2013
*POPE FRANCIS "WE THANK GOD FOR THIS GRACE OF FATHERHOOD IN THE CHURCH"
Vatican Radio REPORT The desire to be a father is ingrained in all men, even priests, who are called to give life, care, protection to their spiritual children entrusted to them. This was the focus of Pope Francis homily at morning Mass Wednesday, in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta. Mass was concelebrated by the Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus of Palermo, Salvatore De Giorgi, who was celebrating the 60th anniversary of his priestly ordination.
"When a man does not have this desire, something is missing in this man. Something is wrong. All of us, to exist, to become complete, in order to be mature, we need to feel the joy of fatherhood: even those of us who are celibate. Fatherhood is giving life to others, giving life, giving life… For us, it is pastoral paternity, spiritual fatherhood, but this is still giving life, this is still becoming fathers. "Pope Francis was inspired by Wednesday's passage from Genesis, in which God promises an elderly Abram the joy of a child, along with descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. To seal this covenant, Abram follows God's directions and prepares a sacrifice of animals which he then defends from attack by birds of prey. "It moves me - said the Pope – to picture this ninety year old man with a stick in his hand", defending his sacrifice. "It makes me think of a father defending his family, his children":
"A father who knows what it means to protect his children. And this is a grace that we priests must ask for ourselves: to be a father, to be a father. The grace of fatherhood, of pastoral paternity, of spiritual paternity. We may have many sins, but this is commune sanctorum: We all have sins. But not having children, never becoming a father, it like an incomplete life: a life that stops half way. And therefore we have to be fathers. But it is a grace that the Lord gives. People say to us: 'Father, Father, Father ...'. They want us to be this, fathers, by the grace of pastoral fatherhood."
Pope Francis then turned to Cardinal De Giorgi, who is marking the 60 the anniversary of his priestly ordination. "I do not know what our dear Savlvatore did," but "I'm sure that he was a father." "And this is a sign," he says pointing to the many priests who accompanied the cardinal. “Now it's up to you” he said, adding: every tree "bears its own fruit, and if it is good, the fruit must be good, right?". So, the Pope concluded lightheartedly , "do not let him look bad ..."
"We thank God for this grace of fatherhood in the Church, which is passed from father to son, and so on ... And I think, finally, these two icons and one more: the icon of Abram who asks for a child, the icon of Abraham with a stick in his hand, defending his family, and the icon of the elderly Simeon in the Temple, when he receives the new life : this is a spontaneous liturgy, the liturgy of joy , in Him. And to you, the Lord today gifts great joy. "
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
"When a man does not have this desire, something is missing in this man. Something is wrong. All of us, to exist, to become complete, in order to be mature, we need to feel the joy of fatherhood: even those of us who are celibate. Fatherhood is giving life to others, giving life, giving life… For us, it is pastoral paternity, spiritual fatherhood, but this is still giving life, this is still becoming fathers. "Pope Francis was inspired by Wednesday's passage from Genesis, in which God promises an elderly Abram the joy of a child, along with descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. To seal this covenant, Abram follows God's directions and prepares a sacrifice of animals which he then defends from attack by birds of prey. "It moves me - said the Pope – to picture this ninety year old man with a stick in his hand", defending his sacrifice. "It makes me think of a father defending his family, his children":
"A father who knows what it means to protect his children. And this is a grace that we priests must ask for ourselves: to be a father, to be a father. The grace of fatherhood, of pastoral paternity, of spiritual paternity. We may have many sins, but this is commune sanctorum: We all have sins. But not having children, never becoming a father, it like an incomplete life: a life that stops half way. And therefore we have to be fathers. But it is a grace that the Lord gives. People say to us: 'Father, Father, Father ...'. They want us to be this, fathers, by the grace of pastoral fatherhood."
Pope Francis then turned to Cardinal De Giorgi, who is marking the 60 the anniversary of his priestly ordination. "I do not know what our dear Savlvatore did," but "I'm sure that he was a father." "And this is a sign," he says pointing to the many priests who accompanied the cardinal. “Now it's up to you” he said, adding: every tree "bears its own fruit, and if it is good, the fruit must be good, right?". So, the Pope concluded lightheartedly , "do not let him look bad ..."
"We thank God for this grace of fatherhood in the Church, which is passed from father to son, and so on ... And I think, finally, these two icons and one more: the icon of Abram who asks for a child, the icon of Abraham with a stick in his hand, defending his family, and the icon of the elderly Simeon in the Temple, when he receives the new life : this is a spontaneous liturgy, the liturgy of joy , in Him. And to you, the Lord today gifts great joy. "
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
THERE BE DRAGONS - WATCH FREE CATHOLIC MOVIE - LIFE OF ST. JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA
2011 Drama Arising out of the horror of the Spanish Civil War, a candidate for canonization is investigated by a journalist who discovers his own estranged father had a deep, dark and devastating connection to the saint's life.
The film is "based on true events"; while the outlines of the portion of Josemaría Escrivá's life presented in the movie are broadly accurate, most of the scenes in which Escrivá appears are fictional.
Rated PG-13 for "violence and combat sequences, some language and thematic elements."
Director/Writer:
Roland JofféStars:
Charlie Cox, Wes Bentley, Dougray ScottAMAZING ANOTHER BABY RESCUED ALIVE FROM TOILET PIPE NOW IN SPAIN
ANOTHER BABY was flushed down a toilet alive. This time the incident happened in Spain. The mother was poor and flushed the newborn with the umbilical cord attached down the toilet. A neighbor hear the baby crying and thought it was a cat so she called the police. This occurred in a apartment building. The baby was rescued and suffered a broken arm and other non life-threatening injuries. The baby weighed 4lbs. 8oz. and was wrapped in a plastic bag. The 26-year-old mother was arrested in the hospital after she told authorities she had a miscarriage. The firefighter saw the tiny feet of the child and realized it was not a cat. This happened on June 22 in Alicante neighborhood of Virgen del Carmen..(with files from Dailymail.co.uk)
POPE FRANCIS "HOW JESUS LOVES AND BLESSES ME" FULL TEXT/VIDEO
Vatican Radio REPORT: Pope Francis received pilgrims and visitors in St Peter's Square on Wednesday morning for his weekly General Audience. In his catechetical remarks, the Holy Father concentrated on the image of the Church as living temple and People of God. Below, please find Vatican Radio's translation of his remarks.
************************************************************
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today I would like briefly to refer to one more picture that helps us to illustrate the mystery of the Church: that of the temple (cf. Lumen Gentium, 6).
What does the word, ‘temple’ call to mind? It makes us think of a building, a construction. In particular, it recalls to many minds the history of the People of Israel narrated in the Old Testament. In Jerusalem, the great Temple of Solomon was the locus of the encounter with God in prayer. Within the Temple was the Ark of the Covenant, a sign of God's presence among the people, and inside the Ark were the Tablets of the Law, the manna and the rod of Aaron, a reminder that God had always been in the history of his people, had always been with them on their journey, always directed their stride – and the Temple recalls this story. We, too, when we go to the temple, must remember this story – my story – the story of each one of us – of how Jesus encountered me, of how he walked with me, how Jesus loves and blesses me.
That, which was prefigured in the ancient Temple, is realized in the Church, by the power of the Holy Spirit: the Church is the “house of God”, the place of His presence, where we can find and meet the Lord, the Church is the temple in which dwells the Holy Spirit, who animates, guides and sustains her. If we ask ourselves, “Where we can meet God? Where can we enter into communion with Him through Christ? Where can we find the light of the Holy Spirit to enlighten our lives?” the answer is, “in the People of God, among us, for we are Church – among us, within the People of God, in the Church – there we shall meet Jesus, we shall meet the Holy Spirit, we shall meet the Father.
The ancient temple was built by the hands of men: they wanted to “give a home” to God, to have a visible sign of His presence among the people. With the Incarnation of the Son of God, the prophecy of Nathan to King David is fulfilled (cf. 2 Sam 7.1 to 29): it is not the king, it is not we, who are to “give a home to God,” but God Himself who “builds his house” to come and dwell among us, as St. John writes in the Prologue of his Gospel (cf. 1:14). Christ is the living Temple of the Father, and Christ himself builds His “spiritual home”, the Church, made not of stone materials, but of “living stones” – of us, our very selves. The Apostle Paul says to the Christians of Ephesus: you are “Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone: in whom all the building, being framed together, groweth up into an holy temple in the Lord.(Eph 2:20-22)” How beautiful this is! We are the living stones of God, profoundly united to Christ, who is the rock of support, and among ourselves. What then, does this mean? It means that we are the Temple – the Church, but, us, living – we are Church, we are [the] living temple, and within us, when we are together, there is the Holy Spirit, who helps us grow as Church. We are not isolated, we are People of God – and this is the Church: People of God.
