CATHOLIC WORLD NEWS: MON. MAY 24, 2010: HEADLINES-
VATICAN: POPE: APPOINTS NEW BISHOP TO NORTHERN IRAQ-
AFRICA: ANGOLA: BISHOP CONSECRATES NEW PRIEST-
EUROPE: POLAND: 12 DIE IN SEVERE FLOODING-
AMERICA: USA: NEW ONLINE CATHOLIC BIBLE SEARCH ENGINE-
AUSTRALIA: PREVIEW OF NEW TRANSLATION OF MISSAL AVAILABLE-
ASIA: CHINA: BABY SENT ALIVE TO BE CREAMATED-
VATICAN
POPE: APPOINTS NEW BISHOP TO NORTHERN IRAQ
Radio Vaticana report: After almost five years without a bishop, the Chaldean priests and faithful of Erbil, Northern Iraq, were celebrating today as Pope Benedict XVI appointed Redemptorist Priest, Father Bashar Warda bishop of the Diocese.
“First of All I thank God, for this new challenge in my life and in the life of so many friends brothers and sisters here in the Church in Iraq and also in Ankawa”, says Fr Warda speaking shortly after his appointment was announced. “I have realised that the call is demanding in a way, because the Church in Iraq is facing lots of challenges in various aspects”.
Father Bashar Warda, was born in Baghdad in 1969. In 1981 he entered the minor seminary and later the Chaldean Patriarchal Seminary of St. Peter at Dora, near Baghdad. In 1994, following a visit to Iraq of the then Redemptorists' Superior General, Father Juan Lasso de la Vega, Father Bashar decided to enter the Congregation. of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), completing his novitiate studies and religious education in Dundalk in Ireland.
In 1999 he obtained a doctorate in moral theology at the Catholic University of Louvain and September 15, 2001 he made his perpetual vows. In 2001 he was appointed Director of the Cultural Centre of Babel College (Erbil, Iraq), of which is also General Secretary and Lecturer.
Up until his appointment as bishop he held the post of Director of the Chaldean Patriarchal Seminary in Ankawa, Erbil and professor of moral theology of the local Institute of Religious Studies.
The diocese, which had been without a bishop since 2005, is in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. Since the outbreak of war in Iraq it has become the place of refuge for thousands of persecuted Christians from the south.
“The diocese in 2005 was a diocese of almost 2,500 families. Today it is one of the biggest Christian communities gathered in one place throughout Iraq”, explains the newly appointed bishop. “In the city of Ankawa alone you have 7,200 Christian families, half of them from Mosul and Baghdad. A process of reconciliation to the new situation and culture is needed, not just for those who have found refuge here but also for the original community, which has had to face rapid change over a very short period. We need not just to maintain our Christianity here, but also to be missionary in our environment”.
This call to mission, he adds is essential to stem the tide of young Iraqi Christians leaving the country. “I think if we think of the social message of the Church, I really believe that the Church could do a lot in the social context, healthcare and education for example, and not just for Iraqi Christians but also for the wider Iraqi community. The people need to see honest, active, caring people committed to the future of the country. This is part of the message of the Church and I believe the Church has an essential part to play in this. There is no point in telling our young people to come home, unless we have something concrete to offer them, something in which they can actively take part. And what better place to start than in the diocese that enjoys at least, a very secure status compared to other diocese, to encourage our young people, to tell them there are places for you to work and be active in your community”.
Fr. Rayan Attos is a parish priest of Mar Qardakh Church in the diocese of Erbil, and lecturer at Babel College, he says that Pope Benedict’s appointment of the new bishop is another example of the Spirit working for the future of his Church and his country; “I was not very sure of my future as a young priest who was studying and teaching at the same time, working in the parish without a bishop for five years, it was very hard to see a way forward, particularly given the difficult situation that we are living in the Church in Erbil and throughout Iraq. This was a sign of hope for me, and really the power of the Spirit which we celebrated yesterday. In this year dedicated to priests I thank God and the Holy Father from the bottom of my heart, I now see a future and this is important”.
