2014
FOR INSPIRATIONAL STORIES AND FREE MOVIES LIKE US ON FACEBOOK NOW http://www.facebook.com/catholicnewsworld Fr. Kelly explained, 'Sure, maybe I'll sing a song for you myself.' The priest is a trained singer and is working on his third album. Chris and Leah O'Kane were shocked when the priest sang at their wedding, Father Ray Kelly, sang a special version of ‘Hallelujah’ at their wedding.Chris and Leah O'Kane were shocked when the priest at their wedding, Father Ray Kelly, sang a special version of ‘Hallelujah’."I enjoy singing, but I wouldn't want to do it full time — I love what I'm doing as a priest," he said. "The way I look at it is, it's a gift one has, and if you have a gift you use it."
Pope Francis "This is one of the challenges of our time: transmitting the knowledge and offering a key for....
Radio Vaticana report:Below, please find the complete text of Pope Francis' address to the Pontifical Gregorian University and to the associated Pontifical Biblical Institute and Pontifical Oriental Institute: Dear Cardinals,
Venerable brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
My dear brothers and sisters,
I welcome all of you, professors, students, and staff of the Pontifical Gregorian University, of the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and of the Pontifical Oriental Institute. I greet Father Nicolás, the father delegate, and all the other superiors, as well as the Cardinals and Bishops present. Thank you!
The Institutions to which you belong — joined in a Consortium by Pope Pius XI in 1928 — are entrusted to the Society of Jesus, and share the same desire “to serve as a soldier of God beneath the banner of the Cross … and to serve the Lord alone and the Church, His spouse, under the Roman Pontiff, the Vicar of Christ on earth” (Formula, 1). It is important that among them collaboration and synergy be developed, keeping the historic memory and at the same time taking charge of the present and looking to the future — the father general said, looking to the future, “But it’s far away, eh? [Look] to the horizons” — looking to the future with creativity and imagination, seeking to have a global vision of the situations and real challenges and a shared manner of confronting them, finding new paths.
The first aspect that I want to emphasize, thinking of your commitment, both as teachers and as students, both personally and institutionally, is that of appreciating the very place in which you find yourself working and studying, that is, the city and above all the Church of Rome. Here there is a past and there is a present. Here are the roots of faith: the memories of the Apostles and of the Martyrs; and here is the ecclesial “today,” here is the actual path of this Church which presides in charity, at the service of unity and universality. All of this should not be taken for granted! It must be lived and appreciated, with a commitment that is partly institutional and partly personal, left to the initiative of each one.
But at the same time you bring the variety of your home Churches, of your own cultures. This is an inestimable richness of the Roman institutions. It offers a precious occasion of growing in the faith and of opening the mind and the heart to the horizons of catholicity. Within these horizons the dialectic between the “centre” and the “peripheries” assumes its proper form, the evangelical form, according to the logic of a God that reaches from the centre coming from the peripheries in order to return to the peripheries.
The other aspect that I want to share is that of the relationship between study and the spiritual life. Your spiritual commitment, in teaching and in research, in study and in deeper formation, will be all the more fertile and efficacious as it is more fully animated by the love of Christ and of the Church, as the relationship between study and prayer is more solid and harmonious. This is not something out-dated, this is the centre, eh?
This is one of the challenges of our time: transmitting the knowledge and offering a key for vital comprehension, not a heap of notions unconnected to one another. There is need of a true evangelical hermeneutic for better understanding life, the world, humanity, not of a synthesis but of a spiritual atmosphere of research and certainty based on the truths of reason and of faith. Philosophy and theology permit one to acquire the convictions that structure and strengthen the intelligence and illuminate the will ... but this is fruitful only if it is done with an open mind and on one’s knees. With an open mind and on one’s knees. The theologian who is satisfied with his complete and conclusive thought is mediocre. The good theologian and philosopher has an open, that is, an incomplete, thought, always open to the maius of God and of the truth, always in development, according to the law that St. Vincent of Lerins describes as follows: “annis consolidetur, dilatetur tempore sublimetur aetate" (Commonitorium primum, 23 : PL 50, 668), [a thought that] is consolidated over the years, expands over time, deepens with age. This is the theologian who has an open mind. And the theologian who does not pray and who does not worship God ends up sunk in the most disgusting narcissism. And this is an ecclesiastical illness. The narcissism of theologians, of thinkers, and of the “just” does so much harm.
