All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2) - INDULGENCES for the POOR SOULS

Remember me as you pass by,

As you are now, so once was I,

As I am now, so you must be,

Prepare for death and follow me. 

[Anon]

https://www.facebook.com/fssp.england
I On All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2) a plenary indulgence, applicable only to the Poor Souls, is granted to those who visit any parish church or public oratory and there recite one Our Father and one Credo.

II On all the days from November I though November 8 inclusive, a plenary indulgence, applicable only to the Poor Souls, is granted to those who visit a cemetery and pray even if only mentally for the departed.
Conditions for both indulgences:

1. Only one plenary indulgence can be granted per day.

2. It is necessary to be in the state of grace, at least by completion of the work.

3. Freedom from attachment to sin, even venial sin, is necessary; otherwise the indulgence is only partial. (By this is meant attachment to a particular sin, not sin in general.)

4. Holy Communion must be received each time the indulgence is sought.

5. Prayers must he recited for the intentions of the Holy Father on each day the indulgence is sought. (No particular prayers are prescribed. One Our Father and one Hail Mary suffice, or other suitable prayers.

6. A sacramental concession must he made within a week of completion of the prescribed work. (One confession made during the week, made with the intention of gaining all the indulgences, suffices.)

Simple coffin of Pope Saint John Paul II

From: Official Page of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in England & Wales. 
Canonically established in the RC dioceses of Portsmouth and Northampton.

For terminally-ill seminarian, a life with suffering is not void of dignity

Raleigh, N.C., Oct 24, 2014 / 06:53 pm (EWTN News/CNA)

A seminarian is looking forward to his ordination to the diaconate this spring and the priesthood a year later, even though he was given roughly a year and a half to live back in 2008. 

Phillip Johnson, who is now 30, was diagnosed with a Grade III brain cancer known as anaplastic astrocytoma six years ago when he was serving as a naval officer in the Persian Gulf.

“I remember the moment I saw the computer images of the brain scans – I went to the Catholic chapel on base and fell to the floor in tears.  I asked God, ‘why me?’” Johnson wrote in an Oct. 22 column, “Dear Brittany: Our Lives Are Worth Living, Even With Brain Cancer,” for the Diocese of Raleigh website.

He was sent home to the U.S. for radiation and chemotherapy and then discharged from the Navy before entering formation for the priesthood, a calling he said he was aware of since he was 19.

Even with aggressive treatment, most research shows that the average survival time for this type of cancer is 18 months, he said. 

Quoting the 29-year-old woman who has documented her decision to die by physician-assisted suicide in an online video, Brittany Maynard, Johnson said that “being told you have that kind of timeline still feels like you’re going to die tomorrow.”

After consulting with his doctors, Johnson learned that he will “gradually lose control of my bodily functions at a young age, from paralysis to incontinence, and it is very likely that my mental faculties will also disappear and lead to confusion and hallucinations before my death.”

Much like this terminally-ill woman, he does not want to die or “suffer the likely outcome of this disease.”

“I do not think anyone wants to die in this way.”

However, Johnson believes that such suffering does not diminish his worth as a person.
“My life means something to me, to God, and to my family and friends, and barring a miraculous recovery, it will continue to mean something long after I am paralyzed in a hospice bed.”

“My family and friends love me for who I am, not just for the personality traits that will slowly slip away if this tumor progresses and takes my life.”

Johnson recognizes Maynard’s temptation to end her life “on her own terms.” He admitted that at times he wished that the cancer would take his life quickly to end the suffering and that he hoped for a miracle to be cured of the cancer.

Having been given this long to live has now proved to be a miracle in itself, Johnson said. In fact, he has “experienced countless miracles” throughout his illness. 

In his preparation for the priesthood, he has been able to serve other terminally ill people and learned that “suffering and heartache that is part of the human condition does not have to be wasted and cut short out of fear or seeking control in a seemingly uncontrollable situation.”

“Perhaps this is the most important miracle for me.”

Avoiding suffering at all costs – even at the expense of one’s life – is a way to try to gain control “in the midst of turmoil,” but it ignores the redemptive value of suffering.

“We do not seek pain for its own sake, but our suffering can have great meaning if we try to join it to the Passion of Christ and offer it for the conversion or intentions of others.”

Johnson said that by ending her life prematurely, Maynard will be missing out on the “most intimate moments of her life” in return for a faster option “that focuses more on herself than anyone else.”