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=395293
MEETING OF HOLY SEE - ISRAEL BILATERAL WORKING COMMITTEE
VATICAN CITY, 24 MAY 2010 (VIS) - The Bilateral Permanent Working Committee between the Holy See and the State of Israel met on 20 May to continue negotiations pursuant to article 10 para. 2 of the Fundamental Agreement.
According to a communique on the event, "the talks took place in a constructive atmosphere and made progress towards the mandated agreement.
"The delegations will meet again on 14 June, and the next day the plenary session will take place in the Vatican".
VATICAN
POPE RECEIVES PRESIDENT OF CONGO
Radio Vaticana report. On Monday Pope Benedict XVI received in audience the President of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou N'Guesso.
A communiqué from the Press Office of the Holy See says the Pope and the President held cordial talks that ranged over a number of topics, including the initiatives to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of independence of the country.
The press release goes on to say they focused on the common desire to strengthen the good relations already existing between the Holy See and the Republic of Congo, and highlighted the contribution of the Catholic Church in favour of integral human social development in the country.
They also considered the regional political and social situation, with particular attention to humanitarian issues, especially those involving refugees.
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=395296
VATICAN
POPE RECEIVES LEADERS OF MOLDOVA
Radio Vaticana report. This morning, Monday 24 May, Pope Benedict XVI received in audience Mihai
Ghimpu, speaker of parliament and acting president of the Republic of Moldova. In the course of the cordial discussions consideration was given to the situation in the country, with the hope being expressed that all difficulties may be overcome through dialogue. The positive contribution of the Catholic Church's mission in support of the people of Moldova was recognised, and appreciation expressed for the serene dialogue that exists between the Church and the authorities of State.
Finally, opinions were exchanged on certain aspects of current international relations, including the cultural and religious identity of Europe.
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=395318
RELIGIONS ARE CRUCIAL FOR INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
VATICAN CITY, 22 MAY 2010 (VIS) - Participants in the annual congress of the "Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice" foundation, led by their president Domingo Sugranyes Bickel, were received in audience this morning by the Holy Father.
The Pope expressed his appreciation to the group for having chosen the relation between "development progress and the common good" as the theme of their congress. "Today more than ever", he said, "the human family can grow as a free society of free peoples so long as globalisation is guided by solidarity and the common good, and by social justice, all of which find a precious wellspring in the message of Christ and of the Church".
"The common good is the goal that gives meaning to progress and development, which otherwise would be limited only to the production of material goods. These goods are necessary, but without the orientation to the common good consumerism, waste, poverty and inequality come to prevail, which are negative factors for progress and development".
Benedict XVI then went on to quote from his Encyclical "Caritas in veritate", affirming that one of the greatest risks of the modern world lies in the fact that "'the de facto interdependence of people and nations is not matched by ethical interaction of consciences and minds that would give rise to truly human development'. Such interaction, for example, seems to be too weak with those leaders who, in the face of renewed episodes of irresponsible speculation against the weakest States, do not react with adequate decisions to govern finance. Politics must have primacy over finance, and ethics must be the guiding force for all activities".
The Holy Father recalled how "the common good is made up of a number of factors: material, cognitive and institutional good, as well as moral and spiritual good. The latter two are superior and the former must be subordinate to them", he said. "Our commitment to the common good of the family of peoples, and to that of each society, means we must give support to and avail ourselves of the complex of institutions that give juridical, civil, political and cultural structure to the life of society".
And he went on: "We must ensure that the economic-productive order remains socially responsible and of a human scale, through joint and unitary action on various levels, including the international level. In the same way, it is important to support the consolidation of constitutional, juridical and administrative systems in countries that do not yet fully enjoy them. Economic aid must, then, be accompanied by measures that aim to reinforce the guarantees of the rule of law, a just and efficient system of public order in full respect for human rights, and truly democratic and participative institutions.
"The fundamental priority for the development of the entire family of peoples, however, is to strive to recognise the true scale of goods and values", the Holy Father added. "The notion of integral human development presupposes such things as subsidiarity and solidarity, and interdependence between State, society and the market. In a global society made up of many different peoples and religions, the common good and integral development must be achieved with everyone's contribution. Religions have a crucial role to play in this, especially when they teach fraternity and peace".
