KNOCKANURE
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Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini became a saint by dedicating her life completely to Jesus Christ.
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini was the first canonized saint from the United States. As a Catholic sister, she immigrated from Italy and founded almost 70 institutions worldwide. These facilities included orphanages, hospitals, and schools for the poor, abandoned, and marginalized.
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Daily Reflections – November 13, 2024
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Reflect
FR. GERARD’S CORNER
LISTENING BEFORE SPEAKING
Bartimaeus lies alone on the roadside, far from home. He is not loved but abandoned.
He is blind and no one listens to him; when he tried to speak, everyone told him to keep quiet. Jesus hears his plea. When he goes to him, he lets him speak. It was not hard to guess what Bartimaeus wanted: clearly a blind person wants to see or regain his sight. Jesus takes his time; he takes time to listen. This is the first step in helping the journey
of faith: listening. It is the apostolate of the ear: listening before speaking. For Jesus,
the cry of Bartimaeus pleading for help is not a nuisance but a challenge. How important
it is for us to listen to life. May we too ask for the grace of a heart that listens. May we
too embrace the challenges of life knowing that God is attentive to our cry.
LAST WORD: The reward for work well done is usually the opportunity to do more.
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Prayer for our Deceased
Grant them eternal rest O’ Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them.
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St Patrick reminds us that God is not a far away judge, but one we can bind ourselves to, who will protect and bless us. Here’s a prayer of invocation and commitment inspired by a prayer written by St. Patrick (5th century).
Permit us not, O Lord, to hear your word in vain.
Convince us of its truth, cause us to feel its power,
and bind us to yourself with the cords of faith, hope, and love
that shall never be broken.
We bind you to ourselves today, O God:
your power to hold us,
your hand to guide us,
your eye to watch us,
your ear to hear us,
your wisdom to teach us,
your word to give us speech,
your presence to defend us,
this day and every day;
in the name of the blessed Trinity. Amen.
God:
meet us at the wells
where we are lonely
where we are forgotten
where we are hurt by others
and give us to drink of the grace that brings life again
God:
speak to us in the trysting places where the sinners gather
where the prejudices are made known
where our histories are broadcast
and give us to drink of the forgiveness that brings peace again
God:
Renew all that we are and have been fill us with a new future
inspire us with recreation, pull us into resurrection
and give us to drink from the promise of heaven.
Amen.
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Reflection
https://www.limerickdiocese.org/podcast-gallery/
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On Sunday 13 October 2024 the Bishops of Ireland published a pastoral letter
– ‘A Hundred Thousand Welcomes?’ – to welcome migrants to Ireland. As
Christians, we have a responsibility to respond to the key question of
immigration across our island, and the world. This fundamental question asks,
“Who is my neighbour?” and to answer this we are informed by the parable of
the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). In the light of the Gospel and Catholic
Social Teaching, our Bishops offer this reflection on what hospitality for migrant
people means in contemporary Ireland. Mindful that migration has been a
central part of our history, the Pastoral Letter provides a space for us as
‘migrant pilgrim people’ to contemplate the causes of migration, the gifts that
migrants bring to our Church and our country, the economic and social issues
we all face in Ireland, the importance of encounter in building a true sense of
belonging in every parish and community. The Pastoral Letter is available on
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Saint John Jones’ and Saint John Wall’s stories
These two friars were martyred in England in the 16th and 17th centuries for refusing to deny their faith.
John Jones was Welsh. He was ordained a diocesan priest and was twice imprisoned for administering the sacraments before leaving England in 1590. He joined the Franciscans at the age of 60 and returned to England three years later while Queen Elizabeth I was at the height of her power. John ministered to Catholics in the English countryside until his imprisonment in 1596. He was condemned to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. John was executed on July 12, 1598.
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Fr. Brendan Walsh, a Dublin-born Irish priest, courageously left urban life to serve in rural France. Driven by a profound spiritual calling, he embarked on a transformative journey, forging connections and fostering unity among his parishioners in remote French communities despite language and cultural barriers. Fr. Brendan’s selfless devotion has made him an inspiring symbol of compassion and cross-cultural harmony.
https://stellarshadestudios.com/story/fr-brendan-walsh-life-story/
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CNA Staff, Jul 4, 2024
BLESSED Pier Giorgio Frassati, born on April 6, 1901, to a prominent and wealthy Italian family, became a popular role model soon after he died on July 4, 1925, at the age of 24. He could be declared a saint during the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, according to the head of the Vatican’s office for saints’ causes.
According to the website dedicated to him by the U.S. Catholic bishops, for years Frassati has been “a significant global patron for youth and young adults — and has a special place in the hearts of young people across the United States as well. St. John Paul II declared him a patron for World Youth Days and deemed him ‘the man of the beatitudes’ as he exemplified those blessings in his everyday life.”
Here are 12 amazing facts about his short but very intense life:
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LET IT PASS AND LET IT GO.
Do not hang on to a grievance. Let it pass and let it go.
Do not cling to hurts and grudges. Like is too short you know.
Bear no malice, never harbour thoughts of bitterness or spite –
Whether you are in the wrong or whether you are in the right.
You can’t afford to let the poison seep right down into your mind.
Try to think of something else and very quickly you will find –
The trouble loses its importance and in time will fade away.
So, if something riles and rankles turn it out without delay.
You must take the generous view however much you’re been upset.
You’ve got to let the grievance go. You’ve got to drop it and forget.
If you’re hard and unforgiving in the things you do and say,
How much mercy can you hope for on the final judgement day.
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PRAYER FOR PATIENCE
When my patience seems too short, help me to stretch it. Teach me how to meet a crisis with a smile. When I’m running out of quick and clever answers, let the questions stop just a little while. When it seems as though the day
has too few hours, in which to do the things I have to do, may I find the time for what’s important – time for listening, time for love and laughter too.
DEFINITION OF KINDNESS – WHAT GOES AROUND – COMES AROUND
Don’t put your life on hold – there’s no better time than now.
LAST WORD: It does not matter if the glass is half full or half empty. Be grateful that you have a glass and there’s sometime in it.
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Jem Sullivan is the author of Way of Beauty: Rekindling Eucharistic Amazement through Visio Divina, which is out now from Our Sunday Visitor. Dr. Sullivan is Associate Professor of Catechetics in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America. In addition to Way of Beauty, she is also the author of several other books, including The Beauty of Faith: Using Sacred Art to Spread the Good News and Believe, Celebrate, Live, Pray: A Weekly Walk with the Catechism. She joins me today to talk about Eucharistic Amazement, sacred art, the practice of visio divina, and our transformation as Christians through the presence and the calling of Jesus Christ.
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By Elise Ann Allen
ROME – Israeli and Palestinian envoys to the Holy See have applauded Pope Francis’s prayer for peace in the Vatican gardens Friday, commemorating a similar event held 10 years ago, with both calling the initiative symbolic and illustrative of the pope’s commitment to ending the Gaza war.
Speaking to Crux, Israeli Ambassador to the Holy See Raphael Schutz said the June 7 prayer was “a nice gesture showing the pope’s and the Holy See’s commitment to peace in our region, especially during these difficult times.”
https://thetablet.org/israeli-and-palestinian-diplomats-applaud-popes-call-for-peaceful-prayer/?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=310893917&utm_content=310893917&utm_source=hs_email
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Alexis Walkenstein
ooSrsdentp4cP5Ju0ia1 900111:a39f5 11cMnu 0uc1hmuelh1tm19ca1 ·
Jesus Thirsts: The Miracle of the Eucharist is a massive hit at the box office and was #1 per screen average in theaters across America last night!
Movie-goers flocked to theaters to see Jesus on the big screen! #JesusThirstsFilm is now playing today and tomorrow at 4 pm and 7pm. Visit JesusThirstsFilm.com for more information.
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Betrayed by Medicine: The Unspoken Horrors of Gender Transition
Riveting new book exposes the devastating impact of ‘gender-affirming care’ on young bodies and minds. ‘These real, lived stories are the greatest weapon in combating gender ideology,’ says journalist Mary Margaret Olohan.
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Intercom magazine, the pastoral and liturgical resource of the Irish Catholic Bishop’s Conference, is now in its 54th year of publication.
Contributors to Intercom, which is also available online through a subscription, provide resources to support liturgical preparation thanks to experts such as Father Patrick Jones, Sister Moira Bergin, Father John Byrne OSA, naturalist Eanna ni Lamhna, Father Martin McNamara MSC, and liturgist Maria Hall. These are accompanied by articles, interviews and reports as well as updates from the quarterly meetings of the Bishops’ Conference. These updates help to illustrate the scope and impact of the many agencies of the Bishops, from the Catholic care marriage service Accord, concerning emigrants and immigrants, on medical ethics including pro-life matters, to education. There are also regular features on the cultural life, music and the arts, of the domestic and global church throughout the liturgical year.
https://www.dioceseofkerry.ie/catholic-news-article/?ID=2
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Saint Anthony of Padua – Feast Day: 13th June. Saint Anthony was born into a
wealthy noble family in Lisbon, Portugal, on 15th August 1195. He was christened
Fernando Martins de Bulhom. He received a good education in his native city before
joining the Regular Canons of Saint Augustine there at the age of 15. Soon
afterwards, he was transferred to their monastery in Coimbra which was then the
capital of Portugal, where he devoted himself to prayer and to the study of theology
and Latin. He also developed there a great knowledge of the Bible.
When the relics of Franciscans who had been martyred were brought to Coimbra in
1220 this had a profound effect on Fernando who requested permission to become a
Franciscan. Granted that permission he took the name Anthony as he joined in 1221
that new order which had been founded by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1209. Anthony
wished to go as a friar to Morocco in North Africa to preach Christianity and to die
there as a martyr. However illness forced him to return home immediately after his
arrival in Morocco. On his way home a storm forced his ship off course and he
ended up in Sicily and he was to spend the last 9 or 10 years of his life in Italy. He
travelled all over that country preaching the Gospel. He was a great teacher and a
very eloquent preacher and many miracles were attributed to him during his
lifetime. He settled in Padua in the north-east of Italy in 1226 and that’s where he
passed away on 13th June 1231 at the relatively young age of 35. Less than a year
later he was canonised on 30th May 1232 by Pope Gregory IX. He was declared a
Doctor of the Church in 1946. Apparently lilies were placed on his tomb in Padua
shortly after his death. Mysteriously these did not wither for a considerable period
of time and so the tradition arose of the Franciscans blessing lilies in his honour on
his Feast Day. Many graces have been received by people through these blessed
lilies and cures have been reported through them. People also invoke St Anthony’s
intercession to help them to find things that are lost.
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A NOTE FROM FR. JIM. Lenihan .....
This weekend we celebrate one of my favourite feasts days, Corpus Christi (The
Body and blood of Christ). The feast of Corpus Christi was instituted by Pope
Urban IV after he recognized in 1264 the authenticity of the Eucharistic Miracle
of Bolsena, in Orvieto Italy. This was one of countless Eucharistic miracles gifted
to the Church since the institution of the holy Eucharist at the last supper. These
Eucharistic miracles are signs of Jesus’ love where He helps us to accept and
believe that He is truly present in Holy Communion, Body, blood, soul and divinity.
Just veiled behind the little white host. In Luke’s Gospel the magnificent story of
the ‘Road to Emmaus’, where Jesus was recognised in the breaking of bread also
presents to us the Holy Mass. Beginning with Jesus breaking open the ‘Word’ of
God in scripture and then revealing Himself in the ‘Breaking of bread’. Also he
reveals in this great story how we’re on a journey of life and faith which is so
brief and will ultimately decide our whole existence for eternity. The disciples
faces were downcast, why? Because they didn’t yet have the eternal perspective.
So what makes you sad? Don’t make the same mistakes as these two disciples
who looked at their problems without the knowledge of Jesus’ resurrection
and ever presence in the Eucharist. Lord journey with us and show us how foolish
we are without an eternal perspective and not recognising you in the Eucharist
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MOONEY: The one thing that brings this diverse group together is their faith.
Take Mary Mooney, who leads a close-knit group of women in the prayer shawl ministry.
“My faith has sustained me through immigration, loneliness, loss of a child, you name it, loss of my husband recently, and there was nothing that your faith can’t carry you through,” said Mary Mooney, a parishioner at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish.
Prayers of comfort and healing are woven into the fabric with each stitch. Mooney and her volunteers have spent countless hours knitting beautiful shawls, blankets, hats, and gloves for people battling an illness, grieving a loss, or facing a difficult time—anyone in need of a comforting embrace.
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SRI LANKA - Negombo, — May 16, 2024
Thousands of Sri Lankan Catholics attended the fifth annual memorial service, April 21, of the 2019 Easter bombing, where the church initiated the process of declaring the victims as "heroes of faith," with the hope of canonizations eventually to follow. The participants at St. Sebastian's Church's ceremonies in Negombo included the victims' family members and Catholic nuns who engaged in their healing.
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Zheng He’s sixty-two years were filled with as many crests and chasms as the oceans upon which he sailed. During his life, he went from the son of a powerful political family to prisoner, servant to celebrated sea captain. As historian Geoff Wade describes, throughout a naval career that stretched 28 years, he traveled more than 31,000 miles and visited at least thirty-seven countries. The 317 ships he commanded contained more than 27,000 men—such an impressive fleet wouldn’t be assembled again until Britain’s Royal Navy in World War I, some 500 years later.
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Reflect
PRAYER FOR EXAM STUDENTS: Lord, pour out your Spirit of Wisdom on our students.
Help them to remain calm, to attend carefully to the questions asked, to think clearly, to remember accurately and to express themselves well. We commend their studies to your powerful protection.
We implore you to grant them a quick understanding, a safe judgement and a faithful memory. Grant that their performance in the examination will reflect the best of the work they have done and the best of the teaching they have received. Accept their best efforts in these examinations and in the great test of life on earth. May your love be upon them, O Lord, as they place all their trust in you. We make our prayer through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
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Welcome every morning with a smile. Look on the new day as another special gift from your Creator, another golden Opportunity.
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LIVE THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED
LAST WORD: There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.
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Just a Thought for this Week
This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost Sunday – 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus, as the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles to guide them. On Sunday last we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension. But there is one potential problem with the Feast Day of the Ascension. It gives the impression that Jesus like a rocket took off to some far place, with no meaningful connection with any of us. No - the Ascension means Jesus is now all around us and near us and with us. We are not left on our own because he has left us with his Spirit. So what does the Ascension mean for you and me? It means that the presence of Jesus is no longer limited to a small group in one place at a particular time. The Ascension means the presence of Jesus is now everywhere and all around us and especially in us. And finally to say that The Ascension invites us to celebrate God’s beautiful presence in you and in everything good we do each day. It celebrates God’s presence in the very ordinary moments of our lives. God is not distant or far away. God is closer than we can possibly imagine. Today we welcome the Holy Spirit to come into our lives afresh bringing gifts of Hope, Joy & Forgiveness. When the spirit of truth comes he will lead us to the complete truth.
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Dan is an Irish-Australian priest who lived for more than 40 years among the Aboriginal people of north-western Australia, some of that time as a hermit. Born in Berlin where his father was an Irish diplomat, he lived in succeeding years in London, Rome and Portugal. He did his secondary schooling with the Jesuits at Clongowes Wood, outside Dublin, before entering the Cistercian monastery in Roscrea. There he took solemn vows and was ordained a priest, before being posted to Tarrawarra monastery in Melbourne.
In his dealings with the Aboriginal people, Dan learned as much from them as he taught them. He was particularly fascinated by Dadirri, described by local woman Miriam-Rose Ungenmerr as ‘inner, deep listening and quiet, still awareness.’ As a serious practitioner of an early Eastern Christian form of meditation, Dan came to love Dadirri and in 2001, wrote a 68-page booklet on it. He was also involved at this time with Hindu spirituality and the zen meditation practices he encountered in Tamil Nadu in India.
In 1996, Fr Dan was given a sabbatical from his parish duties and decided to go to India. What we have here is the day-to-day diary that he kept when he was there, travelling a great deal and investigating the different types of zen and other forms of meditation. For some of the time, he was under the monitoring and advice of a Jesuit priest Fr Ama Samy, joining different groups, and managing to say Mass whenever he could. There was a lot of sitting, their word for meditation.
It seems to have been a journey of discovery for Dan, though towards the end of his time in the south, he writes, ‘Mass later, feeling-less and empty. I find it increasingly strained here, and I am glad to be in to the last two weeks.’ Here was an ashram called Bodhi Zenda in Tamil Nadu where he stayed for 81 days in total. The advice given to him by Fr Ama at the end was, ‘Grow where you were planted.’
https://tintean.org.au/2024/04/10/fr-dan-odonovan/
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This man I met the other day told me that the New York Clarkes – the Blacksmiths from Limerick – made the huge entrance gate of Third Calvary Cemetery in Queens and the extensive iron fence surrounding the Merchant Marine Academy on Kings Point, Long Island, still holding up well today.
And how did this man I met the other day know all of this? In the summer of 1995, he met Raymond Clarke from New York who had come to Limerick on a mission. He searched until he found the grave of his ancestors in Mount St. Laurence Cemetery and had a headstone specially designed for it. On its face is some Celtic Carving, details of those buried there, some words in Irish, and a chiselled picture of a blacksmith’s anvil and hammer. A modest reminder of the family that provided the designer of the amazing stage of Radio City Music Hall, New York.
Mae Leonard
Folklorist, local historian and listed Writer for Schools and Libraries, Mae Leonard was born in Limerick City and has been residing in Co. Kildare since 1969. She is a regular contributor to RTE Radio Sunday Miscellany and Thought for the Day. Published in Irish Times, Ireland’s Own, Limerick Leader.
https://tintean.org.au/2023/02/10/a-blacksmith-from-limerick-in-new-york/
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The video of an elderly woman with dementia has shocked social media by showing how the disease may have erased many memories, but she continues to remember Jesus.
This TikTok user shared the video of her mother, an 88-year-old woman fighting dementia, attempting to recall various memories. The video's overlay caption reads, “If you don't believe Jesus is real, just watch and be amazed.”
As of this writing, the video generated 9.4 million views, almost 24,000 comments, nearly 80,000 saves, and 1.2 million likes.
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My mom was the same way. Couldn’t say a cohesive sentence but would sing hymns and quote scripture perfectly.
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Weekly Newsletter
Second Sunday after Easter
14th April 2024
Dear Friends of Sacred Heart Church,
This second Sunday after Easter is commonly known as Good Shepherd Sunday, where we meditate on the very touching image of Jesus as the shepherd of our souls. Today’s Gospel reminds us of the tender care and guidance our Lord provides, symbolised by the shepherd’s steadfast watch over his flock.
In Ireland, amidst the rolling green fields adorned with countless sheep, we cannot help but notice the scarcity of shepherds. This shortage extends beyond our pastoral landscapes and into the very heart of our families. Indeed, we find ourselves in a time where many souls are left with fewer shepherds to guide them towards heaven.
The merging of parishes has become a reality in many areas, a response to the dwindling numbers of clergy available to serve. As parishes consolidate, one priest finds himself responsible for the pastoral care of multiple villages. This trend is not limited to our parishes alone; it also now extends to some dioceses. Recent appointments in Co. Mayo serve as a poignant example, with bishops now tasked with shepherding two dioceses.
In the face of these realities, let us pray earnestly for an increase in priestly vocations.
On this Good Shepherd Sunday, we beseech our Lord to bless Ireland and especially our families with an abundance of good and holy priests who will earnestly dedicate their lives to His glory and the salvation of souls.
Last week, we had the pleasure of welcoming back some of the Institute seminarians as they returned for their Easter break. It was truly a joyous occasion to see these young levites! As part of their break, we had the opportunity to visit the Flying Boat Museum!
In continuation of our support for the formation of future priests, a second collection will be held today to benefit our seminary. We kindly ask you to mark your donation envelope with “Seminary” and place it in the basket held by Abbe Huemiller at the back of the church after Mass. Your generosity will directly contribute to the training of these young men as they prepare to answer God’s call. Do you know that among the 100 seminarians, six come from Ireland?
This week, several Institute priests will take part in their annual retreat to Loisy, our Sister’s house near Paris. Among them is Canon Gribbin, who serves as Chaplain to our Sister Adorers in Ardee.
Let us keep them all in our prayers!
Additionally, I am excited to announce that I will have the privilege of visiting the noviciate of our sisters in Naples this week, where additional Irish vocations are.
Following my visit to Naples, I will be traveling to Rome for some meetings, returning to Ireland early next week.
In the joy of the Risen Lord, Alleluia!
Canon Lebocq
Prior of Sacred Heart Church
Live stream from the Sacred Heart Church
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Described by one reviewer as “a tour de force,” Read’s History has 127 short chapters, from the Church’s roots in Jewish history to the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. The narrative describes how a small community of believers was to grow into one of the world’s most noteworthy institutions, with chapters on the challenges faced by the Church in her 2,000-year history from the emergence of Islam and the schism with the Orthodox, through to the Protestant Reformation and the French Revolution, with more recent threats from Bolshevism and Nazism, as well the rise of today’s secularism. Not so much a Church history, Read wanted to write of a Church through the lens of the secular history around her. There are also chapters on Catholic art, architecture, philosophy and literature as the author seeks to present not so much an academic treatise as a selection of episodes. Conscious of his granddaughter’s needs, his history is written for what he describes as “a general audience” as much as for Catholics.
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Moreover, DNA exceeds by many times the storage density of magnetic tape or solid-state media. It has been calculated that all the information on the Internet—which one estimate puts at about 120 zettabytes—could be stored in a volume of DNA about the size of a sugar cube, or approximately a cubic centimeter. Achieving that density is theoretically possible, but we could get by with a much lower storage density. An effective storage density of “one Internet per 1,000 cubic meters” would still result in something considerably smaller than a single data center housing tape today.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/dna-data-storage
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Indirect interventions are often perceived to be more naturalistic in approach, allowing adults that are already within the child's environment to facilitate communication. Traditionally, these approaches create an optimum communicative environment for the child by promoting positive parent‐child interaction. Indirect approaches are increasingly being employed within a range of settings where speech and language therapists train professionals and carers who work with the children, and provide programmes or advice on how to maximise the child's communicative environment and enhance communicative attempts.
Parents are often actively engaged in delivering interventions to younger children but tend to be less actively involved in the administration of the intervention as the child gets older. Many intervention models target behaviours using play to enhance generalisation. Interventions for children with primary speech and/or language disorders would, in many cases, meet the criteria for being a complex intervention (Craig 2008), being made up of a number of elements that vary according to both the theoretical assumptions behind the intervention and the perceived needs of the child.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6464758/
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CHINA: On the 72nd anniversary of his death in a Chinese prison camp, Bishop Francis X. Ford was remembered as a “faith-filled preacher of the Gospel” and an example to all of how to live a Christian life.
Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Raymond Chappetto was the main celebrant and homilist at a memorial Mass Feb. 21 at St. James Cathedral-Basilica in Downtown Brooklyn. Among the concelebrants were Father Kevin Hanlon, MM, a member of the Maryknoll Society, for which Bishop Ford was ordained; Msgr. John Vesey and Father Vincentius Do, members of the committee for the cause of beatification of Bishop Ford; and Father Bryan Patterson, rector of St. James.
Bishop Chappetto pointed out that Bishop Ford was born in Brooklyn and baptized at Sacred Heart Church, Adelphi St., not far from the Cathedral-Basilica. His family later attended St. Joseph’s Church, currently the Co-Cathedral of the Diocese.
After attending St. Joseph’s parish school, Bishop Ford went on to Cathedral Prep, Manhattan, and then was the first seminarian to enroll for missionary service at Maryknoll. He was part of the first Maryknoll missionary band to serve in China, where he was named a bishop in 1935 and later died while imprisoned there by Communist forces.
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Deceased Fathers and Brothers
https://maryknollmissionarchives.org/deceased-fathers-and-brothers/
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Bishop Walsh returned to Maryknoll, N.Y. in 1936, following the death of Bishop James Anthony Walsh. In April of that year he was elected the second Superior General of Maryknoll. During his ten-year term he supervised Maryknoll’s first mission efforts to Latin America and Africa. At the Vatican’s request after his term of office, Bishop Walsh returned to China in 1948 as head of the Catholic Central Bureau in Shanghai to coordinate the Church’s missionary efforts throughout the country.
When the Communists came to power in 1949, all foreign clergy were harassed and pressured to leave. The government ordered Bishop Walsh’s Bureau closed in 1951. When Maryknoll superiors expressed concern for his safety, Bishop Walsh betrayed a trace of his Irish temper: “To put up with a little inconvenience at my age is nothing. Besides, I am a little sick and tired of being pushed around on account of my religion.” He was arrested October 18, 1958 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. During those years in jail he received no news reports and only one non-Chinese visitor. His brother, the late William C. Walsh, former Maryland State Attorney General, was allowed to visit him in 1960. Without advance notice he was freed from Shanghai’s prison hospital after serving almost twelve years of his sentence. Clad in rumpled khaki trousers and a faded checkered shirt, he walked across Hong Kong’s Lo Wu Bridge to freedom on July 10, 1970.
https://maryknollmissionarchives.org/deceased-fathers-bro/bishop-james-e-walsh-mm/
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Sister Gertrude Marie Shaughnessy, MM
Born: March 9, 1902- Entered: July 2, 1931- Died: November 13, 1985
It did not come as a surprise when in April, 1976, Sister Gertrude Marie became the first U.S. religious to receive Panama’s medal of outstanding achievement: The Order of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, from President Demetrio B. Lakas. The patients at the Leprosarium petitioned the President to recognize Sister’s 30 years of service. Then again, on March 30, 1978, Sister Gertrude Marie was one of three individuals whom the Canal Zone government awarded with the Gold Panama Canal Honorary Public Service Medallion. This award cited her “Devotion to the countless thousands of the young and old, the needy and the sick of the Isthmian community. She has given help to the poor in areas where others are generally unable to go. She has given help to the poor in areas where others are generally unable to go. She has given of herself and provided a channel by which others can assist the needy, the old and the abandoned in the inner city section of Panama.”
On the occasion of her 50th Anniversary as a Maryknoll Sister, on May 8th, 1981, she was presented with the Panama Canal Master Key Award in the rank of “Angel of the Locks.”
https://maryknollmissionarchives.org/deceased-sisters/sister-gertrude-marie-shaughnessy-mm/
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Prayer For Lent
Bless me heavenly Father
forgive my erring ways.
Grant me the strength to serve Thee
put purpose in my days.
Give me understanding
enough to make me kind.
So I may judge all people
with my heart and not my mind.
Teach me to be patient
in everything I do.
Content to trust your wisdom
and to follow after You.
Help me when I falter
and hear me when I pray
and receive me in Thy kingdom
to dwell with Thee someday.
Reflection for Lent
Do you wish your prayer
to fly towards God ?
Make for it two wings :
fasting and almsgiving.
St. Augustine.
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What makes Poland so especially singular?
Ironically, or paradoxically, its singular place in the garden of nations can be compared to the singular place of England as expressed by William Shakespeare, in the words he places on the lips of the dying John of Gaunt in Richard II:
This precious stone set in a silver sea
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England …
The irony is to be found in the radical difference between England and Poland that these lines illustrate. Unlike England, Poland is not “set in a silver sea which serves it in the office of a wall, or as a moat defensive to a house.” Poland has no such sea or moat to protect it. It is hemmed in by neighbors which have all too often been enemies and, as often as not, conquering enemies. It has been besieged and attacked by the Russians in the east and the Prussians in the west, and by the Swedes in the north and the Austrians in the south. Whereas the English are an island people, conditioned by the “moat” that separates them from mainland Europe, the Poles are an iron-forged people, shaped into a sword of faithful resilience in the heat of battle, caught between the anvil of warfare and the hammer of conquest.
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South Africa is the world’s most unequal country, according to the World Bank. Nearly three decades after the end of apartheid, its brutal legacy continues to rob millions of Black South Africans of basic rights, including jobs, education, and access to health care. “It impacts every aspect of people’s lives,” says Nick Budlender, an urban policy researcher at Ndifuna Ukwazi, a nonprofit that advocates for urban land justice in Cape Town.
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BBC
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/news/watch_newsround
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A NOTE FROM FR. JIM...
In our second reading this weekend from St. Paul’s 1st Letter to the
Thessalonians. We read: ‘Be happy at all times; pray constantly; and for all things
give thanks to God, because this is what God expects you to do in Christ Jesus’.
For a long time in my life I found this passage hard to understand. It’s a command
to be happy! At all times?!! How can you command happiness? Today the Third
Sunday of Advent is called ‘Gaudéte’ Sunday’ ‘Rejoicing’ Sunday. It’s a command.
As Christians were commanded to be joyful as we are commanded to love! We’re
not commanded to ‘Like’ but we are commanded to ‘Love’ because it’s a decision of
the Will. Love is not a feeling primarily but rather a decision. Likewise as
Christians we understand Joy not as a feeling but rather a spiritual place because
of our decision to live in Christ. In medieval Churches throughout the centuries
you’d find what’s called ‘The Wheel of Fortune’. And at the centre of the wheel
you’ll find the image of Christ. However at the
Rim of the wheel we find a man with a crown at
the top, I Reign! Then the crown comes off and
he becomes a ‘has-been’ I have Reigned. Then
he becomes a pauper,I have no Kingdom. And
finally we see him climbing the ladder of
success, I will Reign. At all times his happiness
depends on life’s circumstances. When we live
on the Rim of the wheel we’re up and down.
Where as for the Christian we live with Christ
at the centre unchanging, constant. This brings
us peace and Joy is the fruit of peace. Put
Jesus at the centre of you life and no matter
what happens good or peace and then you’ll
experience true joy. ‘
Gaudéte'
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Emissions will hit record high by 2023 if green recovery fails, says IEA
The Guardian Read Article
New forecasts from the International Energy Agency show that 2023 is on track for “the highest levels of carbon dioxide output in human history, equalling or surpassing the record set in 2018”, the Guardian reports. It adds: “The reason for the sharp rise is that governments have failed to invest in green energy as they have sought to rebuild their economies from the Covid-19 pandemic.” The Financial Times notes that only 2% of pandemic recovery is going towards clean energy. (See Carbon Brief’s “green recovery” tracker.) The newspaper carries quotes from Fatih Birol, IEA executive director, who says that, even if all these measures were implemented on time, they would be “still far from what’s needed to put the world on a path to reaching net-zero emissions by mid-century…It’s not even enough to prevent global emissions from surging to a new record.” Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that, according to the IEA, “less than 15% of the $2.4tn in government spending to support the post-pandemic economic recovery has gone to investments in clean energy”. It also carries quotes from Birol: “‘It’s a good start,’ said [Birol], ‘but the money is not sufficient’ to the put the world on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050. The majority of the $380bn in green spending is happening in advanced economies, when it should be helping accelerate the transition to clean energy in emerging countries.” BusinessGreen also covers the IEA’s findings.
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GREEN House Gas:
The report estimates that, globally, the greenhouse gas emissions as a result of car advertising are at least the equivalent of 191 million tonnes of CO2, and could be as high as the equivalent of 572 million tonnes of CO2 – higher than Australia’s total annual emissions. In the EU, the report estimated additional greenhouse gas emissions from car ads to be between 38 million tonnes and 113 million tonnes of CO2.
Greenhouse gas emissions attributable to airline advertising globally in 2019 are estimated to be at least the equivalent of 11 million tonnes of CO2, and could be up to 34 million tonnes of CO2. For ads for flights in the EU alone, the report estimated additional greenhouse gas emissions to be between 3 million tonnes and 9 million tonnes of CO2.
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The richest 10% of people in many countries cause up to 40 times more climate-heating carbon emissions than the poorest 10% of their fellow citizens, according to data obtained by the Guardian.
Failing to account for this huge divide when making policies to cut emissions can cause a backlash over the affordability of climate action, experts say.
The world’s richest 10% encompasses most of the middle classes in developed countries – anyone paid more than about $40,000 (£32,000) a year. The lavish lifestyles of the very rich – the 1% – attract attention. But the 10% are responsible for half of all global emissions, making them key to ending the climate crisis.
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The biggest carbon divide is in aviation, with the richest 10% in the UK – the 6.7 million people paid more than £59,000 a year – causing more than six times more climate-heating emissions from flights than the poorest 10%. Spending on electrical items, homeware and furniture also contributes to the outsize impact of the wealthy, who splash out four times more on these goods.
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Reflect
Let your smile change the world, but do not let the world change your smile.
LAST WORD: It is often best to pay attention to the ones who care, instead of trying to get the attention of those who don’t.
------------------------
NOTE FROM FR. JIM Lenihan
As our journey through the Rescue Project draws to an end (and by the way if
you’re reading this and you haven’t followed the Rescue Project I would really
encourage you to go to the Glenflesk Parish Facebook page and scroll down to all
the recorded programs from the past 8 weeks.) We’re now pondering what our
‘Response’ should be after being rescued from the tyranny of the evil one. The
Lord has rushed in and has set us free from the ‘traffickers’ who have held us
captive and used and abused us for so long and now we’re liberated. But are we? To
allow ourselves to fall into the loving arms of our loving saviour Jesus Christ and
come into the freedom that only a personal relationship with Him can bring we
need to let go the idols in our lives. What is an idol? Tim Keller in his book:
Counterfeit Gods, defines idols as "An idol is anything more important to you than
God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything
you seek to give you what only God can give, anything that is so central and
essential to your life that should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth
living." So if we are to access this new life and freedom that we yearn for, what
do we need to put second to God. Our children? Our Amazon? Our phones? Our
money? Our clothes? Our public persona? Our work? Our sport? We’ll pray for
each for honesty to see and the courage to let go
===========================
Prayer for our Deceased
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord
and let the perpetual light shine upon them.
May the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
Lord God,
whose days are without end
and whose mercies beyond counting,
keep us mindful
that life is short and the hour of death unknown.
Let your Spirit guide our days on earth
in the ways of holiness and justice,
that we may serve you
in union with the whole Church,
sure in faith, strong in hope, perfect in love.
And when our earthly journey is ended,
lead us rejoicing into your kingdom,
where you live for ever and ever. Amen.
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Joseph Pearce Blogs
November 16, 2023
“The high tide!” King Alfred cried.
“The high tide and the turn!”
— G. K. Chesterton (The Ballad of the White Horse)
Time and tide wait for no man. Only a fool believes that he can turn back time and only an idiot believes that he can command the tide. With respect to the latter, it is said that King Canute set his throne upon the beach and ordered the tide to stop before it reached him. He got his feet wet and was forced to beat a hasty retreat, throne and all, from the inexorable power of the sea.
It is ironic that King Canute should have a reputation for arrogance and ignorance when it is likely that he carried out the experiment (according to a 12th-century account of the legend) in order to expose the foolishness and flattery of fawning courtiers. When the tide lapped against his feet, in defiance of the royal command, he offered some priceless words of wisdom to those who put their faith in worldly rulers. “Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings,” he declaimed,
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by Katie Vasquez
An artifact of faith is helping New Yorkers see a part of American history in a whole new light.
“When we talk about westward expansion we don’t often talk about religion or we talk about it in very limited terms,” said Lily Wong, associate curator at the New York Historical Society.
The New York Historical Society is focusing on that spirituality with a new exhibit titled, “Acts of Faith: Religion and the American West.”
Curators have gathered a vast collection of 60 objects, images, and documents, all designed to tell the story of how religion became a vital part of American life in the 1800s.
The exhibition shows the many faiths of the American melting pot and the experience of a vast number of ethnic communities.
One Catholic could enjoy looking to the Southwest. Mexico once controlled the area but after the Mexican-American war, many Franciscans left, leaving the people of faith in the area struggling for spiritual guidance.
“So there are priests that are still active and working but there aren’t as many as probably are needed but the villagers work among themselves, it’s really important to them to sustain their Catholicism,” said Wong.
The journey out West was grueling and some didn’t make it. The rosary belonged to one of the first Sisters of Loretto to settle in New Mexico. She was one of the lucky ones.”
“Two of the sisters took ill, one of them actually died along the way, but I think it’s a testament to their commitment to the mission,” said Wong.
It’s just one of many stories outlined by the Historical Society that New Yorkers should know.
“I think all of these and many of the ones in our exhibit are ones that people aren’t familiar with,” said Wong. The exhibition runs through February of next year.
To see the exhibit “Acts of Faith: Religion and the American West” just go to nyhistory.org/visit.
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https://youtu.be/rsmQwz0aVeI?si=2127WC0kFNz1oFgo
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Sir Christopher Wren, (born October 20, 1632, East Knoyle, Wiltshire, England—died February 25, 1723, London), designer, astronomer, geometrician, and the greatest English architect of his time.
Sir Christopher Wren, one of the most highly-acclaimed English architects was born on 20 October in 1632. Wren oversaw the construction of 52 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including St Paul’s Cathedral. Among many other notable buildings, Wren also designed the famous Sheldonian Theatre here in Oxford!
Here Wren is depicted by the sculptor Edward Pierce. You can find this bust on display in gallery 46 on the second floor.
Sir Christopher Wren (1632–1723), Edward Pierce (c.1630–1695, 1673. WA1916.74
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=729998415838879&set=a.669393738566014
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by Jessica Easthope
Father John McMillan is one of the last priests to enter 7:45 morning prayer at the Passionist Monastery in Jamaica Estates.
After all, you get a pass on your 100th birthday.
“I never expected to become a living legend,” Father McMillan said.
But it’s not Father McMillan’s age that’s legendary. It’s how he’s lived, as a priest, a drug and alcohol abuse counselor, a nursing student, and a WWII Air Force navigator.
Father McMillan said he doesn’t have any big secrets — making it to this age is purely God’s will, noting that he beat colon cancer at age 90.
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Experts speculate on why marriage is declining — and what to do about it
Marriage Credit Ivan Galashchuk via wwwshutterstockcom CNA 10 14 15 Ivan Galashchuk via www.shutterstock.com.
Daniel Payne
By Daniel Payne
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 25, 2023 / 11:24 am
Support for marriage and marriage rates themselves have sharply declined among young people in recent years, leading experts to offer various explanations for the troubling trends as well as potential solutions to reverse them.
Data has long pointed toward a sustained drop in marriage rates for every age cohort following the “Silent Generation,” the group of Americans born roughly between the two World Wars. A recent Pew survey found that just 30% of marriage-age Millennials live with a spouse and a child, compared with 70% of those from the Silent Generation.
A survey in June from the Thriving Center of Psychology, meanwhile, found that about 40% of Millennials and GenZers believe marriage is an “outdated tradition,” with 85% responding that marriage “is [not] necessary to have a fulfilled and committed relationship.”
Speaking on the statistics, W. Bradford Wilcox, the director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, said bluntly: “It’s bad.”
Wilcox, who for years has been ringing alarm bells about the decline of marriage rates in the U.S, said collapsing marriage numbers are worrisome in no small part because of the economic fallout that can result.
“Marriage is a wealth-generating institution,” he told CNA. “Having kids outside of marriage puts you at risk of family instability and accumulating kids with more than one partner. That starts you up for men, for child support; for women, single parenthood. Both of which are financially exceedingly difficult to navigate.”
“But I’m more concerned about the social and emotional side to all of this,” he continued. “And what we see in the data are that Americans today who are not married are markedly more likely to report that they’re lonely, adrift in terms of meaning, and about half as likely to be very happy with their lives compared [with] their fellow [married] citizens.”
Wilcox said when he began his research into marriage and family stability, his largest concern was for children affected by the changing family demographics.
“As I see the marriage rate tick lower and lower and lower, I’ve become more concerned about adults,” he said. “A lot of adults, more than one-third of young adults today in their 20s, will never marry. This is record demographic territory we’re heading into.”
Mary-Rose Verret, who with her husband, Ryan, founded the marriage renewal and preparation initiative Witness to Love, told CNA that the problem is nearly as acute among Catholics as it is among non-Catholics.
“The number of sacramental marriages in the United States is in freefall and has been in freefall since the 1970s,” she said. “It doesn’t seem to make a difference if they’re Catholic or not Catholic, they’re not getting married or staying married. The Catholic marriage at the five-year mark is only 2% different from the national average.”
Verret said Witness to Love has focused its efforts on a “catechumenal model of marriage formation” that offers a “full-circle” approach to promoting strong marriages in order to counteract the tidal wave of collapsing marriage numbers.
“[We can’t] just be talking about marriage six months before the wedding date,” she said. “What are we doing starting from birth?”
Witness to Love is attempting to answer basic questions about U.S. marriage culture, she said, namely: “Why are people not getting married? Staying married? Going to church with their families?”
“It’s because they’re not seeing holy, healthy, happy marriages being lived out,” she said. “We need to talk more about marriage as a sacrament. What’s difficult about marriage? What’s amazing about marriage? You really need to give them the full picture.”
Wilcox said part of the decline could be attributed to the diminishing prospects of marriage-age men, many of whom are increasingly foregoing higher education and who are seeing fewer job opportunities and lower incomes.
Marsha Garrison, a professor at Brooklyn Law School who has been studying marriage and family structures for decades, offered a similar analysis. “In the United States, marriage and child-bearing behavior are strongly correlated with education,” she told CNA, noting that “most young adults see stable employment as a precondition to marriage.”
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Garrison suggested lawmakers could play a role in reversing these declines. “Encouraging education and policies which create stable, well-paying blue collar jobs … could have some impact on marriage rates,” she said, though she argued that “we are unlikely to ever return to the old world in which marriage is near-universal.”
Wilcox also argued that the government could play a role in promoting marriage among working-class couples, including with child-care subsidies that could help ease the economic costs of child-rearing.
Wilcox said the Church could also make a more proactive effort in promoting marriage among faithful Catholics.
“If you’d like to live a life that is meaningful, and reasonably happy, getting married, investing in your spouse and any kids that you have, it’s incredibly important,” he said. “That’s a message that the Church could be much more forceful in bringing to people sitting in the pews.”
Verret also argued that the Church is not doing enough to inculcate a marriage culture among Catholics. The “secular culture,” she said, is broadcasting messages about marriage loudly and often, while the Church is delivering its own message “in such a quiet voice, or is making it so hard to find.”
“If you’re not super-volunteered, going to extra formation, you’re just not going to get it,” she said. Above all, she argued, the Church needs to be discussing marriage at every step of life in order to make it a normalized part of a Catholic upbringing.
“We’re not going to have healthy families if we wait six months before the wedding date to talk about marriages,” she said.am
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Auschwitz was hell, a nightmare of agony, grief, and despair. Except in the maternity ward. There, as the lice bit and the patients shivered and the rats skittered, there was—astonishingly—peace. There were painless births and healthy babies and mothers holding their little ones as the midwife that they all called “Mother” prayed with them and sang to them and treated them like human beings.
This peace never lasted long. The babies were taken or the mothers were sent back out to work, trying desperately to feed their babies as they and all those around them starved. But in the maternity ward there was peace. There were babies who lived and mothers who lived. And all because of Servant of God Stanisława Leszczyńska.
Born to a Polish Catholic family during a time when her part of Poland was under Russian rule, Stanisława (1896–1974) had a tumultuous childhood. Her father was forced to fight for the Russian army for five years while her mother worked twelve-hour days at a factory. The family moved to Rio de Janeiro for two years, where Stanisława attended school in Portuguese and (providentially) German but returned home when she was fourteen. There in Lodz she finished high school, then married at age twenty and began having children. Her firstborn was born months early; his survival seemed miraculous to Stanisława, who began to wonder whether she might be able to serve women and babies in similar circumstances.
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Reflection
Pursuing Your Reward
On this solemnity, the Church remembers the life and death of an incredible saint. Like St. John the Baptist, reflect on how the Lord calls you to pursue a reward in heaven rather than on earth.
Following the Lord
Do you try to follow the Lord despite the opposition of the world? Or do you turn toward what this world desires for you? Examine the tendencies of your heart and mind today.
Praise and Thanksgiving
How do you respond to God's work in your life? Abraham models the right response for each of us as he looks to God in praise and thanksgiving. Recognize how the Lord has changed your life by turning to him in worship today.
Charity, Love, and Faith
All the law and the prophets come down to the twofold command of loving God and neighbor. This Golden Rule is the key to entering heaven. You can enter the narrow gate the Lord calls you to by striving for charity, love, and faith.
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by Nancy Watenga
Send your thoughts to Letters to the Editor. Learn more
June 27, 2023
In life each one of us gets to a point when we wish we were not going through our experiences. True, life can be hard at times — maybe most of the time! As someone observed, all of us come to a "Red Sea" place in life — a time when we need someone to part the sea for us!
When your health is not good, you long for good health of mind, body and soul. When you have tried many opportunities and none seems to be right for you, you long for tranquility. Sometimes your trusted friends — because of their limited human nature — take to their heels, leaving you lonely and desolate. At a time like this you may wish that you could do without friends. Other circumstances fill you with fear and anxiety, especially when you do not know your fate. Need and poverty increase your fear and dampen your spirit.
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Jesus through Mary
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Died July 15. 1570
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The inspiring story of 40 Jesuits martyred by Calvinist pirates, and their striking underwater memorial
las-cruces-de-malpique-la-palma
holaislascanarias.com
Kathleen N. Hattrup - published on 07/15/22
The Jesuit superior of the Portuguese mission went home to recruit fellow missionaries. He and his young companions never made it back to the New World.
Twenty meters beneath the surface of the crystal blue waters of the Canary Islands, 40 rock-hewn crosses, each standing on a sand and rock pedestal, offer a solemn memorial to 40 Jesuit martyrs, tortured by privateers and tossed into the sea.
It was the year 1570 and two priests, 23 novices, 7 students and 8 collaborators were part of an expedition of nearly 100 people on seven vessels, three carrying the Jesuits, all headed from Lisbon to Brazil.
The soon-to-be martyrs were just youths — all between the ages of 15 and 30, the majority from Portugal (32) and eight Spaniards. One was a nephew of St. Teresa of Avila.
They were led by Father Ignacio de Azevedo, the Portuguese-born Jesuit provincial of the Portuguese mission in Brazil, who had returned to Portugal to recruit missionaries.
Sailing into martyrdom
From Madeira Island, father north and closer to Lisbon, one ship of the expedition needed to bring cargo toward the North Africa shore, making a stop at the Canary Islands.
The area was known to be occupied by French Huguenot Calvinist corsairs, and Father Ignacio knew that they might be sailing into martyrdom. He asked his shipmates if they were prepared; four asked to leave the vessel and were replaced with four others.
Landing at Tazacorte, they were able to celebrate the Eucharist at the hermitage of Our Lady of Sorrows.
According to legend, when celebrating what would be his last Mass on the island, as Father Ignacio consumed the Precious Blood he had a vision of his glorious martyrdom. He was so affected by the vision that he bit the chalice, leaving the mark of his teeth in it. (The chalice is still at the Parish of St. Michael the Archangel in Tazacorte.)
Given their impending death, Fr. Ignacio left in Tazacorte the relics he had been entrusted by the pope to take to Brazil. He took with him, though, a small image of Our Lady the pope had given him.
As the missionaries continued their journey, the ship with the Jesuits was attacked by the corsairs. Father Ignacio took the image of Our Lady in his hands, and encouraged his young companions to give their lives for Christ.
The missionaries were stabbed and tossed into the sea, some still alive. Father Ignacio, clutching the image of Our Lady, was pierced by a sword and stabbed twice more.
Before dying, Father Ignacio said, “I die for the holy Catholic Church and what She teaches.” And he told his companions: “Don’t be afraid. Give thanks for this mercy of the Lord. I’m going on ahead and I’ll wait for you in heaven.” The day was July 15. 1570
They are known as the Martyrs of Brazil, since they were headed to the missions there, or as the Martyrs of Tazacorte.
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Anicius Severinus Manlius Boethius
Life and Works
Anicius Severinus Manlius Boethius was born into the Roman aristocracy c. 475–7 C.E.—about the same time as the last Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed (August 476). Boethius lived most of his life under the rule of Theoderic, an Ostrogoth educated at Constantinople, who was happy to let the old families keep up their traditions in Rome, while he wielded power in Ravenna. Boethius’s privileged social position ensured that he was taught Greek thoroughly and, though it is unlikely that he travelled to Athens or Alexandria, the sites of the two remaining (Platonic) philosophical schools, he was certainly acquainted with a good deal of the work which had been going on there. He was able to spend most of his life in learned leisure, pursuing his vast project of translating and commenting philosophical texts.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/boethius/
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(JTA) — A historian leafing through files in an archive discovered how a Jewish organization helped bring down an influential far-right extremist movement in the United States in the 1960s and ’70s by going undercover and acting as self-appointed spies.
The discovery of the Anti-Defamation League’s covert operation targeting the John Birch Society is the basis of a chapter in a new book by political historian Matthew Dallek of George Washington University. Published in March, “Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right” is Dallek’s fourth book. It examines the roots of today’s emboldened conservative movement in the United States.
“Birchers” is a history of a group that at its height numbered as many as 100,000 members and “mobilized a loyal army of activists” in a campaign against what it saw as a vast communist conspiracy. He also examines how the Birchers’ mission to defend Christianity and capitalism morphed into a radical anti-civil rights agenda that groups like the ADL saw as an existential threat.
Dallek, who grew up in a Reform Jewish household in Los Angeles, recently sat with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency to discuss the rise of the Birchers, how the ADL infiltrated their ranks and whether such tactics are justified in the name of fighting extremism.
The conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
JTA: Before we get into the Jewish aspect of the book, meaning the chapter on the Anti-Defamation League’s relationship with the John Birch Society, let’s take a step back. Who are so-called Birchers? Why do they matter?
Mathew Dallek: The John Birch Society was a household name in the 1960s, becoming the emblem of far-right extremism. It didn’t have huge numbers, but it did penetrate the culture and the national consciousness. Its leader, Robert Welch, had argued at one point that President Dwight Eisenhower was a dedicated agent of a communist conspiracy taking over the United States. Welch formed the John Birch Society to educate the American people about the nature of the communist threat.
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The Presbytery, Abbeydorney. (066 7135146; 087 6807197)
abbeydorney@dioceseofkerry.ie
30th April, 2023. 4th Sunday of Easter. Vocation Sunday.
Dear Parishioner,
I think those who read Dear Parishioner don’t expect to
find themselves reading about topics that may not be familiar or that might
be written with very educated readers in mind. Maybe this is the occasion,
when you will feel that I could have picked a lighter subject than something
called ‘Eugenics’, a word, with which you may not be familiar. The first
article that you will read is written by David Quinn, writer of a weekly
article in the Irish Catholic newspaper and a former editor of that paper.
He is head of the ‘Iona Institute’, whose members promote the Catholic
faith, especially through written articles, interviews with specialists in
particular fields as well as commentators on church matters. In David’s
article you will read that the literal meaning of ‘eugenics’ is ‘well born’
and you might find yourself thinking it is about ‘survival of the fittest’, with
little or no respect for those with disabilities of one kind or another.
The title of articles in the booklet, in which David Quinn’s has written the
introductory article, is: ‘How eugenics has taken hold in Ireland.’ In that
article, he says that ‘Children with Down Syndrome are the most high-
profile victims of this philosophy.’ The second article, written by Angelo
Buttone, is entitled: What Richard Dawkins told Brendan O’Connor. The
sub-heading to the article says ‘This was published on 14th May 2021. The
famous atheist, Richard Dawkins, had appeared on the Brendan O’Connor
Show on RTE, and O’Connor challenged him about his views on whether
children with Down Syndrome should even be born!’ If you get to read
that article, you may find yourself saying, ‘I can’t believe what I am
reading. Did this man really say those things!’ Sadly, the answer is ‘Yes,
he did.’
At weekend Masses, last weekend, you may recall that I mentioned the
wonderful story of the Co. Meath thirteen-year-old boy, Cillian O’Connor,
who had ‘stolen the show’ In the ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ T.V. programme a
week earlier. It is a coincidence that this boy, doing some magic tricks
before a TV audience, brought the judges and some members of the
audience near to tears. I had forgotten to say that Cillian is affected by
Down Syndrome and he told how the condition affected him as a child.
(Fr. Denis O’Mahony
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How Eugenics has taken hold in Ireland. (David Quinn)
The Iona institute has been writing about the issue of eugenics for a
number of years. What we present in this paper are some of those
writings. They look at the history of eugenics, how it has evolved over
the decades, and, in particular, how it has taken root in Ireland. Children
with Down Syndrome are the most high-profile victims of this philosophy.
We feel it is important to bring these writings to a wider audience, because
the issue of eugenics is not being debated in Ireland at all, despite its lethal
effects. Literally speaking, ‘eugenics’ means ‘well-born’. With the rise of
Social Darwinism in the 19th century, much attention began to be focussed
on the concept of survival of the fittest. Leading scientists asked what
could be done to make society fitter and, indeed who should be allowed
to have children and who should not. This terrible philosophy found its
way into law in some countries and led to tens of thousands of people in
places like the United States, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and, of
course, Germany, being sterilised if they were judged unfit to have
children. Racist ideas were also intertwined with eugenics.
termination, as it is still illegal in Ireland to abort a child, specifically
because it has a non-fatal genetic abnormality. Unfortunately, the
progressive elimination of children with Down Syndrome, and other
genetic abnormalities, from society, has caused no national soul-
searching to date. Even those, who are pro-choice, should be troubled by
what is happening. What are parents being told, when children are
discovered to have the condition? What social pressures are being placed
upon them? We hope our new paper will make a contribution, however
small, towards raising awareness of what is taking place.
(What Richard Dawkins told Brendan O’Connor. (Angelo Bottone)
On Sunday on RTE Radio 1, Brendan O’Connor gently asked Richard
Dawkins, the famous atheist and scientist, about why he believes it is
better for a couple to abort a disabled child rather than carry it to term.
Professor Dawkins applied ruthlessly utilitarian logic to the topic. It is
because a disabled child is likely to bring less happiness than one that is
able-bodied, he argued. He pointed out that, in practice, most people
agree with him. A few years ago, Dawkins caused controversy, when he
told a woman who was wondering what she should do, if she became
pregnant and the child had Down Syndrome: “Abort it and try again: It
would be immoral to bring it into the world, if you have the choice.”
Under a bit of pressure from O’Connor, Dawkins admitted that might have
been putting it too strongly, but he did not step back Nazi Germany took
the idea to its logical extreme. Not alone did it sterilise thousands of
people, it also began to kill those put away in institutions, because they
suffered from a disability. In the early stages of Nazi rule, this took place
in secrecy. Almost no one today advocates coercive eugenics, let alone the
racist doctrines often attached to it but we do see what amounts to
voluntary eugenics being advocated and practised by many people, and it
is becoming more widespread. Writing in ‘Psychology Today’, Dr. Richard
Gunderman has said: “The point is not that parents facing, perhaps, the
most difficult decision of their lives should be branded eugenicists, but to
indicate that, despite protests to the contrary, eugenics has not been fully
consigned to history’s dustbin. As a society, we are still deciding who is
and who is not born, based on genes, and the decisions we make shape
humanity, not just into the next generation, but generations to come.
The actress, Sally Philips, who like Dominic Lawson, has a child with Down
Syndrome, worries that the people, with a condition, will eventually be
virtually eliminated entirely from society. Phillips and Lawson say that life
with the condition is portrayed in overly negative terms. Recently, Dr.
Fergal Malone of the Rotunda Hospital said, in an interview, that 95 % of
parents, who discover through a screening test, that their children will
have Down Syndrome, will opt for an abortion. They will, normally, go to
England for a from his general point of view.
He told O’Connor: “It seems to me to be plausible that if a child has any
kind of disability, then you probably increase the amount of happiness in
the world more, by having another child instead. O’Connor then asked
him if there were other ‘imperfections’ he would ‘screen out’. “ Well, I think
deafness and blindness. It seems to me.......when you have the choice,
when it is early in pregnancy and the foetus has started to develop, almost
everybody, as a matter of fact, does abort a child if it has easily diagnosable
disability.” He said: “It would be wise and sensible to abort a child who
has serious disabilities in an early stage of the pregnancy. This is what
everybody does in practice. Professor Dawkins is, of course, correct
about what people do in practice. For example, in Western countries, the
vast majority of couples will abort a child, if they discover it has a serious
condition, like Down Syndrome. We might not like to talk about this in
public, and during the abortion referendum of 2018, pro-life members
condemned for raising it, but we are, in fact aborting almost every child
that has a serious disability, if and when we discover the fact through a
diagnosis.
In practice, we are every bit as ruthlessly utilitarian about the matter as
Dawkins. Like him, most of us believe that it would be too burdensome
to raise such a child and we, probably, convince ourselves that the child
would also find their life too burdensome. This, of course, is also
eugenics, and it has become commonplace. Professor Richard Dawkins is
at least open about what he believes, even if the rest of us would rather
not put it so bluntly. His matter-of-factness, at least, has the benefit of
honesty. Most of the rest of us are utilitarians who won’t admit it, which is
a lot more hypocritical than Dawkins.
Utilitarian = stressing utility as opposed to beauty.
Utilitarianism: An ethical theory that determines right from wrong by
focusing on outcomes. It holds that the most ethical choice is the one that
will produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
Seeing your life through the lens of the Gospel (John Byrne OSA)
Intercom Magazine, April 2023
1. In the Middle East, it was the task of the shepherd to find water and
pasture and to find safety. In your life, who have been the people
who nourished you and gave you security? For whom have you
done this?
2. Important to the shepherd’s ability to give security to the sheep is
the fact that he was known to them and familiar to them. They
recognised his voice. Does this resonate in any way with your
experience?
3. We are familiar with the image of Jesus as the shepherd. The
image of Jesus as the door (or gate) is not so familiar but is one
that merits attention. Jesus presents himself as the door through
which we pass and find life. What are the doors through which you
have passed and found life: a situation, a place, a book, an
experience, a person? For whom have you been a door to a richer life.
==================================
The Presbytery, Abbeydorney. (0667135146; 087 6807197)
abbeydorney@dioceseofkerry.ie
2nd Sunday of Easter, 16th April 2023 (Divine Mercy Sunday)
Dear Parishioner,
Last weekend, a number of parishioners brought their
Trócaire boxes to the two churches. If yours is still at home, try to bring
it the next time you are coming to the church. During Lent, you might
recall that I put a reminder in the newsletter, inviting you to imagine
that you were not simply putting a contribution in the Trócaire box but
that you pictured yourself putting the cost of a meal for an individual or
family in the developing world. I was trying to you encourage to make
your weekly contribution somehow personal, as if you were giving the
meal to an individual person. During the past week, while in the house
of an elderly person, I noticed the Trócaire box on the corner of the
kitchen table. I knew the person would not be coming to the church
and I suggested I might bring the box to the church. When I felt the
weight of it, my suspicious mind jumped to the conclusion that there
were probably a good number of 5 cent coins in the box. To satisfy my
curiosity, I opened the box as soon as I got back to the Presbytery. Yes,
there were some 5 cent coins but there were also many €2 & €1 coins
and an assortment of 50, 20and 10 cent coins and a few €5 notes. The
total contents of the box came to just short of €85. Yes, I reminded
myself that it is not good to make hasty judgements or to jump to
conclusions, out of habit.
Missionary magazines, like the Africa & Far East, carry articles about the
work done by their Society members in countries around the world. In
recent times, those articles are often about non-Irish members who are
taking the places of the Irish missionaries, both those, who have died in
past years, and those who are retired in the places where they worked,
or back in Ireland. Almost every issue of their magazines will carry a
report of the life of a recently deceased missionary. The March/April
edition of the Far East included a piece on Fr. Charlie Meagher, a native
of Killarney, who died on 12th October last, at the age of 87. He spent
most of his missionary life in the Philippines and, when he experienced
some health problems, Fr. Charlie came back to Dalgan Park, Navan, Co
Meath, and he managed the Society website there. May his memory
stay with us, and may he rest in heavenly peace. (Fr. Denis O’Mahony)
-----------------------------
Seeing Your Life Through The Lens of The Gospel
John Byrne OSA (Intercom April 2023)
1. ‘Peace be with you’ was the greeting of Jesus on meeting his
frightened apostles. Who has come to you bringing peace at times
when you were frightened? For whom have you been an agent of
peace?
2. Thomas, doubting and questioning, is possibly a person with whom
we can identify. What part have doubts and questions played on
your faith journey? How has your faith been strengthened by such
moments?
3. Note the way Jesus dealt with Thomas. He did not give out
because he doubted. He took him where he was and led him
along to see the truth of his resurrection. Who has been that kind
of a teacher for you, gently taking you where you were and leading
you on to a deeper knowledge of some truth about life? For whom
have you been that kind of teacher?
4. ‘Blessed are they who have not seen and yet believed’. That
requires great trust. Perhaps you have had the experience of being
trusted without having had to prove every step along the way.
What was it like to be trusted in that way? Who have you been able
to trust in a similar manner?
Thought for the Day (Intercom April 2023)
The Divine Mercy message is one we can call to mind,
simply by remembering ABC
A-Ask for His Mercy. God wants us to approach Him in prayer
constantly, repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour His mercy out
upon the whole world.
B-Be Merciful. God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow
through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to
others as He does to us.
C-Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know that our reception
of the graces of His mercy are dependent upon our trust. The more we
trust in Jesus, the more we will receive
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Feast of St Bernadette (1844 – 1879): 16th April
Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary, appeared to St Bernadette Soubirous around 18
times in 1858 at the grotto of Massabielle near the small town of Lourdes in the
south of France. The first apparition to this 14 year old girl was on 11 February and
the last one was on 16 July. Our Lady asked her to ask her parish priest to have a
church built where she was appearing. He and the other religious and civil
authorities in the area did not take her seriously until Bernadette told him that the
Lady appearing to her called herself the “Immaculate Conception”. The religious
authorities knew that a poor ignorant 14 year old girl would not have a clue what
that term meant and could not have made it up so they took notice of what she told
them. A church was soon built on the site and Lourdes became one of the most
important Marian shrines in the world, visited by millions of people every year.
Many people have experienced healing there over the years. Bernadette herself
went on to become a nun joining the Sisters of Charity in Nevers in France in 1866
and passed away at the relatively young age of 35 on 16 April 1879. She was
beatified by Pope Pius X1 on 14 June 1925 and the same pope canonized her on 8
December 1933.
------------------------
An old proverb says: “Big doors turn on small hinges. Simple enough, but these small hinges must be well made from sound materials and
be regularly maintained. Our lives turn on small things like honesty, integrity, faith, and truth. Let us attach ourselves to good “hinges
and make sure they, too, are well made, are sound and regularly maintained.
LAST WORD: Sometimes the words we leave unspoken are
the most important ones that we should have said.
PLANT YOUR SPRING GARDEN
THREE ROWS OF PEAS: Peace of Mind, Peace of Heart, Peace of Soul.
THREE ROWS OF SQUASH: Squash Indifference, Squash hatred, Squash Bullying.
THREE ROWS OF LETTUCE: Let us be kind, Let us be compassionate, Let us love one another. Water with patience and cultivate with love.
There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less. The choice is yours
Just a Thought
There will always be enough for everyone’s need, but never enough for
everyone’s greed -Mahatma Gandi
-------------------------------------------------
Thought
A NOTE FROM FR. JIM Lenihan ......
I recalled in my mind during the week a short video done my Matthew Kelly called
Bear Bait. It’s on the Confirmation program called Decision Point. It’s about these
two ‘friends’ out hiking. Suddenly they come across a grizzly bear. They both leg it
and run as fast as they could until one of them stops takes off his rucksack
replaces his hiking boots with his runners. The other said what are you doing?!
You’re not going to out run the bear! To which he responded: I don’t have to, all I
have to do is out run you!! I suppose the question we must ask is: Who do you
trust? Last weekend I read from St. Faustina’s diary: “The graces of my Mercy
are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is trust.” Jesus I trust in you. So
do we really trust Jesus? And if not in who do we place our trust? For two years I
heard nothing but ‘trust in the science’, ‘trust the pharmaceutical companies’,
trust in the vaccines’. No mention of ‘In God we trust’ or ‘Jesus we trust in you’. In
fact we actually closed the churches. Bishop Robert Barron commented on how as
people we’ve become incredibly secular. He said how even as Christians we’ve lost
our understanding of the power of the cross. He said ‘Why would God’s salvation
of the human race have to include something as horrifying as crucifixion? We live
in a time when the human predicament is regularly denied, explained away, or
ignored. Despite the massive counter-evidence from the moral disasters of the
last century, we are still beguiled by the myth of progress: with just enough
technical advancement, psychological insight, and personal liberation, we will solve
our problems.’ It’s so true. With all our human ingenuity we can solve the problems
caused by sin. When we trust the world only, we will only be disappointed. We’ll
always be left there as bear bait. As humans we’ve always tried to build the Tower
of Babel, a perfect world without God. We’ve always failed. So with who do you
place your trust? Or who loves you beyond all understanding? For me there is only
one solution and that is Jesus. Because Jesus would say to you, ‘You go! I’ll let the
bear take me
--------------------------------------
Anto Akkara World
April 20, 2023
MUMBAI, India — India has witnessed contrasting scenes for its Christian minority this Easter: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited New Delhi’s Sacred Heart Cathedral on Easter Sunday while other leaders of his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party visited bishops’ houses, churches and even Christians homes on the same day to woo Christians in the heartland of southern Kerala state.
Yet at the same time as this politicized Easter week outreach to Christians was underway, three Christian churches were demolished on April 11 at the instruction of a BJP state government in northern India.
In the wake of widespread criticism of what many observers regarded as a political gimmick undertaken by Modi and other BJP leaders to woo Christian voters, nearly 10,000 protesters held a rally in Mumbai on April 12 demanding an “end to the atrocities on Christians.”
----------------------------------------------------
By Douglas Burton
Jos, 10 April, 2023 / 9:20 pm (ACI Africa).
At least 94 people reportedly have died in a series of deadly attacks on Christian communities throughout Holy Week in Benue state in north-central Nigeria, an ominous sign of escalating violence blamed on Muslim militias in the country’s Middle Belt region.
On April 2, armed men reportedly stormed a Palm Sunday service at a Pentecostal church in Akenawe-Tswarev in Logo county, Benue state, killing a young boy and kidnapping the pastor and other worshipers.
Three days later, on April 5, gunmen killed at least 50 people in the village of Umogidi, located in Utokpo county, a Catholic stronghold in western Benue, the Associated Press reported.
More recently, on the night of Good Friday, dozens were killed when Muslim gunmen raided an elementary school building in the village of Ngban that serves as a shelter for about 100 displaced Christian farmers and their families.
-----------------------------------------
IRISH WOMEN: On Sunday April 16th 2023 at 07:00h Documentary on
Newstalk airs the premiere of ‘MISSION POSSIBLE’ produced by
Grainne McPolin, tells the fascinating story of five Irish women
religious who worked in the missions abroad; why these women chose
the life that they did and the challenges they faced not only on their
missionary posting but also the difficulties encountered on return home
to Ireland
BROADCAST TIMES: ‘Mission Possible’ will be broadcast on
Newstalk 106-108fm on Sunday 16th April 2023 at 7am and again
on Saturday 22nd April 2023 at 9pm
PODCAST: ‘Mission Possible’ podcast available on all major podcast
platforms from 8am 16th April 2023
=================================
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Siamsa Tire Tralee
Come experience the magic of Michael Harding's words as he takes to the stage in his latest play, All The Things Left Unsaid.
For almost fifty years, Michael Harding has been crafting words to express himself and explore truths about the human condition. Now he's back with his latest book and a return to the stage!
In this intimate performance, Michael shares insights into life, death, friendship and love. Join us for a night of vulnerability, humour, and beautiful storytelling. Friday 12th May @ 8pm
=======================
By Magdalene Kahiu
Kampala, 04 April, 2023 / 9:00 pm (ACI Africa).
The Catholic Archbishop of Kampala in Uganda has called for the mobilization of food to reach out to the Karamojong people in the country’s Karamoja region who he says are “now surviving on leaves”.
Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere said it is shameful that the Karamoja people in Northeastern Uganda are suffering from hunger while other parts of the East African nation “have plenty of food”.
In his homily on Palm Sunday, April 2 at Our Lady Queen of Peace Cathedral of Uganda’s Kasana-Luweero Diocese Archbishop Ssemogerere said that various media, “are showing us starving Karamojong, with nothing to eat. They are now surviving on leaves, and yet here in other parts of Uganda we have plenty of food. We can even afford to throw it away.”
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Have you heard of St. Josemaría Escrivá’s “heroic minute”?
Are you someone who wakes up at the first alarm clock or do you curl up in bed until it’s too late? If you have trouble waking up in the morning, this advice from Saint Josemaría Escrivá can help you.
The Heroic Minute: Saint Josemaría Escrivá’s Secret for a Strong & Successful Day
Saint Josemaría Escrivá, a Spanish priest and founder of Opus Dei, was a great spiritual guide, and his writings contain precious advice on the most diverse topics of Christian life.
He really enjoyed discussing finding Jesus in every day life, and his “Heroic Minute” will help you do it!
Specifically referring to waking up in the morning, he says:
“Conquer yourself each day from the very first moment, getting up on the dot, at a fixed time, without yielding a single minute to laziness. If, with God’s help, you conquer yourself, you will be well ahead for the rest of the day.” (“The Way,” 191).
This little exercise, as he says, is the first little battle we face for the day. The feeling of overcoming comfort and self-indulgence will make us stronger to fight valiantly against sin throughout the day!
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Wellspring of Life
In Ezekiel's vision, he sees a river flowing out of the heart of the sanctuary. This water gives life to the Dead Sea. A remarkable image; Jesus gives new life to this image since he is the wellspring of eternal life which springs forth from his side.
Go to Joseph
Happy feast of St. Joseph! Celebrate today by attending mass, feasting, and asking for Joseph's intercession. St. Joseph, Terror of Demons, pray for us.
Hear His Voice
God wants to love you freely and deeply. He summons you to listen to him and hear his voice. By doing so, you can receive the Lord wholly into your heart.
Sharing God's Love
The Lord is gracious, merciful, and boundless in his love for you. And when this love draws you closer to him, it also builds a desire to do good to others. This Lent, offer almsgiving as a sacrifice for others and for the Lord.
Interceding for Others
Moses stepped into the breach to save the people of Israel. Like Moses, you are meant to intercede for the world when it neglects what is right. Who are you called to step into the breach for today?
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=======================
NOTE FROM FR. JIM Lenihan
Sunday the 5th of February marks the feast day of our Parish's patron Saint St.
Agatha. She was martyred at Catania in Sicily, probably during the persecution of
Decius (250-253). How she became our Saint seems to be a mystery. (If anyone
could throw a light on this mystery, we would be delighted). She's the patron
saint of those who suffer from breast cancer. So we pray through her
intercession for all who have cancer but especially those who suffer from breast
cancer.
PRAYER
St. Agatha, woman of valour, from your own suffering we have been moved to ask
your prayers for those of us who suffer from breast cancer. We place the
NAME(S) before you, and ask you to intercede on their behalf. From where you
stand in the health of life eternal — all wounds healed, and all tears wiped away —
pray for [MENTION YOUR REQUEST], and all of us. Pray God will give us His holy
benediction of health and healing. And, we remember you were a victim of torture
and that you learned, first hand, of human cruelty and inhumanity. We ask you to
pray for our entire world. Ask God to enlighten us with a “genius for peace and
understanding.” Ask Him to send us His Spirit of Serenity, and ask Him to help us
share that peace with all we meet. From what you learned from your own path of
pain, ask God to give us the Grace we need to remain holy in difficulties, not
allowing our anger or our bitterness to overtake us. Pray that we will be more
peaceful and more charitable. And from your holy place in our mystical body, the
Church, pray that we, in our place and time will, together, create a world of
justice and peace. Amen.
---------------------------------
POPE FRANCIS’ PRAYER INTENTION - FEBRUARY 2023
For February 2023, we join the Holy Father as:
We pray that parishes, placing communion at the center, may increasingly become
communities of faith, fraternity and welcome towards those most in need.
Sometimes I think that we should put a sign on the door of parishes that says,
“Free admission. "Parishes should be close-knit communities, without
bureaucracy, people-cantered, a place where the gift of the sacraments can be
found. They have to become once again schools of service and generosity, with
their doors always open to those who are excluded. And to those included. To all.
Parishes are not a club for the few, which give a certain kind of social
belonging. Please, let us be daring. Let us all rethink the style of our parochial
communities. Let us pray that parishes, placing communion –communion of
people, ecclesial communion– at the center, may increasingly become
communities of faith, of fraternity and of welcoming the most in need.
Pope Francis
===============================
Sister Lynch
For researchers interested in pursuing the history of Catholic sisters and their work among Native Americans, Wright noted that Marquette University in Wisconsin has one of the best collections of documents about this history. The Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, also has significant resources, she said. Wright also said she had located valuable information at the archives of the University of Minnesota in Morris.
https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/professor-digs-history-mercy-sisters-boarding-school-native-children?utm_source=Global+Sisters+Report&utm_campaign=801a781a00-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_02_02_03_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_86a1a9af1b-801a781a00-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D
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Weekly Newsletter Sunday after Pentecost 15th January 2023
Dear Friends of Sacred Heart Church,
It seems like it was just yesterday when we celebrated the Birth of Christ. On the Feast of the Holy Family, we learned that the divine boy Jesus subjected Himself to Mary and Joseph, advancing in wisdom and age and grace before God and men. Thirty years sealed away, known only to His earthly parents... these years are the Hidden Life of the Holy Family.
On Friday, we commemorated the first public appearance of the Lamb of God, by the waters of river Jordan at His Baptism. Today, we arrive in Cana to learn of His first miracle at a wedding feast: that of turning water into wine, revealing to us the goodness of His Sacred Heart.
The few words by which the Mother of Jesus made known the wants of the newly-married couple give us an admirable example of the way in which we ought to make our necessities known to God.
Observe carefully the form of prayer used by His blessed Mother. She says, 'They have no wine.' These words tell us plainly what were the sentiments of the heart from which they flowed. She knew that Christ had the power to relieve the want; she fully believed that His loving, compassionate soul would make Him eager to do so. Therefore, with this faith and this knowledge, she simply states the want which she wished to have relieved. She does not argue with Him; she does not urge her request; she is content that Christ should know it, and quite resigned to acquiesce in whatever it should please Him to do.
We must then imitate the simplicity of Our Lady in prayer, presenting our needs and difficulties to Our Lord without expecting anything in return but with full confidence that God listens and knows what is best for us.
These last few days, the internet connection had some issues and as a consequence the images and sound were distorted on the livestream. This is now hopefully fixed.
If you missed the sermon delivered by Canon Ong, here it is.
Before we could properly grief the loss of our beloved Pope Benedict XVI, we received yet another sad of the sudden passing of our friend His Eminence Cardinal Pell last Tuesday. Those who are familiar with the great Prince of the Church, knows that he suffered quite a bit for preaching the Gospel and not compromise with the teachings of the Church. We will celebratre a Requiem Mass for the repose of his soul this Tuesday at 6 pm.
After a little hiatus, the Ladies choir resumes today, lending their voices once again to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We are also hoping to set up a men's choir. Interested parties should contact Canon Lebocq.
Don't forget that the Novena in preparation for the Feast of Saint Francis de Sales begins this Friday!
We would like to announce that there will be a priestly ordination at our seminary in Gricigliano on 29th January. Please pray for the the future priests. Speaking of Italy, we are preparing and planning for the Altar boys trip to Italy. We will let you know soon. Lastly, Canon Ong will be in Ardee this week to replace Canon Gribbin.
Wishing you a blessed week, Canon Lebocq- Prior of Sacred Heart Church
===============================
Politics
After religious freedom objection, US Merchant Marine Academy obscures massive painting of Jesus at sea
By Ron Kampeas January 17, 2023 5:20 pm
A before and after photo depicting how a painting of Jesus at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, is now obscured by a curtain. (Before: U.S. Coast Guard; After: U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.)
(JTA) — The painting in a key room in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy was as striking as it was massive: Jesus, his arms outstretched, hovered over a lifeboat packed with grateful sailors, lost at sea.
Eighteen people — including five Jews — among the school’s thousands of midshipmen, alumni, staffers and faculty decided they did not want to see such a sectarian symbol in a room that is home to events, classes and ceremonies where attendance is mandatory. Last week, they asked the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to appeal on their behalf to the academy, which reports to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The foundation aims to help troops across the U.S. military services seek redress for religious discrimination, often helping them remain anonymous in a culture where complaints have been met with retaliation. The group asked Joanna Nunan, the academy’s superintendent, to remove the painting to a more appropriate venue, perhaps a chapel.
In a Jan. 10 letter, Mikey Weinstein, the foundation’s Jewish founder, said the role the Elliot M. See room played at the academy made the presence of the massive painting especially inappropriate. It has served as a classroom, a venue for advisory board meetings, the room where incoming classes have their IDs processed, and as a court for disciplinary hearings, among other uses.
“The outrageousness of that Jesus painting’s display is only further exacerbated by the fact that this room is also used regularly for USMMA Honor Code violation boards where midshipmen are literally fighting for their careers,” Weinstein wrote.
Nunan replied immediately, a pleasant surprise for Weinstein, who often is involved in extensive battles with government and military officials. The size of the painting meant that it was impossible to move, she said, but she had another solution.
“I have asked my staff to purchase a curtain to be placed in front of the painting,” she said. “This will completely block the painting from view, but also allow those who wish to view it the opportunity to do so. Second, I have asked the Director of the American Merchant Marine Museum to prepare a plaque that explains the history of the painting, which will be installed near it. Given the size of the painting, there is no other location to which it can be moved.”
Curtains were in place by Friday, although the simple white one in place now is temporary; Nunan said she would soon have in place curtains that “befit the elegance” of the setting and would leave them over the painting during any events that required mandatory attendance.
Weinstein said Nunan’s solution was appropriate, even thought he had sought the painting’s removal.
“We think this is a superb solution,” Weinstein told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “It will be a teachable moment every time somebody asks why those curtains are up there.”
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Mindset 498,696 views 8 Aug 2016
In Mel Gill's inspirational talk there are self-experience stories, giving you the chance to change your mindset, your point of view about the problems in your life and focus on taking action and responsibility for your mind, happiness and life.
Legendary Psychotherapist Dr Mel Gill is one of the world's leading experts in Personal Development and a Mentor to countless other Speakers and Trainers around the world. He is an internationally-recognized Training Consultant and is also Corporate Advisor to CEOs of Fortune 500 Companies.
He has been recognized by the Business Times and The Sentinel as one of the Top Asian American Motivational Speakers. He was invited by the Napoleon Hill Foundation to speak as one of the Top 17 Speakers in the World in their Inaugural World Convention.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
MnMcancook
1 month ago
Talking about this is extremely important! Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorders are not understood very well by doctors, much less the general public. I congratulate you for having the confidence and determination to inform people of these disorders and the fact that you are functional. Keep it up, and good luck!
========================
Lebanon
Zaidan said that the Maronites in Lebanon played a significant role in making Lebanon a great country. He said that Maronite Patriarch Elias Hoyaek de Helta who served from 1898-1931 “was instrumental in making Lebanon great as in its own borders today.”
Zaidan said that it’s important for Lebanon to be a “beacon of hope” and a “haven” for Christians in the Middle East.
“Lebanon, as John Paull II said, is a message between the East and the West, between the Christians and the Muslim — and also among the Christians — between the Catholics and Orthodox, as well.
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Welcome to our Testimony Directory
Use the form below to find specific types of testimonies. You can also search by Country, State and Language. Click on the blue text below to read story
https://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/testimonies/index.aspx
=================================
Weekly Newsletter
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
11th September 2022
Dear Friends of Sacred Heart Church,
On this Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, the Mass texts today warn us of these internal and external spiritual enemies. It would be foolish of us not to take them seriously. Today’s Mass gives us this warning by setting up two contrasting pairs. First of all, St. Paul in the epistle makes a contrast between the flesh and the spirit; then Our Lord, in the Gospel, makes a contrast between God and Mammon.
We are grateful to Canon Poucin Viannay de Wouilt for coming to Limerick today. He is usually based in the UK, where he serves in New Brighton. He is the celebrant and homilist today during the solemn Mass.
I kindly request your prayers for the new seminarians who are joining the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest this week. I do not know their exact number but it is close to thirty! They will be starting their first silent retreat in our community tomorrow in Switzerland. I will probably have some pictures to share with you next week. Among them are two Irishmen : Darragh and Daniel.
After the beautiful feast of the Nativity of Our Lady last Thursday, two additional ones are coming up week: her Most Holy Name, tomorrow 12 September and the Feast of the Seven Sorrows on Thursday 15 September. It is on the occasion of this second feastthat the Church sings the beautiful Stabat Mater sequence.
I have the joy to announce that the fourth step of the painting of the church is now completed. I mentioned previously that we are struggling to go ahead with the next step, due to financial reasons. To be honest, we have not received any large donation for this, but we trust Divine Providence. The scaffolding will soon be moved above the sanctuary to allow the painters to work on this part of the ceiling. (See pictures below)
I am also happy to announce to you the name of the priest who will join our Limerick community this year. Canon Justin Ong will be arriving at the Sacred Heart Church within a few weeks. You may remember him from 2012. He was then a candidate, and was with us when we reopened this church.
Originally from Malaysia, Canon Ong was ordained a priest two years ago by His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke and has been serving in Brussels until now.
Thank you for your prayers. I am confident that he will receive a warm welcome in Ireland, and will be a good shepherd for your souls.
Wishing you a blessed week,
Canon Lebocq
Prior of Sacred Heart Church
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POPE: Pope Francis had hoped his trip to Kazakhstan 13-15 September would offer a chance to meet with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church — who has justified the war in Ukraine — and plead for peace
https://apnews.com/hub/pope-francis
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Retired Auxiliary Bishop Paul Sanchez was the Celebrant for the Feast of Our Lady of Velankanni Mass on Sunday at Our Lady of Lourdes in Queens Village.
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“During the abortion procedure I experienced the most horrible pain ever. It felt like my insides were being sucked out of me. Immediately after the abortion I felt ashamed, sad and knew right away what I had done was wrong..”
“At the hospital they performed an ultrasound, and I saw my granddaughter alive and moving around. I was happy, my heart overwhelmed with love. But that was soon robbed from me, when the medical team said they couldn’t do anything to save my grandchild’s life.”
“The clinic was very elegant inside. However, when I got into the room, it was cold, windowless, small, and had a peculiar smell, a monitor, and a hospital bed. A nurse handed me a pill which she said would help me calm down. Without much emotion, she turned on the monitor and said, “I am going to ask you not to turn to the monitor please.” I know that until the last minute my son fought for his life. After the 1st injection, his heart kept beating.”
“My life spiraled into a life of self-hatred, drugs, alcohol, and wrong relationships. I ended up having three more abortions. Each time I felt like my life was being sucked out of me. I felt dead inside, empty. I tried to fill the emptiness with more drugs, alcohol, and relationships. I hated myself and what I had become. I wanted to die.”
Those disturbing lines are from just a few of the over 3000 testimonies we have at the Silent No More Awareness Campaign (www.SilentNoMore.com), a worldwide joint project of Priests for Life and Anglicans for Life that gives voice to the Moms, Dads ,and other family members who have lost children to abortion.
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Seeing reality through the lens of God’s love
For all the magnificent truth of which photos could inform us, we are often myopic and fail the eye test that connects vision with meaning. We tend to miss the meaning of both forest and trees—of both babies and galaxies.
Victor Hugo once asked, “Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has a greater view?” The greatest insight, however, lies in neither telescope nor microscope, but in the viewer herself, who is delightfully challenged to view reality through the lens of God’s love.
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Peter Jesserer Smith Blogs
July 26, 2022
LAC ST. ANNE, Alberta — Among Indigenous Catholics of North America, St. Anne is greatly revered as the grandmother of Jesus. So Pope Francis’ July 24-30 “pilgrimage of penitence” to Canada’s First Nations, Meti, and Inuit peoples fittingly centers the beginning and ending around two shrines dedicated to St. Anne.
In North American Indigenous cultures, grandparents and elders are traditionally revered. But grandmothers have an especially honored status, since as women they are blessed with the Creator’s gift of nurturing life, and as grandmothers, they nurture their children’s children with their gifts of memory, wisdom and unconditional love.
Many of us can recognize their spiritual insight the Vatican affirmed as the “idea of the nonna” recalling memories of our own grandmothers’ role and influence in our own lives — and their love that could be our refuge in times of trouble. So St. Anne, as Jesus’ grandmother, is the perfect patron saint of this papal pilgrimage.
On July 26, the feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim, Pope Francis opens the week-long Lac St. Anne Pilgrimage, which is attended by tens of thousands of Indigenous Catholics every year. The waters of Lac St. Anne, located northwest of Edmonton, Alberta, are known as a place of healing. The Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation calls Lac St. Anne, “God’s lake” or Wakamne — and people have experienced healing here, both physical and spiritual, similar to those experienced at Lourdes. All are welcome to join this pilgrimage.
A grandmother wants to see her children and children’s children live in loving harmony, and certainly Jesus’ grandmother is working to bring that about in this pilgrimage. Pope Francis learned about the pilgrimage when the elders and representatives of Canada’s First Nations spoke with him about the pain of the Church’s involvement in colonialism, and most particularly the residential schools, which devastated their peoples as children were separated from their families. Children were robbed of their right to flourish with their parents and be raised in the love of their families. They were deprived of their language, their community and their very identity — often under extremely brutal circumstances. Many children lost their lives, and many children suffered horrific abuse of all kinds. First Nations people told him about their pain, but also about their enduring faith, and the St. Anne pilgrimage.
There’s a beautiful icon of Jesus and St. Anne featured in traditional regalia of the Plains First Nations with Lac St. Anne as the backdrop. (You can check out the profile I wrote on the artist, Canadian Andre Prevost, and his First Nations iconography series). Prevost completed the icon, commissioned by Metis elder and Catholic priest, Father Garry Laboucane, in time for the 2017 Lac St. Anne pilgrimage. Prevost’s description of the icon prophetically reinforces how vital Jesus and St. Anne are in leading Pope Francis and the whole Church’s next steps for healing and reconciliation:
St. Anne embodies the grandmother figure, having a respected place in Aboriginal societies, and pivotal within the preservation and teaching and formation within ‘the culture.’ This icon is set within the dance, a culmination of this teaching with her grandson, who in turn is so loving and honoring of his grandmother.
The dance is central to Indigenous culture, and based upon honor, respect, joy, and the ‘learning from the elders’.
This dance setting has Ste. Anne and Christ portrayed as the ‘Head Dancers.’ ‘Head Dancers are the designated female and male dancer, who are appointed to lead all the other dancers. This position is one of honor, with all other dancers offering the deserved respect. For any given set of songs, no other dancer will dance until the heads dancers commence.’ … This symbolism is central for the icon, both within the actual cultural setting, but also within the global community of Faith.
Pope Francis’ pilgrimage next brings him to Quebec, Canada, where he will go to the Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupré before concluding his pilgrimage by visiting the Inuit city of Iqaluit. This basilica shrine is also known as a place of healing, and thousands of Indigenous people in Canada have visited it every year. From coast to coast, the Pope will be praying for true healing and reconciliation under the protection of St. Anne.
Hopefully with St. Anne and her grandson Jesus, our Creator and Redeemer, we are being led to a new era of reconciliation. The original missionaries in Canada dreamed of a Catholic Church native in its expression. If the Church walks with Indigenous communities, it can be that Church once again. The Mass is finally being translated into the Squamish language in Western Canada, for example. The Church can support language revitalization that is saving lives and restoring cultures, especially by making use of Magnum Principium to translate the Mass and liturgies into their languages upon request. The Church is long overdue to honor the request to translate the Mass into St. Kateri’s own Mohawk language.
But the Church’s history in North America should also be revisited and retold. We all live in the shadow of 20th-century Catholic historians who could not reconcile colonialism with the truth of the Church’s early story found in original sources — and basically wrote Indigenous Catholics out of the story, or “rewrote” the facts to fit a colonizing narrative. But all Catholics deserve to know the real St. Kateri Tekakwitha as the Mohawk who flourished in a Garden of Haudenosaunee Saints who were all Catholics living their faith fully alive in their beautiful cultures. All Catholics deserve to know the men and women honored as martyrs, saints and evangelists, such as St. Jean de Brébeuf, St. Isaac Jogues and other Jesuit martyrs and priests in their own time. They deserve to know men and women like the Wendat (Huron) Catholic proto-martyr Joseph Chiwatenhwa, his wife Marie Aonetta and their family, for whom St. John Paul II was practically begging the Canadian Church to start a cause of canonization. He praised them for having “witnessed to their faith in an heroic manner” and stated they “provide even today eloquent models for lay ministry.” Catholics deserve to know about the incorruptible St. Kateri of the West, Rose Prince of the Dakelh, who nourished by the Eucharist, chose to stay and comfort other Dakelh children suffering in the residential school, teaching them prayers and songs in their language — an act forbidden by the government but enabled by the sisters.
So much of the story of lay holiness in the Americas is Native holiness. With St. Anne’s intercession, Pope Francis’ pilgrimage will truly begin to brighten the chain of faith between the Church and First Nations.
Peter Jesserer Smith
Peter Jesserer Smith Peter Jesserer Smith is a staff reporter for the National Catholic Register. He covered Pope Francis's historic visit to the United States in 2015, and to Jerusalem and the Holy Land in 2014. He has reported on the Syrian and Iraqi refugee crisis, including from Jordan and Lebanon on an Egan Fellowship from Catholic Relief Services. Before coming on board the Register in 2013, he was a freelance writer, reporting for Catholic media outlets as the Register and Our Sunday Visitor. He is a graduate of the National Journalism Center and earned a B.A. in Philosophy at Christendom College, where he co-founded the student newspaper, The Rambler, and served as its editor. He comes originally from the Finger Lakes region of New York State.
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Peace Cathedral; At the crossroads of Europe and Asia, bordered by the Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian Sea, Georgia has withstood constant threat of invasion for its strategic location by Mongols, Ottomans, Persians, Russians and others. Like Ukraine, Georgia has European Union and NATO aspirations, and it is watching Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with trepidation.
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The Heroine of Dawhan, Ethiopia
by Naomi Nkrumah SSL
I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done on to me according to Your word. (Luke 1:39).
We are relieved and grateful to hear that Abeba and her children are still safe and doing well, and that the region is calm at the moment. It is still deserted however, and there is no network or internet connection, no money in the banks and food is difficult to get. Access to the area also remains difficult.
Despite all the challenges in the region, we hope to be able to return soon and are praying that the Civil War ends soon.
Here are some interesting articles that you might like to read:
Sisters Flee Civil War in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, Issue 106 of Musings, 29 March 2021. Click HERE to read.
Update from our Mission in Ethiopia, Issue 116 of Musings, 28 February 2022. Click HERE to read.
Ethiopia’s Tigray war: The short, medium and long story. Click HERE to read.
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By Sheila Pires
Marsabit, 13 July, 2022 / 9:28 pm (ACI Africa).
Pastoralists in the Catholic Diocese of Marsabit in Kenya have been left with “absolutely nothing” as starvation in the Kenyan region intensifies due to severe drought, the Executive Director of Caritas Marsabit (CM) has told ACI Africa in an interview.
In the Wednesday, July 13 interview, Isacko Jirma Molu said the drought situation in the region has gone from bad to worse as some areas “have not had rain for almost two years” and that as a result, “livestock died in large numbers, leaving pastoralists with absolutely nothing.”
Mr. Molu said, “Pastoralist communities derive their entire livelihood from livestock keeping; this livestock provide milk, provide meat, and this livestock depends on the rainfall. The drought has significantly reduced the livestock population in the county."
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STORY: Today, I would like to tell you the best story from my time away. It’s actually a story of Tori, the wife of a former college roommate I visited. It is a God story which all involved are happy to share with others, and this story is entirely true...
https://parishableitems.wordpress.com/2022/07/10/a-heaven-sent-hug/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=catholic_news_back_to_the_sixties_pontifical_academy_for_life_pushes_for_departure_from_catholic_doctrine_on_contraception&utm_term=2022-07-13
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https://www.churchpop.com/2022/07/11/100-witness-apparition-of-our-lady-in-nigeria-priest-alleges-see-the-incredible-photos/?utm_campaign=ChurchPop&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=219331627&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8yYjIKOd9s0deYwqJV6RPLTo6kj_4n__Ze4IGeaLtgrzG2cRgU7d5_jmHUxDn-fDa4CFWF5uYTBvk-Taee50b_AbUKkQ&utm_content=219331627&utm_source=hs_email
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By Walter Sanchez Silva
Managua, 07 July, 2022 / 8:00 pm (ACI Africa).
The government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, which has been in power for 15 years, expelled 18 Missionaries of Charity from the Central American country on July 6.
According to the newspaper El Confidencial, the nuns were taken by the General Directorate of Migration and Immigration and the police from the cities of Managua and Granada, where they had been serving the poor, to the border country of Costa Rica.
Of the 18 sisters, there are seven Indians, two Mexicans, two Filipinos, two Guatemalans, two Nicaraguans, one Spaniard, one Ecuadorian, and one Vietnamese.
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India Celebrates the Holy Legacy of St. Devasahayam
A post-canonization Thanksgiving Mass was held June 5, drawing hundreds of thousands of the faithful.
By Sheila Pires
Aliwal, 09 June, 2022 / 8:56 pm (ACI Africa).
A Catholic Bishop in South Africa has called on Ugandan nationals to ensure they are living in the country legally and make every effort to integrate with natives, including learning local languages.
In an interview on the sidelines of the Feast of the Ugandan Martyrs, Ugandan-born Bishop Joseph Mary Kizito of Aliwal Diocese in South Africa encouraged Ugandans in the country to refrain from illegal activities and to keep South African laws.
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One of Ybarra’s roles is serving as Grand Knight of Council 3245 of the Knights of Columbus at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Uvalde, Texas, a parish that has been at the forefront of efforts to help the traumatized community of 16,000 people cope with the shooting deaths of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School on May 24. Eleven of the victims were parishioners of Sacred Heart. This past week, the Knights provided hamburgers for participants at a candlelight vigil held Thursday night.
His other role: working as a mortician at a local funeral home that has prepared the bodies and organized funeral arrangements for 16 of the 21 victims.
“It's the hardest thing I've ever seen, the hardest thing I've ever seen,” Ybarra told CNA on June 2. “I never ever thought something like this would happen in Uvalde.”
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Weekly Newsletter
Fourth Sunday after Easter
15th May 2022
Dear Friends of Sacred Heart Church,
This is the Fourth Sunday after Easter. The Introit of today’s Mass begins with the words “Cantate Domino’; Sing ye to the Lord, highlighting the significance, along with our need to give praise to the Lord with music.
We understand well the impact of the spoken word, but we are reminded today of the importance of music and song in giving glory to the risen Lord, which in turn fills our souls with delight as we praise His Name. “I will sing to my God as long as I shall live, Alleluia” (Psalm 145)
We welcome with joy, Monsignor Wach, Prior General of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. He has been in Ireland on a pastoral and fatherly visit to the various foundations of the Institute, familiarising himself with the evolving and expanding ministries here.
In addition he has been participating in meetings with some members of the Irish hierarchy and local authorities to ensure good relations. Monsignor will be with us for the week-end as he continues his busy schedule of meetings. Please pray for him. You can listen to the beautiful sermon he delivered this morning here.
At the end of the 10:30 Mass today we had the May Crowning of Our Lady. Please click on the picture below to see this part of the ceremony.
Thank you for all the beautiful flowers placed at her shrine. In Fatima, Our Lady requested that a bier be made to carry her statue in procession, adorned with flowers. She loves your attention to her shrine and the array of colour and magnificence that these flowers bring. She will bless you for honouring her in this way.
Please add to your calendar the procession in honour of Our Lady that will take place on Tuesday 31st May after the 6 pm Mass.
Canon de Martin is in Belfast this week to allow Canon Heppelle to take a well deserved but short break after Easter. Remember to pray for your priests.
Wishing you a blessed Week,
Yours in Christ,
Canon Lebocq
Prior of Sacred Heart Church
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ESCAPE: Lilly Toth literally ran — and swam — for her life to escape the Holocaust.
During the Nazi takeover of Hungary, Toth was tied to a friend of hers on the shores of the Danube River. Her friend was shot and killed, but Toth managed to unfasten her bonds and swim away down the icy river.
That's just part of her remarkable story.
Despite huge upheaval and loss, Toth amassed a collection of 1,119 miniature books, which she gave to Montreal's Jewish Public Library prior to her death last year.
The collection includes cookbooks, musical scores, sports books, children's literature and more. Shakespeare features prominently in two nearly-complete 24-volume sets published between 1890 and 1930.
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Pope Francis
Vatican City, May 15, 2022 / 05:40 am
On Sunday, Pope Francis declared 10 holy men and women to be saints of the Catholic Church before around 45,000 people during a canonization Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251243/full-text-of-pope-francis-homily-for-the-canonization-mass-of-10-saints?utm_campaign=CNA%20Daily&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=213202943&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9e4UQ2Owyt7Wu-AymC5RHPy3ZPluBytOM__1p5BbJ2v0VAigWsIGS-r8L5YbHRvjLfr9D5vOJFeTqllb70vD28ivNvzg&utm_content=213202943&utm_source=hs_email
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DFLA's Executive Director, Kristen Day, was featured on the latest episode of The Gloria Purvis Podcast.
Greetings!
NBC isn’t exactly a bastion of pro-life opinions. But, even they agree with us about the moves by Senate Democrat leadership to impose abortion on the country from the halls of Congress. Here’s what they wrote:
“Senate Democrats are once again headed for a show vote – this time on abortion – that risks dividing their party, depressing their base, and looks all but certain to be defeated.”
Our Party has better things – more uniting things – to do than try to impose abortion on the nation from Congress. We are done with pro-abortion federal mandates!
That’s why I’m asking you to help DFLA help our Party by showing a
better way – contribute to our Post-Roe Fund TODAY! Your support of
$25, $50, $100, or more helps us lead the charge as we reform this Party
from within.
With our Post-Roe campaign, we are working to elect pro-life, Whole Life leaders, enact state laws consistent with those values, and build a culture of life within our Party and across our country.
Now is the time that we have been working for, and we eagerly look forward to, with your help, seizing this opportunity.
For Life, Kristen
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By Agnes Aineah
Niamey, 18 May, 2022 / 8:30 pm (ACI Africa).
Pierre, a native of the West African country of Niger, remembers the day he entered a welding shop where he worked and found a book that changed his life forever, making him convert to Christianity.
As he read the book, which he later found to be a section from the New Testament, Pierre, who was brought up a Muslim, says he interacted with various characters in the Bible and came across stories he says touched his heart.
In a Tuesday, May 17 Agenzia Fides report, Pierre who is now part of the Catholic community of Dosso located south-east of Niger's capital Niamey, says that he does not regret converting to Christianity.
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Born Lucile Randon on Feb. 11, 1904, Sr. André converted to Catholicism at age 19. At age 25, she began caring for the elderly and orphans at a French hospital. She later entered the Daughters of Charity at age 40.
The sister is also blind and in a wheelchair. She lives in Sainte-Catherine Labouré retirement home in Toulon, France.
Home communications director David Tavella told France 24 that Sister André hopes she surpasses Jeanne Calment, who passed away in 1997 at age 122.
“She’s happy, she likes very much this attention,” Tavella said. “But it’s just another step, because her real goal is to overtake Jeanne Calment.”
[See also: Follow ChurchPOP on GETTR!]
Guinness World Records published a video documenting the 118-year-old sister’s life shortly after news broke regarding Tanaka’s death.
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POPE Francis presided over the Celebration of Penance in St. Peter's Basilica before performing the Act of Consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The act, performed in different forms by previous popes, ties back to the Marian apparitions at Fatima, Portugal in 1917, during which many Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared before three children to ask that the Pope consecrate Russia to her heart.
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Limerick OMI
https://www.omiworld.org/?s=limerick
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Saint Katharine Drexel’s Story
If your father is an international banker and you ride in a private railroad car, you are not likely to be drawn into a life of voluntary poverty. But if your mother opens your home to the poor three days each week and your father spends half an hour each evening in prayer, it is not impossible that you will devote your life to the poor and give away millions of dollars. Katharine Drexel did that.
Born in Philadelphia in 1858, she had an excellent education and traveled widely. As a rich girl, Katharine also had a grand debut into society. But when she nursed her stepmother through a three-year terminal illness, she saw that all the Drexel money could not buy safety from pain or death, and her life took a profound turn.
Katharine had always been interested in the plight of the Indians, having been appalled by what she read in Helen Hunt Jackson’s A Century of Dishonor. While on a European tour, she met Pope Leo XIII and asked him to send more missionaries to Wyoming for her friend Bishop James O’Connor. The pope replied, “Why don’t you become a missionary?” His answer shocked her into considering new possibilities.
Back home, Katharine visited the Dakotas, met the Sioux leader Red Cloud and began her systematic aid to Indian missions.
Katharine Drexel could easily have married. But after much discussion with Bishop O’Connor, she wrote in 1889, “The feast of Saint Joseph brought me the grace to give the remainder of my life to the Indians and the Colored.” Newspaper headlines screamed “Gives Up Seven Million!”
After three and a half years of training, Mother Drexel and her first band of nuns—Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored—opened a boarding school in Santa Fe. A string of foundations followed. By 1942, she had a system of black Catholic schools in 13 states, plus 40 mission centers and 23 rural schools. Segregationists harassed her work, even burning a school in Pennsylvania. In all, she established 50 missions for Indians in 16 states.
Two saints met when Mother Drexel was advised by Mother Cabrini about the “politics” of getting her order’s Rule approved in Rome. Her crowning achievement was the founding of Xavier University in New Orleans, the first Catholic university in the United States for African Americans.
At 77, Mother Drexel suffered a heart attack and was forced to retire. Apparently her life was over. But now came almost 20 years of quiet, intense prayer from a small room overlooking the sanctuary. Small notebooks and slips of paper record her various prayers, ceaseless aspirations, and meditations. She died at 96 and was canonized in 2000.
Reflection
Saints have always said the same thing: Pray, be humble, accept the cross, love and forgive. But it is good to hear these things in the American idiom from one who, for instance, had her ears pierced as a teenager, who resolved to have “no cake, no preserves,” who wore a watch, was interviewed by the press, traveled by train, and could concern herself with the proper size of pipe for a new mission. These are obvious reminders that holiness can be lived in today’s culture as well as in that of Jerusalem or Rome.
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Saint of the Day for March 3. Saint Katharine Drexel’s Story
(November 26, 1858 – March 3, 1955)
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It may seem like a long time ago, distant to the interests of Americans today. Nonetheless, this was a crucial turning point for the world, for freedom and for faith. It is an inspiring history lesson worth taking to heart, especially this Christmas 2021, a time when so much of the news around the world is depressing. Here was something truly uplifting for those who love faith and freedom. Sometimes, there really are happy endings.
Paul Kengor
Paul Kengor Paul Kengor is professor of political science at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania. His books include A Pope and a President, The Divine Plan and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Communism, The Devil and Karl Marx: Communism's Long March of Death, Deception, and Infiltration.
https://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/christmas-1981-heralded-the-collapse-of-communism-in-poland?utm_campaign=NCR%202019&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=194855009&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8Fwyh5y8yag9oIMBuEXKmlRzn3g7vDaH8G6fqZN4y2U4KwFB6CgPbyHEO_FQO3g9FNMhNuWEq0_dkXcAmKF4Wf7JaahQ&utm_content=194855009&utm_source=hs_email
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Get started now to oust vulnerable Democrats from the House
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Get started now to oust vulnerable Democrats from the House
November 3, 2021
Yesterday’s elections in places like Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota show us just how fed up the American public is with the extreme policies of the Democrat party.
A Republican won the gubernatorial race in Virginia for the first time in more than a decade and Republicans have reclaimed the Virginia House of Delegates. In midnight blue New Jersey, the Democrat incumbent is in a dead heat with his Republican challenger. In Pennsylvania, pro-life judges were elected! And in Minneapolis, where the delusional “defund the police” movement had its start, city residents voted in favor of keeping their men and women in blue.
These are all fantastic outcomes and we should celebrate. And we must also activate!
The midterm elections are one year away. There will be numerous races at every level of government. A third of the US Senate seats will be up for election. And every seat in the US House will be on the ballot, and we must make sure pro-life candidates win as many seats as possible.
The National Republican Congressional Committee has identified Democrats in more than 50 districts in 23 states that they consider vulnerable.
Do you live in one of these districts, or have family or friends who do? Find out by clicking through this alert to the action page.
If you live in one of these districts represented by a Democrat, or know someone who does, it is very important that you keep abreast of what your representative is doing, particularly on the issue of pro-life or pro-abortion legislation.
If they are Democrat, they will have failed to sign the discharge petition for the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. They will have failed to oppose the abortion-friendly Equality Act and taxpayer-funded abortion.
Exceptions to this rule are extremely rare.
They will have also supported the all-abortion-all-the-time Women’s Health Protection Act.
Lawmakers who can’t protect babies don’t deserve a seat in the House, and I don’t just mean the people in the targeted districts. We need to vote them out.
The first thing to do is to make sure every pro-life voter you know is registered to vote. If they move before the 2022 election, they must make sure to register in their new district. You also can get involved right now by signing up to take part in our periodic election calls to keep abreast with what’s happening and to find out how else you can help.
The Democrat majority in the 117th Congress is very, very slim, but that’s not good enough. We need the majority of House members to come from the party that knows the difference between serving the public and killing the public.
When you click here, you will find out how to sign up with Priests for Life’s election efforts.
Please act today, and please pass along this email to as many others you know who may be interested.
Thank you for being part of the Priests for Life Family!
Sincerely, Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life
Priests for Life
PO Box 236695
Cocoa, FL 32923
Phone: 321-500-1000
Toll Free: 888-735-3448
Email: mail@priestsforlife.org
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By Blanca Ruiz
Cordoba, 26 October, 2021 / 7:00 pm (ACI Africa).
Fr. Juan Elías Medina and 126 companions, who were martyred during the Spanish Civil War, were beatified this month in Córdoba.
“While he announces the hatred of the world to us, Jesus reminds us of his favorite love, the merciful love with which he has chosen us,” Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, said during his homily at the Oct. 16 beatification Mass said in the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba.
“Death and life have fought in an amazing duel, the Lord of life conquers death. This consciousness animated our martyrs, many of whom when they were assassinated shouted, ‘Viva Cristo Rey!’” the cardinal preached.
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Religious Freedom Matters
‘This Is the Truth’ — Edith Stein Saw Human Dignity in the Light of the Cross
Through Christ’s love on the cross, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross perceived the heights of human dignity and the depth of offenses against it, from Auschwitz to abortion.
October 21, 2021
In 1974, the Seattle Youth Symphony performed Krzysztof Penderecki’s “Dies Irae,” a highly dramatic oratorio in memory of the victims of Auschwitz.
Although I was a violinist in the orchestra at the time, violins were not included in the score, so I left the backstage area that night and listened to the performance as I stood just inside the door at the back of the concert hall. Choir voices began, mimicking plaintiff wailing of doomed victims, while instruments in the orchestra accompanied in prolonged somber tones that sometimes surged in war-like sound effects. Dissonant chords transitioned into longed-for consonance, expressing texts from both scriptural and secular sources.
But for me, one line particularly stood out that reminded me of the death camp’s youngest victims and of a tragic, present-day reality: “Bodies of children.”
A sad legacy, the memory was still fresh in my mind that four years previously my home state of Washington had become the first in the country to legalize abortion. I could not help but make the correlation at that moment between the innocent “bodies of children” exterminated in Auschwitz and those of the innocents now being murdered in abortion clinics.
“Please, God,” I prayed, “stop the horror.”
An answer to prayer in her time, among those who offered their lives to end the death camps, legalized abortion and other atrocities against the dignity of the human person during the early 20th century, God raised up the Carmelite and mystic, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, born as Edith Stein in Breslau, Germany. She was the youngest of 11 children in a Jewish family and one day would also be counted among the victims of Auschwitz. This year marks the 130th anniversary of her birth on Oct. 12, 1891.
From her earliest days, Edith had a clear sense of human dignity. In her autobiography, Life in a Jewish Family, although she admits to frequent displays of anger as a child, “Within me,” she wrote, “there was a hidden world.” The mere sight of a drunkard would haunt her for days and compelled her to pledge to abstain from alcohol for the rest of her life to avoid, as she put it, “being personally responsible for losing even the smallest particle of my human dignity.”
Intellectually gifted, she rebelled against the academia of kindergarten and resisted her amused brother’s grasp as he sang folk songs, carrying her to school each day, but at last surrendered her unruly behavior after observing the same in others and realizing the price of self-indulgence was the loss of one’s dignity.
Her sense of dignity inspired dreams within her and convinced her she was destined for greatness. She poured herself into her schooling and finished each year at the head of her class. She delved into classic literature and poetry and attended concerts of music by great composers such as Bach, Wagner and Richard Strauss. In the summer of 1913, she began studying for state board examinations under the tutelage of the world’s leading phenomenologist, Edmund Husserl, and hoped to gain a professorship in philosophy.
Then, suddenly, all sense of security vanished. “Our placid student life was blown to bits by the Serbian assassination of royalty,” Edith wrote, recalling the event that triggered the First World War. Setting aside her private for life a year, she volunteered as a Red Cross nurse to care for the sick and dying soldiers. But as the war ended and Edith resumed her studies, a new plan was already being plotted in secret by the burgeoning Nazi party to eliminate the births of those the party’s leader, Adolph Hitler, deemed “unfit,” particularly the Jews.
In his article, “As Many Abortions as Possible,” Mike W. Perry quoted the destructive ideology outlined by Hitler in his 1924 Mein Kampf: “No diseased or weak person should be allowed to have children.” Implementing his destructive intent under the ruse, “Protection of Motherhood,” in 1933, he enacted the Law for the Prevention of Progeny with Hereditary Diseases, which led to the sterilizations of some 350,000 women, the majority non-Aryans and Jews.
In 1935, unsatisfied with a remaining Jewish population, he transitioned to outright killing by legalizing abortion up to viability and mandated forced abortions upon Jewish women, who were often raided and attacked within their own homes as the dismembered bodies of their babies were trashed and carried away.
Edith grieved, learning of these cruelties, but although she had given up prayer at age 15, she now prayed, asking for an end to the evil, enlightened by the cross.
Her first encounter with the divine power of the cross occurred in 1917, when, upon witnessing the faith of a Christian widow in mourning, she said, “My unbelief collapsed, and Christ began to shine his light on me — Christ in the mystery of the cross.” Four years later, after spending all night reading the autobiography of the Carmelite reformer, St. Teresa of Ávila, she declared, “This is the truth,” and was baptized into the Catholic Church.
From then on, Christ’s love on the cross revealed to Edith her full dignity. Christ’s love on the cross strengthened her as she suffered the denial of a professorship and was forced from her teaching position on account of being a Jew. Christ’s love on the cross inspired her vocation to Carmel and the name she chose in religion, Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. Christ’s love on the cross inspired her literary works, written in Carmel, including her autobiography, Woman, and The Science of the Cross.
In 1942, Christ’s love on the cross impelled her to leave Cologne and transfer to the Carmel of Echt, Holland, to safeguard her sisters from the terrorism of the Nazis, now rounding up Jewish men, women and children in Germany and exterminating them in death camps.
But even Echt was not safe. On Aug. 2, 1942, the Gestapo arrived and arrested Edith while she was praying with her sisters in the chapel. Transported to Auschwitz, there, amid the chaos and despair, Edith calmly reached out to the women and children around her.
According to one eyewitness account, she “went among the women like an angel, comforting, helping, and consoling them. Many of the mothers were on the brink of insanity and had sat moaning for days, without giving any thought to their children. She washed them, combed their hair, and tried to make sure they were fed and cared for.” It was on Aug. 9, then, that Edith was led away to offer her life to God within the gas chambers of Auschwitz.
Her work, however, is not over. Now glorified, she is with us now, praying for an end to abortion and atrocities against the dignity of the human person. She is with us now, teaching us how to offer hope to grieving post-abortive mothers and fathers, and life-giving options to those tempted to abortion. She is with us now, encouraging us to persevere in faith. And she is with us now, in joy, reassuring us that the faces of once-despised “bodies of children” now and forever behold the face of our heavenly Father.
Jennifer Sokol Jennifer Sokol writes from Shoreline, Washington.
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Video link
https://youtu.be/vquP1YH4En0
Filename
MOV043St Pio Pilgrimage.MOD
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Reflection
The Presbytery, Abbeydorney (066 7135146)
abbeydorney@dioceseofkerry.ie
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 3rd October 2021
Dear Parishioner,
During the weekends of September, you have been hearing a
little bit about the Season of Creation, that will come to an end with the feast
of St. Francis, tomorrow 4th October. Some of the Prayer of the Faithful
petitions related to the care of our earth and the protection of our environment.
I wonder did the publicity about the Season of Creation and the promotion of it
touch our lives in any way! It is probably true to say that, in Ireland, the effects
of climate change, that are visible in many parts of the world, are not showing
themselves to us. Does that mean that we do not have to heed the call to be
ready to change our ways and to lead by example!
The following piece is taken from the liturgy resources provided by our diocese
for this weekend. As has been the case with material provided for the
weekends of September, reference is made to the Encyclical Letter of Pope
Francis – Laudato Si (Praised be). This weekend, we mark the end of the Season
of Creation, a time where we celebrate all that is part of our beautiful world,
God’s creation. It is a season where we pray with and for creation and remind
ourselves that we are protectors of this earth, given responsibility ‘to till’ and
‘to care’, ‘not to plunder and destroy’. Yet, we know that our world is suffering.
Pope Francis, in his letter, ‘On care for our Common Home’ asks us to hear the
cry of the earth, to awaken to what is happening to God’s creation and to take
the urgent action that is needed. Laudato Si describes the roots of the
environmental crisis as a deeply spiritual crisis because we have forgotten who
we are and where we come from. We are called to reconnect with God’s
creation and take example from St. Francis of Assisi, who is the patron saint of
ecology and saw God in all of creation. He saw the deep interconnectedness of
all things and experienced God’s creation as family, ‘Brother Sun, Sister Moon,
Brother Wind, Sister Water’.
As we end the ‘Season of Creation’, we start Mission Month, which reaches its
high point with ‘World Mission Sunday’ on 24th October. This weekend, you
have a chance to read why such importance is given to ‘being missionary’ in a
world which is very different from that when the ‘Missionary Society of St.
Columban’ (1918) and ‘St. Patrick’s Missionary Society’ (1932) were founded.
‘A Clare heroine’ was written by one of our parishioners. (Fr. Denis O’Mahony)
--------------------------------
We cannot but speak..... (Fr. Michael P.O’Sullivan, Intercom October 2021.)
After the first World War, Pope Benedict XV invited Catholics to bring light to a
world devasted by conflict. By virtue of their baptism, all Catholics were called
to be missionary minded, and missionaries needed to be men and women of
God. His successor Pope Pius X1 made the second last Sunday of October a day
dedicated to ‘the missions’, that is a special day to pray for and assist
missionaries in their call to ‘go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good
News’. Over a century has passed since this missionary call gave a fresh impetus
to the Church to ‘go out to the whole world.’
From sending to exchange: Mission is no longer as ‘Ad Gentes’ the title of the
Vatican 11 decree, suggests with its proposition ‘ad’ seen purely in terms of
sending out to far distant territories bringing human, financial, organisational,
or spiritual resources that the recipients do not have. Today our missionary
praxis invites us into a logic of exchange and of service, of sharing, of giving and
receiving. There is a realisation that the Holy Spirit is already present in every
person, and he has preceded us in the many post-modern Galilees where no
one is too helpless to give nothing, nor too rich to have nothing to receive.
The world is a place of mission: The second possible change in paradigm is that
we must rid ourselves of outdated preconceived notions. In the Church, there
are no ‘Catholic countries’ or what some people refer to in the Middle East as
‘Christian villages’. The Lord’s mission is everywhere and all the baptised are
called to become missionary. This is the constant teaching of Pope Francis.
Re-invention mission: The third challenge which we in Ireland have become all
too aware of in recent years is the fact that there is an increasing number of
baptised Christians who no longer belong to any community, the so-called ‘non-
denominational’. How do we proclaim the Good News to those who say they
already know Jesus, but for whom the message of the Gospel has lost its
meaning and relevance? How do we communicate with those who believe
they know Christianity, or who sometimes claim to have gained from its
positive elements, but who no longer identify with the Catholic Church.
Mission as dialogue and communion: The fourth challenge is the fact that the
history of salvation does not present itself as the progressive conquest of
peoples or territories even if, historically speaking, missionary activity was
sometimes closely associated with colonialism. Today Catholicism refuses
proselytism and has no product to sell other than the joy of the Gospel.
Dialogue with other faiths has become an integral part of the mission of the
Church. Missionaries’ only treasure to share is the witness of people who, for
over two thousand years, have been transformed to following the footsteps of
him who ‘did not come to be served but to serve.’ (Mt. 20:28). Missionaries
today own nothing, they are only ‘carriers’ of a message of hope and peace
which gives true meaning and joy to their lives. Missionary work today is a work
of love, of giving, of sharing of gratuity which so many missionaries today give
witness to. As his followers, we missionaries passionately believe in the total
worth of every person and that the world can be transformed by the
powerful message of the Good News. For this reason, the universal Church is
called each year during the month of October to celebrate mission, to pray for
the missionaries and to give generously to the churches in need. Thank you for
your prayers and for your support of Missio Ireland. Pope Francis will use your
gifts to bring the Good News of God’s love to 1,100 dioceses in the world.
A Clare heroine: It was while I was watching “Hector in Africa” the other night
that I got thinking about my neighbour at home in Clare, Sr. Ethel Normoyle,
who, sadly, died from lung cancer this past month of August. She joined the
Religious Order of the Little Company of Mary, trained to be a nurse and was
sent to South Africa in 1972. She missed her parents and her six brothers and
sisters so much that she was ready to return to Ireland, when she happened
upon a slum, where she thought cattle would not survive. She had always loved
animals and she went to investigate the area and discovered, to her horror, that
there were people living there. She decided there and then to do something to
improve the conditions of the people. She began her work under a tree -
teaching, nursing and fighting against poverty HIV and Aids. When her family
and people back at home in Clare learned what Sr. Ethel was doing, they set
about finding ways to help her. Money was raised through collections, dances,
golf competitions and, after some time, groups of tradesmen volunteered to go
to South Africa to build resource centres, classrooms and anything that she
needed. The area where she worked was called Missionvale and Sr. Ethel had
the privilege of welcoming Queen Elizabeth and Mother Teresa of Calcutta, to
see the wonderful work that was being done by her helpers and herself. As a
person, Sister Ethel was a beautiful, happy, caring person and a wonderful
singer. Her faith in God was stunning and she knew her parents and her family
kept her well protected with their prayers. Her work will not be forgotten. She
has been an inspiration to people of all ages in Ireland and in South Africa.
Sunday 3rd October
The world is in crisis. In many poorer parishes in Africa, Asia, and Latin America
it is overseas missionaries who are on the front line. There will be a collection
for the Missions the weekend of Mission Sunday (23rd/24th October).
Alternatively donate at www.missio.ie or call Missio Ireland on 01 497 2035.
To learn more, go to www.missio.ie
Missio Ireland is the Holy Father’s official charity for overseas mission. Through
your generosity, they support missionaries who are caring for some of the most
vulnerable communities in the world. (Mission Ireland Update)
Seeing your Life through the Lens of the Gospel John Byrne osa
1. Marriages do break down, but in this story Jesus appears as the wise person
urging people to seek first the original harmony where possible, rather than
seek escape routes when difficulties arise. When have you found that, in
marriage or in other relationships, the bonds have been strengthened when
you have been prepared to work through difficulties?
2. There are other things that we needlessly and wrongly put in opposition:
young and old, male and female, people from different cultures, body and soul.
Perhaps at times you have discovered the advantages of exploring the richness
in combining such apparently exclusive opposites.
3. The children in the second story can be taken as representing any group of
‘little ones’ whose opinion we may be inclined to dismiss. When have you found
that you have been taught an important lesson about life, about love, or about
faith by people whose views you had been inclined to dismiss?
(Intercom October 2021)
Month of the Rosary: The dedication of the month of October to the Rosary
developed towards the end of the twentieth century, with the special
promotion of the Rosary by Pope Leo X111 (1878-1903). At the centre of the
month is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Its history involves victories in
battles and decisions of several Popes. Pope Pius the V attributed the victory
over the Turkish fleet at Lepanto, off the coast of Greece, on the first Sunday of
October 1571 to the power of the Rosary prayed in Rome and elsewhere on that
day. He ordered a feast of the Rosary, ‘Our Lady of Victory’ on that day. Pope
Pius X transferred the feast from Sunday to its original date, 7th October. In
1960, the feast was given its present title, ‘Our Lady of the Rosa
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In the School of St Benedict
Let the abbot remember always that at the dread Judgement of God there will be an examination of both these matters, of his teaching and of the obedience of his disciples. And let the abbot realise that the shepherd will have to answer for any lack of profit which the Father of the family may discover in his sheep. On the other hand, if the shepherd have spent all diligence on an unruly and disobedient flock and devoted his utmost care to the amending of its vicious ways, then he will be acquitted at the Judgement and may say to the Lord with the prophet: I have not hid thy justice within my heart: I have declared thy truth and thy salvation; but they have despised and rejected me. And so at the last, for these sheep disobedient to his care, let death itself bring its penalty.
RSB Chapter 2, 6-10
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A prayer for the Earth (Martyn
Goss, Diocese of Exeter)
God our Creator, maker, and shaper of
all that is, seen and unseen;
You are present in the breadth and depth
of the whole of creation,
and in the processes that make life
possible.
Yet, we are distracted by the gods of the
marketplace.
Our lives have become fractured and
fragmented.
In our brokenness, we disturb
the Earth’s capacity to hold us
Call us back from the brink.
Help us to choose love and not fear,
to change ourselves and not the planet,
to act justly for the sake of the
vulnerable,
and to make a difference today for the
life tomorrow.
We make this our prayer in your name,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Presentation Secondary School Listowel is delighted to congratulate our Leaving Cert student of 2016 Iseult O’Callaghan Leahy.
Iseult has been awarded a UCC Quercus Entrance Scholarship for the 2016/17 academic year on the basis of Leaving Certificate results:
The Scholarship Awards Ceremony will be held on Wednesday 7 December 2016 in UCC,
Approximately 60 students are selected on the basis of their performance in the Leaving Certificate or EU equivalent. In any one year, up to 15 scholarships are awarded in relation to any one of the Colleges as follows: Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences; Business and Law; Medicine and Health; Science, Engineering and Food Science.
We wish Iseult our best wishes as she begins her studies in UCC and we are very proud of her achievement.
https://www.ceist.ie/iseult-ocallaghan-leahy-awarded-ucc-quercus-entrance-scholarship/
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Sunday after Pentecost
October 2021
Dear Friends of Sacred Heart Church,
Today is the 18th Sunday after Pentecost. The opening words of the Introit are ‘Da Pacem Domine’, ‘Grant us Peace, O Lord’. Peace is a fruit of Holy Communion. In this most mysterious moment, one receives the whole person of Jesus Christ, whilst at the same time, s/he is being received into the person of Christ. This is the spiritual action of becoming a part of Him. This opens us to be imbued by His grace to bend our hearts and souls to His Will. A transformative action where we are consumed by His divinity to become the person He wills us to be.
Please keep in prayer, the first years who recently joined the Seminary. Do you remember Christopher who served as an altar boy here and Michael Dirkson who was with us during the summer? Both are among this intake of students. Thank God there are 26 students this year.
There are five young Irish men (we are claiming Christopher among them because he served in our church for the three years he was a student at MIC) in our seminary at present. Given this growing number already on the journey towards the sacred priesthood, we are starting a fundraising drive to help in their support. Please visit see the window below to support their priestly formation.
This coming Wednesday is the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel. We keep in our prayers the Sister Adorers of the Royal Heart in Naples, Italy. On that day five postulants will receive the religious habit and will become novices. -----------------------------
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Canon Lebocq
Prior of Sacred Heart Church
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The Adventures of Sr M. Juliana Culhane in July 1922, Part 1
by Marian McGreal SSL, coordinator
The scene - in St Louis Convent, Louisville, Monaghan. I was a boarder there from 1919 to 1922. I came with an inlaw of my Auntie’s, Maria Brosnan, a sister of Con Brosnan – the famous Kerry footballer. I loved the place. The Sisters were very kind to us. Sr M. Laurentia was the Mistress of Schools then. At that time there was Junior, Middle, and Senior Grade (in the Inter Exams). I did Middle Grade in June 1922. The times, due to the 1922 Civil War, were very disturbed. The exams for some, ended about June 18th and Sr M. Laurentia did her best with information from Headquarters in Dublin, to send the girls home safely. But some of the subjects like Art, Commerce etc. dragged on, and it was well on in June by the time about 30 or 35 of us were finished. We were all set in great form for going home, when the news came, urgently from Dublin that there was trouble in the city and that there was no means of travelling for any girls from the south. No trains running from Dublin to Limerick or Cork, or from Dublin to Waterford. So there we were about twenty of us “all dressed up an nowhere to go.” I often think what the poor sisters felt like with us crowd on their hands! Then just before the news from Dublin had come I had been making plans how I would spend my holiday, as I had made up my mind to enter September 8th. Well we just had to make the best of a bad matter and be grateful to God and the Srs that we were safe and sound with them. Then bright and fair one morning Sr M. Laurentia got word that the city was quiet, and that we could get to Dublin, but no trains to the south. Well, God was good to me, I had a pal, Margaret Fleming from Castleisland, Kerry. She luckily had a cousin in Dublin married to a D.M.P. [Dublin Metropolitan Police] man, and she made me come with her. I forgot their names, but they had the greatest sympathy for us, were so good to us. The D.M.P Inspector had a heart of gold. He knew well that our relatives would be in a very bad way about us, no means of sending a wire or letter. So the good and kind man went out every morning and found out if there was any chance of a train to the south. So, praise to the good God, he came back in haste one morning and said that there was a train going to Waterford in an hours’ time that we could also get a connection to Mallow that same day. Well, in two shakes of a lambs tail he had us across the city, and just in time for the Waterford train. It was like a passport to Heaven to get that train!! The good D.M.P. man wished us the best of luck. Thank God we got to Waterford in time to catch the train to Mallow.
To be continued.
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From: Sean Sheehy
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2021,
Subject: 22nd Sunday B
Cafeteria Christians
The term “cafeteria Christian” is often used to describe those members of Jesus’ Church who pick and choose the doctrines they like and ignore or reject what they don’t like as if they were food items in a cafeteria. The problem with being a cafeteria Christian is that such a person isn’t a true believer. Jesus was very clear when He said, “Say, ‘Yes’ when you mean ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ when you mean ‘No.’ Anything beyond that is from the evil one.” (Mt 5:37) In other words, Jesus expects His followers to be unambiguous in their total commitment to Him and His Church’s teaching. This Sunday, Jesus’ Church shows Him describing the faith of some of the Pharisees: “This people pays me lip service but their heart is far from me. Empty is the worship they do me because they teach as doctrines mere human precepts.” (Mk 7:6-7) They were putting more emphasis on washing their bodies than on cleansing their souls through lovingly keeping God’s Law. Jesus explained what love involves: “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Live on in my love. You will live in my love if you keep my commandments, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and live in His love.” (Jn 15:9-10) So in order to live in Jesus’ love keeping the commandments, what He taught His Apostles, must be heartfelt expressions of our faith in Him. Remember Jesus said that, “where your treasure is, there your heart is also.” (Mt 6:21) Our heart, then, is where our treasure is. Each of us must ask our self: “Is Jesus Christ my treasure or do I treasure something else more?” What I treasure is where my heart is.
Jesus revealed that many of the Pharisees didn’t really treasure God and so their worship of Him was merely empty lip-service. An Irish Cardinal Bishop was asked a number of years ago to describe the Catholic Faith in Ireland. He said: “Ireland is a pagan country with a veneer of Catholicism.” The implication was that the majority of those who called themselves “Catholic” didn’t have Jesus and His Church, which are inseparable, as their treasure and the locus of their faith. The Irish demonstrated that when a majority voted to legalize abortion and so-called same-sex “marriage”, both of which are totally contrary to the teaching of Jesus and His Church. Many of those who voted for this immoral legislation considered themselves practising Catholics but were obviously paying only lip-service to Jesus and His Church’s teaching. Their hearts were somewhere else. In America surveys show that a large percentage of those who call themselves “Catholic” don’t believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Jesus taught that, “Anyone who loves me will be true to my word, and my Father will love him; we will come to him and make our dwelling place with him.” (Jn 14:23) Jesus’ command to His Apostles at the Passover Meal after He changed bread and wine into His body and blood was “Take and eat … Take and drink … This is my body … This is my blood …Do this in memory of me.” Thus He enabled His Real Presence to continue in His Church until the end of time through the agency of His Church’s ordained bishops and priests. Cafeteria Christians choose not to adhere to all Jesus’ teaching but the bits and pieces that suits them. As someone said, “Jesus wants hearts not hypocrites.”
Pope St. Paul VI called for a “New Evangelization” to reach out especially to cafeteria Christians and help them to meet Jesus Christ in a personal relationship and live that relationship fully as faithful members of His Church. The motivation for this is found in the words of Moses: “What great nation is there that gods so close to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call upon Him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole Law which I am setting before you today?” (Deut 4:1-2, 6-8) If you replace the word “nation” with “Jesus’ Church” you recognize that there’s no religion whose God is as close to its members as Jesus Christ is to those who make Him their treasure and give Him their hearts. The Holy Spirit revealed through James that God is the source of all the good which He bestows on the faithful through Jesus. “All good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of all light … Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the Word and not merely hearers only, deluding yourselves.” (Jas 1:17-27)
Jesus wants to plant His word of life in our souls but we must open our hearts to receive it. He knocks on the door of our heart but it can be opened only from inside. Therefore we must not only hear God’s word but we must let it enter our heart so we can put it into action in our life. Jesus reminds us that words without actions are empty and ineffective. “A man who listens to God’s word but does not put it into practise is like a man who looks into a mirror at the face he was born with: he looks at himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like. There is, on the other hand, the man who examines freedom’s Word and abides by it. He is no forgetful listener, but one who carries out the law I practise. Blessed will this man be in whatever he does.” (Jas 1:23-25) Jesus’ Church isn’t a cafeteria: She has only one charter for orderly living, namely Jesus’ Commandments, and one menu for her members, namely Jesus Himself as the food for their souls. He warns the cafeteria Christian: “But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spew you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:16) Are you a “doer” of God’s Word or a mere listener picking and choosing what suits you, or have you made Jesus, present in His Church, your treasure, the locus of your heart? (frsos)
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IRISH NUNS IN INDIA
Again the Daughters of the Cross have to record the loss of one of their Sisters, who died at Anand on Sunday, 18th July, after an illness of only a few hours. Sister Agnes Mary was born in Kerry, Ireland, in April, 1865, and joined the congregation at Liege in October, 1884.Two years later she arrived in India, and since that time worked with the greatest earnestness in the convents at Karachi, Igatpuri, Bandra, Panchgani, Dadar, and finally at Anand, of which house she was made Superioress in December, 1908. In the first week of July, cholera broke out in that locality, and some of the orphan children confided to the care of the Sisters; contracted the disease. A few cases proved fatal. However, on Sunday last it was hoped that the epidemic had ceased, an intimation to that effect
having been written by the Superioress herself, little thinking that she would be the next chosen victim. Sister Agnes Mary saw without fear death approaching, and was perfectly calm and resigned to God’s holy will. During the years she spent in India, and in whatever house she laboured, she was ever a subject of the greatest edification to her Sisters in religion and to all with whom She came in contact. Her happy disposition endeared her to everyone, and her loss will be keenly felt. Quietly and religiously she spent her days, and one may truly say: “She went about doing good.” Her death was a fit crowning to her life—a victim to duty, she has fallen at her post.
R.I.P.—Bombay “Examiner.”
Dave O’Sullivan has the answer.
I can confirm that Sister Mary Agnes who died in India was the aunt of Mgr Michael Leahy.
She was born Honora LEAHY was born about 11 Apr 1865 in Lisaniskea, Knockanure, Co. Kerry. She was christened on 13 Apr 1865 in Moyvane, Co. Kerry. Her parents were James Leahy and Kate O’Connor.
Mgr Michael Leahy was the son of Honora’s brother Tom Leahy.
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From: Sean Sheehy
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2021, 14:58
Subject: Feast of the Assumption
Celebrating Mary’s Assumption into Heaven: It’s Implications
Jesus’ Church, from her earliest times, believed that upon the end of the Virgin Mary’s life on earth her body wasn’t buried but rather was assumed in its entirety by God into Heaven. The word ‘assume’ comes from the Latin and means to ‘accept, or ‘to take up.” In the Bible, Mary isn’t the first person to be taken into Heaven. In Second Kings we read: “And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into Heaven by a whirlwind …” (2 Kgs 2:2) As the Angel Gabriel said to Mary concerning Elizabeth’s pregnancy even though she was sterile, “for nothing is impossible with God.” (Lk 1:37) Jesus Himself said to His disciples concerning who can be saved that, “For man it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” (Mt 19:16) To show God’s power flowing through Him, Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, cleansed the lepers, changed water into wine, walked on water, and changed bread and wine into His body and blood thereby enabling believers to “live in me as I do in you … I am the vine, you are the branches.” (Jn 15:4-5)
Mary’s assumption symbolizes the completion of Jesus’ redemption of mankind. In Mary’s assumption, the Old Testament record of David and the Ark has a number of parallels. The early Church writers described Mary as the “Ark of the New Covenant.” Just as the Ark in the Old Testament was a golden box that held the two tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments signifying God’s Covenant with Moses, so Mary was seen as the Ark of the New Covenant because she carried the God’s Word-made-flesh in her womb. The Assumption put Mary in Heaven as the “Queen Mother” “arrayed in gold.” “The queen takes her place at Your right hand in gold of Ophir.” (Ps 45:10) Just as the Ark of the Old Covenant was made of incorruptible acacia wood so Mary’s body, the Ark of the New Covenant, was incorruptible demonstrated by her Assumption.
In his inspired visions, John, records, “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she laboured to give birth.” (Rev 12:1-2) The “woman” here is, of course, Mary experiencing the pain of childbirth which was the result of Adam and Eve’s sin, but “the woman” also symbolizes Jesus’ Church bringing Jesus to the world. The twelve stars represent the Twelve Apostles. Following this John saw the conflict between good and evil with “a huge red dragon that … stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour the child when she gave birth” (vs 3-4) symbolizing Satan. In a clear reference to Mary, John records, “She gave birth to a son – a boy destined to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod.” (v 5) The “iron rod” symbolized Jesus’ power to break the power of evil and restore justice in the world. “Her child was caught up to God and to His throne” meaning that evil failed as indicated by Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into Heaven. It was revealed to John that, “The woman (Mary and the Church, of which she is the Mother designated by Jesus from His Cross) fled into the desert (symbolizing a place of rest, consecration, and protection), where a special place had been prepared for her by God.” (v 6) That special place for Mary was Heaven into which she was assumed.
Mary is a pattern of Jesus’s Church in all kinds of ways. The mission of both was and is to bring Jesus into the world as its Saviour and Redeemer so He could bring us to His Father to adopt us as His children through the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary suffered deeply seeing Jesus’ passion and death just as the Church suffers deeply through persecution by the agents of Satan. Like Mary, consecrated from the moment of her conception, Jesus Church is consecrated by the Holy Spirit who gives her rest, continues to consecrate and protect her from her enemies. Like Mary, who withstood evil through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ Church has withstood evil both from within and from outside during the last two thousand years. Mary is also the pattern of fidelity to Jesus for every believer. She is that woman of great faith who expressed it simply to the Angel Gabriel, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38) Listening to God in prayer and worship, Mary’s words should be our consistent response.
Why should we make Mary our exemplar as Christians? Elizabeth tells us why when she was inspired by the Holy Spirit to exclaim when Mary visited her: “Blessed is she who trusted that the Lord’s words to her would be fulfilled.” (Lk 1:45) What does it mean to have Mary as the pattern of our life in Christ, living as intentional disciples of Jesus? She spell it out in her Magnificat (Lk 1:46-55) First of all, our being, our life, our existence should “proclaim the greatness of the Lord” so that our “light must shine before men so that they may see the goodness in (y)our acts and give praise to (y)our Heavenly Father.” (Mt 5:16) Secondly, our spirit should find “joy in God (our) Saviour” for He has looked upon us to serve Him in our unworthiness. Thirdly, we must realize that “God who is mighty has done great things” for us. So we must be grateful. His Name is holy and He is merciful in all generations. So we must respect His Name and be merciful. God is omnipotent and brought down those who were powerful. So we must be humble and not attempt to dominate others. He raises the humble above the powerful. So we mustn’t seek power for its own sake but to serve others. We must realize that God gives food to the hungry, especially those whose souls hunger for Him. The rich who think they don’t need God will go hungry forever. So we must receive Jesus as the food for our souls and not spend all our resources in pampering our body. Following in Mary’s footsteps we become faithful, grateful, moral, humble, merciful, Eucharistic, generous and trusting servants of God who is always faithful to His promises. In Mary’s company we can pray that at our death, while our bodies will become ashes, Jesus will assume our soul into Heaven where God is the Father, Jesus is our Redeemer, the Holy Spirit is our Sanctifier, and Mary the Queen Mother. (frsos)
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FR. FRANK REPORTS...
St. Margaret’s profound physical ailments teach a powerful lesson about how every life –
no matter how compromised, no matter how “imperfect” - has value and every person has a
contribution to make.
And the question that challenges us most deeply is, if we were there, and knew Margaret was
locked up in that cell, would we have spoken up?
St. Margaret’s canonization comes at an interesting time in the U.S., as more states are
passing laws to protect babies from abortion based on their sex, race or disability.
Prenatal testing now allows parents to know long before their baby is born if he or she
will be everything they have dreamed of and planned for. Babies falling short of that ideal
I invite everyone who believes in the sanctity of every human
life to join me in praying this prayer I wrote some years ago for
Margaret of Castello, the newest saint for the pro-life movement.
Father,
Your care extends to every human person,
And you uphold the dignity of every human life,
Regardless of the false ways that the world may calculate its
value.
You gave us St. Margaret of Castello as a sign and a
challenge.
You permitted your glory to shine through her human weakness,
And called those around her to love her
Despite her physical limitations.
Forgive us when we fail to defend the least among us.
Through the intercession of St. Margaret,
Give us grace to speak up for the outcast
and to welcome those who are rejected.
When this brief life is over,
Grant that we who have welcomed all our brothers and sisters,
May be welcomed by you into the life that never ends.
We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(See ProLifePrayers.com.)
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Kenmare Parish August 2021
It’s been a hectic week. I arrived c 5.00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon with the car packed with some of my belongings. It had been a busy time, over recent weeks, trying to conclude in the
parish of Glenflesk, where I ministered for the past five years. So, on Wednesday night, I was pretty exhausted. But sleep is restorative, and I slept soundly here in the presbytery in Dromneavane. And on rising early on Thursday morning, I looked out the window, with the enchanting view down toward the town of Kenmare, and what did I see? A little fawn with two adult deer grazing contentedly. It brought to mind the line from scripture “like the
deer that years for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God”
(Psalm 42). I love nature and, in Kerry, we are blessed to live in one of the beautiful parts of God’s creation. I will savour these environs and the beauty of hill and mountain, sky, and bay.
Over the past number of years, I write these ponderings weekly for the parish newsletter.
The writings are simply a stream of consciousness and vary from a reflection on life, a book I’ve read or a quotation I’ve seen, an experience I’ve had or a thought I’ve believed is worth sharing. The reflection takes in the scriptures and a life of faith, but the writings are not based exclusively on religious matters. I keep my engagement with scripture to my homilies at mass each weekend – during the week, I like to offer a two-minute reflection on the scripture at our celebration of Mass.
So now it is time to begin the journey together. I hope you will be ready for the adventure. This weekend we will greet each other and say hello. May God bless all that we will do in the years ahead. May the Spirit of God help us to discern God’s call to us in our lives. We will comfort and console each other in times of sorrow. We will laugh and delight in moments of joy. We
will walk together. In all things, let the living Lord be in our hearts.
(Fr. George Hayes)
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Following he conclusion of the Olympics last week, I read somewhere that the
motto of the Olympics, Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger) was first
used by a Dominican priest, Fr. Henri Didon, at the opening ceremony of a school
sports day in 1881. It was later adopted by Pierre de Coubertin, the Olympics
founder, who was present on the day, as the Olympics motto in 1894. On the
Olympics theme, I was listening to an interview in the aftermath of the gold medal
win by the Skibbereen rowers, Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy. McCarthy’s sister was being
interviewed about her brother’s magnificent achievement. On being queried by the interviewer, she told us that Fintan had no interest in sport until he was c. 15 years of age. He wasn’t interested in football, hurling or soccer but in his mid-teenage years, he discovered an interest in rowing. I thought isn’t that marvellous. What we need to do is to encourage each person to find their particular skill and nurture that. That really is the guiding philosophy of St. Benedict. He says that we all have gifts, and we should search to discover what each one of us is good at. Someone could be a great cook. Another loves to play the piano or write poems. Someone else can build anything. Another loves science. Someone is great at organising. Another has a passion for caring. One of our tasks in life is to discover our gift, develop that gift and share it with the community. Our inclination sometimes can be to look at another person and to think how talented they are. And we live in a world where social media presents the best side of everyone – people are photographed in the perfect kitchen or having a perfect holiday on a perfect beach or living the ideal life. But you’d wonder is that always real? So, let’s try to discover our particular gift and let’s try to use that at the service of God and the community. When I am talking to the children in primary school, I always say to them, no one else has your fingerprint. No one else in the world has your thumbprint. Each one of us is unique. In the week ahead, let’s thank God for all that we’ve been given...and let’s discover and nurture that gift!
(FR. GEORGE HAYES)
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The Presbytery, Abbeydorney (066 7135146)
abbeydorney@dioceseofkerry.ie
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 8th August 2021.
Dear Parishioner,
In last week’s ‘Dear Parishioner’, I included a few ‘diary entries’ from the book, ‘The Diary of a Parish Priest’, a translation in English of a book published in 1964. The priest diarist, Fr. Theodor Blieweis, had already spent thirteen years in charge of a parish in the city of Vienna
in Austria. I think one could say about the book, as used to be said about an English Sunday newspaper, ‘All human life is there.’ You can read two further diary entries inside.
Time and time again, most of us (true or false!) tend to say that we are sick and tired of hearing bad news on radio and TV and reading it in news-papers. News about drugs is nearly always bad news. It might be said to be ‘good news’ , as happened when a large amount of drugs was found
hidden in a low loader being brought into Ireland, via Rosslare Port. While I myself get tired of bad news too, I feel that when we hear about the harm done by drugs, there is a possibility that somebody who has been thinking of using drugs may be steered away from doing so.
Fr. Peter McVerry has dawn attention to the drug problem, the harm done to young people and families, the failure on the part of Government to tackle the problem and the need to pay attention to some of the reasons why people resort to drug use. You have read many articles by the
Jesuit priest, taken from his monthly column in Reality Magazine, and included in past issues of Dear Parishioner. I think one cannot but be alarmed at the headline of the article in this ‘Dear Parishioner’ ‘The 13-year-old drug dealer.’ He concludes his article ‘Ensuring that every child
feels valued and has equal opportunity to succeed in life is necessary for reducing drug violence. Is that too much to ask?’
I felt a bit embarrassed last week, when I discovered that an athlete from my native parish was due to compete this week in the Olympic 25 kilometre ‘walking race.’ David Kenny’s parents, natives of Killarney Parish, came to live in Firies Parish (the Ballyhar side, where my old home is),
when some newly-built house became available. David did not get a medal but I am sure, like many other non-medal winners, he felt honoured to represent his country and, hopefully, will do so again in 2024.
(Fr. Denis O’Mahony)
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Reality Check – Peter McVerry, (Reality Mag. July/August 2021.)
The 13-year-old Drug Dealer.
Ensuring that every child feels valued and has equal opportunity to succeed in life is necessary for reducing drug violence. In many parts of our cities, you can order any illegal drug of choice and it
will be delivered to your door quicker than a pizza and it may be delivered by a 13-year-old boy on a bicycle. In a few years, this boy will be a major drug dealer, involved in violent crimes, if he is not already dead or in prison. What makes a football-mad 13-year-old boy become a major
drug dealer? He is almost certainly living in a deprived area of the city, characterised by high unemployment. His parent(s), in all likelihood, are surviving on social welfare. He does not expect much from life and does not see much point in going to school. The people he looks up to
are older drug dealers, who have lots of money, nice cars and frequently go on foreign holidays. Like most people in our consumer-addicted society, he wants money and what money can buy. What makes his want different from everyone else’s is the context. He wants it now, because
he does not expect to get it in later life and he knows how to get it now. He doesn’t need career guidance counsellors.
Most of us have a ‘social contract’ with society – we believe that it is ultimately in our interest to have a supportive relationship with society. There is a reasonable expectation that if we do what society asks of us, namely go to school, study hard and go on to further education, we will
be rewarded with a job, a reasonable income and a place in society. This boy has no social contract with society, no expectations for his future. He has the same needs, dreams and desires as the rest of us but, for him, the path to achieving them appears blocked. Society many want
to rehabilitate him, which means to control him, to reduce the likelihood that he will continue to cause problems for society but that is in itself a problem. It reinforces his belief that society cares, not about him, but only protecting itself from him. He doesn’t need rehabilitation, it is the relationship between him and society that needs rehabilitation, defines the boundaries of his behaviour. To retain the approval of this group, he may engage in activities that are not of his choosing (using drugs or robbing) or fail to engage in activities he might have chosen,
(such as staying in school). His ‘social contract’ is not with the broader society but with the peer group, to which he belongs. This peer group defines the limits of his behaviour and the limits of his thinking. To be a ‘rat’ or to express any appreciation of the role of the Gárdaí, will draw
down instant condemnation and ridicule. I used to find it utterly inexplicable that someone who had been shot and seriously injured would refuse to cooperate with the Gárdaí to identify the would-be killer. The need to belong to a peer group that requires such behaviour is just as strong as the desire to live.
Most young offenders eventually grow out of crime. They fall in love or they have a child. Now, for the first time, they realise that there is something they want and can realistically achieve. To avoid putting the relationship in jeopardy, by going in and out of jail, they make the ‘social contract’ with society. However, if you are embedded in a drug gang, your only ‘social contract’ is with the local gang; your loyalty in return for lots of money. Any indication that your loyalty is suspect is to
sign your death warrant. You cannot get out. You know too much about the workings of the gang. Our society, then, has to make a ‘social contract’ with every child. Ensuring that every child has value and feels equal opportunity to succeed in life is necessary for reducing drug violence. Is that too much to ask?(Reality, July/August 2021)
1.A long wait at the next door, before an eye peers at me through the judas. Then, a female voice. ‘What do you want?’ I wait a while and ring again and, after another while, I ring a third time. No answer. I write on a visiting card, ‘I’m sorry you left me standing at the door. I wanted to pay you a short visit. Your Parish Priest,’ and slipped it under the door. What do people think of their priests to leave them standing on the doorstep like travelling salesmen?’
2.‘I’ll come regularly to Mass now’ promised the woman with the thick-lensed glasses. This was one of the longer visits. Seven years before, her only child had died at the age of eight and, since then, she had been inconsolable. ‘The doctor says I mustn’t cry. It’s the worst thing for my eyes,’ she told me. Yet, often when her husband was out, she would weep for hours on end. ‘I just can’t go into a church anymore. I used to take her to Mass every Sunday and, now, everything reminds me
of her, the priest at the altar, the singing...and then I can’t stop crying. You don’t know how glad I am you came and what a relief it is to tell all this.’ Both paragraphs from ‘The Diary of a Parish Priest’ by Theodor Blieweiss (Mercier Press, Cork, 1964)
Seeing your Life through the Lens of the Gospel John Byrne OSA
1.Faith is reasonable but we cannot reason our way into faith. We have to be 'drawn by the Father'. We must be 'taught by God'. What opens your mind and heart to God’s message?
2. When we label others disparagingly, we close our minds to what they are saying. The Jews did this to Jesus. Have you ever had the experience of being surprised by the wisdom of another when you laid aside your prejudices about her/him to listen to what s/he was saying?
3. 'No one has ever seen the Father except the one who is from God'. As Jesus put a human face on God and God's love, so God's love today is mediated to us through one another.
How have other people been sacraments of God's love for you? For whom have you been that kind of a sacrament?
4. The way in which Jesus became a source of life for us was by giving himself. It is when we truly give ourselves that we can be life-giving to one another. If we do not give of ourselves, what do we have to offer? How have you discovered the importance of self-giving, in yourself or in others?
Living Bread: God’s Word This Month in Reality July/August, 2021.
The Gospel readings on the past two Sundays and, again today, are from Chapter 6 of St. John’s Gospel. The text is a rich tapestry of highly complex theological concepts and biblical allusions. It is challenging to understand. Yet, when we get past the conceptual complexity and the
wealth of biblical allusion, the text says something that is both simple and profound. God, whom we have never seen, loves us. The consequence of the Father’s love is his desire that we live forever in his presence. It was out of this amazing love for us that God sent Jesus into the world. All we have to do is to come to Jesus in faith and receive what he offers with trust, and that which God desires for us will happen. ‘The Eucharist, although it is the fullness of sacramental life, is not a
prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak’. (Pope Francis in the Joy of the Gospel’)
The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire
to appear. (Socrates in Reality Magazine, July/August 2021)
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Here are some of the lyrics of Lennon’s song:
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace
You, you may say
I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions ….etc.
So there it is, a world without faith, religion, Church, Country, piety, patriotism and the free market economy. The song implicitly endorsed atheistic Communism, or at least Socialism in its dream of “no possessions.” Imagine, was perhaps the most secular and radical of popular songs ever written, dripping with contempt, deconstructionist, revolutionary, and reductionist, a Magna Carta for secular humanism, and Communism.
http://blog.adw.org/2021/08/why-children-singing-lennons-imagine-at-the-olympics-should-trouble-you/
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Saint John Jones' and Saint John Wall's stories
These two friars were martyred in England in the 16th and 17th centuries for refusing to deny their faith.
John Jones was Welsh. He was ordained a diocesan priest and was twice imprisoned for administering the sacraments before leaving England in 1590. He joined the Franciscans at the age of 60 and returned to England three years later while Queen Elizabeth I was at the height of her power. John ministered to Catholics in the English countryside until his imprisonment in 1596. He was condemned to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. John was executed on July 12, 1598.
Prayer for a Pro-life Victory at the US Supreme Court
Lord, God and Father of Life,
You love all that you have created,
And protect all who are in danger.
You entrust us to the care of each other
And establish earthly authority
To protect the rights that you yourself bestow.
Lord, your People have failed,
On a personal level and in civic society,
To provide adequate protection
To those who need it the most.
We pray today for the smallest human beings,
The children yet in the womb.
We pray that their parents will generously welcome them
And vigorously reject any temptation to kill them by abortion.
We pray that our laws will protect their right to life.
Lord, we thank and praise you
For legislators and governors who have implemented laws
To protect children from abortion.
In particular we thank you for the people of Mississippi
Who have taken bolder steps than most states
To protect children in the womb prior to the point of viability.
Lord, we ask now that this law will be upheld
As it is reviewed by the United States Supreme Court.
Give your wisdom to the Justices and their clerks,
And to the attorneys to seek to protect these children.
Help all to realize the simple truth
That more protection is needed
Precisely when a person is more dependent,
And that “viability” is neither a source of human rights
Nor a factor in determining when to protect children from violence.
Lord, as a result of this case now before the Supreme Court,
Give the unborn, and our whole nation, a new and refreshing season of Life.
Bring us a new breath of freedom,
A new measure of common sense,
A rediscovery of justice and wisdom
And a big step forward in building a culture of life.
Your Son Jesus Christ
Came to grant freedom to the oppressed.
Grant freedom, then, to the children in the womb
And in these days, set our nation on a course
Of rejecting the violence of abortion,
And treating children in the womb
With equal justice under law.
Bring victory in this Supreme Court case
And then bring us even more victories,
Until every child is protected
And every abortion is rejected.
Bring us, O Lord, the victory of Life.
We pray in the Name of Jesus the Lord. Amen.
Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life
ProLifePrayers.com
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Saint Oliver Plunkett –Feast Day: 1st July Saint Oliver Plunkett is believed to have been born on 1st November 1625 in Lough Crew, Co Meath. His family was from Irish nobility and supported King Charles 1 of England. He went to Rome to study for the priesthood at the Irish College and was ordained a priest there on 1stJanuary 1654. He became a Professor of Theology in Rome from 1654 until 1669.He was appointed Archbishop of Armagh in 1669and returned to Ireland the following year. He was forced to conduct a covert ministry during the suppression of priests at that time in the seventeenth century. He was arrested and tried at Dundalk in 1679 for conspiring against the state. It was seen that Oliver would never be convicted in Ireland so he was moved to Newgate Prison in London. Saint Oliver Plunkett was found guilty of high treason for “promoting the Catholic faith” and was condemned to a gruesome death. He was martyred on 1stJuly 1681 at Tyburn by hanging, disembowelling, quartering and beheading. He was the last Catholic to die for his faith at Tyburn and the first of the Irish martyrs to be beatified. His body was initially buried in two tin boxes next to five Jesuits who had died before him; his head is in St. Peter’s Church in Drogheda, Co Louth, most of his body is at Down Abbey, England and some relics are elsewhere in Ireland. His beatification took place on 23rdMay 1920 and he was canonised on 12th October 1975.
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RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS Two cups of patience, One heart full of love, Two handfuls of generosity, A dash of laughter, One handful of understanding, Sprinkle generously with kindness, Add plenty of faith and mix well, Spread over a period of a lifetime. Serve to everyone you meet.
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Prayer
I put before Him the crowded day,
I try to hear what his voice will say.
If others are right and I am wrong,
am I the weak or are they the strong ?
I place my thoughts and feelings o’re,
as I gaze upon the little Golden Door.
Today dear Lord I may forget you.
Please do not forget me.
Jesus and Mary I always pray,
ever be with me on my way.
Lord, help me to remember that nothing
is going to happen in my life today,
that you and I won’t handle together.
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The Presbytery, Abbeydorney (066 7135146)
abbeydorney@dioceseofkerry.ie
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2nd May 2021.
Dear Parishioner,
If you cast your mind back to this time three months ago, I think you may recall that there was very little growth. It is hard to believe, then, that three months later (Friday 30th April,) there are fields that are bare, not because there has been no growth but because silage has already been made from the grass that grew so quickly in recent weeks. I want you to cast your minds back to a month ago, when the Easter Sunday ‘Dear Parishioner’ carried an article from Reality magazine by Fr. Gerard Moloney with the title ‘What future for the Irish Church?’ Having read it and seen that it gave food for thought and might have seemed to look at the half-empty glass rather than the half-full one, I decided to give you a bit of homework. I think I can say that the majority of readers felt that homework was for those going to school and not for adults. I thank the ‘count on one hand’ number who took the time to send a response to the questions I put.
In this month’s issue of Reality, Fr. Moloney writes on the same subject in an article entitled ‘A Post-Pandemic Church’. As many people have been doing in recent weeks, he wonders how different life will be in the ‘Church’ context, when we have said goodbye to the pandemic. He then goes on to say something, which you and I have said in the course of the past year. “Even though people are grateful for online liturgies, something impossible even twenty years ago, there is no substitute for the real thing. Closed church doors have been a source of pain for priests and people alike. It has been a time of hardship from which recovery will be slow.” He poses a few questions that will have to be answered if the numbers attending, when weekend Masses resume, are smaller than before the pandemic. ‘How does one maintain or build a sense of parish and Christian community if regular church attendance has collapsed? How does a community hand on the faith? How will parishes and dioceses get on with sharply reduced income?’
The author of the main article in this ‘Dear Parishioner’, Kate Liffey, is a member of the ‘Council for Life’ of the Irish Bishops’ Conference, which is concerned with promoting respect for life ‘from the womb to the tomb.’ (Fr. Denis O’Mahony)
The Council for Life
A space for dialogue, a space to hear stories,
a space to learn together and to listen.
A few years ago, I visited a friend of mine in hospital who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Like me she was a young mother with two small children. I sat beside her on her hospital bed, and she took my hand, ‘Kate, it’s gone into my spine. I’m finished’. In shock, and without thinking, I said, ‘No, no, don’t worry, you’ll get through this. It’s not as bad as maybe they think it is or you think it is’. The conversation is cut short. I had cut it short in my desire to cut past the pain and shock of her diagnosis. I simply couldn’t face what was happening. It was most definitely not my finest hour. I was reminded of that moment as I prepared to interview Seamus Mulconry, General Secretary, of the Catholic School Management Association, who was born in a Mother and Baby home. We were to speak about what it means to be pro-life in Ireland today, particularly following the publication of the Mother and Babies Homes Report earlier this year and the loss of the referendum on the repeal of the 8th amendment in May 2018. These are painful and challenging times; and the only way to grow through them is to stop and listen. My conversation with Seamus was to be a fascinating one.
Writing or speaking about being pro-life in Ireland in 2021 is not for the faint hearted. The referendum results of 2018, undoubtedly, had a chilling effect on many of us, lay and clergy alike. In the days, weeks, months and now years since the result, greeted by scenes of jubilant celebration by many in Dublin Castle, being pro-life has felt different. I had a baby in January 2018, after a very difficult pregnancy, one that coincided with all the campaigning. Now, with the result, I couldn’t get my head around the celebrations of the referendum result. Here I was with a five-month-old baby, asleep in my arms, looking at these scenes of jubilation. These were my fellow citizens, some of them my friends. How could so many of them feel so differently on this fundamental issue? How could the pro-life movement in Ireland pick up the pieces and continue the difficult work that had to be done? I don’t know why but suddenly every baby felt that bit more vulnerable to me. For me at least, it felt when we went to speak publicly, or indeed privately even within our own families, our right to do so had been diminished in some way.
So, to my conversation with Seamus Mulconry. From the outset, we both agreed that the reality of being pro-life in Ireland – if we are going to be real about it – has of course, also being made more complicated by the unfolding of our relatively recent social history. The story of the treatment of women in Ireland who didn’t live their lives by the ‘rule book’ is a national shame to which we must face up with honesty and courage. Seamus is a historian and is clear, ‘We can have a discussion all we like about history and context but there is an honesty also required on our part as Catholics and as pro-life. More broadly, as a society, we have to remember together that that was us, not just as a Church, not just as a society, but as a people.’ Seamus was born in the mid 1960s. Very matter of factly, he shares, ‘The local curate came to my father. A girl was in trouble. Would my father like a son?’ The answer to the question was an emphatic ‘yes’. Seamus shares what he knows about his mother. ‘I know what age she was, the colour of her hair, the name she gave me and some details about circumstances attending my birth.’
Seamus speaks with great fondness for the local curate and appreciation for Sr. Hildegaard. He speaks with real gratitude about the woman who gave birth to him. “I am very grateful for the gift of life but I don’t feel any need or desire to search her out”. Throughout our conversation he emphasised the importance of acknowledging that every adopted child’s story is different. He also acknowledges that his birth mother has her own story. This is his story, and it was fascinating to hear. Seamus describes his childhood in Clare. ‘I had a really wonderful childhood in Clare. I had a lovely family and extended family. We lived by the beach; it was idyllic. I had total security; that was the dominant feeling for me. My parents were always there, I felt completely safe. The picture he paints is of summer swims, farm visits, working in the shop, playing with numerous cousins, a picture that is as normal as it gets. He was told from an early age that he was adopted but it wasn’t an issue for him at all. ‘The fact of my birth didn’t change my sense of who my parents were; no more could have been done for me. I felt totally loved’. He movingly describes his father, a very gentle man who loved gardening and his mother, a sociable woman who loved having visitors to the house. He recalls fun-family gatherings. All of these people helped gently form him.
(Kate Liffey, Intercom, May 2021. To be continued next week.)
The Deep End (Triona Doherty May 2021)
Have you ever visited a vineyard, with its rows of vines, heavy with clusters of ripe grapes? If you're not familiar with vines, think of an apple tree laden with apples, or a fruit bush ripe for picking. In today's Gospel, Jesus uses the metaphor of a vine to describe his relationship with his disciples. He tells them that he is the vine, and they are the branches. The life of Jesus flows into us and sustains us, and this is the reason our lives can bear fruit in love, in kindness, patience, compassion and welcome. The symbolism of the vine works on many levels. If a branch is separated from the vine, it cannot flourish on its own. It must be connected to the vine from which it gets its nourishment. Each of us must be firmly rooted in Jesus and nourish that relationship. He invites us to 'remain' in him - to rest in him, to be part of him. If you look at a vine plant, often its branches are so entangled, it can be hard to know where one ends, and another begins. We note that Jesus is addressing the disciples as a group rather than as individuals: 'you are the branches'. We are a community, and we grow together, bound together by the love of God. Today, we reflect on what it means to be so intimately connected with Jesus, the true vine. We bring to mind the many gifts he has given us, and the ways in which his love bears fruit in our lives.
Seeing your Life through the Lens of the Gospel (John Byrne)
1. In a relationship, connectedness is important. Relationships cannot be taken for granted and need time and care to be life-giving. What does your experience tell you of the truth of this in your relationships?
o with God
o with your friends
o with your family
o with communities or groups to which you belong?
2. Over the past year our usual relationships have been disrupted by coronavirus restrictions on social gatherings. How has this impacted on your family, parish, and other groups to which you belong? What creative ways have you, and others, devised to keep your social life alive?
3. In ‘THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL’ Pope Francis wrote 'I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ.' He suggests that when individuals, or groups, focus on Jesus there is an increase of energy and vitality. Have you seen this happen?
4. The parable also reminds us that we are not the source of our own life. It is a gift from God, from our parents, and from all who have nourished us. Give thanks for those who have been a source of life for you.
(Both items above are taken from Intercom, May 2021)
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Marathon of Prayer this Month of May: Pope Francis has asked Catholics throughout the world to take part in a Marathon of Prayer this month of May, praying in particular to Our Lady for an end to the Covid-19 pandemic. He recommends in particular the praying of the Rosary for this and other intentions. Our Holy Father inaugurated the Marathon of Prayer last Saturday (1stMay) by leading the faithful in the Holy Rosary from Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Pope Francis promises that each day of this month “the many people who have been affected by the virus and who continue to suffer the consequences of the pandemic will be entrusted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy. ”Thirty different Marian Shrines around the world along with the Vatican are involved in this Marathon of Prayer. Each Shrine has a different day in the month assigned to it, beginning with Walsingham in England last Saturday (1stMay) and finishing with the Vatican Gardens on the last day of the month (31stMay).This Sunday (9thMay) the Shrine leading the prayer is the Holy House of Loreto in Italy. On Monday, 10thMay, the Shrine is our own Marian Shrine in Knock, Co Mayo. On Thursday, 13thMay, the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, fittingly the Marian Shrine of Fatima in Portugal will lead the prayer. On Tuesday, 18thMay, the great Marian Shrine of Lourdes in France will do so. The highlight of each day’s prayer is the Recitation of the Rosary at 5.00 pm Irish time (6.00 pm Italian time). This Rosary is being broadcast by Vatican Media on their Vatican News web portal (www.vaticannews.va),Facebook and YouTube channels. Our Lady, Health of the Sick, please pray for us
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Thought; Remember your silence and your smile are two of your most powerful tools. Your smile is the way to solve many problems. Your silence is the way to avoid many problems. Amen
Life and time are the world’s teachers. Life teaches us to make good use of time, while time teaches us the value of life.
LAST WORD: Life is a balance of holding on, letting go, and knowing when to do which of the two.
Thought“ Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain”
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Díseart is organising a pilgrimage to the North East of England to follow the footsteps of the Irish Monks from Iona. Pilgrimage costs approximately €580 on the basis of 35 pilgrims travelling, leaving from Dingle by coach and includes accommodation, travel and entrance fees to the different sites. More details on the pilgrimage are available on An Díseart’s website on http://www.diseart.ie or Contact Fr. Jim Sheehy at jimsheehy@diseart.ie or at An Díseart: 066-9152476
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April 2021
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Happy 101st. Birthday Sr. Rosarii
Sr. Rosarii O’Sullivan, Our lady of Apostles, Cork, displaying her medal received from The President, Michael D. Higgins on the occasion of her 101st birthday. Pictured with her are her niece Marian and Jeremiah O’Connor, Upper Athea.
Sr. Rosarii’s extended Dalton and O’Connor family.
Special wishes to Sr. Rosarii O’Sullivan, on her 101st birthday, celebrated on 28th March. A native of Upper Dirreen, Sr. Rosarii attended National School in Knocknagorna. The youngest of three, she joined her sister (Sr. Liam) in 1944 as a Missionary sister of Our Lady of Apostles, Cork.
A gaeilgoir to this day, Sr. Rosarii is a lifelong academic having completed a Diploma in National School teaching in Mary Immaculate College, followed by a Bachelor of Arts in UCC. Touching down in Lagos on November 21st, 1951, Sr. Rosarii would spend 40 years serving as a Missionary in Nigeria. Her first position was teaching in Sacred Heart College, Kaduna, one of the first colleges in the region to train Primary school teachers. Sr. Rosarii believes in enabling women through education. Her goal was to provide these young women with new self-awareness and an ability to express their personal and national hopes in their own rich cultures. Following this, Sr. Rosarii spent 6 years in QAC Kakuri, part of the less developed North, preparing indigenous girls for secondary school. These girls would become the first educated women in their community and the nucleus of Christian homes. This took dedication as Sr, Philomena Woulfe, Clash, discovered one morning on entering an empty dormitory, uncovering as she did, that the girls had decided to happily trek home along the railway lines!
It is with great fondness that Sr. Rosarii remembers the warm welcomes she received in the various villages she visited, delighting in sharing in the family pot whilst listening to elders pass on their traditions, customs and family values through story, play, music, song, and dance. It was during this time that Sr. Rosarii saw Queen Elizabeth on her 1956 tour of Nigeria, a moment she describes as exhilarating. She wondered at the time if HRH had ever seen such a splendid variety of richly embroidered ceremonial attire; did she marvel at the rich cultural heritage shown in the endless procession of spectacular displays?
The following years were spent educating secondary school students in Marymount S.S., Benin, as well as teacher training in Akwanga, to the backdrop of the Nigerian- Biafran war. The violence associated with the civil war put Sr. Rosarii, her peers and her students in grave danger. Despite this, Sr. Rosarii maintained her unwavering faith. Priority was given to protecting her students, disguising those at risk and journeying 100 miles with them to the safer territory of Jos.
In 1968, Sr. Rosarii was called upon to assume leadership in O.L.A. Cork as Provincial Sister, a role she has been credited with bringing a distinctive kindness and gentleness to. Returning to Nigeria in 1973, she spent another twenty years between Kaduna, Jos, Asaba, Barakin-Ladi and Zawan, teaching as well as working in religious formation and in religious education. Her final foreign mission was spent in the archives in Rome before returning a final time to Ardfoyle in 1994. Here, she has offered various services both in the province and in the community.
Sr. Rosarii is a much-loved aunt to Marian O’Connor (Upper Athea), Paddy Dalton (Dirreen) and Jimmy Dalton (Ardagh). Until recently, Sr. Rosarii has spent many happy holidays in Athea, in addition to her annual trips to Inchydoney and Castletownbere with her late sister Mary Dalton (RIP). Since her return to Ireland, she has rejoiced in celebrating family occasions and maintaining links to her close-knit family and friends in her beloved Athea. In return, she is celebrated by her community, her family and her many friends for her faithful camaraderie, her gentleness, and her unwavering Christian spirit. Sr. Rosarii has survived civil wars, fever, Malaria, Hepatitis and very recently Covid 19. She remains hopeful, calm and appreciative through it all. We wish Sr. Rosarii a deservedly happy 101st birthday.
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By Courtney Mares
Vatican, 16 April, 2021 / 5:07 pm (ACI Africa).
The Vatican’s interreligious dialogue council released a statement Friday sending “fraternal good wishes” to Muslims for the month of Ramadan.
“We, Christians and Muslims, are called to be bearers of hope, for the present life and for the life to come, and to be witnesses, restorers and builders of this hope, especially for those experiencing difficulties and despair,” the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue stated in the message published April 16.
Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, the head of the Vatican’s interreligious dialogue council, and Msgr Indunil Janakaratne Kodithuwakku Kankanamalage, the council’s secretary, signed the message, “Christians and Muslims: Witnesses of Hope,” on March 29.
Ramadan is a month in the Islamic calendar of fasting, prayer, and acts of service. It began this year on April 13 and will last until May 12.
The Vatican statement acknowledged that the past year has been marked by “long months of suffering, anguish and sorrow, especially during the lockdown periods” in many countries.
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-------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Sean Sheehy <frlistowel@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2021, 13:35
Subject: Lent 5 Sunday B
To:
How Suffering Can Glorify God
Jesus’ Church begins this 5th last week of Lent before Holy Week with Scriptures that speak of a new covenant where sin will be forgiven (Jer 31: 32-34), a creation of a new hearts containing God’s Law (Ps 51:3-15), obedience through suffering (Heb 5: 7-9), and a grain of wheat that dies and is fruitful (Jn 12: 20-33). What do all these have in common? They’re all made possible through Jesus Christ who came among us, and suffered and died on the cross in obedience to God’s will to save us from sin and eternal death. While Jesus had no sin, the Holy Spirit revealed that Jesus, “In His own body He brought your sins to the cross, so that all of us, dead to sin, could live in accord with God’s will. By His wounds you were healed.” (1 Pt 2:24) Jesus showed us that suffering brings glory to God when it’s endured for the sanctification of others.
Jesus signed a New Covenant between God and mankind in His blood in order to enable man and woman to enter Heaven. Its sign is the Holy Eucharist – the Sacrifice of the Mass, which Jesus ordained His Apostles to, “Do this in memory of me!” Through this Covenant God promised: “I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God and they shall be my people. No longer will have to teach their friends and relatives how to know the Lord. All, from the least to the greatest, shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah) People will be able to experience God’s presence in their hearts and not just in external observations. A covenant is personal agreement between two parties promising to give themselves to one another unconditionally. Those who enter it declare, “I am yours and you are mine.” A contract is different. It’s an agreement between two parties promising the exchange of goods a services. If you renege on the goods or the services the contract becomes void. But in a covenant, even if it’s broken through infidelity, it still exists and holds the parties accountable for their promises. God writes His law on people’s hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit who brings people to Jesus in whom they can meet God in the flesh. Jesus gave His Church the Sacraments of Baptism and Reconciliation so that man and woman could cleanse their hearts of sin. It’s in the forgiveness of sins that we know we’re being saved and made new. God’s people gain “a knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.” (Lk 1:76-77) Thus the Lord made it possible for every man and woman to pray: “A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew with in me. Cast me not out from your presence, and Your Holy Spirit take not from me.” (Ps 51)
Jesus paid a steep price to make this possible. The Holy Spirit reveals: “Realize that you were delivered from the futile way of life … by Christ’s blood beyond all price: the blood of a spotless, unblemished Lamb.” (1 Pt 1:18-19) Jesus’ suffering was intense. “In the days when Christ Jesus was in the flesh, He offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to God, who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. … He learned to obey through suffering … He became for all who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.” (Hebrews) Obedience always involves suffering in the sense that it requires sacrificing our will for the sake of submitting to another’s will. Pride and a lack of trust makes it hard for us to obey. This is why the Holy Spirit calls us to, “Rejoice in hope, be patient under trial, persevere in prayer.” (Rom 12:12) Suffering teaches us to seek consolation and healing which require us to trust and obey the healer or consoler. Jesus, in His suffering sought healing and consolation from His Father so He obeyed His instructions. Suffering brings glory to God when it causes us to turn to Him as our Father, to Jesus as our Saviour, and to the Holy Spirit as our Sanctifier and Advocate.
No normal person wants to suffer. Jesus didn’t want to suffer. But suffering is endemic in this world. Life is full of trials. To fear suffering is to fear life. There’s no life without suffering of some kind. How we let suffering affect us makes all the difference. Jesus framed His suffering and death as fruitful. “Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” (John) He used His suffering and death to help others by making their salvation possible through His crucifixion, where He sacrificed Himself out of love for us. It was Jesus’ suffering in obedience to His Father’s plan to save mankind that glorified God and gave hope to mankind. Our suffering, if we choose to unite it with that of Jesus, will bring glory to God and help save others. If we don’t, our suffering will fill us with fear and bitterness.
Jesus reminds us that, “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honour who ever serves me.” (John) To be with Jesus is to be with the suffering – those who are poor, lonely, grieving, diseased, outcast, disrespected, imprisoned, sick, lost, and sinners. Being where Jesus is involves suffering because it requires sacrifice. But this suffering brings glory to God through following His Son and it’s honoured and blessed by God. To save mankind Jesus had to suffer and die in order to show that suffering and death are no longer a burden and a curse on mankind. Rather, if borne in union with Him, they are a means for glorifying God and saving our fellow men and women. Jesus promises that if we suffer and die with Him, we will rise with Him. (Jn 11:25) “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” Jesus gives a value to suffering, not that we should seek it but that when it comes we use it to make us, as well as others, better rather than bitter human beings. Easter shows that joining our suffering to that of Jesus guarantees the glory of Resurrection. May we use our suffering to more fully empathize with the suffering that Jesus underwent out of love for us. In the words of St. Patrick, may our prayer be: May “I constantly rejoice and glorify Your Name wherever I may be, both in prosperity and in adversity …(May) I might accept good and evil, always giving thanks to God.” (Confessions of St. Patrick) (frsos)
May all men model themselves on Happy St. Patrick and St. Joseph.
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Knock Shrine
https://www.knockshrine.ie/faqs/?doing_wp_cron=1617215250.2377109527587890625000
Place a Petition
Place your petition online. Online petitions are included with all petitions received at Our Lady’s Shrine and prayed for during Mass.
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The movie follows the untold story of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision.
“Dr. Bernard Nathanson and Dr. Mildred Jefferson square off in a national battle in this untold conspiracy that led to the most famous and controversial court case in history,” the movie’s website explains.
“A team of activists begin to search the country, looking for a pregnant girl they can use to sue the government for her right to have an abortion. They find the perfect pawn: a young woman with a 10th grade education, struggling with poverty and other issues, named Norma McCorvey, now famously known as ‘Jane Roe.’ We watch as Norma and her legal team sue Henry Wade, the district attorney of Dallas County. Roe v. Wade is born.”
https://www.churchpop.com/2021/03/18/the-untold-story-of-roe-v-wade-pro-life-movie-filmed-in-secret-set-to-release-on-good-friday/
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By Kevin Jones
Denver, Colo., Mar 17, 2021 / 03:12 am MT ().- The history of Catholic America is, in many ways, an Irish story, with immigrant congregations and their descendants putting their stamp on many churches across the country.
“It was the Irish who made the Church grow,” said Michael McCormack, National Historian of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish-American Catholic fraternity, noting the early anti-Catholicism of America’s British colonies.
Christopher Shannon, a Christendom College history professor, said the Irish were “the most powerful ethnic group in the Catholic Church” in the U.S. during a wave of mass migrations from the mid-1800s to the early 20th century.
“They were disproportionately represented among the clergy, and especially over-represented among the episcopacy,” Shannon told CNA. “By the mid-nineteenth century, Irish clergy had taken the lead in church building to serve the immigrant populations of the industrial cities of the East Coast and the Midwest.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/how-the-irish-built-catholic-america-53177?utm_campaign=CNA%20Daily&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=116324356&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--NvRVmpGLMJRojzHLswXrmQ2acclhlmEBoHOC9u9axNpqKsuhLBT4hh1S00Z0t9YfyR65uWj3ZfgMxY5x8KHjyT98f_g&utm_content=116324356&utm_source=hs_email
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Bishop Sheen Program: Loneliness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsrdH9kI1PQ
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The Presbytery, Abbeydorney. (066 7135146)
abbeydorney@dioceseofkerry.ie
2nd Sunday of Lent, 28th February, 2021.
Dear Parishioner,
The word ‘Synod’ is not a word that you will hear very often but if you do hear it, it will be connected with Church. We might be inclined to associate it with non-Catholic Christian denomina-tions (Anglican, Methodist & Presbyterian.) In recent years, we have heard it in relation to the Catholic Church and especially about meet-ings of bishops from around the world. In 2019 Pope Francis the Synod of the Amazon (South American countries) took place in Rome. When Pope Francis talks about the future of the Catholic Church, he often mentions the synodal model of Church. What does he mean?
The first meaning that we associate with ‘synod’ is that it is a meeting, where discussion and sharing of views takes place. In any good discus-sion there is talking and listening. The talking and the listening are equally important. Most of us do not have a major problem with talking – maybe not standing in front of a big number of people – in a small group, where we can give our view and hear the views of others. If good discussion is to take place, all participants in the discussion do not only have to listen but they have to really hear what others are saying. They have to respect those views, even if they do not agree with them. They have to be open to the possibility of changing their own views, having heard what others have to say.
If we talk about the Catholic Church in Ireland, many people will say that, for the most part up to now, the ordinary members are not lis-tened to and that their views are not really heard by those in authority and having power. Who is not listening? Bishops will be mentioned and also priests and, perhaps, people in the parish who are thought to have the ear of the priest. Pope Francis has been suggesting, for some time now, that this is the model of Church, about which we should be thinking and talking, as we look to the future. Are most Catholics in agreement with his view? Unfortunately, while we cannot say what percentage of the Catholics in our world accept his views on this subject, we can say that there are many who do not agree with him. Among those are cardinals and bishops, priests and people in many parts of the world. I will write a bit more about this at another time. (Fr. Denis O’Mahony)
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Prayer For Lent
Bless me heavenly Father
forgive my erring ways.
Grant me the strength to serve Thee
put purpose in my days.
Give me understanding
enough to make me kind.
So I may judge all people
with my heart and not my mind.
Teach me to be patient
in everything I do.
Content to trust your wisdom
and to follow after You.
Help me when I falter
and hear me when I pray
and receive me in Thy kingdom
to dwell with Thee someday.
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Focusing on FASTING & ALMS GIVING Mon: Fast from unkindness Tues: Fast from jealousy -love the giftedness of others Wed: Fast with Jesus who is compassion and love Thurs: Fast from judging others -go the extra mile today for someone Fri: Fast in solidarity with those who never have enough to eat Sat: Fast and remember all you have received from God
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The first step was to think about what kind of man I wanted to be at 50. The list grew to ten attributes around which to focus my intentional growth in the hopes of embodying those things in the future:
A Devoted Man of God
A Steadfast Husband
A Loving Father
A Family Builder
A Loyal Friend
A Community Builder
A Leader and Mentor
A Healthy Man
A Lifelong Learner
A Virtuous Man
Post from Dan Hickey.
Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it. —Einstein
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Everyday people are making the difference
From the budding Amsterdam baker who opened a sourdough bakery in his hallway, to the Boston restaurants offering tasty meal subscriptions. People from all over the world are doing something different.
And with millions of local stores and businesses taking their first steps to selling online, they’ve driven a massive shift towards eco-friendly packaging. Healing our businesses, healing our planet.
Jimdo.com
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Irish in Kenya
http://www.kenyaembassyireland.net/news/a-celebration-of-100-years-of-the-irish-in-kenya-3/?fbclid=IwAR32l6G0zIpFlclsFd3sOtCVT6NFZl-x2ABxeybtrZE85H768o8UjaNJ3b4
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==================================== January 2021
STATEMENT FROM BISHOP RAY BROWNE, REMEMBERING THOSE WHO HAVE DIED, AND THOSE WHO ARE GRIEVING“ To our departed brothers and sister, and to all who were pleasing to you at their passing from this life, give kind admittance to your kingdom. ”Many groups in our country have sought over the past year to identify and respond to the needs of senior citizens. Aware has provided a 24-hour helpline, County Councils have brought together representatives form local bodies and formed local ‘services committee’. In recent weeks there has been detected among older people a sadness and concern surrounding dying and funerals. So many deaths have occurred in the past month. Up to Christmas Day 85,000 people were diagnosed as having the virus, a month later this has risen to 187,000. By Christmas Day 2,000 had died, a month later that figure is 3,000 and will rise further. May they rest in Peace. It is understandable. In their homes, in residential care and in hospital in the final days before death the presence of loved one at the bedside has been severely restricted. How sad! Funerals are so different, only ten at a funeral Mass. Grieving loved ones unable to have the company of relatives, neighbour, and friends. While there have been so many negatives there have also been positives: The kindness of so many, especially nursing home and hospital staff The technology that allows face time with those in homes or hospitals, People at home and abroad being able to join in funeral liturgies via webcams etc. People sympathizing and sending messages of comfort via the internet sites. On the way to church or cemetery, people standing outside their homes What can we do in response to any among us who are in need of spiritual support in the area of dying, death and mourning? I propose that at all Masses next Sunday the final Sunday of January, we remember all who have died having contracted COVID-19, especially in recent weeks. Remember, honour, and pray for them. Entrust them to God’s goodness and mercy and promise of eternal life. Comfort the bereaved. Give assurance and comfort to those concerned that their own lives might be soon be at risk. Think of other things you can do to support people in the coming weeks. Remember our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the hope of the Resurrection, and all who have died in your mercy: welcome them into the light of your face.
+Ray
This Wednesday January 6th marks a very special occasion for the O’Sullivan family from Carrigkerry West, as Sister Bridie, celebrates her Diamond Anniversary (60 years) and Sister Margaret celebrates her Golden Anniversary (50 years) in Gods service. In January 1958 Bridie accompanied by twelve companions set sail for Sydney Harbour to join the Sisters of Saint Joseph’s an Australian congregation. She taught in a number of remote schools, and also did parish pastoral ministry. She returned to Ireland in 2002 to minister in the Respite Care Centre in Dromcollogher. In retirement she is now taking up a new appointment in Saint Ita’s Abbeyfeale.
Margaret entered the Sisters of Saint Joseph in Australia in 1968. She taught and later became principal of a school that had 700 students. After 30 years in Australia she returned to Ireland to establish the Sisters of Saint Joseph here. She was appointed the first Parish Clerical Assistant in the Diocese in February 2003. She was involved in Parish ministry in Ardagh/Carrigkerry, and Ballingarry. At present she is in charge of the needs of retired nuns countrywide. Due to Covid-19 no ceremony will be held in Australia to mark the sisters achievements this year. Sister Bridie, and Sister Margaret along with six others will mark the occasion with a Zoom call on January 6, and hopefully will travel to Australia next year for a real ceremony. Congratulations to both on reaching these major milestones in their long and dedicated careers.
https://www.athea.ie/category/by-carrig-side/
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By Peter Mapuor Makur
JUBA , 13 January, 2021 / 6:03 PM (ACI Africa).-
Church leaders in Sudan have declared 2021 a year of prayer and thanksgiving after concluding celebrations to mark 100 years since Christian Missionaries first came to the Nuba Mountains in the North-eastern African countries.
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https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/proclaiming-christ-in-fractured-america
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A Prayer for Our Government by Bishop John Carroll (1791)
We pray, O almighty and eternal God, who through Jesus Christ has revealed thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of your name.
We pray Thee, who alone are good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal and sanctity of life, our chief bishop, the pope, the vicar of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the government of his Church; our own bishop, all other bishops, prelates and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise among us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct your people into the ways of salvation.
We pray O God of might, wisdom and justice, through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with your Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the president of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness and be eminently useful to your people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality.
Let the light of your divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.
We pray for his excellency, the governor of this state, for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by your powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.
We recommend likewise, to your unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of your most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.
Finally, we pray to you, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of your servants departed, who are gone before us with the sign of faith and repose in the sleep of peace; the souls of our parents, relatives and friends; of those who, when living, were members of this congregation, and particularly of such as are lately deceased; of all benefactors who, by their donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the decency of divine worship and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance. To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, grant, we beseech you, a place of refreshment, light and everlasting peace, through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.
Amen.
Let us pray for our country and for each other.
God bless you!
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The White House on Tuesday issued a proclamation praising St. Thomas Becket, an English archbishop who was martyred 850 years ago after conflict with King Henry II over the rights of the Church.
“Before the Magna Carta was drafted, before the right to free exercise of religion was enshrined as America’s first freedom in our glorious Constitution, Thomas gave his life so that, as he said, ‘the Church will attain liberty and peace,’” President Donald Trump wrote in a Dec. 29 proclamation.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/trump-praises-st-thomas-becket-as-martyr-for-religious-freedom-93060?utm_campaign=CNA%20Daily&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=104772599&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-89EET5oWibdGAQ_P2Ud35FKxpfhlQXurd_6AeiEzMYQGyx0hVvpNJOZxLFFbBsppI5e2hirV1T2v3wp0oszMrEtxfirw&utm_content=104772599&utm_source=hs_email
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Choir Knock Shrine 20 12 2020.mp4
In December we will mark the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ disembarking in Plymouth, Massachusetts.- ----------------------------------------------------------
The 51 survivors easily could have looked at the previous 11 months as the worst year of their lives. They had buried almost as many bodies in the ground as they had taken baskets of food from it. Yet they were able to thank God so heartily in spite of the suffering they had undergone because they believed those hardships and blessings were both part of God’s direct or permissive will. Their personal and communal suffering could not shake their trust in the God they knew loved them and was looking over them.
They convened full of gratitude because they realized they were on a pilgrimage not only to Plymouth but to Paradise.
https://www.ncregister.com/blog/duty-and-salvation
(2020)
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Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2020, 13:17
Subject: Christ the King
To:
Advent begins using Cycle B in the Lectionary.
Heaven or Hell?
Years ago, while driving to Atlanta, Georgia, I saw an airport sign that read: “Whether you’re bound for heaven or hell you must change at Atlanta.” Jesus’ Church enters the last week of her liturgical year and calls us to reflect on whether we’re bound for Heaven or hell. Since Heaven is the enjoyment of total happiness and hell means total misery, our choice would seem to be easy. The problem is that while everybody wants to go to Heaven, no one wants to die. Therein lies the problem. Dying isn’t only about physical death, it’s also about dying to selfishness. Everybody wants to go to Heaven but nobody unconsciously wants to put others’ needs before their own. Since Jesus provides the only way to Heaven, namely the Way of the Cross, that must also be our way to get there. This means we must sacrifice our life by sharing with others in their need. People try to avoid this by looking for easier ways to Heaven. However, all ways, other than Jesus’, lead to a false heaven, which is hell. Many deny the existence of hell questioning how a loving God could create it. He didn’t; Satan did. Satan pleased his ego rather than humbly submitting to God, thereby creating a loveless world. He tempts us to choose selfishness thinking we’re choosing Heaven when in fact we’re choosing hell. He tempts us to focus on what looks good rather than on what’s truly good.
Jesus’ Church begins the week by proclaiming Him as King of the Universe. As King everyone, believer and non-believer, is accountable to Him. Since men and women had succumbed to Satan’s temptation to glorify selfishness, promising that it would bring them happiness, God decided to personally come and show that only He could save mankind. “I am going to look after my flock myself …I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered when it was cloudy and dark. I will pasture them and give them rest. I will seek out the lost and bring back the stray, bind up the injured and heal the sick, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats.” (Ez 34:11-17) The “sleek and the strong” are those who, in glorifying selfishness as heaven, are creating their hell. Those who let God rescue them are on the way to Heaven. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy when He came to personally call sinners to “repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15) in order to put their selfishness aside and embrace the virtue of generosity.
Jesus commands us to, “be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:48) Full perfection can only be achieved in Heaven, but it begins here on earth. How? We must examine the criteria Jesus revealed as His standard for judging who enters Heaven and who doesn’t. “When the Son of Man comes in His glory … all the nations will be assembled before Him. He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” (Mt 25:31-32) Who will be judged worthy of Heaven and receive God’s blessing of total happiness? Those who served Jesus. How? By physically and spiritually giving food to the hungry … drink to the thirsty … welcoming the stranger … clothing the naked … caring for the ill … visiting the imprisoned. Jesus’ Church call these charities the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. We show our love for Jesus’ by participating in them. “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one for these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did it for me.” We become perfect like our Heavenly Father when our faith in Jesus leads us to bring physical and spiritual help to those in need. Thus we “love in deed and in truth and not merely talk about it.” (1 Jn 3:18)
Does God send people to hell? No. We sentence our self to hell by our attitude and actions. If we die as Jesus’ servants we’ll be with Him in eternity. If we die as selfish people we’ll be eternally lonely and tormented, like the rich man who ignored Lazarus. Those bound for hell ignore the physical and spiritual plight of their needy brothers and sisters and in the process reject Jesus’ call to love. “Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for these least ones, you did not do for me.” These are all sins of omission. Many people will say at their death, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name …exercised demons by your power? Did we not do many miracles in your name as well?” and Jesus will say, “I never knew you. Out of my sight, you evildoers.” (Mt 7:22-23) They omitted to care for the needy.
The feast of Christ the King is a good time to ask our self, “Am I bound for Heaven or hell?” While we can’t earn the right to enter Heaven, we’ve a responsibility to do what Jesus tells us in order for Him to judge us as worthy of His promises. To that extent we hold our eternal destiny in our own hands. Our biggest concern must be, not just repenting the sins we’ve committed but also the sins of omission. At every Holy Mass we ask for forgiveness for “what we have done and what we have failed to do.” For most of us what we’ve failed to do constitutes our sinfulness more than what we’ve done. Why? Because we’re conscious of what we’ve done but remain unconscious of what we should be doing but aren’t. Let’s examine Jesus’ criteria for judgment so we can see “what we have failed to do” that we should be doing. Then, like the Nike ad, “Just do it!” with a generous spirit, of course. (frsos)
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Christians who were experimenting in (primitive but notable and relatively sophisticated) scientific techniques throughout the medieval period, were responsible for a host of new medical innovations. I cite a small representative sampling:
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Vincent Kang
There was a study about prison violence several years ago and it said that the problem of violence occurred not because of low self-esteem, but excessively high self-esteem.
High self-esteem as in not being able to take a joke, in thinking too highly of yourself, of blaming others for your problems, never taking individual responsibility, and so on.
(JTA) — On Saturday, Sept. 12, Iranian authorities announced that 27-year-old wrestler Navid Afkari had been executed.
Although officials claimed that he had been hanged, BBC Persia reported that the wrestling champion’s family was only permitted to see his face and that his nose was broken, raising suspicions that he had been tortured to death. Afkari had previously told relatives that, while in prison, he had been hung from the ceiling of a torture chamber, beaten with an iron bar and a baton, and had plastic pulled over his head in order to suffocate him “to the very brink of death.”
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Sept 2020
Subject: 25th Sunday
To:
God and Human Progress
God revealed that He created man and woman to be the stewards of the earth. “Then God said: Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness… male and female He created them. God blessed them saying: ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it …The Lord God took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and care for it.” (Gen 1:26-28, 2:15) When God finished His creation He “looked at everything He had made, and He found it very good.” (Gen 1:31) That means that God will hold us accountable for the way we use His creation. God created the world for our benefit. What benefits every man and woman is the achievement of the fullness of his or her potential. What is the fullness of human potential? It’s to be what we are created to be, namely God’s image and likeness – made visible in Jesus. Anything less leaves a person unfulfilled and a failure as a human being. To manifest God’s image and likeness we must follow God’s way, not man’s way. “Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain who build it.” (Ps 127:1) God’s way brings lasting progress while man’s way brings regression, repression, and recession, as human history clearly demonstrates. The failure and disaster of man’s way began in the Garden of Eden when man and woman cast aside God’s ways for the sake of their own way. This rejection of God’s ways in favour of man’s ways evident today’s world affairs. What follows is chaos, disrespect for human life, short-sightedness, arrogance, and sin. The result is that many are trying to fulfil themselves with man-made gimmicks that make false promises.
Jesus’ Church begins this week by proclaiming God’s word that urges everyone to, “Seek the Lord where He may be found, call Him while He is near. Let the dishonest person forsake his ways, and the wicked his thoughts; let him turn to the Lord for mercy; to our God, who is generous in forgiving.” (Is 55:6-7) This is a warning to abandon our egotistical ways in favour of God’s ways because human progress needs His presence to be successful. “The Lord is just in all His ways and holy in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him in truth.” (Ps 145:17-18) Since everyone suffers from a fallen nature that darkens the intellect and weakens the will, we’re all prone to pride, envy, jealousy, lust, greed, wrath, and sloth, all of which inhibit and ultimately destroy human progress. The Lord’s ways are humility, generosity, gratitude, mercy, justice, freedom, endurance, faith, hope, love, and peace, all of which ensure human progress. These ways are enshrined in the Beatitudes and the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. To replace our ways with God’s ways we need Jesus Christ to fill our mind, heart, soul, and body with His real presence through the power of the Holy Spirit. Hence the need to “seek the Lord where He may be found and call Him while He is near.” Where is Jesus today? He is in His Church where He speaks to us through His Word and Sacraments. There He is near to us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. There He forgives us when we’re repentant in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. There He blesses us in our illnesses and our mission in life enabling us to be His Image and likeness in the world. Thus He enables us to achieve the fullness of our potential as men and women and gives us a peace the world can’t provide.
St. Paul was passionate about Jesus because he recognized that His teaching constituted the foundation of human progress by enhancing the dignity and sanctity of the human person as God’s gifted child. Paul tells us that for him “‘life’ means Christ; hence dying is so much gain …I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better.” (Phil 1:21-23) Paul wanted the fulfilment he experienced through His faith in Jesus to be completed in Heaven. So he urged his listeners to “Conduct yourselves, then, in a way worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” (Phil 1:27) He knew that following Jesus’ Gospel would enhance the believer’s humanity and make the kind of progress that would have a lasting effect on all who made it their way of living.
Jesus illustrates the difference between God’s ways and man’s ways in the parable of the landowner who hired workers at different times during the day. In late afternoon he saw men looking for work. “Why have you been standing here idle all day? ‘No one has hired us,’ they told him. He said, ‘You go to the vineyard too.’” (Mt 20:6-7) At payment time when those who worked a full day saw the last to be hired receiving a full daily wage, they complained, “This last group did only an hour’s work, but you have put them on the same basis as us who have worked a full day in the scorching heat.” (v 12) According to their logic they deserved more than their daily wage. But the owner explained that he wasn’t cheating them. He was being charitable. He knew that a man needed a full daily wage to support his family. Those who could only get an hour’s work also needed to support their families so, in charity, he gave them a full day’s wage. God’s ways focus on human needs, while man’s ways tend to focus on our wants, which tend to be selfish. Human progress is about serving God according to His way revealed by Jesus. Man’s way undermines progress by serving himself. The evidence is clear. (frsos)
n 1873 there was a serious outbreak of cholera. The people of Salzano knew little of hygiene and less of sanitation; it was hard to make them take the most necessary precautions. Don Giuseppe [later known as Pius X] was everything at once: doctor, nurse, and sanitary inspector, as well as parish priest. Not only were there the sick and the dying to be tended, but the living to be heartened and consoled. “If it had not been for our dear Don Giuseppe,” said an old man in later days,“ I should have died of fear and sorrow during those dreadful times.” S
https://aleteia.org/2020/08/21/during-an-epidemic-st-pius-x-treated-the-sick-and-buried-the-dead/
Who Was Blessed Von Galen?
Clemens August von Galen was born into the nobility, the eleventh of thirteen children in Dinklage, Germany, on March 16, 1878. His parents created a very warm, devout, yet disciplined household. They also fostered a spirit of justice and charity towards less fortunate persons. For example, the mother and daughters made clothing by hand for poor families. Education was a major priority along with cultivating their Catholic faith. Mass in the family chapel began each day at seven a.m. If a son was late to serve Mass, he received no butter on his breakfast bread. Nonetheless, the family was very close-knit and enjoyed life together. Clemens grew to a commanding 6 feet 7 inches.
https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/115883297/posts/764
This is why Matthew Desmond advocates housing vouchers. These vouchers basically pick up the tab for renters, covering anything above 30% of their income. However, there is an obvious problem with such a scheme: landlords are incentivized to overcharge for their properties, since the money is guaranteed. Indeed, according to Desmond, this often happens, which leads to a lot of wasted taxpayer money. Clearly, some mechanism is necessary to establish reasonable prices. But the voucher scheme does have the great advantage of scalability: they can be distributed quickly and widely.
https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/103215128/posts/9147
Saint Lawrence of Brindisi
Saint of the Day for July 21
(July 22, 1559 – July 22, 1619)
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/SODJul21.mp3
Saint Lawrence of Brindisi’s Story
At first glance, perhaps the most remarkable quality of Lawrence of Brindisi is his outstanding gift of languages. In addition to a thorough knowledge of his native Italian, he had complete reading and speaking ability in Latin, Hebrew, Greek, German, Bohemian, Spanish, and French.
Lawrence was born on July 22, 1559, and died exactly 60 years later on his birthday in 1619. His parents William and Elizabeth Russo gave him the name of Julius Caesar, Caesare in Italian. After the early death of his parents, he was educated by his uncle at the College of St. Mark in Venice.
Why is Mass so necessary in the midst of pandemic and societal collapse? In dystopia, would it not be safer to worship in a more socially acceptable, even entertaining way? After all, instead of braving death to hear homilies about seemingly antiquated moral systems, social media provides designer deities who confirm the current think of the culturally hip. Who needs priests to offer mass when health officials and celebrities are the real mediators of human salvation? Or bishops to teach when a community organizer is able to offer a more politically acceptable word of hope? Or a pope to safeguard divine truth when any university sociologist can shame us before the herd's more accessible and relevant superego? Let's face it, fanciful though it is, this ideological idolatry makes one feel mighty: subordinating our dignity to the latest fetish saves America from evil politics, humanity from pandemic, and the world from pollution.
https://beginningtopray.blogspot.com/2020/07/dare-we-go-to-mass.html
I was alerted to a fascinating article by Ali Binazir who sets forth mathematically the odds of you or I existing, just as we are genetically. It turns out that, when taking into consideration the astonishing number of possibilities of parents meeting, grandparents before them and on and on going back the generations, and adding also the vast numbers of sperm and ova in possible combination over a the lifetime of the marital acts, of all those generations, it would seem that the odds of me existing just as I do, are 1 in 102,685,000. That’s a number so huge it hurts to think about it.
Lourdes
Words of anthology
The sick (or disabled) are indeed the primary evangelisers. You just have to see them and listen to them.
Selected pieces.
Lydie: “Between body and soul, I would choose my soul. We want to go to Heaven much more than we want to walk!”
Andrew: “For me it’s close and almost perfect contact with the Lord, that’s healing.”
Evelyne: “I deeply believe that there is something after death and for me this something is this infinite love in which we will be immersed but this love for me is here already!”
Sophie: “Prayer if we let go of it is concrete and pragmatic: disability takes up all the space …”
Cédric: “As low as we have fallen, with God we always get up again!”
Sister Catarina: “It is said that in the shadow of the cross there is the resurrection.”
Martine: “My life would have been so sad and dreary without Christ and without Mary.”
Jean-Noël: “There is a lot of suffering among the living: in their soul it is hell, too.”
Raymonde: “Faith is our daily companion: we get up with faith, we go to bed with faith. Faith is still 90% hope and 10% doubt.”
Brother Matthieu: “Illness is a sickness that speaks in us, but good also speaks in us.”
Alexiane: “I pray, I pray a lot! Ah yeah, I love prayer!”
In 2017, Michael Hickson suffered a brain injury
Last month, a disabled, 46-year-old African American man was euthanized without his consent or that of his wife. But rather than exploding amid our racial-justice moment, the story hardly yielded a peep from those who control our national discourse. In 2017, Michael Hickson suffered a brain injury that left him paralyzed. Still, he was able to enjoy many activities: having books read to him, listening to music, answering trivia questions.
https://nypost.com/2020/07/10/doctors-didnt-try-to-save-black-covid-19-patient-who-was-paralyzed/
Prayer is almost as much a mystery as God. Prayer always seems to be more than the words we use to describe it or the ways in which we understand it. Prayer is as old as the human family, stretching all the way back to the fall of Adam and Eve. Prior to disobeying God, our first parents lived in friendship with him. The intimacy they shared precluded the need for prayer. Their sin, however, produced a chasm between themselves and God. Because God created them to share his life, the desire for him not only remained, it also intensified. St. Augustine describes this as a restlessness within the human heart that can only be satisfied by resting in God. We can say, therefore, that prayer is the action that enables communication between that which is human and that which is divine.
—from Prayer Everywhere: The Spiritual Life Made Simple by Father Gary Caster
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June 2020
Hope in Christ as we return to Mass Message from Bishop Ray -It is a source of great joy that from Monday 29th June we can have congregations again in our churches. Praying together as a community, gathering for Sunday Mass is basic to our lives as Christians. Rejoice that the day has come when we can gather around the altar in our communities, to hear God speak to us in the Gospel, to offer our lives in union with Christ’s offering of his, to receive Holy Communion, food for life’s journey, to pray together in worship and thanksgiving and to pray with the bereaved for the deceased. We all need to be calm, careful, and patient as we begin to gather again around the altar. Limited congregations due to the demands of social distancing could mean that not all will be able to enter the church for a particular Mass. The following are practical points:-Because the Sunday Mass obligation will continue to be dispensed for some time yet, why not join in a weekday Mass rather than Sunday? -Some people may decide to wait until things settle down before coming out to Mass.-Volunteers will be working to ensure matters work smoothly and in safety. Give a smile and full cooperation. For safety from the virus, most important of all is that each of us takes personal responsibility for: -hand-washing on leaving home and returning -hand-sanitizing on entry to church and exit -in church social distancing at all times in church-wearing a face mask. The coronavirus has given us a new appreciation of our interdependence, as family, neighbours, community and an entire country. It has been brought home to us that our communities have an abundance of selfless, generous, joy-filled, capable people. It gives fresh meaning to our realizing that we are one family under God Our Father. With Covid-19 we are all on a difficult journey. We do not journey alone, God journeys with us. If the journey has been difficult, it also has been at times uplifting, so much goodness all around us. After three months of restrictions what strikes you about your faith in God? Where do you turn to when you feel down or in great difficulty? Where do you find strength and comfort? Do you find it in Jesus, Jesus Christ, your “Good Shepherd”? He is with us always, Christ asks us to trust in him. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. You are there with your crook and your staff; with these you give me comfort.
10th May 2020
give me joy
Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising, Give me joy in my heart I pray. Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising, Keep me praising till the end of day. Sing hosanna! Sing hosanna! Sing hosanna to the King of Kings! Sing hosanna! Sing hosanna! Sing hosanna to the King! Give me peace in my heart, keep me resting, Give me peace in my heart I pray. Give me peace in my heart, keep me resting, Keep me resting till the end of day. Give me love in my heart, keep me serving, Give me love in my heart I pray. Give me love in my heart, keep me serving, Keep me serving till the end of day .a new hymn of praise R. A new hymn of praise let us sing to the Lord, Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. This is the day the Lord has made; Ransom for sin his life he gave. R. Bringing him gifts of bread and wine, We receive back, his life divine. R.as i kneel before you As I kneel before you, as I bow my head in prayer, take this day, make it your sand fill me with your love. Ave, Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu. All I have I give you, ev’ry dream and wish are yours; mother of Christ, mother of mine, present them to my Lord. As I kneel before you, and I see your smiling face, ev’ry thought, ev’ry word is lost in your embrace. queen of the may Bring flow’rs of the rarest, bring blossoms the fairest ,from garden and woodland and hillside and dale; our full hearts are swelling, our glad voices telling the praise of the loveliest flow’r of the vale. O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today, Queen of the angels and Queen of the May. O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today, Queen of the angels and Queen of the May. Their lady they name thee, their mistress proclaim thee. O, grant that thy children on earth be as true, as long as the bowers are radiant with flowers as long as the azure shall keep its bright hue. Sing gaily in chorus, the bright angels o’er usre-echo the strains we begin upon earth; their harps are repeating the notes of our greeting, for Mary herself is the cause of our mirth.
PRAYER FOR HEALING AND HOPE IN THE FACE OF THE CORONAVIRUS. Jesus, you travelled through towns and villages “curing every disease and illness”. At your command, the sick were made well. Come to our aid now, in the midst of the global spread of the coronavirus, that we may experience your healing love. Heal those who are sick with the virus. May they regain their strength and health through quality medical care. Heal us from our fear, which prevents nations from working together and neighbours from helping one another. Heal us from our pride, which can make us claim invulnerability to a disease that knows no borders. Jesus healer of all, stay by our side in this time of uncertainty and sorrow. Be with the families of those who are sick or have died. As they worry and grieve, defend them from illness and despair. May they know your peace. Be with the doctors, nurses, researchers and all medical professionals who seek to heal and help those affected and who put themselves at risk in the process. May they know your protection and peace. Jesus, stay with us as we endure and mourn, persist and prepare. In place of anxiety, give us your peace. Jesus heal us.
Radiocarbon dating at Currie's McCuaig's Bar found that the ancient bones date back to at least 2,000 BC, which is hundreds of years older than the oldest known Celtic artifacts anywhere in the world.
Dan Bradley, a genetics professor at Trinity College, said in 2016 that the discovery could challenge the popular belief that Irish people are related to Celts.
“The genomes of the contemporary people in Ireland are older — much older — than we previously thought,” he said.
https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/ancient-bones-irish-celts
With churches closed and Communion unavailable, can we still receive the graces and promises of Divine Mercy Sunday?
Joseph Pronechen
That is the question most people are wondering about and asking since it appears we can’t fulfill the two conditions for the promise Jesus made concerning the particular way to participate on Divine Mercy Sunday or the conditions for the plenary indulgence attached to Divine Mercy Sunday granted by St. John Paul II in 2002.
America Is About to Witness the Biggest Labor Movement It’s Seen in Decades
It took 40 years and a pandemic to stir up a worker revolution that’s about to hit corporate America
The conflict has killed over 10,000 people and created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from food and medical care shortages and pushing the country to the brink of famine.
The bishop pointed to reports that the Disaster Distress Helpline, a federal crisis hotline run by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, has seen an 891% increase of calls during the pandemic, with large spikes also being recorded at suicide prevention hotlines. He also noted reports of increases in domestic violence in places under lockdown.
“Simply put, in the midst of financial uncertainty, fear for one’s health, pandemic induced anxiety and confinement to their homes, people definitely need a word of hope,” he said.https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/las-cruces-bishop-first-in-us-to-resume-public-masses-amid-coronavirus
Video link
https://youtu.be/4tqaySQlze4
Graveyard Knockanure Ahavoher Galebridge Memorials part 2
Gale Bridge Ahavoher Graveyard Knockanure Part 1
Prayer to St. Martin for the Needs of the People
during the Corona-19 Pandemic
Dear St. Martin, threatened by the Corona-19 virus,
we seek your assistance. As a healer, you know
that the best medicine is to always trust in the Father’s mercy. Nevertheless, you provided natural remedies.
Help us to follow the directives of our health care officials.
Please lead us in calling upon the Holy Spirit
to protect those who are vulnerable,
to cure those who are infected,
and to welcome into eternal life those we’ve lost.
We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
MESSAGE FROM BISHOP RAY BROWNE:
The diocese of Kerry A Holy Week message of Hope. 6 April 2020
This Holy Week and Easter the ceremonies will be celebrated, without a congregation, at the traditional times in the parishes throughout the diocese. Priests will be celebrating on behalf of all in the parish, take a few moments at that time each day to unite with them in prayer. Holy Week is different this year, all of us can still celebrate it fully in our hearts. God bless you all in all your needs. The Pandemic has brought dark times: the light of Easter, Christ our Light is our HOPE.
This Holy Week I ask you to pray to God especially for strength, courage and endurance for all amid Covid-19:
• for ourselves and our loved ones
• for those we know who are a great age or have already serious health issues
• for those who have died in recent days and their grieving loved ones
• and especially for doctors, nurses, and all frontline workers who are performing so heroically; many have their own worrying situations within their own families.
Ponder the courage, selflessness and steadfastness of Jesus
As Jesus showed courage, selflessness and steadfastness during his journey to Jerusalem, and in his suffering along the Way of the Cross to his Crucifixion, so may God help us do the same in the days and weeks ahead. Think of Jesus and
• “the Agony in the Garden”, his ultimate prayer to the Father was, “not my will but thine be done”
• As he carried his Cross think of his words to the women of Jerusalem, “weep not for me, but for yourselves and for your children”
• think of his meeting with Mary his mother, how heart-breaking for both of them
• on the Cross think of his kindness to the thief crucified with him, “this day you will be with me in paradise”
This Holy Week may God give to all of us the virtues of courage, selflessness and endurance whatever the pandemic may bring to our communities.
God’s mercy and forgiveness is available for all
In Holy Week we remember the Last Supper. “this is the cup of my blood . . . shed for YOU and for MANY so that sins might be forgiven”. Christ died for our sinfulness. God’s mercy and forgiveness are always there for us, we only must ask with sorrow in our hearts. This Holy Week it is not possible to make Confessions available in the diocese. Words spoken by Pope Francis at his daily Mass on Friday 20th March give reassurance to us all:
“I know that many of you go to confession before Easter… Many will say to me: ‘But Father…I can't leave the house and I want to make my peace with the Lord. I want Him to embrace me… How can I do that unless I find a priest?’.
Do what the catechism says. It's very clear. If you don't find a priest to go to confession, speak to God. He's your Father. Tell Him the truth: ‘Lord. I did this and this and this. Pardon me.’ Ask His forgiveness with all your heart with an act of contrition, and promise Him, ‘afterward I will go to confession.’
You will return to God's grace immediately. You yourself can draw near, as the catechism teaches us, to God's forgiveness, without having a priest at hand.”
Faithfully we distance ourselves from one another: faithfully let us unite as one with Jesus in prayer as we remember and honour his Death and Resurrection.
Every Easter Sunday is special. This Easter Sunday light a candle at the family dinner table to symbolise your love and trust in Jesus Christ in all things. He is our strength through these difficult weeks of the Pandemic.
Let us pray for each other. Our Lady help of the sick, pray for us.
+ Ray Diocese of Kerry Holy Week 2020.
LIMERICK; Holy Week services live from St. John’s Cathedral celebrated by Bishop Leahy.
www.facebook.com/1859198494369592/posts/2605981986357902/
Sacred Heart Church Limerick Easter 2020
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHhWuGhHEo7HCEKJ1MObM9g
Letter from Monsignor Wach
Gricigliano, April 3rd, 2020
Dear Friends of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest,
On the occasion of Holy Week, I wanted to assure you of the prayers of the community in these tragic hours and send you some news of our Institute, its priests, seminarians and sisters.
Because of measures taken by the Italian government shortly after the beginning of the health crisis, our Mother House and Seminary in Gricigliano entered into total confinement almost a month ago. Not being a parish, but rather a house of formation independent of our Florentine apostolate, we had to protect the many seminarians and priests in residence to enable them to continue their life of prayer and study. We therefore maintained the usual prayers and the choral office, to which we added supplications for your intentions, daily adoration and a weekly penitential procession within the enclosure of the Seminary to implore God’s mercy.
The canons in our priories, churches, convents, missions, works and foundations across the world do their best to remain at your side, so precious are the comforts of the Holy Church in such moments. According to the restrictions imposed by civil or ecclesiastical laws, they try to give you the widest possible access to the treasures of the sacramental life.
It seems to me that an epidemic of such magnitude can be interpreted as a sign permitted by Heaven to bring us back to what is essential, as many commentators have pointed out. But what is essential? Is it not God Himself? In Sacred Scripture, God gives similar warnings to spark conversion. “A Jesus who agrees with everything and everyone,” wrote Benedict XVI, “a Jesus without His holy anger, without the hardness of truth and true love, is not the true Jesus presented by Scripture but rather a miserable caricature. A conception of the Gospel in which the seriousness of God’s anger no longer exists has nothing to do with the biblical Gospel” (J. Ratzinger, To Look on Christ).
Nowadays, we hear so little about the sins and offenses committed by man against God and which contemporary society has promoted on its own scale. Our Creator is hardly recognized any more as absolute Master of life and death. The experience of sickness and fear offers us a twofold lesson: the wealth and grandeur of our world are nothing but vanity since a microscopic virus sufficed to bring it to its knees; on the other hand, we must rediscover the meaning of the human condition, the love of the least, the most fragile, the most vulnerable, as well as the redemptive meaning of suffering. April 2 marks the fifteenth anniversary of the death of Saint John Paul II, and, at the beginning of May, we will commemorate the centenary of his birth. What this Servant of God bequeathed to us as his final testimony was an example of suffering transfigured by the love of the Redeemer, the exigencies of his apostolic mission and divine charity. In his encyclical letter Salvifici Doloris, dedicated to the meaning of suffering, he wrote:
Suffering is something which is still wider than sickness, more complex and at the same time still more deeply rooted in humanity itself. […] The vastness and the many forms of moral suffering are certainly no less in number than the forms of physical suffering. […] In order to discover the profound meaning of suffering, […] [w]e must above all accept the light of Revelation not only insofar as it expresses the transcendent order of justice but also insofar as it illuminates this order with Love, as the definitive source of everything that exists. Love is also the fullest source of the answer to the question of the meaning of suffering. This answer has been given by God to man in the Cross of Jesus Christ.
On Good Friday, the Church will relive the great hours of her Savior’s Passion and Death; may we unite to the sufferings of the divine Victim our own crosses, illnesses, loneliness, anguish, and the material and spiritual privations imposed on us by this long quarantine. Let us be convinced that God, so good, so loving, so merciful, “desire[s] not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live.” (Ezekiel 33:11).
It seems to me that certain ecclesiastical authorities have too quickly and too easily decided to close churches and limit – or even suppress – access to the sacraments. How can such measures be envisaged when supermarkets and banks remain open? Is supernatural life of lesser value? Could it possibly be considered secondary? Does not the soul need to be regularly nourished, purified and supported, especially when subjected to countless trials? If one can consult one’s doctor, with all necessary precautions, why can one not, with these same precautions see the priest, the true doctor of the soul? Could not the dispositions taken in supermarkets and other places furnishing basic necessities be implemented in our churches? We have the means to make our churches safe and sanitary, even rigorously so. The evangelists have shown us Christ’s love for the unfortunate, especially for the sick, granting them physical remission as a simple pledge of spiritual healing: “Arise, go thy way; for thy faith hath made thee whole” (Luke 17:19).
I heartily thank our canons who do what they can to help you and, through you, to serve Our Lord, by their visits or the broadcasting of liturgical services. With a major economic and human crisis now looming, we must face shortages of all kinds courageously. I know that in some houses of the Institute and convent of our sisters, we have already begun to distribute food and to help families in need. We will continue to develop and organize this much-needed charity. But convinced that “[n]ot in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4), we will also provide for spiritual needs, ensuring, without breaking any restrictions, the continuity of sacramental life. For we are well aware that the greatest danger threatening our society today is more spiritual than social or economic.
I wonder about the theology of a cleric who allows himself to forbid access to the sacraments while at the same time advocating better cooperation in the temporal sphere. No one would disagree that both the material and spiritual realms should be adapted to the context and scrupulously take the necessary precautions, but suppressing the ordinary channels of grace is never a good solution. Although access to the sacraments is not, strictly speaking, an absolute right, is it not nevertheless the priest’s duty to facilitate their administration and to take God to the most fragile, the most forsaken, the most unfortunate? Otherwise, what would be the meaning of his life of total and perpetual consecration and sacrifice?
I thank all our faithful for their unfailing support, reflected in your many messages, and our canons, sisters and seminarians for their dedication and prayers.
As Holy Week approaches, the climax of the liturgical cycle and center of Christian life, I unite myself to you all in prayer as I write to you from Gricigliano, where each of us will lovingly place your intentions at the foot of the Cross and to pray for the sick, the dying, the families suffering anguish or affliction, all those over the world who provide healthcare and whose heroism we salute as they persevere in the fulfilment of their duties. May God protect and bless them!
And you, dear faithful, unite your prayers to ours. I will send you some more news soon since the events the Institute had planned for the coming weeks will be cancelled or postponed. I invite you to invoke especially Our Lady of Pompeii, St. Roch and St. Sebastian, whose charitable intercession in times of epidemic has never failed. In Gricigliano there is a relic of the True Cross, surrounded by other relics of our patron saints and protectors.
I wish you a blessed Holy Week and encourage you to intensify your life of prayer in your homes with more frequent devotions. Keep hope in seeing Easter approach, for on this solemn day Jesus Christ shows us how, amidst the troubles and trials of life, He remains victor over death and sin.
In Christo Rege,
Msgr. Gilles Wach
- Prior General-
Late in the sixth century, Pope Gregory the Great saw an opening to reassert Rome’s control of this far-off island, when the Christian daughter of King Charibert of Paris married the pagan King of Kent. To this end, he sent an obscure Benedictine monk called Augustine as a missionary. The mission was a shot in the dark, and nearly collapsed even before reaching Kent. Yet Augustine proved so adept on arrival that he converted the Kentish king, founded the English Church, built cathedrals at Canterbury and Rochester as well as St Augustine’s Abbey, and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/116961667/posts/127
Catholic News World by Jesus Caritas Est - Est.2009 - REAL Breaking News - Millions of Views
https://www.catholicnewsworld.com/2020/04/remembering-saint-pope-john-paul-ii-who.html
You are being prayed for at Knock At this very worrying and distressing time, we here at the National Marian Shrine, Knock wish to let you all know that you are being prayed for. We pray in particular that a vaccine will be found to eliminate the virus, for a full recovery for those suffering and for all medical and civic personnel. You may like to be with us in prayer by: Praying the special prayer composed: Lord, in 1879 the Apparition in Knock gave comfort and hope to your people in a time of distress and worry. In the presence of Our Lady, St Joseph, St John the Evangelist and the Lamb of God you showed us that we are neither alone nor abandoned in times of great need, personally and as a people. We ask you Lord, to walk with us again as we face the Coronavirus. Help our medical personnel to bring the virus to a swift end and bless them in their work. We ask healing and recovery to be given to all who are suffering from the virus and their families. May all of us, Lord, be strengthened by the spiritual support of the Christian community at this time through prayer, fasting and concern for one another. May we never abandon hope in the face of adversity and trust in your love for us. Amen Our Lady of Knock, pray for us. St Joseph, pray for us. St John the Evangelist, pray for us. 2. Praying the rosary individually or as a family at home. 3. Consider offering a day of fasting. 4 Light a candle a home or at the church.
A friend is someone who sees your first tear fall, catches the second, stops the third and turns the fourth into a smile!
PRAYER FOR A PANDEMIC
May we, who are merely inconvenienced,
remember those whose lives are at stake.
May we, who have no risk factors,
remember those most vulnerable.
May we, who have the luxury of working from home,
remember those who must choose between preserving their own health,
or work for the health of others.
May we, who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close,
remember those who do not have that option.
May we, who have to cancel our trips,
remember those that have no safe place to go.
May we, who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market,
remember those with no margin at all.
May we, who settle in for a quarantine at home,
remember those who have no home.
As fear grips our country, let us choose love.
During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other,
let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God
to our neighbours.
AMEN.
During this challenging time, many of the faithful are unable to attend Mass.
Magnificat is honored to provide complimentary access to our online version to help people pray from home.
https://us.magnificat.net/free
But the real story of Patrick is a fascinating one, full of adventure, faith and grace. Today we examine what we do know about this 5th-century bishop, myth and culture aside. We hope learning more about this great saint will add a new dimension to your St. Patrick's Day celebration.
Blessed John of Fiesole
Saint of the Day for February 18
(1387 – February 18, 1455)
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/SODFeb18.mp3
Blessed John of Fiesole’s Story
The patron of Christian artists was born around 1400 in a village overlooking Florence. He took up painting as a young boy and studied under the watchful eye of a local painting master. He joined the Dominicans at about age 20, taking the name Fra Giovanni. He eventually came to be known as Fra Angelico, perhaps a tribute to his own angelic qualities or maybe the devotional tone of his works.
He continued to study painting and perfect his own techniques, which included broad-brush strokes, vivid colors and generous, lifelike figures. Michelangelo once said of Fra Angelico: “One has to believe that this good monk has visited paradise and been allowed to choose his models there.” Whatever his subject matter, Fra Angelico sought to generate feelings of religious devotion in response to his paintings. Among his most famous works are the Annunciation and Descent from the Cross as well as frescoes in the monastery of San Marco in Florence.
A Century of Boys Town
A century of history means 100 years of amazing moments. Check out the interactive timeline below to learn how Boys Town has changed and evolved since 1917. Click on the "+" symbol on certain moments to get a closer look into Boys Town's fascinating history. Click here to see some key moments in history.
https://www.boystown.org/100/timeline/Pages/default.aspx#k=#s=61
Her kidnappers gave her the name Bakhita, meaning “fortunate.” Her life in captivity wasn’t quite so. Born in Darfur in 1869, Josephine Bakhita was taken by Arab slave traders when she was 9. Forced to walk 600 miles to southern Sudan, she was bought and sold before arriving in El Obeid. But of all the indignities Josephine faced as a slave—far too many to mention here—one in particular stands out.
Reflection
The most important thing about each of us
is the capacity for goodness.
We can be a source of light.
We have hands that can care,
eyes that can see,
ears that can hear,
tongues that can speak,
feet that can walk,
and above all hearts that can love.
Unfortunately, through laziness, selfishness,
and cowardice, our light can be dimmed,
so that we become shadows of the people we could be.
Lord, help us to believe in our own goodness,
and let the light of that goodness shine.
On seeing this light others find their way
and you will be glorified.
Prayer to Saint Brigid
Brigid, you were a woman of peace.
You brought harmony where there was conflict.
You brought light to the darkness.
You brought hope to the downcast.
May the mantle of your peace cover those who are troubled and anxious,
and may peace be firmly rooted in our hearts and in our world.
Inspire us to act justly and to reverence all God has made.
Brigid you were a voice for the wounded and the weary.
Strengthen what is weak within us.
Calm us into a quietness that heals and listens.
May we grow each day into greater wholeness in mind, body and spirit.
Amen.
The great spiritual problem of the day is being “like fish out of water.” A life without spiritual regularity drifts through time with little to really hang onto when life most needs an anchor. Instead, we often get caught up in someone else’s agenda most of our lives. We put the cell aside for work and its never-ending deadlines. We forget the cell when we need it most and make play a poor substitute for thought and prayer. We think that we can run our legs off doing, going, finding, socializing, and still stay stolid and serene in the midst of the pressure of it all. And then we find ourselves staring at the ceiling one night and thinking to ourselves, “There must be more to life than this.”
—from the book In God's Holy Light: Wisdom from the Desert Monastics by Sister Joan Chittister
Describing peace as “a great and precious value, the object of our hope and the aspiration of the entire human family”, Pope Francis says it is a goal towards which to strive in spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
https://www.limerickdiocese.org/news/world-day-of-prayer-for-peace-2020/
MARY IMMACULATE COLLEGE OPEN DAY: On Saturday 11th January (10am-1pm), Mary Immaculate College will give thousands of prospective students the opportunity to explore its Limerick campus and discover all that the College has to offer from its range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, extra-curricular activities and exceptional facilities. For more information, see micopenday.ie.
Video link
At 19, Elizabeth was the belle of New York and married a handsome, wealthy businessman, William Magee Seton. They had five children before his business failed and he died of tuberculosis. At 30, Elizabeth was widowed, penniless, with five small children to support.
Read, a British poet and atheist, had stopped into a church in Santa Marinella, Italy. She felt burdened. Her young daughter was having health issues. Her husband Fabio was enduring some stress at work.
The Story of the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed
The Church has encouraged prayer for the dead from the earliest times as an act of Christian charity. “If we had no care for the dead,” Augustine noted, “we would not be in the habit of praying for them.” Yet pre-Christian rites for the deceased retained such a strong hold on the superstitious imagination that a liturgical commemoration was not observed until the early Middle Ages, when monastic communities began to mark an annual day of prayer for the departed members.
In the middle of the 11th century, Saint Odilo, abbot of Cluny, France, decreed that all Cluniac monasteries offer special prayers and sing the Office for the Dead on November 2, the day after the feast of All Saints. The custom spread from Cluny and was finally adopted throughout the Roman Church.
The theological underpinning of the feast is the acknowledgment of human frailty. Since few people achieve perfection in this life but, rather, go to the grave still scarred with traces of sinfulness, some period of purification seems necessary before a soul comes face-to-face with God. The Council of Trent affirmed this purgatory state and insisted that the prayers of the living can speed the process of purification.
Superstition easily clung to the observance. Medieval popular belief held that the souls in purgatory could appear on this day in the form of witches, toads or will-o’-the-wisps. Graveside food offerings supposedly eased the rest of the dead.
Observances of a more religious nature have survived. These include public processions or private visits to cemeteries and decorating graves with flowers and lights. This feast is observed with great fervor in Mexico.
In this compelling new book, Brian O’Neel tells the stories of martyrs associated with North America. Some are from other countries and died in their attempts to spread the faith on this continent. Some were born on this continent but died doing missionary work in other lands. Some were individual martyrs, and some were part of an heroic group. Some were “white martyrs” who, although they did not shed their blood for the faith, suffered much for the spread of their faith.
Stock #: T36551
FATHERS: When I was 4 years of age; ‘My Daddy can do anything’. 5 year old: ‘My Daddy knows a lot’. 6 years old: ‘My Daddy is smarter than your Dad’ 8years old: ‘My Dad knows exactly everything’. 10 years old: ‘In olden days, when my Dad grew up things were different’. 12 years old: ‘Oh, well naturally, Father does not know anything about that. He is too old to remember his childhood. 14 years old: ‘Don’t pay attention to my father, he is so old-fashioned’ 21 years old: ‘Him? My goodness, he is hopelessly out ofdate’. 25 years old: ‘Dad knows a little about it, but then he should because he has been around so long. 30 years old: ‘Maybe we should ask Dad what he thinks? After all, he’s had a lot of experience’. 35 years old: ‘I’m not doing a single thing until I talk to Dad’. 40 years old: ‘I wonder how Dad would have handled this. He was so wise and had a world of experience’. 50 years old: ‘I’d give anything if Dad were here now, so that I could talk this over with him. Too bad I didn’t appreciate how smart he was. I could have learned a lot from him’.
Sean Sheehy
Wed, Jun 5, 2:23 PM (8 days ago)
to me
Pentecost: The Empowering Spirit
Have you ever tried to imagine what the Apostles felt when Jesus was crucified? They exhibited a spirit of doom and gloom as displayed by the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. (Lk 24:13-35) Their spirit brightened only when Jesus appeared and explained the Scriptures about the Messiah to them. Their gloomy spirit was transformed into a joyful one. Now try to imagine what these same disciples felt when the Risen Jesus ascended into Heaven. They feared what would become of them. Just before His Ascension Jesus told them to “Remain here in the city (Jerusalem) until you are clothed with power from on high.” Lk24:49) They didn’t understand how they would be “clothed with power from on high.” After all, Jesus was their source of power and security, and He had left them. For the next three days or so they huddled together in one place fearing for their future. Their spirit was one of trepidation.
It was in this setting that their powerless spirit was clothed with power by God’s Spirit. Just like Mary Magdalen, grieving Jesus’ death and the disappearance of His body only to have her spirit suddenly transformed by the Risen Jesus’ presence, the Apostles along with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, experienced a transformation of their spirit beyond their wildest imagination. St. Luke describes the experience: “Suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, and make bold proclamation as the Spirit prompted them.” (Acts 2:2-4) God’s Spirit changed their spirit of fear to a spirit of courage.
In politics it’s the economy that matters. In life it’s the spirit that matters. Our spirit, whether positive or negative, determines what we accomplish or fail to achieve. Why? Our spirit expresses what we believe about our self and what we think we’re capable of being and doing. Our spirit is what other people meet upon crossing our path. When people meet us they experience our spirit. They experience us either as friendly or unfriendly, joyful or sad, successful or failures, hones or dishonest, hopeful or despairing, God-centred or ego-centred. It’s easy to pick up on a person’s spirit. However, we’re often unconscious of our own dominant spirit. The spirit through which we express our self is a choice. We choose the kind of spirit through which we’ll express our self. But we must also recognize that, because we suffer from a fallen nature that’s prone to sinfulness, our spirit is in need of redemption if it’s to be faithful, loving, and hopeful. This is why we need the Holy Spirit to purify and direct our spirit.
St. Paul urges us to “Be intent on the things above rather than on the things of earth.” (Col 3:2) Because we live on earth our spirit is more apt to be influenced by earthly things. Fully aware of this, Jesus asked His Father to send the Holy Spirit to clothe the human spirit and boost it with His gifts. He promised Peter and the other Apostles as the first leaders of His Church that, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my Name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” (Jn 14:26) It’s through the Holy Spirit that Jesus’ Church infallibly preserves and faithfully hands on His teaching to every age until the end of time by equipping her with the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, courage, counsel, prayerfulness, and the fear of the Lord.
The Holy Spirit alone empowers the human spirit to recognize that “Jesus is Lord” (1 Cor 12:3) and commit to carrying out His mission calling all men and women to repent and seek forgiveness of their sins so they can enter Heaven. To ensure people’s salvation Jesus empowered His Apostles as the leaders of His Church to forgive those who repent. “‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ Then He breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive men’s sins, they are forgiven them; if you hold them bound, they are held bound.’” (Jn 20:21-22) Since forgiveness is an act of God, it’s only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can repent and be forgiven. Jesus gave His Church the Sacrament of Reconciliation where His Spirit cleanses the human spirit when the priest pronounces the words of Absolution.
The Church’s Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation are concrete events in which God lets us know we have received His Spirit to guide our spirit throughout life. The various ministries and good deeds are visible signs of the Holy Spirit working in us. Attending Sunday Mass signifies that our spirit is clothed in the Holy Spirit who enables us to publicly proclaim that “Jesus Christ is Lord!” (Phil 2:11) We know we have the Holy Spirit when we exhibit His fruits: “love, joy, peace, patient endurance, kindness, generosity, faith, mildness, and chastity.” (Gal 5:22-23) Since these are fruits of the Holy Spirit, no human being or formula can enable us to experience them. Hence our great need to have the Holy Spirit purify and guide our spirit as members of Jesus’ Church so we witness His fruits to others. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
May 30, 2019, 12:00 PM
to me
An Exorcist and a Journalist Explore Eastern Meditation and Mindfulness October 21, 2017 by Patti Maguire Armstrong
Eastern meditation techniques are a growing fad to relax and alleviate stress and anxiety. Some of it has even slipped into corners of the Church presented as something that can co-exist with Catholic spirituality. But according to an exorcist and an author on A Catholic Guide to Mindfulness, such meditations are contrary to the Catholic faith and neither healthy nor even harmless.
Father Patrick (not his real name) is a parish priest who has also been a diocesan exorcist for 7 years after he apprenticed for 6 years under an experienced exorcist. According to Fr. Patrick, Eastern meditation is a pathway of diversion away from a relationship with the true God, Father Son, and Holy Spirit. “Most people don't know that the ultimate goal is to be without the need of God,” he noted.
“Instead of directing people to God, the focus becomes ‘self’ which gets in the way of uniting with God,” Father Patrick said. “As a Catholic matures in his faith, one is expected to progress beyond the more self-centered reasons for prayer that may have motivated him at the beginning of his spiritual life. One must eventually learn how to come to prayer for God’s sake, and not just his own.”
Can Eastern Meditation be Mixed with Catholic Spirituality?
Attempting to join the two disciplines—Eastern with Christian—does not work, Father Patrick explained, because their focus is different. “To focus on self alone, as Eastern meditation does, is not trusting in God,” he said. “Instead of dialoguing with your own feelings and emotions, you should always look at what God is showing you and asking: What does God want me to do?”
Meditation that turns inward rather than towards God ends up in emptiness, according to Father Patrick. “It might give you a little bit of comfort for a short while, but it’s definitely not a pathway to God,” he said. Even if it is neutral, Father Patrick explained that it is actually taking you away from God, because it is not taking you closer. “If there is no dialogue with God, then God is not a part of it and you are not honing a relationship with him,” Father Patrick said. “Honing a relationship with self, that is pretty empty without real answers—
Eastern Meditation – Mindfulness – and Trust in Divine Providence
Sometimes Eastern meditations purport to trust in divine providence. However, the way to truly trust in the divine providence of God is to include him as part of the equation, Father Patrick said. “When we pray, we gain a sense of what will fulfill us from God,” he said. “God created us, he knows what is best for us. That is standard theology. We should be asking God: What do you have to say; what do you want me to do or to understand?”
Authentic Catholic Spirituality vs Eastern and New Age Practices
In true Catholic spirituality, Father Patrick said that God speaks to us in the depths of our heart, the deepest layer. He explained that the three layers of the heart are first, the outside layer, which is simply living the physical life; the second layer where our psychological and emotional experiences and understanding take place; and the third and deepest layer. “This is where we interact with God and we ask him for the answers to ultimately important questions,” Father Patrick said.
“There is an error when pagan practices and religions are attributed to Jesus,” he said. “For example, when people say that ‘Jesus is another Reiki master,’ they are saying that Jesus practiced Reiki so Jesus is no longer God to them.” For New Age practitioners, Father Patrick said that everyone can be God except for Jesus. “When you say that you don’t need Jesus, that always opens up doors to other spiritual forces militating against God and causes problems,” he said.
A Catholic Guide to Mindfulness
In an interview, Susan Brinkmann author of the new book, A Catholic Guide to Mindfulness, elaborated on the points made by Father Patrick. She explained that Eastern meditation fails to get at the core problem because it does not bring our woundedness to God. Her book looks specifically at Mindfulness, which is rooted in Buddhism from 500 BC and “is a state of active, open attention on the present by which one observes their thoughts and feelings as if from a distance, without judging them to be good or bad.” Although promoted as a non-spiritual practice used as a means of vanquishing stress and anxiety, for the most part, it is practiced through one of several forms of meditation such as Breathing Space Meditation, Body Scan Meditation, and Expanding Awareness Meditation. Connecting with God is not the goal of any of these types of meditations.
According to Brinkmann, Mindfulness has no place in Christian prayer or spiritual practice, either as a prelude, component, or adjunct. If there is a problem causing stress and anxiety, researchers have found that many people are using mindfulness as a way to escape rather than confront their problems “True Catholic spirituality and meditation is a way to root out the attachments that block our relationship with God and interfere with a healthy spiritual life with him,” Brinkmann said.
Christians that are not adequately instructed in the fundamentals of the spiritual life, according to her, are often drawn into the self-gratifying Eastern or New Age practices and either cease praying altogether or try to incorporate incompatible Eastern techniques into their practice of prayer. Even though we are taught that we can adopt what is good from other religions, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger clearly states in “Some Aspects of Christian Meditation” that this is not permissible if it obscures the purpose of Christian prayer – which is to dialogue with God. Because the aim of Eastern meditation techniques is to achieve a “higher” or “altered” state of consciousness, such as in the Mindfulness practice known as Expanding Awareness Meditation technique described in her book, these practices are not compatible with the goals of Christian prayer.
In addition, when we put aside all thoughts, including those that are distressing, Brinkmann explained that we enter into an altered state of consciousness detached from our problems and even ourselves to experience a temporary bliss. “The Pontifical document, Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life, warns that these states create an atmosphere of psychic weakness and vulnerability,” she said.
We do not need Mindfulness, Brinkmann stated. “We already have our own kind of ‘mindfulness’ known as the Sacrament of the Present Moment, which calls upon us to live in the here and now, in the Presence of God,” she said. “When we live in the Present Moment, we are in the Presence of God who can do something about the causes of stress and has the power to deal with it.”
Mindfulness and Catholicism: Are They Compatible?
Editor’s Note: The following is a recent article by Carl E. Olson reproduced with permission of the Catholic World Report. We are grateful for their consent to share this important piece with our readers.
“The Church’s mystical tradition is rarely, if ever, addressed from the pulpit,” says Susan Brinkmann, author of a new book on the practice of mindfulness, “which leaves many vulnerable to being drawn into eastern forms of prayer that are not compatible with Christian prayer.”
The practice (or “process”) of “mindfulness” has been getting much attention in recent years, crossing over into mainstream, as evidenced by books with titles such as 10-Minute Mindfulness, Mindfulness for Beginners, Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World, and The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation (the latter by popular Buddhist monk and author Thich Nhat Hanh). But mindfulness has now, says author and journalist Susan Brinkmann, OCDS, author and award-winning journalist, who is a member of the Third Order of Discalced Carmelites (secular) and staff journalist for Women of Grace, “one of the hottest new spiritual practices of our day. … Corporate executives, Hollywood stars, medical doctors, teachers, secretaries, and even clergy are avidly embracing it.” But what, exactly, is mindfulness? What are its roots and its goals? And is it compatible with Catholicism and the Catholic spiritual tradition?
Brinkmann, who wrote the recently published book A Catholic Guide to Mindfulness, corresponded with CWR editor Carl E. Olson to discuss mindfulness and to offer a Catholic perspective.
CWR: For those who aren’t familiar with it, what is the mindfulness movement? What are its roots and aims?
Susan Brinkmann: The mindfulness movement is a psycho-spiritual movement that is mainly driven by psychologists who have adapted an ancient Buddhist meditation practice as a means for helping people who are suffering from a variety of mental health issues.
Mindfulness is derived from the Buddhist tradition and is the seventh step in the Noble Eightfold Path, which Buddhists believe is a process that leads to awakening to one’s true nature. Known as Right-Mindfulness, it means controlling thoughts by maintaining awareness and focus on the present moment which is usually accomplished through some form of meditation.
The man responsible for introducing mindfulness into medicine in the West is a biomedical scientist named Jon Kabat-Zinn. A practicing Buddhist and board member of the Mind and Life Institute, an organization dedicated to “exploring the relationship of science and Buddhism as ways to better understand the nature of reality,” Kabat-Zinn always believed his karmic assignment was to find a way to bring his dharma practice together with his scientific pursuits to create one unified whole.
While on a vipassana retreat, he had a vision in which he “saw” a way to do this, through a program he would later call the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. This program was designed to be a patient-centered approach which could be used in hospital settings to treat persons with PTSD and other stress/anxiety disorders. However, with the core of the program being intensive training in mindfulness meditation, he knew these Buddhist roots would make many people nervous and so he “bent over backward” to find ways to employ the program without revealing its Buddhist roots.
To this day, many psychologists who use the program insist that it’s not spiritual and that it can be detached from its Buddhist roots. But, as my book details, this defies the facts as well as the research which has found that mindfulness and spirituality interact and that both are important mechanisms through mindfulness-based interventions exert benefits.
CWR: What are some examples of its popularity? Why has it proven to be so successful? What is the attraction?
Susan Brinkmann: According to the latest Pew report, eight in ten Americans are afflicted by stress, so it’s no surprise that a program offering relief from anxiety, without drugs, would be appealing. But what turned mindfulness into a phenomenon is a constant drumbeat of positive media reports about the alleged health benefits of the practice. As a result, what appeared to be early successes in the use of MBSR led to the creation of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School through which Kabat-Zinn’s program entered the mainstream. This, in turn, spawned numerous scientific investigations. At first, these studies were reporting positive effects of the practice of mindfulness such as improving brain and immune system function, lowering blood pressure, improving sleep, treating binge eating and even reducing the pace of cellular age. Particular emphasis was put on its use in the treatment of stress, anxiety, and depression because of how the practice taught people to “stand back” from their thoughts and simply observe them without trying to control their emotions. From there, it became popular for other treatments such as relationship and educational issues.
For years, mindfulness enjoyed almost a constant flow of positive research until recently, when scientists began to look at these studies more closely. In 2014, researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore reviewed nearly 19,000 meditation studies and came up with just 47 that met their criteria for a well-designed study. Some of the problems included lack of adequate control for placebo, self-selection bias, small cohorts, etc. Of the 47 studies that made the cut, the science found only a small to moderate effect of mindfulness in reducing emotional symptoms and no evidence that mindfulness programs were better than other treatments.
Many scientists realized that the reason there were no negative reports about mindfulness is that too few studies bothered to look for adverse effects. More attention began to be paid to this area of research which uncovered a long list of psychological and physical side effects of mindfulness meditation including depersonalization, psychosis, hallucinations, disorganized speech, feelings of anxiety, loss of appetite and insomnia. And these are not isolated findings. One study found that 63 percent of the group studied had suffered at least one negative effect from the meditation.
CWR: Who are the major proponents of mindfulness discussed in your book, and how have they become influential in current Catholic practices?
Susan Brinkmann: The practice of mindfulness has been taken up by many Christian psychologists who have been relying on these faulty studies as a reason to introduce the practice to their clientele. Even though many of these psychologists insist that one can separate the practice of being mindful from mindfulness, the main way to achieve this mindfulness is through the practice of some form of meditation such as Breathing Space Meditation, Body Scan Meditation, Movement Meditation – all of which are Buddhist practices. This contradiction has spawned a great deal of ambiguity among the faithful which has led many to raise important questions about its use by Christians. If it’s just a particular method of paying attention, then why are Buddhist meditation techniques required?
Even more concerning is the number of Christians who incorporate aspects of mindfulness meditation into their prayer life, not realizing that eastern meditation is not compatible with Christian prayer. Meditation in the east is a mental exercise designed to bring about an altered state for the purpose of achieving enlightenment. In the West, meditation means prayer which is intended to draw one closer to God.
For example, in my book, I tell the story of a woman whose husband had taken up the twice-daily practice of Body Scan Meditation to help him cope with stress. The family had been in the practice of praying together every night and he decided that he would no longer join them and would practice his mindfulness meditation instead. When she confronted him about it, saying that prayer is more restful, he disagreed and asked her to leave him alone.
Whether one intends to drift away from Christianity or not, taking up the practice of mindfulness meditation can indeed lead one away from the faith.
CWR: Mindfulness, as you noted, draws on Buddhist ideas. What are the key problems with this approach? In what ways are Catholicism and Buddhism incompatible?
Susan Brinkmann: As Dr. Anthony E. Clark says in the foreword of the book, the direction one drives a car determines the place one arrives at, and our spiritual practice is no different. “When one understands well the intentions of Christian prayer and mindfulness, it is clear that, at their root, they point in contrasting directions,” he writes.
Many Catholics believe Buddhism is not really a religion because it doesn’t involve the worship of a god. It’s more of a philosophy or system of ethics, they say, and is harmless. However, upon closer inspection, we quickly realize that this is just one of many diverging philosophies that make Catholicism and Buddhism completely incompatible.
For example, on the most basic level, Buddhists do not believe in the existence of the soul. They believe people who think they have a soul are rooted in ignorance and in a desire to please one’s “self” and that we become truly enlightened only after we come to the realization that there is no such thing as a soul. Christians not only believe in the existence of the soul, but that the soul can achieve eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Christians believe suffering brings us closer to God and unites us with our Suffering Lord. Buddhists believe suffering is something to be escaped from.
Christ teaches that He is the “Way, the truth and the life,” (John 14:6), but the Buddha teaches that every person must find their own path to enlightenment.
Both faiths teach love but the Christian agape love is personal, individual and free-willed. The Buddhist teaches karuna, an impersonal feeling of compassion. The best way to understand what a stark difference this makes between the two faiths is found in the Buddhist story of the saint who gave his cloak to a beggar. The Christian gives his cloak to the beggar because of Christ’s love for the beggar. The Buddhist gives his cloak to the beggar because it’s the enlightened thing to do. In other words, the Buddhist’s concern is not for the welfare of the beggar, as is the Christian, but for the liberation of the giver from the burden of self.
Another problem I have seen stems from erroneous interpretations of Nostra Aetate, the Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions. This document says that we are permitted to adopt what is good from other religions because it believes that other religions “often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.” What is often overlooked, however, is that a reflection of a ray is not truth that is directly from the source, but only a reflection of the source that is found in the Catholic faith.
This is why prominent theologians such as Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, warned that the poorly-catechized Christian should not engage in any kind of interreligious dialogue because this is only for doctrinally equipped Christians.
And in regard to incorporating eastern meditation techniques into Christian prayer, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger teaches in A Letter to the Bishops on Some Aspects of Christian Meditation that we can adopt what is good from other religions “so long as the Christian conception of prayer, its logic and requirements are never obscured.” Herein lies the problem. Buddhist meditation techniques such as mindfulness, by their very nature, are diametrically opposed to the Christian conception of prayer, which is “the raising of one’s heart and mind to God.” Buddhist meditation focuses on the self, while Christian meditation focuses on God.
In lieu of all of the above, St. John Paul II issues a well-founded warning in Crossing the Threshold of Faith that because the Buddhist and the Catholic have an essentially different way of perceiving the world, the Christian who wants to embrace ideas originating in Eastern religions needs to “know one’s own spiritual heritage well” before deciding whether or not to set the Faith aside.
CWR: You have a chapter on Catholic alternatives to Mindfulness. What are some examples? Why are some Catholics so eager to use something like Mindfulness rather than seek spiritual riches in the Catholic Tradition? And how can this book serve to clarify common confusions about mindfulness as a supplement to Catholic prayer?
Susan Brinkmann: In my experience teaching Carmelite spirituality, I have learned that the reason so many Catholics are adopting or attempting to blend eastern meditation techniques into their prayer life is because they sincerely don’t understand what Christian prayer is all about. The Church’s mystical tradition is rarely, if ever, addressed from the pulpit, which leaves many vulnerable to being drawn into eastern forms of prayer that are not compatible with Christian prayer.
For example, most are completely unaware that we have our own form of “mindfulness.” We are taught to “put on the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16) and in order to do that we must “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor 10:5). We do this by adopting practices such as the Sacrament of the Present Moment and the Practice of the Presence of God, both of which teach us how to be mindful of the everyday moments of our life and what God wills for us in each of those moments. Contrary to mindfulness, the Catholic focus on the present moment is not to enter a state of self-awareness, but into a state of abandonment to the will of God. We remain in the present not for the sake of the present, but for the sake of discovering the voice of God as He speaks to us in each moment of our day.
This book devotes three chapters to explaining, in concise and easy-to-understand language, the differences between the Buddhist and Catholic mystical traditions. It will be of great help to the faithful as well as the clergy, religious, catechists and spiritual directors who seek to guide them.
CWR: What do you say when high profile, orthodox Catholics, endorse mindfulness?
Susan Brinkmann: It’s not at all surprising that even the most learned Catholics would endorse mindfulness. Just like any other spiritual fad, of which the New Age is full, it takes a lot of time and effort to cut through the hype and get to the facts. By their own admission, not everyone has the time to do this. After 14 years of experience researching the New Age, which includes eastern meditation practices under its wide umbrella, I can say that most people – even those who should know better – are woefully uneducated about New Age practices. I have had priests, bishops, doctors, lawyers, seminary professors, and even the practitioners themselves admit that they don’t know what they believe they should know about a particular practice.
This is further complicated by the fact that there are very few Catholic researchers into the area of the New Age who make their work available to the public. Father Mitch Pacwa, Johnnette Benkovic, myself, and maybe a few others. However, the demand for this information is widespread. The New Age Q&A blog that we maintain at Women of Grace has more than 1,000 entries in its index and has been answering a never-ending stream of questions from around the world on a daily basis for almost 10 years now.
Considering the above, this is why I warn the faithful that even though such-and-such “big name” Catholic endorses mindfulness, a “big name” endorsement is not the same as an imprimatur. Especially in the case of book endorsements, if the title of the work has the word “Catholic” in it, the author has a moral obligation to have the work reviewed by the appropriate Church authorities to make sure that the content is in keeping with the Magisterium. As an author myself, I always consider the slight delay required to get an imprimatur a small price to pay to avoid becoming the “millstone” around the neck of someone that I led astray.
The bottom line is that, as my book details, there is enough credible evidence to prove that no one needs mindfulness for anything, either as a therapy or as an adjunct to their spiritual life.
Apologist Warns Catholics About Dangers of ‘Mindfulness’
Interview With Susan Brinkmann About Her New Catholic Guide
Patti Armstrong
Susan Brinkmann, once a New Age feminist, is now a Catholic apologist, award-winning author, Third Order Carmelite, and a staff writer and radio and TV host with Living His Life Abundantly and Women of Grace.
She knows what it’s like to seek happiness in all the wrong places and has dedicated her life to sharing the good news of the Catholic faith. Her latest book, A Catholic Guide to Mindfulness, warns of the dangers of the latest Eastern meditation fad and offers Catholics a deeper, holier path rooted in the wisdom of the saints and doctors of the Church.
First things first: What is this growing practice of “mindfulness”?
“Mindfulness” is rooted in Buddhism and seeks to bring about a state of active, open attention on the present by which one observes his or her thoughts and feelings as if from a distance, without judging them to be good or bad. Although it is promoted as a non-spiritual practice used as a means of vanquishing stress and anxiety, it is practiced through one of several forms of Buddhist meditation, such as “Breathing Space Meditation,” “Body Scan Meditation” and “Expanding Awareness Meditation.” Connecting with God is not the goal of any of these types of meditation.
Why did you write this book?
My main concern is the attempt by many Catholics to integrate mindfulness meditation practices into their prayer or spiritual lives. They are being led into this by believing that it’s not a “Buddhist practice,” [but a way] to just focus on the “here and now.”
But when we do that via one of several mindfulness meditation techniques — such as “Breathing Space Meditation,” “Body Scan Meditation” and others that are commonly taught — then we are venturing into the realm of Buddhist practices.
Many Catholics may start out trying to keep these practices separate, but there is a common confusion in the West regarding Eastern meditation and how it differs from Western meditation (one is a mental exercise; the other is a method of dialoguing with God), which is why many are inadvertently combining the two — and this can often result in spiritual disaster, even to the point of requiring exorcism in some cases.
Why would combining practices be a problem?
As the book explains, I have personal experience with this. Our “New Age Q&A” blog at Women of Grace recently received an email from a woman whose husband stopped praying the Rosary with his family because he found this kind of meditation to be more relaxing. Although none of us should come to prayer just for relaxation, but to converse with God, this shows how easily people, in varying stages of their spiritual lives, can be confused — without even realizing it — and thus be led away from God rather than towards him.
Are there studies on the effect of mindfulness?
There is mounting scientific concern regarding the mainstream media only touting studies that found benefits of mindfulness and not reporting on studies that found negative results from the practice. Some studies have shown that practicing mindfulness can actually backfire on people as they focus intently on the moment and leave their thoughts behind, including the positive ones. It can also lead people to disconnect rather than focus and engage in critical thinking on problems that require more thinking and not less.
In addition, a meta-analysis of 18,000 mindfulness studies conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in 2014 found only 47 that were considered methodologically sound — that’s only .0026%. And of those 47 found to be acceptable, the research found only “moderate evidence” of decreased anxiety, depression and pain and “low evidence” of improved mental health-related quality of life. This research led to more alarming findings about the negative effects of mindfulness, which then led me to put this information into a book in order to provide a more complete picture of this practice than what people are getting from proponents.
Why is mindfulness appealing to people?
There are several reasons why people are being drawn to it. First, the increasing secularization of our society has relegated Judeo-Christian values to the “nobody cares anymore” dustbin.
As a result, many people are abandoning mainstream religion and are feeding the resulting spiritual hunger with other practices, which range anywhere from a variety of non-Christian and/or New Age philosophies to the occult.
Second, I see the need to escape from the pressures of modern life as another reason why people are so drawn to Eastern meditation practices. These practices induce altered states of consciousness through the use of techniques designed to empty or manage the mind. This gives people a false reprieve from their worries.
In an era when we are suffering record levels of depression and anxiety, who wouldn’t want to escape their problems for at least a little while? Of course this is appealing!
In Christian prayer, they may have to confront their problems, but they are doing so with Someone who can actually solve those problems. In Eastern meditation, the only option is momentary escape. Afterward, you’re still stuck with the same problems.
Third, with respect to psychologists and others promoting the practice, there is much money to be made through psychospiritual fads like mindfulness.
We have seen the same pattern in the past with Reiki and “Centering Prayer.” Once these fads become common interest, many seek to exploit them for financial gain.
Why are the Catholic alternatives superior?
If one is living in the present moment in the presence of God, there is no need for a Buddhist practice like mindfulness. These Christian practices far surpass these merely human-based methods and actually draw us into the presence of God, where we can find authentic peace and healing.
Instead of a momentary escape from anxiety, the Christian alternative offers a real solution to anxiety and a permanent transformation. One practice is a quick fix; the other is a long-term opportunity for exponential personal growth toward the ultimate goal of our existence here on Earth — union with God.
By the time we reach this summit of union with him here on Earth, we will have been completely transformed into a totally new creation — not just an improvement of the old. When we are united with our Creator, we will finally become who we were meant to be from the beginning of time. This is a grace that surpasses all understanding.
Can a person be a good Catholic and still practice mindfulness?
It depends on what you mean by “good.” Good people are deceived all the time. Well-intended people pursue means that make them feel good all the time, but these means can be deeply spiritually damaging.
If you are just refocusing yourself for a few minutes on the task at hand, that is not a problem.
But if you’re engaging in the typical methods of practicing mindfulness, all of which involve some kind of meditation, then you risk inducing an altered state, which renders one vulnerable to psychological damage or to the influence of spiritual entities.
Catholics should not be involved in this, even when it is recommended by a doctor, because too many studies have shown it to be harmful, which is why more and more researchers are speaking out about it.
If a Catholic wants to practice being mindful of the present moment, my book recommends that they begin to employ The Practice of the Presence of God, which was introduced in the 16th century by a humble Carmelite brother named Brother Lawrence. It not only teaches a person to stay grounded in the present, but to do so in order to live in continual awareness of the presence of God within.
We’re taught to live in the present moment at all times in order to respond to the will of God as it plays out in each and every moment of our lives.
There is a vast difference between a state of sterile “awareness” and the much deeper realms of bliss to be found while basking in the presence of the Creator of the universe.
Mindfulness in Therapy: Is That All There Is?
Catholics in search of Christian-based counselling need not settle for trendy techniques that put them in conflict with their beliefs.
Susan Brinkmann
The rise of the modern practice of mindfulness into the field of therapy has posed a conundrum for many Catholics who want the therapy, but without the Buddhist roots. What are their options and how do they find them?
For many Christians, it may seem like the modern mindfulness movement is the only game in town. It seems as if wherever they go, therapists are touting either the eight-week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) model, pioneered by Jon Kabat-Zinn, or some derivative of it. When a Christian client expresses concerns about it, too many counselors are insisting that the practice has been “secularized” for use by the general public with no religious baggage.
Unfortunately, this is not true — at least not according to the pioneer himself.
In an April 2017 interview with Thrive Global, Zinn, a practicing Buddhist, clearly states his belief that “mindfulness is something at the heart of Buddhist practice.”
When asked if what he practiced was “secular mindfulness,” Zinn didn’t hesitate to disagree.
“I assiduously avoid the word secular,” he said. “As soon as you say secular mindfulness, you’re abstracting the sacred out of it.”
The “sacred” is not something he ever wanted to remove from his MBSR program, although he openly admits that he “bent over backward” to keep the sacred hidden from the general public for fear of being branded a “New Ager.” For this reason, he developed an “American vocabulary” to make mindfulness more acceptable to non-Buddhists.
For the unsuspecting American public, however, the tactic worked like a charm with many people believing that the mindfulness meditation their therapist is using to teach them how to focus is religion-free. But is that even possible?
In the book, The Buddha Pill, Dr. Miguel Farias and Catherine Wikholm sum it up this way: “In principle, it’s perfectly possible to meditate and be uninterested in meditation’s spiritual background. However, research shows that meditation leads us to become more spiritual and that this increase in spirituality is partly responsible for the practice’s positive effects. So, even if we set out to ignore the meditation’s spiritual roots, those roots may nonetheless envelope us, to a greater or lesser degree. Overall, it is unclear whether secular models of mindfulness are fully secular.”
With the practice of mindfulness so prevalent, what options does a Catholic have and how does he or she find a good therapist?
Gregory K. Popcak, Ph.D., MSW, LISW-S, founder and director of the Pastoral Solutions Institute, is the author of almost 20 popular books and programs integrating solid Catholic theology and counseling psychology.
For Catholics in need of therapy who want to avoid the modern practice of mindfulness, he suggests that they first come to understand the vast difference between the concept of mindfulness and the practice of mindfulness.
“The terms are used interchangeably in the shrink biz, but they are really very different things,” Dr. Popcak said.
“Loosely speaking, ‘mindfulness’ strictly understood as a concept is basically the mechanism that governs free will. It’s the amount of ‘space’ that exists between my emotional reaction and my behavioral response. If I just react to everything (i.e., no space between stimulus and response), I’m not mindful. I’m reactive. And generally speaking, that’s unhealthy.”
On the other hand, when something happens to upset us and we discern a more appropriate way to respond than lashing out, we’re being “mindful.”
“Personally, I don’t really like using the word ‘mindfulness’ for this concept (and we don’t use it in my practice), because of the baggage/confusion associated with the term, but when a lot of therapists talk about ‘mindfulness,’ this is what they mean.”
However, the contemporary practice of mindfulness, particularly the MBSR method taught by Jon Kabat-Zin (MBSR), “is another thing altogether,” Dr. Popcak said.
“MBSR is a systematic, Buddhist-based approach to teaching the concept of mindfulness. The goal may be perfectly healthy and appropriate (i.e., teaching a person to respond rather than react), but MBSR draws from an eastern spirituality that focuses on the destruction of the self (desire/pain) and the denial of objective truth. Obviously, all that’s problematic from a Christian point-of-view.”
The person seeking Christian-based therapy should discuss this with their therapist and make sure that when they say they’re using mindfulness, it’s not the MBSR method or any techniques associated with Buddhist meditation that are typically used in Zinn’s method to aid in the practice of mindfulness.
Allison Ricciardi, LMHC, founder of CatholicTherapists.com, the premier search engine for solid Catholic therapists, doesn’t recommend the MBSR method to Catholics. Instead, she uses the affirmation method put forth by Dr. Conrad Baars and has had excellent results.
As she explained, Baars’ method was very much influenced by St. Thomas Aquinas, who taught that the goal for healthy human function is to feel all of our natural emotions and learn how to guide them adequately by reason.
“People who are blocked by anxiety or depression, and who are unaffirmed, don’t trust their own feelings. So it’s important for them to feel what they’re feeling in their hearts. We want people to get in touch with what they’re actually feeling,” Ricciardi said.
Her methods involve teaching the person how to become calm, how to feed the soul and get in touch with what is good, beautiful and true.
“It’s a matter of getting in touch with the heart rather than the mind,” she explained.
She’s seen remarkable results just by getting people to spend time in Eucharistic adoration.
“I have seen people who were struggling for years with issues spend regular time before the Blessed Sacrament and experience great healing. This is because when you’re there with the Blessed Sacrament, you’re with a Person. We can’t be healed of a lack of affirmation through prayer. It must be through a person. Jesus is a person! He’s there in the Blessed Sacrament.”
What does she think about those therapists who try to “Catholicize” Zinn’s method of mindfulness?
“I really don’t think you can do that. What we need to do is look for the truth about why the person is reaching out for these techniques and give them a real answer. Connect them with real truth, real beauty, which is God, as manifested in His creation,” she said.
Man is a relational being and mindfulness doesn’t really address those needs, she said. Mindfulness is all about the self, whereas Christianity is all about relationship with our Creator and one another.
We can use techniques such as mindfulness to try to manipulate and control ourselves, but in the end, what we need is interaction with God and others, she said.
“We need to develop our ability to be present to others. This is what we‘re starving for – our world is so unaffirmed … Our goal is union with God and communion with others. That’s what heaven will be like. Everything we do should be about achieving that.”
Anyone looking for options other than the modern version of mindfulness should visit CatholicTherapists.com which has been in existence for 18 years and carefully screens all therapists who make the list.
“Our application is based on excerpts from the Catechism. We ask them if they agree or disagree with core teachings of the Church, and we also require both a clergy and professional reference,” she said.
In addition, her organization researches every applicant and reviews their website to be sure they are not involved in New Age therapies.
The bottom line is that Catholics in search of Christian-based counselling need not settle for trendy techniques that put them in conflict with their beliefs, offering them a peace and a presence that only Jesus can give.
Sean Sheehy
Wed, May 29, 1:49 PM
to me
Preach Repentance
Emphasis on repentance, even in religious circles, has decreased. Why? People have lost the sense of sin. Without consciousness of sin repentance is meaningless. In Greek, sinning was an archery term that meant missing the mark. From a Judeo-Christian perspective sin is any moral wrongdoing that causes physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual injury to oneself or to another. It’s an offense against God through abusing His creation. Abuse is the use of something other than that for which God created it. Adam and Eve committed the first sin by abusing God’s creation, using it in a manner contrary to His commandment. Sin, then, is a thought, word, or deed that separates us from God and from one another. Separated from God, man and woman lose the source of their true identity, power, purpose, meaning, and destiny. Thus by sinning we destroy our humanity and obsess over our ego instead of worshipping God. In sinning we lose our God-given compass and get lost. This is why God, in His mercy, sent Jesus, His Word-made-flesh, to save us from being lost. When we lose our sense of sin we ignore the fact that we’re lost and need a sin-less Saviour to lead us home.
Just before His Ascension, witnessed by His Apostles and disciples, the Risen Jesus reminded them that He fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies: “‘… everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and psalms had to be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to the understanding of the Scriptures. He said to them: ‘Thus it is written that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. In His Name, penance for the remission of sins is to be preached to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. You are witnesses of this.’” (Lk 24:44-48) The Apostles’ mission from Jesus, which is the mission of the Church He founded on Peter, is plain and simple, namely to preach penance for the remission of sins to all nations. God gives His people “a knowledge of salvation in forgiveness of their sins.” (Lk 1:77) It’s in the forgiveness of sin that people experience salvation. If the Church doesn’t preach penance for the remission of sins she’s ineffective because she’s disobeying Jesus and ignoring the Spirit of Truth. Preaching repentance is the Church’s real value and unique contribution to the life and hope of every human being. St. John reminds us that, “If we say, ‘We are free of the guilt of sin,’ we deceive ourselves; the truth is not to be found in us. But if we acknowledge our sins, He who is just can be trusted to forgive our sins and cleanse us from very wrong.” (1 Jn 1:8-9) The greatest thing we can do for our self is to acknowledge our sinfulness, repent, and seek Jesus’ forgiveness. To facilitate forgiveness, Jesus authorized Peter and the other Apostles, and through them the Bishops and priests of His Church, to administer the Sacrament of Reconciliation in His Name.
What is repentance? It’s the humble admission that we’ve done wrong either through commission or omission and that we can’t overcome our sinfulness on our own. We need the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to free us from our venial, grave, or mortal sins. To err is human but to forgive is divine. Forgiveness is impossible without God. By sinning we miss the mark in our thoughts, words, or actions. The mark is the standard Jesus set for us: “Such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for one another.” (Jn 13:34) To the degree that we’re not loving our self and others as much as Jesus loves us we’re sinning. This is why we’re in constant need of repentance and forgiveness.
We need the Holy Spirit to enlighten us daily regarding our proneness to sin and, as a result, our need to repent, and seek reconciliation. We know we’re directed by the Holy Spirit when we feel contrite for our past uncharitable conduct and regret it, striving now to amend our life. With this in mind, St. Paul wrote to the Christians in Ephesus: “May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of Him. May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to His call.” (Eph 1:17-23) God the Father’s call, echoed by Jesus through the Holy Spirit guiding His Church, is to repent of our sins. “This is the time of fulfilment. The reign of God is at hand! Repent and believe in the Gospel.” (Mk 1:15)
Preaching repentance for sin brings us hope for salvation. It’s the call to admit we’re sinners and in need of forgiveness if we’re to enter Heaven. Confession is good for the soul. Sin weighs us down because in it we dehumanize our humanity through disrespect, violence, greed, lust, anger, jealousy, envy, pride, and obtuseness. All these attitudes make us joyless, loveless, and unhappy. Repentance is the act wherein God restores our humanity to where we can be friends and build community together. This is the mission of Jesus’ Church and this is why His Church contributes uniquely to the salvation of our humanity by ensuring that we get rid of our sins that make us inhumane. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Thu, May 23, 12:04 PM
to me
Commitment Is Love’s Proof
One of the things lacking in our western culture today is the willingness to be committed to anyone. I think it’s due to an identity crisis, which in turn reflects ignorance of God. In the absence of true identity a person is confused. And since activity flows from identity, confused people lack the conviction when it comes to making the sacrifices demanded by commitment. Being unsure of who we are inevitably leads to a reliance on the culture to give us an identity. The culture tells us that our choices determine our identity. But since our choices change so does our identity. The result is that people don’t focus on making a stable and unique contribution which flows from having a stable and unique identity. To cover up this problem the culture tries to convince people they can choose their identity and be what they decide. Thus the culture encourages people to be their own creator – a false god. Since God created each of us in His image and likeness as male and female, despite what the so-called transgender promotors fraudulently trumpet, we must recognize that only our Creator can tell us who we truly are and what we’re meant to be. As human beings, whose soul is created by God, we receive our humanity, individuality, personality, and identity from Him. As our Creator, God loves us and is committed to our wellbeing, enabling us to love and be committed to the wellbeing of one another.
Love and commitment are dependent on a person’s true identity. Who I think I am determines how I love and what commitments I should make. My love and commitments flow from what I believe is necessary to reinforce who I think I am. If I think I’m someone that I’m not, then my love and commitments won’t continue because they’re based on what’s false. This is the cause of broken dreams and relationships. Many spend their life trying to be something they’re not. God doesn’t want any human being to be a failure. He wants us to be successful through knowing who we are and becoming what He created us to be, namely loving, committed, and contributing human beings. God didn’t create us to be noncommittal and non-contributive.
Love, if it’s genuine, always gives birth to commitment. To be committed is to entrust our self to someone. Love is essential since commitment always requires sacrifice. Commitment is the proof of love because it requires us to continue doing something even when the energy for it is waning or absent. Love re-energizes us to continue the commitment because it reinforces our identity. Since love is what unites us to one another it’s also love that keeps us committed in our relationships. With this in mind, Jesus informs us that, “Anyone who loves me will be true to my word … He who does not love me does not keep my words.” (Jn 14:23-24)
Commitment is the proof of love. Where there’s no love there’s no commitment and vice versa. Without God consistent love is impossible, therefore commitment is impossible. Many say they love God while disobeying His Commandments and ignoring His Church. As the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so the proof of love is in the commitment. The Holy Spirit tells us regarding our relationship with Jesus that, “The way we know we remain in Him and He in us is that He has given us of His Spirit.” (1 Jn 4:13) Signifying His love and commitment to us Jesus unites His Spirit with ours. Signifying our love and commitment to Him we must join our spirit to His. Through a union of the Holy Spirit and our human spirit God gives us the love that enables us to be true to our commitments. Without the love our commitments die. Fidelity to our commitments is proof of the love that reflects our true identity as God’s uniquely gifted, and contributing children.
Love and commitment bring an interior peace of mind, heart, and soul that relaxes the body. Our love of Jesus and our commitment to His word makes us recipients of His special peace that comes from knowing we’re His adopted brothers and sisters. Every human being wants peace since no one wants anxiety, worry, or uncertainty. Because our true identity comes from God, only He can give us the permanent peace we need. The world offers man-made fads, like mindfulness or other such self-helps. But if a person’s soul isn’t healthy through a loving and committed relationship with God, no amount of psychological therapy will be effective. Jesus tells us, “… peace is my gift to you; I do not give it to you as the world gives peace. Do not be distressed or fearful.” (Jn 14:27) Jesus’ peace is the real antidote to people’s stress and insecurity. Self-help is like the blind leading the blind. Commitment to Jesus’ word, preached and taught by His Church today, out of love for Him makes us the beneficiaries of the peace He bestows on our soul by making us right with Him, our self, and with one another. Know your true identity as God’s gifted child empowered to make a unique contribution to the world. Prove your love for Jesus by being committed to His Church. Then, as a loving and committed person, you will feel a peace the world can’t give you. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Wed, May 15, 1:12 PM
to me
The Glory of Love
Back in the 1930s there was a popular song titled, “The Glory of Love”. The lyrics went as follows: “You’ve got to give a little, take a little/ And let your poor heart break a little/ That’s the story of, that’s the glory of love/ You’ve got to laugh a little, cry a little/ Until the clouds roll by a little/That’s the story of, that’s the glory of love./ As long as there’s the two of you/ You’ve got the world and all its charms/ And when the world is through with you/ You’ve got each other’s arms./ That’s the story of, that’s the glory of love.” This fifth Sunday of Easter finds Jesus’ Church preaching about love from St. John’s Gospel. Jesus, just after Judas left to betray Him, He informs the 11 Apostles, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in Him.” (Jn 13:31) Then He seems to change the subject and tells His Apostles that He has a new commandment for them to obey. “I give you a new commandment: Love one another. Such as my love has been for you, so must your love be for one another.” (Jn 13:34) When you’re in Jesus’ arms you’re loved and glorified.
In the Old Testament, God commanded His people to love Him (Deut 6:4) and love their neighbour as themselves. (Lev 19:18) So what was new about Jesus’ commandment to His Apostles? Jesus’ new commandment combined love of God and love of neighbour as one commandment and He set His love of us as the standard for loving one another. We must love one another as much as Jesus loves us. He loves us unconditionally. Jesus demonstrated His love by sacrificing Himself to save us from having to suffer eternal death. It was in this act of unconditional sacrificial love that Jesus was glorified and that God was glorified in Him. Love glorifies both those who love and those who’re loved. To love is to glorify.
In setting the standard for love Jesus also made love the badge of identity for His Apostles, and through them for His Church and for each of her members. “This is how all will know you for my disciples: by your love for one another.” (Jn 13:35) Love, then, is the hallmark of the follower of Jesus. This is how the Christian identifies himself or herself, even towards his or her enemies. Jesus, after He taught His Apostles the Beatitudes as preludes to God’s blessing and happiness, commanded them to, “Love your enemies, pray for your persecutors, this will prove that you are children of your Heavenly Father, for His sun rises on the bad and the good, He rains on the just and the unjust.” (Mt 5:44-45) In all situations and circumstances the follower of Jesus distinguishes himself or herself by displaying a spirit of charity.
Love doesn’t come easily to us as sinfully-prone creatures. All too often we reduce love to feelings. Our love, for the most part, is conditional. The love Jesus speaks about is unconditional. It’s sacrificial, not superficial. It’s supernatural. It’s a gift from God and requires supernatural Faith - itself a gift from God - to express it. In other words, without God in a person’s life unconditional love is impossible. When we fail to love it’s because we either forget or ignore that real, consistent love that doesn’t count the cost requires that we daily invite the Holy Spirit to cleanse and enlighten our spirit to be a loving spirit. Love is cruciform – like the cross – in nature. It’s perpendicular coming from God to us, and horizontal in sharing it with others with open arms.
Like Jesus, we’re glorified when we love the Lord and each other with our “whole heart, whole soul, whole mind.” (Mt 22:37) Paradoxically we cannot love the Lord without letting the Lord love us first. That means inviting the Holy Spirit to make us conscious of Jesus who leads us into His Father’s loving arms. When we truly love others we know that we’re letting God love us. Refusing to love others is the result of shutting the door on God love us. When we love God we automatically love His children, including our self.
Glory is always about feeling enriched, uplifted, victorious, and joyful, on top of the world. Since Jesus connected glory with love, if we want glory we must love. You and I know that love isn’t easy. This is why G.K. Chesterton noted that “Christianity hasn’t been tried and found wanting, rather it has been found difficult and not tried.” What makes Christianity difficult or seem too hard for people is precisely the requirement of unconditional love. St. Paul shows us why Christian love is difficult and why we, because of our sinful nature, can’t do it without God’s Spirit. “Love is patient, kind, not jealous, doesn’t put on airs, is not snobbish, never rude, never self-seeking, not prone to anger, doesn’t brood over injuries, doesn’t rejoice in what’s wrong but rejoices with the truth, without limit in forbearance or trust or hope or power to endure. Love never fails.” (1 Cor 13:4-8) This is the story of, the glory of love. St. Irenaeus noted that the glory of God is man and woman fully alive. We experience God’s glory and fullness of life when we love unconditionally. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy <frsos@eircom.net>
Wed, Apr 10, 12:02 PM
to me
Palm Sunday: Remembering the Cost of Salvation
The dominant western culture encourages us to buy into the illusion that human beings can perfect themselves by their own devices. Another illusion is the belief that our life is our own to do with it what we want as if there were no consequences. We see this in the development of sperm banks and the attempt to create designer babies. This arrogant mentality is summed up in the idea that we’re our own gods. There’s a saying that “when you meet a self-made man or woman you behold the woes of unskilled labour.” The more we try to perfect our self the more of a mess we make of ourselves and our world. Like trying to lift our self up by our bootstraps, we doom ourselves to failure. There are some things we can perfect but our tendency to sin isn’t one of them. Sin isn’t a psychological condition from which we can free our self. It’s a condition we’ve inherited and from which we need someone better, stronger, holier, and more knowledgeable than ourselves to save us. This is why Jesus is so essential for our humanity. We need Him because of who He is for us: “I am the light of the world. No follower of mine will ever walk in darkness; no, he shall possess the light of life.” (Jn 8:12) “I came that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (Jn 10:10) The darkness of ignorance about ourselves and the power of Satan over us can only be dispelled by Jesus – the Word of Truth. Death is a reality for each of us and only Jesus can deliver us from it because He is the only one who conquered it. Jesus came to save us from our illusions that always end in disillusionment.
There’s an old adage that says “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Someone else is paying for it somewhere. There’s no such thing as getting something for nothing. Someone is making the sacrifice. G.K. Chesterton noted that Christianity, the religion that makes salvation possible, “has not been tried and found wanting, rather it has been found difficult and not tried.” Perhaps this is why people look for easier ways to be saved! The American dramatist, Claire Booth Luce noted that “No good deed goes unpunished” and someone else said that “No act of charity goes un-resented.” This is definitely true with regard to Jesus’ salvific act. Salvation was costly for Jesus and, being Christian, walking the path that leads to salvation, is also costly. Salvation involves sacrificing one’s life for the sake of loving God and neighbour. God revealed the characteristics of the promised Messiah who would come to save mankind. “The Lord has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them … He opens my ear that I may hear … I have not rebelled or turned back … I give my back to those who beat me … The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced … I shall not be put to shame.” (Is 50:4-7)
Jesus’ Church calls us to remember the cost of salvation as she begins this Holy week by proclaiming Jesus’ Passion (Lk 22:14-23:56) on Palm Sunday. The week is “Holy” because during it we see God’s unconditional love for mankind expressed in Jesus’ suffering and death on a cross to save us from our sins. Jesus, nailed to the cross, voiced His excruciating pain in the words of Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” (Ps 22:1) He endured the mockery of the onlookers: “He relied on the Lord; let Him deliver Him. Let Him rescue Him, if He loves Him.” (Ps 22:9) St. Paul expressed the depth of Jesus’ total Self-sacrifice when he wrote, “He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness … He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Phil 2:6-11) Salvation is costly. What Jesus did for us He expects us to do for others. We must empty ourselves of our ego. How? By humbling our self through commitment to serving the good of others as laid down in God’s Commandments and Jesus’ Beatitudes. This involves doing good deeds that will often be punished or evoke resentment. But, as Jesus pointed out, the faithful will be amply rewarded both in this life and completely in the next.
The Holy Spirit tells us, “You are not your own. You have been purchased. And at a great price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Cor 6:19-20) The great price Jesus paid for our salvation was His death on the cross. He concluded His costly act of salvation by entrusting Himself to His Father: “Into Your hands I commend my spirit; You will redeem me, O Lord, O faithful God.” (Ps 31: 6) Let us daily commend our spirit into God’s hands to save us. God considered our salvation to be worth Jesus’ sacrifice. We too must consider the sacrifices we make to cooperate with Jesus, our Saviour, to be worth it. “There is no salvation in anyone else, for there is no other Name in the whole world given to men and women by which we are to be saved.” (Acts 4:12) Accompany Jesus this week as He suffers and dies to save you. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy <frsos@eircom.net>
Wed, Apr 24, 2:10 PM
to me
The Gift of Peace
Back in 1955, Jill and Sy Miller wrote a Christmas song, “Let There Be Peace on Earth”. The first verse pleaded: “Let there be peace on earth/ And let it begin with me./ The peace that was meant to be./With God as our Father/Brothers all are we./ Let me walk with my brother/ In perfect harmony.” On this 2nd Sunday of Easter we hear the Risen Jesus greeting His disciples with the words, “Peace be with you.” (Jn 20:19) St. John Paul II designated this Sunday as “Divine Mercy Sunday” in commemoration of St. Faustina’s private revelations from Jesus to promote mercy throughout the world. Jesus’ Church sees a direct correlation between God’s mercy and His peace. God expresses His mercy through His gift of forgiveness. His forgiveness brings us His gift of peace – the peace that was meant to be.
The world we live in shows little regard for forgiveness. Therefore there’s no appreciation for mercy. Without forgiveness peace is impossible. Unforgiveness translates into fear, distress, and anxiety which are often expressed violently? How can we change this? Mercy and peace on earth can begin with you and me. But first we must recognize that God is the only One who enables us to be merciful and at peace with our self. God as our Father, Jesus as our Saviour and our Brother, and the Holy Spirit as our Sanctifier and Advocate enables us to walk together as brothers and sisters in perfect harmony. There’s no other source of harmony that can unite us permanently where we work together as a team rather than as isolated and disconnected individuals.
Every human bring wants to experience inner peace and be treated mercifully. The world offers peace through various man-made fads such as mindfulness, reiki, transcendental meditation, etc. But these human inventions can’t provide what people yearn for in their souls. Lasting peace of mind, heart, and soul that comes from God; the peace that only the Risen Jesus gives. “Peace is my farewell to you, my peace is my gift to you; I do not give it to you as the world gives peace. Do not be distressed or fearful.” (Jn 14:27) To fare well is to journey in peace. Jesus’ gift of peace enables us to be well as we journey through life. It frees us from fear and distress. No human invention can promise us a fear-free and distress-free life. This is the difference between Jesus’ peace and human attempts to create our own peace.
The peace Jesus brings is the result of forgiveness. That’s why, on His appearance to His Apostles after His Resurrection, He commissioned them to bring His forgiveness to the world: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Then He breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive men’s sins, they are forgiven them; if you hold them bound they are held bound.’” (Jn 20:22) To receive Jesus’ peace people need to repent and receive forgiveness so He authorized the Apostles and their successors to forgive repentant sinners in His Name. Since only God can forgive sin, Jesus made Divine Mercy available to people through His Church’s ordained bishops and priests. His act of mercy is enshrined in the Church’s Sacrament of Reconciliation. Sin destroys inner peace. God’s forgiveness restores that peace. The peace that Jesus gives comes from being in harmony with God, with oneself, and with our neighbour.
This Divine mercy, which brings a peace the world can’t give, moves us to pray with the Psalmist: “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, His love has no end … I was hard pressed and was falling, but the Lord helped me. My strength and my courage is the Lord, and He has been my Saviour.” (Ps 118:2-24) Because we’re prone to sin, which destroys our inner peace, we need forgiveness. Since we prefer to walk by sight and not by faith we tend to doubt God’s promises. The Apostle Thomas is an example of relying on sight rather than on faith. He wanted proof. His faith was shattered and he had lost his inner peace. Jesus mercifully restored his peace when he appeared and invited him to touch His wound and see He was really alive. Thomas’ faith and inner peace were restored when he responded, “My Lord and my God.” (Jn 20:28) Jesus replied, “You became a believer because you saw me. Blest are them who have not seen and believed.” (Jn 20:29)
None of us has seen Jesus. But we believe because of His Church’s fidelity to handing on the Apostles’ witness recorded in the Gospels and through her prayer, worship, especially the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and works of mercy. St. John, through Jesus’ Church, shares this Apostolic witness with all who choose to believe. “Jesus performed many other signs as well – signs not recorded here – in the presence of His disciples. But these have been recorded to help you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, so that through this faith you may have life in His Name.” (Jn 20:30-31) Jesus gives us life in His Name when He forgives us and bleses us with the gift of His peace.
Jesus is the only source of the inner peace that all human beings crave. To receive it we must seek His mercy through repenting and receiving His forgiveness. Thus true peace on earth can begin with you and me, and we can walk in harmony as brothers and sisters. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy <frsos@eircom.net>
Wed, May 1, 12:03 PM
to me
The Purpose of Power
What is power? It’s the ability to freely act in particular way or produce a particular effect. From a Christian perspective the purpose of power is never to dominate human beings but rather to empower them to reach the fullness of their potential. The potential of every human being is to be what God created him or her to be, namely to be His image and likeness in the world. The true use of power always enables us to be fully human and fully alive. Since Jesus is the perfect image of and likeness of God, He alone empowers us to reach the fullness of our potential. St. Paul prays, “May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory … enlighten your innermost vision that you may know the great hope to which He has called you, the wealth of His glorious heritage to be distributed among the members of the Church, and the immeasurable scope of His power in us who believe.” (Eph 1:17-19) Jesus is the immeasurable power of God empowering you and me to be hopeful and the beneficiaries of His heritage, which we share with all believers. He is the “Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honour and glory and blessing.” (Rev 5:11-14) Beginning in Baptism Jesus uses His power to empower us with spiritual riches, wisdom, strength, honour, glory, and blessing. Thus we experience the great “scope of His power in us who believe.”
Every human being craves power. Without it we couldn’t change or improve our self and the world around us. We need power to move. Like everything in our world, we can use power for good or evil. The English Catholic writer, historian, and politician, Lord Acton noted that “power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Our tendency to use power corruptly began with Adam and Eve. They used their God-given power of free will to make God’s power to determine good and evil their own independently of Him. God empowered them to love Him but they corrupted it by choosing to love themselves more. From then on power tends to go to people’s head and they begin thinking they’re god. This is why we need to be constantly conscious that the “kingdom, the power, and the glory” belongs to God, as Adam and Eve, and every power abuser, learned to their chagrin. God alone is omnipotent, the source of power and determines that its proper use is to serve.
Power is at the centre of most conflicts. We see this in the conflict between the Jewish Sanhedrin and the Apostles after Jesus’ resurrection. Many people were attracted to the Apostles’ preaching concerning Jesus’ teaching, suffering, death, and resurrection. The Jewish leaders forbade the Apostles to mention Jesus’ Name. Peter, as the leader of the Apostles, responded, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, though you had Him killed by hanging Him on a tree. God exalted Him as Leader and Saviour to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses of all these things, as is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” (Acts 5:28-32) The Jewish leaders used their power to try to control the Apostles and take away their freedom. The Apostles used their power to risk persecution in order to preach about the true source of power who empowers others to live truly powerful lives by showing that Jesus frees people from eternal death through the forgiveness of sins. The Jewish Sanhedrin no longer exists, while Jesus’ Church, led by the Holy Spirit ministering through the Apostles and their successors, has withstood attacks from both inside and outside in the form of empires, regimes, defectors, heresies, apostasy, leftist ideologies, traitors, and scandals for 20 centuries. The power that empowers Jesus’ Church remains undefeated.
For forty days after His resurrection Jesus empowered Peter and the other Apostles to found and lead His Church as His visible instrument in empowering His followers until the end of time. He chose leaders to demonstrate that His Church would be empowered not by human beings but by Him through the Holy Spirit. “It was to shame the wise by choosing what is foolish by human reckoning, and to shame what is strong that He chose what is weak by human reckoning; those whom the world thinks common and contemptible are the ones that God has chosen – those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything.” (1 Cor 1:27-28) Peter exemplified human weakness when, out of fear, he denied knowing Jesus who was arrested. But Jesus saw that the same Peter could be an instrument of His power so He called him to repent and declare his love for Him. Jesus tasked him, and through him His Church, with three ministries to empower His followers: “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep.” (Jn 21:1-19) To this day Jesus is empowering His true followers through His Church’s ordained Pope, bishops, and priests in their administration of Her Sacraments. To ensure that Jesus’ ordained leaders use His power to empower, He ordered them to make sure that they must not lord it over others. “Anyone among you who aspires to greatness must serve the rest, and whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all.” (Mt 20:24-27) This is why the Pope, successor of Peter, is called, “The servant of the servants of God.” The proper use of power empowers others by serving their needs, not by disempowering through force or intimidation. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy <frsos@eircom.net>
Wed, May 8, 12:17 PM
to me
Lend Me Your Ear
In Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar” Mark Anthony began his funeral oration for Caesar with the call, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.” (Act 3, Sc 2) The second verse of a Christmas song begins with, “Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy: "Do you hear what I hear?” In America a favourite expression of teachers trying to get the students’ attention is “Listen up!” Often a reprimand or criticism from someone is described as “an earful.” To “cock an ear” is to listen intently. To “have someone’s ear” is to have his or her favour. To whom do you “lend your ears”? What do you hear? To whom do you listen? Who calls you to “Listen up”?
This 4th Sunday of Easter Jesus’ Church proclaims the Gospel of John in which Jesus tells us, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish … My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of His hand.” (Jn 10:27-30) Jesus’ disciples are those who freely choose to lend Him their ears. They hear what He hears, which is what His Father has told Him. Those who hear Jesus’ voice are those who know where He is and take the time to listen and do what He tells them. Listening to Jesus means that we open our self up to Him revealing who and what we are. This is why Jesus says that He knows those who hear His voice. Those who really hear His voice and meditate on what they hear always follow Him. He promises eternal life to His intentional disciples. He also promises that no power on earth can separate His followers from Him. Why? Because His Father, who calls each one by name (Is 43:1), has given them to Him. Remember that Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6) and he also revealed that, “No one comes to me unless the Father call him/her.” (Jn 6:44) Supernatural Faith in Jesus comes to us when we invite the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father sends, to join our spirit and unite us with Christ in His Church.
The Old Testament Psalmist didn’t know Jesus because God’s Word had not yet become flesh, but he was inspired by God’s Spirit to call people to lend their ears to him and “Know that the Lord is God; He made us, His we are; His people, the flock He tends.” (Ps 100:3) And yet, when Jesus came doing all that was prophesied about the Messiah, most of the Jewish leaders who were familiar with the Old Testament chose not to hear Him or see that His works were divine. They didn’t lend Him their ears. Paul and Barnabas felt the brunt of their deafness and blindness and so they chose to bring Jesus and His teaching to the Gentiles. (Acts 13:44ff) The Gentiles heard Jesus speak to them through Paul and the other Apostles and cocked their ears to His teaching. Interestingly, the Jews’ refusal to hear about Jesus led to a fulfilment of a prophecy about Him in Isiah: “I have made You a light to the Gentiles, a means of salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Is 49:6) The Jews’ loss was the Gentiles’ gain. “The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this and responded to the word of the Lord with praise.” (Acts13:48)
How do we lend Jesus our ears today? We do so by listening to His Church’s preaching and teaching based on the Holy Scriptures and the Apostolic Tradition. Lending our ears to whomever is always a free choice. Just as we have to choose where we place our foot when walking, so we have to decide to whom we will pay attention. The key question is who speaks the truth, since only the truth will set us free – the truth about who we are, why we’re here, what’s our purpose, why we suffer and die, and what’s there after death. Reason tells us that we should listen to someone who can answer all these question authoritatively and truthfully. History tells us that the only one who answered these questions is the one who identified Himself as “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” (Jn 14:6) That person is Jesus Christ. He alone demonstrated that He was both human and Divine, both in His words and in His deeds. No one ever raised anyone from the dead except Jesus. No one ever rose from the dead except Jesus.
The Apostles lent their ears to Jesus and gave up their lives in testimony to His humanity and divinity. Having heard Jesus, Peter proclaimed in behalf of the other Apostles and in the face of persecution and death that it was “Better to obey God than men.” (Acts 5:29) Jesus founded His Church on Peter through which He would continue to speak so people could hear Him. Each of us must make a free choice to lend Jesus our ears so we can hear the truth and be freed from eternal suffering and death to enjoy life to the fullest. (frsos)
Father Frank's Alerts <FrFrankPavone@priestsforlife.org>
Wed, Jun 5, 2019
As you know, the Georgia Legislature passed and Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law called the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act, which protects the unborn from abortion as soon as a heartbeat can be detected. The law is more commonly known as the Heartbeat Law and it is set to be enforced beginning in January 2020.
We already know that the entire entertainment industry is rabidly pro-abortion and we know that many film and television companies take advantage of Georgia’s tax incentives to film their projects in the state.
Now Netflix, the streaming movie and television service, is threatening to pull out of Georgia, and the CEO of Disney said it would be “very difficult” to continue filming in the state.
We need to let Gov. Kemp know that we appreciate his protection of the unborn and that we will continue to stand with him. I am enraged that Hollywood now feels like it can dictate law, and I know you must feel the same way.
I am asking you to join me in sending the governor a strong message of pro-life support.
Please click here for further instructions.
And please forward this email to everyone you know who may be interested in helping.
Thank you!
Fr. Frank Pavone
From Sean Sheehy
Sean Sheehy
Wed, Apr 3, 12:36 PM (4 days ago)
to me
Lent: Remembering what’s on Our Horizon
Lent is a time of spiritual spring cleaning and renewing our commitment to Jesus Christ sacramentally present in His Church. Renewal calls for self-examination. So we must ask what’s on our horizon. Why? Because whatever is on our horizon is something that will happen or that we will do soon. This is the time to ask, “What’s my goal in life? Where am I headed? Where do I want to be? What is it that I’m moving towards in my life and in my relationships?” Our answer these questions shows us what’s on our horizon and determine where we’ll end up. There’s nothing worse than being somewhere you and I don’t want to be. Sadly, this is the fate of many people since they never stop and ask themselves, “What’s on my horizon?” or “Where am I heading?”
Jesus’ universal Church begins her fifth week of Lent in preparation for her celebration of His Resurrection on Easter Sunday. She asks each of her members, and the whole world, to examine what’s on their horizon to make sure that what’s on it is what they need for their fulfilment. God speaks through her proclamation of the Holy Scriptures and tells us: “Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new” Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Is 43:16-21) Often we let our past rob us of our present and drive us into the future. It is baggage that weighs us down. In focusing on our horizon the first thing we must do is let go of our past. How? By trusting it to God’s mercy. When God said to His people, “I am doing something new” He was talking about the gifts of forgiveness, reconciliation, and resurrection from the dead, all of which Jesus would bring into the world. We trust our past to God’s mercy by repenting and seeking His forgiveness through His Church. Jesus made that possible by giving His Church the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Confession is good for the soul because it frees us from carrying the baggage of our sins and enables us to feel God’s merciful love and the liveliness that the Holy Spirit instils in us. God challenged His people to accept what He was doing when He asked them, and us, “Do you perceive it?”
All too often we don’t perceive the good things God offers us and so we trudge along burdened by our selfishness and myopic view of where we’re going or what we’re doing. Then we wonder why we aren’t happy or feel any joy in our life. The Psalmist perceived what God was doing new and so he responded: “The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad indeed …Those that sow in tears shall reap rejoicing ...They shall come back rejoicing carrying their sheaves.” (Ps 126:1-6) God makes us new when He renews us through the grace of repentance and reconciliation. When we’re reconciled with God we clarify what we want to be on our horizon, namely happiness with Him. What’s on our horizon is very important because it’s what drives us. If union with God is on our horizon then we won’t be driven by a desire for power over others, self-gratification, popularity, or wealth. Because union with Jesus was on St. Paul’s horizon he was able to declare: “I come to rate all as loss in the light of the surpassing knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ. For His sake I have forfeited everything; I have accounted all else as rubbish so that Christ may be my wealth and I may be in Him ...” (Phil 3:8-9) As Christians with Jesus on our horizon He is the source of our power, our gratification, our popularity, and our wealth.
As Christians we must continually ask our self: “Does my relationship with Jesus Christ and my knowledge of Him present in His Church take precedence over everything this world offers me?” In the Gospels Jesus challenged people to examine what was on their horizon. One example is His encounter with a woman accused of adultery by some leading citizens. (Jn 8:1-11) He led all parties to clarify and change their goals. He called the woman’s accusers to examine what was on their horizon: “Let the man among you who has no sin be the first to cast a stone at her.” (Jn 8:7) They all walked away since each of them had sinned in some way. He called the woman to change her horizon: “You may go. But from now on, avoid this sin.” (Jn 8:11) This could have been a very ugly situation where the woman would be stoned to death because that was the penalty for committing adultery. It would also have been ugly for the accusers because their self-righteousness would have masked their own sinfulness. Jesus, in calling both parties to examine what was driving them and calling them to change made everything new and improved. Both parties were renewed in their humanity and shown a new way of living.
This week is a good time to examine our horizon and see if we need to change what’s there or reinforce it, as the case may be. Let God make you new by trusting your past to His mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, your present to His love in prayer and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and your future to His Providence guided by the Holy Spirit. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Wed, Mar 27, 12:40 PM (11 days ago)
to me
Lent: Remembering to Be Joyful
Lent is a season during which we renew our relationship with Jesus and His Church through devoting extra time and effort to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, which results in sharing who we are and what we possess with others. So you might ask what’s joyful about Lent? But actually the purpose of Lent is to prepare our self for the joy of Easter. How? By knowing that we’re doing what Jesus did, namely spending in prayer with His Father, controlling bodily desires in order to focus on spiritual needs, and by generously sharing our time, talent, and treasure with others. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are instruments in the practise of self-denial which is necessary if we want to love God and our neighbour. Jesus reminds us, “If a man wishes to come after me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and begin to follow in my footsteps.” (Mt 16:34) Lent, therefore, is a time to remember to be joyful that we are following in Jesus’ footsteps.
Joy, in its various forms, is mentioned 478 times in the Bible. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines joy as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.” Does that mean that we can’t be joyful if we’re ill, failing, unfortunate, or can’t satisfy our desires? There are two kinds of joy, natural and supernatural. Natural joy is the result of feeling well, successful, fortunate, and hoping to get what we desire. Supernatural joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. (Gal 5:22) St. Paul speaks about supernatural joy when he prays, “So may the God the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that through the power of the Holy Spirit you may have hope in abundance.” (Rom 15:13) Natural joy fades in the face of adversity. Supernatural joy thrives in the face of adversity because it’s generated by hope in a God who loves us unconditionally. This hope is supernatural, a theological virtue, a gift from God, “And this hope will not leave us disappointed, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Rom 5:5) Natural hope or optimism that generates a feeling of joy is based only on wishful thinking. Supernatural hope is the substance of God’s gifts of Faith and Love to us.
Supernatural joy doesn’t depend on our circumstances in this world, whether we’re successful or failures, fortunate or unfortunate, well or ill. Since it’s a fruit of the Holy Spirit all we need is to invite Him to join our spirit. Therefore we can be joyful in the midst of illness, failure, misfortune, and poor prospects. The Holy Spirit assures us that God is with us and will make all things work in our favour if we love Him. This is why Nehemiah was able to encourage his people when he said, “Do not be saddened this day, for the joy of the Lord must be your strength.” (Neh 8:10) This was the joy expressed by the Psalmist when he exhorted his people, “Glorify the Lord with me, let us together extol His Name. I sought the Lord and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Look to Him that you may be radiant with joy …” (Ps 34:2-4)
As Christians we can be joyful no matter how difficult life may be for us. St. Paul reminds us, “Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things passed away; behold new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Cor 5:17-21) God’s promise in the Old Testament has been fulfilled by Jesus. “I will turn their mourning into joy, I will console and gladden them after their sorrows.” (Jer 31:13) Jesus tells us in the Beatitudes that those who mourning is for personal sin as well as for the sins of the world “shall be comforted.” (Mt 5:4) Repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation make us joyful. This is why Jesus bestowed the power of forgiveness on His Apostles and enshrined it in the Sacrament of Reconciliation administered by the bishops and priests of His Church. Jesus highlighted forgiveness as God’s gift of joy in the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15:11ff) We see the joyfulness of forgiveness in the father’s happy reception of his youngest son’s return. He was joyful despite the earlier rejection he felt from this boy who turned his back on him and wasted his property. The father’s joy translates into a feast for his prodigal son. He expressed the power of his supernatural joy to his older son, who felt the celebration wasn’t deserved by his sinful brother’s return, when he exclaimed, “But we had to celebrate and rejoice! This brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life again; he was lost and is found.” (Lk 15:32)
We can’t help but be joyful when we remember that though we’re dead in sin God brings us back to life; though lost in our selfishness God finds us. The older brother robbed himself of joy because he let his anger prevent him from forgiving his sibling for abandoning the family. Everyone who forgives is a recipient of the joy God gives both the forgiver and the forgiven. Remember that God wants to give you His joy by forgiving you in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Wed, Mar 20, 12:29 PM
to me
Lent: Remembering to Repent
In the lives of the Church’s saints the one thing all have in common is that the closer they came to God the more conscious they became of their sinfulness. Lent is a special time when we prepare our self to enter a closer walk with Jesus. The more we focus on intimacy with Him as our Saviour the more we have to face the reality of our sins that block the effectiveness of His love. Lent is a special time during which God gives us the grace to repent of our sins and more fully enjoy His love. Jesus reminds us that “if you do not repent, you will perish” (Lk 13:5) because you can’t be forgiven
Repentance is the freely chosen act of recognizing our wrongdoing, and feeling deep regret and hatred for it with a commitment to amending our life. Apart from its spiritual value, repentance is essential for our mental and emotional wellbeing and the health of our relationships. The spiritual writer, Thomas a Kempis, noted that “the acknowledgment of our weakness is the first step toward repairing our loss.” In repenting we face who we are and what we need to change if we want to experience the joy and peace that only Jesus can give us. Jesus’ Church teaches us that His “call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before Him, does not aim first at outward works, ‘sackcloth and ashes,’ fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion. Without this, such penances remain sterile and false …” (CCC 1430) Remember that “Nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him impure; that which comes out of him, and only that, constitutes impurity …wicked designs come from the deep recesses of the heart.” (Mk 7:15, 21)
To repent is to change one’s heart. How? Holy Spirit tells us, “Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God.” (Joel 2:12-13) Jesus reminds us that “where your treasure is there is your heart also.” (Mt 6:21) Repentance is about making God our most precious treasure where we put our whole heart. God wants our whole heart, not just a piece of it when we need something, because He wants to give His whole Self to us to bless, heal, and perfect our flawed humanity. Jesus has no time for half-heartedness. “But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spew you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:16) Repentance is about coming back to God with ALL our heart. What does this involve?
Jesus’ Church teaches us that repentance involves a radical conversion. To be radical is to get to the root of something, the basics, the kernel of our situation, namely that we’re sinners who can’t save ourselves and are in desperate need of God to save us. “Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end to sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time it entails the desire and the resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of His grace.” (CCC 1431) The motivation for this “radical reorientation” comes from God Himself. The Holy Spirit promises that by repenting God “pardons all your iniquities, heals all your ills. He redeems your life from destruction, crowns you with kindness and compassion … secures justice and the rights of the oppressed … so surpassing is His kindness toward those who fear Him.” (Ps 103:1-11)
We don’t hear much about repentance today? Why? Because we don’t know God and we don’t know our self. Pride and ego-obsession are our downfall. We’re so stuck on our ego today that we can’t risk facing our flaws and our sinfulness. Without God we can’t get rid of our flaws and selfishness. Instead of repenting for our sins we avoid them by making everything permissible even though it leaves us stressed, lonely, and isolated in superficial or broken relationships. We suffer from the illusion that we can heal and forgive our self. St. Paul warns us: “Whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall.” (1 Cor 10:12) But without God’s Spirit we can’t help but fall since we’re all sinners. Sin is like cancer; even if we don’t admit that we’ve sinned it still eats away at our soul and causes our humanity to deteriorate. Again, like cancer, the sooner we recognize sin’s existence in us the better are our chances of healing.
Repentance is powerful. In a homily, St. John Chrysostom, (c. 388 A.D.) noted that repentance, “alone will turn a wolf into a sheep, make a publican a preacher, turn a thorn into an olive, make a debauchee a religious fellow.” It brings about a radical reorientation of our heart toward the things of God. To facilitate this need for repentance and forgiveness Jesus bestowed on His Church, through her bishops and priests, the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This is a powerful expression of God’s initiative in enabling us to enter into a more intimate relationship with Him and through Him with one another. Forgiveness of sin is one of the most important gifts Jesus brought to this world. But to be forgiven we must first repent. Repentance calls for an examination of conscience: Where have I fallen in keeping God’s Commandments and living Jesus’ Beatitudes? Let’s remember to repent, confess our sins, and experience God’s forgiveness that brings us a refreshed sense of wellbeing. (frsos)
So then as now I say “Yes” and am always on the lookout for the good things God is doing.
We’re on the cusp of April, and it is not the cruelest month. T.S.Eliot was just making a joke.
Instead I’ll end with this version of the same thing from that Harvard classmate of his: e.e.cummings
yes is a pleasant country:
if’s wintry
(my lovely)
let’s open the year
both is the very weather
(not either)
my treasure,
when violets appear
love is a deeper season
than reason;
my sweet one
(and april’s where we’re)
https://dwightlongenecker.com/yes-is-a-pleasant-country/
The beautiful prayer of St. Patrick, popularly known as "St. Patrick's Breast-Plate", is supposed to have been composed by him in preparation for this victory over Paganism. The following is a literal translation from the old Irish text:
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.
I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.
I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.
I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.
I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.
Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the poop [deck],
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
Wisdom from the Desert
"Sr. Joan Chittister has done it again. She touches your soul. She places you beyond your human self."—an Amazon review
The Desert Monastics, thousands of monks and nuns who lived in the Egyptian wastelands between the third and fifth centuries, have come to be seen as the Olympians of the spiritual life. Renowned spiritual writer Joan Chittister explores the sayings of the Desert Mothers and Fathers, finding wisdom from that ancient tradition that speaks to your life today. In God's Holy Light is a powerful source of Christian wisdom can be a companion to your own spiritual journey.
A Tale of Abba Anthony
A hunter in the desert saw Abba Anthony enjoying himself with the brethren and he was shocked. Wanting to show him that it was necessary sometimes to meet the needs of the brethren, the old man said to him, ”Put an arrow in your bow and shoot it.”
So he did. The old man then said, “Shoot another,” and he did so.
Then the old man said, ”Shoot yet again,” and the hunter replied, “If I bend my bow so much I will break it.”
Then the old man said to him, “It is the same with the work of God. If we stretch the brethren beyond measure they will soon break. Sometimes it is necessary to come down to meet their needs.”
When he heard these words the hunter was pierced by compunction and, greatly edified by the old man, he went away. As for the brethren, they went home strengthened.
—from The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
WORLD YOUTH PRAYER 2019
Merciful Father,
You call us to live our lives as a way of salvation.
Help us to recall the past with gratitude,
to embrace the present with courage
and to build the future with hope.
Lord Jesus, our friend and brother,
thank you for looking upon us with love.
Let us listen to your voice as it resonates in the hearts
of each one with the strength and light of the Holy Spirit.
Grant us the grace of being a Church that goes forth with vibrant faith
and a youthful face to communicate the joy of the Gospel.
May we help to build up the kind of society we long for,
one where there is fairness and fellowship.
We pray for the Pope and the bishops;
for young people; for all those who will take part in World Youth Day in Panama
and for those who are preparing to welcome them.
Our Lady of Antigua, Patroness of Panama,
help us to pray and live with generosity like yours:
“I am the servant of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).
Amen
Dear God,
On this day I ask You to grant this request,
May I know who I am and what I am,
Every moment of every day.
May I be a catalyst for light and love,
And bring inspiration to those whose eyes I meet.
May I have the strength to stand tall in the face of conflict,
And the courage to speak my voice, even when I'm scared.
May I have the humility to follow my heart,
And the passion to live my soul's desires.
May I seek to know the highest truth
And dismiss the gravitational pull of my lower self.
May I embrace and love the totality of myself,
My darkness as well as my light.
May I be brave enough to hear my heart,
To let it soften so that I may gracefully
Choose faith over fear.
Today is my day to surrender anything that stands
Between the sacredness of my humanity and my divinity.
May I be drenched in my Holiness
And engulfed by Your love.
May all else melt away.
And so it is
A Deeper Spiritual Dive!
"Richard Rohr has brilliantly introduced 12-step spirituality as a lens through which we can identify our 'holes in the soul' and move into more authentic relationships with ourselves and with our Lord."—an Amazon review
To survive the tidal wave of compulsive behavior and addiction, Christians must learn to breathe under water and discover God s love and compassion, says Franciscan Richard Rohr. In Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps, Rohr identifies the Christian principles in the Twelve Steps. Rohr offers encouragement for becoming interiorly alive and inspiration for making one s life manageable for dealing with the codependence and dysfunction—sin—rampant in our society
Let us now pray for God’s blessing in the new year.
After a short silence, parents may place their hands on their children in blessing as the leader says:
Remember us, O God;
from age to age be our comforter.
You have given us the wonder of time,
blessings in days and nights, seasons and years.
Bless your children at the turning of the year
and fill the months ahead with the bright hope
that is ours in the coming of Christ.
You are our God, living and reigning, forever and ever.
R/. Amen.
Another prayer for peace may be said:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
R/. Amen.
—Attributed to St. Francis of Assisi
The leader says:
Let us bless the Lord.
All respond, making the sign of the cross:
Thanks be to God.
The prayer may conclude with the singing of a Christmas carol.
—From Catholic Household Blessings & Prayers
http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/prayers/prayer-for-the-new-year.cfm
Sean Sheehy
Wed, Dec 19, 2018, 3:56 PM (13 days ago)
to me
Christmas: Celebrate Divine Fulfilment
The Cambridge Dictionary defines fulfilment as, “The fact of doing something that is necessary or something that someone has wanted or promised to do.” What have you done in your life that has brought you fulfilment? Maybe it’s raising a family, your career, pursuing a cause, serving others, prayer, Church, etc. But none of these will bring you ultimate fulfilment? Just like joy, fulfilment isn’t the same as happiness. Happiness follows from fulfilment. When I’ve done something that’s necessary or I wanted or promised to do I feel happy. Christmas is the celebration of God’s fulfilment. In the birth of Jesus God did something that was necessary, namely revealing Himself to human beings in a manner in which they could understand. So God came in human form, in the flesh, to reveal who He really is in human terms. In Jesus’ birth God wanted to save mankind by becoming human and overpowering our greatest enemy, Satan. In Jesus’ birth God fulfilled the promises He made through His prophets to His Old Testament people. Christmas is the celebration of Divine fulfilment that’s the basis for our joy, peace, and our hope for happiness.
Jesus’ Church reminds us that God’s promise to send a Messiah was fulfilled in Jesus’ birth. “From Bethlehem … shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel whose origin is from of old, from ancient times … He shall stand firm and shepherd His people … His greatness shall reach the ends of the earth; He shall be peace.” (Mic 5:1-4) God made this promise through His prophet, Micah, between 700 and 600 B.C. This was God’s assurance that He would send a permanent ruler to restore order among His people and who would fulfil their history taking care of them like a shepherd his flock. Jesus fulfilled the prophecy that God’s ruler would be unsurpassed and universally known; He would be their source of peace because He will be peace itself. Because God is love He’s able to love. Because God is peace He is able to give peace. The Christ child in Bethlehem is God’s love and peace made visible. So with Christmas joy we pray with the Psalmist, “O shepherd of Israel, hearken, from Your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth. Rouse Your power and come to save us.” (Ps 80:2-3) God heard this prayer and fulfilled the people’s plea in Jesus’ birth. He is the Shepherd of God’s people who demonstrated His power to save us from sin, suffering, and death during His public life on earth.
Jesus fulfilled God’s will to liberate mankind from sin by his humble obedience to His Father. His lived prayer, “Behold I come to do your will, O God”, prefaced everything He said and did. The Holy Spirit tells us, “By this ‘will’ we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Heb 10:5-10) Jesus asked His Father to dedicate His Apostles and disciples. “Consecrate them by means of truth – Your word is truth. As You have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world; I consecrate myself for their sakes now, that they may be consecrated in truth.” (Jn 17:17-19) To consecrate is to formally dedicate to a religious or sacred purpose. At Jesus’ birth God’s consecrated His Messiah to be Immanuel – God-with-us. God reinforced that consecration at Jesus’ Baptism and He proclaimed, “This is my beloved Son. My favour rests on Him.” (Mt 3:17) Again at His Transfiguration God spoke and said: “This is my beloved Son on whom my favour rests. Listen to Him.” (Mt 17:5) Since Jesus is God’s Word-made-man and God’s word is truth, Jesus is truth personified. He revealed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (Jn 14:6) When we embrace Jesus we embrace the truth and it dedicates us to a religious purpose, namely to continue Jesus’ mission to save mankind by living the truth our self.
When the virgin Mary went to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, “filled with the Holy Spirit”, she greeted the Mother of Jesus, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1:42) Elizabeth affirmed God’s fulfilment in Mary when she said to Mary: “Blessed is she who trusted that the Lord’s words to her would be fulfilled.” (Lk 1:45) Christmas is God’s fulfilment of His wish to save us from our fallen nature by showing us in Jesus what He originally created us to be. In Jesus God fulfils our human yearning for permanent love and peace. Knowing that this fulfilment of our soul’s desire is now possible enables us to be joyful and at peace. Christmas literally means “Christ’s Mass.” The Mass celebrated by Jesus’ Church is the renewal of the New Covenant which Jesus initiated between God and mankind and signed in His blood. It is the means which He instituted on Holy Thursday to make Himself present to us. Every Mass is a visible sign that God fulfils His promise to bestow His love and peace on us in Jesus who is Love and Peace itself. By giving us Himself in every Mass in Holy Communion Jesus blesses us with unconditional love and a peace no one can take away from us. He is the source of our joy and a peace that only He can give.
May you have a joyful and peaceful Christmas and a New Year during which God will do everything possible to fulfil the dreams and hopes of your soul. But, like Mary, you must trust that His words to you will be fulfilled. Remember, He only sends His peace to people of good will. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Wed, Dec 19, 2018, 3:56 PM (13 days ago)
to me
Christmas: Celebrate Divine Fulfilment
The Cambridge Dictionary defines fulfilment as, “The fact of doing something that is necessary or something that someone has wanted or promised to do.” What have you done in your life that has brought you fulfilment? Maybe it’s raising a family, your career, pursuing a cause, serving others, prayer, Church, etc. But none of these will bring you ultimate fulfilment? Just like joy, fulfilment isn’t the same as happiness. Happiness follows from fulfilment. When I’ve done something that’s necessary or I wanted or promised to do I feel happy. Christmas is the celebration of God’s fulfilment. In the birth of Jesus God did something that was necessary, namely revealing Himself to human beings in a manner in which they could understand. So God came in human form, in the flesh, to reveal who He really is in human terms. In Jesus’ birth God wanted to save mankind by becoming human and overpowering our greatest enemy, Satan. In Jesus’ birth God fulfilled the promises He made through His prophets to His Old Testament people. Christmas is the celebration of Divine fulfilment that’s the basis for our joy, peace, and our hope for happiness.
Jesus’ Church reminds us that God’s promise to send a Messiah was fulfilled in Jesus’ birth. “From Bethlehem … shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel whose origin is from of old, from ancient times … He shall stand firm and shepherd His people … His greatness shall reach the ends of the earth; He shall be peace.” (Mic 5:1-4) God made this promise through His prophet, Micah, between 700 and 600 B.C. This was God’s assurance that He would send a permanent ruler to restore order among His people and who would fulfil their history taking care of them like a shepherd his flock. Jesus fulfilled the prophecy that God’s ruler would be unsurpassed and universally known; He would be their source of peace because He will be peace itself. Because God is love He’s able to love. Because God is peace He is able to give peace. The Christ child in Bethlehem is God’s love and peace made visible. So with Christmas joy we pray with the Psalmist, “O shepherd of Israel, hearken, from Your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth. Rouse Your power and come to save us.” (Ps 80:2-3) God heard this prayer and fulfilled the people’s plea in Jesus’ birth. He is the Shepherd of God’s people who demonstrated His power to save us from sin, suffering, and death during His public life on earth.
Jesus fulfilled God’s will to liberate mankind from sin by his humble obedience to His Father. His lived prayer, “Behold I come to do your will, O God”, prefaced everything He said and did. The Holy Spirit tells us, “By this ‘will’ we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Heb 10:5-10) Jesus asked His Father to dedicate His Apostles and disciples. “Consecrate them by means of truth – Your word is truth. As You have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world; I consecrate myself for their sakes now, that they may be consecrated in truth.” (Jn 17:17-19) To consecrate is to formally dedicate to a religious or sacred purpose. At Jesus’ birth God’s consecrated His Messiah to be Immanuel – God-with-us. God reinforced that consecration at Jesus’ Baptism and He proclaimed, “This is my beloved Son. My favour rests on Him.” (Mt 3:17) Again at His Transfiguration God spoke and said: “This is my beloved Son on whom my favour rests. Listen to Him.” (Mt 17:5) Since Jesus is God’s Word-made-man and God’s word is truth, Jesus is truth personified. He revealed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (Jn 14:6) When we embrace Jesus we embrace the truth and it dedicates us to a religious purpose, namely to continue Jesus’ mission to save mankind by living the truth our self.
When the virgin Mary went to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, “filled with the Holy Spirit”, she greeted the Mother of Jesus, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1:42) Elizabeth affirmed God’s fulfilment in Mary when she said to Mary: “Blessed is she who trusted that the Lord’s words to her would be fulfilled.” (Lk 1:45) Christmas is God’s fulfilment of His wish to save us from our fallen nature by showing us in Jesus what He originally created us to be. In Jesus God fulfils our human yearning for permanent love and peace. Knowing that this fulfilment of our soul’s desire is now possible enables us to be joyful and at peace. Christmas literally means “Christ’s Mass.” The Mass celebrated by Jesus’ Church is the renewal of the New Covenant which Jesus initiated between God and mankind and signed in His blood. It is the means which He instituted on Holy Thursday to make Himself present to us. Every Mass is a visible sign that God fulfils His promise to bestow His love and peace on us in Jesus who is Love and Peace itself. By giving us Himself in every Mass in Holy Communion Jesus blesses us with unconditional love and a peace no one can take away from us. He is the source of our joy and a peace that only He can give.
May you have a joyful and peaceful Christmas and a New Year during which God will do everything possible to fulfil the dreams and hopes of your soul. But, like Mary, you must trust that His words to you will be fulfilled. Remember, He only sends His peace to people of good will. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Nov 21, 2018, 1:22 PM (3 days ago)
The King of Hearts
Jesus’ Church ends her liturgical year of God’s grace by recognizing Jesus as King of the universe. This is also Thanksgiving week in America. Christians have much to be thankful for. Celebrating Jesus as King notifies the world and everything in that it’s accountable to Him. Every human being, whether king or queen, is subject to the rule of Jesus Christ, if not admitted during life then certainly in death. It’s a sober reminder that when we die we’ll be judged by Jesus, King of creation, regardless of who or what we are. Then we’ll reap the fruits of what we sowed during our lifetime. “Make no mistake about it, no one makes a fool of God! A man will reap only what he sows. If he sows in the field of the flesh he will reap a harvest of corruption; but if his seed-ground is the Spirit he will reap everlasting life.” (Gal 6:7-8) Therefore it’s essential that we clarify whose rule we’re embracing. Who is the king of your heart? Our king is whoever we follow or serve in our daily life. Will the king of my heart deliver a kingdom that lasts forever and provides me with everlasting peace, joy, and happiness?
Jesus’ Church invites us to meditate on His interrogation by Pilate who asks, “Are you the king of the Jews?” (Jn 18:33) Jesus informed him, “My kingdom does not belong to this world … as it is my kingdom is not here.” (Jn 18:36) Pilate reacted, “So then you are a king?” (v37) Jesus responded, “It is you who say I am a king. The reason I was born, the reason why I came into this world, is to testify to the truth.” Pilate then asked what everyone needs to ask and answer: “‘Truth!’ What does that mean?” (v36) How would you answer his question?
The prophet Daniel, inspired by the Holy Spirit, foretold Jesus’ kingship over one hundred-and-sixty years before His birth. In a vision he saw, “one like the Son of man coming on the clouds of Heaven … He received dominion, glory, and kingship … all nations and languages serve Him. His dominion is everlasting. His kingship shall not be destroyed.” (Dn 7:13-14) The inspired Psalmist recognized that, “The Lord is king, in splendour robed … girt about with strength. He has made the world firm, not to be moved. Your throne stands firm from of old; from everlasting You are, O Lord. Your decrees are worthy of trust … holiness befits Your house for length of days.” (Ps 93:1-5) The same Holy Spirit inspired John to proclaim that, “Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. He loved us and has freed us from our sins by His blood. He has made us a line of kings, priests to serve His God and Father.” (Rev 1:5-8) He is the King our hearts crave.
Jesus is “the Alpha and the Omega, the One who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.” (Rev 1:8) He’s our beginning since God created each of us through Him. He’s our end since each of us will be judged by Him as to whether we enter eternal life and happiness or eternal death and misery. Jesus is the ultimate King of kings, Priest of priests, Servant of servants. He is the One who will judge our leadership, sacrifices, and service as to whether they were inspired by love and truth or greed and lies. Is He the King of your heart?
Jesus is a different kind of king with a different kind of kingdom that’s not temporary but eternal. Instead of looking on us as His subjects He calls us to be His friends. “I no longer speak of you as slaves … I call you friends, since I have made known to you all that I heard from my Father.” (Jn 15:15) Friendship with Jesus is founded on hearing and heeding His voice. Who hears Him? He answers: “Anyone committed to the truth hears my voice.” (Jn 18:37) Commitment to the truth leads us to Jesus as our King since He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” (Jn 14:6) He sent the Holy Spirit to guarantee the continuity of His Church’s fidelity to teaching the fullness of the truth until the end of time. “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. When He comes, however, being the Spirit of truth He will guide you to all truth … and will announce to you the things to come.” (Jn 16:12-13) He speaks to us in our conscience informed by His Church as she proclaims His Gospel of truth.
Truth is that which accurately describes all things as they really are in themselves at their core. Only the Creator can accurately describe His creation. Hence only He can speak the truth about what it really is and what’s its purpose. Jesus is the truth that hurts, but sets us free. It hurts because He forces us to see things as they really are. He frees us from deceiving our self, making us admit our responsibility and need for change. Many turn away from Jesus and His Church because they don’t want to hear the truth about themselves, their behaviour, the world, its end, and their need for repentance if they want to be saved from their sins. We can run from the truth but it always catches up with us either through our conscience or at the end of our life. No one can escape God or hide from Him. Jesus is King and those who’re committed to truth hear and follow Him to freedom, justice, peace, and love. Those who follow some other king are deaf to the truth and remain enslaved. Let Jesus be the King of your heart. (frsos)
CHALLENGE
Talk with your spouse or a close friend about your seeming differences and the similarities that lie underneath. Pray together about ways your strengths can be united to serve God.
Pope Francis joined with recently engaged and married couples at Saint Mary’s Pro-Cathedral
in the Archdiocese of Dublin on Saturday 24 August 2018.
All couples participating at the event received a specially packaged copy of the Family Prayer Book produced by the Council for Marriage and the Family of the Irish Episcopal Conference which was recently re-published by Veritas.
The World Meeting of Families concludes with a Solemn Eucharistic Celebration that will gather individuals and families from all around the world in thanksgiving and communion. The Mass will mark the conclusion of the World Meeting of Families 2018 in Dublin and the next diocese to host the event in conjunction with the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life will be announced.
The main celebrant for the Final Mass will be Pope Francis. At the weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square on 21 March, the Holy Father announced that he will attend WMOF2018 and take part in the Festival of Families in Croke Park (25th August) and the Final Mass in the Phoenix Park (26th August). The Mass will start at 3 pm.
Pope Dublin Streets August 2018
Phoenix Park on Pope’s Visit August 2018
Celebrity priest James Martin, S.J. speaks at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin, Ireland. The topic of his presentation is “Showing Welcome and Respect in our Parishes for ‘LGBT’ People and their families.
https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2018/08/fr-martins-false-comfort
In a major piece entitled “Culture War as Class War”, Darel E. Paul argues persuasively that the culture war is deeply rooted in class distinctions. Paul, who is a professor of political science at Williams College, traces the development of anti-life, anti-family, and pro-sexual liberty values from the academic and WASP establishments that led in the acceptance of artificial contraception in the first half of the twentieth-century to the deadly combination of university, business, and political interests that lead the gay and transgender campaigns today.
https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otc.cfm?id=1566
Dublin Croke Park and Pope’s Visit
As we stand before the Lord,” Friar Frank Jasper says, “it doesn't matter what the color of our skin is or if we're rich or poor.” All that matters is what's in our hearts. What's most important is our own unique individuality.
Enjoy this week's Friar Friday video!
1. Clinton ignores the loss of human beings from the labour force because of Roe v. Wade.
Clinton’s economic assertions ignore the fact that the work force contributions of 60 million aborted children have been entirely snuffed out since 1973. The lack of necessary contributions by the younger generations is one of the reasons Social Security is in dire straits today. Of course, members of a generation cannot contribute if they are dead.
https://www.liveaction.org/news/chelsea-clinton-roe-womens-history/
Augusta Ada King-Noel, the Countess of Lovelace, was no less exotic than her father, Lord Byron, but the principal influence on her talents was her tutor, the astronomer Mary Somerville, for whom the college in Oxford is named. Ada was only 36 at her death in 1852, but packed a lot into those years, and, having invented the first algorithm for a mechanical computer called the Analytical Engine, she has claim to being the first computer programmer.
https://www.crisismagazine.com/2018/woman-science-maria-gaetana-agnesi
SISTERS July 2018
We are delighted to share with you extracts from the 18th interview in the "Telling Our Story" series, in which Uainín Clarke SSL conducted an interview with the Juilly Community - Elizabeth Beirne SSL, Anne Killeen SSL, Deirdre O’Hanlon SSL, Clare Ryan SSL - on December 1, 2016, before the transfer of the trusteeship
It’s an honour!
by Dorothy Abuah SSL
It is often said that a nation that does not honour its citizens is not worth dying for. The city of Claremont in California, USA, is exemplary in honouring its citizens for their achievements and contributions to society, in its annual parade to mark American Independence Day on July 4. This year marks the Diamond Jubilee of this long-standing tradition, and the theme for the celebration was “Claremont Cheers to 70 Years.”
http://sistersofstlouis.newsweaver.com/Newsletter/12wdvnhu7w6dxav81nwt7w?a=1&p=53699602&t=19890245
August 2018;
The three-day Pastoral Congress will be held from 22-24 August in the Royal Dublin Society (RDS), Dublin. It will offer a daily programme of workshops.
WORLD meeting of families Dunlin: We are delighted to announce that, on Monday 25 June, tickets for the Closing Mass of WMOF2018 and the Papal visit to Knock Shrine will be available for booking on the WMOF2018 website. Tickets are free but you will need a ticket to gain entry. Every adult and every child attending will need a ticket. Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult. All tickets will be for standing sections. Tickets for Phoenix Park will be sent by email in a "print at home" format by 31 July. Tickets for Knock will be posted before the 10th August.
The Closing Mass of WMOF2018 will take place in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, one of the largest public city parks in Europe. The Mass will take place at 3:00 pm at the Papal Cross,
Pope Francis will visit Knock Shrine on the morning of Sunday 26 August to pray for families and WMOF2018. He will arrive at Knock Shrine at 9.45am where he will visit the Apparition Chapel and then give the Angelus address on the square in front of the Shrine. He will depart the Shrine at 10.45am.
A limited allocation of tickets to the Festival of Families on Saturday 25th August 2018 will be made available through each diocese
Sean Sheehy
Apr 18
to me
One Saviour, One Church
One of the greatest illusions is the belief that we can save ourselves and make ourselves happy. It’s similar to the notions that “I can be anything I want to be!” Every illusion ends in disillusionment. We can neither save our self from selfishness and sin, nor make our self permanently happy. If I’m five feet tall and want to be seven I can’t do it, unless I walk on stilts and then my movement is severely limited. If I could save myself I certainly wouldn’t suffer let alone die. Why, as supposedly intelligent creatures, do we think and behave so unintelligently? Jesus is the only person in history who conquered death through His Resurrection. Therefore, He’s the only one who can save us from sin, suffering, and death. He alone shows us the only path to joy, peace, and a happiness that lasts forever. Peter, the head of the Apostles, “filled with the Holy Spirit”, reminds us that, “There is no salvation in anyone else, nor is there any name under Heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12) He was simply confirming what Jesus revealed when He proclaimed, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.” (Jn 14:6) Knowing that He was the only means of entry into Heaven, Jesus commissioned and commanded His Apostles just before His Ascension: “Full authority has been given to me both in Heaven and on earth; go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations. Baptize them ‘in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’ Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you. And know that I am with you always, until the end of the world!” (Mt 28:18-20)
How does Jesus save us? Through His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. He prayed for unity in His Church’s leadership and membership. “I do not pray for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their word, that all may be one as You, Father, are in me, and I in You; I pray that they may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent me.” (Jn 17:20-21) Jesus saves us by making us His adopted brothers and sisters in His Church where He’s present to each member in the preaching of His Word, His healing, forgiving, and grace in the Sacraments, and His intimate nourishing of our soul by giving us the gift of Himself in the Holy Mass. There we’re privileged to “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God. Yet so we are … we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 Jn 3:1-2)
If love is the essence of Christianity, the glue of togetherness, why are there divisions among those who call themselves Christian? How can we love God if we don’t love one another? We can’t. Jesus identified Himself as the “Good Shepherd …I know my sheep, and mine know me in the same way that the Father knows me and I know the Father. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must lead them too, and they shall hear my voice. There shall be one flock then, one shepherd.” (Jn 10:16) Jesus shows clearly that there can only be “one fold,” one universal Church, led by “one shepherd,” the Vicar of Christ, Peter and his successors. This is Jesus’ visible community to which those outside it are invited to join. Jesus’ Church, under the leadership of the Apostles successors, re-sounds His voice calling all people to be saved through entering and participating in His “one fold” as His “one flock” shepherded by Him until the end of time. Anybody who tries to build a fold and collect a flock outside of the Church founded by Jesus on Peter causes division. Division is always a sign of Satan’s activity generating confusion and dissension. As Christians we need to keep our eyes on Jesus and pray daily with the Psalmist: “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endures forever. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” (Ps 118:1)
Division among Christians weakens the Church’s effectiveness as Jesus’ visible sign of His saving presence in the world. It’s an absurdity for Christians not to be united in one family. To heal division and restore unity Jesus empowered His Church to administer the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that her members may repent of their sins, be forgiven, and reconciled to God and to one another in order to witness His mission of supernatural unconditional love. The human love with which we naturally love must be nourished with God’s supernatural love if we’re to mirror Jesus’ love, truthfully, mercifully, and justly. God’s spirit of love - the Holy Spirit - decries division since He leads everyone into the loving union enjoyed by Jesus and His Father. There’s only on Saviour and only one Church. This is God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Apr 25
to me
The Key to Effectiveness
Bishop Fulton Sheen noted that the greatest insult you could heap on someone is to say he or she was useless. No one is useless. God gives everyone at the moment of conception the capacity to make a positive difference in the world. I read a story about a reporter who asked a businessman how he got to be so wealthy. He said that when he and his wife married they had only five cents between them. “I bought an apple, polished it and sold it for ten cents. Then I bought two apples for ten cents and sold them for twenty.” The reporter asked, “Then what?” The man smiled, “My father-in-law died and left us twenty million!” Good connections make all the difference. To be successful in life we must have good connections. It’s not what we know but who we know that determines what we accomplish in the world.
In the late 80s Stephen Covey’s book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, identified what enabled people to be successful. He demonstrated that effective people are proactive instead of being reactive; they begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek to understand before being understood, synergize, and continue improving themselves. Identifying and advocating these habits of highly effective people made him highly successful. Habits are actions that we do repeatedly until they become embedded in our consciousness so that we do them unconsciously. We need to realize that our actions flow from our intellect and will, both of which are faculties of our soul. To develop good habits we need a well-nourished soul.
Our soul - our self - is created by God. Therefore we need God to nourish it so that we can think truthfully and choose what’s good, if we’re going to be effective men and women. How do we connect with God? We don’t. It’s God who connects with us. “It was not you who chose me, it was I who chose you to go forth and bear fruit.” (Jn 15:16) How does God choose us? Through Jesus’ presence in His Church in the Sacrament of Baptism. There He gives us a new identity, a new nature, and a new destiny as His adopted brother or sister. In Baptism Jesus enables us to “put on the new nature created in God’s image, whose justice and holiness are born of truth.” (Eph 4:24) We can’t be fruitful if our sinful nature isn’t replaced by a new loving, life-respecting nature. The highly effective person, as is evidenced in the saints, is the man or woman who thinks and acts justly, mercifully, gracefully, and truthfully. These are the habits of an effective Christian.
To display that effective new nature we need to be continually connected to Jesus present in His Church. He is the source of our fruitfulness. “I am the true vine and my Father is the vine-grower … Live on in me, as I do in you… I am the vine, you are the branches. He who lives in me and I in him, will produce abundantly, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:4-5) We can’t be effective without Jesus since He alone shows us how to achieve our God-given potential.
How does Jesus make us effective human beings? Through His Church’s Sacraments, especially in the Holy Mass where we hear His Word, celebrate His real Presence in the Holy Eucharist and receive Him in Holy Communion. In that action of His, through the ordained priest, Jesus visibly joins Himself to us and energizes our soul so that we can go out and effectively promote life and love in a world wallowing in death, hate, and apathy. This is a real connection with Jesus, not a symbolic gesture, as He Himself revealed. “Let me solemnly assure you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (Jn 6:53-54) Jesus isn’t speaking symbolically but concretely. He makes the reception of Him in Holy Communion the essential and effective nourishment for our soul: “For my flesh is real food and my blood real drink. The man who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in Him.” (Jn 6:56) Thus Jesus guarantees a continual communion with Him since we need on-going spiritual nourishment to be effective witnesses to what is good. This is why he commanded His Apostles on Holy Thursday when He instituted the Holy Eucharist and ordained the Apostles to the priesthood to “Do this in memory of me!” (Lk 22:19)
Jesus is the best connection we can ever have since He is the only one who has risen from the dead. He alone enables us to “love not in word and speech but in deed and truth …and love one another just as He commanded us.” (1 Jn 3:18-24) He empowers us, in the words of the Psalmist, to “let the coming generations be told of the Lord that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born the justice he has shown.” (Ps 22:32) Only Jesus can make you and me effective persons in a fallen world. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
May 2 (13 days ago)
to me
Two Kinds of Love – Two Kinds of Life
Love and life go hand-in-hand. Life flows from love. A life without love is miserable. A person who feels unloved finds it well-nigh impossible to love. Every human being needs to love and be loved in order to function fully and joyfully. Without love we die internally. This is why everyone needs to know God loves him or her.
Jesus calls us to a selfless love and here is where we balk as Christians. Just as every individual deserves to be respected as a human being, so does everyone deserve to be loved, even though their actions may be evil. Jesus commands us: “My command to you is: love your enemies, pray for your persecutors. This will prove that you are children of your Heavenly Father, for His sun rises on the bad and to good, He rains on the just and the unjust.” (Mt 5:43-45) Loving like Jesus is impartial. “If you love those who love you, what merit is there in that? … Do not pagans do as much? In a word, you must be made perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:46-47) As human beings born with a fallen nature we’re basically self-centred and view love from a purely selfish perspective. Yet we crave to be loved unselfishly.
There are two kinds of love that generate two kinds of life, egotistical love and sacrificial love. In egotistical love we love those who love us and give us what we want. When they stop loving us or refuse to satisfy our wants we stop loving. “I’ll love you if you love me!” “If you love me, do this for me or give me what I want!” This kind of love views others as objects to be used for one’s own satisfaction. Sacrificial or self-less love, on the other hand, creates an other-centred life that focuses on opportunities to make a gift of oneself to others. Sacrificial love purifies selfish love and makes the person live a life that enriches all those whose paths he or she crosses. Real love always focuses on what’s good for the other person.
Jesus epitomised selfless or sacrificial love in His passion and death and Resurrection. He acted lived His own words: “There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15:13) He freely sacrificed His life so everyone might have life. His love gave eternal life to the repentant thief beside Him as He hung upon the cross. Jesus’ love doesn’t have favourites. “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather in ever nation whoever fears Him and acts uprightly is acceptable to Him.” (Acts 10: 34) Here we see the great difference between our notion of love and Jesus’ love. Our love shows partiality while Jesus’ love doesn’t. We show partiality by loving those we like and rejecting or ignoring those we don’t like. Our love is more often based on feeling than on choice. Just as feelings change so does our love. That’s not Jesus ‘way.
Jesus calls for a love that’s based on obedience, not on feeling. “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn 15:12) His love for us is the standard for the love from which the Christian life flows. We must choose to love whether or not we feel like it if we want our life to be productive. We must love unselfishly if we want to achieve our potential. Sacrificial love brings joy; it’s giving without expecting a reward. Egotistical love brings misery when unrequited.
The Psalmist reminds us that, “The Lord has made His salvation known; in the sight of the nations He has revealed His justice.” (Ps 98: 2) Jesus brought salvation and justice to the world. Justice promotes God’s love by making us right with Him and our neighbour making us friends. Jesus reveals, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (Jn 15:14) What He commands is to love one another. If we want to be Jesus’ friends, we have no option but to love our neighbour as our self, however difficult that might be. He chose us “to go forth and bear fruit.” (Jn 15:16) Sacrificial love is always fruitful, both for the one who loves as well as the beloved.
Sacrificial love is difficult for us because we tend to be selfish and ruled by our feelings. To love as Jesus commands us we must rise above our ego. That requires the Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit to “de-egotize” our spirit so we can focus on giving rather than on getting. There’s a huge difference between a life lived selfishly and a life energized by a spirit of generosity. It’s a life marked by engagement rather than disengagement. It’s the difference between a tree that has only roots and a trunk and one that also has branches and leaves. The first tree won’t live long. It takes in moisture and nutrients from the soil, but lacking branches and leaves that spread and catch the sun’s rays, it has no energy to turn that moisture and nutrients into growth and fruitfulness. So is the difference between the two kinds of love and the two kinds of life they generate. Love like Jesus and live joyfully. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
May 9 (6 days ago)
to me
Jesus’ Ascension: He Will Return
St. Luke records that Jesus ascended into Heaven forty days after His Resurrection. He promised to send the Holy Spirit to the Apostles to guide and inspire them as His “witnesses to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Luke tells us, “When He had said this, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him from their sight. While they were gazing at the sky as He was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee … This Jesus who has been taken up from you into Heaven will return in the same way as you have seen Him going into Heaven.’” (Acts 1:10-11) Jesus’ Church professes her faith in His return in the Holy Mass’ Eucharistic Prayers, “We proclaim Your death, O Lord, and profess Your Resurrection until You come again.” Jesus’ life, passion, death, Resurrection, His fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies, His claim to be God the Son, founding His Church on Peter, and His promise to be with her until the end of the world when He will return as Judge of the living and the dead, is what separates Christianity from all other religions. Jesus will judge everyone according to his or her conduct. He said Himself, “The Father Himself judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son.” (Jn 5:22)
There are two judgments, a particular judgment of each of us when we die and a general judgment at the end of the world. Jesus’ ascension into Heaven brings us down to earth as we ask whether we’ll be ready when He returns. He promised, “I am indeed going to prepare a place for you, and then I shall come back to take you with me, that where I am you may be too.” (Jn 14:3) Will we be ready to go with Him? He warns us to “Keep your eyes open, for you do not know the day nor the hour.” (Mt 25:13) A poem, “If Jesus Came to Your House,” calls for reflection. Here are some lines: “If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two/If He came unexpectedly, I wonder what you’d do./…But when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door/With arms outstretched in welcome to your heavenly Visitor?/Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in?/Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they’d been?/Would you turn off the radio and hope He hadn’t heard?/And wish you hadn’t uttered that last, loud, nasty word?/…And I wonder if the Saviour spent a day or two with you,/Would you go right on doing the things you always do?/Would you go right on saying the things you always say?/Would life for you continue as it does from day to day?/… Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on?/Or would you sigh with great relief when He at last was gone?/It might be interesting to know the things that you would do?/If Jesus Christ in person came to spend some time with you.” Face it, He’s coming! There’s no escape.
How do we prepare for Jesus’ return? We begin with Baptism. He told His Apostles before His ascension, “John baptized you with water, but within a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:5) He commissioned His Apostles, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. The man who believes in it and accepts Baptism will be saved; the man who refuses to believe in it will be condemned.” (Mk 16:15-16)
The Gospel is all about what we need to do in order to unite with Jesus who revealed that, “No one comes to the Father but through me.” (Jn 14:6) Through His Church Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to each of us in the Sacrament of Baptism giving us the gifts we need to live the Christian life and be ready when He returns as our Judge.
What gifts do we need? Wisdom to act on the truth, namely follow Jesus who is the truth. Understanding to recognize that we need Jesus to free us from our sinfulness. Counsel to choose the things of Heaven rather than earthly things. Knowledge to see Jesus’ presence in His Word and His Church’s Sacraments. Piety to be prayerful. Fortitude to persevere as faithful Christians despite life’s obstacles. Fear of the Lord to recognize that Jesus is our most precious Saviour, Companion, and Friend. To reinforce these gifts and perfect them Jesus sends the Holy Spirit again in His Church’s Sacrament of Confirmation so we can witness publicly to our faith in and love for Jesus. Thus we help others prepare for Jesus’ return.
Whatever Jesus expects of us He gives us the wherewithal to accomplish. It’s up to us, as creatures with free will, to do what He tells us and receive what He offers us. His Mother’s advice at the wedding feast at Cana was “Do whatever He tells you!” (Jn 2:5) By doing what Jesus told them their water was changed into wine. When we do what Jesus tells us we’re changed into a people joyfully awaiting His return. Be ready! He’s returning! (frsos)
Reflection
To be thankful for the gift of life,
because it gives us a chance to love, to work and to play.
To be guided by what we admire and love
rather than by what we hate.
To envy nothing that is our neighbour’s
except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manner.
To think seldom of our enemies, often of our friends,
and every day of Christ.
And to spend as much time as we can in God’s out-of-doors.
These are the little signposts on the path to peace.
Two Kinds of Love – Two Kinds of Life
Love and life go hand-in-hand. Life flows from love. A life without love is miserable. A person who feels unloved finds it well-nigh impossible to love. Every human being needs to love and be loved in order to function fully and joyfully. Without love we die internally. This is why everyone needs to know God loves him or her.
Jesus calls us to a selfless love and here is where we balk as Christians. Just as every individual deserves to be respected as a human being, so does everyone deserve to be loved, even though their actions may be evil. Jesus commands us: “My command to you is: love your enemies, pray for your persecutors. This will prove that you are children of your Heavenly Father, for His sun rises on the bad and to good, He rains on the just and the unjust.” (Mt 5:43-45) Loving like Jesus is impartial. “If you love those who love you, what merit is there in that? … Do not pagans do as much? In a word, you must be made perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt 5:46-47) As human beings born with a fallen nature we’re basically self-centred and view love from a purely selfish perspective. Yet we crave to be loved unselfishly.
There are two kinds of love that generate two kinds of life, egotistical love and sacrificial love. In egotistical love we love those who love us and give us what we want. When they stop loving us or refuse to satisfy our wants we stop loving. “I’ll love you if you love me!” “If you love me, do this for me or give me what I want!” This kind of love views others as objects to be used for one’s own satisfaction. Sacrificial or self-less love, on the other hand, creates an other-centred life that focuses on opportunities to make a gift of oneself to others. Sacrificial love purifies selfish love and makes the person live a life that enriches all those whose paths he or she crosses. Real love always focuses on what’s good for the other person.
Jesus epitomised selfless or sacrificial love in His passion and death and Resurrection. He acted lived His own words: “There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15:13) He freely sacrificed His life so everyone might have life. His love gave eternal life to the repentant thief beside Him as He hung upon the cross. Jesus’ love doesn’t have favourites. “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather in ever nation whoever fears Him and acts uprightly is acceptable to Him.” (Acts 10: 34) Here we see the great difference between our notion of love and Jesus’ love. Our love shows partiality while Jesus’ love doesn’t. We show partiality by loving those we like and rejecting or ignoring those we don’t like. Our love is more often based on feeling than on choice. Just as feelings change so does our love. That’s not Jesus ‘way.
Jesus calls for a love that’s based on obedience, not on feeling. “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you.” (Jn 15:12) His love for us is the standard for the love from which the Christian life flows. We must choose to love whether or not we feel like it if we want our life to be productive. We must love unselfishly if we want to achieve our potential. Sacrificial love brings joy; it’s giving without expecting a reward. Egotistical love brings misery when unrequited.
The Psalmist reminds us that, “The Lord has made His salvation known; in the sight of the nations He has revealed His justice.” (Ps 98: 2) Jesus brought salvation and justice to the world. Justice promotes God’s love by making us right with Him and our neighbour making us friends. Jesus reveals, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (Jn 15:14) What He commands is to love one another. If we want to be Jesus’ friends, we have no option but to love our neighbour as our self, however difficult that might be. He chose us “to go forth and bear fruit.” (Jn 15:16) Sacrificial love is always fruitful, both for the one who loves as well as the beloved.
Sacrificial love is difficult for us because we tend to be selfish and ruled by our feelings. To love as Jesus commands us we must rise above our ego. That requires the Holy Spirit. We need the Holy Spirit to “de-egotize” our spirit so we can focus on giving rather than on getting. There’s a huge difference between a life lived selfishly and a life energized by a spirit of generosity. It’s a life marked by engagement rather than disengagement. It’s the difference between a tree that has only roots and a trunk and one that also has branches and leaves. The first tree won’t live long. It takes in moisture and nutrients from the soil, but lacking branches and leaves that spread and catch the sun’s rays, it has no energy to turn that moisture and nutrients into growth and fruitfulness. So is the difference between the two kinds of love and the two kinds of life they generate. Love like Jesus and live joyfully. (frsos)
Reflection
To be thankful for the gift of life,
because it gives us a chance to love, to work and to play.
To be guided by what we admire and love
rather than by what we hate.
To envy nothing that is our neighbour’s
except his kindness of heart and gentleness of manner.
To think seldom of our enemies, often of our friends,
and every day of Christ.
And to spend as much time as we can in God’s out-of-doors.
These are the little signposts on the path to peace.
Mothers Day prayer
Pastoral Prayer for Mother’s Day
Loving God, we give thanks today for mothers!
Thank you for mothers who gave birth to us,
and women who have treated us as their own children.
You teach us how to be good mothers,
cherishing and protecting the children among us.
Help us mother lovingly, fairly, wisely and with great joy.
Help us raise our children to be the people they are born to be.
We need your comfort here today, Lord,
because some are missing mothers, some are missing children,
some are parted by distance or death.
Comfort those who have given up their child for adoption,
or who chose not to give birth, and had an abortion.
Comfort those who longed to be biological mothers, and could not.
We pray for those here whose mothers have disappointed them;
we ask for grace in relationships where there is pain and bitterness,
for healing in relationships where there is abuse and violence.
Help our congregation be a space where people can feel mothered,
their gifts and talents appreciated and nurtured.
Finally, we pray today for mothers around the world;
mothers who cannot feed their children,
mothers who are homeless or without a homeland;
mothers who must teach their children about the dangers of bombs and bullets.
Help us create a world where mothers can raise their children in peace and plenty.
God of mothers, who created mothers, who came as a child and had a mother,
God our Mother,
loving us with a sweeter and deeper love than we have ever known,
hear our prayer this day, Amen.
Sean Sheehy
Jan 24
to me
Authority Makes the Difference
What is authority? It comes from Latin for master, leader, or author. Since God is the Author of all that’s good, all authority comes from Him. Its purpose is to serve the good of others. Anything that isn’t authorized by Him is false and destructive. “If God doesn’t build the house, vain is the builder’s labour; if God doesn’t guard the city, in vain do the sentries keep watch.” (Ps 127:1) Authority is either bestowed or earned and gives a person the right to the power that goes with it. Authority is bestowed when it’s given or delegated to another by a higher authority. It’s temporary because a person can be deprived of it when the particular office that authorizes the power is lost. Earned authority is that which a person possesses by virtue of his/her experience, character, or expertise in a particular field. Authority has much more to do with who we are, our character, than on what we can do or possess. It’s about who we are in relation to others, e.g., parent and children, priest and parishioners, teacher and students. Authority makes the difference and demands respect.
This Sunday Jesus’ Church reminds us that He astonished His listeners because “He taught with authority, and not like the scribes.” (Mk 1:22) Authority distinguished Jesus from the scribes. He spoke from His expertise while the scribes copied what someone else said. Jesus’ authority came from who He was. His experience, knowledge, and character made Him the expert in revealing who God is and what human beings need. He was God incarnate. His authority gave Him the power over evil. “He gives orders to unclean spirits and they obey!” (Mk 1:27)
Jesus, as the truth, spoke the truth. He fulfilled Moses’ prophecy, “A prophet like me will the Lord your God raise up for you … to Him you shall listen. … He shall tell them all that I commanded you … and the Lord said to me … I will put my words into His mouth; He shall tell them all that I command Him. Whoever will not listen to my words which He speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it.” (Deut 18:15-20) Because Jesus is God, the Author of truth, St. Paul stressed the importance of listening to Him. “Brothers and sisters: I should like you to be free of anxieties … for the sake of propriety and adherence to the Lord without distraction.” (1Cor 7:12-15)
Since Jesus is the expert on who God is and what we need, He alone has the authority to teach us about God and humanity. He revealed, “I am the vine and you are the branches …. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn15:5) Only what He authorizes is good. What isn’t authorized by Jesus causes division and alienation.
How does Jesus continue to exercise His authority as Master, Leader, and Teacher in the world today? Through His Church He calls everyone to an eternal life of joy and happiness. He reminds us that “Eternal life is this: to know You, the only true God, and Him whom You have sent, Jesus Christ.” (Jn 17:3) He authorized Peter to be the rock on whom He founded His Church assisted by the other Apostles. When He commissioned His Apostles with Peter as head, He reminded them, “Full authority has been given to me both in heaven and on earth; go therefore, and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name ‘of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.’ Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you, and know that I am with you always, until the end of the world!” (Mt 28:18-20) Jesus shared His authority with His Apostles by bestowing it on them and their successors to carry on His mission of calling people to repent from their sinfulness and enter eternal life. He reinforced their authority when He declared, “Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me and those who reject me reject the one who sent me.” (Lk 10:16) Rejecting the Church is a rejection of Jesus since, “It is He who is head of the body, the Church.” (Co 1:18)
No one can claim authority to speak in Jesus’ Name except those whom He has authorized. No one can authorize him or herself to represent Him. Only the Church founded by Jesus on Peter has the authority to decide who is authorized by Him to teach in His Name. Jesus continues to exercise His authority through His Church’s teaching and the administration of her Sacraments. Jesus authorizes His Church’s bishops, priests, and deacons through her Sacraments to make children and adults His brothers and sisters, to empower His people to be His witnesses in the world, to sanctify a man and woman in marriage, heal the sick, forgive repentant sinners, be His official representatives leading and ministering to His Church’s communities in prayer and worship. As His authorized people we’re able to pray, “Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the Lord who made us. For He is our God, and we are the people He shepherds, the flock He guides.” (Ps 95:6-7) (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Jan 31
to me
Isn’t Everyone Looking for Jesus?
The Gospel or Mark records Jesus’ visit to the house of Peter and Andrew where He found Peter’s mother-in-law suffering from a fever. He took her hand, helped her up and she was cured. She expressed her gratitude by preparing a meal for them. Many people came asking Jesus to free them from their maladies and evil spirits. He rose early the next morning and went to a quiet place to pray to His Father. Peter and the other apostles found Him and exclaimed, “Everyone is looking for you.” (Mk 1:29-39)
Why were people looking for Jesus? Because He made them well. Everyone is searching for a sense of wellness and wellbeing. Everyone is looking for Jesus but not everyone realizes it. Every man, woman, and child is looking for meaningfulness, power, self-worth, purpose, freedom, healing from suffering, hope, love, joy, peace, and a life that doesn’t end in failure. Jesus alone is able to fulfil these human desires. Then why isn’t everyone embracing Jesus? They either don’t know Him or they refuse to do what he asked, so they look for someone or something else to fulfil them. The sad reality is that nobody or nothing except Jesus can raise us up from our fallen nature to permanently experience hopes and desires that are gifts from God alone. Sadly they look for fulfilment in all the wrong places and from illusory sources. Just as Jesus alone gives us a peace that the world can’t give, so also He gives us a meaning, a power, a value, a purpose, a freedom, a hope, a love, a peace, and a destiny that neither we ourselves nor the world can give us. This is why Jesus commissioned His Apostles just before His Ascension to, “God out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News.” (Mk 16:15)
We all know that often, in the words of Job, “man’s life on earth is a drudgery.” (Job 7:1) He lamented, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. Remember that my lifer is like the wind; I shall not see happiness again.” (Job 7:6-7) Who can truly give us hope when everything is falling apart in our life? Who can lift us up from our depression? Who can help us face suffering and death with a spirit of joy? Who can gives us the grace of forgiveness and the knowledge that God loves us unconditionally? Who helps us shoulder the burdens we and others created for ourselves? Who alone is with us giving us a light to see beyond our darkest moments? Who is with us and within us every moment of our life? The answer: Jesus Christ. Knowing this empowers us to proclaim in the words of the Psalmist: “Praise the Lord for he is good; sing praise to our God for He is gracious; it is fitting to praise Him … He heals the broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds … sustains the lowly; the wicked he casts to the ground.” (Ps 147:1-6)
God urges us through Isaiah to, “Seek the Lord while He is still to be found, call to Him while He is still near. Let the wicked man abandon his way, the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn back to Yahweh who will take pity on him, to our God who is rich in forgiving.” (Is 55:6-7) Where is the Lord found? Where is He near to us? In His Church, which He founded on Peter giving him the “keys to the Kingdom of God” (Mt 16:19) and promised to be with her “all days until the end of the world.” (Mt 28:20) Jesus entrusted His Gospel to Peter and the other Apostles and their authorized successors to be preached to everyone so that every man, woman and child would hear the Good News that they would have a marvellous future in which to hope by joining Him in His Church. The task of Jesus’s Church is to unite all people in Jesus through embracing the truth of the Gospel. This is why St. Paul stated, “Woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel … to save at least some … and so that I too may have a share in it.” (1 Cor 9:16-23)
To share in the Gospel is to realize that Jesus is the one for whom we are looking in order to live life to the fullest. We share in the Gospel by participating in the life of His Church as His adopted brother or sister. This motivates us, like St. Paul, to preach it to others because we know that not only is Jesus the One for whom we are looking to make us fully human, He is also the One for whom everyone else is also looking but may not know Him. It’s our job to make Jesus known so the deepest yearning of everyone’s soul may be satisfied through union with Him. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Feb 7 (8 days ago)
to me
Be Clean!
A leper approached Jesus, expressed his faith in Him, and pleaded to be cured. Jesus responded, “I do will it. Be clean.” (Mk 1:40-41) St. Mark relates that Jesus felt pity for the man. Pity is defined as “sympathetic sorrow for one suffering, distressed, or unhappy.” Leprosy was a dreaded disease. It brought much pain, distress, and unhappiness to the sufferer since it meant isolation from family and community. It caused the person’s bodily extremities to rot, creating a bad smell. Jewish law banned lepers from any interaction with their families and friends to prevent contagion. “The one who bears the sore of leprosy … shall declare himself unclean … he shall dwell apart making his abode outside the camp.” (Lv 13:1-2, 44-46)
Jesus ignored the law against making contact with a leper and “stretched out His hand and touched him.” (Mk 1:41) Jesus sees no one as untouchable, except those who choose to be so. The leper had two qualities going for him: faith and humility. He didn’t act as if he deserved to be cured. His manner reflected his humility. “Kneeling down as he addressed Him.” (Mk 1:40) Then he exhibited unconditional faith in Jesus’ power to restore him to health and family. “If you will to do so, you can cure me.” (Mk 1:40) Jesus responded to the man’s humility and faith with both empathy and sympathy. He put Himself in the man’s shoes and felt his loss of freedom. The he told the man to obey Jewish law in order to be recognized as cured and be reinstated back into his community. “Go off and present yourself to the priest and offer for your cure what Moses prescribed. That should be proof for them.” (Mk 1:44)
Humility and faith are essential qualities in our requests to God for physical and spiritual healing. The Psalmist exemplifies these virtues when he proclaimed, “I turn to You, Lord, in time of trouble. You fill me with the joy of salvation. Blessed is he whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes not guilt, in whose spirit there is no guile.” (Ps 32:1, 2, 5, 11) Humility is the antidote to guile. Faith is the antidote to our egotistical attempt to save our self from trouble. The leper knew he couldn’t save himself. But he was open to the Holy Spirit who led him to Jesus as His Saviour. This is the challenge to each of us. Am I receptive to the Holy Spirit who enlightens my spirit with the truth of who I am and what I need to be free, belong, be powerful, and enjoy myself? This is why we should begin each day inviting Holy Spirit to fill our heart and enkindle in us the fire of His divine love so that we may be created in accord with God’s will, be truly wise, share in His consolations, and with His help renew the face of the earth.
None of us is immune to physical disease. Neither are we immune to spiritual disease. We can’t cleanse our soul from the stain of sin. If we try, we’re wasting our time. We can clean ourselves physically but we can’t clean ourselves spiritually. Since God is the Creator of our soul, our self, only He can cleanse it of its diseases. The disease of the soul is sin. Like leprosy, sin deforms us making our spirit unclean that separates us from one another. Only love – God - binds us together and gives us a clean spirit. Sin is the opposite of love. Since we inherit a sinful nature due to Original Sin we’re all sinners. Jesus didn’t come to cleanse us from leprosy, but He did come to cleanse us from our sins. “Jesus said to them, ‘The healthy do not need a doctor; sick people do. I have not come to invite the self-righteous to a change of heart, but sinners.’” (Lk 5:31) Self-righteous people think they have no sin and no need to be spiritually cleansed. Sinners are those who humbly recognize and admit their spiritual uncleanliness and their need for to be washed from their sin. They’re the ones who, in faith, recognize Jesus as the Cleanser, the Saviour, and, like the leper, humbly kneel and ask to be made clean and restored to the community.
Coming to call sinners, Jesus knew that spiritual cleansing would be an ongoing human need. This is why He delegated His power Peter and the other Apostles and their successors, the ordained leaders of His Church, to make cleansing forgiveness available to the repentant sinner until the end of time. He does so through His Church’s Sacraments. In Baptism He frees us from Satan’s grip on our soul and destructive bodily desires. In Reconciliation He washes away our personal sins, especially those that are serious or mortal. In the Holy Mass He cleanses us from our venial sins. In the Anointing of the Sick He cleanses those who’re too weak to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. (Jas 5:13ff) But, like the leper, to be cured, cleansed of our spiritual diseases we need humility and faith. Then we’ll hear Jesus’ words through His Church when we ask Him to cleanse us, “I do will it. Be cured, clean, forgiven, made whole, and reconciled to God’s family!” (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
1:36 PM (21 hours ago)
to me
Lent: Examine Your Choices
Ash Wednesday announces the beginning of Lent. It ends on Holy Thursday. Then Holy Week Triduum of Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday takes place. Lent is the forty-day period when Jesus’ Church calls her members to prepare for Jesus’ Resurrection by praying, fasting, and almsgiving. It’s a time of introspection when Christians refresh their faith in Jesus by renewing their commitment to promote God’s kingdom on earth rather than embrace the world’s kingdom. The two kingdoms compete with each other so we must choose the one to which we want to belong. That’s a daily choice. Every decision we make immerses us either in God’s kingdom or the worldly kingdom. Therefore it’s essential to examine the choices we’re making. We’re where we are because of what we have chosen, and will reap the results our choices. In every decision we either choose God, directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously, or else we choose someone or something that’s not of God. As St. Paul reminds us, “A man will reap only what he sows. If he sows in the field of the flesh, he will reap a harvest of corruption; but if his seed-ground is the spirit, he will reap everlasting life.” (Gal 6:7-8) If our primary focus is on the physical we’ll lose because it eventually turns to dust. If we choose the Spiritual we’ll win because it’s eternal.
God wants everyone to choose His kingdom because He wants everyone to live. This is demonstrated in Genesis when God entered a covenant with Noah. “See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants and with every living creature that was with you … I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign.” (Gn 9:8-15) God made the rainbow a sign of His protection for those faithful to His covenant. Because we suffer from a human nature infected by Original Sin we’re prone to focus more on the physical than on the spiritual. We satisfy our bodily desires and ignore the soul. St. Paul identifies the split between the two: “I cannot even understand my own actions. I do not do what I want to do but what I hate… the desire to do right is there but not the power.” (Rom 7:15-18)
The two kingdoms differ greatly in their aims, scopes, responses, and battles. This is why we have to choose. God’s kingdom promotes the power of the Cross, bringing Jesus’ unconditional love to all, inner conversion to God’s love, return good for evil, care about the wellbeing of enemies, human dignity, equality, collaboration, overcoming the darkness of evil, Church, prayer, worship, and respect for life from conception to natural death. The worldly kingdom promotes the sword, selfishness, control of others, tribalism, conflict, getting even, competition, eye for an eye, kill the enemy, eliminate Christianity, greed, domination, popularity, possessions, selfish pleasure, and power over others.
God sent His Son into a worldly kingdom to save it from self-destructiveness by establishing God’s Kingdom on earth. He founded His Church to be its visible sign. This Kingdom promotes truth, human freedom, justice, peace, supernatural love, and forgiveness. Jesus explained, “My kingdom does not belong to this world.” (Jn 18:36) God’s kingdom promotes a whole new way of living in the world. Its members are those who live and promote Jesus’ ways. “Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep who keep Your covenant. Good and upright is the Lord, thus He shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, He teaches the humble His way.” (Ps 25:8-9) Since the worldly kingdom is manipulative Jesus knew the struggle men and women would experience. He prayed to His Father for His followers: “I do not ask you to take them out of the world but to guard them from the evil one. They are not of the world, anyone than I belong to the world. Consecrate them by means of truth – Your word is truth.” (Jn 17:15-17)
As Christians we live in the worldly kingdom but behave as members of God’s kingdom which Jesus established on earth. We look to Jesus’ Kingdom for our power, value, identity, and purpose at home, at work, at leisure, wherever we are. This is why Jesus directs us to, “Seek first His (God the Father’s) Kingship over you, His way of holiness, and all these things will be given you besides. Enough, then, of worrying about tomorrow. Let tomorrow take care of itself. Today has troubles enough of its own.” (Mt 6:33-24) As we begin this holy season of prayer, fasting, and acts of self-giving let’s focus on our daily choices to make sure we’re choosing God’s kingdom. Isaiah urges us to “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call Him while He is near.” (Is 55:6) Where do we seek Him? In His Church, the visible sign of His Kingdom. This is why Jesus tells us, “The kingdom of God is at hand! Reform your lives and believe in the Gospel!” (Mk 1:15) We reform our life by embracing Jesus in His Church’ preaching, teaching, Sacraments, and especially in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Examine your choices to see which kingdom you’re choosing. (frsos)
The story is told that, one night, Brigid went to sit with a dying man. He was a chieftain, and members of his household hoped Brigid would speak to him of Christ, and perhaps convert him before he died. However the man was very ill and couldn’t listen to such talk. So Brigid prayed for him instead. As she sat by his bedside, she picked up some of the rushes scattered on the
floor. (This was typical of the time, rushes were warm and kept the floor clean). She began to weave rushes into a Cross, and as she did the Chieftain asked her about it. She wove and spoke of Jesus and
prayed for the Chieftain. He came to know Christ that night, was baptised and died in peace.
St Brigid’s Crosses are traditionally made by Irish people around her feast day. Many homes place them over a door lintel or in the thatch of a house. A simple diagram showing how to make a Brigid’s
Cross is available
What can we learn from this story? What does Brigid’s life teach us? -
That faithful prayer and action can convert a heart faster than long words? -
That being present, and remaining present, with those in need allows healing to happen? -
That God works through all things, even rushes! The Cross of St Brigid is a sign of simplicity and
of faithful presence. May we be generous with our time, our presence and our love this year.
POPE
Pope John-Paul II visit to Ireland - commemorative mug by Arklow Pottery (1979)
This ceramic mug was produced to commemorate the visit of Pope John-Paul II to Ireland in September of 1979.
The mug is made of white porcelain or bone-china, decorated with gold trim around the rim and measures 3 3/8” high x 3 3/16” O.D. excluding handle (85mm x 81mm). The opposite side of the mug is plain, no print. The imprint states BRENDAN ERIN STONE MADE IN ARKLOW IRELAND.
DEATH: Kathleen Dowling Singh
No community should botch its deaths. That’s a wise statement from Mircea Eliade and apropos in the face of the death two weeks ago of Kathleen Dowling Singh. Kathleen was a hospice worker, a psychotherapist, and a very deep and influential spiritual writer.
She is known and deeply respected among those who write and teach in the area of spirituality on the strength of three major books: The Grace in Living; The Grace in Aging, and The Grace in Dying. Interestingly, she worked backwards in writing this trilogy, beginning with dying, moving on to aging, and finally offering a reflection on living. And she did this because her grounding insights were taken from her experience as a hospice worker, attending to terminally ill patients. From what she learned from being with and observing the dying taught her a lot about what it means to age and, ultimately, what it means of live. Her books try to highlight the deep grace that’s inherent in each of these stages in our lives: living, aging, dying.
I want to highlight here particularly the insights from her initial book, The Grace in Dying. Outside of scripture and some classical mystics, I have not found as deep a spiritual understanding of what God and nature intend in the process we go through in dying, particularly as is seen in someone who dies from old age or a terminal illness.
Singh encapsulates her thesis in one poignant line: The process of death is exquisitely calibrated to bring us into the realm of spirit. There’s a wisdom in the death process. Here’s how it works:
During our whole lives our self-consciousness radically limits our awareness, effectively closing off from our awareness much of the realm of spirit. But that’s not how we were born. As a baby, we are wonderfully open and aware, except, lacking self-consciousness, an ego, we aren’t aware of what we are aware. A baby is luminous, but a baby can’t think. In order to think it needs to form an ego, become self-aware, and, according to Singh, the formation of that ego, the condition for self-awareness, is predicated on each of us making four massive mental contractions, each of which closes off some of our awareness of the world of spirit.
We form our egos this way: First, early on in a baby’s life, it makes a distinction between what is self and what is other. That’s the first major contraction. Soon afterwards, the baby makes a distinction between living and non-living; a puppy is alive, a stone is not. Sometime after that, a baby makes a distinction between mind and body; a body is solid and physical in a way that the mind is not. Finally, early on too in our lives, we make a distinction between what we can face inside of ourselves and what’s too frightening to face. We separate our own luminosity and complexity from our conscious awareness, forming what’s often called our shadow. Each of these movements effectively shuts off whole realms of reality from our awareness. By doing that, Singh says, we create own fear of death.
Now, and this is Singh’s pregnant insight, the process of aging and dying effectively breaks down these contractions, breaking them down in reverse order of how we formed them, and, with each breakdown, we are more aware again of a wider realm of reality, particularly the realm of spirit. And this culminates in the last moments or seconds before our death in the experience of ecstasy, observable in many terminal patients as they die. As the last contraction that formed our ego is broken, spirit breaks through and we break into ecstasy. As a hospice worker, Singh claims to have seen this many times in her patients.
Elizabeth Kubler Ross, in what has now virtually become the canon on how we understand the stages of dying, suggested that someone diagnosed with a terminal disease will go through five stages before his or her death: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. Singh would agree with that, except that she would add three more stages: A fall into darkness that verges on despair; a resignation that dwarfs our initial acceptance, and an in-breaking of ecstasy. She points out that Jesus went through those exact stages on the cross: a cry of abandonment that sounds like despair, the handing over of his spirit, and the ecstasy that was given him in his death
Singh’s insight is a very consoling one. The process of dying will do for us what a deep life of prayer and selflessness was meant to do for us, namely, break our selfishness and open us to the realm of spirit. God will get us, one way or the other.
We’ve lost a great woman and a great spiritual writer. Her children, writing on Facebook after her death, said simply that their mother would want us all to know that “she was an ordinary person dying an ordinary death.” But the spiritual legacy she left us is far from ordinary.
Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father Ronald Rolheiser is a specialist in the field of spirituality and systematic theology. His website is www.ronrolheiser.com.
Posted on 26/10/2017 by glinnews
WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES 2018.
Pope Francis chose Ireland to host next year’s World Meeting of Families to make sure Irish Catholics would take part in a ‘revolution’ promoting marriage and family life, one of the Pope’s key advisors has said. … Speaking to The Irish Catholic about the Autumn 2018 event, Cardinal Kevin Farrell explained that Pope Francis is under no illusions about how family life in Ireland is changing in line with the rest of Europe. “He understands that – he doesn’t think that Ireland is some miracle,” he said. “Nobody thinks that, but he thinks there’s a great spirit in the Irish people of giving of themselves to others, and of taking leadership roles…”
Read more in an article by Greg Daly in the Irish Catholic.
As we prepare – can you pray the official prayer of World Meeting of Families 2018 – and share it in your home, so others can too.
God, our Father,
We are brothers and sisters in Jesus your Son,
One family, in the Spirit of your love.
Bless us with the joy of love.
Make us patient and kind,
gentle and generous,
welcoming to those in need.
Help us to live your forgiveness and peace.
Protect all families with your loving care,
Especially those for whom we now pray:
[We pause and remember family members and others by name].
Increase our faith,
Strengthen our hope,
Keep us safe in your love,
Make us always grateful for the gift of life that we share.
This we ask, through Christ our Lord,
Amen
Fr SHEEHY
to me
Use It or Lose It
Researchers indicate that the possibility of dementia is reduced the more we use our brain. By default, the less we use our brain our mental alertness will decrease. Some explain evolution on the theory that when a body part isn’t used its function will be lost. We know that if we don’t exercise our muscles our muscular power will be lost. The “use it or lose it” theory definitely applies to our Christian faith. If we don’t use it in accord with its purpose we’ll misuse or abuse it and eventually lose it.
What’s the purpose of Christianity? It’s to witness to the world that Jesus Christ is the only one who can save us from sin and its sentence of suffering and eternal death. How does sin manifest itself? We sin when, instead of relying on Jesus to save us through His Church, we try to save ourselves. It’s in the process of doing this that we sin, causing suffering and death. In trying to save ourselves we focus only on ourselves and view others as opportunities to enrich ourselves, make ourselves feel better, superior, or more secure through using and abusing them. Jesus clearly stated that He came “to call sinners to a change of heart, not the self-righteous.” (Lk 5:32) The “self-righteous” think they’re perfect and don’t need anyone to save them. Sinners recognize their sinfulness and their need of Jesus’ forgiveness to save them. Pride motivates the self-righteous. Humility steers sinners to repent. In calling sinners to repent and be saved Jesus calls us to experience God’s tremendous love, so that, having experienced this love personally, we are able to display it towards others. Jesus calls us to be like Him by sharing the love we have from Him with our fellow men and women.
Christianity is the response to God’s call to be productive stewards of His creation. But that productivity must be in accord with God’s will. In becoming human Jesus demonstrated and taught God’s will. He continues to be present and teach until the end of time through His Church. There Jesus calls us to be like Him promoting freedom, justice, peace, and charity. A mother was making pancakes for her two sons, Mike and John, aged 6 and 4. A squabble broke between them over who got the first pancake. The mother intervened and said, “Now if Jesus were here and you were His brother He would say “Here, brother, you have the first one.” Mike turned to John and said, “John, you be Jesus, and I’ll be his brother!” Our problem is that we want the other person to be Jesus, not our self. The challenge for each of us is to be “Jesus” for the other person. That’s the proper use of our faith. Then we’ll pray humbly with the Psalmist, “Once again, O Lord, Look down from heaven and see; take care of this vine, and protect what Your right hand has planted … We shall never turn from You again; our life renewed, we shall invoke Your Name.” (Ps 80:14-18)
Jesus told the parable of The Wicked Vineyard Tenants (Mt 21:33-43) to show what happens when people ignore God as their Saviour and set out to save themselves. They didn’t use the privilege of their tenancy properly. Instead they acted like they owned the vineyard and so lost everything.
If Christians don’t use their faith in accord with God’s will they’ll lose it. Many claim to be Christian but they neither worship God on the Lord’s Day nor act charitably towards others nor confess their sins regularly. Jesus founded His Church so people could receive, develop, and use their faith in Him to direct their lifestyle. Faith is by its nature relational – a trusting relationship with Jesus Christ in His Church. If a relationship isn’t nurtured it will die. If we don’t use our Christian faith to live we’ll lose it and try to live some other way that leads to unhappiness. At the end of the parable Jesus cautions us, “The Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to someone who will yield a rich harvest.” (Mt 22:43)
It isn’t easy to be Christian in this world. Our Leader, the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ ended up on a cross. Christians mustn’t expect any less. This is why St. Paul encourages us to, “Rejoice in the Lord always! …Dismiss all anxiety from your minds. Present your needs to God in every form of prayer and in petitions full of gratitude.” (Phil 4:4, 6) Using our faith means that “Everyone should see how unselfish you are.” (v 5) “The Lord is near” reminding us that “God’s own peace, which is beyond all understanding, will stand guard over your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus.” (v7) Using our Christian faith brings us peace of mind, heart, and soul. Losing it makes us susceptible to anxiety and distress. Jesus promised His Apostles, “Peace is my gift to you; I do not give it to you as the world gives peace. Do not be distressed or fearful.” (Jn 14:27) It’s a peace Jesus alone can give us when He stands guard over our minds and hearts saving us from anxiety and distress. This is what the Christian faith gives us. If we don’t use it we’ll lose it. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Sep 27 (9 days ago)
to me
It’s Action that Counts
We’re all familiar with the saying that actions speak louder than words. The musician, Criss Jami, put it like this: “After a while you realize that putting your actions where your mouth is makes you less likely to have to put your money where your mouth is.” Talk is easy while action requires commitment, expenditure of energy, effort, and perseverance. We are what we do, not necessarily what we say. We can say lots of things, build castles in the air etc., but it’s what we do that matters. Our true character is revealed only in our actions. It’s our actions that make our words either credible or inedible. We’re all familiar with people who make promises but don’t keep them. Politicians are noted for this. People say they’re privately against something but publicly support it. That’s hypocrisy – a lack of integrity.
Jesus told a parable about two sons whose father asked them to tend his vineyard. (Mt 21:28-32) The first refused, while the second agreed. Later, the son who refused his father’s request had qualms of conscience and did was asked of him. The second son didn’t do what he said he would. Jesus asked His audience, “Which of the two did what the father wanted?” They answered, “The second.” (Mt 21:31) Jesus was making the point that people say they believe in God but don’t live the faith. Earlier in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus quoted from Psalm 78:36 and Isaiah 29:13, “This people pays me lip service but their heart is far from me.” (Mt 15:8) Jesus is talking about hypocrisy on the part of those who say they’re Christian but don’t put their alleged faith into action.
Jesus warns us all when He said, “Whoever acknowledges me before men I will acknowledge before my Father who is in Heaven. Whoever disowns me before men I will disown before my Father in Heaven.” (Mt 10:32-33) Acknowledging Jesus before others means doing His will, upholding His truth in the way we act. Christianity is much more about what we do than about what we say. We can say lots of prayers but what are we doing to improve the lot of those for whom we pray? The Holy Spirit challenges us: “What good is it to profess faith without practicing it? Faith without works is dead.” (Jas 2:14-17) The Spirit reveals that we all “shall give an accounting to Him (Jesus) who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.” (1 Pt 4:5) If we don’t stand up for Jesus’ teaching in the way we act, He won’t save us. God responded to His people’s criticism of Him as being unfair in His judgment of them: “Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit sin, and died, it is because of the sin he committed that he must die. But if he turns from wickedness he has committed, and does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life … he shall not die.” (Ezek 18:24) God simply says that we must take full responsibility for our actions and experience their consequences. We’ll be judged on what we do, not on what we say.
St. Paul urges us, “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vain glory; rather humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each of you looking to others’ interests rather than to his own. Your attitude must be that of Christ.” (Phil 2:3-5) The first son in Jesus’ story put his father’s interests before his own. The second son acted hypocritically. What was Jesus’ attitude? It was one of integrity and humility. He did what He said, always carrying our His Father’s requests. That’s the challenge to you and me as Christians, namely to do what Jesus’ asks of us in His Church. We must pray every day asking the Holy Spirit in the words of the Psalmist: “Your ways, O Lord, make known to me. Teach me Your paths, guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Saviour …Good and upright is the Lord; thus He shows sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, and teaches the humble His way.” (Ps 25:4-5, 8-9) The humble learn and do things God’s way. The prideful do things their way, the blind leading the blind.
Jesus is the model of humility. He “emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave … He humbled Himself becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Phil 2:7-8) To be Christian we must humbly recognize that the good we do is due to God’s grace working in and through us. But, just like we can’t touch our ear with our elbow, no one or nothing can make us humble. It has to come from our heart. Humility is accepting the truth about our self. The truth is that Jesus Christ is our only Saviour, our only way to Heaven, our Truth that frees us from sin, and our Life that’s eternal. We will act on that truth when we acknowledge that God is the only source of our value, power, and fulfilment, who has faith in us, loves us, and gives us hope that we will find happiness and life to the full. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Sep 20
to me
Needs versus Wants
Oftentimes what we think we need is actually what we want. What we want and what we need are two different realities. As human beings it’s essential that we’re able to meet our true needs but we can ignore our wants. I need a watch to tell the time, but I want a Rolex. Do I need an expensive and posh watch? No. A much cheaper one will satisfy my need. Needs can be satisfied but wants can’t. When my need is met I’m satisfied, like eating a meal when I’m hungry. But my wants are never satisfied because I want more and more and more. Meeting my needs brings me happiness. Meeting my wants gives birth to greed, lust, covetousness, etc. One of the most important things we can do for our joyfulness is to distinguish between our real needs and our selfish, never-to-be-satisfied, wants.
In the last century Abraham Maslow presented His “Theory of Human Motivation” in which he outlined a hierarchy of human needs. He categorized them as a hierarchy because the more basic needs need to be met before the higher needs can be met. Our most basic needs are physiological - breathing, circulation, temperature, intake of nourishment, elimination of wastes, and movement. Next come our safety needs - shelter, security, environment. Then comes our need for belonging – family, friendship, community, communication, support, feeling loved. Next comes our need for self-esteem to cope with fear, sadness, loneliness, happiness, and acceptance of oneself. This leads to meeting our self-actualization needs – thinking, learning, decision making, values, beliefs, fulfilment, service to others. The highest need is self-transcendence – achieving full consciousness, giving oneself to something or someone higher and bigger than oneself in altruism and spirituality. Maslow pointed out that we’re not motivated to meet our higher needs without having met our lower needs first.
Each of us must ask if we’re focusing on our needs or our wants in our quest for happiness. Am I meeting my need for nourishment? Am I meeting my need to feel safe and secure? Am I meeting my need to belong? Am I meeting my need to be loved? Am I meeting my need to esteem myself? Am I meeting my need to grow intellectually and spiritually, developing and using my gifts to bring me closer to God and a servant to others? This is what we need in order to mature and be joyful human beings. These are the human needs God has instilled in us that motivate us to grow in our love for Him and our neighbour.
In meeting each of these needs God’s grace is essential to keep us from being side-tracked by our wants and selfish desires. God speaks to us through His Church’s proclamation of His word: “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call Him while He is near.” (Is 55:6) How near is the Lord? The Psalmist gives us the answer: “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.” (Ps 145:18) Calling upon the Lord in truth means that in our prayer and worship we’re receptive to His thoughts and make His way our way. He cautions us, “Let the wicked forsake his thought; let him turn to the Lord for mercy. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways.” (Is 55:7-8) Where do we find God’s thoughts and ways? In the Gospels of Jesus proclaimed by His Church. This is why St. Paul urges us to, “Conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” (Phil1:27)
God, like a loving parent, always looking out for the good of His sons and daughters. He is generous to a fault. But we must realize our temptation to think that we deserve God’s generosity and act like we’re entitled to it. Like children who think they’re entitled to their parent’s property after they die, we think we’re entitled to God’s grace. We’re not. It’s a gift. The nature of a gift is that it’s neither earned nor deserved. It’s an expression of unconditional love which is always a gift because we can neither earn nor buy it. Jesus expresses God’s generosity in the Parable of the Vineyard Labourers. (Mt 20:1-16) The owner hires workers when he finds them looking for work at different times during the day. In the evening he pays each the same wage. Those who worked all day for a wage they agreed upon are upset because others who worked less time received the same pay. The owner responded, “Are you envious because I am generous?” (Mt 20:15) The owner responded to those he met looking for work. He also knew that it took a day’s wages for a man to take care of his family. He took that into consideration when he generously gave a full day’s wage to those who hadn’t the opportunity to work a full day. Full time workers were unhappy because they focused on their wants rather than on their needs. Meeting our needs brings us joy while concentrating on our wants leaves us miserable, envious, greedy, lustful, slighted, etc. Focus on your needs which God generously helps you to meet and enjoy the satisfaction that follows. God cares about our needs, not our wants. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Sep 13
to me
Imprisoned by Unforgiveness
I read a story about two friends who survived a Nazi concentration camp. One asked the other, “Have you forgiven the Nazis?” He replied that he had. The first reacted, “Well, I haven’t. I’m still consumed with hatred towards them.” “In that case,” responded the second man gently, “they still have you in prison.” One of the greatest gifts that Jesus brought to us is the power of forgiveness. It frees us to achieve the fullness of our humanity, which is achieved through union with Jesus Christ. To be in union with God we must repent and be forgiven by Him for our sins. Since one good turn deserves another, if we need God to forgive us our sins, so we must also forgive one another for our sinfulness against each other. Refusing to forgive dooms us to remain imprisoned by those who hurt us. Unforgiveness keeps us shackled to a hurtful past that robs us of a joyful present and a hopeful future. Forgiveness, on the other hand, frees us from the past to enjoy and live fully in the present with a bright future ahead. So why, then, do we hesitate or refuse to forgive? To err is human but to forgive is divine. The fact is that we can’t forgive without God’s grace.
In the Book of Sirach, also known as Ecclesiasticus because it was widely used by Jesus’ Church to teach morality, God clearly states, “Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet sinners hug them tight … Forgive your neighbour’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.” (Sir 27:30-28:2) Why do we hug wrath and anger tight? We’re like the little boy who was sitting on a park bench in obvious pain. A man saw him and asked, “What’s wrong with you?” The boy answered, “I’m sitting on a bumble bee and it’s stinging me!” The man said, “Why don’t you stand up and get away from it?” The boy replied, “Well, by sitting here I think I’m hurting him more than he’s hurting me!” We hold on to anger because we think, foolishly, that somehow it punishes the one who hurt us. God gave us the emotion of anger to help us defend against those who hurt us, not to hold on to the hurt by refusing to forgive through seeking revenge or carrying a grudge. As human beings we should be the fittest of creatures since we carry grudges, run with gossip, and jump to conclusions. Forgiveness of others is essential if we want to be forgiven for our own sins.
Since God created us in His image and likeness, to be true to Him we must act like Him. Jesus shows us how to be and act like God. The psalmist reminds us, “He pardons all your iniquities, heals all our ills. He redeems your life from destruction, crowns you with kindness and compassion.” (Ps 103:3-4) To be in union with God and be happy we must pardon one another and heal each other’s ills. We must avoid what destroys life, like the poison of unforgiveness, and relate to each other kindly and compassionately. To achieve this we need God’s Spirit to prepare our spirit to do what’s right in His eyes rather than following our own distorted vision. Jesus’ Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, assures us of His help:“For we do not have a high priest (Jesus) who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet never sinned. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and favour and to find help in time of need.” (Heb 4:14-16)
Jesus fully sympathizes with us, not to condone or excuse our weaknesses and sins but to help us to repent, forgive, and be forgiven. Jesus rose above His hurts through the power of forgiveness when, nailed to the cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Lk 23:34) We must always be ready to forgive. Peter asked Jesus, “‘Lord, when my brother wrongs me, how often must I forgive him? Seven times?’ ‘No,’ said Jesus, ‘not seven times; I say, seventy times seven times.’” (Mt 18:21-22) Jesus then went on to tell the parable of the unmerciful servant whose huge debt was forgiven by his master. However, that servant refused to forgive a man who owed him a small debt. The master was angered at his lack of compassion and had him thrown into prison. His lack of forgiveness caused him to be imprisoned.
Most of our ills result from blind fear and anger. Unless we use them constructively they load us down with baggage that impede our growth as human beings. Jesus reminds us that “Fear is useless. What is needed is trust.” (Lk 8:50) We cope with anger through forgiveness. We receive the grace to forgive every time we seek God’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Forgiveness doesn’t mean we should allow someone to continually hurt us. Forgiveness sometimes means we should put distance between ourselves and our abusers. Forgiveness frees and heals hurt, otherwise we’ll be miserable, stunted, and imprisoned in our unforgiveness. We mustn’t forget that only forgivers go to Heaven. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Sep 6
to me
Tough Love
True love is basically about caring, whether it’s between husband and wife, parents and children, friends, neighbours, priest and congregation, teacher and student, or health professional and patient. Without caring there’s no love and without love there’s no bonding, and without bonding there’s no relationship, and without relationship our development is stunted. Caring is expressed in concern, acceptance, affirmation, affection, respect, responsibility, integrity, nurturing, and generosity. Each of these ingredients is an essential aspect of caring which means it requires effort and commitment to love. We can’t do it on our own. We need God’s help to love consistently and genuinely. The Holy Spirit revealed that “Love … rejoices in the truth …it never fails.” (1 Cor 13:4-8) Love, like the truth, sets us and others free.
There are two kinds of love, natural and supernatural. Natural love is what a parent has for a child and vice versa. Supernatural love is what God has for us and it empowers us to care not just for those closest to us but even for our enemies. Natural love doesn’t last when those we love don’t love us. Supernatural love empowers us to love others even if they don’t respond in kind. This is why we need God’s love to be truly caring towards everyone we meet. It’s knowing and experiencing God’s love for us that enables us to rise above the hurts, disappointments, failures, and betrayals we experience in our self and in our relationships. This is the love that humbly rejoices in the truth and enables us to care enough for others so that we’re willing to risk calling them to do what’s morally good when they’re sinning. This isn’t easy, but it’s what genuine caring for our fellow man or woman calls us to do.
Jesus summarized God’s Commandments in the Law of Love: Love God with all you have and are, and love your neighbour as yourself. (Mt 12:30-31) As Christians we’re obligated to love God and our neighbour. Our neighbour is anyone in need. Human need isn’t just about food, clothing, shelter, etc. It’s also about a person’s need for salvation; the human need for God, Jesus and His Church, the Sacraments, forgiveness, and to overcome sin. Therefore, to love our neighbour means helping an individual to meet not only physical needs but also, and even more importantly, his or her spiritual needs, namely the salvation of his or her soul. Helping to meet a person’s bodily needs is much easier than helping to meet his or her spiritual needs.
God is very clear about our responsibility to help others to cease their sinful ways. He tells us, “If I tell the wicked man that he shall surely die, and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked man from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but I will hold you responsible for his death. But if you warn the wicked man, trying to turn him from his way, and he refuses to turn from his way, he shall die for his guilt, but you shall save yourself.” (Ezek 33:8-9) As Christians we’re obligated to remind others to follow the Law of Love and abandon the way of sin. This isn’t easy because we don’t like to intrude in other people’s lives. After all, “who’re we to judge others,” we tell ourselves. Aren’t we sinners too? Yes, we’re sinners, but we know we must seek Jesus’ forgiveness and His grace to overcome sin. We also know that God expects us to be our brother’s and sister’s keepers. (Gen 4:9) Therefore we’re obligated by God’s love to help keep one another on the path to Heaven. This calls for tough love. Love never closes its eyes to another person’s sinfulness because we don’t want anyone to go to hell.
What is tough love? It’s the kind of caring that calls another person to change his or her sinful ways. It isn’t done out of conceit or a “better than thou” attitude, but rather out of a genuine concern for the person’s soul so that he or she might go to Heaven. It’s an expression of affection for another. It’s an act of mercy, but it’s tough to do. It’s like a parent who refuses to help a drug-addicted child pay his or her bills until he or she becomes clean through a rehabilitation programme. The intent of tough love is always the wellbeing and happiness of the other person. The Psalmist expresses the hope of this kind of love, “Oh, that today you would hear God’s voice; harden not your hearts.” (Ps 95:8) The goal of love in general and tough love in particular is reconciliation. Unity in the community was so important to Jesus that He set up a three-step structure to confront wrongdoing. “If your brother should commit some wrong against you, go and point out his fault, but keep it between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. If he does not listen, summon another, so that every case may stand on the word of two or three witnesses. If he ignores them, refer it to the Church.” (Mt. 18:15-17) Imagine what a different world we would have if we followed these steps. These are the steps taken by tough love. This is the kind of love that focuses on justice and peace. Tough love is caring at its best. Remember that “admonishing the sinner” is one of the spiritual works of mercy. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy <frsos@eircom.net>
Aug 30
to me
Good and Restful Thinking
St. Augustine prayed, “You have created us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” We all have a restless heart that constantly seeks someone or something to provide it with a place in which to rest. The key question is whether what we rest our heart in will give it the rest it seeks. Will what we put our trust in deliver the peace and happiness our heart desires? If God is our Creator, it follows that only He can fulfil our deepest yearnings. With the Psalmist we can proclaim, “O God, You are my God whom I seek; for You my body pines and my soul thirsts like earth, parched, lifeless and without water.” (Ps 63: 2) The Christian is the person who recognizes that Jesus Christ alone provides the only place in which our heart will find permanent rest both in this life and beyond death. Jesus is the antidote to our restlessness by joining us to Him in His Church and leading us to perfect happiness in Heaven. This is what makes Christianity so essential for human fulfilment. The first line of the song, “It’s Hard to Be Humble” is, “O Lord, it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way.” We could change that and say, “O Lord, it’s hard to be Christian when you’re imperfect in every way.” But we must recognize that Christianity’s purpose is to let Jesus perfect the imperfect, transform the deformed.
To be Christian is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ in His Church. He revealed that, “If a man wishes to come after me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross daily, and begin to follow in my footsteps.” (Mt 16:24) Because we suffer from a fallen nature that’s prone to selfishness and sinfulness, being Christian requires a change of thinking, namely to focus more on others and less on ourselves. To follow in Jesus’ footsteps we must embrace Him as our Leader and Teacher. Like any good follower or student, we must keep our eyes fixed on Him. The more we do that the more we let our spirit be transformed by His Spirit and the more we place our heart in His Sacred Heart where we’ll experience a restfulness that nothing or no one can disturb. That’s the payoff for the Christian but it requires a change in the way we naturally think. The Prophet, Jeremiah, reflects the conflict we experience between our thinking and God’s thinking. Being a Godly person entails suffering because it involves putting God and others’ needs first when we would prefer to put ourselves first. We prefer to be honoured ourselves than to honour God or others. We prefer convenience, comfort, and ease to sacrifice, discomfort, and hardship. Jeremiah complained to God, “...the word of the Lord has brought me derision and reproach … I say to myself, I will not mention Him, I will speak in His Name no more.” (Jer 20:7-9) His listeners didn’t like what God told Jeremiah to tell them and it brought him much suffering. So it is with the Christian who often has to stand alone when it comes to upholding what’s sacred and true. However, like Jeremiah who felt God’s Spirit within him “like a fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones …” (Jer 20:9), the Christian finds that witnessing the truth of Jesus is worth the suffering it might entail.
Since God alone is all good, good thinking is using our reason to seek God’s goodness and act on it in all our decisions. This is why St. Paul warns us in his Epistle to the Romans: “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Rom 12:2) This age, the world in which we live, is temporary and imperfect. Our problem is that we focus on what’s passing and imperfect as if it were permanent and perfect. Instead of recognizing that the Creator, not the creature, is in control of the creation we act as if we’re in control. Peter is an example of this when he tried to save Jesus from the suffering He had to endure to save the world. Jesus reprimanded him, “You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” (Mt 16:23) Peter was trying to save Jesus from suffering. Nothing wrong in that except that he was trying to make Jesus his follower rather than him being Jesus’ follower. Good thinking is thinking like Jesus, while bad thinking is trying to save ourselves instead of letting Jesus save us. He asks, “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world but suffer the loss of his soul?” (Mt 16:26) Our soul is us, our principle of life, our personality and individuality. Our restless heart reflects our soul’s yearning for our Creator who alone can perfect us and give us rest. Good thinking is Christian thinking that leads us to follow Jesus in His Church where He alone can save our soul and give permanent rest to our heart. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy <frsos@eircom.net>
Aug 23
to me
By Whose Authority
Authority is the power and the right to do something. Only the author of something can authorize another to promote and interpret his or her creation. If God is the creator of the universe, reason requires that we accept Him as the only authority possessing the power and the right to properly state its purpose and destination. If God is our Creator, then He alone has the authority to tell us who we are, why we’re here, what we need, how we should live, what our purpose is, and where’re we’re headed. No one else has that authority except those to whom God chooses to delegate it. St. Paul states clearly, “Let everyone obey the authorities that are over him, for there is no authority except from God, and all authority that exists is established by God.” (Rom 13:1-2) When Pilate questioned Jesus, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and the power to crucify you?” He answered, “You would have no power over me whatever unless it were given you from above.” (Jn 19:10-11) Anyone who claims the authority to say or do something that isn’t of God is a fraud and should be rejected as a sower of division.
When Jesus commissioned His Apostles to make every person His adopted brother or sister through baptism into His Church He assured them: “Full authority has been given to me both in Heaven and on earth; go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” (Mt 28:18-19) Jesus delegated His authority to His Church under Peter’s leadership assisted by the other Apostles. Jesus created a visible structure for His Church by founding it on Peter as her head on earth. The visible Church is Jesus’ visible body on earth. “It is He who is the head of the body, the Church … to reconcile everything in His Person, both on earth and in the heavens, making peace through the blood of His cross.” (Col 1:18-20)
Only the Church that Jesus founded on Peter, which continues under his successors, the Bishops of Rome, has the proper authority, jurisdiction, power, and right to identify Jesus’ real presence in the world. The Bishops of Rome, Peter’s successors, are the principle of continuity of Jesus’ Church in the world until the end of time. Jesus founded His Church on one man chosen and authorized by Him. God did something similar in the Old Testament when He authorized Eliakim to lock or unlock the House of David. “I will place the key of the House of David on His shoulder; when he opens, no one shall shut, when he shuts no one will open. I will fix him like a peg in a sure spot, to be a place of honour for his family.” (Is 22:19-23) Jesus chose Peter for a similar position. When Jesus asked, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” (Mt 16:13) Peter proclaimed, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (v 16) Jesus responded, “Blest are you, Simon son of John! No mere man has revealed this to you, but my Heavenly Father.” (v 17) God had inspired Peter to recognize and proclaim Jesus’ true identity. Jesus then designated Peter as the visible foundation upon which to build His Church. “I for my part declare to you, you are ‘Rock,’ and on this rock I will build my Church …I will entrust to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you declare bound on earth shall be declared bond in Heaven, whatever you declare loosed on earth shall be declared loosed in Heaven.” (v 18-19) Jesus authorized Peter, not the other Apostles, to be the “Keeper of the Keys” to God’s Kingdom. Peter and his successors are the only ones with the divine authority to make laws for God’s people. They alone are authorized to interpret God’s word and make visible Jesus’ sacramental presence in His Church as her Head. No one has that authority unless it’s delegated by Peter’s successor who is current the head of Jesus’ Church on earth. It’s the Church under the leadership of Peter and His successors that reflects Jesus true presence in the world until the end of time calling all people to unite with Him. The Pope’s task and that of her members is to proclaim Jesus’s presence to the world, echoing Peter’s words, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus confirmed Peter as the head of His Church when He stated, “He who hears you hears me. He who rejects you rejects me. And he who rejects me, rejects Him who sent me.” (Lk 10:16)
Why did Jesus choose one man upon whom to found and lead His Church? It wasn’t because Peter or his successors were or are perfect. To compensate for their flaws He sent His Holy Spirit to guide their teaching and preaching guaranteeing the integrity of His Good News. Then why? We don’t know. St. Paul reminds us, “For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been His counsellor? … For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be glory for ever.” (Rom 11:33-36) To paraphrase Alfred Tennyson, “Ours is not to questions why, ours it is to accept with joy.” (frsos)
FR SHEEHY
Sean Sheehy
Jul 26
to me
The Gift of Discernment
The Hebrew Testament records that God prepared Solomon for his role as King David’s successor by telling him, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” (1 Kgs 3:5) Believers ask God for all kinds of things. Some He grants and others He doesn’t. His response to our requests depends on whether what we ask for is for selfish or unselfish purposes. God never sanctions selfishness. Solomon, noted for his wisdom, at least in his early years, asked the Lord, “Give your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to distinguish right from wrong.” (1 kgs 3:9) What Solomon asked for was the gift of discernment so he could judge justly and do what was right in God’s eyes.
To be a discerning person is to have keen insight and understanding in order to discriminate between what’s real and unreal, true and false, good and bad, beautiful and ugly, in order to make the right choice. The right choice is always what’s in accord with God’s commandments. This is why the Psalmist was inspired to praise God, “Wonderful are Your decrees; therefore I observe them. The revelation of Your words sheds light, giving understanding to the simple.” (Ps 119:129-130) Since God’s word is the truth it alone gives us the insight to judge what the greatest good is so we can choose the best from the rest. God’s word sheds light on what we couldn’t see or understand on our own. His word gives us an understanding of what we need in order to be fully human and fully alive. The gift of discernment enables us to act wisely by determining what will be beneficial to our relationship with God and neighbor and also what will weaken or destroy it.
A discerning man or woman is a wise man or woman. Being able to discern between the true God and false gods keeps us from being led astray by the false promises of people with evil or egotistical designs. The true God gives us the Ten Commandments to keep us on the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal happiness with Him. God sent us His Son, Jesus, to show us how to love and remind us how much He loves us. Jesus gave us His Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, to continue shedding the light of His teaching on us so that we can always know what’s true about Him and ourselves and, by default, what’s false. Through Jesus’ Church we’re able to discern that He’s personally with us guiding us toward Heaven. Thus St. Paul was inspired to write, “We know that all things work for the good for those who love God who are called according to His purpose… These He called He also justified; and those He justified He also glorified.” (Rom 8:28-30)
Only God’s word proclaimed by Jesus’ Church gives us the keenest insight into our human nature that suffers from inherited and personal sinfulness so that we can deepen our understanding of our need for Jesus Christ to save us. Sin isn’t a physical or psychological problem that we can heal medically or therapeutically. It’s a condition we’re born with and we can’t save ourselves from it. Therefore we need a Savior. Those who reject God’s word and His Church do not have the necessary insight, understanding or help to free themselves from their selfishness. They have to rely on themselves or others with all their flaws, limitations, and sinfulness to determine what’s right or wrong, good or bad. Hence their judgment is extremely subjective and myopic. Only God the Creator can give us, His creatures, the big picture regarding who we are, what we are, why we’re here, what we need, and where we’re headed. He’s the only one who can enlighten us so that we can discern what’s best in order to reach the fullness of our potential, which is to be God’s image and act like Him in the world. Since He is God, Jesus is the model of how to be like God.
When Jesus was describing the Kingdom of God to His listeners He emphasized the importance of discernment in order to recognize what’s most valuable and worth the sacrifice to obtain it. He compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a treasure discovered by a man in a field who then “sells all that he has and buys that field.” (Mt 13:44) Again Jesus likens His Kingdom to a merchant searching for fine pearls who “when he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” (Mt 13:46) Then Jesus challenged them, “Do you understand all these things?” (Mt 13:51) The gift of discernment enabled them to give up what they had in order to procure what they realized was better. That’s exactly what the gift of discernment does – it enables us to see what has real value and worth making the sacrifices to obtain it. If you’ve discerned that Jesus, present in His Church, is your greatest treasure – He alone promises eternal happiness to His followers - then you will gladly give up what you have to follow Him. Pray for the gift of discernment each day so you can distinguish right from wrong and choose what deepens your relationship with Christ. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Aug 2
to me
Witnessing Divinity
Have you ever witnessed divinity - God’s presence in your life or in that of others? For Jews and Christians there are lots of witnesses to divinity in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. Jesus’ Church calls us to reflect on one of the events in Jesus’ life wherein His Apostles, Peter, James, and John witnessed His divinity as they saw Him transfigured on the mountain. “He was transfigured before them; His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as light.” (Mt 17:2) They saw Him conversing with Moses and Elijah revealing that He was fulfilling all that the Law and the Prophets promised God’s people. The experience of Jesus’ divinity was so thrilling that Peter exclaimed, “Lord it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Mt 17:4) Peter didn’t want his experience of divinity to end. Then to confirm what they had seen, the three Apostles heard a voice from the heavens that said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” (Mt 17:5) Realizing the presence of God, “they fell prostrate and were very much afraid.” (Mt 17:6) But Jesus, whose transformation awed them and confirmed by God the Father, touched the frightened men and urged, “Rise, and do not be afraid.” (Mt 17:7) Witnessing divinity makes people courageous, not fearful. Fearful people accomplish nothing. It’s the courageous people who accomplish great things in God’s presence.
The prophet, Daniel, over 160 years before the birth of Jesus, had a vision of Jesus’ humanity and divinity. “I saw one like the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven … He received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve Him. His dominion is everlasting ...” (Dan 7:13-14). This vision was fulfilled in the Person of Jesus and witnessed by His three Apostles at His transfiguration.
To be transfigured is to be transformed into something better or more beautiful. To be transformed a person must first be conformed. Jesus was transformed before the Apostles’ eyes because He was already conformed to God. He was God’s Word-made-flesh. Just as Jesus was transformed so that the eyes of the Apostles witnessed His divinity, so He wants the members of His Church to be transformed so that the eyes of the world could witness their Christianity and the hope it brings for happiness. But to be transformed as Christians we must first be conformed to Jesus Christ. That means we must, like Peter, James, and John, embrace Him as the Messiah who alone can keep us safe for eternal life. That conformation begins in Baptism where God adopts us as His children, brothers and sisters of Jesus guided by the Holy Spirit embracing “one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all, and works through all, and lives in all.” (Eph 4:5) To be conformed to Jesus we must be informed by the teaching of His Church and formed by the Holy Spirit. Then He can transform us into witnesses of His divinity here on earth.
Where is divinity witnessed? It’s witnessed where Jesus promised to be present until the end of the world, namely in His Church that He founded on Peter and continues under the leadership of his successors, the Bishops of Rome. After commissioning Peter and the other Apostles to “make disciples of all the nations… and to …Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you,” Jesus assured them, “And know that I am with you always, until the end of the world.” (Mt 28:19-20) We witness Jesus’ divinity in His Church’s preaching of the Holy Scriptures where Peter informs us, “We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with Him on the holy mountain. We profess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it.” (1 Pt 1:16-19) We witness Jesus’ divinity in His Church’s moral teaching, in her Sacraments, in her service to the poor and vulnerable, in Her daily prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours, and especially in her celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass where we recall and renew the new Covenant Jesus entered into in our behalf and the sacrifice He made on the cross to redeem us from our sins. We witness divinity in Jesus’ gift of Himself in Holy Communion. Since “No one is good but God alone,” (Mk 10:18) we witness divinity wherever good is done. Since “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8, 16), we witness divinity wherever love is expressed. Since Jesus came “to serve and not to be served” (Mt 20:28), we witness divinity whenever and wherever others are served. Since God is just and merciful we witness divinity whoever justice and mercy are exercised. Divinity, God’s presence, is all around us but we don’t take time to reflect on it.
God calls you and me to be witnesses of His divine presence. To do so we must walk with Jesus and listen to Him as He assures us, “Rise up and do not be afraid.” We listen to Him when we’re attentive to His Church’s preaching and teaching and receive Him in her Sacraments. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Aug 9 (12 days ago)
to me
Faith Conquers Fear
Writing to the Corinthian Christians St. Paul stated, “Therefore we continue to be confident… We walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor 5:6-7) The true believer walks by supernatural faith, not by natural sight. Walking by supernatural faith requires total trust in Jesus whom we don’t see but whom we believe to be present in His Church’s preaching of the Holy Gospels and in her Liturgy and Sacraments. Faith, at its deepest level, is a relationship of trust. One difference between Jews and Christians is the difference between adherence to a law and faith in a person. Adherence to a law only requires obedience, while faith in a person requires entrusting oneself to him or her. Obeying a law doesn’t in itself change a person’s heart. But we can’t entrust our self to someone without being open to that person’s influence which brings change.
The obstacle to trust is fear. Fear is a protective emotion, but it mustn’t control us. It’s easier to obey a law than to involve oneself in a trusting relationship. There’s no risk in simply observing a law. But trust involves the unseen which can cause us to be afraid. The Holy Spirit inspired St. John to declare, “Love has no room for fear; rather, perfect love casts out all fear. And since fear has to do with punishment, love is not yet perfect in one who is afraid.” (1 Jn 4:18) Jesus reminds us that when faced with problems, “Fear is useless; what is needed is trust …” (Lk 8:50) Our tendency, when tragedy strikes, is to act out of fear rather than faith. We feel more secure walking by sight than by faith. Why? Seeing makes us feel more in control while faith signifies that God alone is in control. Acting out of faith means that we have to trust in Jesus and rely totally on Him to save us. But we want to be independent and self-sufficient, even though we’re not.
Being Christian means that we accept that Jesus is in charge of creation and we’re not. We’re simply the stewards of creation and God will hold us accountable when we die. This world belongs to God; it isn’t ours to do what we want with it. A good steward always takes his or her cue from the property owner. A good Christian totally trusts Jesus Christ. But total trust isn’t easy for us due to our sinful nature that wants to be independent. Jesus came to save us from sin by trusting in Him as the only way to Heaven. That means entrusting ourselves to Him as our Teacher, Saviour, and Life-giver. He reminds us, “Whoever would save his or her life will lose it, and whoever loses his or her life for my sake will save it.” (Lk 9:24) We cannot save ourselves from our sinfulness. We need Jesus to save us because He alone offers us forgiveness and the grace to forgive ourselves and one another. The greatest fraud perpetrated on human beings is the notion that we can be our own saviour. This is the biggest problem we have in our western world today. It leads to a terrible plague of “Me ism” which makes every person his or her own god – a false god that makes promises he or she can’t keep. We always lose when we try to save ourselves. We always win when we let Jesus save us.
St. Matthew shows us the tension between faith and fear in St. Peter during a storm at sea. Jesus left to go and pray. Meanwhile the disciples were in a boat at night hit by strong headwinds. Suddenly they saw someone walking on the water and became frightened, crying out, “It is a ghost!” (Mt 14:26) It was Jesus. He told them, “Get hold of yourselves! It is I. Do not be afraid!” (Mt 14:27) Peter blurted out, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to You across the water.” Jesus said, “Come!” (Mt v29) Peter, in faith, stepped out of the boat but feeling the strong wind became fearful and started sinking. Then, in desperation, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” (v30) Jesus “stretched out His hand and caught him,” chiding him, “How little faith you have! Why did you falter?” (v31) Natural faith yields to fear in the face of danger, whereas supernatural faith doesn’t. This is a problem we all face, namely the problem of letting go of our need to be in control and putting our self in God’s hands. When the blind man asked Jesus for the gift of sight, He responded, “Receive your sight. Your faith has healed you.” (Lk 18:42) Faith lets us put ourselves in Jesus’ comforting hands. Then, trusting in Him we can step out of our boat and let Him raise us up from whatever might be pulling us down. It’s comforting to know that Jesus is in charge and, despite our temptation to take charge, He will stretch out His hand to save us when we have that sinking feeling. Faith conquers fear so we’re able to pray in Thomas Dorsey’s Hymn: “Precious Lord, take my hand/ Lead me on, let me stand/ I’m tired, I’m weary, I’m worn/ Through the storm, through the night lead me on to the light/ Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.” (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Aug 16 (5 days ago)
to me
God Wants to Save Everyone
God formed a people, the Israelites, for the purpose of revealing Himself and His plan to save mankind from eternal death due to Adam and Eve’s sin. Choosing this people, beginning with Abraham, didn’t mean He rejected or ignored all others. Rather He chose the Israelites to be His instrument through which every human being could come to know Him and experience His saving love. God revealed through Isaiah that His people is to be a community of prayer and open to all. “And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, ministering to Him, loving the Name of the Lord, and becoming His servants – all who keep the Sabbath free from profanation and hold to my Covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer.” (Is 56:6-7) The task of the Israelites was to be a prayerful people who visibly witnessed God’s love to the world.
Jesus reinforced God’s catholic mission to save everyone by uniting them with Him and embracing His way, His truth, and His life. Jesus formed a people – His Church – to witness and introduce Him to every man, woman, and child as their Lord who saves them by making them His adopted brothers and sisters so all could call God “Our Father” in the midst of His Church, His visible body on earth. The Holy Spirit, revealing God’s will through Jesus’ Church, inspired St. Paul to write, “for He (God our Saviour) wants everyone to be saved and come to know the truth. And the truth is this: God is one. One also is the Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim 2:4-5) St. Luke, referring to the salvation of everyone by Jesus, was inspired to write, “Now you must realize that this salvation of God has been transmitted to the Gentiles – who will listen to it!” (Acts 28:28) Jesus Himself stated that His mission was to save everyone: “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must lead them, too, and they shall hear my voice. There shall be one flock, then, one shepherd.” (Jn 10:16) Just as any good father wants the best for each of his children, so God, our Heavenly Father, wants the best for every human being whom He has created. And, of course, the best for every person is to attain perfect happiness. This is made possible only in Heaven in the arms of God the Father in union with Jesus immersed in the love of the Holy Spirit.
The task of Jesus’ Church members is to bring Jesus to the world to save it from its built-in self-destruction. The mission of the Church is to give witness to Jesus’ loving, just, and merciful presence so that, in the words of the Psalmist, His way “may be known upon the earth; among all the nations, Your salvation.” (Ps 67:3) Because God wants everyone to be saved and come to know eternal happiness doesn’t mean that everyone is saved. Jesus Himself revealed that, “The invited are many, the elect are few.” (Mt 22:14) The elect are those who have genuine faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus’ healing of the Canaanite woman’s daughter is a reminder that it’s the determination to trust in Him, no matter what, that saves us. This woman wasn’t a Jew but she totally believed that Jesus could and would heal her daughter. Her faith was tested by Jesus but she showed it was genuine. Jesus’ words to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish” (Mt 15:28) tell us that this is the faith we must have in Him if we’re to receive His saving grace.
Jesus warns us, “But how narrow is the gate that leads to life, how rough the road, and how few there are who find it.” (Mt 7:14) If God calls everyone, why isn’t everyone saved? Simply because not everyone accepts Jesus’ invitation to unite with Him in His Church. Why? Because faith is difficult for us. Why? It requires humility. Pride moves us to be independent and self-sufficient. Faith calls us to admit we’re dependent and inefficient by ourselves. Faith is about relying on God for love and happiness so we walk the straight and narrow road with God’s Commandments and Jesus’ Beatitudes as the signposts assuring us we’re on the right path. Our fallen nature leads us to do things “my way” by choosing what gives us pleasure, power, and wealth. But these isolate us from one another creating an “us” and a “them” and they can’t fulfil our yearning for love, happiness, and eternal life. Answering God’s call to save us puts us all in the same boat, each of us needing to be saved because we can’t save ourselves. Recognizing that we all need God keeps us aware that “there’s no they, only us.” Our “Yes” to God’s call to save us from our fallen nature unites us as His people, a house of prayer, whereas a “No” to His call separates us from Him and from one another, creating factions, disrespect, violence, racism, and failure to be fully human and fully alive. Rejecting Jesus as our Saviour is like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. (frsos)
Sean Sheehy
Jun 14 2017
Food for the Journey
In the Roman Catholic Church when a member is dying Jesus gives Himself to him or her in Holy Communion. This is called ‘viaticum,’ which means ‘provisions for the journey’. The Church assures the dying person that he or she isn’t dying alone but in the company of Jesus who promises him or her eternal life after death. This is done with or outside of the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. The Holy Eucharist is the proper food for the soul that strengthens the dying person as he or she travels from this world to the next. This Sunday Church calls the world to reflect on “Corpus Christi,” the Body of Christ in which Jesus gives us the gift of Himself as nourishment for our soul here on earth. Just our body needs proper food for physical health so our soul needs food for spiritual health. Without proper food our body deteriorates and our soul withers. Withering souls are the root cause of most of our problems that can’t be healed medically or psychologically.
As God freed His people from Egyptian slavery Moses reminded them, “He let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your fathers, in order to show you that not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Deut 8:3) The Psalmist, aware of God’s providence, proclaimed, “Praise the Lord, He has granted peace in your borders; with the best of wheat he fills you.” (Ps 147:14) But physical food isn’t sufficient in itself for life’s fulfilment. If it were, all well-fed people would be happy. Because God created our soul it hungers for Him since only He can nourish it. The Psalmist reminds us, “As a deer longs for running waters, so my soul longs for You, my God. Athirst is my soul for God, the living God.” (Ps 42:2-3) It’s God’s Word that creates, sustains, loves, and promises us a joyful and peaceful eternal life. It’s the Word from God’s mouth that keeps us in existence, fulfils us, makes us whole, and enables us to achieve the fullness of our potential, namely to be like Him and happily live with Him forever. But how does God’s Word keep us alive? What do we need in order to get it? Jesus gives us the answer.
In Jesus God’s Word became flesh. He’s God-become-man, born of the Virgin Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit. He’s Immanuel, God-with-us. But Jesus wasn’t satisfied by being God-with-us, He wanted to be God-in-us. He revealed, “I myself am the bread of life …I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but they died. This is the bread that comes down from Heaven for a man to eat and never die … If anyone eats this bread he shall live forever; the bread I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (Jn 6:35, 48-51) While celebrating the Passover with His Apostles on Holy Thursday evening Jesus made clear how He was to keep us alive by being the bread that nourishes the soul so we can happily live forever. “During the meal Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to His disciples. ‘Take this and eat it,’ he said, ‘this is my body.’ Then he took a chalice, gave thanks, and gave it to them. ‘All of you must drink from it,’ he said, ‘for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, to be poured in behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mt 26:26-28) In this action God’s Word-in-the-flesh, Jesus Christ, made Himself the “bread of life” to nourish our soul and prepare our spirit for eternal life. To make sure that He didn’t mean the bread and wine as mere symbols of His body and blood, He stated, “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. The man who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”
Jesus changed the unleavened bread into His body and the wine into His blood to be physically eaten and drunk as both the greatest sign of unity with Him and as the only true food for the human soul. He bestowed this power on His Apostles when He commanded them to “Do this in memory of me.” (Lk 22:19) Jesus’ Church, faithful to the Apostolic Tradition, has continued in His Name to enable Jesus’ Eucharistic presence in the consecrated bread – His Body – and in the consecrated wine – His blood. Thus through the ordained priesthood in His Church Jesus makes it possible for believers to receive Him, body, soul, and divinity physically and spiritually in Holy Communion. Jesus’ Church makes Sunday Mass obligatory for all believers because Jesus warns, “Let me solemnly assure you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man ad drink His blood, you have no life in you.” (Jn 6:53) So if we want to have a life that’s spiritually healthy and one that will joyfully last forever we must physically and spiritually feed our soul with Jesus who is the “Bread of Life.” (frsos)
VICE PRESIDENT May 2017
Kathy Farsaci
Yesterday at 2:23pm ·
When I opened the USA TODAY on Monday, May 22nd, I was shocked to see the front page story was about Vice President Pence’s address to the graduates of Notre Dame. After reading it, my first thought was “why in the world would this story make the front page?” I know why, it is because you and other media outlets have to find stories that are negative about the Vice President and President of our country. You said the number of students that walked out were “about” 100. I seriously doubt there were that many after seeing the same story on the national news. You stated the reason for the protest was because of the Vice President’s views on the LGBT community. Well guess what? All of those students were graduates of a “Catholic” University. The Catholic church opposes gay marriage and sex between same sex partners. That is not a secret. The Vice President shares those same views. Why are these students attending such a university? They should have gone to one of those feel good universities where every possible deviant lifestyle is accepted. Also, to have 100 out of 3,171 students means that 97% of the students were respectful of the Vice President and did not protest. The news should have been that 97% supported the Vice President. This is typical of the media. Each year on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, hundreds of thousands of people demonstrate against abortion and it hardly makes news. Your story of “about” 100 students protesting the Vice President makes the front page. No small wonder our President is calling you all out on fake news!!
Day of Prayer for Permanent Peace
Here are a few excerpts from President Trump’s proclamation for this Memorial Day to be a Day of Prayer for Permanent Peace.
“Memorial Day is our Nation’s solemn reminder that freedom is never free. It is a moment of collective reflection on the noble sacrifices of those who gave the last measure of devotion in service of our ideals and in the defense of our Nation. On this ceremonious day, we remember the fallen, we pray for a lasting peace among nations, and we honor these guardians of our inalienable rights. “
“In honor and recognition of all of our fallen service members, the Congress, by a joint resolution approved May 11, 1950, as amended (36 U.S.C. 116), has requested the President issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer. The Congress, by Public Law 106-579, has also designated 3:00 p.m. local time on that day as a time for all Americans to observe, in their own way, the National Moment of Remembrance.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Memorial Day, May 29, 2017, as a day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at 11:00 a.m. of that day as a time when people might unite in prayer. I urge the press, radio, television, and all other information media to cooperate in this observance.
I further ask all Americans to observe the National Moment of Remembrance beginning at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day.”
Edith Sitwell–a Catholic convert wrote, her poem Still Falls the Rain–written during the WW2 bombing of London.
Still falls the Rain—
Dark as the world of man, black as our loss—
Blind as the nineteen hundred and forty nails
Upon the Cross.
Still falls the Rain
With a sound like the pulse of the heart that is changed to the hammer-beat
In the Potter’s Field, and the sound of the impious feet
On the Tomb:
Still falls the Rain
In the Field of Blood where the small hopes breed and the human brain
Nurtures its greed, that worm with the brow of Cain.
Still falls the Rain
At the feet of the Starved Man hung upon the Cross.
Christ that each day, each night, nails there, have mercy on us—
On Dives and on Lazarus:
Under the Rain the sore and the gold are as one.
Still falls the Rain—
Still falls the Blood from the Starved Man’s wounded Side:
He bears in His Heart all wounds,—those of the light that died,
The last faint spark
In the self-murdered heart, the wounds of the sad uncomprehending dark,
The wounds of the baited bear—
The blind and weeping bear whom the keepers beat
On his helpless flesh… the tears of the hunted hare.
Still falls the Rain—
Then— O Ile leape up to my God: who pulles me doune—
See, see where Christ’s blood streames in the firmament:
It flows from the Brow we nailed upon the tree
Deep to the dying, to the thirsting heart
That holds the fires of the world,—dark-smirched with pain
As Caesar’s laurel crown.
Then sounds the voice of One who like the heart of man
Was once a child who among beasts has lain—
“Still do I love, still shed my innocent light, my Blood, for thee.”
Deborah Cotton (Avodah) Shot.
(JTA) — When four gunmen opened fire on a New Orleans parade on Mother’s Day in 2013, sending the crowd running, Deborah Cotton stood in place and stared at one of the shooters.
“I looked over and I saw one of the main shooters,” she said last month when she was honored at a dinner of Avodah, the Jewish service group. “Everyone else had taken off running, and for some reason I was just captivated by this one shooter. He reminded me of my son or my nephew.
“My gut instinct was to run over and stop him, take the gun, run with him, move him out of the way,” she said. “My feeling for them was sorrow.” Nevertheless, Cotton was among those shot, losing a kidney and gall bladder, and suffering damage to her stomach, intestines and pancreas.
Barely a week after the speech, on May 2, Cotton died at age 52 of complications resulting from her wounds. The event was her last public appearance.
Cotton suffered the worst wounds of the 19 victims on that day in 2013. The suspects were four brothers who pleaded guilty to multiple charges; two received life sentences, and two each received 40 years. Instead of being vindictive, she was the opposite: She forgave her shooters and became one of their fiercest advocates.
“I thought, this boy, he hasn’t even started life yet,” she told Avodah of one of the shooters. “He hasn’t had a baby. He hasn’t gone out of the country yet. People were stumped that I would actually feel compassion for these young men.”
Cotton, a writer, was already a public voice when she was shot. She moved to New Orleans in 2005, shortly before Hurricane Katrina, and dedicated herself to covering the city’s “second-line” parades, which descend from the New Orleans black community’s tradition of funeral parades. She saw that the parades, which happened nearly every week during certain seasons, weren’t covered by the press or publicized by the city. So Cotton began publishing information on the parades at NOLA.com and documented them in writing and video.
Cotton saw her work, which gained a large following, as correcting the city’s neglect of its black residents and their culture. After the shooting, she also began speaking out for criminal justice reform, staying in touch with her shooters.
Born to a black father and Jewish mother, Cotton told Avodah that her two heritages inspired her activism.
“Let me just start by saying I get it, honestly, my mother’s Jewish, my father’s black,” she said. “And those two cultures gave me my fortitude.”
Avodah trains young activists to address pressing social and economic issues. Dani Levine, the director of Avodah in New Orleans, said Cotton “was a true embodiment of living her ideals, of living a more just world.”
Friends planned to honor her memory with a series of — what else — second-line parades.
PRIESTS
Priests for Life <FrFrankPavone@priestsforlife.org> Unsubscribe
May 4 (9 days ago)
to me
May 4, 2017
J G,
President Trump Gives Priests for Life Two Major Victories This Morning -- And another to follow this afternoon!
In a signing ceremony at the White House this morning, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order on Religious Freedom and Freedom of Speech. The order reaffirms our nation's commitment to religious freedom, and addresses two major issues that Priests for Life in particular has been battling in recent years.
Priests for Life was represented at the signing ceremony by our fulltime director of African-American Outreach, Evangelist Alveda King, to whom President Trump gave one of the pens he used in the signing ceremony.
First, the order takes aim at the "HHS Mandate," which Priests for Life was one of the first to challenge in court over five years ago. President Trump said that religious groups like ours can no longer be punished by the government for refusing to include abortion in health insurance coverage that we offer our employees.
The Supreme Court had erased the lower court rulings against us in this matter and directed us to sit down with the government to work out the differences. Those discussions have been ongoing. Now, the President's order will speed the process along to a favorable conclusion.
Second, the President's Executive Order takes aim at the "Johnson Amendment," a discredited 1954 provision that muzzles Churches and other tax exempt organizations from speaking their mind about politics. The President said that the days of being afraid to speak our mind on political matters from the pulpit are over, and that the government may not punish such speech.
I have spoken and written against the Johnson Amendment for years. In fact, my book Abolishing Abortion, (Thomas Nelson, 2015), talks about the Johnson Amendment in detail and outlines how pastors are scared into silence regarding anything about elections and voting. They are frightened not only by the Johnson Amendment itself but by dogmatic-sounding pronouncements from chancery offices telling them to shut up about politics and voting, lest the IRS knock on their doors and take away the tax exemption of the whole Catholic Church, even if they "appear" to be supporting or opposing a candidate or party.
Memo to diocesan bureaucrats: those days are over. President Trump has taken away your excuses. The Church is not going to be punished for speaking her mind about politics.
Priests for Life welcomes these developments. As the President was making his remarks this morning and signing the Executive Order, we broadcast it live on my Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/FatherFrankPavone), and at the top of that page you can see that video footage and my commentary. Let me know what you think!
And one more thing: another victory is expected this afternoon as the House of Representatives votes on a health care bill that repeals and replaces Obamacare and takes federal funding away from Planned Parenthood!!! This bill is expected to pass the House, and this will be another great victory and step forward for the cause of life!
And find out more about all these things at PriestsForLife.org.
Blessings,
Fr. Frank Pavone
National Director, Priests for Life
Reflection
Heavenly Father, walk with me today,
And grant that I may hear Your footsteps
and gladly follow where they lead.
Talk with me today and grant that I may hear Your tender voice,
and quicken to its counsel.
Stay with me today and grant that I may feel
Your gentle presence in all I do and think.
Be my strength when I am weak,
my courage when I fear.
Help me to know that it is Your hand holding mine
through all the hours of this day
and when night falls grant that I may know
I rest in Your Sacred Heart.
Riots July 1863
http://thosecatholicmen.com/articles/violent-protest-and-civil-unrest-the-draft-riots-of-1863/
http://thosecatholicmen.com/articles/922/
Sean Sheehy Feb 22 2017
What Are Your Priorities?
Setting priorities is essential if we want to accomplish anything worthwhile. Our priorities reveal what’s important to us and they guide us in the best use of our time and resources. By setting priorities we define what we value the most. But not all priorities have the same ranking. We have to decide what our first, second, third, etc., priority is. What’s most important in my life? What drives me? We can have only one # 1 priority; the others are ranked # 2,3,4,5, etc. I remember college students trying to make study, work, social life, and religion each a 1st priority in their life. As a result nothing was ranked as their most important value, so their lives became chaotic, like headless chickens. There are four areas of our life where we need to set priorities: God/religion/spiritual life, family/friends, work/career, and recreation/fun/leisure. Identifying what we value most in each of these areas tells us what we need to focus on. To give of our best in all four areas we need an overall value that becomes the standard, our overriding priority, against which we measure all our efforts. As Christians, Jesus identifies what that 1st priority must be when He commanded His followers to, “Set your hearts on God’s Kingdom first, and on His way of holiness …” (Mt 6:33a) Then, He tells us, “all these other things will be given you as well.” (Mt 6:33b) The “other things” are our other priorities in life.
We can’t have two competing 1st priorities. Jesus reminds us, “No man can serve two masters. He will either hate the one and love the other or be attentive to one and despise the other. You cannot give yourself to God and money.” (Mt 6:24) The problem with trying to have more than one first priority is that it causes divided loyalty, which undermines our integrity. We can’t put both God and money first in our life. If we try, we find ourselves making material things equal or even superior to God. Because we live in a material world our tendency is to give things more attention than we give to God. We tend to give our physical needs, like food, drink, and clothing, more attention than we give to our spiritual needs. Focusing on the creation while ignoring the Creator puts the cart before the horse. Imagine a horse trying to push a cart with its nose instead of pulling it. It doesn’t make sense. Neither does it make sense to give the creation more importance than the Creator. It’s only by focusing on the Creator that Jesus’s words make sense when He teaches, “Do not worry about your livelihood, what you are to eat or drink or use for clothing. Is not life more than food? Is not the body more valuable than clothes?” (Mt 6:25) When we make God our first priority we view material things through His eyes. Then we don’t get bogged down by becoming dependent on or obsessing about material things. God created the material world for our use and benefit. He blessed and commissioned us to “be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gen 1:28) We must subdue the earth as God’s stewards, and not be mastered by it. By putting God first we make sure to use material things to bring us closer to Him, not let them take us away from Him. Adam and Eve gave in to the temptation to focus on the creation rather than on the Creator and they brought about the Fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden.
Why should we make our relationship with God our first priority? He is our Creator and Saviour. He loves us, and it’s natural to trust those we love. He assures us, “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.” (Is 49:15) I make God my first priority because, “Only in God is my soul at rest: From Him comes my salvation … from Him comes my hope … with God is my safety and my glory … trust in Him at all times … pour out your hearts before Him.” (Ps 62:2-9) Jesus Himself epitomized God’s unconditional love for us in His passion, death, resurrection and ascension. St. John reminds us, “Yes, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him may not die, but may have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16) When we put God first we know we don’t have to “worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself.” (Mt 6:33) We need to make our relationship with God our first priority so that His love will empower us to give of our best to our family and friendships, our work or career, and in our recreation, free from anxiety or worry. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that anything that can be taken away from us against our will can’t make us happy. Since only God can’t be taken away from us against our will, making Him our first priority assures us of happiness and fidelity to our priorities in all other areas of our life. What’s your 1st priority? (frsos)
Sean Sheehy Mar 1 2017
Temptation
Last week I reflected on the importance of setting priorities in the key areas of our life and having one overall priority that guides us in honouring the others. The Church’s liturgical season of Lent is the time she sets aside to examine our priorities and re-set or re-order them in light of our first priority, namely our relationship with Jesus. It’s a time to renew our prayer, fasting, and charitable giving by inviting the Holy Spirit to join our spirit so we can refocus our attention to what’s most important in our life, namely the salvation of our soul. Prayer needs fasting. Why? The purpose of prayer is to speak and listen to God. That means we must fast from our ego’s appetite for material things so that we can attend to the needs of our soul. Fasting without almsgiving is useless. Why? Because the less we rely on things to make us happy the less we’ll splurge on ourselves, and therefore the more we’ll have to give to others. Prayer without fasting and fasting without charitable giving are simply self-serving and can’t foster a loving spirit. All three energize each other’s genuineness and affectiveness. St. John Chrysostom noted, “The fast of Lent has no advantage to us unless it brings about our spiritual renewal. It is necessary while fasting to change our whole life and practice virtue. Turning away from all wickedness means keeping our tongue in check, restraining our anger, avoiding all gossip, lying and swearing. To abstain from these things— herein lies the true value of the fast.” Fasting reminds us to be generous toward others.
Prayer would be easy if it weren’t for distractions. Being Christian would be easy if it weren’t for temptations to be selfish. The Irish writer, Oscar Wilde, wrote, “I can resist everything except temptation.” Jesus’ Church takes us back to the Garden of Eden where humans were first tempted. The word ‘tempt’ means to try out, test, or attempt to influence. Satan tested Adam and Eve’s trust in God by suggesting that God didn’t mean what He said. He seduced them by promising that by eating the forbidden fruit, “your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad.” (Gen 3:5) Giving in to their sensual desires they ate the forbidden fruit. “The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desiring for gaining wisdom.” (Gen 3:6) Satan tempted them with a half-truth that their eyes would be open and a false promise they would be like gods. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.” (Gen 3:7)
Temptation always involves half-truths and false promises. It’s only afterwards we realize that what looked good and true turns out to be painful and deadly. The reality of temptation reminds us of the reality of our free will. We always have a choice. But what we often forget is that every choice has consequences. The consequences of Adam and Eve’s choice were suffering and death. Every person since then suffers these deprivations causing unhappiness. It was into this world plagued by selfishness, suffering, and death that Jesus came to restore what God originally intended man and woman to be, namely complementary to one another, loving, and happy.
The temptation in Eden was replicated in the desert where Jesus had gone to prepare for His public ministry. The outcome was totally different. Satan knew the human weakness for physical pleasure, power, and material possessions. He used each of these to test Jesus’ trust in His Father. But, unlike Adam and Eve, Jesus didn’t succumb to Satan’s half-truths and false promises. He saw Satan as “a liar and he father of lies.” (Jn 8:44) In rejecting Satan’s temptations Jesus enables us to do likewise through His grace. As St. Paul points out, “Just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act, acquittal and life came to all.” (Rom 5:18) Adam and Eve’s fall by giving in to temptation was replaced by Jesus’ loving act of fidelity to His Father’s mission to save us from sin and death and enter Heaven.
Jesus recognized our proneness to temptation so much so that He included a petition for its avoidance in His prayer. “Lead us not into temptation.” (Mt 6:13) We constantly need to ask the Lord to help us resist the temptation to please ourselves rather than please Him. St. Paul assures us, “You can trust God not to let you be tried beyond your strength, and with any trial he will give you a way out of it and a strength to bear it.” (1 Cor 10:13) We can’t do it on our own. With the Psalmist we must pray, “Have mercy on me, O God, in Your goodness; in the greatness of Your compassion wipe out my offence. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.” (Ps 51:3-4) The more we pray, fast, and practise charitable giving, the more God’s Spirit strengthens our spirit against selfishness. Then we can see through Satan’s half-truths and false promises. (frsos)
ROOM: By tradition, three of the founding events of Christianity all took place in the same spot: the Upper Room in Jerusalem. The Last Supper, the appearance of the risen Christ to his disciples, and Pentecost—all three shared this sacred space.
DALY
Salford 27 March 1920, Tablet
PADIHAM : PRESENTATION TO FATHER DALY.—Father Mortimer Daly, assistant priest at St. John's, Padiham, was presented with a gold watch on the 17th inst., by the Men's Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, of which he is the director. The presentation, which, besides being a recognition of what Father Daly has done for the men and boys of the parish since his advent among them, was also intended to mark his recent birthday, took place in the schoolroom. Father A. M. Van Tomme, in making the presentation, paid tribute to the work which Father Daly had accomplished for the social and spiritual welfare of the men and boys. He wished Father Daly many happy years to continue the good work he was doing at St. John's. Father Daly said, though the watch was valuable to him, still more valuable were the good will and kindly feelings of the parishioners.
PAPERS on Irish
Protecting Irish Immigrant Girls.
New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 47, 20 November 1902, Page 3
Protecting Irish Immigrant Girls.
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=NZT19021120.2.6&srpos=1&e=-------10-NZT-1----0girl+guides--
Since its organisation, 19 years ago, it has been the custom of the Mission of Our Lady of the Rosary, for the protection of Irish immigrant girls, New York, to issue an annual address to its patrons and supporters. The statement given out this year by Rev. M. J. Henry, the zealous director of the mission, is of the most interesting character. You are aware, he says, that New York, Boston, and Philadelphia are the three ports on the Atlantic seaboard through which Irish immigrants enter the United States. From the record of three landing places we learn that during the year ending June 30, there came from Ireland into the realm of Uncle Sam 28,846 immigrants of both sexes. Naturally, you will be anxious to know how this report compares with that of last year. The comparison is— for year ending June 30, 1901, 30,257 for the year ending June 3O, 1902, 28,846. This record shows a falling off to the extent of 1,411.
lt would be interesting to find a cause for this decrease. Admittedly, this has been a very prosperous year for the United States. Intending emigrants from Europe are nowadays kept well informed of the industrial conditions of this country. The more prosperous the times, the larger the immigration. In proof of this I may state that 100,000 more immigrants landed at New York this year than the year previous. In the face of such conditions, we must trace the decrease in the number of immigrants from Ireland to some great and potent influence. It may be that the dwindling of the Irish population for years past has had an appreciable effect upon emigration. Perhaps with the improved condition of labour in Ireland, young men and young women are not so anxious to leave their homes as they used to be. We would rather find the cause in the movement against emigration, which the Irish bishops, the Irish parliamentarians, and the Irish press have inaugurated. The result of their united efforts is the check that was put upon reckless emigration during the past 12 months. We have always been in sympathy with such a movement. We welcome the day when Ireland, with her industries resurrected, will be able to maintain her own children, and when there will be no further need in the land of the stranger of a home for the Irish exile. The port of New York admits by far the largest number of immigrants. The total for the year was 493,262, or nearly half a million. To this aggregate Ireland contributed 19,391. Of this number 10,650 were females, mostly young girls. There are many, I presume, who will hear of the mission's existence for the first time. On their account we will briefly summarise the extent of its charity. First.— lt exercises a moral influence over steamship lines to protect the immigrant on board of their vessels Second. It watches over, guides, and assists at the landing depot those immigrant girls who intend to proceed by rail or steamboat to their destination. Third. It examines the claims and fitness of relatives and friends who call for the immigrant. Fourth.— lt provides a home free of charge for those girls whose friends do not call on the day of arrival, or who have no friends at all, or who are unable to proceed on their journey. Fifth. It tries to locate relatives of those who bring indefinite addresses. Sixth. It secures positions in good families for those ready to go to work. From this you will see that the work allows plenty of room for the exercise of charity. The fathers of the mission, together with Agent Patrick McCool, are at Ellis Island on the arrival of the Irish girls. Every attention is given to their guidance and comfort. It is wonderful how a cheery welcome or a kind word from a priest will lighten the weight of care and anxiety from young Irish hearts. 'All Irish girls left over at the landing depot are in the evening brought to a pleasant home provided for them, where they are welcome to remain without paying for board and lodging. Of these there were 1,835 during the year. They remained with us some for a night and some for a week. Connected with the home is a free employment bureau. Positions in good families were secured for about 400 girls during the year. The unprecedented demand upon us for servants is a silent but eloquent tribute given by the public to the purity, the honesty and the fidelity of the Irish girl.
The Boer War
THE BOER WAR. NOTES AND POINTS OF INTEREST TO CATHOLIC READERS.
New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 11, 15 March 1900, Page 5
IRISH NUNS INSULTED AND DEPORTED.
The Sacred Heart Review, Volume 44, Number 22, 19 November 1910
Irish and English papers contain a great deal about the maltreatment of priests and nuns by the Portuguese revolters, which did not find its way into the press of this country. A correspondent of the Dublin Freeman had an interview at Drogheda with two Irish nuns who had been driven out of their convent with the rest of their Sisterhood by the revolutionaries. He says:— Sister Mary Catherine related to me her sad story in very precise terms. She said their Order had nine houses in Portugal. She lived at the College of St. Jose Benefica, three miles outside Lisbon. They went on as usual in the pursuit of their avocations until Wednesday, Oct. 5, when the Republican flag was hoisted. On Saturday, Oct. 8, the first news was conveyed to the convent about attacks on religious houses, the Jesuit institutions throughout the city being the chief objects of attack. Here the Revolutionaries were most barbarous and threw bombs at the convents, but it was not true that the Jesuits threw the bombs in return, the fact being that the Revolutionaries themselves burst into the convents of the Jesuits with bombs, which they threw into the street in order to further inflame the populace. The Republican leaders, finding that several of the priests of the city had escaped their hands, notified all the convents that they would be searched to find out if any of the priests were hidden there, but that the convents or the nuns would not be interfered with. This promise was not observed, and from almost the very beginning of the Revolution convents were being sacked and nuns sent to prison. Ordered out of their Convent. The College of St. Jose was not attacked for the first few days. One of the Republican leaders named Grandella had a daughter in training at the College, and one of the Sisters wrote him a letter asking him for protection, and he replied that he would do all: he could for them, and stated it was purely against the priests they were proceeding. But though he promised them in that way, he afterwards proved a traitor to them. On the night of Oct. 8, they could get no policeman, and so the convent was at the mercy of the mob until Mr. Grandella sent them a guard. On Sunday they got word that they should clear out of the convent. At that time the Republicans began to call all orders of priests and nuns "Jesuits." When the news came on Sunday morning the Mother Prior told them to look after themselves and arrange their things, though none of them knew where to go. On Monday morning, Oct. 10, they were told that a decree was to be published, and they waited to know what its effects would be. In St. Jose they had great hopes that all would go well, but after Mass and breakfast word came to the convent that the decree had ordained that every order of priests and nuns should clear out of the country at once. The Rev. Mother, on hearing the news, wrote a letter to Mr. Grandella for the Minister of Justice, asking him if he would allow them to remain as secular ladies together, but at noon a telephone message came stating that they should be all out of the convent, or else in jail, before 6 P. M. Nuns Taken to Crowded Prison;. A good many of the Portuguese Sisters escaped at once, but punctually at 1.30 o'clock two motor cars came up to the convent, and a list of the names, etc., of the nuns being taken, soldiers being put in charge of the place, the nuns were taken off, five in each motor car, to prison. Sister Mary Catherine and Sister Mary Dominick, who were the only two Irish ladies in the place, remained to the last, and at 5.30 o'clock they were driven through the streets of Lisbon amidst the jeers and shouts of the populace to the prison, which was the Naval School. There, in a kind of big barn, badly lighted, and the air suffocating, were over two hundred nuns of the Franciscan Order, with several others. Only forty mattresses were on the floor to accommodate all that were huddled together there. Though some of the nuns had been there since the previous Friday, they had got nothing but some black coffee, without sugar or milk, and some hard sailors' biscuits. After some time a gentleman came to see them who had been a friend of their convent and sent them some bread and cheese. On Monday night the nuns were visited in the jail by the Minister of Justice—Mr. Costa— whom the ladies described as one of the worst men who ever lived, and who had been previously a coachman, and they had to sign papers giving their names, ages, etc. They were also asked all particulars of their religious life, but this they would not give.
British Consul Claims the Irish Sisters.; The following day Mr. Summercoss, the British Consul, came to the prison and claimed the three English Sisters and the two Irish Sisters, and later on his wife (Mrs. Summercoss) came to them, and though a Protestant, she treated them with the greatest kindness and sympathy in their misery. They had nothing with them save the clothes they had on. They complained to the British Consul about that, and he demanded the Minister of Justice to give the ladies their luggage. The latter agreed, but refused to allow two Sisters back to the convent. Though the task was a difficult one, Sister Mary Catherine volunteered and accompanied by a soldier and a naval officer she was taken back to the convent. But there all was darkness and the windows bolted. The doors had to be burst in, and in the absence of any light the Sister had to search for her own trunk and those of the four other British subjects while all the time the soldier strolled behind her lest she should touch anything else. On the way to and from the convent Sister Catherine was persecuted with questions about the religious life from the soldier and the officer. It should be said in connection with this, that Sister Mary Dominick was for forty years in the convent, and is now an old lady; but neither age nor sex seem to have had any influence on the lovers of austere liberty in Portugal.
The Sacred Heart Review, Volume 48, Number 19, 26 October 1912
THE EUCHARISTIC PROCESSION AT VIENNA.
drawn by eight bays, came the magnificent gold and glass historical coach of Maria Theresa, which bore the Holy of Holies. The seats had been removed and the whole of the interior had been upholstered with white silk. In the fore part of the carriage a temporary altar had been erected, and in front of this knelt the Papal Legate, Cardinal Van Rossum, and Cardinal Nagl, Archbishop of Vienna, who alternately held the Sacred Monstrance and blessed the multitude that lined the way triumphant. Priests with lighted torches walked at either side of the carriage, and in its wake rode a body of Austrian noblemen. The Emperor followed in a state carriage, with the Archduke Francis Ferdinand. With bowed and bared head and clasped hands he drove past his people, and dearly as they love him his passing was unnoticed. All were equal in the Presence of the King of Kings. The soldiers saluted the Blessed Sacrament, but they rendered no honor to their commander-in-chief as he went by. " I am not to be saluted in the Presence of One greater than the kings of earth," Francis Joseph had ordered, and his soldiers obeyed. For one fraction of a moment the sun burst through the clouds, and its rays lit up the monstrance like molten gold poured round the Sacred Host. But it was again in the drenching rain that the procession passed from under the last arch and dispersed. Once more " all nations and all peoples had united to give praise to the Most High."
Boston College > The Sacred Heart Review > 26 October 1912
ST. PATRICK HONORED IN ITALY.
Mr. P. L. Connellan, Roman correspondent of the Dublin Freeman, says:— Amongst the many surprises which meet the Irish traveller in Italy, who is of an observant and inquiring mind, I think the pleasantest and most interesting are the memorials of the Irish Saints who have laboured here, or visited the land, or whose names have been given to a village or a town. Years ago, while staying in the city of Foligno, in Umbria—a place well-known to tourists as a station where they change trains—l was considerably impressed by a poster in one of the principal streets announcing the celebration of a religious festival and a cattle fair in the town of Campofilone on Sept. 6, 7, and 8. On the last of these days solemn High Mass was to be celebrated in the principal church, and the relic of the Patron Saint of the place — " Saint Patrick, the Taumaturgo—or miracle-worker "—was to be carried in procession. Bands of music were to enliven the proceedings, and in the evening a display of fireworks was to take place. It was strange to meet with the name of St. Patrick so far away from home, and to find him the patron of the place. Inquiries made at Foligno regarding the whereabouts of Campofilone ended in nothing. It has been the same for years. No one, or no book seemed to have any information concerning Campofilone. Finally, a Welshman living in Rome, who had cycled in that neighborhood, has furnished me with a concise but sufficient account of the whereabouts of this out-of-the-world little spot. "Campofilone," he says, "is a village between Ascoti-Piceno and Pedaso, distant forty-four kilometres from Ascoti and five kilometres from Pedaso station, on the Adriatic; it is 201 metres above the level of the sea. Its population is 1,810. It is not very distant from Cupia Marittima and Grottamare." This is of use to those who wish to travel to it. But, what is particularly suggestive to the Irish visitor to Italy is the following note: A fraction of it is called Borgo S. Patrizio, or Borough of St. Patrick. A very interesting problem as to why and how and when this name of Borgo S. Patrizio was given to a fraction of almost unknown and far-away Campofilone is what rises up before the mind.
The Sacred Heart Review, Volume 46, Number 20, 4 November 1911
(Edited)
The editor of the Denver Catholic Register whose name (O'Ryan) indicates the source to which he traces his life-stream, declares that while he is not affected with any undying partiality or love for England, still, to give England her due, he is constrained to print a story told by a prominent French-Canadian politician:— Two years ago [says M. Lemieux] I was in Rome, at the time of the execution of Ferrer, the Socialist. There was a rising all over Europe. For many days riot ruled in many cities. In Paris, Rome, Madrid, thousands of citizens attacked the Catholic Ambassadors because a Catholic country had executed a Socialist. I went to see a great Canadian in Rome, Abbe Clapin, of the Seminary of St. Sulpice. I crossed the street, passing through ranks of soldiers and rioters. I asked him: "Don't you fear these attacks against religion?" He went out and pointed to the dome and said: " The cross is protected by the flag of England, and no rioter would dare touch the cross while the British flag floats over it." It is a flag symbolizing justice, tolerance and power.
Trusting God’s Promise
How trusting are you? Trust is faith on an emotional level. It’s having
confidence in someone’s protection, help, consolation, or comfort. What
justifies trust in a person? His or her integrity, strength, ability, and
surety. We don’t put our trust in a thing. Rather we put our faith in its
maker. Trust is always personal and between persons. In whom do you trust?
In whom do you have faith? Who trusts you? Most of us have problems with
trust. How many of us can honestly say we trust someone totally? We trust
to a degree. Hopefully our trust grows. A child resting snugly in the
parent’s arms is the greatest example of trust. That’s why Jesus warns us,
“I assure you, unless you become like little children, you will not enter
the Kingdom of God.” (Mt 18:3) To enter God’s Kingdom we must totally trust
in God. A short prayer of trust is: “Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my
trust in Thee.” This last Sunday of Advent we see total trust in action
when Mary visits her cousin, Elizabeth.
Immediately after the Angel Gabriel announced from God that Mary was to
become the mother of the Messiah through the power of the Holy Spirit, she
went to see Elizabeth, with her news. The coming of the Messiah was
promised in the Old Testament Prophets and Psalms. Now it appeared that
Mary was to see the fulfilment of that promise. She epitomized complete
trust in God by accepting the angel’s message, “I am the servant of the
Lord. Let it be done to me as you say.” (Lk 1:38) The angel also told Mary
that Elizabeth was six months pregnant. Hugging Mary at the door,
Elizabeth, moved by the Holy Spirit, spontaneously cried out: “Blessed are
you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” (Lk 1:42) Elizabeth
tells us why Mary was blest: “Blessed is she who trusted that the Lord’s
words to her would be fulfilled.” (Lk 1:45)
Picture these two women, insignificant in the social and political scale
of things, but so significant in what God was doing through their
cooperation. Two women, one a little more than a teenager and the other
past middle age, who trusted in God to work miracles in them. Now both
experienced something extraordinary. They shared a secret that, when
shared, would fully reveal who God is and what it meant to be fully human.
The men in their lives, Zechariah and Joseph, had a hard time coping with
what was happening. Mary was miraculously pregnant while remaining a virgin
and Elizabeth was pregnant though she had passed menopause. Imagine their
excitement and wonder at what was happening in them. In their meeting
Elizabeth felt her baby leap “in my womb for joy,” (Lk 1:44) and Mary burst
out in prayer, “My being proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit
finds joy in God my Saviour.” (Lk 1:46-47) It was surely the most
mysterious, joyous and wonderful experiences enjoyed by anyone on this
earth. These two women were joyful because they trusted in God’s promise
and presence.
The Psalmist urged God’s people to trust His promises, “Sing a new song
to the Lord for He has worked wonders. His right hand and His holy arm have
brought salvation. The Lord has made His salvation known: in the sight of
the nations he has revealed His justice.” (Ps 98:1-2) God promised to send
a ruler to Israel and “He shall stand firm and shepherd His flock by the
strength of the Lord … He shall be peace.” (Micah 5:1-4) This ruler will be
the answer to the Psalmist’s prayer, “O Lord of Hosts restore us; if Your
face shine upon us, then we shall be safe.” (Ps 80:4, 20) Mary felt the
fulfilment of God’s promise when she proclaimed, “God who is mighty has
done great things for me, holy is His Name; His mercy is from age to age on
those who fear Him.” (Lk 1:49-50)
If we want to be blessed by God we must trust in His promise to save us
now. Our biggest problem is that we try to save ourselves instead of
letting God save us. Back in the 1950’s a self-help therapy to bring about
personal change called “Transactional Analysis” made its appearance. It was
based on recognizing the operative ego states in exchanges between people
called “transactions”. The goal was to be able to say “I’m OK, you’re OK.”
The idea was that if you’re Ok and I’m OK, then everything is OK. Mother
Theresa turned that around in a talk to seminarians and told them, “I’m not
OK, and you’re not OK; and that’s why we need Jesus.” When it comes to sin
we can’t make ourselves OK. We can’t save ourselves. Only Jesus can save us
and make us OK. But we have to put all our trust in Him to do that. He does
this through His Church’s Sacraments, prayer, service, and especially
through His Real presence in the Holy Mass. Trust in His promise and you
will be blessed. He is our peace. (frsos)
to me
Fulfilling Promises
There’s a saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. A
good intention is a mental promise to say or do something helpful. Hell is
full of unfulfilled good intentions while Heaven is full of good fulfilled
intentions. Good intentions are worthless unless they’re implemented. Have
you ever promised to help someone but didn’t? Has anyone ever broken a
promise to you? Have you made promises to yourself that you didn’t keep?
We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Jesus tells us, “Say, ‘Yes’ when you mean
‘Yes’ and ‘No’ when you mean ‘No.’” (Mt. 5:37) We should never make false
or rash promises we don’t intend or can’t keep. They play havoc with our
integrity, credibility, and relationships. This is one of the many areas
where we need God’s help. God is always faithful to His promises. Therefore
we can always trust His promises. This faith was recognized by Elizabeth
when she greeted Mary, “Blessed is she who trusted that the Lord’s words to
her would be fulfilled.” (Lk 1:45) Do you trust in God to fulfil His
promises to love and save you from being overcome by sin, suffering and
death? Do you believe Jesus’ promise when He invites you to, “Come to me,
all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you.
Take my yoke upon your shoulders and learn from me, for I am gentle and
humble of heart. Your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my
burden light.” (Mt 11:28-30) Do you trust in His words, like Mary, and turn
to Him constantly not only in your sorrows but also in your joys?
This Sunday marks the beginning of a new liturgical year for Jesus’
Church. These days until the evening of December 24 are known as the Season
of Advent. It’s a time set aside by the Church in preparation for the
celebration of God’s fulfilment of His promise to save His people by
sending a Saviour to establish justice and mercy so they may repent, be
absolved from their sins, and progress towards Heaven. God promised that
this Saviour would offer salvation to all people until the end of time.
“The days are coming says the Lord, when I will fulfil the promise I made
to the House of Israel and Judah. I will raise up for David a just shoot;
He shall do what is right and just in the land.” (Jer 10:14-15) Jesus’
birth on that first Christmas night over two thousand years ago fulfilled
God’s promise. He is God-with-us in the flesh, conceived and nurtured in
Mary’s womb
God fulfilled His promise by sending His Son, Jesus, “who was descended
from David according to the flesh but was made Son of God in power
according to the Spirit of holiness, by His resurrection from the dead:
Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 1:3-4) The Psalmist prayed, “Your ways, O
Lord, make known to me; teach me Your paths, guide me in Your truth and
teach me, for You are God my Saviour, and for You I wait all day.” (Ps
25:4-5) His prayer was answered in the Person of Jesus who is God-with-us,
the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (Jn 14:6) God revealed how the Messiah
would come across to people: “Good and upright is the Lord; thus He shows
sinners the way. He guides the humble to justice, and teaches the humble
His way. He is kind and constant toward those who keep His Covenant and
laws.” (Ps 25:10, 14) Jesus fulfilled this description to the letter.
Christmas reminds us that God has kept His promises to us and now it is
up to us to keep our promises to Him. God has entered into a Covenant
relationship with us through Jesus in His Church. It’s based on
unconditional love from both parties. We must do our part by striving to
love God and our neighbour unconditionally. How? By keeping our promises to
Him and to one another through obeying His Commandments. Advent is the time
to examine whether we are keeping our promises - Baptismal, Confirmation,
Marital, or Priestly vows - and ask ourselves if we’re truly faithful to
them and to all they entail. Jesus alerts us to the fact that this world
will end and reminds us to be ready. Our individual world will end the
moment we die. It’s easy to become complacent, taking life for granted,
forgetting or ignoring and not carrying out our good intentions. Jesus
warns us, “Be aware that your hearts do not become drowsy from indulgence
and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by
surprise like a trap … Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the
strength to survive all that is going to happen and to stand with
confidence before the Son of Man.” (Lk 21:34-36) Therefore, be prepared and
“Keep your eyes open, for you know not the day nor the hour” when death
will strike you down (Mt 25:13). Use this 1st week of Advent to prepare
yourself to celebrate Jesus’ birth, His presence in His Church today, and
His 2nd coming to judge the world, by asking Him to help you be true to
your promises to Him as He is true to His promises to you. (frsos)
More from frsos@eircom.net frsos@eircom.net
From Listowel Parish News March 2016
An Amazing Grace
The Englishman, John Newton, wrote “Amazing Grace” in the 18th century, describing his religious conversion. The first two verses speak about God’s grace and its amazing effect on his soul. “Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)/ That sav’d a wretch like me! / I once was lost, but now am found, / Was blind, but now I see./ ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, / And grace my fears reliev’d; / How precious did that grace appear/ The hour I first believ’d!” As we enter the 4th week of Lent God’s Word exposes us to amazing grace in the Parable of the Prodigal Son found in 15th chapter of the Gospel according to Luke.
A parable is a literary form used to drive home a particular truth or point of view. Its intent is to changing or deepen people’s thinking. Jesus used many parables to illustrate God’s charitable teaching. The characters in a parable are always human, as distinct from a fable where the characters are usually birds or animals. Jesus’ preaching drew the interest of the tax collectors and sinners who “were all seeking His company to hear what He had to say.” (Lk 15:1) The Pharisees and scribes were upset over Jesus’ closeness to sinners, so they complained, ‘This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.’” (Lk 15:2) Jesus addressed their complaints with the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The Pharisees and scribes viewed themselves as the chosen people and, by default, viewed others as sinners, rejected by God. Jesus, on the other hand, while affirming Jews as God’s chosen people, pointed out that God calls all people to Himself in order to save them from sin. Jesus proclaimed, “I have not come to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.” (Lk 5:32) The Holy Spirit prompted John to declare, “If we say we have no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves and refusing to admit the truth.” (1 Jn 1:8) Many Jewish leaders believed that all sinners were doomed to hell. This was the thinking Jesus came to change.
What is grace? It means favor, kindness, or esteem. God’s grace is His favor toward us, His kindness, and how He esteems us. In the parable we see the father’s favor toward His two sons. He is kind to them and holds them in high esteem. When someone favors you, expresses kindness and esteems you, it is a sweet sound to your ears, especially when you know it’s undeserved. Surely it was a sweet sound to the ears of the undeserving younger son when he heard his father order a feast to celebrate his return home. The boy had become a wretch, squandering his inheritance on sinful behavior. His father’s grace now saved a wretch like him. He was lost, but now was found; he was blind but now could see.
We can all be blinded by ambition and the possibilities of living as we please. But, like the younger son, we’ll find out that a selfish life never brings happiness in the long term. It was knowledge of his father’s kindness that taught his heart to fear for his future. Reflecting on the household he abandoned, his father’s kindness relieved the fears in his heart, giving him hope of returning, even as a servant. When he “came to his senses” (Lk 15:17), he realized how precious was his father’s love and how undeserving he was of it. He examined his conscience and repented, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.” (Lk 15:21) The father expressed an amazing grace in his response to his son’s confession: “But the father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet … we are going to have a feast because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.” (Lk 15:20ff) Confession of sin, accompanied by repentance, brings joy to God.
Admitting our sinfulness and seeking forgiveness makes us beneficiaries of God’s saving grace. Self-righteousness, on the other hand, deprives us of that grace. The older son refused to join his father in welcoming his brother with a spirit of forgiveness and joy. He felt he hadn’t any sin himself and owed no one anything. The truth is that we’re all sinners in need of reconciliation with God and one another. The Sacrament of Reconciliation Jesus gave to His Church is a visible symbol of God’s amazing grace. The priest’s prayer of absolution is the sweet sound of God’s kindness cleansing our soul and receiving us back into His Church. But to benefit from God’s grace we must first admit that we’ve sinned and cannot save ourselves from its effects. The moment we repentantly admit our sinfulness is the moment God puts a robe over our shoulder, a ring on our finger, and sandals on our feet. We’re no longer lost in sin because God has found us in grace. “Whoever is in Christ is in a new creation.” (2 Cor 5:17) Then we can have a renewed sense of dignity, belonging, walking with comfort and hope. Let’s experience God’s amazing grace this week by confessing our sins. (frsos)
Sister Nyaatha came to Tanzania in 1913 where she stayed until 1915 before coming to Kenya.
When World War 1 broke out, the nun returned to Tanzania and arrived at a hospital in Lindi, on the southernmost coast of Tanganyika on December 1917 alongside another nun, Sister Cristina Moresco and Father Gaudenzio Panelatti where they served the sick.
http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/05/22/british_army_at_beatification_in_kenya/1145977
Catholic Church in Ireland
Hugh Boulter told the House of Lords that in 1731 there were 549 Popish Schools in Ireland, these schools were illegal at the time Sir Richard Cox of Bandon in 1740 encouraged the elimination of popish teachers. Relief Act of 1782 enabled Catholics to teach with the permission of the Protestant Bishop. There was 14 percent of good land in Catholic ownership in 1703 and by 1776 their ownership was reduced to five percent. Great Catholic workers Nano Nagle, Mary Aikenhead, Catherine McAuley, Margaret Aylward and Edmund Rice. They set up native orders of Charity, Mercy, Holy Faith, Brigidine Sisters, Christian, Presentation and Franciscan Brothers.
Tim Pat Coogan wrote about the Irish Diaspora and recognised the great work of the Irish missionaries abroad.
Nano Nagle born Cork 1718 died 1784 aged 66 years, the foundation which she established nearly died out a short time after her death, but eventually expanded to 342 foundations. See book Nano Nagle and the Presentation Sisters by T J Walsh. Presentation Foundations in USA 127; Australia 112; England 18; Newfoundland 28; India 26; Pakistan 24; Zimbabwe 6; New Zealand 4.
Catherine McAuley born 1778 died 1841, established Mercy Sisters 1831, she got finance from William and Catherine Callaghan who became Catholics. Mercy Sisters cared for soldiers in several wars, in Crimea 1854-1857, American civil War 1861-’65, served in South Africa during Boer War.
Mercy Sisters came to Killarney in 1844, 13 of the sisters died during the famine era. Mercy came to Abbeyfeale in 1871. Mater opened by Mercy in 1861. Sr. Consilio Fitzgerald born 1937 at Brosna, has spent many years helping people with substance abuse. Archbishop McCarthy CSSP in Nairobi 1956 asked for mercy sisters and many went out to him including Sr. Dolores Waldron aged 58 years. In Manila prison where there are 7,500 prisoners, Mercy sisters are there helping them.
See Then and Now by Sister Kathleen Liston on the Mercy Sisters Caring for Killarney.
To mark Catholic Schools Week, Sr. Éilís sent me a brief synopsis of the work of the Presentation Sisters in Listowel down through the years.
CATHOLIC SCHOOL WEEK
As we celebrate our tradition of Presentation Catholic education in Listowel, we take inspiration from the lives of the Four Presentation Sisters who began catholic education in Listowel in 1844. On the 7th of May 1844, Sr. Mary Augustine Stack- a native of Listowel and three sisters from Milltown, Sr. Mary Teresa Kelly, Sr. Mary Francis McCarthy and Sr. Mary Francis Brennan founded a convent and school in Listowel.
During the Famine of 1845-48, the sisters had to close their school. They opened soup kitchens to feed the starving people. It resulted in the deaths of many families and of some of the young sisters. Sharing their meagre resources with the poor, over the course of twelve months, the sisters supplied 31,000 breakfasts to the starving children. The Convent Annuals read of the Sisters baking bread to feed so many, eventually being reduced to rye and black bread. The Sisters also initiated groups to make garments for the women and shirts for the men in the workhouse closeby – so that people could earn wages.
A significant event in the life of the early Listowel Presentation community was the ‘Battle of the Cross’ in 1857. The Sisters were ordered to take down the Cross from the gable end of their school by the Education Board. In spite of dire threats, the sisters refused to do so, and defied the Board. Eventually the Board yielded.
In 2007 the sisters closed their convent, after 163 years of service in Listowel. The tradition of Presentation Catholic education is still alive in Listowel. Our school is now under the trusteeship of CEIST which is committed to continuing the great tradition of Presentation Catholic education in Listowel into the future.
THE FLAWED LIFE
It’s strange how I’m made - - half mystic and half nut.
My eyes upon the stars, my feet deep in the mud.
One moment I am lying and the next I’d for the truth!
One moment I’m kind, big hearted, understanding and loyal,
The next, sneaky and cruel. It’s weird how a soul can be split up like that - - - part God, part scallywag.
It’s inconsistent, too. Because your never quite sure which part is on the job!
Just when you think you are all set to act the saint,
Something inside goes flop - - and there you are - - - anything but a saint
What is life worth if one is so full of flaws?
So strong, yet weak, philosopher and fool
Now, I know that flawed lives are good
And serve a purpose in God’s kindly plan, only those who have lied can feel a liars shame
Only cowards know the bitter blame, cowards must face
So through our weaknesses, we possess the key to every heart that is sad, shamed or soiled
So God I am glad you made me as I am for I’d learned that flawed lives can serve you well, there has to be a place for both stars in the mud
SLOW ME DOWN
We are so busy working and making money that we don’t have time to enjoy the houses we are so busy working to pay for.
We are so busy that life is slipping by at a very fast rate and we need to slow it down.
You’d better slow down.
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores, running through your head? And wonder what did I do today?
You’d better slow down.
When you run so fast to get somewhere you miss half the fun of getting there.
You’d better slow down.
When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift..... Thrown away ..... so you’d better slow down.
THOUGHT: The fear of man strangles us, because we can never please everybody; but the fear of the Lord frees us, because it challenges us to live and serve for an audience of One. Paul Chappell
THOUGHT: Keep your life so constant in its contact with God that His surprising power may break out on the right hand and on the left. Always be in a state of expectancy, and see that you leave room for God to come in as He likes. Oswald Chambers
Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Christ Jesus,
before ascending into heaven,
You promised to send the Holy Spirit
to Your apostles and disciples.
Grant that the same Spirit
may perfect in our lives the work of Your grace and love.
Grant us the Spirit of Fear of The Lord
that we may be filled with a loving reverence toward You.
The Spirit of Piety
that we may find peace and fulfillment
in the service of God while serving others;
The Spirit of Fortitude
that we may bear our cross with You
and, with courage, overcome the obstacles
that interfere with our salvation;
The Spirit of Knowledge
that we may know You and know ourselves
and grow in holiness;
The Spirit of Understanding
to enlighten our minds
with the light of Your truth;
The Spirit of Counsel
that we may choose the surest way of doing Your will,
seeking first the Kingdom;
Grant us the Spirit of Wisdom
that we may aspire to the things that last forever;
Teach us to be Your faithful disciples
and animate us in every way with Your Spirit. Amen.
From http://re-worship.blogspot.ca/2011/06/prayer-for-pentecost.html— originally posted on the ChurchYear.net website
THOUGHT: That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, I will no more believe than that the accidental jumbling of the alphabet would fall into a most ingenious treatise of philosophy. Jonathan Swift.
THOUGHT
We retain excuses for our past failures. So
in the first place, it is important to remove
all the negatives from your life.
Face your prejudices, depressions, glooms
and fears. We build up such an arsenal of
alibis and excuses so that when we try to
take a new way, the selfish ego holds on to
these defences & rebels. For example, if
you feel a bit depressed, tell yourself in
some detail how much there is to be cheer-
ful about and thankful for. If you feel
lonely, choose an interesting task and think
how valuable it is to be able to work with-
out interruption.
Always try to substitute a strong, positive picture
for the negative one in your mind.
At the end of each day, list all the happy things
that have happened. Even remember that it has
been a fine day, if it has. Most people remember
only when it has not been so. Get rid of the use-
less waste which can be poisonous if you let it
accumulate.
TALK THE WAY YOU’D LIKE TO BE, AND
YOU’LL BE THE WAY YOU TALK.
Talk courageously and you’ll be brave. If you
want to be a leader, speak with confidence. If you
want friends be sure all you words are friendly.
You talk the way you are. If you want to be a
different, alter your speech. Watch for revealing
negative words and change them to positive ones
at once. There is a positive side to everything. A
new word means a new picture: an new picture
means a new life.
In your efforts to improve, go slowly, don’t try to
bite off too much at once. Mental food takes the
same processing as any other. It must be chewed
well and digested before we try to take in any
more. Take it unit by unit.
A statement like: “Today I am going to learn and
grow” is good. Affirm it and hold it for a day.
Keep coming back to it. Try it just for a day.
When tomorrow comes take it again as new day.
When you get tired, try a new affirmation, but
don’t hurry y to change.
From this springs creativity in work and play,. So
that life is full of happiness, helpfulness, and hope
can develop. It is a simple practical programme
for positive living.
Catholic Scientists - an Index
My project for Lent, 2009 is this series of glimpses into the life and work of Catholic scientists - drawn from the works of S. L. Jaki, Fr. Kneller, Dr. Walsh, the Catholic Encyclopedia and other sources.
Introduction - the Heart of Jesus & Mary, Seat of Wisdom
1206-1280 St. Albert the Great, O.P., patron of science
?-1184 St. Bénezet the Bridge Builder and
1199-1252 St. Ferdinand III, King of Castile, founder of the university of Salamanca, patron of engineering
121?-1277 Pope John XXI, ophthalmologist
1638-1686 Nicholas of Steno (Stensen), bishop
1588-1648 Marin Mersenne, priest, order of Minims
13??-14?? Jean (John) Buridan
1601-1680 Athanasius Kircher S. J.
132?-1382 Nicole Oresme, Bishop of Lisieux
1861-1916 Pierre Duhem, thermodynamicist and historian of science
1789-1857 Augustin Cauchy, mathematician
1436-1476 Johann Müller ("Regiomontanus"), bishop of Ratisbon, astronomer
1801-1858 Johann Müller, physiologist
1737-1798 Luigi Galvani, physician and father of electricity
1822-1884 Gregor Mendel, Augustinian abbot, geneticist
1788-1827 Augustin-Jean Fresnel, physicist of optics
1746-1826 Giuseppe (Joseph) Piazzi, Theatine monk, astronomer
1810-1882 Theodore Schwann, biologist
1763-1829 Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, chemist, and
1777-1857 Louis Jacques Thénard, chemist
1822-1895 Louis Pasteur, chemist, biologist, physiologist
1564-1642 Galileo Galilei, astronomer
1822-1901 Charles Hermite, mathematician
1811-1877 Urbain-Jean-Joseph Leverrier, astronomer
1874-1937 Guglielmo Marconi, father of radio
1745-1827 Alessandro Volta, physicist of electricity
1743-1822 Fr. René-Just Haüy, father of scientific crystallography
1781-1826 René Laënnec, physician
1743-1794 Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, chemist
1762-1833 Fr. Pierre André Latreille, founder of modern entomology
1799-1883 Joachim Barrande, paleontologist
1718-1799 Maria Gaetana Agnesi, polymath
1473-1543 Nicolaus Copernicus, astronomer
1682-1771 Giovanni Battista Morgagni, father of modern pathology
1775-1836 Andre Ampère, physicist of electricity
Pope Francis Said What?
by Friar Jim Van Vurst, OFM
You may recall Pope Francis’ statement this past May concerning God’s love. First, the pope said: “The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! Even the atheists. Everyone!”
That statement shook a lot of people up. And it is true: the Church has always taught that Jesus died and redeemed all of God’s children. But a lot of people drew several incorrect conclusions: “Well, if atheists are redeemed, it really doesn’t matter what we do, right? We’re home free.”
No, sorry, that is not only incorrect, but that’s not what Pope Francis meant or said. The pope used the word redeemed and not justified. Only God can redeem, and that redemption takes place because of Jesus’ death on the cross. No human can redeem himself. Only through Jesus do we have a chance at salvation. That means everyone—including atheists—have the opportunity to reach a perfect union with God.
God's Map
There are two aspects to the question of salvation. One is God’s role (which is what Pope Francis was talking about), but the other is our role. That role is our response to God and his plan for salvation, which is why Jesus taught as he did in the Gospels. He did this not just by words and instructions, but also by his own lived example.
The Gospels are God’s map—our GPS, if you will—as we all walk our pilgrimage on this earth. God, in fact, says to every person, “Come to me.” But only we, given our free will, can say “Yes, God, here I come.” It is amazing that some humans say no to God. He will not force anyone, no matter how much he wants us with him.
Achieving Salvation
Even though we must say yes, the Lord is abundant with grace to help us. The truth is that if anyone is not saved, it is his fault and not God’s.
Another important factor is that God alone understands perfectly the circumstances of everyone’s life. We have to admit that we are truly blessed to have been given the gift of faith. But imagine someone who, through no fault of his/her own, doesn’t know who God is. Consider a native in central New Guinea. God will not demand something of someone who is incapable of meeting that condition.
What about a person raised in an evironment where he/she has been influenced away from God, but who still chooses to have faith? God knows it is a great responsibility to believe and follow the Gospels of Jesus. That’s why it is unchristian and imprudent for some of our brothers and sisters in faith to determine who is saved and who is not. That’s why the Church has never said that any particular person is in hell. A person’s response to God can only be known by God. He alone knows every human heart.
And that is why bishops of Vatican II said so wisely in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their own actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience—those too may achieve eternal salvation” (847).
The problem is that we cannot do what we like with our own lives without harming others.
http://www.staustinreview.com/ink_desk/archives/nailing_themselves_to_their_own_crosses/
Mark O Shea
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/mark-shea/interesting-conversation-with-an-atheist-about-the-moral-law-and-you-know-w
Help
Anxiety, stress and verbal abuse caused problems in eight out of ten marriages last year, figures show.
More than 50,000 hours of counselling were given to 6,500 couples by Accord, the Catholic marriage care service.
Six out of ten had money worries, while a quarter raised concerns about infidelity, 59% suffered emotional abuse and 13% were the victims of violence in the home.
Elsewhere 7,000 couples took their marriage preparation course with Accord in 2012.
Sept 1st 2005
From Carlow People
Earlier in the summer Bishop Jim Moriarty announced a number of changes in the appointment of priests in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin, among which saw the appointment of Fr. Andy Leahy to the position of Curate in Tullow Parish.
Fr. Andy is a native of Ballyferriter, Co. Kerry, and is no stranger to Tullow as he lived in Mill Street from 1979 to 1981 while working as primary school teacher in Rathvilly.
Realising that he might have a vocation particularly in the missionary field, Fr. Andy spoke to a number of local priests including Fr. Bernie Ryan, P.P. of Rathvilly, who told him that 'there was plenty of missionary work to do in Ireland'. Fr. Andy entered the Carlow College in 1981 where he spent a year before completing his studies in the Irish College in Rome.
In 1986 Fr. Andy was ordained to the priesthood in Ballyferiter by the late Bishop Patrick Lennon in an all Irish ceremony. The ordination was attended by Mgr. Brendan Byrne supporting a new priest of the diocese.
The Kerry Priest brings a large range of experience in the priesthood to Tullow having worked in various parishes including Portarlington, Kildare and Carlow.
Fr. Andy tells me that 'many people are looking for meaning in their lives' and that 'there is a huge hunger for spiritual nourishment. The pace of life is so fast and people know that they need something to sustain them'.
He sets himself the challenge of 'walking with and accompanying people on their own journey'.
Fr. Andy says that 'journeying with others is a great privilege'.
To sustain himself Fr. Andy is a walker and loves nothing more than walking the mountains and hills and one of his favourite places is Glendalough which is associated with St. Kevin.
He is also a great music fan, enjoying all types of music especially traditional Irish music, modern classical and sacred music. He is a keen follower of sport especially Gaelic football and appreciates the arts - drama, film, poetry and enjoys reading contemporary fiction.
Fr. Andy is looking forward to getting to know the people of the parish and to being with them in all kinds of situations.
His message to people is that, 'we are loved by God as we are and nothing can ever take that love away from us'.
We all wish Fr. Andy God's blessing and support in his ministry among us.
BISHOP of Limerick, Reverend Brendan Leahy, priest of the Archdiocese of Dublin and Professor of Systematic Theology at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth. Both his parents are from Ballyferriter parish, In the 1940s his father taught for a year in Athea.
By Mike Dwane
Published on 10/04/2013 08:00
OVER 1,000 people have been invited to St John’s Cathedral to attend this Sunday’s ordination of Fr Brendan Leahy as Bishop of Limerick.
Fr Leahy said that while the forecast was for wind and rain, this had not dampened his enthusiasm for the ceremony, the first such to take place in the diocese for almost 40 years.
His predecessor Dr Donal Murray was already a bishop when installed in the 1990s, meaning the last episcopal ordination in Limerick was that of Dr Jeremiah Newman in 1974.
Fr Leahy said he was “also particularly pleased” to be the first bishop to be ordained in Ireland under the papacy of Pope Francis - and only the eighth worldwide.
Appointed while Pope Benedict XVI was still in the Vatican, Fr Leahy joked of his elevation: “I hope that wasn’t one of the reasons why Pope Benedict retired or that Pope Francis would change his mind”.
Archbishop Dermot Clifford will be chief celebrant on Sunday, assisted by the Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Fr Leahy’s native Dublin.
“I’m quite excited about it,” Fr Leahy said. “Naturally, the fact that I have had several months has been good. I couldn’t be ordained during Lent because you can’t have a ceremony like this during the Lent period, which gave me several months to prepare. So I have been coming down once or twice a week since, doing an induction course if you like, guided superbly both by Fr Tony (Mullins) and Fr Paul (Finnerty). They have introduced me to various aspects in the life of the diocese although I’m sure I have a lot more yet to discover. But that has been very helpful to me as it has given me a whole overview of how the diocese is, how it works and what is going on. I must say there are a lot of great things going on in Limerick and in many, many ways the diocese is in very good shape.”
Fr Frank O’Connor anticipates that the ordination will take at least two hours. Those who have been invited are asked to be seated by 2.30pm and attend well in advance of that time. Car parking has been provided by Irish Rail at the Roxboro Road and by Limerick CBS and Presentation Secondary School, both on Sexton Street. No parking will be permitted in the vicinity of the cathedral itself.
While invitees and those participating could number up to 1500, there may be room left for others. Extra accommodation is to be provided at St John’s National School. A stream of the ceremony will be broadcast here and will also go out live on the diocesan website.
The first part of the formal ceremony, Fr O’Connor said, would be the “reading of apostolic letter and that is from Pope Benedict appointing Fr Brendan as Bishop of Limerick”. He will later accept symbols of office in the bishop’s ring, mitre and crozier before greeting hundreds of representatives from parishes; people from civic life, the education sector and voluntary groups; immigrant and Traveller representatives and leaders from Christian denominations and other faiths.
The Loyola Institute and its academic programme in Catholic theology were officially launched by Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast at Trinity College Dublin on Monday November 9th.2012.
“The eight religious congregations associated with this initiative welcome the establishment of a new Institute for education and research in theology in the Catholic tradition on the campus of this great university. We are pleased to support and collaborate, in the spirit of dialogue, with the Loyola Institute’s core mission of considered academic reflection on Christian faith, social justice and contemporary culture, in the context of a rich intellectual and spiritual tradition spanning some two millennia.
Catholic theology is a field of study that pre-dates the earliest universities and formed part of their core curriculum; it is a discipline to which many great intellects have contributed – in earlier centuries Augustine and Aquinas, for example. And in the mystical tradition, Hildegard of Bingen , John of the Cross, Theresa of Avila. And in modern times Newman, Rahner, Congar, Lonergan, to name just a few; all in a rich theological tradition that has always assumed a basic congruence between faith and reason. It is hardly surprising therefore that there are long-established schools in that discipline in continental and US universities; or that there are endowed Chairs of Catholic theology and related studies in many distinguished Universities including Harvard, Duke, Chicago and Durham."
Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Provost Dr Prendergast said:
“The vision for the Institute is to engage in critical reflection and scholarly research on the Christian faith, social justice and contemporary culture with the intellectual resources of the Catholic tradition. Through its research and teaching, the Loyola Institute will equip students to analyse changes in the role of religion in current culture and also its pluralisation. It will also help them analyse the new challenges facing societies in an age of globalisation and of great technological advances. Students will study the theology of a tradition that has marked Irish history and identity and has created intercultural connections. They will discuss and debate contemporary views on the role of religion in the public sphere and contribute to debates about the position of faith communities in pluralist democracies”.
“The establishment of the Loyola Institute in Trinity is a milestone in the institutional development of Catholic theology in Ireland and it will be ideally placed to address religious, ethical and societal questions in an academic forum and public domain.”
Sister Blandina and the Original Billy the Kid
Published Friday, October 12, 2012 A.D. | By Donald R. McClarey
Rose Marie Segale was born on January 23, 1850 in the small village of Cicagna in Italy. When she was four she and her family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, part of the initial wave of immigration from Italy to America. From her earliest childhood she was determined to be a sister and frequently told her father that she wanted to join the Sisters of Charity as soon as she was old enough. She began her novitiate at the age of 16. When she professed her vows she took the name of Blandina Segale. She taught at Steubenville and Dayton, and in 1872 she was ordered to Trinidad for missionary work. Initially she thought that she was being sent to the island and was thrilled. Instead, she was sent to Trinidad, Colorado in the western part of that state.
What she found when she got there, was a town that was frequently visited by outlaws and where lynchings were common. A fairly rugged environment for a 22-year-old sister!
Nothing daunted, she began to teach. Soon after she got there she stopped a lynching by convincing a dying man to forgive his assailant, the father of one of her pupils. Sister Blandina and the sheriff brought the accused killer from the jail where he was being held to the bed of the dying man, through the midst of an angry lynch mob. The dying man, very generously I think, forgave the man, the lynch mob dispersed, and the man’s fate was determined by the court and not the mob.
One of the many outlaws who terrorized the area was Arthur Pond aka William LeRoy, sometimes known as Billy the Kid, and who was celebrated as the King of American Highwaymen by the ”penny dreadful” novelist Richard K. Fox who released a heavily fictionalized biography of him immediately after his death, conflating his exploits with those of the more famous Billy the Kid. (Sister Blandina in later life confused LeRoy with William H. Bonney, the more famous Billy the Kid, who operated in New Mexico a few years later. Sister Blandina had known the outlaw only by his nickname and didn’t realize that there were two Billy the Kids, who died within months of each other in 1881.) A member of his gang had been accidentally shot by another member of his gang and left to die in an adobe hut in Trinidad. Learning this from one of her students, Sister Blandina went to the outlaw and nursed him back to health, answering his questions about God and religion. When Billy the Kid showed up in Trinidad one day, intent on scalping the four doctors who refused to treat the man Sister Blandina had been caring for, he thanked Sister Blandina and at her request reluctantly spared the physicians.
This was one of three occasions on which Sister Blandina encountered the original Billy the Kid. The second occasion occurred after she was transferred to Santa Fe in the New Mexico Territory. Riding in a stage-coach, saying her Rosary, Sister Blandina was startled when the stage-coach driver yelled that a rider was approaching. The men traveling in the coach pulled out their pistols fearing that the rider was the infamous Billy the Kid who had been robbing stage coaches in the area. Sister Blandina told them to put up their guns. The rider road up to the stage-coach. Sister Blandina shifted her bonnet so the rider could see her face. It was the original Billy the Kid! Their eyes met, Billy raised his hat, bowed and rode off!
Sister Blandina encountered the original Billy the Kid for the last time in May of 1881 while he was being held in the Santa Fe jail. She had gone to the jail because Edward Kelly, a bartender who had killed a patient of hers, was being held there. The original Billy the Kid was in the same jail cell and greeted Sister Blandina. He asked her to do what she could for Kelly. This was his first offense he said, and he was not himself when he had committed the crime. As for himself, the original Billy the Kid said he would get out of the crimes he was charged with. That prediction was proven incorrect. LeRoy was sentenced to ten years on May 23, 1881 along with his brother Sam, a member of his gang. They never lived to serve a day of their sentence however, as they were both hung by a lynch mob that broke into the jail that night. Ironically, if Sister Blandina had visited the jail a few months earlier she might have encountered the more famous Billy the Kid who was held there until March 29, 1881, then being taken to Mesilla for trial. He escaped subsequently and was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett on July 14, 1881.
For the next twenty-one years, Sister Blandina continued her missionary work in the West, founding a hospital and a school in Santa Fe. When she returned to Cincinnati, she and her sister, also a member of the Sisters of Charity, Sister Justina, founded an Italian Welfare Society, to help the poor of the city. Sister Blandina died at 91 in 1941. Her letters about her life in the West were published as At the End of the Santa Fe Trail to popular acclaim in 1932.
POPE in Lebanon
ROME, September 17, 2012 – Of the citizens of Lebanon, just after landing at the airport in Beirut, Benedict XVI has asked the wisdom of King Solomon. In order to preserve that decisive "balance" between Christians and their brothers of other religions which can act as a "model for the inhabitants of the whole region, and for the entire world."
In a country that bears the marks of civil war, and has been invaded repeatedly by foreign troops, the wager was a daring one. But Joseph Ratzinger bet on it without hesitation, in the three days of his visit.
In the speech that on September 15, at the presidential palace of Baadba, he addressed to representatives of the Lebanese republic, to members of government, to religious leaders and men of culture, he asked all to be united on those "values that are common to all the great cultures, because they are rooted in the nature of the human person."
Among these values, he put religious freedom front and center.
With an unexpected reference to Constantine, who in 313 after Christ granted freedom to Christians in the empire, Benedict XVI asked that not only in Lebanon – the only country in the region in which conversion from Islam to Christianity is socially tolerated – but in the whole Middle East, full freedom be given to the public practice of every religious faith, "without endangering one's own life."
In addition to this, among the "foundations" of that "grammar which is the natural law inscribed in the human heart," the pope especially praised "the sacred character of life given by the Creator."
The defense of life, he said, is the way to true peace:
"Nowadays, our cultural, social and religious differences should lead us to a new kind of fraternity wherein what rightly unites us is a shared sense of the greatness of each person and the gift which others are to themselves, to those around them and to all humanity. This is the path to peace! This is the commitment demanded of us! This is the approach which ought to guide political and economic decisions at every level and on a global scale!"
*
Having said all of this to the citizens of Lebanon without distinction, however, Benedict XVI also spoke directly to the Christians.
He asked that they simply "set out to follow Jesus." And this is how he explained it, in the homily at the Mass of Sunday, September 16:
"Following Jesus means taking up one’s cross and walking in his footsteps, along a difficult path which leads not to earthly power or glory but, if necessary, to self-abandonment, to losing one’s life for Christ and the Gospel in order to save it. We are assured that this is the way to the resurrection, to true and definitive life with God. Choosing to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, who made himself the Servant of all, requires drawing ever closer to him, attentively listening to his word and drawing from it the inspiration for all that we do. In promulgating the Year of Faith, which is due to begin next 11 October, I wanted each member of the faithful to renew his or her commitment to undertaking this path of sincere conversion. Throughout this Year, then, I strongly encourage you to reflect more deeply on the faith, to appropriate it ever more consciously and to grow in fidelity to Christ Jesus and his Gospel."
Two days earlier, on the evening of Friday, September 14, Benedict XVI had also placed the cross of Jesus at the center in promulgating the apostolic exhortation as the crowning of the synod for the Middle East:
"Providentially, this event takes place on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, a celebration originating in the East in 335, following the dedication of the Basilica of the Resurrection built over Golgotha and our Lord’s tomb by the Emperor Constantine the Great, whom you venerate as saint. A month from now we will celebrate the seventeen-hundredth anniversary of the appearance to Constantine of the Chi-Rho, radiant in the symbolic night of his unbelief and accompanied by the words: 'In this sign you will conquer!' [...]
"The apostolic exhortation 'Ecclesia in Medio Oriente' makes it possible to rethink the present in order to look to the future with the eyes of Christ. By its biblical and pastoral orientation, its invitation to deeper spiritual and ecclesiological reflection, its call for liturgical and catechetical renewal, and its summons to dialogue, the Exhortation points out a path for rediscovering what is essential: being a follower of Christ even in difficult and sometimes painful situations which may lead to the temptation to ignore or to forget the exaltation of the cross. It is here and now that we are called to celebrate the victory of love over hate, forgiveness over revenge, service over domination, humility over pride, and unity over division. [...] This is the language of the cross, exalted and glorious! This is the 'folly' of the cross: a folly capable of changing our sufferings into a declaration of love for God and mercy for our neighbour; a folly capable of transforming those who suffer because of their faith and identity into vessels of clay ready to be filled to overflowing by divine gifts more precious than gold (cf. 2 Cor 4:7-18). This is more than simply picturesque language: it is a pressing appeal to act concretely in a way which configures us ever more fully to Christ, in a way which helps the different Churches to reflect the beauty of the first community of believers (cf. Acts 2:41-47); in a way like that of the Emperor Constantine, who could bear witness and bring Christians forth from discrimination to enable them openly and freely to live their faith in Christ crucified, dead and risen for the salvation of all."
Our Lady of Quito : Early in the morning of January 21, 1610, the Archangels St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael appeared to Mother Mariana. Then Our Lady appeared to her and predicted many things about our own times: this is part of what Mother Mariana afterwards related that she told her:
“…. I make it known to you that from the end of the 19th century and shortly after the middle of the 20th century…. the passions will erupt and there will be a total corruption of customs (morals)….
“They will focus principally on the children in order to sustain this general corruption. Woe to the children of these times! It will be difficult to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, and also that of Confirmation…
Salvo D’Acquisto, martyr of love during the Second World War.He saved the lives of the 22 hostages
MARY: Blessed John Duns Scotus, a Franciscan theologian of the 13th century, came up with a simple and persuasive argument in favour of the Assumption of Mary. He said, first of all, that God could assume Mary into heaven. Secondly, there was no question of Mary’s holiness, her sinless ness, her unique and perfect discipleship of Jesus, or her conformity to God’s will. Everyone agreed on those two points. Scotus then made this conclusion: God, in fact, caused Mary’s assumption into heaven.
SAINT: Edith Stein feast Aug. 9th, was born in Breslau on 12 October 1891, the youngest of 11, as her family were celebrating Yom Kippur. As a teen, she (in her own words) 'consciously gave up praying', despite her mothers efforts. In University, this bright young woman was interested in philospohy and womens issues.
One evening in 1921, while visiting friends. Edith picked up an autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila and read this book all night. "When I had finished the book, I said to myself: This is the truth." Later, looking back on her life, she wrote: "My longing for truth was a single prayer." One January 2st 1922, she was baptised, saying "I had given up practising my Jewish religion when I was a 14-year-old girl and did not begin to feel Jewish again until I had returned to God."
After many years teaching and prayer; Edith entered a Carmelite convent in 1933. She was now known as Sister Teresia Benedicta a Cruce - Teresa, Blessed of the Cross.
Despite many attempts to safeguard her, she was arrested by the Gestapo on 2 August 1942, while she was in the chapel with the other sisters. Her last words to be heard in Echt convents were addressed to her sister Rosa: "Come, we are going for our people."
On 7 August, early in the morning, 987 Jews were deported to Auschwitz. It was probably on 9 August that Sister Teresia Benedicta a Cruce, her sister and many other of her people were gassed.
When Edith Stein was beatified in Cologne on 1 May 1987, the Church honoured "a daughter of Israel", as Pope John Paul II put it, who, as a Catholic during Nazi persecution, remained faithful to the crucified Lord Jesus Christ and, as a Jew, to her people in loving faithfulness."
Bills Before Congress 2012
The DC Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act would protect unborn children within the District of Columbia from abortion after 20 weeks, the point by which most agree that there is little question as to whether the child feels pain. In the District, abortion is legal through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason. Abortions after 20 weeks are typically performed using the violent dilation and evacuation (D & E) method, that is, dismemberment.
In acknowledgement of the HORRIFYINGLY PAINFUL DEATH unborn children face at this stage of development, the bill would extend legal protection to unborn children in all instances except in the rare case when a mother’s life is endangered.
The Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act would prevent people from taking a minor across state lines to get an abortion that her parents do not even know about.
Great American Catholics.
Charles Carroll of Carollton (1731-1832) signed the Declaration of Independence, siding Catholics with U.S. founding principles. John Adams called the Continental Congress delegate and U.S. Senator one of the greatest men of his time.
Daniel Carroll (1730-1796) signed the Articles of Confederation and U.S. Constitution. He risked much for the cause of American independence. George Washington’s friend, he fought for government by, of and for the people.
Thomas FitzSimons (1741-1811) Continental Congress delegate and Congressman who signed the U.S. Constitution. This Catholic philanthropist was an early opponent of slavery and proponent of free trade.
Joseph E Ransdell (1858-1954) U.S. Senator from Louisiana whose Ransdell Act created the National Institute of Health. The Daughters of Charity called him a "champion of public health" responsible for great medical advances.
Alfred E. “Al” Smith (1873-1944) New York Gov. and the first Catholic contender for the U.S. Presidency (1928). He opposed Prohibition and exposed rampant anti-Catholic fears. A major annual Manhattan dinner celebrates him.
Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987) Congresswoman and Ambassador, author and anti-Communist activist. Converted by Fulton Sheen, she wrote the Academy Award nominated screenplay Come to the Stable.
William E. Miller (1914-1983) U.S. Congressman and first Catholic on a GOP national ticket (1964), and party chairman. This World War II hero was “one of the best political minds and most effective orators of his day.”
Robert Sargent Shriver (1915-2011) married JFK sister Eunice, served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, helped start Peace Corps, Job Corps and Head Start. A pro-life Catholic, he was on the 1972 ticket.
Henry Hyde (1924-2007), Congressman, was “the most consequential Catholic legislator of his time,” writes George Weigel, loved by members of both parties. His pro-life Hyde Amendment probably saved 1 million lives.
Robert Patrick “Bob” Casey, Sr. (1932-2000) Governor of Pennsylvania whose pro-life reforms were at issue in the Supreme Court’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Democrats denied him a speaking slot at their 1992 convention.
EASTER.
The apostles suffered incredible persecution and died horrible deaths in the Christian cause. The only possible explanation for their zeal was that they had actually seen, talked with and eaten with the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. If Christ had not really risen and had not appeared to the apostles, would they all have died for a lie? Fritz Ridenour
Pope Benedict; good and evil hang beside each other on neighbouring crosses; that economic models rooted in human “truths” will only deepen what is difficult, exploitative, stagnant and false; that governments too-easily pay lip-service to “humanity,” while forgetting the human beings therein.
An Open Invitation to Richard Dawkins
Dear Dr. Dawkins:
Last week, on November 28, 2011, we devoted an hour on Catholic Answers Live to “Deconstructing Atheism,” with philosopher Edward Feser, author of The Last Superstition and other philosophical works. I invited you, albeit last minute, to call the show and you replied that it was too late in the UK but that you would deputize an American representative from your foundation, Sean Faircloth, who did call in the show. Dr. Feser and I tried to steer Mr. Faircloth back to the central question of whether God exists, and extract from him an answer as to why you refuse to debate William Lane Craig, the Christian philosopher and apologist. Mr. Faircloth had no answer, although he did exhibit above average question-dodging. What a disappointment.
After the show aired, you emailed me to complain that Feser and I misrepresented the truth, that you indeed did debate William Lane Craig on national Mexican television in 2010, and that you hoped I would make an on-air correction to set the record straight.
Firstly, to put it charitably, it is a stretch indeed to call the Cuidad de Las Ideas event in Mexico a “debate with William Lane Craig” since there were six panelists, including you and Craig, on the question of whether the universe has a purpose. I watched the whole thing on YouTube, and there was no direct Q&A interaction between you and Bill Craig (who, by the way, blogged at the time that you told him to his face that you did not consider it a debate with him).
Second, I read with interest your essay in The Guardian titled, “Why I Refuse to Debate William Lane Craig.” I am no logician, Dr. Dawkins, but I do know that these propositions cannot both be true. I also note your willingness to confront lightweights like Rev. Ted Haggard, actor Kirk Cameron, or non-philosophers who happen to be English archbishops.
I hereby invite you to set the record straight and debate Dr. Edward Feser on whether or not God exists. I know your dismissive line about the CV, and perhaps you’ll play that card here. But I hope not.
Edward Feser is also not a professional debater (neither is Craig, but that’s another matter) but a philosophy professor. He’s not asking for a debate. I pitched the idea, and he accepted. As you know, even fellow atheists such as Oxford’s own David Came are recognizing a pattern of ducking substantial one-on-one debates when he sees one. We all see it. One atheist commenter on your website called on his fellow atheists to “inundate” our phone system as a protest against Catholic Answers Live. This is intellectual discourse? I posted an invitation there for any atheist to call and voice his or her arguments. None have taken me up on my offer. This is known as chicken hawk behavior, or: courage in speech, cowardice in deed.
The Dawkins-Feser debate would be taped and released thereafter. Either way, you would be free to upload the debate on your website both as proof of your victory and as the occasion to make your critics fall silent. Finally, because you live in the UK, we would be happy to accommodate you with a reasonable time of day. We would go with our preference. I believe the world is ready for an updated version of the famous 1948 BBC debate between Bertrand Russell and Fred Copleston, SJ.
Please let me know. This is a sincere invitation.
Patrick Coffin
Host
Catholic Answers Live radio program
www.catholic.com/radio
EASTER
http://catholicdefense.blogspot.com/2012/04/cnns-easter-bashing-goes-laughably-awry.html
Monday, April 9, 2012
CNN's Easter-Bashing Goes Laughably Awry
CNN's annual “Bash Christianity on Easter” story is crazier than usual.
This year, they ran an article entitled The Jesus Debate: Man vs. Myth. On one side were John Dominic Crossan and Bart Ehrman, who deny the physical Resurrection. On the other side, are folks like (self-proclaimed “spiritual pioneer”) Timothy Freke who go even further, and deny that Jesus even existed. They don't just deny Easter, they deny Christmas.
That's right: the Resurrection-denying side was the closest thing to orthodoxy in this debate, at least for the first forty paragraphs (literally). Around the forty-seventh paragraph, they finally quote Prof. Craig A. Evans, who explains that Jesus of Nazareth existed. He is literally the first and only Christian source quoted. And the only thing they use Evans for is to provide some quotes saying that Jesus exists -- you wouldn't be able to tell from the context whether or not Evans even believes in the Resurrection.
So CNN's idea of a balanced article commemorating Easter is to depict the debate as between those who deny the Resurrection and those who deny the entirety of the Gospels. It's hard to know what to describe this as, if not flagrant bias, particularly when it's coupled by this sort of editorializing:
Those who argue against the existence of Jesus say they aren’t trying to destroy people’s faith.
“I don’t have any desire to upset people,” says Freke. “I do have a passion for the truth. … I don’t think rational people in the 20th century can go down a road just on blind faith.”
Yet Easter was never just about rationale.
The Easter stories about the resurrection are strange: Disciples don’t recognize Jesus as they meet him on the road; he tells someone not to touch him; he eats fish in another.
Those last two paragraphs are apparently from the reporter (CNN writer John Blake) himself, explaining that since we believers don't really care about things like reason, we can still cling to our faith.
I. What Does the Scholarship Actually Say?
I could sort of understand this false balance if the scholarly debate really was split between those two Easter-denying camps. But that's not the case at all. Professor Evans describes the state of academia in his book, Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels (p. 220):
Not long ago Tom Harpur's The Pagan Christ created a sensation by presenting in new form the odd notion that Jesus did not exist. I say odd because almost no serious academic - of any ideological, religious or nonreligious stripe - doubts that Jesus of Nazareth actually lived some time in the first century and was crucified by order of Pontious Pilate, governor of Judea. The evidence for the existence of Jesus - literary, archaeological and circumstantial - is overwhelming.
The agnostic Bart Ehrman is even more blunt. CNN reports his reaction this way:
Most Jesus deniers are Internet kooks, says Bart D. Ehrman, a New Testament scholar who recently released a book devoted to the question called “Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth.”
That is, almost every scholar acknowledges that Jesus existed, and the debate is over whether or not He rose from the dead. But CNN wants to recast it so that every scholar accepts that Jesus didn't rise from the dead, and the debate is over whether or not He even existed.
They go digging through the dregs pretty far to find someone who will say this, too. In a follow-up post, they described the article as a “story on a small cadre of authors challenging the existence of Jesus Christ.” So CNN sought out, not “scholars,” not “experts,” but “a small cadre” of “authors,” just to find somebody who would deny that Jesus existed.
II. Does an Ancient Amulet Disprove Christianity?
Don't get me wrong: plenty of folks outside of academia have had invaluable insights into the Gospels. But shouldn't we expect to find some sort of expertise from the folks that CNN dug up?
Instead, we get another regurgitation of the long-discredited idea that the Gospels are just a retelling of pagan myths. No one who has actually read the Gospels and the pagan myths in question could seriously claim this, and I've previously criticized the sloppy methodology behind these claims, showing that they could just as easily “prove” that Gandhi didn't exist.
But let's look at the specific “evidence” that gets trotted out for the CNN piece. The article opens by talking about how Freke decided Jesus didn't exist after reading an old book with a picture of “a drawing of a third-century amulet” of “Osiris-Dionysus, a pagan god in ancient Mediterranean culture” on a cross in a very Christological manner.
It's hard to know where to begin. First of all, the drawing in question (depicted on the left) doesn't claim to be of “Osiris-Dionysus” but of “Orpheus” and Dionysus (also known as Bacchus). This mistake is embarrassing, since the drawing has ΟΡΦΕΟΣ ΒΑΚΚΙΚΟΣ (Orpheus Bacchus) written on it.
And “Osiris-Dionysus” wasn't “a pagan god in ancient Mediterranean culture.” These were two separate gods from different cultures. Osiris was the Egyptian god of the dead, and Dionysus was the Greek god of wine. And Orpheus wasn't another name for Osiris or Dionysus, or any other god, for that matter. Rather, it's the name of a mythical Greek prophet and storyteller. In Greek mythology, Orpheus was killed by Dionysus. So the idea that Osiris, Orpheus, and Dionysus are all one god is off to a ... rocky start, to say the least.
There's also the fact that the now-lost amulet was almost certainly a forgery. The German epigrapher Otto Kern, who initially promoted the amulet as authentic, recanted in the face of the evidence, a fact that Freke's coauthor Peter Gandy has acknowledged. In Kern's words, the amulet “is almost certainly a fake.” For example, the bent knees in the depiction of the Crucifixion is characteristic of later Medieval art, not art from late antiquity. But since the only evidence of the amulet's existence is the line drawing, it's impossible to know for sure.
So let's overlook all of that for a moment. Assume that the amulet was authentic, and that it actually did depict Dionysus (or Osiris, or Orpheus, or “Osiris-Dionysus”) in a very Christ-like pose. What does this prove, exactly? By Kerns' own telling, the amulet is supposed to be from the third century A.D.
Did time-travelling Christians steal this image to construct the story of Jesus? Because the Crucifixion of Christ was a pretty central part of Christianity from the first century. You might as well point to Kanye West's obnoxious Rolling Stone cover as proof that the Gospels were based off of rap music.
Perhaps a more lucid conclusion from those facts would be that later Christological depictions of Messianic pretenders (from pagan gods to Kanye West) are modeled off of a very Christian understanding of what a Messiah looks like. That is, even a pagan living in the Christianized West hears “Messiah” and thinks of Jesus, and it's natural that art should reflect this.
In fact, we know from St. Justin Martyr's writings (c. 180 A.D.) that the pagans didn't have crucified depictions of their gods:
But in no instance, not even in any of those called sons of Jupiter, did they imitate the being crucified; for it was not understood by them, all the things said of it having been put symbolically.
And he says this exactly one chapter after he lists Bacchus as one of the sons of Jupiter. So the idea that Bacchus was depicted as crucified, prior to Christ, is directly contradicted by the only evidence that we have.
Let me emphasize something here: this amulet is at the heart of Freke's argument. I didn't just choose Freke's stupidest argument. Rather, this is how the CNN article opens, and Freke and Gandy acutally put a computer enhanced (read: “doctored”) version of the amulet drawing as the cover of their own book.
Given all of this, Freke's amulet argument is laughably weak. It's probably fake, and even if it were real, it doesn't remotely prove what Freke and the others are claiming (and goes directly against uncontroverted second-century evidence).
Conclusion
As is hopefully clear, this was worse than a puff piece. This was part of a recurring trend: that each year at Easter, CNN runs stories hostile to orthodox Christianity, and often doesn't bother checking even basic facts.
I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that CNN's article would be roughly equivalent to a mainstream news source deciding on the anniversary of V-E Day to run an article sympathetic to Holocaust deniers. In both cases, we're dealing with conspiratorial nuts without regard for evidence. And in both cases, it would be incredibly tactless for a paper to run that sort of frontal assault at that particular time. But as BBC director-general Mark Thompson has admitted (and defended), it's common practice to treat Christianity much more harshly than religions like Judaism or Islam.
I'm not suggesting that Christianity (or any religion) be treated with kid gloves. As Christians, we make truth claims, and I would love a spirited dialogue over the reliability of those claims. But this trend of exploiting Christian religious holidays to spread bilious nonsense under the guise of critical scholarship is the opposite of the role that the media should be playing.
Our Lady’s Island
info@ourladysisland.ie
History of Our Lady's Island
Pre-Christian
http://www.ourladysisland.ie/index.php/history
Historic Relic
http://www.ourladysisland.ie/index.php/history/jimmy-maloney-collection
The figure on the crucifix shown was found in the Lady's Island lake in the vicinity of St Ibar's in the summer of 1887. When first discovered, a small portion of the left arm was missing. Acting on the instructions of the Parish Priest, the late Venerable Archdeacon Roche, the finder - a boy named Cogley - renewed the search and, strange to relate, succeeded in finding the missing part which was subsequently joined to the figure.
Our Lady's Island - Historic Relic
The tradition regarding this interesting souvenir of the past runs as follows:-
It once belonged to the old Church of St Ibar and was much venerated by the people. When, on that memorable October evening 1649, the alarm was given that Cromwell's troops were marching from Wexford to attack Lady's Island, a gallant effort was made by the people to save, from their vandalic fury, the sacred vessels and ornaments of the churches in south Wexford.
One young man named Duffy, rushed to St Ibar's Church and, seizing this Crucifix which rested over the Tabernacle, fled with it across the shallow part of the lake. But, alas, it was too late. He was shot down by the brutal soldiers before he could reach the other shore, and his martyred blood crimsoned the waters.
The sacred burden that he carried lay concealed in the mud of the lake for centuries, until, as above recorded, it was accidentally discovered in the year 1887. The Shrine was presented by the Rev. Thomas O'Byrne C.C., Tacumshane on August 15th 1910.
In very early times, a dense population existed here, as is manifest from the many large enclosures of clay mounds, called 'Raths'. In or near these artificial structures bones of human beings and burnt ashes have frequently been found. Smaller raths still dot the land. These were predominantly cattle and sheep enclosures.
Druid's Altar
Our Lady's Island - Druid Altar
One famous pagan shrine, possibly a temple to the sun, stood at Carnsore Point where a natural stone structure is believed to have been a Druid's altar. In Penal times this was used as a Mass Rock.
In a list of Irish place-names published in Iris-Leabhar na Gaeilge in 1903, the Irish name for Our Lady's Island is given as Cluain-na-mBan - 'the meadow of the women'. Considering that this locality was the centre of druidical worship, it would not be far-fetched to suggest that Our Lady's Island was in pre-Christian times inhabited by female druids.
Early Christian
Given the proximity of Co. Wexford’s coastline to the continent, there is no doubt that continental merchants trading with Ireland brought the faith to the shores of Wexford long before St. Patrick.
Tradition has always existed that Our Lady's Island was founded by St Abban, nephew of St Ibar, in the sixth century and its reputation as a place of pilgrimage and of devotion to Our Lady was established by or before the year 600 A.D.
Norman Times
Our Lady's Island - Norman Ruins Built By Rudolph, Son of Milo De LamporteBefore the time of the Anglo-Norman landings, the Christian faith was very strong in Co. Wexford. This is evident from the large number of parishes, each with at least one place of worship and one of burial area bearing Irish Names.
Following the Norman Invasions of the late 12th century lands were confiscated and given to the favourites of the Norman leaders. A number of estates came into the possession of Milo De Lamporte and it was he who built the old feudal stronghold in 1195.
It was his son, Rudolph who built another strong hold, the Tower House, upon the Island in 1237. In front lies a space of elevated ground called 'Ardownes' or the Highlands, containing about 180 acres, between two forks of the lake. It is well protected by a strong, thick earthen mound, that is still, in parts, twelve to fifteen feet high, and runs for nearly half a mile.
Rudolph gave this land to the Church and asked the Canons Regular of St Augustine to take charge of the island. He then went to fight in the Crusades, where he was killed. Before he left, he asked that prayers be said for the repose of his soul.
Early Pilgrimages
Our Lady's Island - A leaden Bula of Pope Martinus VHistorical evidence of the pilgrimage was discovered in 1941, when a member of the Druhan family, who lived on the Island, unearthed what appeared to be a coin while ploughing. He brought it to the local curate, Fr Browne, who recognised it as something more than a coin and sent it to the British Museum for inspection.
It was later confirmed that the metal disk was "a leaden Bula of Pope Martinus V (1417-1431). Martin V's Bula granted indulgences to pilgrims."
In 1607, Pope Paul V addressed a Brief to the Clergy, Nobility and Faithful People of the Kingdom of Ireland in which he exhorted them to imitate the martyrs of their race and so prove themselves worthy sons of their forefathers who merited for Ireland the title of Island of Saints. He would also grant indulgences to various towns and cities in which there was a Sodality of the Annunciata on the feasts of - the Purification, Annunciation and Assumption and to famous places of devotion and pilgrimage. The list of such places includes Our Lady’s Island where a Plenary Indulgence would be granted to all the faithful who after Confession and Holy Communion would visit the Church of Our Lady's Island on the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady (8th September) and on that of the Assumption (15th August).
Cromwell's Persecution (1649)
In October 1649, Cromwell arrived in Wexford and sent out foraging parties around the county. One such party arrived in Our Lady's Island, where many people had gone for sanctuary. The Augustinian priests refused to bear arms against their country. They were murdered, the church was unroofed and desecrated and the castle was burned. Mass has not been celebrated within the walls of the old church since.
A young boy rushed into nearby church of St Ibar, snatched the crucifix from the altar and attempted to escape across the shallow part of the lake. He was shot, and the crucifix was lost. It lay in the mud and water until 1887 when it was found in the lake and taken to the parish priest. Today it is preserved in a simple shrine in the parish church with its history inscribed.
Read a more complete account of this historic relic.
A mere twenty years after Cromwell's massacre, pilgrims were flocking to Our Lady's Island once more.
The Penal Laws
During the Penal Days in the eighteenth century, Pope Benedict XIV suppressed some of the Irish local pilgrimages because of reported abuses, but he specifically exempted Lough Derg and Our Lady's Island and in 1833 the island was still being described as a celebrated place of pilgrimage.
Pilgrimages in the 19th century.
In June 1867, the Redemptorist Fathers conducted a Mission in the parish. On the last Sunday of the Mission, Dr. Furlong, the Bishop of Ferns presided at the huge procession of the Blessed Sacrament around the island and at the High Mass in the new parish church. The island was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In 1897 the local Parish Priest, Fr Whitty, established the custom of the public Pilgrimage Procession on 15th August. Since then the pilgrimage has grown year by year.