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Sunday, April 6, 2014

Catholic News World : Sunday April 6, 2014 - SHARE

2014


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Free Catholic Movies - Drama "The Good Pope" - Life of Pope John XXIII to be Canonized with JPII

IN HONOR OF Pope John XXIII 
Canonization on April 27- JCE WORLD NEWS IS SHARING (Image share - Google) 
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
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POPE FRANCIS “There is no other limit to the divine mercy offered to all!”

(Vatican Radio) At the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis spoke on the day’s Gospel, which relates the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. This miracle, the Pope said, “is the culmination of the wonderful ‘signs’ performed by Jesus: an act too great, too clearly divine to be tolerated by the high priests, who, aware of the fact, make the decision to kill Jesus.” 

Pope Francis reminded the crowd of the words of Jesus, words “words which are forever impressed upon the memory of the Christian community: ‘I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’” Because of this promise, he said, we believe that those who believe in Jesus and follow His commandments will rise to new life after death. 
 Jesus, the Pope said, calls to us as He called to Lazarus in his tomb: “Come forth!” This call is addressed to every human person “because we are all marked by death.” But, the Holy Father said, “Christ is not resigned to the sepulchres that we have constructed with our choices of evil and death, with our mistakes, our sins. [Jesus] invites us, almost orders us, to come out of the tombs into which our sins have plunged us.” This is where our resurrection begins: “when we decide to obey the command of Jesus to come into the light, to life; when the masks fall from our faces … and we rediscover the courage of our original faces, created in the image and likeness of God.”

Concluding his catechesis, Pope Francis reminded the faithful that the raising of Lazarus shows us that “there is no limit to the divine mercy, which is offered to everyone… The Lord is always ready to roll away the tombstone of our sins, which separate us from Him, the light of the living.”

Following the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis noted the twentieth anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi people in Rwanda. After assuring the people of Rwanda of his spiritual closeness to them, he invoked “upon the dear Rwandan nation maternal protection of Our Lady of Kibeho,” before leading the crowds in the recitation of the Rosary for them. 

The Holy Father then greeted pilgrims from around the world, and especially young people who have received, or are preparing to receive, the Sacrament of Confirmation. 

He noted, too, the five-year anniversary of the deadly earthquake that struck the Italian city of L’Aquila, and asked for prayers for the victims of the tragedy. The Pope also called for prayers for victims of the Ebola virus, which has struck people in Guinea and the surrounding countries. 

Finally, Pope Francis offered to all those in the Piazza the gift of a pocket copy of the Gospels. He reminded those in attendance that the previous Sunday he had suggested that all Christians should carry a small book of the Gospels, so they could read it often. “And then,” he said, “I thought about the ancient tradition of the Church, of giving a book of the Gospels, during Lent, to the catechumens, to those preparing for Baptism. So today I want to offer to you who are here in the Piazza — but as a sign for everyone — a pocket Gospel book.” He encouraged all those who received the Gospels to perform some act of charity for others in exchange, and called on everyone to take advantage of modern technology to carry the Bible with them every day, to read the Scriptures often, and to welcome the message of the Gospels with an open heart. Then, he said, “the good seed will bear fruit.”

The full text of Pope Francis Angelus address for Sunday, 6 April 2014, can be found below, translated by Vatican Radio:

Dear brothers and sisters, 

The Gospel of this fifth Sunday of Lent tells of the resurrection of Lazarus. It is the culmination of the wonderful “signs” performed by Jesus: an act too great, too clearly divine to be tolerated by the high priests, who, aware of the fact, make the decision to kill Jesus (cf. Jn 11:53).

Lazarus had already been dead for three days when Jesus arrived; and to the sisters Martha and Mary, Jesus spoke the words which are forever impressed upon the memory of the Christian community. Jesus said this: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn 11:25). On this Word of the Lord we believe that the life of one who believes in Jesus and follows His commandments, after death will be transformed in a new life, full and immortal. As Jesus rose with His own body, but did not return to an earthly life, so we will rise with our bodies that will be transfigured into glorious bodies. He waits for us next to the Father, and the strength of the Holy Spirit, Who raised Him, will also raise those who are united to Him. 

