Pope Francis' First Lenten Message

The Holy Father, Pope Francis, invites us to embrace the call to poverty so that we "might become rich" in his first Lenten message.

As the 265th successor of St Peter, the Pope preaches on the path to conversion challenging us to consider the Apostle's teaching that we were "set free not by Christ's riches but by his poverty."

He says:

"By making himself poor, Jesus did not seek poverty for its own sake but, as Saint Paul says 'that by his poverty you might become rich'. This is no mere play on words or a catch phrase. Rather, it sums up God’s logic, the logic of love, the logic of the incarnation and the cross. God did not let our salvation drop down from heaven, like someone who gives alms from their abundance out of a sense of altruism and piety. Christ’s love is different! When Jesus stepped into the waters of the Jordan and was baptized by John the Baptist, he did so not because he was in need of repentance, or conversion; he did it to be among people who need forgiveness, among us sinners, and to take upon himself the burden of our sins. In this way he chose to comfort us, to save us, to free us from our misery."

Pope Francis also challenges Christians to "confront the poverty of our brothers and sisters, to touch it, to make it our own and to take practical steps to alleviate it."

He then highlights three types of destitution - material, spiritual and moral - and highlights the key difference between poverty and destitution.

The Holy Father concludes:

"May the Holy Spirit, through whom we are 'as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything' (2 Cor 6:10), sustain us in our resolutions and increase our concern and responsibility for human destitution, so that we can become merciful and act with mercy."

You can download Pope Francis' Lenten message for 2014 here.

If Jesus made an exception for divorce in cases of adultery, why doesn't the Church?

From Catholic Answers
http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/if-jesus-made-an-exception-for-divorce-in-cases-of-adultery-why-doesnt-the-church

Full Question

In Matthew 19:3-9 when the Pharisees are questioning Jesus about divorce, Jesus seems to make an exception in the case of adultery. Why, then, doesn't the Catholic Church follow what Jesus says in the Bible and allow divorce in such circumstances?

Answer

Let us recall first of all that Matthew's audience was mainly Jews, and only Matthew's Gospel has this exception clause.

The word "adultery" is not what Jesus said, although many Bible translations use this word. If Jesus intended to say adultery, he would have used the word moicheia, meaning "adultery," but instead he used the word porneia, meaning illicit or invalid.

His audience, the Jews, knew exactly what Jesus meant. Leviticus 18:6-16 list marriages that are illegal for Jews because they are between certain degrees of consanguinity or were with a Gentile, which was forbidden. The Jews knew this, and this is why Matthew's Gospel includes this exception. The Catholic Church does follow what Jesus says, when his words are properly translated.

Guardian Angels

An interesting article from Tuscany Press, a publisher dedicated to great Catholic books - fiction and non-fiction. They sponsor the Tuscany Prize for Catholic Fiction to discover the 21st Century's best storytellers. - See more at: http://tuscanypress.com/blog/drawing-the-infinite-measure-of-truth-s-dimensions-my-catholic-view-of-the-world-by-dennis-p-mcgeehan.php

http://www.writeonnewjersey.com/2010/10/do-angels-exist/
I am a cradle Catholic, a baby boomer and a member of that group of students who could never figure out why some of our teachers did not wear religious habits. “What do they mean by a Lay teacher?” we asked when we first heard that term.

The early 1960's was a time before the current great social upheaval began. On TV the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys wore black. Television itself began and ended each broadcast day with the National Anthem, and prayer was found in both public and parochial schools. It was a great time to be a kid.

It was also a great time to be a Catholic student as the nuns made sure we fully understood what was happening all around us, the “great battle” for our souls. We were the Church Militant embroiled in a battle that had raged since the beginning of time.

Each day was another opportunity to be a soldier for Christ as we went about our daily tasks. The nuns told us we were not alone, each of us had our guardian angel right next to us – a spiritual being who never left our side. That teaching is still 100 percent Catholic orthodoxy, although you rarely hear it talked about today outside of nursery school.

The image of a guardian angel has remained with me, though, and it colors everything I do. As I deal with duties that set my nerves on edge I pray to my guardian angel. As I walk up to the ambo to sing the responsorial psalm as a cantor at my parish, I asked my angel for his help.