In his own experience, the seminarian has endured sadness, but has also experienced periods of “great joy.”

“I still get sad. I still cry. I still beg God to show me His will through all of this suffering and to allow me to be His priest if it be His will, but I know that I am not alone in my suffering,” he said, pointing to the support of his family, friends, and the Church.

Johnson said he will keep praying for Maynard in her illness, that she will “understand the love we all have for her before she takes her own life.”

If she decides against her suicide and chooses to fight the disease, she would be “an incredible example and inspiration to countless others in her situation.”

“She would certainly be an inspiration to me as I continue to fight my own cancer.”

http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/US.php?id=11013

Full Text of Cardinal Pell's Homily at 10th Anniversary of Iuventutem

"Doctrine does develop we understand truth more deeply but there are no doctrinal back-flips in Catholic history"

Vatican City, October 28, 2014 (Zenit.org) | 252 hits

Here below is the text of Cardinal George Pell's homily at a Traditional Mass in Ss. Trinità Church, Rome, Oct. 24. The Mass was celebrated to mark the 10th Anniversary Iuventutem and the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage that takes place annually in Rome. Due to bronchitis, Cardinal Pell was unable to attend and his homily was delivered by his personal secretary, Father Mark Withoos.

***

We Catholics have strange beliefs; our planet earth is like a grain of sand in an unbelievably vast universe and we believe God’s Son came to live on this tiny speck to teach us and redeem us.

We believe in angels, spiritual beings outside our physical universe; in Raphael one of the seven who stands before God, who brought Tobias healing and taught him the truth.

We want to know and love the truth and we hope to spread these truths, which are costly, but life-giving. We too want to be cured by Raphael as we come out of the troubled waters.

Tonight on your pilgrimage to the Urbs Aeterna we should remember St. Peter and St. Paul, founders of the Church in the city of Rome.

Peter of course was the first head of the Christian community in this capital of the Roman Empire which lasted for over 600 years in the West and for another 1000 years in the East. Peter was the first Pope.

Peter of course was the first head of the Christian community in the capital of the Roman Empire, the first bishop of Rome.

And on this occasion a few words on the Papacy would not be inappropriate because the Pope is the successor of St. Peter as head of the Church and bishop of Rome, and because the papacy is one of the most amazing institutions in history; the oldest surviving office or ruler.

China did have an emperor a couple of hundred years before Rome had a bishop, but China has emperors no more! Hundreds of years before there was a King of England there was a Pope in Rome. Even in secular terms the papacy is extraordinary, but for us the Catholic religious significance is infinitely more important.

Peter’s office or role is well attested in the New Testament writings. In chapter 16 from Matthew’s gospel, after Peter had affirmed that Our Lord was the Son of God, he was declared to be the rock man on whom the Church is built. Jesus is of course the only central figure in the Catholic dispensation, but Peter is the main foundation stone in the apostolic foundations of the universal church communion.

The Church is not built on the rock of Peter’s faith, as a popular hymn claims, but on Peter himself despite his faults and failings. It was Jesus who gave Simon the additional name of Peter, the rock man. In English the words “Peter” and “rock” have different derivations, but in Greek, Latin and Italian they are almost the same word. In this passage Peter was given the Keys of the Kingdom and the power to bind and loose. The sense of this passage is not unique in the New Testament as in chapter 21 of John Peter is exhorted to feed the sheep and in chapter 22 of Luke he is commissioned to strengthen his brothers. He always heads the list of the apostles.

Over 2,000 years these theological foundations have been developed and changed. The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) set out to complete the work of the First Vatican Council (1870), by recognizing that as Peter was one of the twelve apostles, so the Pope is assisted by the other bishops throughout the world, forming the College of Bishops.

This college and all synods work by consensus and teachings and pastoral practice can only be changed by consensus.

Pope Francis is the 266th Pope and history has seen 37 false or anti-Popes. From the eighth to the nineteenth century the Popes ruled most of central Italy, an area known as the Papal States. For the last 150 years, plus or minus, the Church has been led by Popes, who were better, wiser, holier and more learned, than the historical papal average for the two millennia.

There were three particularly difficult periods; first of all in the tenth century when a succession of Popes were dominated by a local noble woman called Marozia; secondly in the 14th century when the Popes were based in Avignon, Southern France and were followed by multiple claimants to the papacy when they came back to Rome; and in the 16th century, the time of the Protestant Reformation and the Renaissance, when many of the Popes were formidable rulers and patrons of the arts, but none of them were over-interested in religion.

Earlier on the role of the Popes was a significant factor in the final break in 1054 between the Eastern and Western churches, between Catholicism and Orthodoxy.

The role of the successor of St. Peter has always been vital to Christian and Catholic life, especially as a touchstone of doctrinal fidelity and as a resolver of disputes, pastoral as well as doctrinal.

Today we are inclined to judge communities, institutions and individuals according to the criterion of modernity. No one wants to be accused of being old fashioned and nearly everyone likes to be thought “up to date”. In the ancient world they didn’t quite think like that, and much public opinion tended to look back to golden ages, real or imagined.

The early Christians’ questions were somewhat different, because  they wanted to know whether the teachings of their bishops and priests were in conformity with what Christ taught.

In an age before books and radio, long before you could look up information on Google, Christians used to ask what the churches founded by the apostles regarded as apostolic, genuinely early Christian teaching. Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and Rome were such churches and Constantinople was added in the fourth century, although certainly not founded by an apostle.

Among those churches however, Rome had pride of place as the principal guarantor of orthodoxy, because both Peter and Paul had been martyred there and of course because Peter had been appointed the rock man by Christ himself. The apostolic tradition, announced first by Christ and founded in the scriptures is the touch stone for truth and genuine pastoral practice. Doctrine does develop – we understand truth more deeply – but there are no doctrinal back-flips in Catholic history.

Often our enemies recognize better than us the importance of the papacy. In every country where the Communists gained power, they tried to separate the local Catholics from the Pope into national, so called “patriotic” Churches. We know from Hitler’s table talk that if he had won the Second World War he would have set up a Pope in every Catholic country. Napoleon imprisoned two Popes, one of whom died in captivity.

The story of the Popes is stranger than fiction, but the contribution of the many good Popes far outweighs the sins and mistakes of the minority.

Today we have on of the more unusual popes in history, enjoying almost unprecedented popularity. He is doing a marvelous job backing the financial reforms.

We all have an important task during the next twelve months i.e. to explain and build a consensus out of the present divisions. We will be counter productive if we have anger or hate in our hearts, if we lapse into sterile polemics against a surprisingly small number of catholic opponents. Our task is to explain the necessity of conversion, the nature of the Mass, the purity of heart Scriptures requires to receive Holy Communion. We, and especially you young people, must live this in love, giving reason for your hope. This is a unique opportunity which we must seize in God’s name.

So I conclude with the prayer I was taught as a child. “May the Lord preserve the Holy Father, Pope Francis, and give him life, keep him safe on earth and deliver him not into the hands of his enemies”.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

George Cardinal Pell

Cardinal Prefect

Secretariat for the Economy

Catholic words: Mortification

Seeking Sanctification Through the Practice of Mortification

by Msgr. Roger J. Scheckel

In Father John A. Hardon’s Basic Catholic Catechism Course, Lesson 9, Question 83, it is asked: “In order to control our desires we need, 1) the grace of God, 2) to use our will power, 3) to mortify ourselves. As all Marian Catechists know, the correct answer is, 3) to mortify ourselves.”

In the explanation of his answer, Fr. Hardon underscores the spiritual truth that “without mortification of the senses, or the cooperation of our wills with the will of God, our desires will remain unruly.” Mortification is not for a few special souls but is a requirement for anyone who seeks to advance in the life of holiness.

This article will focus on the necessity and importance of mortification.

The mortification of our external senses as well as the interior operations of our soul, e.g., imagination, memory and intellect, is necessary to live an authentic Christian life. While our modern world, characterized by a radical secularism and in many instances, paganism will judge mortification to be medieval and therefore irrelevant and even dangerous, it is Our Lord Jesus Who indicates its necessity for His followers when He states: “If any one wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow after Me” (Mk. 8:34).

Our Lord’s instruction, recorded in the Gospels, was preceded by the practice of mortification among the Chosen People as recorded in the Old Testament, cf. Gen. 37:34; 1Kg. 21:27-29;Joel 1:13-14; Is. 22:12-14. Saint Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, speaks of the mortification of the flesh in definite and specific terms:

“We are debtors, then, my brother—but not to the flesh, so that we should live according to the flesh. If you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the evil deeds of the body, you will live” (Rom.8:12-13).

“Put to death whatever in your nature is rooted in earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desires, and that lust which is idolatry” (Col.3:5). 

Saint Paul sets forth in the above two passages the fundamental reason why we are in need of mortification. The Christian must continually seek to crucify and put to death that dimension of our self that remains under the influence of the fallen state of the First Adam into which we are conceived and born. After our baptism, the imputed sin of our First Parents is washed from our life, however a residue or stain of the Original Sin remains with us, what is known as concupiscence. The effects of this residue or stain are experienced primarily in our will, tending in the direction of a love of self rather than a love of God. This is what is meant by a “disordered will.” This disorder can be expressed through our external senses as well as the operations of our soul, e.g., the imagination, memory and intellect. Mortification seeks to address these manifestations of the “disordered will.” 

Sacred Tradition expressed through the lives of the saints provides innumerable accounts of the necessity and importance of the practice of mortification. I would direct you to the lives of the saints listed below, although there are many more that could be included as well: Ss. Jerome, Francis of Assisi, Thomas More, Ignatius of Loyola, Catherine of Sienna, Teresa of Avila, John Mary Vianney, Therese of the Child Jesus, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, Jose Maria Escriva, and also Blesseds Junipero Serra, Matt Talbot and Mother Teresa.

The practice of mortification is promoted and defended in the magisterial teaching of the Church. Blessed Pope John XXIII in his encyclical Paenitentiam Agere, promulgated on July 1, 1962 wrote: “…the faithful must also be encouraged to do outward acts of penance, both to keep their bodies under the strict control of reason and faith and to make amends for their own and other people’s sins. …It is right, too, to seek example and inspiration from the great Saints of the Church. Pure as they were, they inflicted such mortifications upon themselves as to leave us almost aghast with admiration. And as we contemplate their saintly heroism, shall not we be moved by God’s grace to impose on ourselves some voluntary sufferings and deprivations, we whose consciences are perhaps weighed down by so heavy a burden of guilt?” 

Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Letter, Salvici Doloris sets forth a profound presentation on the matter of pain and suffering. I commend it to all Marian Catechists for your spiritual reading and meditation. He states: “It is suffering, more than anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms human souls. Suffering, more than anything else makes present in the history of humanity the powers of the Redemption.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in paragraph 2015 associates progress in the spiritual life with the practice of mortification: “The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle. Spiritual progress entails the ascesis and mortification that gradually lead to living in the peace and joy of the Beatitudes.”

In paragraph 1430, the Catechism sets forth the truth that Jesus’ call to conversion does not consist first of outward works, “sackcloth and ashes,” but rather “the conversion of the heart, interior conversion,” then it goes on to state: “however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures and works of penance.” 

The point made in this paragraph of the Catechism is significant as we consider mortification. Mortification is a good that is relative to a higher purpose or end, namely the pursuit of holiness. Pain or suffering in and of itself is a physical evil, one of the consequences of humanity’s fall from grace; however, when suffering or pain is accepted in faith it can be redemptive and a source of sanctification. This is made possible by virtue of the hypostatic union wherein the divine and eternal Logos united Himself with our fallen human nature. Jesus assumes into His divine person everything that is human (except for sin), including the penalty for sin, i.e., pain and suffering unto death. Jesus accepted suffering freely and willingly, that which was unjustly imposed upon Him through the sin of particular individuals, e.g., the Roman guards and Pontius Pilate, as well as that which was constitutive to a human nature that had fallen from grace.

Suffering that happens to us and suffering that we allow to happen, when accepted in faith and united with Christ’s redemptive suffering contributes to our own redemption and sanctification as well as that of others.

To understand mortification in more practical terms and how it might be incorporated into the spiritual life of a Marian Catechist begins with the two-fold manifestation already mentioned: suffering that happens to us, what is known as passive mortification, and suffering we allow to happen, known as active mortification.

Passive mortifications come in various forms, but they are not the sufferings we experience from having sinned, e.g., suffering a hangover after being intoxicated. Rather, they come to us unsolicited, the consequence of living in a world that has fallen from the grace of God. Passive mortifications can be grave, for example, sickness or injury, the death of a loved one, losing one’s employment. For the most part, passive mortifications come to us in smaller and less severe versions such as a difficult boss or co-worker, a spouse who from time to time is insensitive and uncaring or children who are demanding and unappreciative.

St. Jose Marie Escriva, the founder of the Opus Dei Prelature often pointed out that our daily life and work provide significant opportunities to experience passive mortifications, primarily through petty annoyances like an unexpected change in plans, instruments or tools that fail us, the discomfort caused us by the weather being to hot or cold. When these small crosses are embraced generously and courageously they help us to grow in holiness.

Pope Paul VI spoke eloquently about carrying these kinds of daily crosses in his March 24, 1967 Address: “To carry one’s cross is something great. Great….It means facing up to life courageously, without weakness or meanness. It means that we turn into moral energy those difficulties which will never be lacking in our existence; it means understanding human sorrow; and finally, it means knowing really how to love.”

To avoid the many crosses that come unsolicited to our lives each day is to avoid the possibility that God makes available to us to become saints.

Mortifications that we propose to ourselves, known as active mortifications are encouraged but include certain cautions. Prudence must always be exercised when engaging in active mortifications. Active mortifications of a severe nature, e.g., flagellation, scourging, the wearing of hair shirts (cilice), ropes and chains worn around the waist or leg and long fasts are only to be done with the guidance of a spiritual director. Under no circumstances should a scrupulous person consider carrying out active mortifications. Also, to practice bodily mortification for pleasure is a sin.

For the most part active mortifications that are not severe can be exercised repeatedly throughout the day. Examples would be: punctuality—to arise from bed immediately in the morning, to be on time for work and returning punctually after a break, to not leave a task undone because it is difficult to bring to completion. Most importantly concerning punctuality is to maintain definite times for prayer throughout the day. We must avoid praying only “when we feel like it” or “when we have time for it.” We should set times for prayer within our day and keep to them. To deny oneself sleep in order to maintain a vigil of prayer, especially before the Blessed Sacrament, is a laudatory practice of active mortification.

Other examples would be to smile and be joyful even though your day or situation has been and continues to be difficult, to remain silent and charitable when you are being criticized without a good reason, to participate in conversation with those who are boring or overbearing, overlooking those irritating details of the people with whom we live and giving up some comfort that we have come to cherish.

We should also actively mortify our imagination, our memory and our intelligence. A very good description of these mortifications is found in: In Conversation With God, by Francis Fernandez, Scepter Press, Vol. II, 3.3.

“…[M]ortification of the imagination—avoiding that interior monologue in which fantasy runs wild, by trying to turn it into a dialogue with God, present in our soul in grace. We try to put a restraining check on that tendency of ours to go over and over some little happening in the course of which we have come off badly. No doubt we have felt slighted, and have made much of an injury to our self-esteem, caused to us quite unintentionally. If we don’t apply the brake in time, our conceit and pride will cause us to overbalance until we lose our peace and presence of God.

“Mortification of the memory—avoiding useless recollections which make us waste time and which could lead us into more serious temptations.

“Mortification of the intelligence—so as to put it squarely to the business of concentrating on our own duty at this moment and, also, on many occasions of surrendering our own judgment so as to live humility and charity with others in a better way.”

Finally, it needs to be pointed out that to realize the spiritual growth and benefit that results from active and passive mortifications does not require that we carry them out with a conscious intention of uniting each one to Christ’s redemptive suffering at the time they are done. To do so, would be continually distracting and make our daily work almost impossible. Our daily mortifications will be united to Christ’s redemptive work by virtue our having made our Morning Offering, “… I offer to you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings …”

Those mortifications that are most pleasing to God are those that involve being more charitable to our neighbor, more dedicated to the work of the Church, and those that help us to be more faithful in carrying out the obligations that are necessary to our state in life. As Marian Catechists, let us be brave and prudent in seeking sanctification through the practice of mortification.

Originally published in The Tilma, Fall 2006

http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/bishop-calls-for-earnest-prayers-for-conversion-of-england
Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth, England, is marking October, the month of the Rosary, by distributing free recordings of the devotion to every parishioner in his diocese.

The bishop, who is to make the announcement in a pastoral letter due to be released on Sunday, says the CD will contain all the mysteries of the Holy Rosary.

“As you leave church today, I am offering you a free gift,” Bishop Egan’s letter says. “It's a CD for use at home or in the car, and I am grateful to the young students of St. Peter’s, Bournemouth for their help in recording it.”

He adds: “I want to encourage you to use this CD often, perhaps especially when driving - though do drive safely! It will help you reflect on the joyful, luminous, sorrowful and glorious mysteries of the Catholic faith, and so the CD contains the Rosary, with brief meditations and intentions for each decade.”

Recalling that the Rosary is a prayer centred on Jesus, “who is honoured by a bow of the head in every Hail Mary,” Bishop Egan explains that for centuries the Rosary has “helped Christians grow in the spiritual life.” It is a deeply scriptural prayer, he continues, and quotes Pope Pius XII in describing it as the “compendium of the entire Gospel”.

He adds that prayers through Mary “never fail” and suggests practical ways in which the faithful could deepen their devotion to the Blessed Virgin. He recommends placing a Marian statue or icon in the home, hanging a rosary in the car from the rear-view mirror, or carrying in one’s pocket a rosary-chaplet as a witness at work or in an airport security line.

“The Church in our time is calling us to an evangelisation ‘new in its ardour, new in its methods and new in its expression’,” he says. “This is why we need to pray for enormous creativity.”

Underlining the importance of prayer, Bishop Egan says it takes us “out of ourselves” facilitating “a person-to-Person encounter with God.” He says he hopes that by dedicating oneself to prayer, each person will become “less inward-looking and more outward-looking, that is, people who constantly pray for those in society around us, for their needs and their salvation.”

“We should work and pray earnestly for the evangelisation and conversion of England,” he says, “that all may have the chance to hear the Gospel and be inspired to convert to Christ.”

Pope Benedict XVI: Truth is Not Given Up in the Name of a Desire for Peace

 http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=10707

Pope Emeritus Sends Message to Pontifical Urbaniana University

I would like to in the first place express my heartfelt thanks to the Rector and to the academic authorities of the Pontifical Urbaniana University, to the staff and to the student representatives, for their proposal to name the rebuilt Aula Magna [Main Hall] in my honor. .... It is a cause of great joy for me to be able in this way to be always present amidst the work of the Pontifical Urbaniana University.

In the course of a number of visits that I was able to make as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I was always struck by the atmosphere of universality in the very air that one breathes in this University, where young men and women coming from practically all the countries of the world are preparing for service to the Gospel in the whole world of today. I also see today facing me in this lecture hall, a community formed by so many young people, a community that makes us see in a living way the stupendous reality of the Catholic Church.

This definition of the Church as “Catholic”, which has been part of the Creed since ancient times, possesses something of Pentecost. Let us remember that the Church of Jesus Christ has never related to only one people or only one culture, but that from the beginning she was ordained to the whole of mankind. The last words of Jesus to his disciples were: “Make all people my disciples”. (Mt. 28:19). And at the moment of Pentecost the Apostles spoke in many languages, in this way being able to manifest, through the power of the Holy Spirit, all the fullness of their faith.

From that time the Church has grown in a real way on every Continent. Your presence, dear students, reflects the universal face of the Church. The prophet Zechariah had announced a messianic reign that would extend from sea to sea and that would be a kingdom of peace. (Zc. 9:9) And in fact, wherever the Eucharist is celebrated, as from the Lord, and men, become among themselves one body, there is present something of that peace that Jesus Christ had promised to give to his disciples. That you, dear friends, be collaborators with this peace is becoming more and more urgent within a violent and lacerated world in which Christ’s peace needs to be built up and safe-guarded. For this reason the work of your University is so important, in which you desire to learn how to draw closer to Christ in order to be able to become His witnesses.

The Risen Lord gave this task to his Apostles, and through them disciples of every time, to carry his Word to the ends of the earth and to make all men his disciples. The Second Vatican Council, reprising in the Decree “Ad Gentes” a constant tradition, has illuminated the profound rationale for this missionary effort and has called upon the Church of today to take on this task with renewed strength.

But is this still possible? Many ask this question, both inside and outside the Church. Is this mission really possible in the world as it is today? Would it not be more appropriate that all religions get together and work together for the cause of peace in the world? The counter-question is: Can dialogue substitute for mission? Today many have the idea, in effect, that religions should respect each other, and, in dialogue with each other, become a common force for peace. In this way of thinking, most times there is a presupposition that the various religions are variants of one and the same reality; that “religion” is a category common to all, which assumes different forms according to different cultures, but expresses, however, one and the same reality. The question of truth, which at the beginning of Christianity moved Christians more than anything else, in this mode of thinking is placed within parentheses. It presupposes that the authentic truth about God, in the last analysis, is unobtainable, and that at best one can make present what is ineffable only with a variety of symbols. This renunciation of truth seems convincing and useful for peace among the religions of the world.

This is, however, lethal to faith. In fact, faith loses its binding character and seriousness, if everything is reduced to symbols that are at the end interchangeable, capable of referring only from afar to the inaccessible mystery of the divine.

Dear friends, understand that the question of mission places us not only in confrontation with the fundamental questions of faith but also with the question of who man is. In the context of a brief address meant to greet you all, obviously I am not able to try to analyze in an exhaustive way this set of problems that today we all face. I would like, however, at least to touch on the direction upon which we should embark with respect to our task at hand.

I

1. The common opinion is that religions are, so to speak, side by side as the Continents and the individual Countries on a map. This, however, is not exactly true. Religions are in a state of movement on the level of history, just as are peoples and cultures. There are religions that are “on hold”. The tribal religions are of this type. They have their moment in history and nevertheless are waiting for a greater encounter that brings them to fullness.

As Christians, we are convinced that, in silence, they are waiting for the encounter with Jesus Christ, the light that comes from him, that alone is able to lead them in a complete way to their truth. And Christ is waiting for them. The encounter with him is not a barging in of a stranger that destroys their own culture and their own history. It is instead the entrance to something greater, towards which they are journeying. Consequently this encounter is always at the same time a purification and a maturation. Furthermore, the encounter is always reciprocal. Christ waits on their history, their wisdom, the way they see things.

Today we see ever more clearly another aspect as well: while in countries with a great Christian past, Christianity in many ways has become tired, and some of the branches of the great tree that grew from the grain of mustard seed of the Gospel have withered and fall to the ground, but from the encounter with Christ in the religions that are looking forward in expectation new life is springing forth. Where at first there was only tiredness, new dimensions of faith are arising and bringing joy.

2. Religion in itself is not a unitary phenomenon. It always involves a number of distinct dimensions. On the one side there is the prominence of reaching out beyond this world towards the eternal God. On the other side we find elements that have arisen from the history of men and from their practice of religion. Among these elements certainly there are beautiful things but also things that are base and destructive, wherever the egoism of man has taken over religion and, instead of an opening, has transformed religion into a closure within its own space.

Therefore, religion is never simply a phenomenon that is only positive or only negative. Both aspects are en-mixed within it. From its beginnings the Christian mission has discerned in a very marked way especially those negative elements in pagan religions that it encountered. For this reason, the Christian proclamation at its very beginning was extremely critical of religion. Only by overcoming those traditions that the Christian faith understood as demonic could the faith develop its power of renewal. On the basis of these types of elements, the Evangelical theologian, Karl Barth placed religion and faith in opposition, and adjudicated religion in an absolutely negative way as an arrogant behavior of man that tries, on his own initiative, to lay hold of God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer took up this formulation in his advocating a Christianity “without religion”. Without doubt we are dealing with a unilateral way of seeing things that cannot be accepted. And nevertheless it is correct to affirm that every religion, to remain on the side of what is right, at the same time must also be always critical of religion. This is clearly valid, from its origins and according to its nature, for the Christian faith, which, on the one hand, looks with great respect upon the great expectations and deep richness of religions, but, on the other hand, the Christian faith looks at what is negative with a critical eye. It stands to reason that the Christian faith again and again must develop such a critical power even with respect to its own religious history.

For us Christians Jesus Christ is the Logos of God, the light that helps us to distinguish between the nature of religion and its distortion.

2. In our time the voice of those who want to convince us that religion as such is obsolete is becoming louder and louder. They say that only critical reason should be the basis for man’s actions. Behind similar conceptions stands the conviction that with the positivist way of thinking reason in all its purity has achieved supremacy in a definitive way. In reality, even this way of thinking and living is historically conditioned and bound to a specific historical culture. To consider it as the only valid way of thinking about things diminishes man in some way, taking away from him dimensions that are essential for his existence. Man becomes smaller, not greater when there is no longer any room for an ethos, that, by its authentic nature, goes beyond pragmatism, when there is no longer any room for the gaze turned towards God. The proper place for positivistic reason is in the great spheres of technology and economics, but this does not exhaust all that is human., And so it is up to us who believe to open wide the doors again and again that, beyond mere technology and pure pragmatism, lead to the wonderful greatness of our existence in the encounter with the living God

II

1. These reflections, perhaps a bit difficult, should show that even today, in a world that is profoundly changed, the task of communicating the Gospel to others remains a reasonable one. And, moreover, there is a second way, more simple, to justify this undertaking today. Love demands to be communicated. Truth demands to be communicated. Whoever has experienced great joy cannot keep it simply for himself. He must pass it on to others. The same thing is true for the gift of love, through the gift of recognizing the truth that manifests itself.

When Andrew met Christ, he could not do anything but say to his brother: “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41). And Philip, who was also given the gift of this encounter, could not do anything but to say to Nathaniel that he had found him of whom Moses and the Prophets had written (John 1:45). We proclaim Jesus Christ not to get as many members as possible for our community, and least of all for the sake of power. We speak of Him because we feel that we have to share that joy with others that has been given to us.

We will be credible proclaimers of Jesus Christ when we have encountered him in the depths of our existence, when, within the encounter with Him, we are given the great experience of truth, of love, and of joy.

2. The deep tension between the mystical offering to God, in which one gives oneself totally to him, and the responsibility to one’s neighbor and for the world created by God, is a natural part of religion. Martha and Mary are always inseparable, even if, time to time, the accent can fall on one or the other. The point of encounter between the two poles is the love in which we touch God and his creatures at the same time. “We have come to know and believe in the love that God has for us”. (I John 4:16) This phrase expresses the authentic nature of Christianity. That love, which is realized and reflected in multiform ways in the saints of all times, is the authentic proof of the truth of Christianity.

[Translation by Fr. Richard G. Cipolla, DPhil]

This item 10707 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org

Mary, the Star of the Sea

From: The Heralds of the Gospel Canada
http://heralds.ca/blog/mary-star-sea/

“The Virgin’s name was Mary“, (Lk.1:27) which means ‘Star of the Sea.’ This admirably befits the Virgin Mother. …

She, I say, is that shining and brilliant star, needed so much, set in place above life’s great and spacious sea, glittering with merits, all aglow with examples for our imitation.

Oh, whosoever thou art that perceiveth thyself during this mortal existence to be rather drifting in treacherous waters at the mercy of the winds and the waves, than walking on firm ground, turn not away thine eyes from the splendour of this guiding star, unless thou wished to be submerged by the storm!

When the storms to temptation burst upon thee, when thou seest thyself driven upon the rocks of tribulation, look at the star, call upon Mary.

When buffeted by the billows of pride or ambition or hatred or jealousy, look at the star, call upon Mary. Should anger, or avarice, or fleshly desire violently assail the frail vessel of thy soul, look at the star, call upon Mary.

If troubled on account of the heinousness of thy sins, distressed at the filthy state of thy conscience, and terrified at the thought of the awful judgment to come, thou art beginning to sink into the bottomless gulf of sadness and to be swallowed in the abyss of despair, then think of Mary.

In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary.

Let not her name leave thy lips, never suffer it to leave thy heart. And that thou mayest more surely obtain the assistance of her prayer, see that thou dost walk in her footsteps.

With her for guide, thou shalt never go astray; whilst invoking her, thou shalt never lose heart; so long as she is in thy mind, thou shalt not be deceived; whilst she holds thy hand, thou canst not fall; under her protection, thou hast nothing to fear; if she walks before thee, thou shalt not grow weary; if she shows thee favour, thou shalt reach the goal.

Thus thou shalt experience within thee the truth of these words: “The virgin’s name was Mary!”

Saint Bernard de Clairvaux

THE NINE FIRST FRIDAYS DEVOTION

From: Heralds of the Gospel Canada

http://heralds.ca/projects/the-nine-first-fridays-devotion/

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Nine First Fridays

The Friday following the Feast of Corpus Christi the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In addition to the liturgical celebration, many other devotional exercises are focused on the Heart of Christ. There is no doubt that devotion to the Heart of the Saviour has been, and remains, one of the most widespread and beloved expressions of popular piety of the Catholic Church.

The “great promise” of the Nine First Fridays of the Month

The practice of the Nine First Fridays has its origin in the “great promise” made by Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. He said to her: “I promise you that my omnipotent love will grant to all those who receive communion on the first Friday of the month, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance, and that they will not die without receiving the holy sacraments.” At a time when sacramental communion was very rare among the faithful, the practice of the nine first Fridays devotion contributed significantly to reestablishing more frequent use of the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist. Today, the devotion of the First Fridays of the month, if practiced in the right way, will provide unquestionable spiritual fruits.

The conditions outlined by Our Lord to obtain these graces are the following:

1. Receive Holy Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months without interruption.


2. Have the intention of honouring the Sacred Heart of Jesus and obtaining final perseverance.


3. Offer each Holy Communion as an act of atonement for the offences committed gainst the Blessed Sacrament.