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Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Catholic News World : Tuesday June 24, 2014 - Share!

2014

Breaking Meriam Ibrahim taken by Government at Airport not-rearrested after Release


Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese Christian who was released from prison after courts cancelled her death sentence, was taken by government authorities at the Khartoum airport. Close to 40 security agents detained her along with her husband Daniel Wani (who has MS) and their two children Martin (21 months) and Maya (1month). They were on their way to the US as Daniel is a US citizen. Meriam Ibrahim was arrested in February and sentenced to death in May on due to her refusal to renounce her Christian faith. However, Yesterday the Court of Appeals overturned her death sentence and she was released. She and her family are being held in an undisclosed location. According to VOA, Dr. Sadek El Magli said officials instead took Meriam Yahya Ibrahim to an undisclosed location Tuesday to protect her from relatives angered by the court decision.  Please Pray for their safety.... 

60 More Girls Kidnapped in Nigeria by Terrorists - Please Pray

Photo: Premium Times
Chibok mother crying.
DAILY TRUST/ALLAFRICA REPORT: BY HAMZA IDRIS, 24 JUNE 2014 Maiduguri — Over 60 girls have been abducted by the Boko Haram from Kummabza village of Damboa LGA of Borno State. Some of the girls abducted were between the ages of 3 and 12, Daily Trust heard.
Sources from the village said dozens of Boko Haram fighters armed with Ak47 rifles, rocket propelled grenades and explosive devices took over Kummabza on Wednesday, June 11, killing over 30 men and destroying public buildings including schools and telephone masts. They also took away foodstuff and domestic animals.
Information about the attack emerged yesterday after residents from the area reached Maiduguri and other towns in Adamawa State.
"Elderly men and women who could not flee while the siege lasted remained in the village till Saturday when the situation calmed down. There was no security presence in our village before and even during the onslaught, nobody came to rescue us," a source said.
Another resident who also fled to Maiduguri said the number of women kidnapped is more than 60.
"After taking over the village, the gunmen loaded almost 80 women in some of the trucks they came with and took them to an unknown destination. To me, what happened in Kummabza is worse than what happened in Chibok, even 3-year olds were taken away," he said.
Chairman of the LGA, Alamin Mohammed, did not pick calls and did not respond to a text message. At the time of filing this report, there was no official response from the police or the army.
shared from Daily Trust /AllAfrica

Pope Francis says St. John the Baptist is a model for Christians Today - Video


Pope at Mass in Santa Marta
24/06/2014


(Vatican Radio) John the Baptist as a model for Christians today: that was the focus of Pope Francis’ homily at Mass in the Santa Marta chapel on Tuesday morning, the feast of the Nativity of St John the Baptist. Describing him as ‘the greatest of the prophets’, the Pope summed up the three key vocations of John in three words: ‘prepare’, ‘discern’ and ‘diminish’.Firstly Pope Francis said John was a man who prepared the way for Jesus without taking any of the glory for himself. People sought him out and followed him because he was a powerful preacher, the Pope noted, but when asked if he was the Messiah, John replied that he was just “a voice” who had come “to prepare the way of the Lord.”
The second vocation of John the Baptist, Pope Francis said, was to discern, among so many good people, who was the true Messiah. When John saw Jesus passing by, he said to the disciples , “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world”. The disciples looked, but let Jesus go on, so John repeated to them the next day, “Look, this is God’s chosen one!” The third vocation of John the Baptist, Pope Francis said, is to diminish himself so that the Lord may grow in the hearts of others.
This third stage of John’s vocation is the most difficult one, the Pope noted, because Jesus had a way of behaving which was so very different from what John had imagined. Just before his death in prison, John is filled with doubt and sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he really is the chosen one. John is humiliated through his death but also in the darkness of his doubts, yet he remains a model for Christians today. Pope Francis concluded by saying that as Christians we too must prepare the way of the Lord, , we must discern the truth and we must diminish ourselves so that the Lord can grow in our hearts and in the souls of others. Shared from Radio Vaticana

Novena to St. John the Baptist - Share this Prayer - Never too Late to Start...

