A Glorious day for the Heralds of the Gospel in Fatima [Part 2]

A glorious day for the Heralds of the Gospel in Fatima [Part 1]

Dear Friends

We were at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima on Saturday, October 8. The Heralds of the Gospel from Portugal had organized the annual gathering of the coordinators of Pilgrim Shrines.

We had a procession and a Mass at the newly build Church next to the Little Chapel of the Apparitions. The Mass was celebrated by His Excellency Don Manuel Linda auxiliary bishop of Braga. I had the honour to be one of the 2 deacons to serve the holy
Mass. Ten thousand people attended.

I though you would like to see some photos.

We lit a candle for you at the Shrine.

God bless
Deacon Arthur, EP
Heralds of the Gospel

Archbishop Vincent Nichols adresses Judges Service at Westminster Abbey

Archbishop Vincent Nichols has given the address at the annual Judges Service held at Westminster Abbey. This was the first time since the Reformation that the address was given by a Catholic Archbishop.

The Judges Service marks the start of the UK legal year. Held at Westminster Abbey on 3 October, it was attended by the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, the Lord Chief Justice, justices of the Supreme Court, judges and other members of the legal profession. The custom dates back to the Middle Ages when the High Court was held in Westminster Hall and judges would walk over to Westminster Abbey for the service. The Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice both read a lesson.

This year a number of Catholic Judges also attended the service.This was made possible by Westminster Cathedral's Red Mass, which also marks the start of the legal year, starting at an earlier time.

Full text of Archbishop of Westminster's address to Judges.

August was a difficult month: difficult for families, difficult - very difficult - for police forces, ruinous for some shop-keepers and businesses, deeply distressing for many local communities, and demanding - exceptionally so - for many court rooms and their services.

It was also a period of days in which many aspects of the faith communities in our cities were seen for what they are: not at all part of the problem but a significant part of the solution.

Many church leaders have spoken of the role of priests, pastors and people over those days and nights of civil disturbance and looting. One Catholic priest spoke of his efforts at guiding many young people away from criminal action, even the simple act of picking up looted goods abandoned on the roadside. Chaplains to the police worked worked hard to give support. Churches and halls became focal points of prayer and of gatherings expressing support for hurting, bewildered people. Mr Jahan, in Birmingham, speaking out of the depth of his Muslim faith, turned the tide of events by his passion and courage.

But this morning we reflect on the administration of justice and the work of the courts. That work was relentless in some places. And it was not easy, for it became the focal point of so much outrage, and so many questions.

Perhaps those weeks, more than anything else, illustrated the need for our prayer this morning. And I am honoured to be part of it, highlighting its ecumenical nature. It is right that we followers of Christ come together to ask the Lord's blessing on this important and challenging work.

The administration of justice relates closely to the truth about our human lives, affirmed and illuminated by our Christian faith. The simple truth is this: actions always have their consequences. We are not, and never have been, and never shall be, autonomous individuals able to act as we please, as we think fit, as if we were detached from all around us. Even if the cult of the autonomous individual carries considerable weight today, we know it is misleading.

The deeper understanding of our shared nature is that we belong together and have serious responsibilities towards each other, within families, within schools, associations, enterprise and as a society.

The deeper understanding still is that this mutual belonging is rooted in the hidden depth of life itself, rising from the mystery of God and, in the end, inexplicable in it's meaning when wrenched apart from that mystery. It is, then, in the things of God that our sure perspectives are to be found concerning the meaning of our lives, their origin and destiny, the patterns of good living which arise from those perspectives and, most relevantly, how we are to respond to failure, sin, crime, in terms of judgement, punishment, retribution, pardon, mercy and new freedom.

These things are, within the judicial system, your business, your bread and butter. So you know how delicate, complex and demanding they are.

So we pray for God's blessing and we look to God's word for our guidance.

The Words of Scripture we have just heard may speak to us with a certain directness. Let us reflect on them.

The first reading was from St Paul's Letter to the Galatians. In his Letter, Paul is passionate. The challenges he was facing were radical: was he truly an apostle, or an imposter? Was his message no more than a variant on the Jewish faith - with it's requirement of circumcision - or was it breaking new ground? In his Letter Paul is at his most forceful. And the lines we heard, the conclusion of the Letter, are special, for just before them Paul tells us that he has taken up the pen himself, to add this final flourish:

'See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand'

Then his punch line:

'May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.'

Why is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ so central for us today? Because it reveals to us, spells out for us, the justice of God, God's response to our failure, our sin; God's working of judgement, retribution, pardon, mercy and new freedom.

This revelation of God's justice is most fully expressed in the figure of our crucified Saviour. In Christ's body, broken on the cross, we see the effects of sin - our sins, too. We know well that every sin, every crime, no matter how hidden it may seem to be, has a victim. In the crucified Christ we glimpse the unwavering love of God, his endless mercy for God permits all our failures, the damage we do, and our anger at it, to be absorbed by Jesus - absorbed into the infinite capacity of his divinity - so that the justice of God, who cannot be deceived, may issue forth in forgiveness and freedom.

Our systems of justice do not reach those heights. Nor could they, limited as they are by our human nature, our incomplete understandings, our best effort at judgement which will be subject to review and revision. Nevertheless we welcome this glimpse of divine justice. We strive to reflect it as best we can and we are consoled - I trust - that it awaits us when we come before God, as we most surely will, for we know that actions have their consequences also in the eyes of God.

St Paul boasts in the cross of Christ. We can, at least, find our consolation and hope in it.

The words of the Gospel add another reflection. Jesus speaks of his yoke as 'easy' and his burden as 'light'. This makes more sense when we recall that the yoke, used to support the weight of the burden, was carved and adjusted to fit the person's shoulders. A well fitting yoke was easy to use and made a burden light.

This is how we may understand our Christian calling. Our relationship with Christ, personal, unique, intimate, helps us to face the challenges and bear the burdens of office with serenity. Knowing that we are trying to do what is right, rather than what is convenient, finds it's support and encouragement in the person of Jesus, who walks with us every day.

This relationship is at the heart of our sense of purpose in life, our vocation. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said 'Many people mistake their work for their vocation. Our vocation is the love of Jesus.' May this sense of vocation support and encourage you all.

These two short readings are taken from the Liturgy for the Feast of St Francis of Assisi which comes tomorrow. I made this choice for a simple reason. For St Francis too the Cross was central to his experience of faith. Indeed, as is well known, he bore the wounds of Christ in his own body, in the stigmata.

In the first reading St Paul speaks of 'carrying the marks of Jesus branded on my body'. No one knows for sure what exactly he means. But the witness of Francis and Paul is sufficient for us, too, to strive that our lives, our work, are distinguished by the marks of Christ. In particular, may your lives be marked by a passion for the truth, a compassion for the weak and an unfailing commitment to justice before the law and before the throne of God.

From the Website of the Diocese of Westminster. See: http://www.rcdow.org.uk/archbishop/default.asp?library_ref=&content_ref=3514

Seven Sorrows and Joys of Saint Joseph

Let us allow ourselves to be infected by the silence of St. Joseph, We need it very much, in a world that is often too noisy." Pope Benedict XVI

Among the many exercises of piety practiced in honor of St. Joseph, there is one generally known, namely, that of meditating on his Seven Sorrows and Seven Joys. This devotion owes its origin to a celebrated event, never omitted by any historian of the Saint.

It is as follows:

Two Fathers of the Franciscan order were sailing along the coast of Flanders, when a terrible tempest arose, which sank the vessel, with its three hundred passengers. The two Fathers had sufficient presence of mind to seize hold of a plank, upon which they were tossed to and fro upon the waves, for three days and nights. In their danger and affliction, their whole recourse was to St. Joseph, begging his assistance in their sad condition. The Saint, thus invoked, appeared in the habit of a young man of beautiful features, encouraged them to confide in his assistance, and, as their pilot, conducted them into a safe harbor. They, desirous to know who their benefactor was asked his name, that they might gratefully acknowledge so great a blessing and favor. He told them he was St. Joseph, and advised them daily to recite the Our Father and Hail Mary seven times, in memory of his seven dolors or griefs, and of his seven joys, and then disappeared.

(Recite one Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be after each number)

1. St. JOSEPH, Chaste Spouse of the Holy Mother of God, by thy SORROW with which thy heart was pierced at the thought of a cruel separation from Mary, and by thy deep JOY that thou didst feel when the angel revealed to thee the ineffable mystery of the Incarnation, obtain for us from Jesus and Mary, the grace of surmounting all anxiety. Win for us from the Adorable Heart of Jesus the unspeakable peace of which He is the Eternal Source.

2. St. JOSEPH, Foster-Father of Jesus, by thy bitter SORROW which thy heart experienced in seeing the Child Jesus lying in a manger, and by the JOY which thou didst feel in seeing the Wise men recognize and adore Him as their God, obtain by thy prayers that our heart, purified by thy protection, may become a living crib, where the Savior of the world may receive and bless our homage.

3. St. JOSEPH, by thy SORROW with which thy heart was pierced at the sight of the Blood which flowed from the Infant Jesus in the Circumcision, and by thy JOY that inundated thy soul at thy privilege of imposing the sacred and mysterious Name of Jesus, obtain for us that the merits of this Precious Blood may be applied to our souls, and that the Divine Name of Jesus may be engraved forever in our hearts.

4. St. JOSEPH, by thy SORROW when the Lord declared that the soul of Mary would be pierced with a sword of sorrow, and by thy JOY when holy Simeon added that the Divine Infant was to be the resurrection of many, obtain for us the grace to have compassion on the sorrows of Mary, and share in the salvation which Jesus brought to the earth.

5. St. JOSEPH, by thy SORROW when told to fly into Egypt, and by thy JOY in seeing the idols overthrown at the arrival of the living God, grant that no idol of earthly affection may any longer occupy our hearts, but being like thee entirely devoted to the service of Jesus and Mary, we may live and happily die for them alone.

6. St. JOSEPH, by thy SORROW of thy heart caused by the fear of the tyrant Archelaus and by thy JOY in sharing the company of Jesus and Mary at Nazareth, obtain for us, that disengaged from all fear, we may enjoy the peace of a good conscience and may live in security, in union with Jesus and Mary, experiencing the effect of thy salutary assistance at the hour of our death.

7. St. JOSEPH, by thy bitter SORROW with which the loss of the Child Jesus crushed thy heart, and by thy holy JOY which inundated thy soul in recovering thy Treasure on entering the Temple, we supplicate thee not to permit us to lose our Saviour Jesus by sin. Yet, should this misfortune befall us, grant that we may share thy eagerness in seeking Him, and obtain for us the grace to find Him again, ready to show us His great mercy, especially at the hour of death; so that we may pass from this life to enjoy His presence in heaven, there to sing with thee His divine mercies forever.

Let Us Pray

O God, Who in Thine ineffable Providence has vouchsafed to choose Blessed Joseph to be the Spouse of Thy most holy Mother; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may deserve to have him for our intercessor in heaven whom on earth we venerate as our holy protector: Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

St Therese of the Infant Jesus -Doctor of the Church

Dear Friends
On the Feast of St Therese of the Infant Jesus, patron of
the Heralds of the Gospel, I am pleased to send you some
thoughts of this Doctor of the Church died at age 24 on
the 30th of September 1897. May she intercede for you in
all your needs.

God bless Deacon Arthur, EP

.....................

The good God does not need years to accomplish His work of love in a soul; one ray from His Heart can, in an instant, make His flower bloom for eternity...

VI letter to her sister Celine

There is one ONLY THING to do here below: to love Jesus, to win souls for Him so that He may be loved. Let us seize with jealous care every least opportunity of self sacrifice. Let us refuse Him nothing - He does so want our love!

VI letter to her sister Celine

Seeing the eternal recompense so disproportionate to the trifling sacrifices of this life, I longed to love Jesus, to love Him ardently, to give him a thousand proofs of tenderness while yet I could do so...

Story of A Soul, Chapter V

In times of aridity when I am incapable of praying, of practicing virtue, I seek little opportunities, mere trifles, to give pleasure to Jesus; for instance a smile, a pleasant word when inclined to be silent and to show weariness. If I find no opportunities, I at least tell Him again and again that I love Him; that is not difficult and it keeps alive the fire in my heart. Even though this fire of love might seem extinct I would still throw little straws upon the embers and I am certain it would rekindle.

XVI letter to her sister Celine