It is, moreover, the Holy Spirit with His gifts, who designs the variety – and this is important – what does the Holy Spirit do in our midst? He designs the variety – the variety, which is the richness of the Church and unites everything and everyone, so as to constitute a spiritual temple, in which we offer not material sacrifices, but us ourselves, our life (cf. 1 Pt 2:4-5). The Church is not a weave of things and interests, it is rather the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Temple in which God works, the Temple in which each of us with the gift of Baptism is living stone. This tells us that no one is useless in the Church – no on is useless in the Church! – and should anyone chance to say, some one of you, “Get home with you, you’re useless!” that is not true. No one is useless in the Church. We are all needed in order to build this temple. No one is secondary: “Ah, I am the most important one in the Church!” No! We are all equal in the eyes of God. But, one of you might say, “Mr. Pope, sir, you are not equal to us.” But I am just like each of you. We are all equal. We are all brothers and sisters. No one is anonymous: all form and build the Church. Nevertheless, it also invites us to reflect on the fact that the Temple wants the brick of our Christian life, that something is wanting in the beauty of the Church.
So I would like for us to ask ourselves: how do we live our being Church? We are living stones? Are we rather, so to speak, tired stones, bored, indifferent? Have any of you ever noticed how ugly a tired, bored, indifferent Christian is? It’s an ugly sight. A Christian has to be lively, joyous, he has to live this beautiful thing that is the People of God, the Church. Do we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, so as to be an active part of our communities, or do we close in on ourselves, saying, “I have so many things to do, that’s not my job.”?
May the Lord grant us His grace, His strength, so that we can be deeply united to Christ, the cornerstone, stone of support for all of our lives and the life of the Church. Let us pray that, animated by His Spirit, we might always be living stones of the Church.
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
LATEST FROM VATICAN - COMMISSION FOR IOR - MUSLIMS - CHRISTIANS UNITED FOR PEACE
| COMMUNIQUE FROM SECRETARIAT OF STATE ON ESTABLISHMENT OF PONTIFICAL COMMISSION FOR IOR Vatican City, 26 June 2013 (VIS) – This morning the Secretariat of State issued the following communique: The Holy Father has appointed a Pontifical Referring Commission to the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) with his Chirograph of 24 June, the day before yesterday. As can be seen from the text of the Chirograph published today, the opportunity to establish a Referring Committee has arisen from the Holy Father's desire to learn more about the Institute's juridical standing and activities in order to allow its better harmonization with the mission of the universal Church and the Apostolic See in the more general context of the reforms that should be carried out by the Institutions that give aid to the Apostolic See. The Commission's purpose is to gather information on the Institution's operations and present the results to the Holy Father. As specified in the Chirograph, during the course of the Commission's work, the Institute will continue to operate according to the Chirograph of 1990 that established it, unless otherwise authorized by the Holy Father. The Commission's purposes and powers are described in more detail in the Chirograph itself. The members of the Commission are: Cardinal Raffaele Farina, S.D.B., president Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, member Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru, coordinator Msgr. Peter Bryan Wells, secretary Dr. Mary Ann Glendon, member The Commission is beginning its work in these days. The Holy Father hopes for a happy and productive collaboration between the Commission and the Institute. |
| POPE ESTABLISHES PONTIFICAL REFERRING COMMISSION FOR IOR Vatican City, 26 June 2013 (VIS) – Following is the Holy Father Francis' complete Chirograph by which he establishes a Pontifical Referring Commission for the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR). “With his Chirograph of 1 March 1990, Blessed John Paul II established the Institute for the Works of Religion as a public juridical entity, giving the Institute a new configuration while maintaining its name and purpose. With the same perspective, taking into account that he wished to better adapt the Institute's structures and activities to the needs of the times; following the invitation of Our Predecessor Benedict XVI to allow the Gospel principles to permeate even the activities of an economic and financial nature; having heard the opinion of various Cardinals and other brothers in the Episcopate as well as other collaborators; and in light of the need to introduce reforms in the Institutions that give aid to the Apostolic See; We have decided to establish a Referring Commission for the Institute for the Works of Religion that will gather accurate information on the Institute's legal position and various activities, in order to allow, if necessary, a better harmonization of the same with the universal mission of the Apostolic See. The Commission is to carry out its proper duties in accordance with this Chirograph and Our working arrangements. 1) The Commission shall consist of a minimum of five Members, among which is a President who is its legal representative, a Coordinator who has the ordinary powers of delegation and acts on behalf of the Commission in collecting documents, data, and the necessary information, as well as a Secretary who assists the members and keeps the acts. 2) The Commission is endowed with the powers and faculties appropriate to performing its official institutional duties within the limits established by this Chirograph and the norms of the juridical system. The Commission is to collect the documents, data, and information necessary to the performance of its official institutional duties. Workplace confidentiality and other restrictions established by the juridical system shall not inhibit or limit the Commission's access to documents, data, or information, except as subject to the norms that protect the autonomy and independence of the Authorities that are engaged in the supervision and regulation of the Institute, which shall remain in force. 3) The Commission shall have the human and material resources appropriate to its institutional functions. If needed, it shall make use of contractors and consultants. 4) The governance of the Institute shall continue to operate in accordance with the Chirograph that established it, unless We provide for otherwise. 5) The Commission shall rely upon the willing cooperation of the Bodies of the Institute along with its entire staff. In addition, the Superiors, Members, and Officials of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia and the other agencies related to it as well as the Vatican City State shall likewise cooperate with the Commission. 6) The Commission shall keep Us informed of its proper activities in the course of its work. 7) The Commission will deliver to Us the results of its work, as well as its entire archive, in a timely manner upon the conclusion of its tasks. 8) The Commission's activities shall take effect from the date of this present Chirograph. 9) The dissolution of the Commission will be announced. Given at the Vatican on 24 June 2013, in the first year of my Pontificate. |
| TELEGRAM FOR DEATH OF ITALIAN SENATOR EMILIO COLOMBO Vatican City, 26 June 2013 (VIS) – Pope Francis, through Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., sent a telegram of condolence yesterday to the family of Senator Emilio Colombo, who died this past Monday in Rome. He was 93 years old. The text recalls that the politician was “a devout Catholic, an important figure in the Italian Republic, an outstanding man who, in his public roles, knew how to act with generous commitment to promote the common good.” The Pope entrusted Senator Colombo's soul to the maternal protection of the Virgin Mary and imparted the Apostolic Blessing upon all his family members and all those who are taking part in his funeral rites. |
| CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS UNITED FOR PEACE AND PROSPERITY Vatican City, 26 June 2013 (VIS) - The Islamic-Catholic Liaison Committee held its 19th meeting in Rome on 18 – 19 June 2013, corresponding to 9 – 10 Shaban 9, 1434. The assembly was presided over—for the Catholic side—by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and—for the Muslim side—by Dr Hamid bin Ahmad Al-Rifaie, president of the International Islamic Forum for Dialogue. The theme of the meeting was: “Believers Confronting Materialism and Secularism in Society”. After listening to the papers presented by Catholic and Muslim scholars and exchanging views about the above mentioned theme, the participants agreed upon the following: that Christianity and Islam affirm the inseparability and complementarity between the material and the spiritual domains and that our responsibility as believers is to reconcile these dimensions of life; that many people today suffer from the loss of spiritual and religious roots, a phenomenon that weakens both the inner and moral dimensions of individuals and societies; and that the world today is facing many kinds of crises. Our common responsibility as believers in God is to do all that is possible to protect vulnerable people at this time. Pope Francis received participants in the meeting in audience, encouraging them to continue their efforts on the path of “respectful and fruitful dialogue between believers for the peace and prosperity of our world”. The violence in Syria was also strongly condemned in the meeting and an appeal was made to the regional and international organizations to do everything possible to stop the bloodshed, according to International Law. The Committee will hold its next meeting in Tatwan, Morocco. It will be preceded by a preparatory event to be organized by the Muslim side. |
| OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS Vatican City, 26 June 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father appointed Bishop Joao Carlos Seneme, C.S.S., as bishop of Toledo (area 8,000, population 3,940,000, Catholics 347,000, priests 57, permanent deacons 1, religious 90), Brazil. Bishop Seneme was previously auxiliary of Curitiba, Parana, Brazil and titular of Albulae from 2007. |
PRIEST FOUND DEAD - RIP FR. MARTINEZ (AGE 35) WHO WAS MISSING IN COLOMBIA
Agenzia Fides REPORT - The lifeless body of Father Néstor Darío Buendía Martinez (see Fides 25/06/2013) was found dead in an isolated area of the town of Los Cordobas. Although the priest had never reported of having received threats, according to reports from the local press, don Buendía Martínez had publicly condemned criminal gangs in the area of Cereté.
