2013
Noting the theme of the Convention, ‘Be Protectors of God’s Gifts’, the papal message says that in fidelity to the founding vision of their order in the late nineteenth century, the Knights of Columbus continue to play an outstanding role in helping Catholic men to respond to their vocation to be ‘protectors of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment’.
Conscious of the specific responsibility which the lay faithful have for the Church’s mission, the message continues by inviting each Knight, and every Council, to bear witness to the authentic nature of marriage and the family, the sanctity and inviolable dignity of human life, and the beauty and truth of human sexuality. In this time of rapid social and cultural changes, it says, the protection of God’s gifts cannot fail to include the affirmation and defense of the great patrimony of moral truths taught by the Gospel and confirmed by right reason, which serve as the bedrock of a just and well-ordered society.
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
DEATH TOLL OF 4500 IN RECENT WEEKS IN SYRIA
ASIA NEWS REPORT
In recent weeks, at least 4,500 have been killed, at least a third civilians. As the whole country turns into a battlefield, more and more Syrians are fleeing their homes for safer regions or neighboring states.
Damascus (AsiaNews/Agencies) - This year, nearly 4,500 people were killed during the holy month of Ramadan in Syria's civil war, two thirds of them combatants (regular soldiers, defectors and rebels), and one third civilians, with at least 300 children. Two years after unrest turned into a civil war, the conflict is now averaging about 5,000 dead a month.
"More than 4,420 people were killed over the past month," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman, far lower compared with August last year, when 5,500, most of civilians, were killed.
In the past 12 months, as the uprising grew increasingly militarized, and battle lines shifted, the nature of the conflict has in fact changed.
Many civilians have fled abroad or to safer regions near refugee camps. At the same time, foreign fighters have rushed to the country swelling rebel ranks, especially Islamists, to fight to Assad.
Yet, in early June, after the fall of al-Qusair to government forces, the Assad regime has gained momentum and strength, turning towards Homs, large parts of which have been retaken from rebel control.
At present, Assad's forces hold most of the southern part of the country. Despite losses and divisions among 30 different groups, rebel forces are hanging onto the northern regions around Aleppo and along the Turkish border.
However, because of daily fighting, frontlines are shifting all the time as evinced by the visit made yesterday by Jarba Ahmed, head of the Syrian Opposition Council, to the southern province of Deraa.
The United Nations estimates that since the start of the violence, more than 100,000 people have been killed with millions of refugees now languishing in camps in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.
In recent weeks, at least 4,500 have been killed, at least a third civilians. As the whole country turns into a battlefield, more and more Syrians are fleeing their homes for safer regions or neighboring states.
Damascus (AsiaNews/Agencies) - This year, nearly 4,500 people were killed during the holy month of Ramadan in Syria's civil war, two thirds of them combatants (regular soldiers, defectors and rebels), and one third civilians, with at least 300 children. Two years after unrest turned into a civil war, the conflict is now averaging about 5,000 dead a month.
"More than 4,420 people were killed over the past month," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman, far lower compared with August last year, when 5,500, most of civilians, were killed.
In the past 12 months, as the uprising grew increasingly militarized, and battle lines shifted, the nature of the conflict has in fact changed.
Many civilians have fled abroad or to safer regions near refugee camps. At the same time, foreign fighters have rushed to the country swelling rebel ranks, especially Islamists, to fight to Assad.
Yet, in early June, after the fall of al-Qusair to government forces, the Assad regime has gained momentum and strength, turning towards Homs, large parts of which have been retaken from rebel control.
At present, Assad's forces hold most of the southern part of the country. Despite losses and divisions among 30 different groups, rebel forces are hanging onto the northern regions around Aleppo and along the Turkish border.
However, because of daily fighting, frontlines are shifting all the time as evinced by the visit made yesterday by Jarba Ahmed, head of the Syrian Opposition Council, to the southern province of Deraa.
The United Nations estimates that since the start of the violence, more than 100,000 people have been killed with millions of refugees now languishing in camps in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.
RIP FR. WILLIAM JORDAN OF MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA
ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE RELEASE:
Vale Fr Bill Jordan
Communications Office 9 August 2013
Father William ‘Bill’ Jordan died yesterday 8 August on the Feast of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop after a short illness at Melbourne Private Hospital.
Fr Bill was born on 31 August 1935. He studied for the priesthood at Corpus Christi College, Werribee and Propaganda Fide College, Rome where he was ordained on 21 December 1960 by Cardinal Agagianian. Fr Bill remained in Rome gaining his Licentiate in Theology in 1961, followed by doctoral studies at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, graduating in 1967.
On his return to Melbourne he served as assistant priest at Carlton (1967), Caulfield South (1969), and West Melbourne (1971). In 1984 he was appointed Director of Sacred Music. On 26 January 1985 he was appointed Parish Priest of St Brendan’s, Flemington which in 1993 was partnered with Holy Rosary, Kensington. Fr Bill retired as Pastor Emeritus on 12 January 2011.
The funeral arrangements are as follows:
Monday 12th August 2013: Vigil Mass to be celebrated at St. Brendan’s, Flemington at 7.30pm
Tuesday 13th August 2013: Pontifical Requiem Mass to be celebrated at St. Brendan’s, Flemington at 1.30pm
In an obituary sent to all priests of the archdiocese, archdiocesan staff and parish offices, the Vicar General Monsignor Greg Bennet said that, “Throughout his many happy years at Flemington and Kensington, Fr Bill was known for his genuine kindness, generosity to the poor, commitment to service and his joyful ministry.”
Monsignor Bennet said, “This inner city setting allowed him to continue to use his Italian, which to a musician, was poetry itself. He watched the parishes of Flemington and Kensington change and develop. He observed the diversity of cultures and the shifting demographic. Fr Bill trusted his staff to assist him in the mission of the parish and he befriended them as members of his “paese”.”
“Fr Bill was a man who found in his life the music of God. Being an accomplished musician, his desire was to lead others to the source of all beauty - God himself. His commitment to liturgy saw him Chair the Diocesan Liturgical Music Committee for many years, participate in national liturgical ventures, the Australian Hymn Book, the Catholic Worship Book and committees. He was a member of the Advisory Committee of ICEL and a Music Consultant to ICEL for many years. He always responded positively to invitations where his expertise, knowledge and faith could shape the renewal of the liturgy which honoured the tradition of the Church with the imagination of Sacrosanctum Concilium.
“Fr Bill was a man whose dedication to ministry and to responding to people’s many pastoral requests was simply exemplary. Even in retirement, Fr Bill assumed a ministry load which would have him visiting hospitals, Mass supply across the Archdiocese, presiding at funerals, baptising children, leading Italian festas, assisting couples with countless weddings in a myriad of settings and being available to support and assist his brother priests in any way he could. It was the nature of the man to be on the move, so much so, many of us often wondered whether he had retired at all.
The Vicar General said, “Fr Bill loved his family. He had a wide circle of friends with whom he was extremely loyal. He was kind to priests and seminarians. He made chaplains welcome from other countries and made them feel at home and helped them sing of God in a foreign land.”
“Fr Bill’s illness has taken everyone by surprise. In a matter of a short few days, he went from being a man who appeared to be tireless in his service of the Lord, to a stillness which he had rarely experienced. He died peacefully surrounded by the love of his family and was carried by the prayers of so many who loved him into the arms of God.
Composers, animated by the Christian Spirit, should accept that it pertains to their vocation to cultivate sacred music and increase its store of treasures. (Sacrosanctum Concilium #121)
“Fr Bill was truly a priest animated by the Spirit of the Risen Lord whose vocation served to cultivate the beauty of God’s good news. We will treasure his contribution to the Archdiocese and to the Church which he served for 52 years with such integrity.”
May he rest in peace.
Father William ‘Bill’ Jordan died yesterday 8 August on the Feast of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop after a short illness at Melbourne Private Hospital.Fr Bill was born on 31 August 1935. He studied for the priesthood at Corpus Christi College, Werribee and Propaganda Fide College, Rome where he was ordained on 21 December 1960 by Cardinal Agagianian. Fr Bill remained in Rome gaining his Licentiate in Theology in 1961, followed by doctoral studies at the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, graduating in 1967.
