From Jean-Marie Guénois for Le Figaro (June 15, main excerpt, with our emphases): Bp. Fellay, Superior of the Society of Saint Pius X, will consult his General Chapter in July before responding to the Pope. Between Rome and Écône, things get more detailed but more complicated at the same time. Bp.
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2012-06-17 Vatican Radio
There is nothing as impressive as a crowd of more than 75,000 people reduced to absolute silence, or that lull of quiet that falls on a stadium as people wait in anticipation for something incredible to happen.
As the giant screens on each side of the altar raised on Croke Parks iconic Hill 16 flickered to life, the only sound to be heard was the wind rustling pilgrims plastic ponchos as they drew breath and waited to hear, to see their Pope.
The Statio Orbis – the mass which concludes the International Eucharistic Congress – was coming to a close, a liturgy as beautiful as it was simple. Ahead of this week of rain and prayers, queues, tears, smiles and reflection, the Archbishop of Dublin had expressed one wish: congregational singing at the final mass. Too-long Irish Churches had been silent. On Sunday his wish was granted. As the Papal Legate, Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prayed over the gifts, seventy-five thousand voices lifted in song, God’s holy name for God’s holy people, and rang out across the Dublin skyline.
The legate has had a close encounter with Irish Catholicism this week. From his pilgrimage of penance to Lough Derg, where he met with abuse survivors, to Mass with pilgrims at the National Marian shrine of Knock on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He was also warmly received by Irish authorities, meeting with both the Irish President, Michael D. Higgens, and the Prime Minister, Enda Kenny – both of whom were present Sunday.
The Irish Ambassador to the Holy See, David Cooney, described the Congress as an opportunity for the Irish Church to convey “the enduring presence and relevance of Catholicism in today’s Ireland”.
In his homily Sunday, Cardinal Ouellet said the week of Eucharistic reflection, celebration and adoration has made people more aware of God’s call to communion with Him and with one another. Now it was time to rejoice, be glad and bear witness to Him.
“The Irish bell, which resounds from Lough Derg, from Knock and Dublin, must resound in the whole world. Let’s ring the bell further through our personal testimony of renewed faith in the Holy Eucharist”.
“Even if we are sometimes tested in our faith, do not be afraid, and remember who we are: the body of Christ intent on loving God over and above all things”.
The Cardinal, who is also Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops when he is not on a mission for the Pope, was interrupted several times by applause as he spoke. However the largest outburst was provoked when he invited pilgrims to listen to Pope Benedict’s message. “He is our spiritual father, a father who is holy and worthy of our trust and sincere obedience”.
And then the silence was broken, cheers and cries rising as Pope Benedict appeared on screen. From the Apostolic Palace in Rome into the very heartland of the Irish psyche, the home of the Gaelic Athletic Association.
In the eight minute video he spoke of how Ireland has been “shaped by the Mass at the deepest level” for centuries. He spoke of how Ireland had been “shaken by” the “appalling sins” committed by some Church members against those in their care. “Instead of showing them the path towards Christ, towards God, instead of bearing witness to his goodness, they abused people and undermined the credibility of the Church’s message.”
Pope Benedict said it was clear “their Christianity was no longer nourished by joyful encounter with Jesus Christ: it had become merely a matter of habit.” The aim of Vatican II and the Eucharistic Congress he added was “to overcome this form of Christianity and to rediscover the faith as a deep personal friendship with the goodness of Jesus Christ.”
Then, to the joy especially of the thousands of Filipinos present at Mass, he announced the 51st International Eucharistic Congress will take place in Cebu, in the Philippines in 2016.
Speaking to the Archbishop of Cebu Jose Palma, Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin wished him well. He said that the Congress had gone beyond the plans and expectations of the Irish hierarchy.
Let us hope they now realise the great thirst of Irish people for a faith renewed in the Eucharist, a Church united by Christ, a Church of communion and of service.
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2012-06-17 Vatican Radio
Below please find the complete text of Pope Benedict’s message to the Ireland on the occasion of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
With great affection in the Lord, I greet all of you who have gathered in Dublin for the Fiftieth International Eucharistic Congress, especially Cardinal Brady, Archbishop Martin, the clergy, religious and faithful of Ireland, and all of you who have come from afar to support the Irish Church with your presence and prayers.
The theme of the Congress – Communion with Christ and with One Another – leads us to reflect upon the Church as a mystery of fellowship with the Lord and with all the members of his body. From the earliest times the notion of koinonia or communio has been at the core of the Church’s understanding of herself, her relationship to Christ her founder, and the sacraments she celebrates, above all the Eucharist. Through our Baptism, we are incorporated into Christ’s death, reborn into the great family of the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ; through Confirmation we receive the seal of the Holy Spirit; and by our sharing in the Eucharist, we come into communion with Christ and each other visibly here on earth. We also receive the pledge of eternal life to come.
The Congress also occurs at a time when the Church throughout the world is preparing to celebrate the Year of Faith to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the Second Vatican Council, an event which launched the most extensive renewal of the Roman Rite ever known. Based upon a deepening appreciation of the sources of the liturgy, the Council promoted the full and active participation of the faithful in the Eucharistic sacrifice. At our distance today from the Council Fathers’ expressed desires regarding liturgical renewal, and in the light of the universal Church’s experience in the intervening period, it is clear that a great deal has been achieved; but it is equally clear that there have been many misunderstandings and irregularities. The renewal of external forms, desired by the Council Fathers, was intended to make it easier to enter into the inner depth of the mystery. Its true purpose was to lead people to a personal encounter with the Lord, present in the Eucharist, and thus with the living God, so that through this contact with Christ’s love, the love of his brothers and sisters for one another might also grow. Yet not infrequently, the revision of liturgical forms has remained at an external level, and “active participation” has been confused with external activity. Hence much still remains to be done on the path of real liturgical renewal. In a changed world, increasingly fixated on material things, we must learn to recognize anew the mysterious presence of the Risen Lord, which alone can give breadth and depth to our life.
The Eucharist is the worship of the whole Church, but it also requires the full engagement of each individual Christian in the Church’s mission; it contains a call to be the holy people of God, but also one to individual holiness; it is to be celebrated with great joy and simplicity, but also as worthily and reverently as possible; it invites us to repent of our sins, but also to forgive our brothers and sisters; it binds us together in the Spirit, but it also commands us in the same Spirit to bring the good news of salvation to others.
Moreover, the Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, his body and blood given in the new and eternal covenant for the forgiveness of sins and the transformation of the world. Ireland has been shaped by the Mass at the deepest level for centuries, and by its power and grace generations of monks, martyrs and missionaries have heroically lived the faith at home and spread the Good News of God’s love and forgiveness well beyond your shores. You are the heirs to a Church that has been a mighty force for good in the world, and which has given a profound and enduring love of Christ and his blessed Mother to many, many others. Your forebears in the Church in Ireland knew how to strive for holiness and constancy in their personal lives, how to preach the joy that comes from the Gospel, how to promote the importance of belonging to the universal Church in communion with the See of Peter, and how to pass on a love of the faith and Christian virtue to other generations. Our Catholic faith, imbued with a radical sense of God’s presence, caught up in the beauty of his creation all around us, and purified through personal penance and awareness of God’s forgiveness, is a legacy that is surely perfected and nourished when regularly placed on the Lord’s altar at the sacrifice of the Mass. Thankfulness and joy at such a great history of faith and love have recently been shaken in an appalling way by the revelation of sins committed by priests and consecrated persons against people entrusted to their care. Instead of showing them the path towards Christ, towards God, instead of bearing witness to his goodness, they abused people and undermined the credibility of the Church’s message. How are we to explain the fact that people who regularly received the Lord’s body and confessed their sins in the sacrament of Penance have offended in this way? It remains a mystery. Yet evidently, their Christianity was no longer nourished by joyful encounter with Jesus Christ: it had become merely a matter of habit. The work of the Council was really meant to overcome this form of Christianity and to rediscover the faith as a deep personal friendship with the goodness of Jesus Christ. The Eucharistic Congress has a similar aim. Here we wish to encounter the Risen Lord. We ask him to touch us deeply. May he who breathed on the Apostles at Easter, communicating his Spirit to them, likewise bestow upon us his breath, the power of the Holy Spirit, and so help us to become true witnesses to his love, witnesses to the truth. His truth is love. Christ’s love is truth.
My dear brothers and sisters, I pray that the Congress will be for each of you a spiritually fruitful experience of communion with Christ and his Church. At the same time, I would like to invite you to join me in praying for God’s blessing upon the next International Eucharistic Congress, which will take place in 2016 in the city of Cebu! To the people of the Philippines I send warm greetings and an assurance of my closeness in prayer during the period of preparation for this great ecclesial gathering. I am confident that it will bring lasting spiritual renewal not only to them but to all the participants from across the globe. In the meantime, I commend everyone taking part in the present Congress to the loving protection of Mary, Mother of God, and to Saint Patrick, the great patron of Ireland; and, as a token of joy and peace in the Lord, I willingly impart my Apostolic Blessing.
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2012-06-17 Vatican Radio
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, is the Papal Legate to the 50th International Eucharistic Congress. Below please find the complete text of Cardinal Ouellet’s Homily for the “Statio Orbis” of the International Eucharistic Congress:
Dear brothers and sisters,
The fiftieth occurrence of the International Eucharistic Congress is now coming to a close. We are deeply grateful to God for the light of His Word and for the gift of the Holy Eucharist, which strengthen our communion with Christ and with one another.
At the end of this celebration we will listen to the message of Pope Benedict XVI. His speaking to us reminds us that this International Eucharistic Congress bears witness to the Catholic Church as the universal communion of many particular Churches. The Bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful here represent the Catholic Church which is found throughout the world in thousands of communities, but which is one in faith and love of Jesus Christ. I greet the ecumenical representatives and I thank you all for being part of this grace-filled event.
I greet the President of Ireland, and all the civil authorities, fondly aware of the noble tradition of this courageous nation. I thank wholeheartedly Archbishop Martin, Cardinal Brady and all the collaborators of this event for the gift of their warm hospitality and for the example of their strong dedication to Christian renewal in this country.
In order to prepare ourselves to listen to the Holy Father’s message, let us briefly reflect on today’s readings, which bring us a message of great hope and confidence.
Through the prophet Ezekiel the Lord says, “From the top of the cedar, from the highest branch I will take a shoot and plant it myself on a very high mountain. I will plant it on the high mountain of Israel. It will sprout branches and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar” (Ez. 17:22-23).
In the Gospel, Jesus uses a similar image to speak about the Kingdom of God: “[The kingdom] is like a mustard seed which at the time of its sowing in the soil is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet once it is sown it grows into the biggest shrub of them all and puts out big branches so that the birds of the air can shelter in its shade” (Mk. 4:31-32).
We understand the prophecy of Ezekiel in the light of Christ. Jesus Christ is the shoot taken from the highest branch, he is God from God, and planted by God himself on a very high mountain, which is Calvary.
God the Father has planted on Calvary the seed of the Cross out of love for his creation and for all sinners. The seed of the Cross is the Sacred Heart of His only begotten Son, pierced to death by our sins, but raised up from death by the power of divine mercy. Therefore Christ Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is the Holy Redeemer in whom we trust and find salvation. The seed of Christ’s love, buried in the ground of Calvary, produced an unimaginable fruit: a tree, the Tree of Life, a noble cedar which is the Holy Church of God, the dawn of the Kingdom. We believe in the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church, because we believe in Christ who wills the Church to be His body, born from the self-gift of His Eucharistic Body.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us rejoice and be full of confidence. “We are full of confidence” (2 Cor. 5:6), as St. Paul says to the Corinthians. We are so because the risen Lord is our home and our safety. We do experience limitations and failures in the Church, but the Lord sustains us, healing our wounds and strengthening our love. Let us rejoice in Him and be glad!
We can rely on the Lord for a new beginning. St. Paul gives us the key for any personal or ecclesial renewal: “We are intent on pleasing Him” (2 Cor. 5:6). This key to renewal in our lives is a decision to recommit ourselves to love the Lord and to live and to die for Him, knowing that His grace will never fail. May the upcoming Year of Faith strengthen in us this decision!
Jesus is the seed sowed by God Himself in the depths of the earth, a seed that fell to the earth, died and was raised to eternal life. From this smallest seed of salvation comes the Tree of Life, the Church, in which all of humanity is called to find a home and safety in the company of the risen Lord.
For this very reason, the Church is called, and we are called, to bear witness to the Lord by pleasing Him, that is, preaching the Gospel, living in fraternity and praising God for the gift of salvation.
After this week of Eucharistic reflection, celebration and adoration, we are certainly more aware of God’s call to communion with Him and with one another.
Let us bear witness to this grace by calling others to faith in this communion. The Irish bell, which resounds from Lough Derg, from Knock and Dublin, must resound in the whole world. Let’s ring the bell further through our personal testimony of renewed faith in the Holy Eucharist.
Faith is the most precious gift we have received with Baptism. Let’s not keep it private and fearful! Let it grow as a splendid tree through sharing everywhere!
Even if we are sometimes tested in our faith, do not be afraid, and remember who we are: the body of Christ intent on loving God over and above all things, intent on living in the Spirit of the new and eternal covenant.
We are not alone; the Spirit of Pentecost dwells in us. The communion of saints, with Mary at its heart, comes to our assistance as soon as we have rung the bell of prayer in total confidence. Keep hope and be glad, for the kingdom of God is near!
Dear brothers and sisters, at the end of this Mass we will listen to the Holy Father’s message for the conclusion of this Congress. Let us listen to him with great respect and gratitude since he is our spiritual father, a father who is holy and worthy of our trust and sincere obedience.
May our communion with the Body of Christ be a new bond of love; a small seed perhaps, but, by God’s grace and divine mercy, a fruitful one.
Together we pray the words of Saint Ephrem, deacon and doctor of the Church: “Lord … we have had your treasure hidden within us ever since we received baptismal grace; it grows ever richer at your sacramental table. Teach us to find our joy in your favour! Lord, we have within us your memorial, received at your spiritual table; let us possess it in its full reality when all things shall be made new” (Sermo 3, De fine et admonitione 2. 4-5). Amen!
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2012-06-17 Vatican Radio
During the Sunday Angelus, Pope Benedict spoke about the parables of Christ in the day’s Gospel. The parable of the seed that grows while the farmer sleeps “refers to the mystery of creation and redemption, the fruitful work of God in history.” In the parable, the Pope said, the final harvest reminds us of the full realization of God’s Kingdom at the end of time. “The present time is the time of sowing, and the Lord ensures the growth of the seed. Every Christian, then, knows that he must do all he can, but that the final results depend on God. This knowledge will sustain his daily labours, especially in difficult situations.”
In his remarks to English speaking pilgrims, the Holy Father highlighted the Lord’s parable of the mustard seed: “In today’s Gospel,” he said, “the Lord teaches us that God’s kingdom is like a tiny mustard seed which becomes the largest of shrubs. Let us fervently pray that God may take our weak but sincere desires and transform them into great works of love for him and our neighbour.”
After leading the crowds in the recitation of the Angelus, Pope Benedict noted the upcoming, UN-sponsored World Refugee Day, taking place Wednesday June 20. The day is dedicated to calling attention to “the conditions of many people, especially families, forced to flee their lands, because of threats of armed conflicts and serious forms of violence.” The Holy Father assured refugees of his prayers and of his constant concern for them, and expressed the hope that their rights would be respected and that they would be quickly reunited with their families.
The Pope also spoke about the International Eucharistic Congress, concluding today in Dublin, Ireland. Reflecting on the presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the altar, he said “In the mystery of the Eucharist Jesus wanted to stay with us, for us to enter into communion with Him and among ourselves.”
Finally, Pope Benedict joyfully called to mind the beatification of Eusepi Cecilia, taking place Sunday afternoon. Eusepi, who died at the age of 18, “lived with unwavering faith, displaying great ability to offer sacrifices for the salvation of souls.” The Holy Father recalled that “in the last days of her life, in profound union with Christ Crucified, she repeated ‘It is good to give oneself for Christ, who has given everything for us’.”
Finally, the Holy Father greeted pilgrims and visitors from around the world in various languages, wishing them a happy Sunday, and leaving them with his “abundant blessing.”
