist, who was working with a local radio station, Bonesha FM and was also a correspondent for Radio France International (RFI), was presented in court on May 10, 2012 for the final hearing during which the prosecution made a spirited argument for a life sentence for the scribe and others facing similar charges.
The death penalty has been abolished in Burundi which leaves the life sentence as the harshest punishment that can be meted out by the Burundian courts.
The Union of Burundi Journalist (UBJ), an affiliate of EAJA, today reported that the trial of the journalist and the pending court verdict had led to “a cloud of fear and uncertainty within the local journalists’ fraternity.”
UBJ President Alexandre Niyungeko said the case against the journalist amounted to “persecution of journalists and an attempt to intimidate the media into silence.”
This latest case of arrest and prosecution of a journalist doing his work casts a negative shadow on Burundi as a consistent violator of press freedom given that this happened less than a year after it arrested and detained another journalist Jean Claude Kavumbagu for eight months from 2010 to mid 2011, when he was released after an international campaign.
SOURCE: CISA NEWS AFRICA

AMERICA : DOMINICAN REPUBLIC : PRAYER VIGIL FOR ELECTIONS

Agenzia Fides REPORT – The Episcopal Conference of the Dominican Republic has exhorted all citizens to vote according to conscience at the Presidential elections next Sunday, 20 May. The Bishops also asked them to pray that, after the elections, “the will of the people, expressed in the ballot-boxes, be respected by all the political parties and their candidates.” In the same communication, sent to Agenzia Fides, the Bishops also invited the Catholic faithful to take part in a day of prayer and reflection which will take place Saturday 19, the day before the elections.
The Bishops, after recalling their Appeal of 27 February on the duty to exercise the right to vote, ask the help of the Lord for the election of the new President and invite the priests and those responsible in centres of worship to organize the Day of Prayer well for this intention. The communication concludes, “invoking peace for that day, harmonious relationships and respect for the liberty of conscience, so that after the elections, the will of the people may be respected by all parties and candidates”. Invoking the blessing of Our Lady of Altagrazia, the Bishops invoke the protection of the Lord for the Dominican people. (CE) (Agenzia Fides,16/5/2012)

EUROPE : INAUGURATION OF ST. AUGUSTINE'S SHRINE

IND. CATH. NEWS REPORT;
Kent: Inauguration of St Augustine's Shrine | Archbishop Peter Smith, Southwark,official shrine of St Augustine

St Augustine's Church, Ramsgate
Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark will formally inaugurate the official shrine of St Augustine at Pugin’s personal church in Ramsgate in Kent this Sunday, to mark the beginning of St Augustine’s week – a week of Catholic history and culture.

The inauguration will take place at St Augustine’s Church at 6.30pm on Sunday, 20 May, during Vespers and Benediction. During this week of major celebration there will a number of historical and cultural events including talks and lectures inside the church as well as walks, visits and processions.

The last shrine of Augustine was destroyed in the 16th century. A shrine to St Augustine existed on the Isle of Thanet before the Reformation and so this new place of pilgrimage recovers an ancient tradition. St Augustine’s is a Catholic church already dedicated to the saint and stands closer than any other to the place of Augustine’s landing, his first preaching and his momentous encounter with King Ethelbert of Kent in 597AD.

The official decree for the foundation of the new shrine was made on 1 March. This is fittingly Pugin’s birthday and recently the day of popular bicentenary celebrations in his honour. This day links the erection of the shrine with the church’s founder who is buried within. The cult of St Augustine is fully in tune with the heart and mind of Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852). He states in his letters that he selected the Ramsgate site because ‘blessed Austin landed nearby’ and he personally chose the dedication name and wanted the church to be a memorial to the founding identity of Christian England and its early saints.

There already exists a strong local interest and devotion to the saint. His feast day each year in celebrated in Ramsgate but this will be the first time in 500 years that Augustine will be honoured in an official shrine. It is hoped that the celebrations will encourage more pilgrims to journey to Thanet from all over England and beyond to learn about the conversion of the English and the beginnings of Christianity in this land.

St Augustine’s already attracts a huge number of Christians from other churches and communities who are interested in learning about common roots in the faith of Christ. Many secular visitors come to enjoy the architecture, the art and the atmosphere of the place. Local schools have a visiting programme and come to learn about the saints and about Pugin. The church is adorned with a collection of images of St Augustine in the finest stone and stained glass including a ‘Hardman Powell’ series of windows above Pugin’s tomb relating the story of Augustine’s mission and especially the moment of setting foot on a land explicitly demarcated as ‘Thanet’.

Fr Marcus Holden, parish priest and custodian of St Augustine’s commented: "We are delighted that this year’s St Augustine’s week will start with the inauguration of his Shrine. We hope that we will attract more visitors to come and enjoy visiting Pugin’s favourite church. We are still trying to rescue the church as a great work of architecture and there is still much to do, but the shrine gives the church a fitting spiritual significance and will help us to continue to restore the site.”

The church is presently being restored and brought back to its former glory and major celebrations are planned this year surrounding the feast day of St Augustine. The shrine will highlight the close bond between Rome and England as St Augustine was sent on his mission directly by Pope Gregory the Great.

TODAY'S MASS ONLINE: SAT. MAY 19, 2012


John 16: 23 - 28
23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name.
24 Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
25 "I have said this to you in figures; the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures but tell you plainly of the Father.
26 In that day you will ask in my name; and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you;
27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from the Father.
28 I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father."

HOLY SPIRIT NOVENA DAY 2 FOR PENTECOST


NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR PENTECOST DAY 2
ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY GHOST

On my knees before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses I offer myself, soul and body to You, Eternal Spirit of God. / I adore the brightness of Your purity the unerring keenness of Your justice and the might of Your love. You are the Strength / and Light of my soul. In You I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve You by unfaithfulness to grace and I pray with all my heart! To be kept from the smallest sin against You. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for Your light: and listen to Your voice and follow Your gracious inspirations. I cling to You and give myself to You and ask You / by Your compassion to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus and looking at His Five Wounds / and trusting in His Precious Blood and adoring His opened Side and stricken Heart / I implore You / Adorable Spirit I Helper of my infirmity, so to keep me in Your grace that I may never sin against You. Give me grace O Holy Ghost, Spirit of the Father and the Son to say to You always and everywhere / "Speak Lord for Your servant heareth." Amen.


PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY GHOST

O Lord Jesus Christ Who, before ascending into heaven did promise to send the Holy Ghost to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul / the work of Your grace and Your love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Your divine truth / the Spirit on Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude, that I may bear my cross with You I and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God find know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable / the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord with the sign of Your true disciples / and animate me in all things with Your Spirit. Amen.

(Saturday of 6th Week of Easter)
Come. Father of the poor. Come, treasures which endure; Come, Light of all that live!
The Gift of Fear
The gift of Fear fills us with a sovereign respect for God, and makes us dread nothing so much as to offend Him by sin. It is a fear that arises, not from the thought of hell, but from sentiments of reverence and filial submission to our heavenly Father. It is the fear that is the beginning of wisdom, detaching us from worldly pleasures that could in any way separate us from God. "They that fear the Lord will prepare their hearts, and in His sight will sanctify their souls."
Prayer
Come, O blessed Spirit of Holy Fear, penetrate my inmost heart, that I may set you, my Lord and God, before my face forever, help me to shun all things that can offend You, and make me worthy to appear before the pure eyes of Your Divine Majesty in heaven, where You live and reign in the unity of the ever Blessed Trinity, God world without end. Amen.
(Our Father and Hail Mary ONCE. Glory be to the Father 7 TIMES. Act of Consecration, Prayer for the Seven Gifts)