Before the sealed tomb of His friend Lazarus, Jesus “cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth” (vv. 43-44). This peremptory cry is addressed to every human person, because we are all marked by death, all of us; it is the voice of One Who is the master of life, one who will all “should have [life] more abundantly” (Jn 10:10). Christ is not resigned to the sepulchres that we have constructed with our choices of evil and death, with our mistakes, with our sins. He is not resigned to this! He invites us, almost orders us, to come out from the tombs into which our sins have plunged us. He calls us insistently to come out of the darkness of the prison in which we are enclosed, contenting ourselves with a false, selfish, mediocre life. “Come forth!” He says. “Come forth!” It is a beautiful invitation to true freedom, to allow us to grab onto these words of Jesus that He repeats to each one of us today, an invitation that allows us to free ourselves from the “bands,” from the bands of pride. Because pride makes us slaves, slaves of ourselves, slaves of so many idols, slaves of so many things. Our resurrection begins here: when we decide to obey the commands of Jesus to come into the light, to life; when the masks fall from our faces — so many times we are masked by sin: the masks must fall! — and we rediscover the courage of our original faces, created in the image and likeness of God. 

The act of Jesus by which He raised Lazarus demonstrates the end to which the power of the Grace of God can arrive, and the end, therefore to which our conversion, our change can arrive. But listen well: there is no other limit to the divine mercy offered to all! There is no other limit to the divine mercy offered to all! Remember this phrase. And we can all say it together: “There is no other limit to the divine mercy offered to all!” Let us say it together: “There is no other limit to the divine mercy offered to all!” The Lord is always ready to take away the tombstone of our sins, which separate us from Him, the light of the living. 

After the Angelus: 
Dear brothers and sisters, 

Tomorrow in Rwanda the commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the beginning of the genocide against the Tutsi people will take place. On this occasion I want to express my paternal closeness to the Rwandan people, encouraging them to continue, with determination and hope, the process of reconciliation that has already manifested its fruits, and the commitment to the human and spiritual reconstruction of the country. To all of you I say: Do not be afraid! Construct your society on the rock of the Gospel, on love and concord, because only in this way can an enduring peace be produced. I invoke upon the dear Rwandan nation the maternal protection of Our Lady of Kibeho. I remember with affection the Rwandan bishops who were here in the Vatican this past week. And I invite all of you here, now, to pray to the Madonna, Our Lady of Kibeho. 

[The Pope lead the crowd in a ‘Hail Mary.’]

I greet all the pilgrims present, in particular the participants in the Congress of the “Movimento di Impegno Educativo” [Movement for Educational Commitment] of Italian Catholic Action. Investing in education means investing in hope. 

I greet the faithful of Madrid and of Menorca; [the faithful] of the Diocese of Concordia-Pordenone [in Italy]; the Brazilian group “Fraternidade e tráfico humano;” the students from Canada, from Australia, from Belgium and those from Cartagena-Murcia; the “alpine” [mountaineers] from Como and from Rome. 

I greet the groups of young people who have received or who are preparing for Confirmation, the youth of various parishes, and the numerous students. 

Exactly five years have passed since the earthquake that struck L’Aquila and the surrounding area. In this moment we want to unite ourselves to that community which has suffered so much, that still suffers, struggles, and hopes, with such confidence in God and in the Madonna. Let us pray for all the victims, who live forever in the peace of the Lord. And let us pray for the journey of resurrection of the people of L’Aquila: that solidarity and spiritual renewal might be the strength of material reconstruction. 

Let us pray also for the victims of the Ebola virus, which has spread in Guinea and in the bordering countries. May the Lord support the efforts combatting the beginnings of this epidemic and ensuring care and assistance for all the needy. 

And now I want to make a simple gesture for you. Last Sunday I suggested that all of you should obtain a little book of the Gospels, to carry with you during the day, that can be read often. And then I thought about the ancient tradition of the Church, of giving a book of the Gospels, during Lent, to the catechumens, to those preparing for Baptism. So today I want to offer to you who are here in the Piazza — but as a sign for everyone — a pocket Gospel book. It is distributed to you free of charge. There are places in the Piazza for the distribution… I see them there… there… there… there, there, there. Go to these places and take the Gospel. Take it, carry it with you, and read it every day: it is Jesus Himself Who is speaking to you. It is the Word of Jesus: this is the Word of Jesus. 

And as He said, I say too: “Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give!” Give the message of the Gospel! But maybe one or the other of you doesn’t believe this is really free. “But how much is this? What do I have to pay Father?” But let us do something in exchange for this gift: perform an act of charity, a gesture of love given freely, a prayer for an enemy, a reconciliation, something. Today you can also read the Gospel on so many technological devices. You can take the whole Bible with you on a phone, on a tablet. The important thing is to read the Word of God, by any means, but read the Word of God: It is Jesus Who speaks to us there. And welcome it with an open heart. Then the good seed will bear fruit!

I wish you a happy Sunday, and a ‘buon pranzo!’ Arrivederci!


Text from Vatican Radio website 
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Thousands of Christians form barrier around Church threatened by government in China

Christians from all around Wenzhou stand
guard in front of the church. The cross causing
the conflict can be seen atop the church.
(Photo: China Aid)
Thousands of Chinese Christians have 24-hour defense of a church in a city known as the 'Jerusalem of the East' after Communist Party officials threatened to bulldoze this place of worship.  Sanjiang church in Wenzhou guard began earlier this week when a demolition notice was put onto the church. The worshipers say it cost around 30 million yuan (£2.91 million) and almost six years to build. Officials claim the church had been built illegally.  Thousands of people, including elderly have now occupied the church to prevent demolition.Wenzhou is a wealthy coastal city around 230 miles south of Shanghai in Zhejiang province, has around 7 million residents. Around 15 per cent are church goers. In 2000 hundreds of churches and temples were demolished across Zhejiang province. The Sanjiang church is part of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, China's officially sanctioned and government-controlled Protestant church. Today, there are thought to be more Chinese Christians with up to 100 million mainland believers.Under Chinese law, they were only allowed to worship on Sundays. Preachers were required to avoid politically sensitives topics.
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Remembering the Rwanda Genocide after 20 years - Pray for families

Remembering-the-Genocide---20-years-on
CISA NEWS REPORT: KIGALI, April 01, 2014 (CISA) -CAFOD will join parishes across the country to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide on Sunday, April 6. In 1994, CAFOD helped lead the response and recovery that followed the genocide, supported by £6 million in donations sent in by the Catholic community in England and Wales.
In the 100 days that followed the assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana on  April 6 1994, it is estimated that an average of six people were killed every minute of every hour of every day, while the international community failed to intervene.
CAFOD Director Chris Bain, who worked in refugee camps in what was then Zaire in the aftermath of the genocide, said: “What happened 20 years ago was not just one of the most horrific crimes in history, but one of the greatest abdications of global leadership. Many renowned figures should hang their heads in shame this month. Rwanda burns in the consciousness of the world, but it should burn on the conscience of our governments.
“By contrast and as always, aid agencies – including CAFOD – did not stand by and watch. Supported by the incredible, spontaneous generosity of the Catholic community, we did all we could to comfort the survivors, help the refugees, and begin the long, slow process of rebuilding peace.
“For those of us who worked inside Rwanda and the camps on its borders, the passage of time will never erase the dehumanizing work we had to do, the horrific sights we had to see, and the terrible stories we had to hear. But – on behalf of the hundreds of thousands who died – we live to bear witness, and demand that what happened in Rwanda can never happen again.
“I am lost in admiration for the amazing people – mainly women – who, with the support of CAFOD and other agencies, have rebuilt Rwanda’s communities over the last 20 years, never forgetting their own terrible memories, experiences and losses, but finding the inner strength to forgive and move forward.”
“Our vigils, prayers and reflections on April 6th will unite us with these brave women, and say that – with each anniversary that passes – we will not just remember Rwanda as one of the worst genocides in our lifetimes, but re-double our determination that it will be the last.”
Beyond the immediate needs to get food, water and medical help to survivors of the genocide and refugees, CAFOD’s longer term work in Rwanda focused on supporting orphans’ and widows’ organisations; establishing community peace building and reconciliation; providing legal advice for survivors to get justice for the murders of loved ones and the destruction of property; and medical support and counseling for people affected by HIV and AIDS.
Over the weekend of April 5-6, CAFOD is providing prayers, films and other resources to help those parishes and communities who are marking the anniversary at their services through bidding prayers, candlelight vigils, and other commemorations.
SHARED FROM CISA NEWS AFRICA 
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Sunday Mass Online : April 6, 2014 - 5th Lent

Fifth Sunday of Lent
Lectionary: 34


Reading 1EZ 37:12-14

Thus says the Lord GOD:
O my people, I will open your graves
and have you rise from them,
and bring you back to the land of Israel.
Then you shall know that I am the LORD,
when I open your graves and have you rise from them,
O my people!
I will put my spirit in you that you may live,
and I will settle you upon your land;
thus you shall know that I am the LORD.
I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD.

Responsorial Psalm PS 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8

R/ (7) With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;
LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to my voice in supplication.
R/ With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
If you, O LORD, mark iniquities,
LORD, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered.
R/ With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
I trust in the LORD;
my soul trusts in his word.
More than sentinels wait for the dawn,
let Israel wait for the LORD.
R/ With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.
For with the LORD is kindness
and with him is plenteous redemption;
And he will redeem Israel
from all their iniquities.
R/ With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.

Reading 2 ROM 8:8-11

Brothers and sisters:
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh;
on the contrary, you are in the spirit,
if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you,
although the body is dead because of sin,
the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit dwelling in you.

Gospel JN 11:1-45

Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany,
the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil
and dried his feet with her hair;
it was her brother Lazarus who was ill.
So the sisters sent word to him saying,
“Master, the one you love is ill.”
When Jesus heard this he said,
“This illness is not to end in death,
but is for the glory of God,
that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
So when he heard that he was ill,
he remained for two days in the place where he was.
Then after this he said to his disciples,
“Let us go back to Judea.”
The disciples said to him,
“Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you,
and you want to go back there?”
Jesus answered,
“Are there not twelve hours in a day?
If one walks during the day, he does not stumble,
because he sees the light of this world.
But if one walks at night, he stumbles,
because the light is not in him.”
He said this, and then told them,
“Our friend Lazarus is asleep,
but I am going to awaken him.”
So the disciples said to him,
“Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.”
But Jesus was talking about his death,
while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep.
So then Jesus said to them clearly,
“Lazarus has died.
And I am glad for you that I was not there,
that you may believe.
Let us go to him.”
So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples,
“Let us also go to die with him.”

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus
had already been in the tomb for four days.
Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away.
And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary
to comfort them about their brother.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went to meet him;
but Mary sat at home.
Martha said to Jesus,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,
God will give you.”
Jesus said to her,
“Your brother will rise.”
Martha said to him,
“I know he will rise,
in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus told her,
“I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
She said to him, “Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world.”

When she had said this,
she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying,
“The teacher is here and is asking for you.”
As soon as she heard this,
she rose quickly and went to him.
For Jesus had not yet come into the village,
but was still where Martha had met him.
So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her
saw Mary get up quickly and go out,
they followed her,
presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him,
she fell at his feet and said to him,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping,
he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said,
“Where have you laid him?”
They said to him, “Sir, come and see.”
And Jesus wept.
So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.”
But some of them said,
“Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man
have done something so that this man would not have died?”

So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb.
It was a cave, and a stone lay across it.
Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him,
“Lord, by now there will be a stench;
he has been dead for four days.”
Jesus said to her,
“Did I not tell you that if you believe
you will see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone.
And Jesus raised his eyes and said,
“Father, I thank you for hearing me.
I know that you always hear me;
but because of the crowd here I have said this,
that they may believe that you sent me.”
And when he had said this,
He cried out in a loud voice,
“Lazarus, come out!”
The dead man came out,
tied hand and foot with burial bands,
and his face was wrapped in a cloth.
So Jesus said to them,
“Untie him and let him go.”

Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary
and seen what he had done began to believe in him.
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TODAY'S SAINT : APRIL 6 : ST. WILLIAM OF ESKILSOE


St. William of Eskilsoe
ABBOT OF ESKILLE, CONFESSOR
Feast: April 6


     Information:
Feast Day:April 6
Born:1125 at Paris, France
Died:6 April (Easter Sunday) 1203 in Denmark
Canonized:21 January 1224 by Pope Honorius III
He was born of an illustrious family in Paris, about the year 1105, and received his education in the abbey of St. Germain-des-Prez, under his uncle Hugh, the abbot. By the regularity of his conduct, and the sanctity of his manners, he was the admiration of the whole community. Having finished his studies, he was ordained sub-deacon, and installed canon in the church of St. Genevieve au-Mont. His assiduity in prayer, love of retirement and mortification, and exemplary life, seemed a troublesome censure of the slothful and worldly life of his colleagues; and what ought to have gained him their esteem and affection, served to provoke their envy and malice against him.
Having in vain endeavored to prevail on this reformer of their chapter, as they called him, to resign his canonry, in order to remove him at a distance, they presented him to the curacy of Epinay, a church five leagues from Paris, depending on their chapter. But not long after, Pope Eugenius III. coming to Paris, in 1147, and being informed of the irregular conduct of these canons, he commissioned the celebrated Suger, abbot of St. Denys, and prime minister to King Louis the Young, to expel them, and introduce in their room regular canons from the abbey of St. Victor: which was happily carried into execution, Eudo of St. Victor's being made the first abbot. St. William with joy embraced this institute, and was by his fervor and devotion a pattern to the most perfect. He was in a short time chosen sub-prior.
The perfect spirit of religion and regularity which he established in that community, was an illustrious proof of the incredible influence which the example of a prudent superior has over docile religious minds. His zeal for regular discipline he tempered with so much sweetness and modesty in his injunctions, that made all to love the precept itself, and to practice with cheerfulness whatever was prescribed them. The reputation of his wisdom and sanctity reached the ears of Absalon, bishop of Roschild, in Denmark, who, being one of the most holy prelates of his age, earnestly sought to allure him into his diocese. He sent the provost of his church, who seems to have been the learned historian Saxo the Grammarian, to Paris on this errand. A prospect of labors and dangers for the glory of God was a powerful motive with the saint, and he cheerfully undertook the voyage. The bishop appointed him abbot of Eskille, a monastery of regular canons which he had reformed. Here St. William sanctified himself by a life of prayer and austere mortification; but had much to suffer from the persecutions of powerful men, from the extreme poverty of his house in a severe climate, and, above all, from a long succession of interior trials: but the most perfect victory over himself was the fruit of his constancy, patience, and meekness. On prayer was his chief dependence, and it proved his constant support.
During the thirty years of his abbacy, he had the comfort to see many walk with fervor in his steps. He never left off wearing his hair-shirt, lay on straw, and fasted every day. Penetrated with a deep sense of the greatness and sanctity of our mysteries, he never approached the altar without watering it with his tears, making himself a victim to God in the spirit of adoration and sacrifice, together with, and through the merits of the holy victim offered thereon: the dispositions in which every Christian ought to assist at it. He died on the 6th of April, 1203, and was canonized by Honorius III. in 1224.
See his life by a disciple in Surius, and at large in Papebroke's Continuation of Bollandus, t. 1, Apr. p. 620. Also M. Gourdan in his MSS. Lives of Illustrious Men among the regular Canons at St. Victor's, in Paris, kept in the library of MSS. in that house, in fol. t. 2, pp. 324 and 814.


SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/W/stwilliamofeskilsoe.asp#ixzz1rJ6fShbF
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