"The exclusion of religion from public life - and, at the other extreme, religious fundamentalism - hinders an encounter between persons and their collaboration for the progress of humanity. Public life is sapped of its motivation and politics becomes domineering and aggressive".
AC/ VIS 20100524 (600)
NEW BLESSED, CHURCH IN CHINA, MOVEMENT FOR LIFE
VATICAN CITY, 23 MAY 2010 (VIS) - In his greetings after praying the Regina Coeli today, the Holy Father recalled how the Italian laywoman and Franciscan tertiary Teresa Manganiello (1849-1876) was yesterday proclaimed a blessed.
The new blessed "spent a simple and humble life amidst her domestic duties and her spiritual commitments in the church of the Capuchins. Like St. Francis of Assisi she sought to imitate Jesus Christ, offering sufferings and penance for the remission of sins. She was also full of love for her neighbour, and made prodigious efforts for all, especially the poor and sick".
The Pope then mentioned the Day of Prayer for the Church in China, which falls tomorrow 24 May, liturgical memory of the Blessed Virgin Mary Help of Christians. "While the faithful in China pray that the unity between themselves and the universal Church may become ever deeper, Catholics in the whole world - and especially those of Chinese origin - join them in prayer and charity, which the Holy Spirit infuses in our hearts, especially on today's solemnity".
Finally, the Holy Father greeted members of the Italian association, Movement for Life, "which promotes the culture of life and gives concrete assistance to many young women to help them carry difficult pregnancies to term".
AUDIENCES
VATICAN CITY, 24 MAY 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Julio Terrazas Sandoval C.SS.R., archbishop of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
On Saturday May 22 he received in audience Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
AP/ VIS 20100524 (50)
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, 24 MAY 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father:
- Appointed Bishop Edgar de Jesus Garcia Gil of Montelibano, Colombia, as bishop of Palmira (area 4,796, population 754.000, Catholics 681,000, priests 77, religious 224), Colombia.
- Gave his consent to the canonical election by the Synod of Bishops of the Chaldean Church of Fr. Bashar Warda C.SS.R., director of the patriarchal Chaldean seminary in Ankawa near Arbil, Iraq, and professor of moral theology at the local institute of religious sciences, as archbishop of Arbil of the Chaldeans (Catholics 20,000, priests 5, permanent deacons 6, religious 11). The archbishop-elect was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1969 and ordained a priest in 1993.
On Saturday 22 May it was made public that he:
- Elevated the diocese of Tunis (area 162,155, population 10,230,000, Catholics 21,000, priests 32, permanent deacons 1, religious 150), Tunisia, to the rank of archdiocese, making Bishop Maroun Lahham of Tunis the first archbishop of the new archdiocese. The archbishop-elect was born in Irbed, Jordan in 1948, he was ordained a priest in 1972 and consecrated a bishop in 2005.
- Erected the new diocese of Kalay (area 22,235, population 1,373918, Catholics 49,165, priests 26, religious 84) Myanmar, with territory taken from the diocese of Hakha, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan church of Mandalay. He appointed Bishop Felix Lian Khen Thang, auxiliary of Hakha, as first bishop of the new diocese.
- Appointed Fr. F. Richard Spencer of the clergy of the archdiocese of Baltimore, U.S.A., vice commandant of the military chaplains of the U.S. Forces in Europe, as auxiliary to the military ordinariate of the U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Sylacauga, U.S.A. in 1951 and ordained a priest in 1988.
- Appointed as relators of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura: Fr. Eduardo Baura de la Pena, professor at the faculty of canon law of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross; Fr. Paolo Giuseppe Bianchi, judicial vicar of the Ecclesiastical Regional Tribunal of Lombardy, Italy; Fr. Bruno Esposito O.P., professor at the faculty of canon law of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas; Fr. Luigi Sabbarese C.S., dean of the faculty of canon law of the Pontifical Urban University, and Edward N. Peters, professor of canon law at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary of the archdiocese of Detroit U.S.A.
AFRICA
ANGOLA: BISHOP CONSECRATES NEW PRIEST
All Africa report. The catholic bishop of north central Kwanza Norte province consecrated Sunday in Ndalatando the perpetual vows of priest Floriano Silepo of the Congratation of the Marist Brothers which has been working in education in Luanda, Kwanza Norte and Bié provinces for over 40 years.
In his Homily bisho Almeida Kanda highlighted the courage of priest Silepo to embrace forever the religious life serving the catholic church, coping with the vicissitudes of the society marked by a degradation of values.
He urged christians to express their faith everywhere and commit to serve God in any circumstance of lite as well as to redouble efforts in fulfiling the mission of faith and work for the agranddizment of the soiety and the church.
Priest Floriano Silepo, 37, was born in Huambo province and is graduate in science teaching by the Marist Brothers University of Kenia.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201005241117.html
EUROPE
POLAND: 12 DIE IN SEVERE FLOODING
Independent Catholic News report. Special prayers were said in churches across Poland on Sunday, after a week of heavy rains caused several Polish rivers to burst their banks, causing severe flooding. At least 12 people have died and thousands have affected by according to a Polish government spokesman.
The Vistula, Oder and Warta rivers have flooded in several places. A government spokesman said nine helicopters, more than 3,800 soldiers and 35 special boats have been deployed to help victims and prevent further flooding damage.
Parts of Krakow have been flooded. In Warsaw, authorities appealed to residents in low-lying areas near the Vistula River to be ready to evacuate if necessary. 120 schools have been closed. On Sunday afternoon the river has reached 7.8 metres, a level not seen in 60 years.
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=16188
AMERICA
USA: NEW ONLINE CATHOLIC BIBLE SEARCH ENGINE
Cath News report. A new online Catholic Bible search engine, believed to be the first complete Catholic Bible translation made available for keyword search, has been launched.
The search engine also allows users to share Bible passages with their blogs, with Facebook and Twitter. It also allows people to add a search widget to their own personal Web page.
Rosalia Tenorio, director of Catholic.net, expressed the hope that this tool will "help the faithful in their Biblical studies and facilitate Scripture sharing".
http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=21501
AUSTRALIA
PREVIEW OF NEW TRANSLATION OF MISSAL AVAILABLE
Cath News report: The new translation of the Mass will revive tradition and replace the more colloquial and dumbed-down liturgy adopted after the Second Vatican Council, reports The Australian.
After a major education program that will start later this year and is already under way for priests in some dioceses, the new translation is likely to be introduced from Pentecost Sunday in June next year, the newspaper said.
The Weekend Australian provided an exclusive and comprehensive preview of the changes. The report said that, in style, the new translation of the mass is reverential and traditional, restoring emphasis on the transcendent and the sacred, and replacing words such as "happy" with "blessed" and phrases such as "this is" with "behold".
It revives a classical style of liturgical language rarely heard for 40 years, using such words and phrases as: oblation, implore, consubstantial, serene and kindly countenance, spotless victim, divine majesty, holy and venerable, and "command that these gifts be borne by the hands of your holy Angel to your altar on high".
Cardinal George Pell said the translation had a "different cadence" to the translation of the Roman Missal that two generations of Australian Catholics grew up with, and which was a "bit dumbed-down".
"They went softly on sin and redemption." Most of the changes are in the parts of the mass said by priests, with changes in the laity's responses deliberately kept to a minimum to avoid confusion.
A new Latin edition of the missal was published under Pope John Paul II in 2002, and the next step was to produce authentic vernacular translations.
Several DVDs have already been produced to explain the changes across the English-speaking Catholic world.
http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=21496
ASIA
CHINA: BABY SENT ALIVE TO BE CREAMATED
Catholic Online report: What is the word to describe a baby, aborted at 7 months, being placed in a box with cotton wool stuffed in his mouth and sent to the furnace of a crematory -- alive? We are living in our own age of ongoing death camps, complete with furnaces where the unwanted, the imperfect, the sick, the powerless, the silent ones go to be eliminated. Some say narratives like mine here are full of exaggeration. How else can we describe the nefarious act of discarding a human being like garbage?
Evil. Depraved. Malevolent. Wicked. Those words are a good fit. This unspeakable evil took place in China's Guangdong Province. Just as this baby was about to be thrown into the fire, the mortuary worker heard him cry. The worker was startled by the sound and stopped to open the box and discovered the baby moving, choking on the cotton stuffed in his mouth. The worker cleared his mouth and the baby breathed peacefully.
The child was rushed back to the hospital from whence he'd come earlier that day labeled as medical waste. But doctors there refused to treat him. They left him in the lobby. They confirmed hours later that he was dead (they made sure this time) and sent him right back to the funeral home to be cremated.
Those who champion abortion will say that narratives like mine here are full of exaggeration, inflammatory language and highly-charged, emotional terms. But tell me, please, how can we adequately describe the nefarious act of discarding a human being like garbage sent to the furnace?
How is it inflammatory to describe the medical "procedure" whereby a baby is stabbed at the base of the skull, her brains literally sucked out of her head, her skull crushed and then removed from the birth canal? Or the process by which she is burned with chemicals, dismembered with forceps, stabbed in the heart with a lethal injection, or forcefully sucked out of the womb?
Those are simply the facts. It sounds inflammatory only to those who are liars and killers.
The language of liars and killers is far more ambiguous. Words like "choice", "rights", and "reproductive health" have an empowering and clinical ring to them, while they hypnotize a self-centered, hedonistic culture. "Fetus" is uttered callously as though it means something less than a human being. To the liars and killers, this is their vernacular, and it is persuasive and deceiving.
The heartless destruction of our children is monstrous, and those who accomplish it forfeit their humanity piece by piece. A human being has an innate instinct toward compassion, toward basic kindness unless that instinct is smothered by hate. No one kills babies out of love. A person only ignores a helpless, dying baby, as the doctors in China ignored that beloved child, because he has surrendered his heart to hate and death. A person rips a baby out of the womb and inflicts death only because he himself has surrendered to the spirit of death. There are no other ends on the road of abortion; only hate, death and the utter loss of the soul.
To the advocates and administers of abortion in America, I dare you - defend the death of this Chinese baby. Explain the correctness of his murder; justify his torture. You must. It cannot matter at all to you where, when or how this baby died. All that matters is that he is dead, finally. The means to the end are irrelevant, if "choice" is sacrosanct. You already demand the right to dismember, burn, stab, suction and decapitate "it." You must now go the next step and demand the right to use whatever means necessary to achieve the objective of death, whether in or out of the womb.
The time has come to admit what you're really saying, what you're really demanding - the right to violently extinguish another human being simply because you wish it. Your rhetoric may sound clever to you, with all its vague and generic descriptions of the baby in the womb, but the truth is never disguised, and every human heart not already atrophied by hate and death knows the truth. Abortion does not terminate a pregnancy. Abortion terminates the baby.
You are not heroes of choice or bodily autonomy or freedom or women's rights. You are cheerleaders for and distributors of death. You are pirates who plunder the womb and profit from the killing of children.
Basic human decency and compassion demanded that those Chinese doctors help to save that poor baby's life. But to the abortion militia, compassion and decency are smote by their mythical yet inviolate "right to choose."
America, listen up. What happened in China is the only and inevitable destination of our country as long as we embrace the evil of abortion. In fact, we know for certain that we are already arriving at that ...
destination. Babies who have the audacity to survive their abortion in this country are left alone on instrument tables to die, or thrown away like trash. Our Born Alive Infant Protection Act (how can such an act of legislation even be needed?!?) is ignored and unenforced. Don't think it doesn't happen in America.
It is inevitable that more and more babies will be thrown away, having survived their murder attempt, and left to die, or put in boxes and shoved into the furnace. There is only one objective to the cause of abortion: death. Once a taste for death has been acquired, it is never satisfied. It demands more blood, and more blood, and it is never enough. There is always another restriction to be lifted, another speed bump to level so that the road of "choice" is fast, unobstructed and easily traveled.
We are living in our own age of ongoing death camps, complete with furnaces where the unwanted, the imperfect, the sick, the powerless, the silent ones go to be eliminated.
There is only one cure and His name is Jesus. His innocent blood was shed to forgive the sins of every soul, even the depraved sin of abortion. There is mercy for us, America, if we will choose life. There is prosperity and healing and happiness and abundant grace for us if we will turn away from our sin and seek His face.
http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=36663
TODAY´S SAINT
St. Vincent of Lerins
MONK AND WRITER
Feast: May 24
Information: Feast Day: May 24
Born: 445, Lérins, France
Out of humility, he disguises himself under the name of Peregrinus, to express the quality of being a pilgrim or stranger on earth, and one by his monastic state, in a more particular manner, estranged from the world. He styles himself The least of all the servants of God, and less than the least of all the saints, unworthy to bear the holy name of a Christian. He lays down this rule, or fundamental principle, in which he found, by a diligent inquiry, all Catholic pastors and the ancient fathers to agree, that such doctrine is truly Catholic as hath been believed in all places, at all times, and by all the faithful. By this test of universality, antiquity, and consent, he saith, all controverted points in belief must be tried. He showeth, that while Novatian, Photinus, Sabellius, Donatus, Arius, Eunomius, Jovinian, Pelagius, Celestius, and Nestorius expounded the divine oracles different ways, to avoid the perplexity of errors, we must interpret the Holy Scriptures by the tradition of the Catholic church, as the clew to conduct us in the truth. For this tradition, derived from the apostles, manifesteth the true meaning of the Holy Scriptures, and all novelty in faith is a certain mark of heresy; and, in religion, nothing is more to be dreaded than itching ears after new teachers. He saith: "They who have made bold with one article of faith will proceed on to others; and what will be the consequence of this reforming of religion, but only that these refiners will never have done till they have reformed it quite away." He elegantly expatiates on the divine charge given to the church, to maintain inviolable the sacred depositum of faith. He takes notice that heretics quote the sacred writings at every word, and that in the works of Paulus Samosatenus, Priscillian, Eunomius, Jovinian, and other like pests of Christendom, almost every page is painted and laid on thick with scripture texts, which Tertullian also remarks. But in this, saith, St. Vincent, heretics are like those poisoners or quacks who put off their destructive potions under inscriptions of good drugs, and under the title of infallible cures. They imitate the father of lies, who quoted scripture against the Son of God when he tempted him. The saint adds, that if a doubt arise in interpreting the meaning or the scriptures in any point of faith we must summon in the holy fathers, who nave lived and died in the faith and communion of the Catholic church, and by this test we shall prove the false doctrine to be novel. For that only we must look upon as indubitably certain and unalterable, which all, or the major part of these fathers have delivered, like the harmonious consent of a general council. But if any one among them, be he ever so holy, ever so learned, holds any thing besides, or in opposition to the rest, that is to be placed in the rank of singular and private opinions, and never to be looked upon as the public, general, authoritative doctrine of the church. After a point has been decided in a general council, the definition is irrefragable. These general principles, by which all heresies are easily confounded, St. Vincent explains with equal eloquence and perspicuity." His diction is pure and agreeable, his reasoning close and solid; and no controversial book ever expressed so much, and such deep sense, in so few words. The same rules are laid down by Tertullian in his book of Prescriptions, by St. Irenaeus and other fathers. St. Vincent died in the reigns of Theodosius II. and Valentinian III., consequently before the close of the year 456. His relics are preserved with respect at Lerins, and his name occurs in the Roman Martyrology.
St. Vincent observes that souls which have lost the anchorage of the Catholic faith, "are tossed and shattered with inward storms of clashing thoughts, that by this restless posture of mind they may be made sensible of their danger; and taking down the sails of pride and vanity which they have unhappily spread before every gust of heresy, they may make all the sail they can into the safe and peaceful harbor of their holy mother the Catholic church; and being sick from a surfeit of errors, may there discharge those foul and bitter waters to make room for the pure waters of life. There they may unlearn well what they have learned ill; may get a right notion of all those doctrines of the church they are capable of understanding, and believe those that surpass all understanding."
http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/V/stvincentoflerins.asp
TODAY´S GOSPEL
John 10: 22 - 30
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22 It was the feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem;
23 it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.
24 So the Jews gathered round him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."
25 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness to me;
26 but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me;
28 and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand.
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
30 I and the Father are one."
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