Don Néstor Darío Buendía Martínez, 35, was assistant pastor at the parish of San Antonio de Padua in Cereté. The Bishop of Monteria, Msg. Ramón Alberto Rolón, just the other day had reported to the press his concern over the disappearance of the priest.
According to Fides that publisshes an annual document of pastoral workers who die every year, for the fourth consecutive time in 2012, America recorded the highest number of pastoral workers killed compared to other continents. In Colombia a priest was killed in 2012; 6 priests and 1 lay person were killed in 2011; three priests and a religious were killed in 2010; 5 priests and 1 lay person in 2009. In 2013 if the tragic death of Father Néstor Darío Buendía Martínez is confirmed 5 Colombian priests have been killed so far. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 26/06/2013)
Don Néstor Darío Buendía Martínez, 35, was assistant pastor at the parish of San Antonio de Padua in Cereté. The Bishop of Monteria, Msg. Ramón Alberto Rolón, just the other day had reported to the press his concern over the disappearance of the priest.
According to Fides that publisshes an annual document of pastoral workers who die every year, for the fourth consecutive time in 2012, America recorded the highest number of pastoral workers killed compared to other continents. In Colombia a priest was killed in 2012; 6 priests and 1 lay person were killed in 2011; three priests and a religious were killed in 2010; 5 priests and 1 lay person in 2009. In 2013 if the tragic death of Father Néstor Darío Buendía Martínez is confirmed 5 Colombian priests have been killed so far. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 26/06/2013)
BATS OVERRUN MEDIEVAL CHURCHES IN EUROPE DAMAGING IRREPLACEABLE ART
UCAN/TELEGRAPH REPORT
New European law allows them to be overrun
New European law allows them to be overrun
Picture: Telegraph
- John Bingham for The Telegraph
MPs have been told that “irreplaceable” treasures including frescoes which survived the waves of destruction in the 16th Century are now being destroyed by chemicals in bat droppings.
Sir Tony Baldry, the Tory MP who represents the Church of England in the Commons, said that some buildings used for centuries are now in danger of becoming unsustainable as places of worship unless action is taken.
He said that, while it was never the intention of those who drafted the European Habitats Directive, which bans interference with bat roosts, to render churches unusable, that is the result of the way it is currently being interpreted.
Richard Benyon, the environment minister, also disclosed during the debate in Westminster Hall, that the Government is funding tests on new acoustic devices designed to deter the creatures.
Sir Tony said: "For example, the church of St Peter ad Vincula at South Newington in my own constituency has some very fine, almost unique, medieval wall paintings which seem to have been spared by Thomas Cromwell's men.
"But having survived the ravages of the Reformation they are now threatened by bat urine."
SHARED FROM UCAN NEWS/TELEGRAPH
2013
BOMBINGS KILL 41 AND CHURCH HIT IN IRAQ
ASIA NEWS REPORT
by Joseph Mahmoud
The provisional toll is 41 dead and 125 injured. Attacks hit Baghdad, Mosul, Tikrit and other cities, especially crowded places. So far, no one has claimed responsibility. Unknown attackers fire at St Mary Assyrian Church in east Baghdad. Christian-owned businesses are also targeted. Sources tell AsiaNews that people are starting to be scared.
Baghdad (AsiaNews) - A dozen bombings on Monday in and around Baghdad and north of the city killed at least 41 and wounded 125 others. Many of the attacks struck outdoor markets or restaurants in the Iraqi capital, including the neighbourhoods Al Nasser, Karrada, Al Jihad and Nahrawan. Bombings were also reported in Mosul and Tikrit.
The wave of violence-including gun attacks and suicide bombings-has left more than 2,000 people dead since April, the worse toll in the past five years. Sources told AsiaNews that no one has been spared. Innocent Sunnis, Shias and Christians have fallen victims to a war carried out by unknown extremists.
The security situation appears to reflect Iraq's ongoing political struggle. The rift among politicians is being exploited by many to sow division and confusion among innocent people.
People in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities have experienced a difficult and bloody night due to car bombs and explosions that left scores dead. The attacks were aimed at outdoor markets and crowed places, and succeeded in destroying many shops, houses and cars.
Christian-owned shops and businesses were among the casualties. The store of Abu Warda, a Chaldean Christian who prepares food in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood, was attacked with a car bomb. One of the employees, Ashur, died in the explosion, leaving a wife and three children. Two other employees were wounded.
In another part of the capital, the Sinaa neighbourhood, two car bombs exploded in front of a store owned by Mariana and Rahhim, a Christian couple.
The ferocity of the attacks has not spared religious buildings. Last night, masked men attacked St Mary Assyrian Church, in the east of Baghdad. The attackers were in front of the building and fired wildly at the guards standing outside the building, seriously wounding two of them.
So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which did not spare other parts of Iraq, nor is it clear why they were carried out. All that is certain is that people are starting to be scared.
SHARED FROM ASIA NEWS IT
ASIA NEWS REPORT
by Joseph Mahmoud
The provisional toll is 41 dead and 125 injured. Attacks hit Baghdad, Mosul, Tikrit and other cities, especially crowded places. So far, no one has claimed responsibility. Unknown attackers fire at St Mary Assyrian Church in east Baghdad. Christian-owned businesses are also targeted. Sources tell AsiaNews that people are starting to be scared.
Baghdad (AsiaNews) - A dozen bombings on Monday in and around Baghdad and north of the city killed at least 41 and wounded 125 others. Many of the attacks struck outdoor markets or restaurants in the Iraqi capital, including the neighbourhoods Al Nasser, Karrada, Al Jihad and Nahrawan. Bombings were also reported in Mosul and Tikrit.
The wave of violence-including gun attacks and suicide bombings-has left more than 2,000 people dead since April, the worse toll in the past five years. Sources told AsiaNews that no one has been spared. Innocent Sunnis, Shias and Christians have fallen victims to a war carried out by unknown extremists.
The security situation appears to reflect Iraq's ongoing political struggle. The rift among politicians is being exploited by many to sow division and confusion among innocent people.
People in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities have experienced a difficult and bloody night due to car bombs and explosions that left scores dead. The attacks were aimed at outdoor markets and crowed places, and succeeded in destroying many shops, houses and cars.
Christian-owned shops and businesses were among the casualties. The store of Abu Warda, a Chaldean Christian who prepares food in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood, was attacked with a car bomb. One of the employees, Ashur, died in the explosion, leaving a wife and three children. Two other employees were wounded.
In another part of the capital, the Sinaa neighbourhood, two car bombs exploded in front of a store owned by Mariana and Rahhim, a Christian couple.
The ferocity of the attacks has not spared religious buildings. Last night, masked men attacked St Mary Assyrian Church, in the east of Baghdad. The attackers were in front of the building and fired wildly at the guards standing outside the building, seriously wounding two of them.
So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which did not spare other parts of Iraq, nor is it clear why they were carried out. All that is certain is that people are starting to be scared.
SHARED FROM ASIA NEWS IT
by Joseph Mahmoud
The provisional toll is 41 dead and 125 injured. Attacks hit Baghdad, Mosul, Tikrit and other cities, especially crowded places. So far, no one has claimed responsibility. Unknown attackers fire at St Mary Assyrian Church in east Baghdad. Christian-owned businesses are also targeted. Sources tell AsiaNews that people are starting to be scared.
_0625_-_Attentati.jpg)
Baghdad (AsiaNews) - A dozen bombings on Monday in and around Baghdad and north of the city killed at least 41 and wounded 125 others. Many of the attacks struck outdoor markets or restaurants in the Iraqi capital, including the neighbourhoods Al Nasser, Karrada, Al Jihad and Nahrawan. Bombings were also reported in Mosul and Tikrit.
The wave of violence-including gun attacks and suicide bombings-has left more than 2,000 people dead since April, the worse toll in the past five years. Sources told AsiaNews that no one has been spared. Innocent Sunnis, Shias and Christians have fallen victims to a war carried out by unknown extremists.