As I watch the problems of the world unfold I see not only two warring human armies, I see the angelic and the demonic forces locked in mortal combat. God's enemy, Satan, who is every bit our enemy as well, keeps count of the souls he brings to damnation as his only way to truly hurt the Father.

God created the universe, set it in motion – and continues to act as the first principle of existence. Without God, there is nothing. Nonetheless, he placed His angels to be creation’s caretaker. As I look up to the night sky and see the moon, stars and points of light that are actually galaxies, my mind is expanded by the shear enormity of God's work. And each physical body has an angel to watch over it!

When nature turns violent with hurricanes and tornados their power is awesome. But that power is inconsequential when compared to the power of the spiritual world that all of us will one day experience, either as Children of the Light or Children of the Dark. We will either be content joy filled amazed observers or hopeless broken shards blown about by mighty blasts.

In the context of that spiritual realm, as it intersects with our own physical world, perhaps no other thought is more mind-blowing than the Eucharist. God the Father created everything through Jesus His Son. I take within my hands and consume within my body Him through whom the giant stars, galaxies, black holes, all corporeal and non-corporeal life was brought into existence. Infinite power I can hold and take within me only because He made it possible.

The Catholic imagination is fed by the Truth of Catholic teaching. This Truth is stranger than fiction. It is also more awe inspiring and humbling.

- See more at: http://tuscanypress.com/blog/drawing-the-infinite-measure-of-truth-s-dimensions-my-catholic-view-of-the-world-by-dennis-p-mcgeehan.php#sthash.DjihPoJg.dpuf

Will you respond to Our Lady's Gift? The fifteen promises for praying the Rosary.

Our Lady's 15 Promises for Praying the Rosary

http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/prayer/15promise.htm

Besides the Indulgences attached to the Rosary, Our Lady revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche additional benefits for those who devoutly pray the Rosary. Our Lady's promise is shown in darker blue text. Additional explanation on and doctrinal connections to each promise is shown following in the smaller normal text font and color. Note that the Rosary is the prayer (non-Liturgical) with the most published Magisterial / Papal documents expounding on its excellence. Vatican II's summary on Our Lady is contained in Lumen Gentium chapter VIII.

1.	Whosoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces.Signal Graces are those special and unique Graces to help sanctify us in our state in life. See the remaining promises for an explanation for which these will consist. St. Louis de Montfort states emphatically that the best and fastest way to union with Our Lord is via Our Lady [True Devotion to Mary, chapter four].
2.	I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.Our Lady is our Advocate and the channel of all God's Grace to us. Our Lady is simply highlighting that She will watch especially over us who pray the Rosary. (see Lumen Gentium chapter VIII - Our Lady #62) [a great more detail is available on this topic in True Devotion to Mary, chapter four, by St. Louis de Montfort]
3.	The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin and defeat heresies.This promise, along with the next, is simply the reminder on how fervent prayer will help us all grow in holiness by avoiding sin, especially a prayer with the excellence of the Rosary. An increase in holiness necessarily requires a reduction in sin, vice, and doctrinal errors (heresies). If only the Modernists could be convinced to pray the Rosary! (seeLumen Gentium chapter V - The Call to Holiness #42) St. Louis de Montfort states "Since Mary alone crushed all heresies, as we are told by the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary)..." [True Devotion to Mary #167]
4.	It will cause good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire for Eternal Things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.This promise, along with the previous, is the positive part, that being to live in virtue. Becoming holy is not only avoiding sin, but also growing in virtue. (see Lumen Gentium chapter V - The Call to Holiness #42)
5.	The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.Since Our Lady is our Mother and Advocate, She always assists those who call on Her implicitly by praying the Rosary. The Church reminds us of this in the Memorareprayer, "... never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help or sought your intercession, was left unaided ..."
6.	Whosoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of Eternal Life.This promise highlights the magnitude of Graces that the Rosary brings to whomever prays it. One will draw down God's Mercy rather than His Justice and will have a final chance to repent (see promise #7). One will not be conquered by misfortune means that Our Lady will obtain for the person sufficient Graces to handle said misfortune (i.e. carry the Crosses allowed by God) without falling into despair. As Sacred Scripture tells us, "For my yoke is sweet and my burden light." (Matthew 11:30)
7.	Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.This promise highlights the benefits of obtaining the most possible Graces at the hour of death via the Sacraments of Confession, Eucharist, and Extreme Unction (Anointing of the Sick). Being properly disposed while receiving these Sacraments near death ensures one's salvation (although perhaps with a detour through Purgatory) since a final repentance is possible.
8.	Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the Light of God and the plenitude of His Graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the Merits of the Saints in Paradise.Our Lady highlights the great quantity of Graces obtain through praying the Rosary, which assist us during life and at the moment of death. The merits of the Saints are the gift of God's rewards to those persons who responded to His Grace that they obtained during life, and so Our Lady indicates that She will provide a share of that to us at death. With this promise and #7 above, Our Lady is providing the means for the person to have a very holy death.
9.	I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.Should one require Purgatorial cleansing after death, Our Lady will make a special effort to obtain our release from Purgatory through Her intercession as Advocate.
10.	The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of Glory in Heaven.This promise is a logical consequence of promises #3 and #4 since anyone who truly lives a holier life on earth will obtain a higher place in Heaven. The closer one is to God while living on earth, the close that person is to Him also in Heaven. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states "Spiritual progress tends toward ever more union with Christ." (Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 2014)
11.	You shall obtain all you ask of me by recitation of the Rosary.This promise emphasizes Our Lady's role as our Advocate and Mediatrix of all Graces. Of course, all requests are subject to God's Most Perfect Will. God will always grant our request if it is beneficial for our soul, and Our Lady will only intercede for us when our request is good for our salvation. (see Lumen Gentium chapter VIII - Our Lady #62)
12.	All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.If one promotes the praying of the Rosary, Our Lady emphasizes Her Maternal care for us by obtaining many Graces (i.e. spiritual necessities) and also material necessities (neither excess nor luxury), all subject to the Will of God of course.
13.	I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire Celestial Court during their life and at the hour of death.Since Our Lady is our Advocate, She brings us additional assistance during our life and at our death from all the saints in Heaven (the Communion of Saints). See paragraphs 954 through 959 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
14.	All who recite the Rosary are my Sons, and brothers of my Only Son Jesus Christ.Since the Rosary is a most excellent prayer focused on Jesus and His Life and activities in salvation history, it brings us closer to Our Lord and Our Lady. Doctrinally, Our Lady is our Mother and Jesus is our Eldest Brother, besides being our God. (see Lumen Gentium chapter VIII - Our Lady #62)
15.	Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.Predestination in this context means that, by the sign which is present to a person from the action of devoutly praying the Rosary, God has pre-ordained your salvation. Absolute certainty of salvation can only be truly known if God reveals it to a person because, although we are given sufficient Grace during life, our salvation depends upon our response to said Grace. (See Summa Theologica, Question 23 for a detailed theological explanation). Said another way, if God has guaranteed a person's salvation but has not revealed it to Him, God would want that person to pray the Rosary because of all the benefits and Graces obtained. Therefore the person gets a hint by devotion to the Rosary. This is not to say that praying the Rosary guarantees salvation - by no means. In looking at promises #3 and #4 above, praying the Rosary helps one to live a holy life, which is itself a great sign that a soul is on the road to salvation. (See also paragraphs 381, 488, 600, 2782 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.) In fact, St. Louis de Montfort says even more strongly that "an infallible and unmistakable sign by which we can distinguish a heretic, a man of false doctrine, an enemy of God, from one of God's true friends is that the hardened sinner and heretic show nothing but contempt and indifference to Our Lady..." [True Devotion to Mary, #30]

Reminder: these promises mean that, by faithfully and devoutly praying the Rosary, Our Lady will obtain for us the necessary Graces to obtain said promises. It is still up to each individual soul to respond to those Graces in order to obtain salvation.

Day of Prayer for Victims of Human Trafficking

http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/Home/Featured/Human-Trafficking/Background

Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.
Catholics in England and Wales are being invited to pray for all victims of human trafficking on the Feast Day of St Bakhita, 8 February 2014.

"The Day of Prayer for the Victims of Trafficking is an opportunity to remember and pray for the thousands and thousands of victims of trafficking throughout the world,” said the Lead Bishop for Migration, Bishop Patrick Lynch.

“It is especially appropriate that the day itself coincides with the feast day of St. Josephine Bakhita who despite the suffering she experienced as a slave was a wonderful witness of how to live a life rooted in faith, inspired by hope and characterized by love. I would, therefore, encourage all people - young and old - to make a special effort to join in this Day of Prayer."

St Josephine Bakhita is the Sudanese Saint who at the age of nine was kidnapped and sold into slavery. She suffered terribly at the hands of her kidnappers so much so that she forgot her birth name. Her kidnappers gave her the name ‘Bakhita’ which means ‘Fortunate’.

At the age of 35 she was bought by the Italian Consul and was eventually brought to Italy where she was entrusted to the care of the Canossian Sisters in Venice. It was there that she came to know and experience God’s love. She became a Catholic in 1890 and made her final profession as a Canossian Sister in 1896. For the next fifty years she led a life of simplicity, prayer and service (especially as the doorkeeper in the convent) always showing kindness to everyone especially the children in the street. In her final years she suffered from sickness and the haunting memories of the beatings and floggings she received whilst in slavery. She died in 1947 and was canonized in October 2000.

Human trafficking now ranks as the second most profitable worldwide criminal enterprise after the illegal arms trade. The practical response of the Church and its charities, led in the main by Women Religious, is to raise awareness of this horrendous crime and to provide help and support for the most vulnerable victims.

The Office for Migration Policy (OMP) of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales is working in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Service to raise awareness of the impact of human trafficking in the UK and the rest of the word. OMP is also liaising with two dicasteries of the Vatican, (The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People) to develop closer collaboration with the Episcopal Conferences of countries of origin as well as transit and destination countries so that prevention, pastoral care and reintegration of trafficked people can be improved.

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St Josephine Bakhita

Biography of St Josephine Bakhita

Name

Saint Josephine Bakhita

Born
c. 1869 in Olgossa, Darfur, Sudan

Died
8 February 1947

Year of beatification
1992 (17 May)

Year of canonisation
2000 (1 October)

Feast Day
8 February

St Josephine Bakhita, also known as ‘Mother Moretta’ (our Black Mother) bore 144 physical scars throughout her life which were received after she was kidnapped at the age of nine and sold into slavery. Such was the trauma experienced that she forgot her birth name and her kidnappers gave her the name Bakhita meaning ‘fortunate’. Flogging and maltreatment were part of her daily life. She experienced the moral and physical humiliations associated with slavery.

It was only in 1882 that her suffering was alleviated after she was bought for the Italian Consul. This event was to transform her life. In this family and, subsequently in a second Italian home, she received from her masters, kindness, respect, peace and joy. Josephine came to discover love in a profound way even though at first she was unable to name its source.

A change in her owner’s circumstances meant that she was entrusted to the Canossian Sisters of the Institute of the Catechumens in Venice. It was there that Bakhita came to know about God whom, ‘she had experienced in her heart without knowing who He was’ since she was a child. She was received into the Catholic Church in 1890, joining the sisters and making final profession in 1896.

The next fifty years of her life were spent witnessing to God’s love through cooking, sewing, embroidery and attending to the door. When she was on door duty, she would gently lay her hands on the heads of the children who attended the nearby school and caress them. Her voice was pleasing to the little ones, comforting to the poor and suffering. She was a source of encouragement. Her constant smile won people’s hearts, as did her humility and simplicity.

As she grew older she experienced long, painful years of sickness, but she continued to persevere in hope, constantly choosing the good. When visited and asked how she was, she’d respond: ‘As the Master desires’.

During her last days she relived the painful days of her slavery and more than once begged: ‘Please, loosen the chains... they are heavy!’.

Surrounded by the sisters, she died on 8 February 1947.

Pope Francis: Eucharist Encompasses God's Love for Man

5-February-2014 -- ZENIT.org 

News Agency

Pope Francis: Eucharist Encompasses God's Love for Man

Continues Catechesis on the Sacraments During General Audience

VATICAN CITY, February 05, 2014 (Zenit.org) - It continues to rain in Rome but that didn't stop thousands of people from gathering at St. Peter's Square for the Holy Father's weekly General Audience.Pope Francis continued his catechesis on the Sacraments, focusing on the Eucharist.The Eucharist, he said, constitutes the source of "the very life of the Church." Calling to mind the physical signs of the Eucharist, such as the altar, the Holy Father said they resemble a banquet."Word and Bread become altogether one in the Mass, as in the Last Supper, when all Jesus' words, all the signs he made, were condensed into the gesture of breaking the bread and offering the chalice, anticipation of the sacrifice of the Cross, and in those words: "Take and eat, this is my Body ... Take and drink, this is my Blood," the Pope said.The Holy Father went on to say that the Last Supper was the gesture of thanksgiving from Christ to God for His love and mercy. Noting the meaning of the Greek word for Eucharist means thanksgiving, the Pope said that it encompasses God's love for man through Jesus' Death and Resurrection.Although all the liturgical signs remind one of a banquet, the Holy Father stressed that it is much more than that: it is "the memorial of Jesus' Passover, the central mystery of salvation." Thus, the Eucharist is a focal point to God's action of salvation, while giving us a foretaste of the heavenly banquet with God.Concluding his catechesis, Pope Francis invited the faithful to thank God for the gift of the Eucharist. "Let us ask Him then that this Sacrament may continue to keep His presence alive in the Church and mould our communities in charity and communion, according to the heart of the Father."Before departing the General Audience, the Holy Father conveyed his solidarity with those suffering the torrential rains in Tuscany and Rome. Both areas have been affected with massive flooding after weeks of rain."Let us all pray and we are close to them with our strength, our solidarity and with our love," he said. (J.A.E.)

From our magazine archives: CHRISTIANITY IS “GOOD NEWS”

By nature, man continually strives for happiness, and everything he does or plans bears the stamp of this aim, either implicitly or explicitly. Throughout history, each civilization idealized a way to attain happiness, sparing no efforts to this end. For the Greeks, success was found in the philosophical domain; the Romans vied for political power; the Renaissance man cultivated the arts; the industrial revolution overvalued the production of material goods; and finally, in the twentieth century, man strove to obtain it by the abolition of all moral principles.

Summarizing the apex of this libertarian state of spirit, the Revolution of May 1968 dogmatically asserted: “It is forbidden to forbid!” And, with the contagious capacity of the unbridled passions, added to the charm of French culture, it was not long before this utopian objective had conquered large portions of international public opinion, implying that the remnants of the precepts of order that lingered were the only barriers separating man from total happiness.

Almost a half-century has passed, and what is the result? Did humanity finally find what it sought so earnestly? Are today’s youth brimming with happiness? Are we living at the height of the civilization dreamt of by all generations over the course of history?

It is enough to open the eyes ever so slightly to certify that something went wrong, and that the fruits of this supposed liberation are far from what were imagined. Why?

In this regard, few insights could be more opportune than those of Pope Benedict XVI given in a speech on December 8 2013. In it, the Vicar of Christ issued a warning regarding the false remedies that the world proposes to fill the emptiness of soul resulting from egoism, indicating Mary Immaculate as a model: “She speaks of joy; that authentic joy which spreads in hearts freed from sin. Sin brings with it a negative sadness that leads to withdrawal into self.” On the contrary, he explains, “Christianity is essentially an “evangelo,” “Good News,” whereas some think of it as an obstacle to joy.” Continuing, he said: “Mary’s joy is complete, for in her heart there is not a shadow of sin.”

Indeed, the innocent soul is happy, and serves the Lord “with joy and gladness of heart” (Dt 28:47). A model believer in this truth, St. John Bosco established just one rule for the playgrounds of Salesian schools: “Sadness us forbidden!” And his own life was an example of joy on the path of holiness. In this lay the secret and the charismatic power of his apostolate.

It is more than ever necessary to forewarn the new generations against this noxious error which deviates so many souls from the right path: true happiness is not found in sin, but in virtue. The disorder of the vices cannot bring this greatly desired inner peace.

Editorial 

February 2013 · Heralds of the Gospel