The purpose of the studies in every Pontifical University is ecclesial. Research and studies are integrated with personal and community life, with missionary commitment, with fraternal charity and sharing with the poor, with care of the interior life in relationship with the Lord. Your institutes are not machines for producing theologians and philosophers; they are communities in which one grows, and that growing occurs in the family. In the university family there is the charism of governance, entrusted to the superiors, and there is the diaconia of the staff, which is indispensable for creating the familiar environment in everyday life, and also for creating the attitude of humanity and of concrete wisdom, that will make the students of today persons capable of building humanity, of transmitting the truth in a human dimension, of understanding that if one lacks the goodness and the beauty of belonging to a family of work one ends up being an intellectual without talent, and ethicist without goodness, a thinker lacking in the splendour of beauty and only “wearing the mask” (It: “truccato,” “made-up”) of formalism. The daily, respectful contact with the hard work and witness and the witness of the men and women who work in your Institutions will give you that dose of realism that is so necessary so that your knowledge will be a human knowledge and not a laboratory [knowledge].
Dear brothers, I entrust each of you, your studies and your work, to the intercession of Mary, Sedes Sapientiae, of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and of your other Patron Saints. I bless you from the heart, and I pray for you. And you, please, pray for me too! Thank you!
And now, before I give you my blessing, I invite you to pray to the Madonna, the Mother, that she might help us and protect us.
(Ave Maria).
Text from Vatican Radio website
Student Stabs 21 with Knives at High-school - Please pray for victims
A Pennsylvania student took two kitchen knives and began stabbing people in his high school. Alex Hribal, a 16-year-old was charged as an adult and faces four counts of attempted homicide and 21 counts of aggravated assault for this crime. The 60-year-old assistant principal who tackled him and then he was caught. Hribal went from classroom to classroom at Franklin Regional Senior High School swinging knives. He wounded 20 students. He is described as withdrawn and didn't have many friends. Murrysville, Pensylvania has a population of about 20,000.
. Hribal is being held without bail at the Westmoreland County juvenile detention center. Many victims are still in hospital. The locals held prayer vigils overnight, and counseling services are being arranged for students.Catholic Pro-Life Nathan Trapunazzo's Killer only 16 years old is Charged
Nathan Trapunazzo, age 24, was killed in Indianapolis on April 1. His wife, Jennifer, was eight months pregnant. Before he left for his morning walk he felt their baby kick. Simeon Adams, a 16-year-old nicknamed "Red" is charged with the killing. Adams and others were trying to rob Nathan. Ann and Karl Swihart, brother Jared and sister Julie are consoling their daughter, Jennifer in her grief. They named their unborn child Cecilia. 'Nate was so incredibly excited about being a daddy', Jennifer said. Adams is alleged to have shot another man just two nights before.
Pope Francis “ Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ."
(Vatican Radio) “Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ. It is a crime against humanity”: These were the strong words that Pope Francis addressed to participants at the Conference on Combating Human Trafficking Thursday.The conference is the brainchild of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales in collaboration with the UK Police Force and was hosted by the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences. Thanking Card. Vincent Nichols, the Pope noted that the meeting also draws on the expertise of law enforcement authorities, who he said: “are primarily responsible for combating this tragic reality by a vigorous application of the law”.
But- continued Pope Francis - “it also includes humanitarian and social workers, whose task it is to provide victims with welcome, human warmth and the possibility of building a new life. These are two different approaches, but they can and must go together”.
One of the participants at the conference is Nigerian Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, the Archbishop of Abuja. He has been engaged in the battle against human trafficking for decades together with missionaries, religious and lay activists whom he calls the real “foot soldiers”.
Listen to Vatican Radio’s interview with Cardinal Onaiyekan:
He told participants: “The Gospel of God’s mercy, freedom and love, preached by the Church, is rejected in practice, with human beings being treated as slaves”.
“The Church has a responsibility on all levels,” he said. “When we see young boys and girls being sold for money, believing that money will lead to a good life, we need to start teaching them about what real freedom is about, what true happiness is about and what the true meaning of life is.”
Below please find Pope Francis’ address to Participants at the Conference on Combating Human Trafficking
Greeting of the Holy Father
Conference on Combating Human Trafficking
Thursday, 10 April 2014
Your Eminences,
Brother Bishops and Priests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I greet each of you participating in this Conference, the second such gathering held here in the Vatican to promote united efforts against human trafficking. I thank Cardinal Nichols and the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales for organizing this meeting, and the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences for hosting it.
Human trafficking is an open wound on the body of contemporary society, a scourge upon the body of Christ. It is a crime against humanity. The very fact of our being here to combine our efforts means that we want our strategies and areas of expertise to be accompanied and reinforced by the mercy of the Gospel, by closeness to the men and women who are victims of this crime.
Our meeting today includes law enforcement authorities, who are primarily responsible for combating this tragic reality by a vigorous application of the law. It also includes humanitarian and social workers, whose task it is to provide victims with welcome, human warmth and the possibility of building a new life. These are two different approaches, but they can and must go together. To dialogue and exchange views on the basis of these two complementary approaches is quite important. Conferences such as this are extremely helpful, and, I would say, much needed.
I believe that one important sign of this is the fact that, one year after your first meeting, you have regrouped from throughout the world in order to advance your common efforts. I thank you for your readiness to work together. I pray that our Lord will assist you and that Our Lady will watch over you.
Text from Vatican Radio website
Pope Francis at Mass "be vigilant and pray; do not be silly , do not buy" things "you do not need..."
(Vatican Radio) "Even today there is a dictatorship of a narrow line of thought" that kills "people’s freedom, their freedom of conscience": we must be "vigilant and pray", said Pope Francis at morning Mass Thursday.God promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations, but he and his descendants will have to observe the Covenant with the Lord. Pope Francis’ homily takes its cue from the first reading of the day to explain the end of Christ’s message to the Pharisees: their mistake – he notes - was to "detach the commandments from the heart of God". They thought it enough to merely keep the commandments, but these - the Pope said - "are not just a cold law", because they are born from a relationship of love and are "indications" that help us avoid mistakes in our journey to meet Jesus. So, the Pharisees who close their hearts and minds "to all things new," do not understand "the path of hope". "This is the drama of the closed heart, the drama of the closed mind - the Pope said - and when the heart is closed, this heart closes the mind , and when the heart and mind are closed there is no place for God", but only for what we believe should be done .
Instead , "the commandments carry a promise and the prophets wake this promise up". How many have closed heart and mind, how many cannot accept the "new message" brought by Jesus, "which is what was promised by the faithfulness of God and the prophets. But they do not understand".
"It is a closed way of thinking that is not open to dialogue, to the possibility that there is something else, the possibility that God speaks to us, tells us about His journey, as he did to the prophets. These people did not listen to the prophets and did not listen to Jesus. It is something greater than a mere stubbornness. No, it is more: it is the idolatry of their own way of thinking. 'I think this, it has to be this way, and nothing more'. These people had a narrow line of thought and wanted to impose this way of thinking on the people of God, Jesus rebukes them for this: ' You burden the people with many commandments and you do not touch them with your finger'".
Jesus' “rebukes their incoherence". "The theology of these people - the Pope notes - becomes a slave to this pattern, this pattern of thought: a narrow line of thought".
"There is no possibility of dialogue, there is no possibility to open up to new things which God brings with the prophets. They killed the prophets, these people; they close the door to the promise of God. When this phenomenon of narrow thinking enters human history, how many misfortunes. We all saw in the last century, the dictatorships of narrow thought , which ended up killing a lot of people, but when they believed they were the overlords, no other form of though was allowed. This is the way they think”.
"Even today - the Pope said - there is the idolatry of a narrow line of thought".
"Today we have to think in this way and if you do not think in this way, you are not modern, you're not open or worse. Often rulers say : 'I have asked for aid, financial support for this' , ' But if you want this help, you have to think in this way and you have to pass this law, and this other law and this other law…' Even today there is a dictatorship of a narrow line of thought and this dictatorship is the same as these people: it takes up stones to stone the freedom of the people, the freedom of the people, their freedom of conscience, the relationship of the people with God. Today Jesus is Crucified once again”.
The Lord’s exhortation "faced with this dictatorship - said the Pope - is always the same: be vigilant and pray; do not be silly , do not buy" things "you do not need, be humble and pray, that the Lord always gives us the freedom of an open heart, to receive his Word which is joy and promise and covenant! And with this covenant move forward!"
Text from Vatican Radio website
Today's Mass Online : Thurs. April 10, 2014
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 254
When Abram prostrated himself, God spoke to him:
“My covenant with you is this:
you are to become the father of a host of nations.
No longer shall you be called Abram;
your name shall be Abraham,
for I am making you the father of a host of nations.
I will render you exceedingly fertile;
I will make nations of you;
kings shall stem from you.
I will maintain my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,
to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
I will give to you
and to your descendants after you
the land in which you are now staying,
the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession;
and I will be their God.”
God also said to Abraham:
“On your part, you and your descendants after you
must keep my covenant throughout the ages.”
“My covenant with you is this:
you are to become the father of a host of nations.
No longer shall you be called Abram;
your name shall be Abraham,
for I am making you the father of a host of nations.
I will render you exceedingly fertile;
I will make nations of you;
kings shall stem from you.