On his return to Melbourne he served as assistant priest at Carlton (1967), Caulfield South (1969), and West Melbourne (1971). In 1984 he was appointed Director of Sacred Music. On 26 January 1985 he was appointed Parish Priest of St Brendan’s, Flemington which in 1993 was partnered with Holy Rosary, Kensington. Fr Bill retired as Pastor Emeritus on 12 January 2011.
The funeral arrangements are as follows:Monday 12th August 2013: Vigil Mass to be celebrated at St. Brendan’s, Flemington at 7.30pm
Tuesday 13th August 2013: Pontifical Requiem Mass to be celebrated at St. Brendan’s, Flemington at 1.30pm
In an obituary sent to all priests of the archdiocese, archdiocesan staff and parish offices, the Vicar General Monsignor Greg Bennet said that, “Throughout his many happy years at Flemington and Kensington, Fr Bill was known for his genuine kindness, generosity to the poor, commitment to service and his joyful ministry.”
Monsignor Bennet said, “This inner city setting allowed him to continue to use his Italian, which to a musician, was poetry itself. He watched the parishes of Flemington and Kensington change and develop. He observed the diversity of cultures and the shifting demographic. Fr Bill trusted his staff to assist him in the mission of the parish and he befriended them as members of his “paese”.”
“Fr Bill was a man who found in his life the music of God. Being an accomplished musician, his desire was to lead others to the source of all beauty - God himself. His commitment to liturgy saw him Chair the Diocesan Liturgical Music Committee for many years, participate in national liturgical ventures, the Australian Hymn Book, the Catholic Worship Book and committees. He was a member of the Advisory Committee of ICEL and a Music Consultant to ICEL for many years. He always responded positively to invitations where his expertise, knowledge and faith could shape the renewal of the liturgy which honoured the tradition of the Church with the imagination of Sacrosanctum Concilium.
“Fr Bill was a man whose dedication to ministry and to responding to people’s many pastoral requests was simply exemplary. Even in retirement, Fr Bill assumed a ministry load which would have him visiting hospitals, Mass supply across the Archdiocese, presiding at funerals, baptising children, leading Italian festas, assisting couples with countless weddings in a myriad of settings and being available to support and assist his brother priests in any way he could. It was the nature of the man to be on the move, so much so, many of us often wondered whether he had retired at all.
The Vicar General said, “Fr Bill loved his family. He had a wide circle of friends with whom he was extremely loyal. He was kind to priests and seminarians. He made chaplains welcome from other countries and made them feel at home and helped them sing of God in a foreign land.”
“Fr Bill’s illness has taken everyone by surprise. In a matter of a short few days, he went from being a man who appeared to be tireless in his service of the Lord, to a stillness which he had rarely experienced. He died peacefully surrounded by the love of his family and was carried by the prayers of so many who loved him into the arms of God.
Composers, animated by the Christian Spirit, should accept that it pertains to their vocation to cultivate sacred music and increase its store of treasures. (Sacrosanctum Concilium #121)
“Fr Bill was truly a priest animated by the Spirit of the Risen Lord whose vocation served to cultivate the beauty of God’s good news. We will treasure his contribution to the Archdiocese and to the Church which he served for 52 years with such integrity.”
May he rest in peace.
SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE
Thursday, August 8, 2013
TODAY'S SAINT : AUGUST 9 : ST. EDITH STEIN - TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS
Edith Stein was born in Breslau on 12 October 1891, the youngest of 11, as her family were celebrating Yom Kippur, that most important Jewish festival, the Feast of Atonement. "More than anything else, this helped make the youngest child very precious to her mother." Being born on this day was like a foreshadowing to Edith, a future Carmelite nun.
Edith's father, who ran a timber business, died when she had only just turned two. Her mother, a very devout, hard-working, strong-willed and truly wonderful woman, now had to fend for herself and to look after the family and their large business. However, she did not succeed in keeping up a living faith in her children. Edith lost her faith in God. "I consciously decided, of my own volition, to give up praying," she said.
In 1913, Edith Stein transferred to G6ttingen University, to study under the mentorship of Edmund Husserl. She became his pupil and teaching assistant, and he later tutored her for a doctorate. At the time, anyone who was interested in philosophy was fascinated by Husserl's new view of reality, whereby the world as we perceive it does not merely exist in a Kantian way, in our subjective perception. His pupils saw his philosophy as a return to objects: "back to things". Husserl's phenomenology unwittingly led many of his pupils to the Christian faith. In G6ttingen Edith Stein also met the philosopher Max Scheler, who directed her attention to Roman Catholicism. Nevertheless, she did not neglect her "bread-and-butter" studies and passed her degree with distinction in January 1915, though she did not follow it up with teacher training.
In 1916, she followed Husserl as his assistant to the German city of Freiburg, where she passed her doctorate summa cum laude (with the utmost distinction) in 1917, after writing a thesis on "The Problem of Empathy."
Edith Stein had been good friends with Husserl's Göttingen assistant, Adolf Reinach, and his wife.
When Reinach fell in Flanders in November 1917, Edith went to Göttingen to visit his widow. The Reinachs had converted to Protestantism. Edith felt uneasy about meeting the young widow at first, but was surprised when she actually met with a woman of faith.
Later, she wrote: "Things were in God's plan which I had not planned at all. I am coming to the living faith and conviction that - from God's point of view - there is no chance and that the whole of my life, down to every detail, has been mapped out in God's divine providence and makes complete and perfect sense in God's all-seeing eyes."
. One evening Edith picked up an autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila and read this book all night. "When I had finished the book, I said to myself: This is the truth." Later, looking back on her life, she wrote: "My longing for truth was a single prayer."
On 1 January 1922 Edith Stein was baptized. It was the Feast of the Circumcision of Jesus, when Jesus entered into the covenant of Abraham. Edith Stein stood by the baptismal font, wearing Hedwig Conrad-Martius' white wedding cloak. Hedwig washer godmother. "I had given up practising my Jewish religion when I was a 14-year-old girl and did not begin to feel Jewish again until I had returned to God."
After her conversion she went straight to Breslau: "Mother," she said, "I am a Catholic." The two women cried. Hedwig Conrad Martius wrote: "Behold, two Israelites indeed, in whom is no deceit!" (cf. John 1:47).
Immediately after her conversion she wanted to join a Carmelite convent.
In 1933 darkness broke out over Germany. "I had heard of severe measures against Jews before. But now it dawned on me that God had laid his hand heavily on His people, and that the destiny of these people would also be mine." The Aryan Law of the Nazis made it impossible for Edith Stein to continue teaching. "If I can't go on here, then there are no longer any opportunities for me in Germany," she wrote; "I had become a stranger in the world."
The Arch-Abbot of Beuron, Walzer, now no longer stopped her from entering a Carmelite convent. While in Speyer, she had already taken a vow of poverty, chastity and obedience. In 1933 she met with the prioress of the Carmelite Convent in Cologne. "Human activities cannot help us, but only the suffering of Christ. It is my desire to share in it."
Edith Stein went to Breslau for the last time, to say good-bye to her mother and her family. Her last day at home was her birthday, 12 October, which was also the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Edith went to the synagogue with her mother. It was a hard day for the two women. "Why did you get to know it [Christianity]?" her mother asked, "I don't want to say anything against him. He may have been a very good person. But why did he make himself God?" Edith's mother cried. The following day Edith was on the train to Cologne. "I did not feel any passionate joy. What I had just experienced was too terrible. But I felt a profound peace - in the safe haven of God's will." From now on she wrote to her mother every week, though she never received any replies. Instead, her sister Rosa sent her news from Breslau.
Edith joined the Carmelite Convent of Cologne on 14 October, and her investiture took place on 15 April, 1934. The mass was celebrated by the Arch-Abbot of Beuron. Edith Stein was now known as Sister Teresia Benedicta a Cruce - Teresa, Blessed of the Cross.
When she made her eternal profession on 21 April 1938, she had the words of St. John of the Cross printed on her devotional picture: "Henceforth my only vocation is to love." Her final work was to be devoted to this author.
On 9 November 1938 the anti-Semitism of the Nazis became apparent to the whole world.
Edith Stein was arrested by the Gestapo on 2 August 1942, while she was in the chapel with the other sisters. She was to report within five minutes, together with her sister Rosa, who had also converted and was serving at the Echt Convent. Her last words to be heard in Echt were addressed to Rosa: "Come, we are going for our people."
Together with many other Jewish Christians, the two women were taken to a transit camp in Amersfoort and then to Westerbork. This was an act of retaliation against the letter of protest written by the Dutch Roman Catholic Bishops against the pogroms and deportations of Jews. Edith commented, "I never knew that people could be like this, neither did I know that my brothers and sisters would have to suffer like this. ... I pray for them every hour. Will God hear my prayers? He will certainly hear them in their distress." Prof. Jan Nota, who was greatly attached to her, wrote later: "She is a witness to God's presence in a world where God is absent."
On 7 August, early in the morning, 987 Jews were deported to Auschwitz. It was probably on 9 August that Sister Teresia Benedicta a Cruce, her sister and many other of her people were gassed.
When Edith Stein was beatified in Cologne on 1 May 1987, the Church honoured "a daughter of Israel", as Pope John Paul II put it, who, as a Catholic during Nazi persecution, remained faithful to the crucified Lord Jesus Christ and, as a Jew, to her people in loving faithfulness."
EDITED FROM http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_19981011_edith_stein_en.html
TODAY'S MASS ONLINE : FRI. AUG. 9, 2013
Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 411
Reading 1 DT 4:32-40
Moses said to the people:
“Ask now of the days of old, before your time,
ever since God created man upon the earth;
ask from one end of the sky to the other:
Did anything so great ever happen before?
Was it ever heard of?
Did a people ever hear the voice of God
speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?
Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself
from the midst of another nation,
by testings, by signs and wonders, by war,
with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors,
all of which the LORD, your God,
did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
All this you were allowed to see
that you might know the LORD is God and there is no other.
Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you;
on earth he let you see his great fire,
and you heard him speaking out of the fire.
For love of your fathers he chose their descendants
and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power,
driving out of your way nations greater and mightier than you,
so as to bring you in
and to make their land your heritage, as it is today.
This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart,
that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below,
and that there is no other.
You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today,
that you and your children after you may prosper,
and that you may have long life on the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever.”
“Ask now of the days of old, before your time,
ever since God created man upon the earth;
ask from one end of the sky to the other:
Did anything so great ever happen before?
Was it ever heard of?
Did a people ever hear the voice of God
speaking from the midst of fire, as you did, and live?
Or did any god venture to go and take a nation for himself
from the midst of another nation,
by testings, by signs and wonders, by war,
with his strong hand and outstretched arm, and by great terrors,
all of which the LORD, your God,
did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
All this you were allowed to see
that you might know the LORD is God and there is no other.
Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you;
on earth he let you see his great fire,
and you heard him speaking out of the fire.
For love of your fathers he chose their descendants
and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power,
driving out of your way nations greater and mightier than you,
so as to bring you in
and to make their land your heritage, as it is today.
This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart,
that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below,
and that there is no other.
You must keep his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you today,
that you and your children after you may prosper,
and that you may have long life on the land
which the LORD, your God, is giving you forever.”
Responsorial Psalm PS 77:12-13, 14-15, 16 AND 21
R. (12a) I remember the deeds of the Lord.
I remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I remember your wonders of old.
And I meditate on your works;
your exploits I ponder.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
O God, your way is holy;
what great god is there like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
among the peoples you have made known your power.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
You led your people like a flock
under the care of Moses and Aaron.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
I remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I remember your wonders of old.
And I meditate on your works;
your exploits I ponder.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
O God, your way is holy;
what great god is there like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
among the peoples you have made known your power.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
You led your people like a flock
under the care of Moses and Aaron.
R. I remember the deeds of the Lord.
Gospel MT 16:24-28
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
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