The security situation appears to reflect Iraq's ongoing political struggle. The rift among politicians is being exploited by many to sow division and confusion among innocent people.
People in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities have experienced a difficult and bloody night due to car bombs and explosions that left scores dead. The attacks were aimed at outdoor markets and crowed places, and succeeded in destroying many shops, houses and cars.
Christian-owned shops and businesses were among the casualties. The store of Abu Warda, a Chaldean Christian who prepares food in Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood, was attacked with a car bomb. One of the employees, Ashur, died in the explosion, leaving a wife and three children. Two other employees were wounded.
In another part of the capital, the Sinaa neighbourhood, two car bombs exploded in front of a store owned by Mariana and Rahhim, a Christian couple.
The ferocity of the attacks has not spared religious buildings. Last night, masked men attacked St Mary Assyrian Church, in the east of Baghdad. The attackers were in front of the building and fired wildly at the guards standing outside the building, seriously wounding two of them.
So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which did not spare other parts of Iraq, nor is it clear why they were carried out. All that is certain is that people are starting to be scared.
SHARED FROM ASIA NEWS IT
TODAY'S SAINT : JUNE 26 : ST. JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA
St. Josemaria Escriva
FOUNDER OF OPUS DEI
Feast: June 26
Information:
Feast Day: June 26 Born:
9 January 1902, Barbastro, Aragon, Spain
Died: 26 June 1975, Rome, Italy Canonized: 6 October 2002, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II Major Shrine: Our Lady of Peace, Prelatic Church of Opus Dei, in Rome
EWTN Mini-Site of St. Josemaria Escriva
A bright and cheerful home
Josemaría Escrivá was born in Barbastro, Spain, on 9 January 1902, the second of six children born to José Escrivá and María Dolores Albás. His parents were devout Catholics and he was baptised on 13 January that year and received from them – first through the example of their life – a firm grounding in the faith and the Christian virtues: love for frequent Confession and Holy Communion, a trusting recourse to prayer, devotion to Our Lady, helping those in greatest need.
Blessed Josemaría grew up as a cheerful, lively and straightforward child, fun-loving, good at study, intelligent and with an observing eye. He had a great affection for his mother and a trusting friendship with his father, who encouraged him to feel free to open his heart and tell him his worries, and was always ready to answer his questions with affection and prudence. It was not long before Our Lord began to temper his soul in the forge of sorrow. Between 1910 and 1913 his three younger sisters died and in 1914 his family suffered financial ruin. In 1915 the Escrivás moved to Logroño, a nearby town, where their father found a job with which to keep his family.
In the winter of 1917-18 something happened which was to have a decisive influence on Josemaría Escrivá’s future. The snow fell very heavily that Christmas in Logroño, and one day he saw some frozen footprints in the snow. They had been left by a discalced Carmelite. Josemaría found himself wondering: If others sacrifice so much for God and their neighbour, couldn’t I do something too? This was how God started to speak to his heart: I began to have an inkling of what Love is, to realise that my heart was yearning for something great, for love. He did not yet know what precisely God wanted of him, but he decided to become a priest, thinking that it would make him more available to fulfil God’s will.
Priestly ordination
Having completed his secondary education, he started his priestly studies at the Seminary of Logroño, passing on, in 1920, to the Seminary of Saragossa, at whose Pontifical University he completed his formation prior to ordination. At his father’s suggestion and with the permission of his ecclesiastical superiors, he also studied Law at the University of Saragossa. His generous and cheerful character and his straightforwardness and calm approach to things won him many friends. His life of piety, respect for discipline and endeavour in study were an example to his fellow seminarians and in 1922, when he was but twenty years of age, he was appointed an inspector or prefect in the Seminary by the Archbishop of Saragossa.
During that time he spent many hours praying before the Blessed Sacrament. His spiritual life became deeply rooted in the Eucharist. Each day he would also visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Pilar, asking Mary to request God to show him what He wanted him to do. As he recalled on 2 October 1968: Since I felt those inklings of God's love, I sought to carry out, within the limits of my smallness, what he expected from this poor instrument. (…) And, with those yearnings, I prayed and prayed and prayed, in constant prayer. I kept on repeating: Domine, ut sit!, Domine, ut videam!, like the poor fellow in the Gospel, who shouted out because God can do everything. Lord, that I may see! Lord, that it may come to be! And I also repeated (…) filled with confidence in my heavenly Mother: Domina, ut sit!, Domina, ut videam! The Blessed Virgin has always helped me to discover her Son's desires.
On 27 November 1924 his father, José Escrivá, died suddenly and unexpectedly. On 28 March 1925, Josemaría was ordained a priest by Bishop Díaz Gómara in the church of the Seminary of St Charles in Saragossa. Two days later he celebrated his first Solemn Mass in the Holy Chapel of the Basilica of Our Lady of Pilar and on 31 March he moved to Perdiguera, a small country village, where he had been appointed assistant regent to the parish.
In April 1927, with the consent of his Archbishop, he took up residence in Madrid to study for his doctorate in Civil Law, a degree which at that time was only granted by the Central University in the Spanish capital. In Madrid, his apostolic zeal soon brought him into contact with a wide variety of people: students, artists, workers, academics, priests. He spent many hours caring for children, and for sick and poverty-stricken people in the outer suburbs of the city.
At the same time he taught law to earn a living for himself and his mother and sister and young brother. For a good many years the family were in serious financial difficulties, which they bore with dignity and courage. Our Lord blessed Fr Josemaría with abundant graces, both ordinary and extraordinary. They found a fertile reception in his generous soul and produced much fruit in the service of the Church and souls.
The foundation of Opus Dei
Opus Dei was born on 2 October 1928. Blessed Josemaría was spending some days on retreat and, while doing his meditation on some notes regarding the inner motions he had received from God in the previous years, he suddenly saw – to see was the term he always used to describe the foundational experience – the mission the Lord wanted to entrust to him: to open up in the Church a new vocational path, aimed at spreading the quest for holiness and the practice of apostolate through the sanctification of ordinary work in the middle of the world, without changing one’s place. A few months later, on 14 February 1930, God made him understand that Opus Dei was to spread among women also.
From that moment onward, Blessed Josemaría devoted all his energies to the fulfilment of his foundational mission, fostering among men and women from all areas of society a personal commitment to follow Christ, to love their neighbour and seek holiness in daily life. He did not see himself as an innovator or reformer, for he was convinced that Jesus Christ is eternally new and that the Holy Spirit is constantly rejuvenating the Church, for whose service God has brought Opus Dei into existence. Fully aware that the task entrusted to him was supernatural by nature, he proceeded to dig deep foundations for his work, based on prayer and penance, on a joyous awareness of his being a son of God and on tireless work. People of all sorts began to follow him and, in particular, university students and teachers, among whom he awakened a genuine determination to serve everyone, firing in them a desire to place Christ at the heart of all human activities by means of work that is sanctified, and sanctifies both the doer and those for whom it is done. This was the goal he set for the initiatives of the faithful of Opus Dei: to lift up to God, with the help of grace, each and every created reality, so that Christ may reign in everyone and in everything; to get to know Christ Jesus; to get Him known by others; to take Him everywhere. One can understood why he was able to declare that The divine paths of the earth have been opened up.
Apostolic expansion
In 1933, he started a university Centre, the DYA Academy, because he grasped that the world of human knowledge and culture is a key to the evangelisation of society as a whole. In 1934 he published Spiritual Considerations, the first version of The Way. Since then there have been 372 printings of the book in 44 languages and its circulation has passed the four and a half million mark.
While Opus Dei was thus taking its first steps, the Spanish Civil War broke out. It was 1936. There were serious outbreaks of religious violence in Madrid. To these Fr Josemaría responded heroically with prayer, penance and apostolic endeavour. It was a time of suffering for the whole Church, but also a time of spiritual and apostolic growth, and for strengthening hope. By 1939, with the war over, the Founder of Opus Dei was able to give new vigour to his apostolic work all over the Spanish peninsula. In particular he mobilised many young university students to take Christ to every area of society and discover the greatness of the Christian calling. At the same time, with his reputation for holiness growing, many Bishops invited him to preach to their clergy and to lay people involved in Catholic organisations. Similar petitions came to him from the superiors of religious orders; he always said yes.