I will maintain my covenant with you
and your descendants after you
throughout the ages as an everlasting pact,
to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
I will give to you
and to your descendants after you
the land in which you are now staying,
the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession;
and I will be their God.”
God also said to Abraham:
“On your part, you and your descendants after you
must keep my covenant throughout the ages.”
Responsorial Psalm PS 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9
R. (8a) The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
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.
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.
Look to the LORD in his strength;
seek to serve him constantly.
Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.
R. The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
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.
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.
Gospel JN 8:51-59
Jesus said to the Jews:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
So the Jews said to him,
“Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?
Or the prophets, who died?
Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;
but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
You do not know him, but I know him.
And if I should say that I do not know him,
I would be like you a liar.
But I do know him and I keep his word.
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad.”
So the Jews said to him,
“You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM.”
So they picked up stones to throw at him;
but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever keeps my word will never see death.”
So the Jews said to him,
“Now we are sure that you are possessed.
Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say,
‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’
Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?
Or the prophets, who died?
Who do you make yourself out to be?”
Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing;
but it is my Father who glorifies me,
of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
You do not know him, but I know him.
And if I should say that I do not know him,
I would be like you a liar.
But I do know him and I keep his word.
Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day;
he saw it and was glad.”
So the Jews said to him,
“You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?”
Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,
before Abraham came to be, I AM.”
So they picked up stones to throw at him;
but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.
SAINT APRIL 10 : ST. FULBERT
St. Fulbert
BISHOP
Feast: April 10
Information:
|
Bishop, b. between 952 and 962; d. 10 April, 1028 or 1029. Mabillon and others think that he was born in Italy, probably at Rome; but Pfister, his latest biographer, designates as his birthplace the Diocese of Laudun in the present department of Gard in France. He was of humble parentage and received his education at the school of Reims, where he had as teacher the famous Gerbert who in 999 ascended the papal throne as Sylvester II. In 990 Fulbert opened a school at Chartres which soon became the most famous seat of learning in France and drew scholars not only from the remotest parts of France, but also from Italy, Germany, and England. Fulbert was also chancellor of the church of Chartres and treasurer of St. Hilary's at Poitiers. So highly was he esteemed as a teacher that his pupils were wont to style him "venerable Socrates". He was a strong opponent of the rationalistic tendencies which had infected some dialecticians of his times, and often warned his pupils against such as extol their dialectics above the teachings of the Church and the testimony of the Bible. Still it was one of Fulbert's pupils, Berengarius of Tours, who went farthest in subjecting faith to reason. In 1007 Fulbert succeeded the deceased Rudolph as Bishop of Chartres and was consecrated by his metropolitan, Archbishop Leutheric of Sens. He owed the episcopal dignity chiefly to the influence of King Robert of France, who had been his fellow student at Reims. As bishop he continued to teach in his school and also retained the treasurership of St. Hilary. When, about 1020, the cathedral of Chartres burned down, Fulbert at once began to rebuild it in greater splendour. In this undertaking he was financially assisted by King Canute of England, Duke William of Aquitaine, and other European sovereigns. Though Fulbert was neither abbot nor monk, as has been wrongly asserted by some historians, still he stood in friendly relation with Odilo of Cluny, Richard of St. Vannes, Abbo of Fleury, and other monastic celebrities of his times. He advocated a reform of the clergy, severely rebuked those bishops who spent much of their time in warlike expeditions, and inveighed against the practice of granting ecclesiastical benefices to laymen.
Fulbert's literary productions include 140 epistles, 2 treatises, 27 hymns, and parts of the ecclesiastical Office. His epistles are of great historical value, especially on account of the light they throw on the liturgy and discipline of the Church in the eleventh century. His two treatises are in the form of homilies. The first has as its subject: Misit Herodes rex manus, ut affligeret quosdam de ecclesia, etc. (Acts 12:50); the second is entitled "Tractatus contra Judaeos" and proves that the prophecy of Jacob, "Non auferetur sceptrum de Juda", etc. (Genesis 49:10), had been fulfilled in Christ. Five of his nine extant sermons are on the blessed Virgin Mary towards whom he had a great devotion. The life of St. Aubert, bishop of Cambrai (d. 667), which is sometimes ascribed to Fulbert, was probably not written by him. Fulbert's epistles were first edited by Papire le Masson (Paris,1585). His complete works were edited by Charles de Villiers (Paris, 1608), then inserted in "Bibl. magna Patrum" (Cologne,16l8) XI, in "Bibl. maxima Patri." (Lyons, 1677), XVIII, and with additions, in Migne, P.L., CXLI, 189-368.
(Taken from Catholic Encyclopedia)
|
SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/F/stfulbert.asp#ixzz1rfOFLein
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment