2014
Please PRAY - Violent Conflict between Israel and Palestine - Death Toll Rises
63 Women Escape - but Over 200 Girls Still Missing in Nigeria - Please PRAY #BringBackOurGirls
Today's Mass Readings Online : Fri. July 11, 2014 - St. Benedict
Saint July 11 : St. Benedict : Founder of Western Monastcism - Patron of Fever, Monks, Temptations
#PAUSEforPeace initiative - The Pontifical Council for Culture has launched the "Pause for Peace" campaign ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2014 final in Brazilon Sundayevening.
Adherents are asking for a moment of silence around theSunday, July 13match to remember those stricken by wars and unrest worldwide. Some wish for a moment of silence at the match. All wish for a cessation of bloodshed in those many areas of the world undergoing dramatic conflict in these days.
#PAUSEforPeace
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi (@CardRavasi) promoted the initiative on July 11 on Twitter, writing "A still, small voice of silence" (1 Kings19:12) #PAUSEforPeace #WorldCup2014
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi (@CardRavasi) promoted the initiative on July 11 on Twitter, writing "A still, small voice of silence" (1 Kings19:12) #PAUSEforPeace #WorldCup2014
Msgr Melchor Sanchez de Toca y Alameda, Undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture and head of the Culture and Sport section said, "Sports were born around religious festivities. Sporting events were moments of peace, when wars ceased, as for the Olympic truce. Why not for the World Cup, why not a pause, a moment of silence, a truce for peace?"
The initiative is being promoted on social media with the hashtag #PAUSEforPeace
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NOVENA PRAYER - Say for 9 days
Glorious St. Benedict, sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God's grace! Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet. I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne Of God. To you I have recourse in the dangers that daily surround me. Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor. Inspire me to imitate you in all things. May your blessing be with me always, so that I may see and serve Christ in others and work for His kingdom.
Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces which I need so much in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life. Your heart was always full of love, compassion and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way. You never dismissed without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to you. I therefore invoke your powerful intercession, confident in the hope that you will hear my prayer and obtain for me the special grace and favor I earnestly implore (name it). Help me, great St. Benedict. to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven. Amen.
(3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be St. Benedict, pray for us.
THE LITANY OF ST. BENEDICT
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us.Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Pray for us.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us.
Holy Virgin of virgins, Pray for us.
Holy Father, Saint Benedict, Pray for us.
Father most reverend, Pray for us.
Father most renowned, Pray for us.
Father most compassionate, Pray for us.
Man of great fortitude, Pray for us.
Man of venerable life, Pray for us.
Man of the most holy conversation, Pray for us.
True servant of God, Pray for us.
Light of devotion, Pray for us.
Light of prayer, Pray for us.
Light of contemplation, Pray for us.
Star of the world, Pray for us.
Best master of an austere life, Pray for us.
Leader of the holy warfare, Pray for us.
Leader and chief of monks, Pray for us.
Master of those who die to the world, Pray for us.
Protector of those who cry to thee, Pray for us.
Wonderful worker of miracles, Pray for us.
Revealer of the secrets of the human heart, Pray for us.
Master of spiritual discipline, Pray for us.
Companion of the patriarchs, Pray for us.
Equal of the prophets, Pray for us.
Follower of the Apostles, Pray for us.
Teacher of Martyrs, Pray for us.
Father of many pontiffs, Pray for us.
Gem of abbots, Pray for us.
Glory of Confessors, Pray for us.
Imitator of anchorites, Pray for us.
Associate of virgins, Pray for us.
Colleague of all the Saints, Pray for us.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.
V. Intercede for us, O holy father Saint Benedict, R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let Us Pray: O God, Who hast called us from the vanity of the world, and Who dost incite us to the reward of a heavenly vocation under the guidance of our holy patriarch and founder, Saint Benedict, inspire and purify our hearts and pour forth on us Thy grace, whereby we may persevere in Thee. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
Please PRAY - Violent Conflict between Israel and Palestine - Death Toll Rises
JCE Update : Reports now confirm over 100 Killed in Palestine by Airstrikes ASIA NEWS IT REPORT: by Joshua Lapide
Missiles reach Tel Aviv and Jerusalem where air-raid shelters have been re-activated. The raids have left 28 dead and hundreds injured in Gaza. 40 thousand reservists recalled. "Invasions and ground operations” not ruled out. The Palestinian government of national unity is the "illustrious" victim of these latest clashes.
Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - Israeli planes bombed the Gaza Strip this morning in an attempt to stop a rain of missiles that have been pouring down on areas south of Israel for days and now have even hit Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
The Israeli strikes in Gaza seem to have targeted military commanders, but there are civilian casualties. In Beit Hanoun a house was hit, killing the commander of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, but family members were also killed, a woman and two children. The death toll from these past two days is 208 Palestinians dead and 100 injured.
Yesterday Hamas rockets targeted the two most populous cities in Israel, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Tel Aviv was protected by the Israeli defense system; there were no reported injuries in Jerusalem.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades claim to have launched missiles up to Haifa (160 km from the border with the Gaza Strip), but there has been no confirmation from the Israeli side. In any case, the air-raid shelters in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were put back into operation.
From mid-June, since the start of this latest series of clashes, hundreds of rockets have hit southern Israel; 40 were intercepted. So far no Israeli citizens have been wounded or killed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel "will not tolerate fire missiles on our cities and towns." For this reason, "operations against Hamas and other terrorist organizations" have been "stretched".
The Israeli security office has approved the recall of 40 thousand reservists and there are unofficial rumors of a possible "invasion or ground operation" against Hamas.
Israelis and Arabs newspapers point out that the "illustrious" victim of this new round of war is the Palestinian national unity government, which was launched in early June, putting an end to the struggle between Hamas and Fatah, which lasted for seven years. Fringe extremists among the Palestinians boycotted the agreement - which includes non-violence - continuing rocket fire and kidnapping and killing three young Israelis.
Even Netanyahu has now sided against the Palestinian national unity government, fearing that this unity could promote a wider international recognition of Palestine.
ASIANEWSIT
63 Women Escape - but Over 200 Girls Still Missing in Nigeria - Please PRAY #BringBackOurGirls
KANO, July 08, 2014 (CISA) -Sixty-three women and girls kidnapped by Boko Haram last month in Nigeria escaped from their captors and have returned to their burnt village, a security source and a local vigilante fighting the militant group said.
The hostages were seized from the Kummabza village in northern Borno state on June 18 after a four-day invasion of the village by Boko Haram insurgents. The militants killed 30 men and burned the entire village.
Their escape is good news, but the Islamist terrorist group is still believed to be holding about 200 schoolgirls abducted April 14 from their hostels in the town of Chibok — a case that drew international outrage and prompted a global campaign for their release.
Boko Haram has been active as a violent group since 2009 and has killed Nigerians, both Christian and Muslim, at rates frequently exceeding 100 people weekly.
The name “Boko Haram” translates to “Western education is sin” in the local Hausa language. The militant group is trying to impose strict Sharia law across Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa.
The group especially opposes the education of women. Under its version of Sharia law, women should be at home raising children and looking after their husbands, not at school learning to read and write.
According to CNN, the female hostages escaped Friday while their captors left their camp to launch an attack against the military and police in the nearby town of Damboa, said Bukar Kyari, a local vigilante fighting Boko Haram in Maiduguri.
Soldiers overwhelmed the insurgents, forcing them to mobilize all their men and leave the abducted women in the camp, Kyari said.
“The women seized that rare opportunity to escape when they realized they were alone in the camp,” Kyari said. “But we still have five women, including a nursing mother, missing.”
News of the escape was slow to emerge due to trouble with telecommunication towers in the area damaged by previous Boko Haram attacks.
Boko Haram has recently intensified abductions of women in northeastern Borno state, where its five-year insurgency is largely concentrated.
When a group of women and girls abducted in November was later rescued from Boko Haram, some were pregnant. Others had been forcibly converted to Islam and married off to their kidnappers.
The April kidnapping galvanized international opinion against Boko Haram and inspired the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
The terror group abducted an estimated 276 girls April 14 from a boarding school in Chibok in northeastern Nigeria. Dozens escaped, but more than 200 girls are still missing.
Since then the insurgents, seemingly galvanized by the attention, have stepped up the frequency and brazenness of the attacks on villages in the region. Other girls have been kidnapped, but in lesser numbers.
The Nigerian government has come under fire for not doing enough to find the girls. About a month ago the government tried to stop organized protests for the abducted girls, then backtracked and allowed the protests.
SHARED FROM CISANEWSAFRICA
Today's Mass Readings Online : Fri. July 11, 2014 - St. Benedict
Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot
Lectionary: 387
Reading 1HOS 14:2-10
Thus says the LORD:
Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words,
and return to the LORD;
Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity,
and receive what is good, that we may render
as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.
Assyria will not save us,
nor shall we have horses to mount;
We shall say no more, ‘Our god,’
to the work of our hands;
for in you the orphan finds compassion.”
Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;
you have collapsed through your guilt.
Take with you words,
and return to the LORD;
Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity,
and receive what is good, that we may render
as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.
Assyria will not save us,
nor shall we have horses to mount;
We shall say no more, ‘Our god,’
to the work of our hands;
for in you the orphan finds compassion.”
I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
His splendor shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like the Lebanon cedar.
Again they shall dwell in his shade
and raise grain;
They shall blossom like the vine,
and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
Ephraim! What more has he to do with idols?
I have humbled him, but I will prosper him.
“I am like a verdant cypress tree”—
because of me you bear fruit!
Let him who is wise understand these things;
let him who is prudent know them.
Straight are the paths of the LORD,
in them the just walk,
but sinners stumble in them.
Responsorial Psalm PS 51:3-4, 8-9, 12-13, 14 AND 17
R. (17b) My mouth will declare your praise.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. My mouth will declare your praise.
Behold, you are pleased with sincerity of heart,
and in my inmost being you teach me wisdom.
Cleanse me of sin with hyssop, that I may be purified;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
R. My mouth will declare your praise.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. My mouth will declare your praise.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. My mouth will declare your praise.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. My mouth will declare your praise.
Behold, you are pleased with sincerity of heart,
and in my inmost being you teach me wisdom.
Cleanse me of sin with hyssop, that I may be purified;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
R. My mouth will declare your praise.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. My mouth will declare your praise.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. My mouth will declare your praise.
Gospel MT 10:16-23
Jesus said to his Apostles:
“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves;
so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.
But beware of men,
for they will hand you over to courts
and scourge you in their synagogues,
and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake
as a witness before them and the pagans.
When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Brother will hand over brother to death,
and the father his child;
children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to another.
Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel
before the Son of Man comes.”
“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves;
so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.
But beware of men,
for they will hand you over to courts
and scourge you in their synagogues,
and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake
as a witness before them and the pagans.
When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Brother will hand over brother to death,
and the father his child;
children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to another.
Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel
before the Son of Man comes.”
Saint July 11 : St. Benedict : Founder of Western Monastcism - Patron of Fever, Monks, Temptations
St. Benedict of Nursia
FOUNDER OF WESTERN MONASTICISM
Information:
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Founder of western monasticism, born at Nursia, c. 480; died at Monte Cassino, 543. The only authentic life of Benedict of Nursia is that contained in the second book of St. Gregory's "Dialogues". It is rather a character sketch than a biography and consists, for the most part, of a number of miraculous incidents, which, although they illustrate the life of the saint, give little help towards a chronological account of his career. St. Gregory's authorities for all that he relates were the saint's own disciples, viz. Constantinus, who succeeded him as Abbot of Monte Cassino; and Honoratus, who was Abbot of Subiaco when St. Gregory wrote his "Dialogues".
Benedict was the son of a Roman noble of Nursia, a small town near Spoleto, and a tradition, which St. Bede accepts, makes him a twin with his sister Scholastica. His boyhood was spent in Rome, where he lived with his parents and attended the schools until he had reached his higher studies. Then "giving over his books, and forsaking his father's house and wealth, with a mind only to serve God, he sought for some place where he might attain to the desire of his holy purpose; and in this sort he departed [from Rome], instructed with learned ignorance and furnished with unlearned wisdom" (Dial. St. Greg., II, Introd. in Migne, P.L. LXVI). There is much difference of opinion as to Benedict's age at the time. It has been very generally stated as fourteen, but a careful examination of St. Gregory's narrative makes it impossible to suppose him younger than nineteen or twenty. He was old enough to be in the midst of his literary studies, to understand the real meaning and worth of the dissolute and licentious lives of his companions, and to have been deeply affected himself by the love of a woman (Ibid. II, 2). He was capable of weighing all these things in comparison with the life taught in the Gospels, and chose the latter, He was at the beginning of life, and he had at his disposal the means to a career as a Roman noble; clearly he was not a child, As St. Gregory expresses it, "he was in the world and was free to enjoy the advantages which the world offers, but drew back his foot which he had, as it were, already set forth in the world" (ibid., Introd.). If we accept the date 480 for his birth, we may fix the date of his abandoning the schools and quitting home at about A.D. 500.
Benedict does not seem to have left Rome for the purpose of becoming a hermit, but only to find some place away from the life of the great city; moreover, he took his old nurse with him as a servant and they settled down to live in Enfide, near a church dedicated to St. Peter, in some kind of association with "a company of virtuous men" who were in sympathy with his feelings and his views of life. Enfide, which the tradition of Subiaco identifies with the modern Affile, is in the Simbrucini mountains, about forty miles from Rome and two from Subiaco. It stands on the crest of a ridge which rises rapidly from the valley to the higher range of mountains, and seen from the lower ground the village has the appearance of a fortress. As St. Gregory's account indicates, and as is confirmed by the remains of the old town and by the inscriptions found in the neighbourhood, Enfide was a place of greater importance than is the present town. At Enfide Benedict worked his first miracle by restoring to perfect condition an earthenware wheat-sifter (capisterium) which his old servant had accidentally broken. The notoriety which this miracle brought upon Benedict drove him to escape still farther from social life, and "he fled secretly from his nurse and sought the more retired district of Subiaco". His purpose of life had also been modified. He had fled Rome to escape the evils of a great city; he now determined to be poor and to live by his own work. "For God's sake he deliberately chose the hardships of life and the weariness of labour" (ibid., 1).
A short distance from Enfide is the entrance to a narrow, gloomy valley, penetrating the mountains and leading directly to Subiaco. Crossing the Anio and turning to the right, the path rises along the left face oft the ravine and soon reaches the site of Nero's villa and of the huge mole which formed the lower end of the middle lake; across the valley were ruins of the Roman baths, of which a few great arches and detached masses of wall still stand. Rising from the mole upon twenty five low arches, the foundations of which can even yet be traced, was the bridge from the villa to the baths, under which the waters of the middle lake poured in a wide fall into the lake below. The ruins of these vast buildings and the wide sheet of falling water closed up the entrance of the valley to St. Benedict as he came from Enfide; to-day the narrow valley lies open before us, closed only by the far off mountains. The path continues to ascend, and the side of the ravine, on which it runs, becomes steeper, until we reach a cave above which the mountain now rises almost perpendicularly; while on the right hand it strikes in a rapid descent down to where, in St. Benedict's day, five hundred feet below, lay the blue waters of the lake. The cave has a large triangular-shaped opening and is about ten feet deep. On his way from Enfide, Benedict met a monk, Romanus, whose monastery was on the mountain above the cliff overhanging the cave. Romanus had discussed with Benedict the purpose which had brought him to Subiaco, and had given him the monk's habit. By his advice Benedict became a hermit and for three years, unknown to men, lived in this cave above the lake. St. Gregory tells us little of these years, He now speaks of Benedict no longer as a youth (puer), but as a man (vir) of God. Romanus, he twice tells us, served the saint in every way he could. The monk apparently visited him frequently, and on fixed days brought him food.
During these three years of solitude, broken only by occasional communications with the outer world and by the visits of Romanus, he matured both in mind and character, in knowledge of himself and of his fellow-man, and at the same time he became not merely known to, but secured the respect of, those about him; so much so that on the death of the abbot of a monastery in the neighbourhood (identified by some with Vicovaro), the community came to him and begged him to become its abbot. Benedict was acquainted with the life and discipline of the monastery, and knew that "their manners were diverse from his and therefore that they would never agree together: yet, at length, overcome with their entreaty, he gave his consent" (ibid., 3). The experiment failed; the monks tried to poison him, and he returned to his cave. From this time his miracles seen to have become frequent, and many people, attracted by his sanctity and character, came to Subiaco to be under his guidance. For them he built in the valley twelve monasteries, in each of which he placed a superior with twelve monks. In a thirteenth he lived with "a few, such as he thought would more profit and be better instructed by his own presence" (ibid., 3). He remained, however, the father or abbot of all. With the establishment of these monasteries began the schools for children; and amongst the first to be brought were Maurus and Placid.
The remainder of St. Benedict's life was spent in realizing the ideal of monasticism which he has left us drawn out in his Rule.
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SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/B/stbenedictofnursia.asp#ixzz1RnablluW
2014
SHARE - Miracle Baby Survives after Twin Dies in Miscarriage - Unknown to Mother and Doctors
Michelle Hui 31, from Country Kildare, Ireland, endured a miscarriage in July 2013. Then she was given abortion drugs to prevent any infection in her body. She had 5 scans which showed blood clots. Later, she was scheduled for an operation to remove them. However, a baby's heartbeat was found upon her arrival. Michelle had been carrying twins, and one had survived. Megan Hui, was born in February at 6lbs and is now very healthy at 18 weeks old. Michelle Hui was told she had lost her baby in a miscarriage after six weeks of pregnancy. Megan Hui, is pictured. This baby survived both a miscarriage and abortion pills. Hui, 31, and her husband Ross, 33, welcomed their daughter Megan. Their other 2 children sister Mya, four, and brother Noah, two are pictured below. The family have since been told that Megan’s story is so unique that it has entered in medical journals. Mrs Hui said: ‘The miscarriage and abortion were absolutely horrific. The family sees this as a blessing. Mrs. Hui told the Sunday Mirror she was angry that doctors at the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin gave her the Abortive drugs. (Edited from SundayMirror)
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Wow World Cup Player Thiago Silva almost Aborted by Mother - Thanks God
When Thiago Silva was named in the FIFA team of the year for 2013 he said, “I want to thank God for this unique moment that gives me the opportunity to live in my career but also in my life."
Thiago Emiliano da Silva was born on 22 September 1984 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
His mother has revealed she wanted to abort her son. "I cried on my father's shoulder and said, 'Daddy, I don't want to get an abortion, but I'm also not ready to raise a child'," Angela revealed this in an interview with TV network O'Globo of Brazil. Her father forbid her, "He wouldn't let me do that, that I commit a sin" . Silva, now 29 years old is the Captain of the Brazilian national team. Silva is married to Belle Silva and has two children (pictured).
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Silva lived in the slums of Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro in poverty. Thiago said, "I always thanked God when I got home safely." Brazil is now out of the World Cup finals losing 7-1 against Germany. (Images shared from Google Images/Story Kath.net)
Thiago Emiliano da Silva was born on 22 September 1984 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
His mother has revealed she wanted to abort her son. "I cried on my father's shoulder and said, 'Daddy, I don't want to get an abortion, but I'm also not ready to raise a child'," Angela revealed this in an interview with TV network O'Globo of Brazil. Her father forbid her, "He wouldn't let me do that, that I commit a sin" . Silva, now 29 years old is the Captain of the Brazilian national team. Silva is married to Belle Silva and has two children (pictured).
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Silva lived in the slums of Santa Cruz, Rio de Janeiro in poverty. Thiago said, "I always thanked God when I got home safely." Brazil is now out of the World Cup finals losing 7-1 against Germany. (Images shared from Google Images/Story Kath.net)