In 1941, while he was preaching a retreat to priests in Lerida, in the North of Spain, his mother who had been a great help to him in the apostolates of Opus Dei, died. God also let him become the butt of harsh misunderstandings. The Bishop of Madrid, Bishop Eijo y Garay gave him his fullest backing and granted the first canonical approval to Opus Dei. Blessed Josemaría accepted these difficulties with a prayerful and cheerful attitude, aware that all those desiring to live piously in Christ Jesus will meet persecution (2 Tim 3:12) and he recommended his spiritual children, in the face of these attacks, to forgive ungrudgingly: don’t answer back, but pray, work and smile.
In 1943, through a new foundational grace he received while celebrating Holy Mass, there came to birth – within Opus Dei – the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, in which priests proceeding from the faithful of Opus Dei could be incardinated. The fact of all the faithful of Opus Dei, both laity and priests, belonging fully to Opus Dei, with both laity and priests cooperating organically in its apostolates, is a feature of the foundational charism, which the Church confirmed in 1982, when giving Opus Dei its definitive status in Church Law as a Personal Prelature. On 25 June 1944 three engineers were ordained to the priesthood. One of them was Alvaro del Portillo, who would eventually succeed the Founder as the head of Opus Dei. In the years that followed, close on a thousand laymen of Opus Dei reached the priesthood at the encouragement of Blessed Josemaría.
The Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, which is intrinsically united to the Prelature of Opus Dei, also carries out, in close harmony with the Pastors of the local Churches, activities of spiritual formation for diocesan priests and candidates to the priesthood. Diocesan priests too may belong to the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, while maintaining unchanged their status as clergy of their respective dioceses.
A Roman and universal spirit
As soon as the end of the world war was in sight, Blessed Josemaría began to prepare apostolic work in other countries, because, as he pointed out, Jesus wants his Work from the outset to have a universal, Catholic heart. In 1946 he moved to Rome, in order to obtain papal recognition for Opus Dei. On 24 February 1947, Pius XII granted Opus Dei the decretum laudis, or decree of praise; and three years later, on 16 June 1950, the Church’s definitive approval. Since then it has been possible to admit as Cooperators of Opus Dei men and women who are not Catholic and not even Christian, but who wish to help its apostolic works, with their work, alms and prayer.
The headquarters of Opus Dei were fixed in Rome, to emphasise even more clearly the aspiration which is the guiding force of all its work, to serve the Church as the Church wishes to be served, in close union with the see of Peter and the hierarchy of the Church. On several occasions, Pius XII and John XXIII sent Blessed Josemaría expressions of their affection and esteem; Paul VI wrote to him in 1964 describing Opus Dei as "a living expression of the perennial youthfulness of the Church".
This stage too of the life of the Founder of Opus Dei was characterised by all kinds of trials. Not only was his health affected by many sufferings (for more than ten years he had a serious form of diabetes, from which he was miraculously cured in 1954), but also there were financial hardships and the difficulties arising from the expansion of the apostolic works worldwide. Nevertheless, he kept smiling throughout, because True virtue is not sad or disagreeable, but pleasantly cheerful. His permanent good humour was a constant witness to his unconditional love for God’s will.
The world is little, when Love is great: his desire to flood the earth with the light of Christ led him to follow up the calls that many Bishops made to him from all over the world, asking Opus Dei to help them in the work of evangelisation with its apostolates. Many varied projects were undertaken: colleges to impart professional training, schools for agricultural workers, universities, primary and secondary schools, hospitals and medical centres, etc. These activities, which he often compared to a shoreless sea, originate at the initiative of ordinary Christians who seek to meet specific local needs with a lay mentality and a professional approach. They are open to people of all races, religions and social backgrounds, because their unmistakably Christian outlook is always matched by a deep respect for the freedom of consciences.
When John XXIII announced his decision to call an Ecumenical Council, Blessed Josemaría began to pray and get others to pray for the happy outcome of this great initiative of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, as he wrote in a letter in 1962. As a result of the deliberations of the Council, the Church’s solemn Magisterium was to confirm fundamental aspects of the spirit of Opus Dei, such as the universal call to holiness; professional work as a means to holiness and apostolate; the value and lawful limits of Christian freedom in temporal affairs; and the Holy Mass as the centre and root of the interior life. Blessed Josemaría met numerous Council Fathers and experts, who saw him as a forerunner of many of the master lines of the Second Vatican Council. Profoundly identified with the Council’s teaching, he diligently fostered its implementation through the formative activities of Opus Dei all over the world.
Holiness in the midst of the world
Heaven and earth seem to merge, far away, on the horizon. But don’t forget that where they really meet is in your heart as a son of God. Blessed Josemaría preached constantly that interior life is more important than organising activities. In The Way he wrote that These world crises are crises of saints. He insisted that holiness always requires prayer, work and apostolate to be intertwined in what he called a unity of life, and practised this himself with cheerful perseverance.
He was utterly convinced that in order to attain sanctity through daily work, one needs to struggle to be a soul of prayer, of deep inner life. When a person lives this way, everything becomes prayer, everything can and ought to lead us to God, feeding our constant contact with Him, from morning till night. Every kind of work can become prayer, and every kind of work, become prayer, turns into apostolate.
The root of the astonishing fruitfulness of his ministry lies precisely in his ardent interior life which made Blessed Josemaría a contemplative in the midst of the world. His interior life fed on prayer and the sacraments, and expressed itself in a passionate love for the Eucharist, in the depth with which he lived the Mass as the centre and root of his own life, in his tender devotion to the Virgin Mary, to St Joseph and the Guardian Angels, and in his faithfulness to the Church and the Pope.
The definitive encounter with the Most Holy Trinity
During the last years of his life, the Founder of Opus Dei undertook a number of catechetical journeys to countries in Europe and Latin America. Wherever he went, there were meetings, which were always simple and familiar in tone, even though often those listening to him were to be counted in thousands. He would speak about God, the sacraments, Christian devotions, the sanctification of work, and his love for the Church and the Pope. On 28 March 1975 he celebrated his priestly Golden Jubilee. His prayer that day was like a summing up of his whole life: Fifty years have gone by, and I am still like a faltering child. I am just beginning, beginning again, as I do each day in my interior life. And it will be so to the end of my days: always beginning anew.
On 26 June 1975, at midday, Blessed Josemaría died in his workroom, of a cardiac arrest, before a picture of Our Lady which received his last glance. At the time, Opus Dei was present in all five continents, with over 60,000 members from 80 nationalities. His books of spirituality (The Way, Holy Rosary, Conversations with Mgr Escrivá, Christ is Passing By, Friends of God, Love for the Church, The Way of the Cross, Furrow, The Forge) have reached millions of copies.
After his death, many people asked the Holy Father for his canonisation. On 17 May 1992, in Rome, His Holiness Pope John Paul II raised Josemaría Escrivá to the altars, in a beatification ceremony before hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. On 21 September 2001, the Ordinary Congregation of Cardinal and Bishop members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, unanimously confirmed the miraculous character of a cure attributed to Blessed Josemaría. The decree regarding this miracle was read before the Holy Father on 20 December. On 26 February 2002, John Paul II presided over an Ordinary Public Consistory of Cardinals and, having heard the Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops present, he established that the ceremony for the Canonisation of Blessed Josemaría Escrivá should take place on 6 October 2002.