Listen to Christopher Wells’ report:
See original:
Pope Angelus: May God transform our desires into great works of love
In a conspicuous turnabout, the trade-group representing the nation’s Catholic hospitals has said it is “deeply concerned with the approach” taken by the Obama administration to its proposed contraceptive mandate, and called for the Department of Health and Human Services to “instead use an expanded definition to exempt from” the new policy “not only churches, but also Catholic hospitals, health care organizations and other ministries of the church.”
Coming in a five-page letter sent today by the Catholic Health Association to a top HHS administrator, the move (including draft proposals for an acceptable revision of the controversial Federal rule) follows months of public tension and quiet discussions between the US hierarchy and the association representing some 2,000 health-care facilities under the auspices of the Stateside church after the group’s president, Daughter of Charity Sister Carol Keehan, voiced her approval of the White House’s February “accommodation” on the plan, which the bishops deemed as being insufficient.
Today’s letter was signed by Keehan and CHA’s immediate past and present board chairs.
Previously, CHA supported the passage of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act over the bishops’ objections to the law’s treatment of funding coverage for abortions. In appreciation for the role the association’s campaign played in the bill’s enactment, President Obama famously gave Keehan one of the pens he used to sign the sweeping Federal health-care reform into law.
On the initial announcement of the contraceptive policy in January, however, the CHA president backed the bishops, calling the White House proposal “a missed opportunity to be clear on appropriate conscience protection.”
In the wake of that statement, even the New York Times noted that the administration’s subsequent undertaking to find an agreeable middle ground “was for” Keehan, who “had told the White House that” as originally proposed, “the new rule… went too far.”
“The more we learn,” CHA said in today’s letter, “the more it appears that the [mandate's] approaches for both insured and self-insured plans would be unduly cumbersome and would be unlikely to adequately meet the religious liberty concerns of all of our members and other church ministries.”
“The exemption in the final rule is narrower than any conscience clause ever enacted in federal law and reflects an unacceptable change in federal policy regarding religious beliefs.”
Notably, the CHA intervention stopped short of endorsing the extension of an exemption from the mandate to private business owners who object to it on conscience grounds — the so-called “Taco Bell” clause — which has become a particular cause celebre among the US church’s conservative wing.
The public comment period on the policy set to end next week, the association’s letter comes on the eve of the Fortnight for Freedom called by the nation’s bishops to protest the mandate’s implications for religious liberty. It likewise arrives less than a month after 43 church entities — led by the archdioceses of New York and Washington and the University of Notre Dame — filed suit in a dozen Federal courts seeking an overturn of the HHS rule.
* * *
A copy of the CHA letter obtained by
Whispers
this afternoon, below are the major portions of its text (emphases original)….
CHA has long insisted on and worked for the right of everyone to affordable, accessible health care. We welcomed the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), and support the ACA’s requirement that certain preventive services be available at no cost to the individual. We remain deeply concerned, however, with the approach the Administration has taken with respect to contraceptive services, especially abortifacient drugs and sterilization.The ANPRM [Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking -- i.e. the contraceptive mandate] is the latest in a series of rulemaking actions by the Departments to implement the ACA requirement that group health plans and health insurance issuers provide coverage for a range of preventive care services without cost sharing by the covered beneficiary, including a subset of women’s preventive care services as set forth in guidelines by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). On August 1, 2011 HRSA issued its Guidelines on Women’s Preventive Services: Required Health Plan Coverage (HRSA Guidelines) requiring coverage without cost sharing of all Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures and patient education and counseling for women of reproductive age. At the same time, the Departments issued an Interim Final Regulation (76 Fed. Reg. 46621) proposing to create an exemption to the contraceptive coverage requirement for certain religious employers, defining the term “religious employer” so narrowly as to exclude Catholic hospitals and health care organizations as well as other religious institutional employers. CHA objected strenuously to the inappropriately narrow definition in its comment letter date September 22, 2011 and objected again when it was announced in January 2012 that the Administration would not make any changes to the definition.
The final rule released on February 10, 2012 implemented the narrow religious exemption as proposed, but also indicated the Administration’s intent to propose additional rules to implement the contraceptive coverage requirement in a way that would accommodate the concerns of nonexempt religious employers with objections to providing, paying for or referring for contraceptive coverage. While this new development seemed at the time to be a good first step, our examination and study of the proposal as outlined then and in the ANPRM has not relieved our initial concerns. Accordingly, for the reasons set forth below, we continue to believe that it is imperative for the Administration to abandon the narrow definition of “religious employer” and instead use an expanded definition to exempt from the contraceptive mandate not only churches, but also Catholic hospitals, health care organizations and other ministries of the Church. If the government continues to pursue the policy that all employees should have access to contraceptive services, then it should find a way to provide and pay for these services directly without requiring any direct or indirect involvement of “religious employers,” as broadly defined.
The Definition Of “Religious Employer” Must Be Broadened To Cover All Ministries Of The Church.
The Departments state in the ANPRM the two goals they seek to achieve:
— To maintain the provision of contraceptive coverage without cost sharing to individuals who receive coverage through non-exempt, non-profit religious organizations with religious objections to contraceptive coverage in the simplest way possible, and
–To protect such religious organizations from having to contract, arrange or pay for contraceptive coverage.
The most effective way to achieve the Departments’ second stated goal would be to actually exempt objecting religious organizations from the mandate by expanding the definition of religious employer to include them. This approach would align the policy under the women’s preventive care regulation with existing federal law on conscience protection. The exemption in the final rule is narrower than any conscience clause ever enacted in federal law and reflects an unacceptable change in federal policy regarding religious beliefs.
The ANPRM suggests that Code Section 414 could provide the basis for a definition of the organizations that would quality for the proposed accommodation. We reiterate our suggestion contained in our September 22nd letter that the concepts contained in Section 414(e) be used instead to develop a broader and more appropriate religious employer exemption to the contraceptive mandate. Under those principles, an organization would be covered by the exemption if it “shares common religious bonds and convictions with a church.” This definition would exempt from the contraceptive mandate Catholic hospitals and health care organizations as well as other ministries of the Church.
Making this change could help address the serious constitutional questions created by the Departments’ current approach, in which the government essentially parses a bona fide religious organization into secular and religious components solely to impose burdens on the secular portion. To make this distinction is to create a false dichotomy between the Catholic Church and the ministries through which the Church lives out the teachings of Jesus Christ. Catholic health care providers are participants in the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. Our mission and our ethical standards in health care are rooted in and inseparable from the Catholic Church and it’s teachings about the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.
If The Government Insists That All Employees Have Access to Contraceptive Coverage Without Cost Sharing, Then It Should Provide And Pay for These Services Directly.
As noted above, the Departments’ first goal as outlined in the ANPRM is to maintain the provision of contraceptive coverage without cost sharing to individuals who receive coverage through non-exempt, non-profit religious organizations with religious objections to contraceptive coverage in the simplest way possible. In the ANPRM, the Departments seek comments on (1) the approach of using the insurer to provide contraceptive coverage to beneficiaries of insured plans; and (2) several alternative approaches for implementing its intended accommodation for self-insured religious employers with objections to providing contraceptive coverage.
The more we learn, the more it appears that the ANPRM approaches for both insured and self-insured plans would be unduly cumbersome and would be unlikely to adequately meet the religious liberty concerns of all of our members and other Church ministries. Given this, if the Departments unfortunately continue to pursue the course that all employees must have access to contraceptive services without cost, then the government will need to develop a way to pay for and provide such services directly to those employees who desire such coverage without any direct or indirect involvement of religious employers (under the expanded definition described above.)…
In conclusion, for the reasons stated above and those included in our letter of September 22, 2011, we urge you at the very least to expand the definition of religious employer using the principles behind Section 414(e) of the Internal Revenue Code to make clear that religious employers, including Catholic hospitals and health care organizations, are exempt from the contraceptive mandate.
SVILUPPO: Late Friday afternoon, CHA posted a (pdf) copy of the full letter on its website.
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Read article here:
Sr Carol to White House: The "Accommodation" Is "Unacceptable"
We have just released the new
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It now includes TEN different templates, offering a quizzing tool for 10 different collections of catechism and Bible categories.
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Here’s a sneak peak at one of the new Cathletics Catcher templates, just to give you an idea of what the templates look like. Sorry! I’m not publishing pictures of the other designs…I’m keeping them as a surprise! Trust me…I think you’ll like the innovative designs of many of the 10 templates…like the Mysteries of the Rosary (fitting in all 20, with a proper quizzing format, descriptions and virtues!) and special graphics related to each category.
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June 16, 2012
Bishop Crosby will bless the new Holy Redeemer Cemetery located at 12337 # 17 Side Road in Halton Hills.
Taken from:
Bishop Anizet
Koplin, presbyter, and companions (Henry Krzystofik, Florian
Stepniak, Fidelis Chojnacki, Symforian Ducki), martyrs
of the Nazi persecution in Poland
Collect
God our Father, you were pleased to adorn Blesseds Anizet, Henry,
Florian, Fidelis and Symforian with the palm of martyrdom. They burned
with love for you in propagating the faith. Through their prayers grant
that we may be firmly rooted in love and merit to experience with them
the power of Christ’s resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus
Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, for ever and ever. Amen
More information can be found at this link: http://new.capuchin.org/about/history/saints/detail/35
There are 108 Polish Martyrs of the Nazi Persecution as listed here:
The 108 Polish Martyrs are:
Adalbert Nierychlewski
Adam Bargielski
Aleksy Sobaszek
Alfons Maria Mazurek
Alicja Maria Jadwiga Kotowska
Alojzy Liguda
Anastazy Jakub Pankiewicz
Anicet Koplinski
Antoni Beszta-Borowski
Antoni Julian Nowowiejski
Antoni Leszczewicz
Antoni Rewera
Antoni Swiadek
Antoni Zawistowski, priest (1882-1942 KL Dachau)
Boleslaw Strzelecki, priest (1896-1941, German death camp Auschwitz)
Bronislaw Komorowski, priest (1889-22.3.1940 KL Stutthof)
Bronislaw Kostkowski, alumnus (1915-1942 KL Dachau)
Brunon Zembol, friar (1905-1922 KL Dachau)
Czeslaw Jozwiak (1919-1942 guillotined in a prison in Dresden),
Dominik Jedrzejewski, priest (1886-1942 KL Dachau)
Edward Detkens, priest (1885-1942 KL Dachau)
Edward Grzymala, priest (1906-1942 KL Dachau)
Edward Kazmierski (1919-1942 guillotined in a prison in Dresden),
Edward Klinik (1919-1942 guillotined in a prison in Dresden),
Emil Szramek, priest (1887-1942 KL Dachau)
Ewa Noiszewska, sister (1885-1942, executed at Góra Pietrelewicka in
Slonim)
Fidelis Chojnacki
Florian Stepniak, friar, priest (1912-1942 KL Dachau)
Franciszek Dachtera, priest (1910-23.8.1942 KL Dachau)
Franciszek Drzewiecki, friar, priest (1908-1942 KL Dachau);
(1908-1942), a Son of Divine Providence (Don Orione), from Zduny, he
was condemned to heavy work in the plantation of Dachau. While he
was bending over tilling the soil, hre adored the consecrated hosts
kept in a small box in front of him. While he was going to the
gas-chamber, he encourage his companions, saying “We offer our life
for God, for the Church and for our Country”.
Franciszek Kesy (1920-1942 guillotined in a prison in Dresden),
Francis Rogaczewski
Franciszek Roslaniec, priest (1889-1942 KL Dachau)
Franciszek Stryjas, father of a family, (1882-31.7.1944 prison in
Kalisz)
Grzegorz Boleslaw Frackowiak, friar (1911-1943 guillotined in
Dresden)
Henryk Hlebowicz, priest (1904-1941 shot in Borysewo)
Henryk Kaczorowski
Henryk Krzysztofik, friar, priest (1908-1942 KL Dachau)
Hilary Pawel Januszewski, friar, priest (1907-1945 KL Dachau);
(1909-1945), a Carmelite who managed to survive in the camp of
Dachau and go free. Then in Feburary 1942, in the lager typhoid
spread, he offered himself freely to serve those who were dying in
an isolated make-shift building because, as he used to say, he was
more needed there. He contracted typhoid and died there
Jan Antonin Bajewski, friar, priest (1915-1941 KL Auschwitz);
Franciscans of Niepokalanow. These were the closest collaborators of
St Maximilian Kolbe in the fight for God’s cause and together
suffered and helped each other spiritually in their offering their
lives at Auschwitz
Jan Nepomucen Chrzan, priest (1885-1942 KL Dachau)
Jarogniew Wojciechowski (1922-1942 guillotined in a prison in
Dresden).
Jerzy Kaszyra, friar,priest (1910-1943, burnt to death in Rosica),
Jozef Achilles Puchala, friar, priest (1911-1943)
Jozef Cebula, friar, priest (1902-1941 KL Mauthausen)
Jozef Czempiel, priest (1883-1942 KL Mauthausen)
Jozef Innocenty Guz, friar, priest (1890-1940 KL Sachsenhausen)
Jozef Jankowski, friar,priest, (1910 born in Czyczkowy near
Brusy-16.10.1941, died in German death camp Auschwitz beaten by kapo)
Jozef Kowalski
Jozef Kurzawa, priest (1910-1940)
Jozef Kut, priest (1905-1942 KL Dachau)
Jozef Pawlowski, priest (1890-9.1.1942 KL Dachau)
Jozef Stanek, friar, priest (1916-23.9.1944, mudered in Warsaw after
tortures by Germans in Warsaw)
Jozef Straszewski, priest (1885-1942 KL Dachau)
Jozef Zaplata, friar (1904-1945 KL Dachau)
Julia Rodzinska, sister (1899-20.2.1945 died in German death camp
Stutthof); (1899-1945), a Dominican, she died in the extermination
camp of Stuthoff, having contract typhoid serving the Jewish women
prisoners in a hut for which she had volunteered.
Karol Herman Stepien, friar, priest (1910-1943)
Katarzyna Celestyna Faron, sister (1913-1944 KL Auschwitz);
(1913-1944), had offered her life for the conversion of a priest.
She was arrested by the Gestapo and condemned in Auschwitz camp. She
put heroically with all the abuses of the camp and died on Easter
Sunday 1944. That priest was converted and he was instrumental in
bringin back another priest.
Kazimierz Gostynski, priest (1884-1942 KL Dachau)
Kazimierz Grelewski, priest (1907-1942 KL Dachau)
Kazimierz Sykulski, priest (1882-1942 KL Auschwitz)
Krystyn Gondek, friar, priest (1909-1942)
Leon Nowakowski, priest (1913-1939)
Leon Wetmanski(1886-1941, German death camp Dzialdowo), bishop
Ludwik Gietyngier
Ludwik Mzyk, friar, priest (1905-1940)
Ludwik Pius Bartosik, friar, priest (1909-1941 KL Auschwitz);
Franciscans of Niepokalanow. These were the closest collaborators of
St Maximilian Kolbe in the fight for God’s cause and together
suffered and helped each other spiritually in their offering their
lives at Auschwitz
Maksymilian Binkiewicz, priest (1913-24.7.1942, beaten died in
German death camp Dachau)
Marcin Oprzadek, friar (1884-1942 KL Dachau)
Maria Antonina Kratochwil, sister (1881-1942)
Maria Klemensa Staszewska, sister (1890-1943 KL Auschwitz)
Marian Gorecki, priest (1903-22.3.1940 KL Stutthof)
Marian Konopinski, priest (1907-1.1.1943 KL Dachau)
Marian Skrzypczak, priest (1909-1939 shot in Plonkowo)
Marianna Biernacka (1888-1943) that offered her life for her unborn
grand child and was executed instead of it on July 13th, 1943,
Marta Wolowska, sister (1879-1942, executed at Góra Pietrelewicka in
Slonim)
Michal Czartoryski, friar, priest (1897-1944)
Michal Ozieblowski, priest (1900-1942 KL Dachau)
Michal Piaszczynski, priest (1885-1940 KL Sachsenhausen)
Michal Wozniak, priest (1875-1942 KL Dachau)
Mieczyslaw Bohatkiewicz, priest (1904-4.3.1942 shot in Berezwecz)
Mieczyslawa Kowalska, siter (1902-1941 KL Dzialdowo)
Narcyz Putz, priest (1877-1942 KL Dachau)
Narcyz Turchan, friar, priest (1879-1942 KL Dachau)
Natalia Tulasiewicz (1906-31.3.1945 died in German death camp
Ravensbrück, in a gas chamber), a teacher; How can we fail to
mention a teacher from Poznan, NATALIA TULASIEWICZ (1906-1945), who
was a leader in the apostolate of lay people. During the occupation,
she volunteered to leave for the Third Reich together with of ther
women condemned to do heavy work in order to give them spiritual
comfort. When the Gestapo found out, she was arrested, tortured and
humiliated in public and was condemned to death in the Rawensbruck
camp. On Good Friday, with the strength that was still in her, she
climbed a stool in the hut and gave a talk to the prisoners on the
passion and resurrection of Jesus. Two days later, they brought her
to die in a gas-chamber.
Piotr Bonifacy Zukowski, friar (1913-1942 KL Auschwitz)
Piotr Edward Dankowski, priest (1908-3.4.1942 KL Auschwitz)
Roman Archutowski, priest (1882-1943 KL Majdanek)
Roman Sitko, priest (1880-1942 KL Auschwitz)
Stanislaw Kubista, friar, priest (1898-1940 KL Sachsenhausen)
Stanislaw Kubski, friar, priest (1876-1942 KL Dachau)
Stanislaw Mysakowski, priest (1896-1942 KL Dachau)
Stanislaw Pyrtek, priest (1913-4.3.1942 shot in Berezwecz)
Stanislaw Starowieyski, father of a family (1895-13.4.1940/1 KL
Dachau)
Stanislaw Tymoteusz Trojanowski, friar (1908-1942 KL Auschwitz): This
is the name of Blessed Timothy Trojanowski, a native of Poland. He
made his profession on Feb. 11, 1935. Anniversary 1st apparition our
Lady of Lourdes, a friar of Niepokalanow the city of Immaculata, a
friary founded and led by future martyr St. Maximillian Kolbe as the
center of his apostolate to promulgate concecration to Blessed Virgin
Mary. On Sept. 19th, 1939, Nazis envaded Poland, arrested almost all
friars of Niepokalanow. Released Dec. 8th, 1939. On Feb. 14th, 1941,
they came back and re-arrested Father Kolbe. Brother Timothy watched in
sorrow as the founder was taken to Auschwitz death camp. Eight months
later on Oct. 14, 1941, Brother Timothy was arrested and sent by the
Nazis to Auschwitz, two months after Father Kolbe’s Martyrdom. Brother
Timothy died in the camp on Feb. 28, 1942. He lived from 1908-1942.
Stefan Grelewski, priest (1899-1941 KL Dachau)
Symforian Ducki, friar (1888-1942 KL Auschwiitz)
Tadeusz Dulny, alumnus (1914-1942 KL Dachau)
Wincenty Matuszewski, priest (1869-1940)
Wladyslaw Bladzinski, friar, priest (1908-1944)
Wladyslaw Demski, priest (1884-28.5.1940, German death camp
Sachsenhausen)
Wladyslaw Goral,(1898-1945 KL Sachsenhausen), bishop
Wladyslaw Mackowiak, priest (1910-4.3.1942 shot in Berezwecz)
Wladyslaw Maczkowski, priest (1911-20.8.1942 KL Dachau)
Wladyslaw Miegon, priest, commandor leutnant (1892-1942 KL Dachau)
Wlodzimierz Laskowski, priest (1886-1940 KL Gusen)
Zygmunt Pisarski, priest (1902-1943)
Zygmunt Sajna, priest (1897-1940 prison Palmiry)
Beatified
13 June 1999 by Pope John Paul II at Warsaw, Poland
Source: Catholic-Forum
Note: KL means Konzentrations-Lager or Concentration Camp /FSS
See the original article here:
People gather for Anglican Use Choral Mass in Toronto
Here are a couple of video clips from the Corpus Christi Choral Mass at Sacré-Coeur Church in downtown Toronto last Sunday.
The next scheduled Choral Eucharist is being planned for the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady in August.
In the meantime, Sunday Sung Mass continues weekly at 1:45 pm with organ, cantor, hymns, chant and Mass in the language of the Book of Common Prayer according to the Book of Divine worship as approved by the CDF in Rome for use in Canada with permission of Cardinal Collins.
Here are links to the video clips with marvellous music for the Mass by Healey Willan and Duruflé:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCmsRLUM31M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzjqXYXrVgk
and Father . . . . . . preaches.
Taken from:
Vatican Diary / The “who’s who” of the deposed bishops
That is, forced by the pope to leave their posts for immoral acts, administrative faults, or other serious violations. They number in the dozens. Their names have disappeared from the Annuario Pontificio. Here they are
by ***
VATICAN CITY, June 15, 2012 – The old-timers of the curia remember a quip that one cardinal loved to repeat: “Among the apostles one out of twelve betrayed, and today among the successors of the apostles the average is certainly no better.”
Today, without counting the other Christian denominations, the Catholic bishops who are the heirs of the apostles number about 5200, and so by applying to them this “evangelical” proportion, there should be more than 400 emulators of Judas Iscariot in the Church of Rome. A figure that may be too optimistic in the eyes of the Lefebvrists, or from the opposite perspective, of the progressive ecclesial galaxy, but certainly much higher than the number of prelates who in various ways have been punished in recent years by the only person who has this power, the pope.
There are no complete statistics in this regard, in part because beyond the most spectacular cases, it normally happens that a bishop who is asked to leave the leadership of a diocese for doctrinal or moral reasons, or because of ecclesiastical or administrative mismanagement, is convinced to hand in his resignation to the pope before reaching the retirement age of 75, on the basis of paragraph 2 of canon 401 of the code of canon law, which states: “A diocesan bishop who has become less able to fulfill his office because of ill health or some other grave cause is earnestly requested to present his resignation from office.” And the pope accepts his resignation very quickly.
Normally, this paragraph 2 of canon 401 concerns churchmen afflicted by physical or psychological “ill health,” but there is no lack of cases of “other grave cause.”
So recently, on June 7 came the early resignation of the auxiliary bishop of Canberra in Australia, Patrick Percival Power, 70, known for his progressive positions.
While on January 4 came the announcement of the resignation of the auxiliary of Los Angeles, Gabino Zavala, 61, because he is the father of two children. It is not known whether next year his name will still be listed in the Annuario Pontificio.
In the past, in fact, the names of bishops who have left their posts in order to get married have been more or less promptly expunged from the thick red book that details each year the organizational structure of the Catholic Church.
Without digging back up the cases of the Argentine Jeronimo Podestà and the American James Patrick Shannon, which concern the pontificate of Paul VI, one can recall a few relatively more recent cases, like those of the Irish bishop of Galway, Eamon Casey, who resigned at the age of 65 in 1992 and disappeared from the Annuario in 1997; of the Swiss bishop of Basel, Hansjoerg Vogel, who resigned at the age of 44 in 1995 and disappeared from the Annuario in 1997; of the Scottish bishop of Argill, Roderick Wright, who resigned at the age of 56 in 1996 and was also removed in 1997; of the Canadian bishop of Gaspé, Raymond Dumais, who resigned at the age of 51 in 2001 and disappeared from the Annuario in 2003.
From the Annuario Pontificio of this year has also disappeared the name of the bishop of Pointe-Noire in Congo, Jean-Claude Makaya Loembe, whom the pope “relieved” of his duties on March 31, 2011.
In fact, in the case in which a bishop, in spite of being urged to do so, does not accept to present his resignation, it is the pope himself who “relieves” him of his duties. Which happens rather rarely. But it happens.
Last May 19, for example, the Italian bishop of Trapani, Francesco Micciché, 69, was “relieved” over administrative problems.
While on May 2, 2011, for doctrinal reasons, the Australian bishop of Toowoomba, William M. Morris, was “relieved.”
In 1995, however, the French bishop of Evreux, Jacques Gaillot, 60, also for doctrinal reasons, was not “relieved” but was transferred to the titular see of Partenia.
Morris and Gaillot were removed because they were extremely progressive. But there is no lack of examples on the other front.
In 2003, for example, the resignation of the Thai bishop of Ratchaburi, John Bosco Manat Chuabsamai, 67, was accepted after he had gotten too close, perhaps, to the world of the Lefebvrists.
While in March of 2009, the pope “exempted” Monsignor Gerhard Wagner from accepting the position of auxiliary bishop of Linz, to which he had been appointed at the end of January. In Austria, Wagner had been subjected to a formidable line of fire on the part of the progressives, because of his traditionalist positions.
Other bishops who have been removed from the Annuario Pontificio are those who have been reduced to the lay state. By authority, as in the famous case of Emmanuel Milingo in 2009, or at the request of the interested party, as happened in 2008 with the president-elect of Paraguay and former bishop of San Pedro, Fernando Lugo.
It is foreseeable that another name that will disappear from the Annuario is that of the Canadian bishop emeritus of Antigonish, Raymond Lahey, who was removed from the clerical state one month ago after a civil sentence for possession of child pornography.
Without a doubt, the majority of the “grave reasons” that lead to the early resignation of bishops concern moral questions.
The list is rather long. In addition to the cases already mentioned are those of the U.S. archbishops of Atlanta in 1990 and of Santa Fe in 1993; of the archbishop of La Serena, Chile in 1997; of two bishops of Palm Beach in the U.S. in 1998 and 2002; of the bishop of Santa Rosa in the U.S. in 1999; of the Polish bishop of Poznan in 2002; of the archbishop of Milwaukee in the U.S. in 2002; of Lexington, also in the U.S., in 2002; of the Argentine archbishop of Santa Fe in 2002; of the Filipino bishop of Novaliches in 2003; of the Argentine bishop of Santiago del Estero in 2005; of the bishop of Zamora, Mexico in 2006; of the Hungarian military ordinariate in 2007; of the central African bishops of Bangui and Bossangoa in 2009; of the Brazilian bishop of Minas in 2009; of the Dutch bishop of Ngong in Kenya in 2009; of the Irish bishop of Benin City in Nigeria in 2010.
Particular media attention went to the cases of the Belgian bishop of Bruges in 2010 and of the German bishop of Trondheim, Norway in 2009. The cardinal of Vienna, Hans Hermann Groer, accused of molestation, resigned his post after reaching the age of 75 and without ever having admitted guilt.
A different case is that of bishops who have had to resign early not because they committed gravely immoral acts, but under the accusation of having covered up the actions of their priests.
The most spectacular is the case of the cardinal of Boston, Bernard Francis Law, who resigned in December of 2002 at the age of 71. But there are also the case of the Irish bishop of Ferns in 2002, of Limerick in 2009, and of an auxiliary of Dublin in 2010, as well as of the ordinary of Maitland-Newcastle, Australia in 2011.
But the “grave reasons” that can lead to the resignation of a bishop are not limited only to questions of sexual morality. There can also be leaving the scene of an accident (the bishop of Phoenix in the United States in 2003), drunkenness (the Polish bishop of Elblag in 2003), the adoption of a young girl (the Indian bishop of Cochin in 2009), managerial incompetence (the bishop of Koudougou in Burkina Faso in 2011).
Finally, there are the special cases of the Lefebvrist and Chinese bishops.
The former have had their excommunication removed, but will be put back into the Annuario Pontificio only if and when they enter into full communion with Rome.
The latter are at the moment totally absent from the Annuario Pontificio, although they are recognized by the Holy See by roundabout means. It will be possible to insert their names only when the Holy See is able to deal with them according to the rules that are valid for the whole Church.
However, there remains written in the Annuario Pontificio the name of the bishop of Pyongyang, North Korea. This is Francis Hong Yong-ho, who today would be about 106 years old. And in reality he has been dead for decades, a victim of the communist regime.
The Holy See obviously knows this, but undauntedly continues to insert his name in the Annuario, listing him as “missing.”
_____________
This article is from -
NunThink
In the recent interview in the Fishwrap with the CDF’s Prefect Card. Levada, there were some fascinating things.
He revealed quite a lot about the manner of work of the CDF, he admitted that he made a mistake, he described the slow process, he explained how Sr. Margaret Farley of “self-pleasuring” fame … and no doubt many many others we have not yet heard about … came to their attention. He basically said that when the LCWR decides not to cooperate, the CDF has alternative plans.
Levada spoke in clear language and he spoke it to the NCR. I’ve gotta say that he hit it out of the park.
Can you say preemptive strike?
I was quite interested in his admission of the mistake in allowing the LCWR to honor Sr. Sandra Schneiders, IHM, at their August meeting.
Sr. Schneiders – like so many of these liberal nun exponents of the Magisterium of Nuns – has put out some really bad books.
For example, there is her line of thought – NunThink – in the 2009 essays Fishwrap published (see links below).
Sr. Schneiders has taught her sister women religious that, since Lumen gentium confirms that nuns aren’t actually members of the hierarchy, then nuns don’t have to pay attention to the teaching of the hierarchy which they don’t like or promote or enforce the teachings that come from the hierarchy. Furthermore, according to NunThink, they now make their vows to God, not the Church. Basically, Schneiders exalts the sisters who defy the hierarchy and she runs down those who are in the “CMSWR-type communities continuing the older form”. For Schneiders, the women religious have evolved away from consecrated religious life, into ministerial religious life. They see themselves as “ministers”. But they are not members of the hierarchy and therefore have a kind of prophetic ministerial church authority over and against the official institutional church.
According to Schneiders, the hierarchy considers women religious a kind of work force, foot soldiers, who will promote official teaching, etc. But Schneiders sees religious as being freed from that role by the Spirit of Vatican II.
There is actually an entire planet between her thought and Vatican II on religious.
The more you read what Schneiders’ writes and says, the more you understand the context of Card. Levada’s recent explanations and the CDF’s hostile takeover of the LCWR.
On a side bar, have you noticed that the group of dissident Irish priests has piped down? I can imagine the scene down at the Pink Shamrock Pub: “Hey, Paddy. Did you see what the CDF is doing to the Irish-American nuns of the LCWR?” “Sean, I did. And if the ******** can do that to them, imagine what they could do to us!”
Take a look at Schneider’s essays – a cri de coeur in five parts against the Apostolic Visitation – which was made into a really bad book. Here are links to the essays:
Do you want to know how screwy Sr. Schneiders’ ideas on religious life really are? Read how Fishwrap‘s Richard McBrien lavishes praise on her HERE.
View original post here:
Sr. Sandra Schneider’s NunThink, or, Why The CDF Is Picking On The Magisterium of Nuns
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Mother Agnes Mariam of the Cross- Syria’s Christians being killed by US backed rebels.
I am a little behind the curve on this, but I thought you might like to hear what His Eminence Raymond Card Burke has to say about the future (hopefully) reconciliation of the SSPX with the Roman Pontiff.
Benedict XVI is the Pope of Christian Unity.
More -
“No wound is so great that it cannot be healed by love.” These words were shared with pilgrims to begin Saturday morning at the IEC in Dublin. With regular showers descending on the thousands gathered at the RDS interspersed with moments of sun breaking through the clouds, it was an up and down morning. The catechesis & Mass schedule for Saturday was shifted to the morning, unlike the afternoon earlier in the week.
The quote above was shared by the presenter of the morning catechesis, offered by Archbishop Antonio Tagle of Manilla, Philippines. Many remember with fondness his talk from Quebec City’s IEC in 2008, one of the highlights for many attendees. His topic for Saturday: “Communion in the Word” was covered in the first of a two part catechesis with the second section focusing on “Communion with Mary” on this feast day of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Once again, the Archbishop spoke powerfully and emotionally – he was moved to tears at one point in the talk, sharing his reflections on God’s love for us. One particularly moving excerpt:
“We see in our time so much exchange of words happening at high speed and across national boundaries. But unfortunately the world is as divided as ever. Why is communion not achieved in spite of the exchange of words? Because Jesus is not the word they share and receive. When financial wizards talk about ways of manipulating the economy for their own profit, you do not call that communion; that is corruption! When politicians talk to people about grand promises without intending to fulfil them, you do not call that communion; that is cheating!
When the powerful “negotiate” among themselves while neglecting the weak, you do not call that communion; that is oppression! When so-called enterprising persons deal with each other on how women and children could be profitable merchandise, you do not call that communion; that is slavery! When communion consists in Jesus who is the Word of Life then the common good becomes central. And that is pleasing to God’s eyes.”
In speaking of Mary, Jesus’ mother learning that she would be the mother of the son of God, Archbishop Tagle offered these words:
“Mary, with Joseph by her side, listens, accepts and responds in silence. What mother would not be rendered speechless by such a report about her son? Amazed like the rest who hear the story of the shepherds she keeps all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. The most meaningful word is uttered in silence. Gazing upon the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, she nurtures her communion in the Word through silence. By being in communion with the Word, the Church like Mary will gladly listen to the lowly and the poor with reverential silence, listening to God speaking through them.”
With plenty of folks predicting that the next IEC will be held in Manilla, Archbishop Tagle would be a passionate host who would enthusiastically embrace the opportunity for his country to welcome the world for days of prayer, fellowship and reflection.
The full text of Archbishop Tagle’s talk is available here.
The witness talk Saturday morning was given by Professor John Monaghan, Vice President of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Ireland. He offered some sobering stats on the number of people served by the SVDP, increasing poverty and isolation (especially for young people) in Ireland and the resources needed to keep the SVDP operational.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is one of those organizations that is present in most parishes throughout the world and quietly goes about their work day in and out, with thousands of visits and projects underway in our communities. We should be grateful for their work and offer our prayers for all those involved in this outreach ministry.
Cardinal Sarah, President of Cor Unum at the Vatican, presided at the noon Mass which included some brief but powerful showers proving that indeed, “He shall ‘rain’ forever.” All the talks and homilies from this week can be accessed at the IEC
Workshops were offered throughout the afternoon as things began to wind down at the RDS, our home for the last week. Kudos to the abundance of volunteers who couldn’t have been friendlier and more helpful, providing free ponchos throughout the week whenever rain came down and always there with a smile to point you in the right direction.
There are a number of other very interesting spaces at the RDS this week. A large exhibit hall with some 200 booths made for respite from the rain and lots of great information shared throughout the walk in the hall. You could find everything from vendors selling vestments, church security systems to plenty of vocation booths, religious orders, Christian musicians and many many more.
The IEC also offered a very large prayer space that was accessible at anytime you were on the grounds. I was moved by the number of people that were present in the prayer space at any given time of the day. Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament was ongoing, Lectio Divina was offered periodically throughout the day and the Sacrament of Reconciliation was available anytime the space was open.
Particularly moving was the active prayer wall where intentions could be written and posted publicly. Tens of thousands of prayers littered the wall by the end of the week. Some were prayers for specific people, others for a country or group (political leaders, priests, etc.). Some intentions were offered by small children and portrayed through pictures or simple words while others had the shaky script of someone in their twilight years. A very powerful visual reminder of the power of prayer.
Many of the Toronto pilgrims made their way Saturday evening to a traditional Irish dinner and dancing show. About half the group will return to Toronto Tuesday while the other half will continue on a post-congress tour throughout the country, no doubt energized and inspired by the congress experience.
Don’t forget you can view the wonderful photos taken by Emanuel Pires on the Archdiocese of Toronto Facebook Page. The pics help capture much of the emotion of the experience – it’s great to have them to help tell the story of our time here.
“No wound is so great that it cannot be healed by love.” It’s a powerful reminder for all of us. In a world that seems more and more wounded with each day, we need that love to guide us, heal us, inspire us. Our challenge post congress will be to find everyday ways to demonstrate simple acts of love for others, in new and meaningful ways.
It’s the gift that keeps on giving…
Originally posted here:
Once
upon a time there was a traveler. He wandered about the country,
seeking out evildoers and destroying them, and setting free the
oppressed. Not a very probable occupation, perhaps; nor did it
afford him a steady income, but he enjoyed the uncertainty and danger
of it. He was strong, nimble and healthy, in the prime of life, and
his greatest joy was to do away with evildoers. Indeed he cared
little whom he delivered, or how, so long as there was conquest to be
had. He throve on victory. His name was Ishmael.
On
the day we meet our traveler he is making his way through a woody
glade. The birds are singing, and all the woods glisten with
newness, for the sun has come out at last after a long rain. The
wanderer tilts his head back as he walks, breathing in the fresh
scent of the spring – for it is spring-time. He walks carefreely
and with a swing, as perfectly at home here in the woods as he is in
every setting in which he finds himself. He carries little with him,
so he need not be bowed to the ground as other travelers are. All
that is strapped to his back is his knife – a long, curved
instrument – an indispensable tool to all wanderer-adventurers of
his disposition. A jewel or two, perhaps, is thrust within his belt;
spoil from some one of his previous conquests, for, after all, a
warrior must earn his keep. He carries a staff, but uses it little,
preferring to twirl it anon between his fingers. Presently he stops
to listen to some blackbirds in a tree, scolding and making fun of
him in their saucy bird-talk. A lesser man might be angered at their
prattle, but this one pays little heed to insults. Unperturbed, he
watches the birds fly away over his head. He cares little that what
they said was true; that those who carry walking-sticks ought to be
able to see over the top of them. He recks little of matters so
trivial as size. Our warrior is short in stature.
Soon
the ground begins to slope steeply uphill. Our warrior halts briefly
before deciding his course. He is bound for nowhere in particular,
but he likes a challenge and so alters his route, which would have
led him across the rise at a slant, and instead begins the climb
straight up the face of the embankment.
* * *
The
bank was steeper than it had looked, more a cliff than a bank really,
and several minutes had passed before Ishmael, breathing hard and
grasping tree-roots and stems for support, pulled himself over the
upper edge and onto the road above. It was a
road, cut into the side of the hill which he had been climbing; broad
and well-used, though empty at the moment, at least as far as he
could see. Turning arbitrarily to his left, he set off to follow
this new track.
Before
he had taken a dozen paces, however, a slight noise attracted
Ishmael’s attention. He turned around; but no, the sound had not
come from the road behind him. He listened carefully. There it was –
a faint movement like a whimpering child, down on the bank from which
he had just mounted. He walked to the edge of the road and bent
down. Now he could see it, not two yards away down the slope: it was
indeed a child, a little waif of a thing, sitting crouched against a
tree, and it was crying. Even from here Ishmael could see that its
clothing was miserably thin and torn and that its face was dirty.
“Hey
there, young one! What ails you?” he cried, but the child paid no
attention to him and continued to weep. Ishmael got down on his
knees and clambered once more over the bank. It did not take him
long to reach the child and then he asked again, more softly, “what
ails you?” Still the child paid no attention, but only turned its
face away, into the tree, and went on crying as though its heart
would break.
Ishmael
hesitated. He was not used to coddling infants and drying tears, and
this child evidently did not care for his methods. But he was
determined to get to the bottom of this and so he knelt before the
scrawny, whimpering waif and said, in as gentle a tone as he could
muster, “What ails you, young one? There, don’t weep,” and
when the sobs subsided a little he gingerly touched its shoulder.
That seemed to work; and when he patted it reassuringly the sobs
gradually quieted, and the little face turned slowly towards him,
revealing a pair of eyes as blue as the heart of the heavens. The
eyes were so blue, so fathomless, and so large in that scrawny face
that Ishmael was startled. He could think of nothing to say, and so
he and the child regarded one another for several long minutes. At
last the child spoke, and it said,
“Will
you pick me up?”
Ishmael,
rather taken aback, would have protested but found he could not. So,
rather awkwardly, he lifted the child onto his lap and stood up.
With it clinging around his neck he made his way once more to the
road. There, before any more could be asked of him, he asked
hurriedly,
“Well,
what is all this about? Why were you weeping?”
The
child did not answer at once, but looked at him gravely. Then it
said:
“I
could not find anyone to carry my bundle for me. Will you do it?”
Ishmael
was flummoxed. He did not know what to say. He did not want to
carry a bundle for this little child he had never seen before. It
was all rather ridiculous. He had come down the bank because he
thought that someone needed his help, and here was this little imp
who had the forthrightness to make demands on him. What reason had
he to obey? Did the child not know that he had already gone far out
of his usual way in comforting it and picking it up? Could it not
carry its own bundle?
He
was tempted to put the thing down there and then. But he found to
his own utter perplexity that he could not face the blue eyes of the
child and refuse. He sighed, smothered the sigh and picked up the
bundle. With the child beside him he began to walk down the road.
He
plodded for some minutes in silence. The bundle began to grow heavy
and he shifted it to his back. It felt a good deal heavier than it
had looked. Small wonder the child could not carry it itself. It
was not weeping now; indeed, it skipped along beside him quite
contentedly. The bundle certainly was very heavy. Ishmael shifted
it again on his back. It was weighing him down; already he was bent
almost double. This was something he had never done before –
walked along bent double under a burden. He was quite amazingly
strong for his size. This bundle must really be very heavy. He
hoped that this was a little-used road, and that no one would come
along and see him as he was now – bent over double, puffing and
panting, with sweat dripping from his face. Imagine his surprise and
dismay when he glanced sideways and saw Jakes beside him! Jakes –
his old enemy. What would he be doing here? But it was true –
there he was, and he had definitely noticed Ishmael’s discomfort.
He seemed quite to be enjoying it.
“Well,
comrade Ishmael, I’ve never seen you before in this condition, and
I’m sure I never will again. Unless it has become a habit with you
to carry other people’s burdens! Quite a step down for you, isn’t
it? What was it reduced you to this?”
Ishmael’s
natural answer would have been to fling the bundle down and throw
Jakes to the top of the sky, but somehow, with the child beside him,
he could not do that.
“You
know, just because you are so diminutive yourself, you need not let a
child trample all over you! Surely you have more mettle than that!”
It
was not a question of setting the bundle down for a moment, and then
picking it up again. He knew that if he let it down even for an
instant, the child would be very much wounded. He said nothing.
“Ah,
well,” said Jakes presently, “we must all have our day. Perhaps
you are to be pitied for your lack of manliness. I must be on my way
now. Good luck to you!”
This
was the most humiliating of all. To be wished good luck by his enemy
– such a base, contemptible one at that! Ishmael gritted his
teeth. Jakes was gone. He found he had to clench them now just to
keep from stumbling. The bundle was getting heavier. He was almost
dizzy with the effort of carrying it. Then he heard another voice
beside him.
“What
goes there, friend?”
It
was not Jakes’ voice this time, but that of Edmund, his friend and
companion of years ago. They had traveled together for many months,
and each delighted in the other’s company. It had been a long time
since he had seen Edmund. He wanted to look up and see his face, but
was unable to because of the great weight on his back. But before he
could regret this fact, Edmund spoke again.
“Is
there aught amiss, brother Ishmael? It is not your wont to carry
other people’s bundles upon your back, unless you have changed
much. Almost I thought you were disgraced, and so forced to it.”
Surely
this was too much! No, nothing is amiss, he wanted to say, I chose
to carry this bundle. No one forced me to it! But he could not
speak. All his breath and all his will were focused on holding up
the bundle.
“When
I saw you last, brother, you would have laughed to think of bearing
such a burden as you now bear. Yet now I see it has taxed you almost
beyond your strength.”
It
was true. Ishmael’s breath now came uneven and labored, his arms
and shoulders ached with the weight of the bundle, his knees trembled
from weariness so that he could scarcely walk. He longed to put the
bundle down, even to admit that it was too much for him. But he
caught a fleeting glimpse of the child’s blue eyes, and struggled
on again until he could go no further. At last his feet gave way in
spite of him. He slid to the ground with eyes closed and could not
move. The bundle fell unheeded to the ground and unrolled itself.
Inside were a ball which Ishmael had used in childhood; a penknife, a
raven’s feather, a bit of yellow paper many times folded: the
treasures of his youth. Perhaps if he could have seen them he would
have remembered that the ball was the one he had thrown for Bell, his
Irish wolfhound, on the day Bell died; that the feather was from a
bird whose wing he had once tended; that the penknife was one his
brother had given to him on his tenth birthday, with many injunctions
to use it well; that the paper came from a lady with hair as dark as
a raven’s wing, and eyes that were nearly as bright blue as the
eyes of the child. But he could not see them. His eyes were closed.
Then
he felt the child’s arms about his neck; it had climbed upon his
lap, and kissed him. And he opened his eyes and saw the fathomless
blue eyes of the child smiling into them. And he saw the child’s
tears of pity for his pain. And he was glad.
See original -
God is the issue: is he real, reality itself, or isn’t he? Is he good, or do we have to invent the good ourselves? The God question is the fundamental question, and it sets us down right at the crossroads of human existence. What must the Savior of the world do or not do? That is the question the temptations of Jesus are about.
Reflection – Pope Benedict’s masterful analysis of the temptations of Jesus in the desert are alone worth the price of this book. He rightly concludes with the above question—is God real, or is He not real? The turning of stones into bread, the impulse to ‘prove himself’ by throwing himself off the temple, the attaining of power by worship of Satan—all of these boil down to a rejection or denial of God in favor of some kind of human solution to life and its questions.
The way of the world, which almost all of us follow to some degree, is to figure out what we have to do and do it, to be practical, sensible people who do what needs doing to get by. It’s not a wicked way, usually. Most of us are not serial killers mowing down people at the mall. And it’s not entirely wrong, of course. God gave us brains so we could use them, right?
But it’s limited. That’s the problem. God made us for something better than just human prudence and human common sense and human answers to human questions. We are made for divine life, not merely ‘good’ human life. And this good human life usually shows itself to be the limited thing it is, sooner or later. In times of crisis or failure, sickness or death, weakness or stress, the human way proves itself to be insufficient.
And that is the hour of temptation for all of us. When everything is going wrong, when it’s all falling apart, when the pressure is mounting and we are in sore trial and distress, the question emerges: God’s ways or ours?
Or there is the way of God. Humble listening, reverent submission, patient prayer, attentiveness to the commandments and the movement of the Spirit. Love, and the suffering that love entails in a fallen world.
It is the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary today, and this is the way of Mary in the world. She never walked in the path of the world, but lived in the divine sphere of life and action, lived in the Spirit all her life. Her way is one of a gentle, humble receptivity to the action of God, and she shows us, by her obedience and her quiet fidelity to what God asked her to do, the true way of human life in the world. And this ‘true way’ led her in the end, not to misery and anguish, but to glory and enthronement with Christ in heaven.
You know, we talk about the temptations of Christ because they have been recorded in the Gospels. I wonder what the temptations of Mary might have been. Like good children with their mother, we don’t like to think of Mary being tempted, but she was human. Adam and Eve were without sin, and yet were tempted and fell; Mary must have been tempted, too.
It’s worth thinking about. She must have been tempted to try to fix things up with Joseph, to defend herself against his suspicions. She must have been tempted to tell someone what had happened to her (such an extraordinary thing) and who this son of hers was (what mother doesn’t want to boast about her children?). She must have been tempted to protect Jesus or defend him when he was being attacked.
She stayed still. She kept silent. She attended to the duty of the moment for 30 years, and then followed Christ to the foot of the Cross. Her immaculate heart was pierced by a sword, and so the whole world can find a home in it.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us, that we may resist temptation and walk the way of Christ today.
Excerpt from:
Captured By Pirates! An Isabel Soto History Adventure
by Agnieszka Biskup. Illustrated by Roger Stewart (
) –
Pages: 32
Ages: 8+
Finished: May 26, 2012
First Published: Jan. 1, 2012
Publisher: Capstone Press
Genre: children, graphic novel, non-fiction, history
Rating: 4/5
First sentence: “What a great assignment!”
Publisher’s Summary: “In graphic novel format, follows the adventures of Isabel Soto as she learns about pirate life during the Golden Age of Piracy.”
Acquired: Received a review copy from Capstone Press.
Reason for Reading: I’ve enjoyed other books in this series.
Great introduction to the world of pirates and privateers in the 1700s. Isabel’s time travel is more believable than in the Egypt book I just read, as her popping up does startle the natives, so to speak. Isabel is aboard a British merchant ship when it is attacked by pirates, then she and the ship’s doctor are kidnapped and taken aboard the pirate ship. Explains the life of a pirate, how the sailors became pirates in the first place, the difference between pirates and privateers and the fact that pirates still exist today. Interesting and exciting.
View original post here:
One problem with peace, especially in handsome Europe, is the illusion of economic prosperity. Life looks good. The restaurants are open. Nice clothing is available. If amid this seeming plenty, a profligate young man dissipated his life into ruin, all would call him a wastrel. Centuries of European schoolchildren once learned virtue and self-discipline from the fables of Aesop or Fontaine. “The Emperor’s New Clothes” comes to mind. Alas, no one writes fables for nations, and so a whole continent can dissipate the productive wealth of its people year after year on wastrel public spending and no one will notice.
[...] One may ask: Would a European electorate, if given an honest chance to choose self-salvation rather than the bleed-to-death choices they’ve been given the past two years, vote to save themselves?
Mark Steyn might argue that, demographically at least, they made that choice long ago. Once you’ve turned your back on fecundity, austerity is all that remains, in every (pardon the term) conceivable sense.
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