NOVENA to ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
V. O glorious St. John the Baptist,
R. Greatest prophet among those born of woman, * although thou wast sanctified in thy
mother’s womb * and didst live a most innocent life, * nevertheless it was thy will to
retire into the wilderness, * there to devote thyself to the practice of austerity and
penance; * obtain for us of thy Lord the grace to be wholly detached, * at least in our
hearts, * from earthly goods, * and to practice Christian mortification with interior
recollection * and with the spirit of holy prayer.
V. St. John the Baptist, precursor of Christ,! R. Pray for us.
V. St. John the Baptist, shining lamp of the world,! R. Pray for us.
V. St. John the Baptist, angel of purity before thy birth,! R. Pray for us.
V. O most zealous Apostle,
R. Who, without working any miracle on others, * but solely by the example of thy life
of penance * and the power of thy word, * didst draw after thee the multitudes, * in
order to dispose them to receive the Messias worthily * and to listen to His heavenly
doctrine; * grant that it may be given unto us, * by means of the example of a holy
life * and the exercise of every good work, * to bring many souls to God, * but
above all * those souls that are enveloped in the darkness of error and ignorance *
and that are led astray by vice.
V. St. John the Baptist, intrepid preacher of truth,! R. Pray for us.
V. St. John the Baptist, voice crying in the wilderness,! R. Pray for us.
V. St. John the Baptist, miiracle of mortification and penance,! R. Pray for us.
V. O Martyr invincible,
R. Who, for the honor of God and the salvation of souls, * didst with firmness and
constancy * withstand the impiety of Herod * even at the cost of thine own life, * and didst rebuke him
openly * for his wicked and dissolute life; * by thy prayers obtain for us a heart, * brave and generous, *
in order that we may overcome all human respect * and openly profess our faith * in loyal obedience to
the teachings of Jesus (☨) Christ, * our divine Master.
V. St. John the Baptist, example of profound humility,! R. Pray for us.
V. St. John the Baptist, great defender of holy matrimony,! R. Pray for us.
V. St. John the Baptist, glorious martyr of zeal for God’s holy law,! R. Pray for us.
V. O God, we rejoice at the apostolate of Saint John the Baptist, though whom we came to know our
Redeemer and King. Through his intercession we implore...
(Name Your Request)
V. We offer this prayer to Thee (☨) God the Father, through Christ Our Lord,
in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God forever and ever.
R. Amen.
Conclude with an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Note: The faithful who devoutly offer some prayers in honor of St. John the Baptist, with the intention of so doing for nine continuous days,
may gain: (1) an indulgence of five years once each of the days; and (2) a plenary indulgence on the usual conditions,iracle of mortification and penance,! R. Pray for us.
V. O Martyr invincible,
R. Who, for the honor of God and the salvation of souls, * didst with firmness and
constancy * withstand the impiety of Herod * even at the cost of thine own life, * and didst rebuke him
openly * for his wicked and dissolute life; * by thy prayers obtain for us a heart, * brave and generous, *
in order that we may overcome all human respect * and openly profess our faith * in loyal obedience to
the teachings of Jesus (☨) Christ, * our divine Master.
V. St. John the Baptist, example of profound humility,! R. Pray for us.
V. St. John the Baptist, great defender of holy matrimony,! R. Pray for us.
V. St. John the Baptist, glorious martyr of zeal for God’s holy law,! R. Pray for us.
V. O God, we rejoice at the apostolate of Saint John the Baptist, though whom we came to know our
Redeemer and King. Through his intercession we implore...
(Name Your Request)
V. We offer this prayer to Thee (☨) God the Father, through Christ Our Lord,
in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God forever and ever.
R. Amen.
Conclude with an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Note: The faithful who devoutly offer some prayers in honor of St. John the Baptist, with the intention of so doing for nine continuous days,
may gain: (1) an indulgence of five years once each of the days; and (2) a plenary indulgence on the usual conditions,

Today's Mass Readings Online : Solemnity of St. John the Baptist - Video

Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
Mass during the Day
Lectionary: 587

VIDEO ADDED LATER

Reading 1IS 49:1-6

Hear me, O coastlands,
listen, O distant peoples.
The LORD called me from birth,
from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.

Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

Responsorial Psalm PS 139:1B-3, 13-14AB, 14C-15

R. (14) I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
O LORD, you have probed me, you know me:
you know when I sit and when I stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
My journeys and my rest you scrutinize,
with all my ways you are familiar.
R. I praise you for I am wonderfully made.
Truly you have formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.
My soul also you knew full well;
nor was my frame unknown to you
When I was made in secret,
when I was fashioned in the depths of the earth.
R. I praise you, for I am wonderfully made.

Reading 2ACTS 13:22-26

In those days, Paul said:
“God raised up David as king;
of him God testified,
I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;
he will carry out my every wish
.
From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.
John heralded his coming by proclaiming a baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel;
and as John was completing his course, he would say,
‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he.
Behold, one is coming after me;
I am not worthy to unfasten the sandals of his feet.’

“My brothers, sons of the family of Abraham,
and those others among you who are God-fearing,
to us this word of salvation has been sent.”

Gospel LK 1:57-66, 80

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
“No. He will be called John.”
But they answered her,
“There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?”
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the desert until the day
of his manifestation to Israel.

Saint June 24 : Birth of St. John the Baptist : Patron of Baptism, Epilepsy and Motorways


Birth of St. John the Baptist
Feast: June 24
THE birth of St. John was foretold by an angel of the Lord to his father, Zachary, who was offering incense in the Temple. It was the office of St. John to prepare the way for Christ, and before he was born into the world he began to live for the Incarnate God. Even in the womb he knew the presence of Jesus and of Mary, and he leaped with joy at the glad coming of the son of man. In his youth he remained hidden, because He for Whom he waited was hidden also. But before Christ's public life began, a divine impulse led St. John into the desert; there, with locusts for his food and haircloth on his skin, in silence and in prayer, he chastened his own soul. Then, as crowds broke in upon his solitude, he warned them to flee from the wrath to come, and gave them the baptism of penance, while they confessed their sins. At last there stood in the crowd One Whom St. John did not know, till a voice within told him that it was his Lord.
With the baptism of St. John, Christ began His penance for the sins of His people, and St. John saw the Holy Ghost descend in bodily form upon Him. Then the Saint's work was done. He had but to point his own disciples to the Lamb, he had but to decrease as Christ increased. He saw all men leave him and go after Christ. "I told you," he said, "that I am not the Christ. The friend of the Bridegroom rejoiceth because of the Bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled." St. John had been cast into the fortress of Machærus by a worthless tyrant whose crimes be had rebuked, and he was to remain there till he was beheaded, at the will of a girl who danced before this wretched king. In this time of despair, if St. John could have known despair, some of his old disciples visited him. St. John did not speak to them of himself, but he sent them to Christ, that they might see the proofs of His mission. Then the Eternal Truth pronounced the panegyric of the Saint who had lived and breathed for Him alone: "Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist" (Taken from Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler)

Monday, June 23, 2014

SHARE Pope Francis Visits Disabled Women at her home - Awesome! Viral Video

Pamela Mauro put large signs outside her house saying,  “There’s an angel waiting for you here.” and, “Dear Pope, bless and embrace little Roberta.” Roberta Mauro is severely disabled, and they live in Calabria. They live along the road Pope Francis traveled Saturday on his way to a Mass.The family stayed on the road, with Roberta in a wheelchair. Pope Francis did stop and blessed and held Roberta. He blessed the family and posed for photos as a crowd yelled “Bravo, Francesco.”

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