source: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/J/stjosemariaescriva.asp#ixzz1yuHDNJqd
St. Josemaria Escriva
FOUNDER OF OPUS DEI
Feast: June 26
Information:
| A bright and cheerful home Josemaría Escrivá was born in Barbastro, Spain, on 9 January 1902, the second of six children born to José Escrivá and María Dolores Albás. His parents were devout Catholics and he was baptised on 13 January that year and received from them – first through the example of their life – a firm grounding in the faith and the Christian virtues: love for frequent Confession and Holy Communion, a trusting recourse to prayer, devotion to Our Lady, helping those in greatest need. Blessed Josemaría grew up as a cheerful, lively and straightforward child, fun-loving, good at study, intelligent and with an observing eye. He had a great affection for his mother and a trusting friendship with his father, who encouraged him to feel free to open his heart and tell him his worries, and was always ready to answer his questions with affection and prudence. It was not long before Our Lord began to temper his soul in the forge of sorrow. Between 1910 and 1913 his three younger sisters died and in 1914 his family suffered financial ruin. In 1915 the Escrivás moved to Logroño, a nearby town, where their father found a job with which to keep his family. In the winter of 1917-18 something happened which was to have a decisive influence on Josemaría Escrivá’s future. The snow fell very heavily that Christmas in Logroño, and one day he saw some frozen footprints in the snow. They had been left by a discalced Carmelite. Josemaría found himself wondering: If others sacrifice so much for God and their neighbour, couldn’t I do something too? This was how God started to speak to his heart: I began to have an inkling of what Love is, to realise that my heart was yearning for something great, for love. He did not yet know what precisely God wanted of him, but he decided to become a priest, thinking that it would make him more available to fulfil God’s will. Priestly ordination Having completed his secondary education, he started his priestly studies at the Seminary of Logroño, passing on, in 1920, to the Seminary of Saragossa, at whose Pontifical University he completed his formation prior to ordination. At his father’s suggestion and with the permission of his ecclesiastical superiors, he also studied Law at the University of Saragossa. His generous and cheerful character and his straightforwardness and calm approach to things won him many friends. His life of piety, respect for discipline and endeavour in study were an example to his fellow seminarians and in 1922, when he was but twenty years of age, he was appointed an inspector or prefect in the Seminary by the Archbishop of Saragossa. During that time he spent many hours praying before the Blessed Sacrament. His spiritual life became deeply rooted in the Eucharist. Each day he would also visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Pilar, asking Mary to request God to show him what He wanted him to do. As he recalled on 2 October 1968: Since I felt those inklings of God's love, I sought to carry out, within the limits of my smallness, what he expected from this poor instrument. (…) And, with those yearnings, I prayed and prayed and prayed, in constant prayer. I kept on repeating: Domine, ut sit!, Domine, ut videam!, like the poor fellow in the Gospel, who shouted out because God can do everything. Lord, that I may see! Lord, that it may come to be! And I also repeated (…) filled with confidence in my heavenly Mother: Domina, ut sit!, Domina, ut videam! The Blessed Virgin has always helped me to discover her Son's desires. On 27 November 1924 his father, José Escrivá, died suddenly and unexpectedly. On 28 March 1925, Josemaría was ordained a priest by Bishop Díaz Gómara in the church of the Seminary of St Charles in Saragossa. Two days later he celebrated his first Solemn Mass in the Holy Chapel of the Basilica of Our Lady of Pilar and on 31 March he moved to Perdiguera, a small country village, where he had been appointed assistant regent to the parish. In April 1927, with the consent of his Archbishop, he took up residence in Madrid to study for his doctorate in Civil Law, a degree which at that time was only granted by the Central University in the Spanish capital. In Madrid, his apostolic zeal soon brought him into contact with a wide variety of people: students, artists, workers, academics, priests. He spent many hours caring for children, and for sick and poverty-stricken people in the outer suburbs of the city. At the same time he taught law to earn a living for himself and his mother and sister and young brother. For a good many years the family were in serious financial difficulties, which they bore with dignity and courage. Our Lord blessed Fr Josemaría with abundant graces, both ordinary and extraordinary. They found a fertile reception in his generous soul and produced much fruit in the service of the Church and souls. The foundation of Opus Dei Opus Dei was born on 2 October 1928. Blessed Josemaría was spending some days on retreat and, while doing his meditation on some notes regarding the inner motions he had received from God in the previous years, he suddenly saw – to see was the term he always used to describe the foundational experience – the mission the Lord wanted to entrust to him: to open up in the Church a new vocational path, aimed at spreading the quest for holiness and the practice of apostolate through the sanctification of ordinary work in the middle of the world, without changing one’s place. A few months later, on 14 February 1930, God made him understand that Opus Dei was to spread among women also. From that moment onward, Blessed Josemaría devoted all his energies to the fulfilment of his foundational mission, fostering among men and women from all areas of society a personal commitment to follow Christ, to love their neighbour and seek holiness in daily life. He did not see himself as an innovator or reformer, for he was convinced that Jesus Christ is eternally new and that the Holy Spirit is constantly rejuvenating the Church, for whose service God has brought Opus Dei into existence. Fully aware that the task entrusted to him was supernatural by nature, he proceeded to dig deep foundations for his work, based on prayer and penance, on a joyous awareness of his being a son of God and on tireless work. People of all sorts began to follow him and, in particular, university students and teachers, among whom he awakened a genuine determination to serve everyone, firing in them a desire to place Christ at the heart of all human activities by means of work that is sanctified, and sanctifies both the doer and those for whom it is done. This was the goal he set for the initiatives of the faithful of Opus Dei: to lift up to God, with the help of grace, each and every created reality, so that Christ may reign in everyone and in everything; to get to know Christ Jesus; to get Him known by others; to take Him everywhere. One can understood why he was able to declare that The divine paths of the earth have been opened up. Apostolic expansion In 1933, he started a university Centre, the DYA Academy, because he grasped that the world of human knowledge and culture is a key to the evangelisation of society as a whole. In 1934 he published Spiritual Considerations, the first version of The Way. Since then there have been 372 printings of the book in 44 languages and its circulation has passed the four and a half million mark. While Opus Dei was thus taking its first steps, the Spanish Civil War broke out. It was 1936. There were serious outbreaks of religious violence in Madrid. To these Fr Josemaría responded heroically with prayer, penance and apostolic endeavour. It was a time of suffering for the whole Church, but also a time of spiritual and apostolic growth, and for strengthening hope. By 1939, with the war over, the Founder of Opus Dei was able to give new vigour to his apostolic work all over the Spanish peninsula. In particular he mobilised many young university students to take Christ to every area of society and discover the greatness of the Christian calling. At the same time, with his reputation for holiness growing, many Bishops invited him to preach to their clergy and to lay people involved in Catholic organisations. Similar petitions came to him from the superiors of religious orders; he always said yes. In 1941, while he was preaching a retreat to priests in Lerida, in the North of Spain, his mother who had been a great help to him in the apostolates of Opus Dei, died. God also let him become the butt of harsh misunderstandings. The Bishop of Madrid, Bishop Eijo y Garay gave him his fullest backing and granted the first canonical approval to Opus Dei. Blessed Josemaría accepted these difficulties with a prayerful and cheerful attitude, aware that all those desiring to live piously in Christ Jesus will meet persecution (2 Tim 3:12) and he recommended his spiritual children, in the face of these attacks, to forgive ungrudgingly: don’t answer back, but pray, work and smile. In 1943, through a new foundational grace he received while celebrating Holy Mass, there came to birth – within Opus Dei – the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, in which priests proceeding from the faithful of Opus Dei could be incardinated. The fact of all the faithful of Opus Dei, both laity and priests, belonging fully to Opus Dei, with both laity and priests cooperating organically in its apostolates, is a feature of the foundational charism, which the Church confirmed in 1982, when giving Opus Dei its definitive status in Church Law as a Personal Prelature. On 25 June 1944 three engineers were ordained to the priesthood. One of them was Alvaro del Portillo, who would eventually succeed the Founder as the head of Opus Dei. In the years that followed, close on a thousand laymen of Opus Dei reached the priesthood at the encouragement of Blessed Josemaría. The Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, which is intrinsically united to the Prelature of Opus Dei, also carries out, in close harmony with the Pastors of the local Churches, activities of spiritual formation for diocesan priests and candidates to the priesthood. Diocesan priests too may belong to the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, while maintaining unchanged their status as clergy of their respective dioceses. A Roman and universal spirit As soon as the end of the world war was in sight, Blessed Josemaría began to prepare apostolic work in other countries, because, as he pointed out, Jesus wants his Work from the outset to have a universal, Catholic heart. In 1946 he moved to Rome, in order to obtain papal recognition for Opus Dei. On 24 February 1947, Pius XII granted Opus Dei the decretum laudis, or decree of praise; and three years later, on 16 June 1950, the Church’s definitive approval. Since then it has been possible to admit as Cooperators of Opus Dei men and women who are not Catholic and not even Christian, but who wish to help its apostolic works, with their work, alms and prayer. The headquarters of Opus Dei were fixed in Rome, to emphasise even more clearly the aspiration which is the guiding force of all its work, to serve the Church as the Church wishes to be served, in close union with the see of Peter and the hierarchy of the Church. On several occasions, Pius XII and John XXIII sent Blessed Josemaría expressions of their affection and esteem; Paul VI wrote to him in 1964 describing Opus Dei as "a living expression of the perennial youthfulness of the Church". This stage too of the life of the Founder of Opus Dei was characterised by all kinds of trials. Not only was his health affected by many sufferings (for more than ten years he had a serious form of diabetes, from which he was miraculously cured in 1954), but also there were financial hardships and the difficulties arising from the expansion of the apostolic works worldwide. Nevertheless, he kept smiling throughout, because True virtue is not sad or disagreeable, but pleasantly cheerful. His permanent good humour was a constant witness to his unconditional love for God’s will. The world is little, when Love is great: his desire to flood the earth with the light of Christ led him to follow up the calls that many Bishops made to him from all over the world, asking Opus Dei to help them in the work of evangelisation with its apostolates. Many varied projects were undertaken: colleges to impart professional training, schools for agricultural workers, universities, primary and secondary schools, hospitals and medical centres, etc. These activities, which he often compared to a shoreless sea, originate at the initiative of ordinary Christians who seek to meet specific local needs with a lay mentality and a professional approach. They are open to people of all races, religions and social backgrounds, because their unmistakably Christian outlook is always matched by a deep respect for the freedom of consciences. When John XXIII announced his decision to call an Ecumenical Council, Blessed Josemaría began to pray and get others to pray for the happy outcome of this great initiative of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, as he wrote in a letter in 1962. As a result of the deliberations of the Council, the Church’s solemn Magisterium was to confirm fundamental aspects of the spirit of Opus Dei, such as the universal call to holiness; professional work as a means to holiness and apostolate; the value and lawful limits of Christian freedom in temporal affairs; and the Holy Mass as the centre and root of the interior life. Blessed Josemaría met numerous Council Fathers and experts, who saw him as a forerunner of many of the master lines of the Second Vatican Council. Profoundly identified with the Council’s teaching, he diligently fostered its implementation through the formative activities of Opus Dei all over the world. Holiness in the midst of the world Heaven and earth seem to merge, far away, on the horizon. But don’t forget that where they really meet is in your heart as a son of God. Blessed Josemaría preached constantly that interior life is more important than organising activities. In The Way he wrote that These world crises are crises of saints. He insisted that holiness always requires prayer, work and apostolate to be intertwined in what he called a unity of life, and practised this himself with cheerful perseverance. He was utterly convinced that in order to attain sanctity through daily work, one needs to struggle to be a soul of prayer, of deep inner life. When a person lives this way, everything becomes prayer, everything can and ought to lead us to God, feeding our constant contact with Him, from morning till night. Every kind of work can become prayer, and every kind of work, become prayer, turns into apostolate. The root of the astonishing fruitfulness of his ministry lies precisely in his ardent interior life which made Blessed Josemaría a contemplative in the midst of the world. His interior life fed on prayer and the sacraments, and expressed itself in a passionate love for the Eucharist, in the depth with which he lived the Mass as the centre and root of his own life, in his tender devotion to the Virgin Mary, to St Joseph and the Guardian Angels, and in his faithfulness to the Church and the Pope. The definitive encounter with the Most Holy Trinity During the last years of his life, the Founder of Opus Dei undertook a number of catechetical journeys to countries in Europe and Latin America. Wherever he went, there were meetings, which were always simple and familiar in tone, even though often those listening to him were to be counted in thousands. He would speak about God, the sacraments, Christian devotions, the sanctification of work, and his love for the Church and the Pope. On 28 March 1975 he celebrated his priestly Golden Jubilee. His prayer that day was like a summing up of his whole life: Fifty years have gone by, and I am still like a faltering child. I am just beginning, beginning again, as I do each day in my interior life. And it will be so to the end of my days: always beginning anew. On 26 June 1975, at midday, Blessed Josemaría died in his workroom, of a cardiac arrest, before a picture of Our Lady which received his last glance. At the time, Opus Dei was present in all five continents, with over 60,000 members from 80 nationalities. His books of spirituality (The Way, Holy Rosary, Conversations with Mgr Escrivá, Christ is Passing By, Friends of God, Love for the Church, The Way of the Cross, Furrow, The Forge) have reached millions of copies. After his death, many people asked the Holy Father for his canonisation. On 17 May 1992, in Rome, His Holiness Pope John Paul II raised Josemaría Escrivá to the altars, in a beatification ceremony before hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. On 21 September 2001, the Ordinary Congregation of Cardinal and Bishop members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, unanimously confirmed the miraculous character of a cure attributed to Blessed Josemaría. The decree regarding this miracle was read before the Holy Father on 20 December. On 26 February 2002, John Paul II presided over an Ordinary Public Consistory of Cardinals and, having heard the Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops present, he established that the ceremony for the Canonisation of Blessed Josemaría Escrivá should take place on 6 October 2002. | |||||||||||||
source: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/J/stjosemariaescriva.asp#ixzz1yuHDNJqd
PRIME MINISTER JULIA GILLARD LOSES LEADERSHIP - NEW DEPUTY PM KEVIN RUDD IN AUSTRALIA
NEWS.COM.AU REPORT
JULIA Gillard says she has written to Govenor-General Quetin Bryce to ask her to commission Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister after she lost the Labor leadership.
"In view of his election I have written to the GG asking her to commission Mr Rudd as Prime Minister," Ms Gillard said.
Following her defeat, Ms Gillard confirmed she would not contest the safe seat of Lalor at the 2013 election and has nominated the NDIS, carbon tax and Gonski reforms as key achievements of her minority government.
She said she was "proud" to be the nation's first female prime minister and despite the attacks she says she suffered, she thinks over time it will get easier for women to hold the top job.
"It will be easier for the next woman, and the woman after that and the woman after that. And I am proud of that," she said.
Earlier this evening, Kevin Rudd regained the job he lost to ms Gillard, three years and three days to the day he was forced out by a leadership ballot.
He won the ballot 57- 45 votes and it is understood he will call an August election.
Treasurer and Deputy Leader Wayne Swan quit and Anthony Albanese was elected in his place.
In his outgoing speech, Mr Swan sai it was a "privelidge"to serve as Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer.
SHARED FROM NEWS.COM.AU
NEWS.COM.AU REPORT
SHARED FROM NEWS.COM.AU
JULIA Gillard says she has written to Govenor-General Quetin Bryce to ask her to commission Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister after she lost the Labor leadership.
"In view of his election I have written to the GG asking her to commission Mr Rudd as Prime Minister," Ms Gillard said.
Following her defeat, Ms Gillard confirmed she would not contest the safe seat of Lalor at the 2013 election and has nominated the NDIS, carbon tax and Gonski reforms as key achievements of her minority government.
She said she was "proud" to be the nation's first female prime minister and despite the attacks she says she suffered, she thinks over time it will get easier for women to hold the top job.
"It will be easier for the next woman, and the woman after that and the woman after that. And I am proud of that," she said.
Earlier this evening, Kevin Rudd regained the job he lost to ms Gillard, three years and three days to the day he was forced out by a leadership ballot.
He won the ballot 57- 45 votes and it is understood he will call an August election.
Treasurer and Deputy Leader Wayne Swan quit and Anthony Albanese was elected in his place.
In his outgoing speech, Mr Swan sai it was a "privelidge"to serve as Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer.
SHARED FROM NEWS.COM.AU
TODAY'S MASS ONLINE : WED. JUN 26, 2013
Video Added Later
Wednesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 373
Reading 1 GN 15:1-12, 17-18
The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
“Fear not, Abram!
I am your shield;
I will make your reward very great.”
But Abram said,
“O Lord GOD, what good will your gifts be,
if I keep on being childless
and have as my heir the steward of my house, Eliezer?”
Abram continued,
“See, you have given me no offspring,
and so one of my servants will be my heir.”
Then the word of the LORD came to him:
“No, that one shall not be your heir;
your own issue shall be your heir.”
He took him outside and said:
“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”
Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
He then said to him,
“I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans
to give you this land as a possession.”
“O Lord GOD,” he asked,
“how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
He answered him,
“Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat,
a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Abram brought him all these, split them in two,
and placed each half opposite the other;
but the birds he did not cut up.
Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses,
but Abram stayed with them.
As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram,
and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.
When the sun had set and it was dark,
there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,
which passed between those pieces.
It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram,
saying: “To your descendants I give this land,
from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River the Euphrates.”
The word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:
“Fear not, Abram!
I am your shield;
I will make your reward very great.”
But Abram said,
“O Lord GOD, what good will your gifts be,
if I keep on being childless
and have as my heir the steward of my house, Eliezer?”
Abram continued,
“See, you have given me no offspring,
and so one of my servants will be my heir.”
Then the word of the LORD came to him:
“No, that one shall not be your heir;
your own issue shall be your heir.”
He took him outside and said:
“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”
Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
He then said to him,
“I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans
to give you this land as a possession.”
“O Lord GOD,” he asked,
“how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
He answered him,
“Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat,
a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Abram brought him all these, split them in two,
and placed each half opposite the other;
but the birds he did not cut up.
Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses,
but Abram stayed with them.
As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram,
and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.
When the sun had set and it was dark,
there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,
which passed between those pieces.
It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram,
saying: “To your descendants I give this land,
from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River the Euphrates.”
“Fear not, Abram!
I am your shield;
I will make your reward very great.”
But Abram said,
“O Lord GOD, what good will your gifts be,
if I keep on being childless
and have as my heir the steward of my house, Eliezer?”
Abram continued,
“See, you have given me no offspring,
and so one of my servants will be my heir.”
Then the word of the LORD came to him:
“No, that one shall not be your heir;
your own issue shall be your heir.”
He took him outside and said:
“Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.”
Abram put his faith in the LORD,
who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.
He then said to him,
“I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans
to give you this land as a possession.”
“O Lord GOD,” he asked,
“how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
He answered him,
“Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat,
a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Abram brought him all these, split them in two,
and placed each half opposite the other;
but the birds he did not cut up.
Birds of prey swooped down on the carcasses,
but Abram stayed with them.
As the sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram,
and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him.
When the sun had set and it was dark,
there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch,
which passed between those pieces.
It was on that occasion that the LORD made a covenant with Abram,
saying: “To your descendants I give this land,
from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River the Euphrates.”
Responsorial Psalm PS 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9
R. (8a) The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations—
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
R. (8a) The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations—
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Give thanks to the LORD, invoke his name;
make known among the nations his deeds.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
You descendants of Abraham, his servants,
sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!
He, the LORD, is our God;
throughout the earth his judgments prevail.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He remembers forever his covenant
which he made binding for a thousand generations—
Which he entered into with Abraham
and by his oath to Isaac.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Gospel MT 7:15-20
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but underneath are ravenous wolves.
By their fruits you will know them.
Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,
and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down
and thrown into the fire.
So by their fruits you will know them.”
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but underneath are ravenous wolves.
By their fruits you will know them.
Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,
and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down
and thrown into the fire.
So by their fruits you will know them.”
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing,
but underneath are ravenous wolves.
By their fruits you will know them.
Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
Just so, every good tree bears good fruit,
and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down
and thrown into the fire.
So by their fruits you will know them.”
FREE CATHOLIC MOVIES - DRAMA - THE GOOD POPE - JOHN XXIII - part IV
IN HONOR OF THE YEAR OF FAITH- JCE WORLD NEWS IS SHARING (Image share - Google) PART 4 OF 5
Angelo Roncalli, born in Sotto Il Monte in 1881, is known for his profound spirituality as well as his extraordinary goodness from the young years of his life. When he feels a need to serve God, Angelo goes to study theology in Bergamo, and in Apollinare School (Rome) and becomes a priest. During his studies, he gets to know his two dearest friends, Mattia and Nicola. Very soon, most people see marvelous talents in him, including his wide knowledge and a constant readiness for sacrifice. The Holy See makes him go further to bishop and cardinal, and the Holy Father sends him to various places as a representative of the Church. When Pius XII dies on October, the 9th, 1958, 77 year-old Angelo goes to Rome, to conclave to choose a new pope. However, this time, it is him who hears gentle words of Jesus "Tu es Petrus!" ("You are Peter!") and from October, the 28th leads the church as pope John XXIII. Anonymous
IN HONOR OF THE YEAR OF FAITH- JCE WORLD NEWS IS SHARING (Image share - Google) PART 4 OF 5
Angelo Roncalli, born in Sotto Il Monte in 1881, is known for his profound spirituality as well as his extraordinary goodness from the young years of his life. When he feels a need to serve God, Angelo goes to study theology in Bergamo, and in Apollinare School (Rome) and becomes a priest. During his studies, he gets to know his two dearest friends, Mattia and Nicola. Very soon, most people see marvelous talents in him, including his wide knowledge and a constant readiness for sacrifice. The Holy See makes him go further to bishop and cardinal, and the Holy Father sends him to various places as a representative of the Church. When Pius XII dies on October, the 9th, 1958, 77 year-old Angelo goes to Rome, to conclave to choose a new pope. However, this time, it is him who hears gentle words of Jesus "Tu es Petrus!" ("You are Peter!") and from October, the 28th leads the church as pope John XXIII. Anonymous
2003 Film
PART I - http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2013/06/free-catholic-movies-drama-good-pope.html
PART II - http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2013/06/free-catholic-movies-drama-good-pope_25.html
PART III - http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2013/06/free-catholic-movies-drama-good-pope_5946.html
Director:
Ricky Tognazzi
Stars:
Bob Hoskins, Carlo Cecchi, Roberto Citran
FOR MORE FREE MOVIES LIKE US ON FACEBOOKhttp://www.facebook.com/jesuscaritasestnews
PART I - http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2013/06/free-catholic-movies-drama-good-pope.html
PART II - http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2013/06/free-catholic-movies-drama-good-pope_25.html
PART III - http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2013/06/free-catholic-movies-drama-good-pope_5946.html
PART II - http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2013/06/free-catholic-movies-drama-good-pope_25.html
PART III - http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2013/06/free-catholic-movies-drama-good-pope_5946.html
Director:
Ricky Tognazzi
Ricky Tognazzi
Stars:
Bob Hoskins, Carlo Cecchi, Roberto Citran
Bob Hoskins, Carlo Cecchi, Roberto Citran
FOR MORE FREE MOVIES LIKE US ON FACEBOOKhttp://www.facebook.com/jesuscaritasestnews
PRESIDENT OBAMA VISITS AFRICA TODAY
CISA NEWS AFRICA REPORT
JOHANNESBURG, June 25, 2013 (CISA) – United States president Barack Obama should use his visit to Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania, beginning June 26, 2013, to support besieged media outlets and independent groups across the African continent, Human Rights Watch has said.
Independent media and nongovernmental organizations in much of Africa are increasingly under threat from government crackdowns, Human Rights Watch said. In his 2009 speech in Accra, Ghana, President Obama spoke about the importance of civil society and independent journalism to democratic societies. While Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania generally allow media and nongovernmental groups to operate freely, other African governments severely limit them.
“President Obama should recognize the courage of African journalists and activists who speak the truth in the face of threats and reprisals, and call on his African allies to do the same,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “He should make clear to African leaders that the media and activist groups are critical for development, and should be embraced.”
In the Horn of Africa in recent years, dozens of journalists in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia have fled targeted attacks and politically motivated prosecution. Since 2011, Ethiopia has used its counterterrorism law to prosecute at least 11 journalists.
A new media law in Burundi dramatically erodes freedom of expression. It undermines protection of sources, limits subjects on which journalists may report, imposes fines for any violations of the law, and sets education and professional requirements for journalists.
In South Sudan, security forces have arbitrarily arrested and detained journalists and editors over the content of their reporting. In Uganda, police recently ignored a court order to reopen media organizations that had been forcibly shut down for 10 days during a politically motivated police search. Since the March 22, 2012 coup in Mali, attempts to suppress the release of information have intensified, and appear to form part of a wider crackdown on Malian journalism.
In South Africa, the Protection of State Information Bill, known as the “secrecy bill,” remains a major concern in light of its restrictions on freedom of expression and the media, and democratic accountability. Ever since the bill was introduced in March 2010, and despite recent amendments, it has been criticized as inconsistent with South Africa’s constitution and the country’s international human rights obligations.
The Rwandan government’s hostility towards human rights organizations, as well as threats and intimidation of human rights defenders, have greatly weakened civil society and ensured that few Rwandan groups feel comfortable speaking out publicly. Systematic violations of freedom of expression remain a dominant concern in the country.
Obama should also use his visit to Senegal to underscore the importance of justice and accountability across the continent, by focusing on the court established to prosecute Hissène Habré for political killings and systematic torture during his presidency of Chad. His trial in Senegal will be the first in modern history in which the courts of one country try the leader of another for alleged grave crimes under international law.
While in South Africa, Obama should focus on the upcoming elections in Zimbabwe, given the leadership role of the South African president, Jacob Zuma, at the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Obama’s visit is well timed to encourage SADC to press for vital democratic and human rights reforms in Zimbabwe that have not yet been achieved, particularly in light of President Robert Mugabe’s recent decree setting July 31 as the election date.
“President Obama’s visit should highlight Africa’s accomplishments, but his trip needs to be about more than that,” Bekele said. “He should stress the message that promoting respect for human rights is essential for Africa’s long-term development.”
SHARED FROM CISA NEWS
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment