Heralds of the Gospel in England and Wales

LATIN IS NOT DEAD

2012-02-12T05:22:00.000-08:00

http://www.zenit.org/article-34274?l=english

ZE12021001 - 2012-02-09
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-34274?l=english

LATIN IS NOT DEAD

Professor Speaks of a Conference to Celebrate Papal Documents Backing Church's Official Language

By Salvatore Cernuzio

ROME, FEB. 9, 2012 (Zenit.org).- On Feb. 22, 1962, Pope John XXIII signed the apostolic constitution "Veterum Sapientia," on the study and use of Latin, as a result of which he hoped, among other things, that an Academicum Latinitatis Institutum would be created.

The institute was founded later by Pope Paul VI with the apostolic letter "Studia Latinitatis" of Feb. 22, 1964, entrusting the Salesians with the task of "promoting its prosperity."

Half a century later the Pontificium Institutum Altioris Latinitatis is organizing a conference to be held Feb. 23, titled "Veterum Sapientia: History, Culture and Timeliness." The congress will examine some important episodes in the history of the institute and will also consider the challenges today regarding the study of classical languages.

ZENIT spoke with Father Roberto Spataro, a teacher in the Faculty of Christian and Classical Literature of the Pontifical Salesian University, about the forthcoming congress.

ZENIT: Professor Spataro, how did the idea for this conference come about and what are its objectives?

Father Spataro: The congress is being held on the 50th anniversary of the promulgation of a solemn document, the Veterum Sapientia, unfortunately quickly, unjustly forgotten.

We intend to re-visit that document and to show how it is still very timely in proposing the need that in the Church, especially among priests, that the great ethical, spiritual and religious values be known that the ancient world developed and that Christianity perfected, thus constructing the foundations of contemporary civilization.

ZENIT: Many believe that Latin is a "dead language." What is your opinion?

Father Spataro: This is truly an unfortunate expression. I wonder how a language can be defined as dead in which Seneca, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and generations of scientists, from Galvani, inventor of electricity, to Gauss, the "prince of mathematicians," wrote.

How can one hold as "dead" a language that is studied today by so many persons, and nourishes lofty and noble thoughts? Not forgetting that it is the language of the Holy See and that the liturgy in Latin attracts in ever increasing numbers the faithful, many of them young people.

ZENIT: In recent times, instead, it seemed that Latin was dying out: Seminarians did not study it any longer and it was not used in the liturgy. What is your Institute doing about this situation?

Father Spataro: In recent years, tentative beginnings have taken place within the Catholic Church in terms of renewed interest in the study of Latin. Among these are the birth of new religious communities and lay movements that have understood well how a most precious patrimony belongs to the Tradition, to the life itself of the Church, of liturgical, canonical, magisterial, theological expressions whose content is comprehensible only in its linguistic form, namely, Latin. Hence, our Institute wishes to teach a greater number of clerics and lay people to be able to appreciate this patrimony, so that every Church is able to have access to people who love the way in which truth, beauty and harmony are united in this language.

ZENIT: It seems that in many parts of the world there is a renewal of interest in Latin. Is this true?

Father Spataro: It is true! Some time ago, a distinguished German university professor told me that in Germany there are more than 800,000 students in high schools and university institutes who study Latin. In our Institute, for example, we receive students from China, sent by their Universities, because they feel the need to know European civilization and its cultural origins expressed in Latin.

ZENIT: What are the reasons for this renewed interest?

Father Spataro: Talking with professors and students from all over the world, I have come to believe that there is a desire to study Latin so as to access a world, a res publica litterarum, of a very high spiritual level. The present economic and financial crisis is no more serious than the ethical and the anthropological. Young people in so many parts of the world study works written in Latin, from Cicero to Cyprian to Erasmus of Rotterdam, and are tired and disappointed by "bad teachers" of the contemporary age, and want to acquire for themselves pure, true thought. The study of Latin makes it possible to reacquire this "spiritual innocence."

ZENIT: Even in Italian Middle Schools there is a return to the study of Latin.

Father Spataro: Latin is a very pleasing language to learn, with one condition: that the method is abandoned that morbidly reigns in schools, imposed by a German philology beginning in the 19th century. If taught, instead, with methods of the great humanists -- for example, that which was practiced for centuries in the Jesuits' schools, or the "nature-method" taught in 150 hours -- a student, without excessive toil and especially without boredom, is already able to read the classics. There is need of a new generation of teachers that know this method and adopt it enthusiastically because it works miracles!

ZENIT: Are there examples of the success of this method?

Father Spataro: Certainly! An example is the Vivarum Novum Academy, an institution with which our Faculty has collaborated for some time and that operates in Rome. Young people from all over the world go there, for one or two years, to study Latin and Greek. They arrive without knowing a single word of the language of Caesar or Plato and after a few months they are able to speak fluently in Latin, acquiring at the end of the course a true knowledge of the humanistic civilization, that is, of the genuine values of man that come from the Veterum Sapientia.

[Translation by ZENIT]

What is Prayer? Why should we pray?

2012-02-12T05:10:00.000-08:00

Prayer, the lifting of the mind and heart to God, plays an essential role in the life of a devout Catholic. Without a life of prayer, we risk losing the life of grace in our souls, grace that comes to us first in baptism and later chiefly through the other sacraments and through prayer itself (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2565). Through prayer we enter into the presence of the Godhead dwelling in us. It is prayer which allows us to adore God, by acknowledging his almighty power; it is prayer that allows us to bring our thanks, our petitions, and our sorrow for sin before our Lord and God.

While prayer is not a practice unique to Catholics, those prayers that are called "Catholic" are generally formulaic in nature. That is, the teaching Church sets before us how we ought to pray. Drawing from the words of Christ, the writings of Scripture and the saints, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, she supplies us with prayers grounded in Christian tradition. Further, our informal, spontaneous prayers, both vocal and meditative, are informed by and shaped by those prayers taught by the Church, prayers that are the wellspring for the prayer life of all Catholics. Without the Holy Spirit speaking through the Church and through her saints, we would not know how to pray as we ought (CCC, 2650).

As the prayers themselves witness, the Church teaches us that we should pray not only directly to God, but also to those who are close to God, those who have the power to intercede upon our behalf. Indeed, we pray to the angels to help and watch over us; we pray to the saints in heaven to ask their intercession and assistance; we pray to the Blessed Mother to enlist her aid, to ask her to beg her Son to hear our prayers. Further, we pray not only on our own behalf, but also on the behalf of those souls in purgatory and of those brothers on earth who are in need. Prayer unites us to God; in doing so, we are united to the other members of the Mystical Body.

This communal.aspect of prayer is reflected not only in the nature of Catholic prayers, but also in the very words of the prayers themselves. In reading many of the basic formulaic prayers, it will become apparent that, for the Catholic, prayer is often meant to be prayed in the company of others. Christ himself encouraged us to pray together: "For wherever two or more are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20).

From: Catholic Answers:- http://www.catholic.com/tracts/common-catholic-prayers

Pope Benedict XVI: grave threats to the Church's public moral witness

2012-02-06T13:39:00.000-08:00

On 19 Jan 2012 Benedict XVI addressed the bishops of Washington, D.C., and surrounding regions, who are at the Vatican for their "ad limina" visit. His comments are specially relevant today, not only to America, but to Catholics in every country.

The full text of the address may be found at:
http://www.zenit.org/article-34148?l=english

"... For her part, the Church ... is called, in season and out of season, to proclaim a Gospel which not only proposes unchanging moral truths but proposes them precisely as the key to human happiness and social prospering. ... With her long tradition of respect for the right relationship between faith and reason, the Church has a critical role to play in countering cultural currents which, on the basis of an extreme individualism, seek to promote notions of freedom detached from moral truth. ... The Church's defence of a moral reasoning based on the natural law is grounded on her conviction that this law is not a threat to our freedom, but rather a 'language' which enables us to understand ourselves and the truth of our being, and so to shape a more just and humane world".

"The Church's witness, then, is of its nature public: she seeks to convince by proposing rational arguments in the public square. The legitimate separation of Church and State cannot be taken to mean that the Church must be silent on certain issues, nor that the State may choose not to engage, or be engaged by, the voices of committed believers in determining the values which will shape the future of the nation...."

What is Ordinary Time in the Catholic Liturgical Year?

2012-02-06T13:24:00.000-08:00

While the word “ordinary” in popular usage is used to describe things that are nondescript or dull, ordinary rather means customary, regular, and orderly. Ordinary Time may also be called Ordinal Time, which means numbered time. Ordinal comes from the Latin “ordinalis,” which is a word meaning “showing order, denoting an order of succession.” Hence, Ordinary Time is the standard, orderly, counted time outside of the other liturgical seasons. There is nothing “dull” about Ordinary Time!

What is Ordinary Time?

Ordinary time is the longest liturgical season in the Catholic Church, encompassing either 33 or 34 weeks each year. Because other liturgical seasons begin or end with movable feasts, the length of Ordinary time can vary slightly; however, 33 weeks is the more common length. The weeks are numbered, e.g., the first Sunday of Ordinary Time, the second Sunday of Ordinary Time, and so on.
Ordinary time is technically one liturgical season, though it is divided into two periods. Prior to the Second Vatican Council, when the term “Ordinary Time” was formally established, the two time periods were merely referred to as “the Season after Epiphany” and “the Season after Pentecost.”
The liturgical color of Ordinary Time is green; however, other appropriate colors are worn on particular feast days.

From:http://www.aquinasandmore.com/catholic-articles/what-is-ordinary-time/article/233

Bishop Peter Elliott's report on the Ordinariate in England

2012-02-06T13:11:00.000-08:00

THE ORDINARIATE - ALIVE AND GROWING IN ENGLAND
A Report from London
Most Rev Peter J. Elliott

The first birthday of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was celebrated fittingly on Sunday January 15th 2012 at St James, Spanish Place, with Solemn Evensong, Sermon, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, Te Deum and Benediction. Together with other clergy, I assisted in choir at this act of thanksgiving on the last night of a fascinating two week visit to London.

The Ordinary, Mgr Keith Newton presided and preached. What I found most encouraging was not only his “upbeat” message, full of his own warmth and pastoral confidence, but the sense of achievement and joy among the large congregation who had gathered for the celebration.

The choir of St James brought forth the best of the Anglican Patrimony, wedded to the English Catholic heritage, We entered to Parry “I was glad when they said unto me” (vivid memories of the coronation in 1953). Stanford provided the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis. “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!” accompanied the Eucharistic procession, while the canopy over the Sacrament was borne by four robed Knights of Malta. Stanford again gave us his Te Deum, while Elgar provided a limpid O Salutaris, not forgetting the traditional translation of Benediction used across three centuries by the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.

To read the full version of Bishop Peter Elliott's report see:
http://www.ordinariate.org.uk/news12-02-03.htm

To three Cherubim and Seraphim

2012-01-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

Concerns raised over 'three parent test tube baby' experiments

2012-01-22T08:48:00.000-08:00

By: Claire Bergin
Independent Catholic News
Posted: Thursday, January 19, 2012 10:08 pm

http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=19682

News that babies with three biological parents could be a reality within three years using a new IVF technique, have been described as 'unethical' and 'macabre' by Catholic scientists and pro-life campaigners. The Wellcome Trust and Newcastle University have just announced a £5.8m package for further lab-based research aimed at assessing the safety of an experimental technique which involves transferring parents' DNA into a donor egg, meaning the resulting child would inherit a tiny fraction of their genetic coding from a third party. They say it could prevent genetic conditions affecting the heart, muscle or brain being passed on to children and future generations.

The Department of Health has ordered a public consultation on whether the technology should be moved from the lab to patients, which will be followed by a Commons debate on the ethics of the issue.

Anthony Ozimic, communications manager with the Society for the Unborn Child, commented: "These macabre experiments are both destructive and dangerous and therefore unethical. The vast majority of embryonic children created in the laboratory are killed because they do not meet the 'quality control' requirements dictated by scientists involved in such increasingly macabre experiments.

"It doesn't matter how an embryonic child is created, he or she is still an innocent member of the human family and therefore has the right to life.

“Scientists should abandon the spurious field of destructive embryo experimentation and instead promote the ethical alternative of adult stem cell research, which is already providing cures and treatments for the same conditions", concluded Mr Ozimic.

John Smeaton, SPUC director, commented: “As with IVF and cloning, this mitochondrial technique may well lead to the developmental abnormalities. Creating embryonic children in the laboratory abuses them, by subjecting them to unnatural processes. Human life begins at conception. Any grounds for denying human rights to human embryos are arbitrary and self-serving.

"Scientists should respect human life and pursue ethical alternatives which are much more likely to be successful in the long term", he concluded.

Helen Watt, a senior research director at the Anscombe Centre for Bioethics in Oxford, a Catholic academic institute, told Channel 4 News that both the techniques being assessed by the HFEA involve "very serious ethical problems".

Regarding pronuclear transfer, she said: "This grossly disrespects human life, and any child born from this particular technique will sadly discover she has no genetic parents - not three parents, as is sometimes reported. Instead, she is formed from the bodies of two embryos created and killed precisely as 'building blocks' for hers.

"We are very far here from the unconditional welcome of new life which having a baby should involve."

She added: "Even with the second, less destructive method, maternal spindle transfer, where nuclear material is exchanged before fertilisation, the child will face the unknown physical risks of the procedure in addition to the identity problems of knowing she that has, in this case, three genetic parents. For couples who, understandably, do not want to take the risk of passing on mitochondrial disorders to their children, adoption is a far better solution."

Priestly formation requires integrity and asceticism, as well as "heroic constancy and fidelity.

2012-01-22T08:40:00.000-08:00

BENEDICT XVI ENCOURAGES SEMINARIANS TO STUDY HARD

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 20, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI today told those preparing for the priesthood that their path to holiness also includes a commitment to their studies.

The Pope said this today in an address to the community from one of the Diocese of Rome seminaries, the Almo Collegio Capranica, which he received in audience for the feast of St. Agnes, patron of the college.

He said that priestly formation requires integrity and asceticism, as well as "heroic constancy and fidelity."

"Deep down there should be a solid spiritual life animated by an intense relationship with God on the personal and community level, with particular care shown in liturgical celebrations and the frequenting of the sacraments," the Holy Father encouraged. "The priestly life requires a growing desire for holiness, a clear sensus Ecclesiae and an openness to a fraternity without exclusions or partiality."

And he said that the priest's path to holiness also includes a decision to develop his intelligence and cultural knowledge, the "fruit of passionate and constant study."

"Faith has its own intellectual and rational dimension that is essential," the Pontiff explained. "For a seminarian and a young priest still struggling with academic study, it means assimilating the synthesis between faith and reason that is peculiar to Christianity. The Word of God became flesh, and the priest, the true priest of the Incarnate Word, must become more transparent, luminous and profound, to the eternal Word which is given to us. He who is mature also in this, his global cultural training, can be a more effective educator and promoter of that worship 'in spirit and truth' of which Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman."

Universal

Benedict XVI also encouraged the seminarians to steep themselves in the experience of the Church's universality.

"Always have a deep sense of history and tradition of the Church," he invited them. "Being in Rome is a gift which should make you especially sensitive to the depth of the Catholic tradition. You touch it with your hands already in the history of the building that houses you. In addition, you live these years of training in a special closeness with the Successor of Peter, which enables you to perceive with particular clarity the size of the universal Church and the desire that the Gospel may reach all peoples. Here you have the opportunity to broaden your horizons with experiences of internationality; here, above all, you breathe Catholicism.

"Take advantage of what is offered, for future service to the Diocese of Rome, or your dioceses of origin! By friendship, which springs from living together, learn about the different situations of the nations and Churches around the world and learn to form in yourselves a Catholic view. Prepare yourselves to be close to every person you meet, not allowing any culture to be a barrier to the Word of life, which you proclaim also with your life."

The Pope concluded by reminding the seminarians that "the Church expects much from the young priests in the work of evangelization and new evangelization."

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On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text: www.zenit.org/article-34158?l=english

Who are the Heralds of the Gospel?

2012-01-16T12:53:00.000-08:00

The Heralds of the Gospel is an International Association of Pontifical Right, the first established by the Holy See in the third millennium, on the liturgical feast of the Chair of St. Peter, February 22nd, 2001.

Comprised mainly of young people, this Association is established in 57 countries. Its members practice celibacy, and are entirely dedicated to apostolate, living in separate houses designated for young men and young women.Their life of recollection, study and prayer alternates with evangelizing activities in dioceses and parishes, with special emphasis placed on the formation of youth.

Three essential pillars: The spirituality of the Heralds is based on three essential points: The Eucharist, Mary and the Pope. These points are represented in the emblem that distinguishes them.

Their charism leads them to strive for perfection, while always searching for beauty in all their daily actions, even in the most private ones.

Seeing in culture and art efficacious tools of evangelization, the Heralds characteristically place special emphasis on both choral and instrumental music. Hence, the Heralds have formed various choirs and symphonic bands to bring their message of faith, incentive and confidence to today's humanity.

May all our friends have a blessed and holy Christmas.

2011-12-27T04:51:00.000-08:00

2011-12-27T04:47:00.001-08:00

http://www.zenit.org/article-34055?l=english

ZE11122404 - 2011-12-24
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-34055?l=english

POPE TO INFANT JESUS: MANIFEST YOUR POWER

Speaks of God's Might in Christmas Eve Homily

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 24, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI voiced a prayer tonight during his homily at the Christmas Eve Mass: "O mighty God, you have appeared as a child" and "we love your childish estate, your powerlessness," but we also ask you, "manifest your power."

In a radiantly illuminated St. Peter's Basilica, the Pope made this prayer, as he recalled that all three Christmas Masses present a quote from Isaiah, which "describes the epiphany that took place at Christmas in greater detail: 'A child is born for us, a son given to us and dominion is laid on his shoulders; and this is the name they give him: Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace. Wide is his dominion in a peace that has no end.'"

The Holy Father said it is unknown if the prophet had a particular child in mind from his own period of history, but, he said, "it seems impossible. This is the only text in the Old Testament in which it is said of a child, of a human being: his name will be Mighty-God, Eternal-Father. We are presented with a vision that extends far beyond the historical moment into the mysterious, into the future."

"A child, in all its weakness, is Mighty God," the Pontiff declared. "A child, in all its neediness and dependence, is Eternal Father. And his peace 'has no end.'"

Reflecting on that peace, Benedict XVI said that God as a child "pits himself against all violence and brings a message that is peace."

"At this hour," he continued, "when the world is continually threatened by violence in so many places and in so many different ways, when over and over again there are oppressors' rods and bloodstained cloaks, we cry out to the Lord: O mighty God, you have appeared as a child and you have revealed yourself to us as the One who loves us, the One through whom love will triumph. And you have shown us that we must be peacemakers with you.

"We love your childish estate, your powerlessness, but we suffer from the continuing presence of violence in the world, and so we also ask you: manifest your power, O God. In this time of ours, in this world of ours, cause the oppressors' rods, the cloaks rolled in blood and the footgear of battle to be burned, so that your peace may triumph in this world of ours."

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On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text: www.zenit.org/article-34054?l=english

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How silently, how silently The wondrous gift is given!

2011-12-17T07:54:00.000-08:00

As we prepare for the great Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord, we should seek times of silence. In the quietness we should listen for the voice of Jesus, our Redeemer and Creator, who is coming to us as a little child.

But to set times aside to allow us to experience that silence is difficult and requires a serious discipline. The search for silence is the subject of the Pastoral Letter of Bishop Hugh, O.S.B. Bishop of Aberdeen. We invite you to meditate of his words.

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We live in a noisy world. Our towns and cities are full of noise. There is noise in the skies and on the roads. There is noise in our homes, and even in our churches. And most of all there is noise in our minds and hearts.

The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard once wrote: ‘The present state of the world and the whole of life is diseased. If I were a doctor and I were asked for my advice, I should reply: “Create silence! Bring people to silence!” The Word of God cannot be heard in the noisy world of today. And even if it were trumpeted forth with all the panoply of noise so that it could be heard in the midst of all the other noise, then it would no longer be the Word of God. Therefore, create silence!’

‘Create silence!’ There’s a challenge here. Surely speaking is a good and healthy thing? Yes indeed. Surely there are bad kinds of silence? Yes again. But still Kierkegaard is on to something.

There is a simple truth at stake. There can be no real relationship with God, there can be no real meeting with God, without silence. Silence prepares for that meeting and silence follows it. An early Christian wrote, ‘To someone who has experienced Christ himself, silence is more precious than anything else.’ For us God has the first word, and our silence opens our hearts to hear him. Only then will our own words really be words, echoes of God’s, and not just more litter on the rubbish dump of noise.

‘How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given.’ So the carol goes. For all the noise, rush and rowdiness of contemporary Christmasses, we all know there is a link between Advent and silence, Christmas and silence. Our cribs are silent places. Who can imagine Mary as a noisy person? In the Gospels, St Joseph never says a word; he simply obeys the words brought him by angels. And when John the Baptist later comes out with words of fire, it is after years of silence in the desert. Add to this the silence of our long northern nights, and the silence that follows the snow. Isn’t all this asking us to still ourselves?

A passage from the Old Testament Book of Wisdom describes the night of Israel’s Exodus from Egypt as a night full of silence. It is used by the liturgy of the night of Jesus’ birth:

‘When a deep silence covered all things and night was in the middle of its course, your all-powerful Word, O Lord, leapt from heaven’s royal throne’ (Wis 18:14-15).

‘Holy night, silent night!’ So we sing. The outward silence of Christmas night invites us to make silence within us. Then the Word can leap into us as well, as a wise man wrote: ‘If deep silence has a hold on what is inside us, then into us too the all-powerful Word will slip quietly from the Father’s throne.’

This is the Word who proceeds from the silence of the Father. He became an infant, and ‘infant’ means literally ‘one who doesn’t speak.’ The child Jesus would have cried – for air and drink and food – but he didn’t speak. ‘Let him who has ears to hear, hear what this loving and mysterious silence of the eternal Word says to us.’ We need to listen to this quietness of Jesus, and allow it to make its home in our minds and hearts.

‘Create silence!’ How much we need this! The world needs places, oases, sanctuaries, of silence.

And here comes a difficult question: what has happened to silence in our churches? Many people ask this. When the late Canon Duncan Stone, as a young priest in the 1940s, visited a parish in the Highlands, he was struck to often find thirty or forty people kneeling there in silent prayer. Now often there is talking up to the very beginning of Mass, and it starts again immediately afterwards. But what is a church for, and why do we go there? We go to meet the Lord and the Lord comes to meet us. ‘The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before him!’ said the prophet Habakkuk. Surely the silent sacramental presence of the Lord in the tabernacle should lead us to silence? We need to focus ourselves and put aside distractions before the Mass begins. We want to prepare to hear the word of the Lord in the readings and homily. Surely we need a quiet mind to connect to the great Eucharistic Prayer? And when we receive Holy Communion, surely we want to listen to what the Lord God has to say, ‘the voice that speaks of peace’? Being together in this way can make us one – the Body of Christ – quite as effectively as words.

A wise elderly priest of the diocese said recently, ‘Two people talking stop forty people praying.’

‘Create silence!’ I don’t want to be misunderstood. We all understand about babies. Nor are we meant to come and go from church as cold isolated individuals, uninterested in one another. We want our parishes to be warm and welcoming places. We want to meet and greet and speak with one another. There are arrangements to be made, items of news to be shared, messages to be passed. A good word is above the best gift, says the Bible. But it is a question of where and when. Better in the porch than at the back of the church. Better after the Mass in a hall or a room. There is a time and place for speaking and a time and place for silence. In the church itself, so far as possible, silence should prevail. It should be the norm before and after Mass, and at other times as well. When there is a real need to say something, let it be done as quietly as can be. At the very least, such silence is a courtesy towards those who want to pray. It signals our reverence for the Blessed Sacrament. It respects the longing of the Holy Spirit to prepare us to celebrate the sacred mysteries. And then the Mass, with its words and music and movement and its own moments of silence, will become more real. It will unite us at a deeper level, and those who visit our churches will sense the Holy One amongst us.

‘Create silence!’ It is an imperative. May the Word coming forth from silence find our silence waiting for him like a crib! ‘The devil’, said St Ambrose, ‘loves noise; Christ looks for silence.’

Yours sincerely in Him,
+ Hugh, O. S. B.
Bishop of Aberdeen

7 December 2011

"We Must Let Ourselves Be Illumined by the Ray of Light That Comes From Bethlehem"

2011-12-13T06:41:00.000-08:00

http://www.zenit.org/article-33932?l=english

ZE11120601 - 2011-12-06
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-33932?l=english

ON PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS

"We Must Let Ourselves Be Illumined by the Ray of Light That Comes From Bethlehem"

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 5, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave Sunday before and after praying the midday Angelus.

* * *

Dear brothers and sisters!

This Sunday marks the second stage of Advent. This period of the liturgical year highlights two figures who had a pre-eminent role in the preparation of Jesus Christ’s entering into history: the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist. Today’s text from the Gospel of Mark focuses precisely on the latter. In fact it describes the personality and mission of the Precursor of Christ (cf. Mark 1:2-8). Beginning with externals, John is presented as a very ascetic figure: he is clothed in camel skins, he eats locusts and wild honey and he lives in the wilderness of Judea (cf. Mark 1:6). Jesus himself, once contrasted him with those “who live in the palaces of kings” and “wear soft garments” (Matthew 11:8). John the Baptist’s style should recall all Christians to choose a sober lifestyle, especially in preparation for the feast of Christmas in which the Lord -- as St. Paul says -- “although he was rich, became poor for your sake, that you might become rich through his poverty” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

In regard to John’s mission, it was an extraordinary call to conversion: his baptism “is connected to an ardent call to a new way of thinking and acting, but above all with the proclamation of God’s judgment” (“Jesus of Nazareth,” Ignatius Press, 2008, p. 14) and of the imminent appearance of the Messiah, defined as “he who is greater than me” and who “will baptize in the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:7, 8). John’s message thus goes further and deeper than a sober way of life: it calls us to interior change, beginning with the acknowledgement and confession of our sin. As we prepare ourselves for Christmas, it is important that we look within ourselves and we sincerely reflect on our life. We must let ourselves be illumined by the ray of light that comes from Bethlehem, the light of him who is “the greater one” and made himself small, the “strongest one” and made himself weak.

All four of the evangelists describe the preaching of John the Baptist making reference to a passage of the prophet Isaiah: “A voice cries out: in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord. Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3). Mark also inserts a citation from another prophet, Malachi, which says: “Behold, I send my messenger before you: he will prepare your way” (Mark 1:2; cf. Malachi 3:1). These references to the scriptures of the Old Testament “speak of a saving intervention of God, who emerges from his hiddenness to judge and save; it is for this God that the door is to be opened and the way made ready” (“Jesus of Nazareth,” p. 15).

To the maternal intercession of Mary, the Virgin of expectation, let us entrust our path toward the Lord, while we continue our Advent itinerary of making our heart and our life ready for the coming of Emmanuel, God-with-us.

[Following the recitation of the Angelus the Holy Father addressed the faithful in various languages. In Italian he said:]

Dear brothers and sisters!

In the upcoming days in Geneva and in other cities the 50th anniversary of the institution of the International Organization for Migration, the 60th anniversary of the convention on the status of refugees and the 50th anniversary of the convention on the reduction of cases of statelessness will be marked. I entrust to the Lord those who must -- and often are forced -- to leave their own country or are deprived of citizenship. While I encourage solidarity with them, I pray for all those who expend themselves to protect and assist these brothers in these emergency situations, even exposing themselves to great toil and danger.

[In English he said:]

I greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today’s Angelus. Today we mark the second Sunday of Advent by a Gospel passage where John the Baptist calls us to conversion. May we heed his call to repentance and ask the Lord to forgive us our sins, so that Emmanuel, God-with-us, may find us ready when he comes. Upon each of you and your loved ones at home, I invoke God’s abundant blessings.

[Concluding in Italian he said:]

A wish everyone a good Sunday. Have a good Sunday and a good week! Thank you!

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]

Our Lady of Guadalupe Seen as Model for Spreading Christ's Message

2011-12-13T06:37:00.001-08:00

http://www.zenit.org/article-33974?l=english

ZE11121208 - 2011-12-12
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-33974?l=english

LEARNING EVANGELIZATION FROM A MOTHER

Our Lady of Guadalupe Seen as Model for Spreading Christ's Message

By Mercedes De La Torre

ROME, DEC. 12, 2011 (Zenit.org).- As the Church turns its focus to the new evangelization, today's feast presents a model to follow: the Virgin of Guadalupe is an example of how to evangelize a continent, says Legionary of Christ Father Nicola Tovagliari.

Father Tovagliari participated in a conference on "The Virgin of Guadalupe: Challenge to Science, Call to Faith," organized by the master's program in Science and Faith at Rome's Regina Apostolorum university.

ZENIT spoke with Father Tovagliari about the lessons to learn from Mary.

ZENIT: What is the message that Guadalupe gives the world?

Father Tovagliari: It is a message of tenderness, of the maternal presence of the Mother of God who is also mother of all men. It is a message of protection, of care and also of confidence in the future.

ZENIT: What is the importance of the apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe?

Father Tovagliari: It is of historical importance in the event that occurred, of great importance for the evangelization of the peoples of Meso-America but also of present importance for all peoples, because it is God who doesn't forget man and makes Himself present constantly in all cultures and all ages.

ZENIT: Can Mary of Guadalupe be considered a model for the new evangelization, phenomenon of inculturation?

Father Tovagliari: Certainly, just as the first coming of Christ was by Mary's arms, Jesus' new coming also, namely, his appearing in all present cultures or in the new cultural phenomena is by Mary's arms. It's very easy to fall in love with Christ's message when it is brought by the heart of his Mother, when it is brought by a serene face, the sweet face of his Mother.

Present-day man -- who lacks affection in, let us say, this cold world and, perhaps, within the technique of secularization is somewhat extinguished -- finds in the eyes, in the Virgin's face a door to fall in love with Christ's message.

ZENIT: What is the global relevance of the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe?

Father Tovagliari: The image of the Virgin of Guadalupe attracts thousands of pilgrims every day who go to greet her, to greet her as children, to praise her and to pray and ask for something, so there are thousands of pilgrims that visit her every day.

At present the shrine, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, is the religious and Marian place of worship most visited in the world. It is estimated that some 20 million pilgrims visit it every year, but I think we could dare to say there are even more, suffice it to think that on Dec. 12, there will probably be more than 1 million pilgrims that go to greet her and sing the mañanitas to her on that day.

ZENIT: This year the Holy Father is marking Dec. 12 with a Mass in Spanish in Rome, a great event for the Church in Latin America. Why?

Father Tovagliari: The Holy Father's Mass in the Vatican is offered for the whole of Latin America, also in remembrance of the bicentenary, the 200 years of independence of the Latin nations.

In this event, the Holy Father is celebrating the values of liberty, equality, and fraternity among the peoples and I think this is an important message which we also see reflected in the Message of Guadalupe: this Virgin who appears as Mother of all men, so that men are equal in dignity, and all are brothers among themselves.

[Translation by ZENIT]

Recent events for the Heralds UK

2011-11-25T02:47:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent photos of Our Lady of the Rosary Group Mass at Streatham (London). Deacon Arthur with Priest celebrant-Fr. Dennis O.C.M.

Top photo: Deacon Arthur with catholic writer and journalist Joanna Boogle and Monsg. Keith Newton Ordinary of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Celebration of the FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING

2011-11-19T13:48:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends

This Sunday, 20 November, the Church celebrates one of the biggest titles of Our Lord

CHRIST THE KING

You will certainly like to see the beautiful High Mass
that will be celebrated at the Church of our Seminar in
Brazil.

You can watch it direct on this link:

http://www.arautos.org/tv/interna.html?id=316&title=Cristo+Rei

Further information about this great feast day on:

http://www.arautos.org.br/especial/10998/Cristo-Rei.html

Sunday, 20 November at 1 PM Uk time

You will not be disappointed
Your faithfully
Deacon Arthur, EP
Heralds of the Gospel

Feast of St. Martin of Tours

2011-11-11T12:16:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends
I thought you would like to know this famous story of one of the most popular saints of Europe. May God bless you

Deacon Arthur, EP Heralds of the Gospel

Feast of St. Martin of Tours

(316?-397)
On a bitterly cold day, Martin met a poor man, almost naked, trembling in the cold and begging from passersby at the city gate. Martin had nothing but his weapons and his clothes. He drew his sword, cut his cloak into two pieces, gave one to the beggar and wrapped himself in the other half. Some of the bystanders laughed at his now odd appearance; others were ashamed at not having relieved the man's misery.

That night in his sleep Martin saw Christ dressed in the half of the garment he had given away, and heard him say, "Martin, still a catechumen, has covered me with his garment."

Treasures of Westminster Cathedral

2011-11-09T06:30:00.000-08:00

From website of Westminster Cathedral: http://www.westminstercathedral.org.uk/treasures.php

Come and enjoy a new exhibition full of the Cathedral's most precious possessions.

See a display of rare ecclesiastical objects, vestments, chalices and sacred relics acquired by the Cathedral since its opening in 1903.

Learn the story of how the Cathedral was created and see one of the greatest architectural models in Britain.

Opening hours:

Monday to Friday: 9.30am to 5.00pm
Weekends: 9.30am to 6.00pm

Entry:

Adults £5.00
Concessions (Students & Seniors) £2.50
Family (2 adults and up to 4 children) £11.00
Group discounts available

Contact:

Tel: 020 7798 9096
Email: johndaly@rcdow.org.uk

Happy Feast of All Saints

2011-11-02T08:13:00.000-07:00

Painting by Fra Angelico

Today is the day in which we ask through all the saints known and unknown to intercede for us. I will remember you all at Mass today. Through them we honour Christ, true God and true man, the Redeemer and Saviour of mankind, who through His Holy Mother Mary gave them all the graces they needed for them to be today in Heaven.

The earliest certain observance of a feast in honour of all the saints is an early fourth-century commemoration of "all the martyrs." In the early seventh century, after successive waves of invaders plundered the catacombs, Pope Boniface IV gathered up some 28 wagonloads of bones and reinterred them beneath the Pantheon, a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods. The pope rededicated the shrine as a Christian church. According to Venerable Bede, the pope intended "that the memory of all the saints might in the future be honoured in the place which had formerly been dedicated to the worship not of gods but of demons".

The Anglo-Saxon theologian Alcuin observed the feast on November 1 in 800, as did his friend Arno, Bishop of Salzburg. Rome finally adopted that date in the ninth century

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

2011-10-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-09T06:09:00.001-07:00

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

2011-10-09T05:58:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-09T05:46:00.000-07:00

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

Wednesday 28 September - National Day of Prayer and Fasting for Life.

2011-09-25T16:53:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday 28th September please pray and fast for the end of abortion and euthanasia. Your prayer and fasting is urgently needed. Join us in:

Fasting: Fast from all food except bread and water for the day or fast from a particular food or luxury, e.g. chocolate, alcohol, cigarettes, TV. Fast from whatever you can given your state of health etc, but make sure it is something that involves a sacrifice to yourself.

Prayer: We are asking people to say a Rosary (or an extra Rosary if you say it daily already). You could also offer an extra effort such as going to Mass (or an extra Mass) on the day, or going to Adoration. You can even pray before a closed tabernacle if Adoration is not available near you.

For information on the day of Prayer and Fasting contact;
The Good Counsel Network on 020 7723 1740.
www.goodcounselnetwork.com
http://mariastopsabortion.blogspot.com

And the people of Ninevah believed in God; they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least...God saw their efforts to renounce their evil ways. And God relented about the disaster which He had threatened to bring on them, and He did not bring it. (Jonah 3:5,10)

THE POPE HAS COME TO GERMANY, HE SPEAKS OF GOD

2011-09-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

L'Osservatore Director Reflects on First Days of State Visit

http://www.zenit.org/article-33511?l=english

ROME, SEPT. 24, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is the signed editorial by Giovanni Maria Vian, director of the semi-official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, published today, on the second day of Benedict XVI's four-day state visit to Germany. The editorial is titled "The Sun Over Germany."

* * *

It is already possible to extend to the whole journey the well-chosen image of the sun over Berlin chosen by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as the title of a commentary on the masterful discourse of Benedict XVI -- which with an intelligent and perfect journalistic choice the authoritative German daily published in its entirety. Not only and not so much because of the beautiful fresh, sunny weather that is accompanying him, as rather for the importance of the visit in the different events. Therefore the sun is shining on Germany to which Joseph Ratzinger has returned for the third time since he was elected Pope to meet the people and to speak of God, as he explained at the outset.

In the Christian tradition sunlight also symbolizes that divine light which illuminates the world, and the Bishop of Rome has chosen to speak of God's light itself, meeting the Evangelical representatives in Erfurt -- in the very place where the young Luther studied theology -- whom he welcomed with genuine warmth. And it was of course the question on God, central in the thought and torment of the young Augustinian monk, which Benedict XVI had at heart above all. Who is concerned about it, even among Christians? Who takes his own failings and the reality of evil seriously? Rethinking "Christ's cause", dear to Luther and hence to faith, is the main ecumenical commitment today in a world in which God's absence weighs ever more heavily.

The very image of light is used by the Pope to describe the gradual distancing of the world from God: at the outset, his reflection still illuminates man but increasingly he ends by losing his life. This is why it is always necessary to overcome the error of the past, the emphasis of what divides Christians, and to insist instead on what -- and it is already a lot -- unites them. The faith of the Trinitarian God revealed by Christ and his testimony in a world thirsting for it as if it were penetrating ever deeper into a waterless desert.

One must reflect upon this common witness of Christians -- in a society where ethics are replaced by solely utilitarian calculations -- in the struggle to defend "the inviolable dignity of every single person, from conception until death". In the dialogue with other religions, and especially with Judaism and Islam, as the Pope repeated while meeting with a few representatives. In fact, Christians can and must collaborate with Muslims and Jews, in a society where it is necessary to struggle together to make the public dimension secure and to create through justice the conditions for peace: opus iustitiae pax, to use the Old Testament phrase that Eugenio Pacelli chose as his motto.

In a time of restlessness and indifference and in circumstances that often squeeze you like a wine press, those who live in the joy of the Church, which is the most beautiful gift of God, must let themselves to be mysteriously transformed into the sweet wine of Christ, offered to all with friendship and reason. Today man can destroy the world and because of this he must rediscover through reason the foundations of law, as he explained to Parliament in Berlin. As was evocatively written in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "The fisher of men has come from Rome".

Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham - 24 September.

2011-09-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

The story of Our Lady of Walsingham is a familiar one, but it bears remembering on this day when we commemorate the title. The following account is from the website of the Community of Our Lady of Walsingham. http://www.walsinghamcommunity.org/i[03]b.html

The story of how Walsingham became a place of pilgrimage is enshrined in an old ballad, written many years after the events it purports to speak of actually took place.

In 1061, so the story goes, the lady of the manor of Little Walsingham in Norfolk, a widow named Richeldis, prayed to our Lady asking how she could honour her in some special way. In answer to this prayer Mary led Richeldis in spirit to Nazareth and showed her the house in which she had first received the angel's message. Mary told Richeldis to take the measurements of this house and build another one just like it in Walsingham. It would be a place where people could come to honour her and her Son, remembering especially the mystery of the Annunciation and Mary's joyful 'yes' to conceiving the Saviour.

The late eleventh century and all through the twelfth and thirteenth century was the era of the crusades, which saw a growing interest in the sites consecrated by the human presence of Jesus in the Holy Land. But now pilgrims need not go so far; in England itself there was a 'new Nazareth' built by one of their own countrywomen.

After some time Augustinian canons took over the care of the holy house and enshrined it in a special chapel within a much larger church. Pilgrims began to come from all over England and even abroad. From the time of Henry III nearly all the kings and queens of the realm visited Walsingham, as well as hundreds of ordinary people seeking help, healing and inner peace. Walsingham ranked with Rome, Jerusalem and Compostella in importance as a pilgrimage destination.

However, the Shrine was destroyed at the time of the Reformation, and only rebuilt at the beginning of the twentieth century, mainly due to the inspired leadership of the Anglican vicar of Walsingham, Fr Hope Patten. He revived devotion to Our Lady under this title and built a new shrine Church and Holy House in the village, together with a statue modelled on that depicted on the ancient priory seal. It shows a seated Mary with her Son on her lap holding a book of the gospels.

Meanwhile a Miss Charlotte Boyd had purchased and restored the ancient Slipper Chapel a mile away and gifted it to the Catholic Church. This has since become the National Shrine of the Catholic Church in England. So Walsingham is a village dedicated to Mary, a place of ecumenical pilgrimage with a growing understanding of the original message of Walsingham as received by Richeldis – that it should be a place where the joy of the Annunciation could be remembered and celebrated, for the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us through Mary's joyful and ready 'yes,' spoken within an ordinary house that would become the boyhood home of the Son of God himself.

O God, who through the mystery of the Word made flesh didst in thy mercy sanctify the house of the blessed Virgin Mary, and wondrously place it in the bosom of thy Church: Grant that being made separate from the tabernacles of sinners, we may become worthy to dwell in thy holy house; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The Episcopal Ordination of The Right Reverend John Sherrington - the new Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Westminster.

2011-09-15T11:30:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends

We were very pleased to attend today the Episcopal Ordination of The Right Reverend John Sherrington who will be the new Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Westminster.

We have include some photos taken by Br Michael for you to see.
God bless

Deacon Arthur, EP

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - September 8th

2011-09-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

The feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated each year on the eighth of September. Usually it is the custom of the church to celebrate the feast day of a saint on the date of their death as this is truly their "die natalis", the day remembered as their birth into everlasting happiness. Mary, however, entered this world sinless through the privilege of the Immaculate Conception and is the firstborn of the redeemed. Her nativity is a cause for great joy as it is considered the" dawn of our salvation" as Pope Paul VI wrote in the document, Marialis Cultus in 1972.

Symbols: bruised serpent, sometimes encircling a globe; the lily; fleur de lis; virgin's monogram; pierced heart; crescent moon; sun and moon; starry crown; Mater Dei; rose; flowering almond; gilly flower; snow drop; hawthorn; the star; the balsam; the Ark of the Covenant; the mirror or speculum; apple; myrtle; palm, cypress and olive; closed gate; book of Wisdom; sealed book; rod of Jesse; lily of the valley; house of gold; city of God; vessel of honor; seat of wisdom.

Prayer in honor of Mary's Nativity
by St. Anselm.

Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O sacred Virgin; give me strength against thine enemies, and against the enemy of the whole human race. Give me strength humbly to pray to thee. Give me strength to praise thee in prayer with all my powers, through the merits of thy most sacred nativity, which for the entire Christian world was a birth of joy, the hope and solace of its life.

When thou wast born, O most holy Virgin, then was the world made light.

Happy is thy stock, holy thy root, and blessed thy fruit, for thou alone as a virgin, filled with the Holy Spirit, didst merit to conceive thy God, as a virgin to bear Thy God, as a virgin to bring Him forth, and after His birth to remain a virgin.

Have mercy therefore upon me a sinner, and give me aid, O Lady, so that just as thy nativity, glorious from the seed of Abraham, sprung from the tribe of Juda, illustrious from the stock of David, didst announce joy to the entire world, so may it fill me with true joy and cleanse me from every sin.

Pray for me, O Virgin most prudent, that the gladsome joys of thy most helpful nativity may put a cloak over all my sins.

O holy Mother of God, flowering as the lily, pray to thy sweet Son for me, a wretched sinner. Amen.

Forty Hours Adoration

2011-08-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends

We are pleased to let you know that you and your family
were very much remembered in the Forty Hours Adoration.
This devotion took place at the Chapel of Our Lady of
Westminster of the Sons of Divine Providence just next to
the house of the Heralds of the Gospel in Hampton Wick,
Surrey.

We started Friday 26 August and we finished Sunday 28 with
Benediction and Mass.

The idea of Forty Hours Adoration comes from the fact this
was about the length of time that the Body of Christ
remained in the tomb, from Holy Friday till His
resurrection on Easter Sunday. The exact origin of the
Forty Hours devotion is unknown but most likely it started
in Milan in the first part of the fifteen hundreds. St
Charles Borromeo speaks as if this practice was of very
ancient date; and he distinctly refers it to the forty
hours our Lord's Body remained in the tomb, seeing that
this was a period of watching, suspense, and ardent prayer
on the part of all His disciples.

Best regards from Br Michael and myself.
I send you my blessing.
In Jesus and Mary
Deacon Arthur, EP
Heralds of the Gospel

Forthcoming Receptions for the Ordinariate

2011-08-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

The Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, Mgr Keith Newton, will receive three former members of the congregation of St Mary’s, Bourne Street, on Saturday 3 September 2011 at St James’s, Spanish Place.

The Solemn Mass will take place at 1.30 p.m., celebrated by Mgr Newton. Music will include the Mass for Four Voices by William Byrd.

See - Website for the Ordinariate Portal: http://ordinariateportal.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/forthcoming-receptions-for-the-ordinariate/

Also of interest is the website of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham at:
http://www.ordinariate.org.uk/

St James's Roman Catholic Church
Spanish Place
22 George Street
London
W1U 3QY

Tel: 020 7935 0943
Email: spanishplace@sjrcc.org.uk

Rector: Fr Christopher Colven
Fr Nicholas Kavanagh
Reverend Monsignor Francis C. Jamieson

Friday Abstinence - The practice of Friday Penance takes effect from Friday 16 September 2011

2011-08-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

The full version of the following may be found at the website of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales: http://www.catholic-ew.org.uk/Catholic-Church/Media-Centre/Press-Releases/Press-Releases-2011/Catholic-Witness-Friday-Penance

A key resolution of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, released after their May 2011 plenary meeting, was "to re-establish the practice of Friday penance in the lives of the faithful as a clear and distinctive mark of their own Catholic identity."

This act of common witness will come into effect from Friday 16 September 2011 - the day the Church in England and Wales marks the anniversary of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom.

Full Resolution

By the practice of penance every Catholic identifies with Christ in his death on the cross. We do so in prayer, through uniting the sufferings and sacrifices in our lives with those of Christ’s passion; in fasting, by dying to self in order to be close to Christ; in almsgiving, by demonstrating our solidarity with the sufferings of Christ in those in need. All three forms of penance form a vital part of Christian living. When this is visible in the public arena, then it is also an important act of witness.

Every Friday is set aside by the Church as a special day of penance, for it is the day of the death of our Lord. The law of the Church requires Catholics to abstain from meat on Fridays, or some other form of food, or to observe some other form of penance laid down by the Bishops' Conference.

The Bishops wish to re-establish the practice of Friday penance in the lives of the faithful as a clear and distinctive mark of their own Catholic identity. They recognise that the best habits are those which are acquired as part of a common resolve and common witness. It is important that all the faithful be united in a common celebration of Friday penance.

Respectful of this, and in accordance with the mind of the whole Church, the Bishops' Conference wishes to remind all Catholics in England and Wales of the obligation of Friday Penance. The Bishops have decided to re-establish the practice that this should be fulfilled by abstaining from meat. Those who cannot or choose not to eat meat as part of their normal diet should abstain from some other food of which they regularly partake. This is to come into effect from Friday 16 September 2011 when we will mark the anniversary of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom.

Many may wish to go beyond this simple act of common witness and mark each Friday with a time of prayer and further self-sacrifice. In all these ways we unite our sacrifices to the sacrifice of Christ, who gave up his very life for our salvation.

The Will and the Good in Being

2011-08-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

“In the Thomistic synthesis, the good has an extraordinary importance. St. Thomas conceives it as the motive of creation and the end of the created”.

The Aristotelian concept of the universe is one of order. Transferred into Thomistic thought, the resultant concept of the universe is one in which each part has some relation to each other part, inasmuch as all parts are ultimately linked with the Creator-God. It is thus that the purpose of the will emerges in light of its object.

by: Kyla Mary Anne Macdonald

The complete version of this article may be found at:
http://heralds.blog.arautos.org/

THE GOOD

It is in the first part of his Summa Theologica, in which St. Thomas treats of God and the divine attributes, that he first touches upon the idea of goodness. A superlative and causative goodness is imputed to God in the description of His essential perfection and being. Referring to Aristotle‟s Metaphysics, St. Thomas states that God is called universally perfect since He cannot lack any perfection that is found in any other genus. For by reason of His being effective cause, He possesses all that the effect possesses. Continuing, he expounds:

God is existence itself, of itself subsistent. Consequently, He must contain within Himself the whole perfection of being. (…)

Now all created perfections are included in the perfection of being, for things are perfect precisely so far as they have being after some fashion. It follows therefore that the perfection of no one thing is wanting to God. This line of argument, too, is implied by Dionysius (loc. cit.) when he says that “God exists not in any single mode, but embraces all being within Himself, absolutely, without limitation, uniformly”; and afterward he adds that He is the very existence to subsisting things.

This excerpt not only demonstrates the relation between being and perfection but also shows that a relation exists between created things, in their particular degrees of being and perfection, and God. This relation, in addition to being that of cause and effect, is one of a certain similarity: “all created things, so far as they are beings, are like God as the first and universal principal of being” 3 . It follows, as a consequence, that: “Every being that is not God, is God’s creature. Now every creature of God is good (1Tim 4:4): and God is the greatest good. Therefore every being is good”.

The infinite being and goodness of God is, therefore, represented in His work, His creation. However, creatures have but finite being and goodness; no one creature can adequately reflect the divine likeness. For this purpose, the existence of a multiplicity and variety of creatures are required. It is important to note that the excellence of the divine agent is seen, therefore, in the totality of his work and not completely in any individual part. The resultant variety or distinction among creatures signifies unequal degrees of perfection, and where there are degrees of perfection there is necessarily a hierarchical order. In this order, plants are more perfect than minerals, animals above plants and man being the most perfect among animals...

The human person finds himself on the pinnacle of the material universe, ─ perfectissimum in tota natura (De Pot., I,29,3) ─ since he is endowed with the highest level of being which comprises intelligence and free will 10 . Among creatures, only an intelligent, personal being that is devoid of all material ─ angelic nature ─ can surpass human nature. Yet in contrast with all created nature which has being in varying degrees, God is pure being, in such a way that He is His own being. Being as a nature is present only in God. In other words, this signifies that God is a necessary being, without need of cause, while all creatures are contingent beings in relation to God. Applying this principle to the goodness of God and creatures, God is His goodness while the goodness of creatures is a finite participation of the infinite goodness which is God .....

THE WILL IN THE GENUS OF APPETITE

We have thus far considered the good as being. This is, in effect, to consider good as a transcendental of being, thereby sharing ─ with oneness and truth ─ the same identity as being. But although the transcendentals are in reality the same as being, they are not identical in concept. In what sense, then, is the notion of good distinct from that of mere being in Aristotelian and Thomistic thought?

Aristotle begins his Nichomachean Ethics with a definition of the good as that toward which all things tend: quod omnia appetunt. Thus, goodness refers to the relation between being and the appetite in the universal sense. In other words, goodness carries a nuance of meaning which the term being, alone, does not, namely, the aspect of appetibility.
Accordingly, the very criterion of what is good is its appetibility. “Everything is good so far as it is desirable, and is a term of the movement of the appetite”.

Given the metaphysical principle that every form elicits an inclination , “appetition in general is a universal occurrence, existing in both inanimate and animate beings”. Since the good exists in varying degrees in all levels of being, it stands to reason that this appetition is likewise of unequal degrees. “All things in their own way ─ says St. Thomas ─ are inclined by appetite towards good, but in different ways”.

In following, St. Thomas traces the presence of appetite throughout the various levels of being. Minerals or inanimate things and plants are inclined to good naturally and without knowledge; this inclination is called natural appetite. The next level is that of irrational animals which although without knowledge of the good in itself, apprehend some particular good by means of the senses, and the inclination which follows is duly named sensitive appetite. The most perfect inclination to what is good occurs in beings that have knowledge of the reason of goodness, goodness in its universal sense; in them this inclination is called rational appetite or will...

As diverse as these various vegetative, sensitive and rational potencies are ─ the vegetative and sensitive being corporal and the rational being spiritual, they are all present within the human soul, united as it is to the body as its one substantial form. The vegetative or nutritive nature present in man involves only corporal functions over which the intelligence and will have no direct dominion. Much more significant to our study, then, is the presence of sensitive life in man, since this, in addition to his spiritual nature implies two distinct faculties of knowledge, sense and intellect. These faculties, being endowed with distinct means of knowing, give rise to the correspondingly diverse sensitive appetite and the will. In St. Thomas´ own words: “Since what is apprehended by the intellect and what is apprehended by sense are generically different; consequently, the intellectual appetite is distinct from the sensitive”.

Endowed with these distinct potencies that reflect his composition of matter and form ─ in this case, soul and body ─, man is thus admirably equipped to live in a universe of which every part is made up of matter and form. For while the sensory perception is suited to capture the particular and individual aspect of things that present themselves in matter, the intellect is adapted to extract from this knowledge the universal, purely abstract* aspect which is reserved in the form of a given object.

The will comes into play in response to an object that is represented to it by the intellect as good, just as the sensitive appetite desires only the good that one or other sense has captured. As a spiritual potency, the will is capable of desiring purely spiritual goods, such as knowledge and virtue. But the will would not be a human faculty and would be of little use to man in the material world if it were not also able to choose between things that exist as material singulars. But even so, it desires these according to some reason of the universal aspect of good (bonum in universali): either as an end (bonum honestum), or a means towards that end (bonum utile), and if successful, it rejoices in them as a good attained (bonum delectabile). Thus, the will´s essential disposition emerges, fixed in the desire for good and an absolute incapacity of desiring evil:

From this, the will cannot escape, and since all action is nothing more than a manifestation of nature, in all action which is fruit of the will can be seen the mark of the good and its influence. (…) To want evil, would be, truly, not to want, given that to want is, by definition, the seeking for the good, being the manifestation of an appetite of the good naturally executed. It could be said: The will does not want the good because it wants; it wants the good because it is: To want the good, for the will, is to be.

Saint Alphonsus de Liguori – Of the Assumption of Mary

2011-08-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

On Sunday the Church celebrated, in honour of Mary, two solemn festivals; that of her happy passage from this world, and that of her glorious Assumption into Heaven.

In the present discourse we shall speak of her happy passage from this world; and in the next of her glorious Assumption.
How precious was the death of Mary!
1. On account of the special graces that attended it.
2. On account of the manner in which it took place.
Death being the punishment of sin, it would seem that the Divine Mother all holy, and exempt as she was from its slightest stain should also have been exempt from death, and from encountering the misfortunes to which the children of Adam, infected by the poison of sin, are subject. But God was pleased that Mary should in all things resemble Jesus; and as the Son died, it was becoming that the Mother should also die; because, moreover, He wished to give the just an example of the precious death prepared for them, He willed that even the most Blessed Virgin should die, but by a sweet and happy death. Let us, therefore, now consider how precious was Mary’s death: first, on account of the special favours by which it was accompanied; secondly, on account of the manner in which it took place.

First point.

There are three things which render death bitter: attachment to the world, remorse for sins, and the uncertainty of salvation. The death of Mary was entirely free from these causes of bitterness, and was accompanied by three special graces, which rendered it precious and joyful. She died as she had lived, entirely detached from the things of the world; she died in the most perfect peace; she died in the certainty of eternal glory.
And in the first place, there can be no doubt that attachment to earthly things renders the death of the worldly bitter and miserable, as the Holy Ghost says: “O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man who hath peace in his possessions!” But because the Saints die detached from the things of the world, their death is not bitter, but sweet, lovely, and precious; that is to say, as Saint Bernard remarks, worth purchasing at any price, however great. ” Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.” Who are they who, being already dead, die? They are those happy souls who pass into eternity already detached, and, so to say, dead to all affection for terrestrial things; and who, like Saint Francis of Assisi, found in God alone all their happiness, and with him could say, ‘ My God and my all.’ But what soul was ever more detached from earthly goods, and more united to God, than the beautiful soul of Mary? She was detached from her parents; for at the age of three years, when children are most attached to them, and stand in the greatest need of their assistance, Mary, with the greatest intrepidity, left them, and went to shut herself up in the temple to attend to God alone. She was detached from riches, contenting herself to be always poor, and supporting herself with the labour of her own hands. She was detached from honours, loving an humble and abject life, though the honours due to a queen were hers, as she was descended from the kings of Israel. The Blessed Virgin herself revealed to Saint Elizabeth of’ Hungary, that when her parents left her in the temple, she resolved in her heart to have no father, and to love no other good than God.
Saint John saw Mary represented in that woman, clothed with the sun, who held the moon under her feet. “And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet.”4 Interpreters explain the moon to signify the goods of this world, which, like her, are uncertain and changeable. Mary never had these goods in her heart, but always despised them and trampled them under her feet; living in this world as a solitary turtle-dove in a desert, never allowing, her affection to centre itself on any earthly thing; so that of her it was said: “The voice of the turtle is heard in our land.” And elsewhere: “Who is she that goeth up by the desert?” Whence the Abbot Rupert says,’ Thus didst thou go up by the desert; that is, having a solitary soul’ Mary, then, having lived always and in all things detached from the earth, and united to God alone, death was not bitter, but, on the contrary, very sweet and dear to her; since it united her more closely to God in heaven, by an eternal bond.

Secondly. Peace of mind renders the death of the just precious. Sins committed during life are the worms which so cruelly torment and gnaw the hearts of poor dying, sinners, who, about to appear before the Divine tribunal, see themselves at that moment surrounded by their sins, which terrify them, and cry out, according to Saint Bernard, ‘We are thy works; we will not abandon thee.’ Mary certainly could not be tormented at death by any remorse of conscience, for she was always pure, and always free from the least shade of actual or original sin; so much so, that of her it was said: “Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee.” From the moment that she had the use of reason, that is, from the first moment of her Immaculate Conception in the womb of Saint Anne, she began to love God with all her strength, and continued to do so, always advancing more and more throughout her whole life in love and perfection. All her thoughts, desires, and affections were of and for God alone; she never uttered a word, made a movement, cast a glance, or breathed, but for God and His glory; and never departed a step or detached herself for a single moment from the Divine love. Ah, how did all the lovely virtues she had practised during life surround her blessed bed in the happy hour of her death! That faith so constant; that loving confidence in God; that unconquerable patience in the midst of so many sufferings; that humility in the midst of so many privileges; that modesty; that meekness; that tender compassion for souls; that insatiable zeal for the glory of God; and, above all, that most perfect love towards Him, with that entire uniformity to the Divine will: all, in a word, surrounded her, and consoling her, said: ‘We are thy works; we will not abandon thee.’ Our Lady and Mother, we are all daughters of thy beautiful heart; now that thou art leaving this miserable life, we will not leave thee, we also will go, and be thy eternal accompaniment and honour in Paradise, where, by our means, thou wilt reign as Queen of all men and of all angels.

In the third place, the certainty of eternal salvation renders death sweet. Death is called a passage; for by death we pass from a short to an eternal life. And as the dread of those is indeed great who die in doubt of their salvation, and who approach the solemn moment with well-grounded fear of passing into eternal death; thus, on the other hand, the joy of the Saints is indeed great at the close of life, holding with some security to go and possess God in heaven. A nun of the order of Saint Teresa, when the doctor announced to her her approaching death, was so filled with joy that she exclaimed, ‘ O, how is it, sir, that you announce to me such welcome news, and demand no fee?’ Saint Lawrence Justinian, being at the point of death, and perceiving his servants weeping round him, said: ‘Away, away with your tears; this is no time to mourn.’ Go elsewhere to weep; if you would remain with me, rejoice, as I rejoice, in seeing the gates of heaven open to me, that I may be united to my God. Thus also a Saint Peter of Alcantara, a Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, and so many other Saints, on hearing that death was at hand, burst forth into exclamations of joy and gladness. And yet they were not certain of being in possession of Divine grace, nor were they secure of their own sanctity, as Mary was. But what joy must the Divine Mother have felt in receiving the news of her approaching death! she who had the fullest certainty of the possession of Divine grace, especially after the Angel Gabriel had assured her that she was full of it, and that she already possessed God. “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee . . . thou hast found grace.” And well did she herself know that her heart was continually burning with Divine love; so that, as Bernardine de Bustis says, ‘Mary, by a singular privilege granted to no other Saint, loved, and was always actually loving God, in every moment of her life, with such ardour, that Saint Bernard declares, it required a continued miracle to preserve her life in the midst of such flames.

Of Mary it had already been asked in the sacred Canticles, “Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke, of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense, and all the powders of the perfumer?” Her entire mortification typified by the myrrh, her fervent prayers signified by the incense, and all her holy virtues, united to her perfect love for God, kindled in her a flame so great that her beautiful soul, wholly devoted to and consumed by Divine love, arose continually to God as a pillar of smoke, breathing forth on every side a most sweet odour. ‘Such smoke, nay even such a pillar of smoke,’ says the Abbot Rupert, ‘hast thou, 0 Blessed Mary, breathed forth a sweet odour to the Most High.’ Eustachius expresses it in still stronger terms: ‘A pillar of smoke, because burning interiorly as a holocaust with the flame of Divine love, she sent forth a most sweet odour.’ As the loving Virgin lived, so did she die. As Divine love gave her life, so did it cause her death; for the Doctors and holy Fathers of the Church generally say she died of no other infirmity than pure love; Saint Ildehonsus says that Mary either ought not to die, or only die of love.

BISHOP CONLEY ON THE NEW TRANSLATION

2011-08-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

DENVER, Colorado, MAY 14, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is the text of an address given April 25 by Auxiliary Bishop James Conley of Denver at the Midwest Theological Forum in Valparaiso, Indiana.
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-32574?l=english
* * *

"We Are Praying to God in the Very Words of God"

...In Advent, we are going to introduce a major new English translation of the Mass with the third typical edition of the Roman Missal.What are Catholics in the pews going to make of the changes in the words they pray and the words they hear the priest praying? Will the changes make any difference in their experience of the Mass? In the way they worship? In the way they live their faith in the world? ....This new edition of the Missal is the Church’s gift to our generation. It restores the ancient understanding of the Eucharist as a sacred mystery. It renews the vertical dimension of the liturgy — as a spiritual sacrifice that we offer in union with the sacrifice that our heavenly High Priest celebrates unceasingly in the eternal liturgy.

In order for the Church to realize the full potential of this gift, it is vital that we understand why we need this new translation. The changes are not superficial ritualism. There is a deep liturgical and theological aesthetic at work. And we need to grasp the “spirit” and “inner logic” underlying these translations....... I was ordained a priest and a bishop in the Novus Ordo. I have spent my entire priesthood praying this Mass with deep reverence. Although I have a great love and appreciation for the Tridentine Rite and I am called upon to celebrate this form of the Mass from time to time, I believe the Novus Ordo is a result of the ongoing organic development of the Roman liturgy. .....The Novus Ordo is an organic development of the Church’s ancient liturgical rites and traditions. It is a genuine sign of Christ’s faithfulness to his promise — that his Spirit would guide the Church into all the truth and would glorify him in all things.

But the new does not replace the old in the Church. There is always continuity and not rupture when it comes to the authentic development of doctrine — and also when it comes to the authentic development of the liturgy.
I believe our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, like Pope John Paul II before him, has given us a healthy way to think about the relationship between the Novus Ordo and what Benedict calls the forma extraordinaria. They are not two distinct liturgical rites. They are two expressions of the one Roman rite.

As I said, I have great love and appreciation for the Tridentine, or “extraordinary form” of the Mass. But I also see how the ordinary form, the Novus Ordo, has nourished and sanctified the spiritual lives of countless souls over the past 40 plus years. It has helped the Church to rediscover the Eucharist as the source and summit of our lives. And we cannot forget that this Mass nourished the spiritual lives of two great figures of our generation — Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the soon-to-be Blessed John Paul II.

...And yet I think many of us would agree ....: Something has been lost. Something of the beauty and grandeur of the liturgy. Something of the reverence, the mystery, the sense of the transcendent. This has been a persistent criticism since the Council — and not only from so-called traditionalists. But I can’t agree with those who blame the Novus Ordo or the vernacular. This answer is too facile.

The problem has been with the way the New Mass has sometimes been understood and implemented.
I, along with not a few friends, have had the unfortunate experience that Pope Benedict has described in his 2007 Letter to the Bishops of world when he issued his Apostolic Letter, Summorum Pontificum, on the use of the Roman Liturgy prior to the Reforms of 1970: “In many places celebrations were not faithful to the prescriptions of the new Missal, but the latter actually was understood as authorizing or even requiring creativity, which frequently led to deformations of the liturgy which were hard to bear. I am speaking from experience … I have seen how arbitrary deformations of the liturgy caused deep pain to individuals totally rooted in the faith of the Church.” Again, the problem is not the Novus Ordo — but the license that people sometimes take in celebrating it.

I would add that another big part of the problem has been the translations we’ve been using. There is a banal, pedestrian quality to much of the language in our current liturgy. The weakness in the language gets in the way and prevents us from experiencing the sublime spiritual and doctrinal ideas woven into the fabric of the liturgy. The translators had well-meaning pastoral intentions. They wanted to make the liturgy intelligible and relevant to modern Catholics. To that end, they employed a translation principle they called “dynamic equivalence.” In practice, this led them to produce an English translation that in many places is essentially a didactic paraphrase of the Latin. In the process, the language of our Eucharistic worship — so rich in scriptural allusion, poetic metaphor and rhythmic repetition — came to be flattened out and dumbed down.
Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Canberra, Australia has observed that our current translation “consistently bleaches out metaphor, which does scant justice to the highly metaphoric discourse” of the liturgy. This describes the problem well.

....The new translation of the Mass restores this sense of the liturgy as transcendent and transformative. It restores the sacramentality to our liturgical language. The new translation reflects the reality that our worship here joins in the worship of heaven. The new edition of the Missal seeks to restore the ancient sense of our participation in the cosmic liturgy.
The Letter to the Hebrews speaks of the Eucharist bringing us into the heavenly Jerusalem to worship in the company of angels and saints. The Book of Revelation starts with St. John celebrating the Eucharist on a Sunday. In the midst of this, the Spirit lifts him up to show him the eternal liturgy going on in heaven.

..... The Mass is truly a partaking in the worship that St. John saw around the throne and the altar of God. This is not a beautiful idea, but a sacred reality. This is the teaching of the New Testament, the Church Fathers, the Second Vatican Council, and theCatechism, which contains numerous references to the heavenly liturgy. And for years now, Pope Benedict XVI has been urging the Church to reclaim this appreciation of the cosmic liturgy, to reclaim our great liturgical patrimony.
I want to underline these words of the Holy Father: “The essential matter of all Eucharistic liturgy is its participation in the heavenly liturgy. It is from thence that it necessarily derives its unity, its catholicity, and its universality.”xiii
The essential matter of our Eucharist is its participation in the liturgy of heaven. In other words: that’s what the Eucharist is all about. The Eucharist we celebrate on earth has its source in the heavenly liturgy. And the heavenly liturgy is the summit to which our Eucharistic celebration looks.

....Again and again, this new translation reminds us how steeped our liturgical language is in the vocabulary and thought-world of sacred Scripture. In just this epiclesis, for instance, we have not only the reference to the heavens that drop down manna with the dewfall. We also have an allusion to the sending down of the Spirit — upon the earth at creation, upon Mary at the Annunciation, Christ at his Baptism, the Church at Pentecost, and each one of our hearts at our Baptism.
Considered prayerfully, we can see that Spirit’s action on the altar in the liturgy continues the Spirit’s work of creation and redemption in history.

We also must not forget that 80% of the prayers in the Roman Missal date before the 9th century. We have a duty to hand these treasures on faithfully and accurately. Vatican II taught that every petition, prayer, hymn, liturgical sign and action draws its inspiration, substance and meaning from sacred Scripture. This is reflected in our new translations.
....We will be blessed, as a Church, that in this new edition of the Missal, the translators took these principles to heart.
This is important. Because the liturgy is not only an aesthetic event. It is not only about praying beautiful words. The Scriptures are the inspired Word of God. They are the Word of God in the words of human language. In the liturgy, we are praying to God in the very words of God. And God’s Word is power. God’s Word is living and active. That means that the words we pray in the liturgy are “performative.” They are not words alone, but words that have the power to do great deeds. They are words that can accomplish what they speak of. As priests, when we speak Christ’s words in the Eucharist — or in any of the sacraments — these words possess divine power to change and transfigure. “This is my Body … This is the chalice of my Blood.” When we speak these words by the power of the Spirit, bread and wine are marvelously changed. The words of the liturgy are able to create “a universe brimming with spiritual life.” By these words we are summoned into the stream of salvation history. By these words we are able to offer ourselves in sacrifice to the Father, in union with Christ’s own offering of his Body and Blood. By these words we are being transformed, along with the bread and the wine on the altar. We are becoming more and more changed into Christ, more and more assimilated to his life.

I want to leave you with one last image. I hope it will inspire you to always celebrate the sacred liturgy with passionate intensity and a keen awareness of the liturgy of heaven. One of his altar servers left us this description of how St. Josemaría Escrivá used to pray the Mass.
For [St. Josemaría], the liturgy was not a formal act but a transcendent one. Each word held a profound meaning and was uttered in a heartfelt tone of voice. He savored the concepts. … Josemaría seemed detached from his human surrounding and, as it were, tied by invisible cords to the divine. This phenomenon peaked at the moment of consecration. … Josemaría seemed to be disconnected from the physical things around him … and to be catching sight of mysterious and remote heavenly horizons.

This article is taken from Zenit
and it may be read in full at:
http://www.zenit.org/article-32574?l=english

Christianity and the Pursuit of Leisure

2011-08-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

This book of essays published almost fifty years ago, has lost none of its relevance.

Joseph Pieper's Leisure, the Basis of Culture, presents the argument that earlier cultures understood and valued leisure in a way which has today been lost, and that the development of culture and even religion depend on it. In our world of 24/7 productivity and activity, we are ignoring at our peril the human need for leisure. Peiper issues a warning to us all: we must regain time for silence and insight, times of inactivity, times of true leisure away from all our endless frenetic activity, or we will destroy our culture and ourselves. These fascinating essays demolish the twentieth-century pseudo-religion of work and warn us of the disastrous consequences of ignoring this warning.

LEISURE: THE BASIS OF CULTURE. By Josef Pieper

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It may seem that the quest for leisure has become a fetish for us moderns and the less said of it the better. But in his classic work Leisure: The Basis of Culture (recently republished by Ignatius Press), Joseph Pieper quickly opens our eyes with the suggestion that our culture does not suffer from the overabundance of leisure but, rather, its scarcity. This German born Thomist reminds us of Aristotle’s rather startling assertion that “the first principle of action is leisure.”

Drawing on the Western sages, both pagan and Christian, Pieper is careful to make a clear distinction between leisure and idleness. The former refers to the contemplative side of man; the ability to passively receive knowledge and wisdom. This same sort of passivity is at work when we accept God’s grace.

In a key phrase, Pieper says that “man seems to mistrust everything that is effortless; he can only enjoy, with a good conscience, what he has acquired with toil and trouble; he refuses to have anything as a gift.” He quotes St. Thomas Aquinas: “The essence of virtue consists in the good rather than the difficult.” This is in direct opposition to Kantian rationalists who denied that the contemplative life was superior to the active. They maintained that all virtue consists in action per se. Therein lies the modern egotistical need to constantly “assert” oneself as if to confirm one’s being.

Pieper explains that for the Greeks leisure originally meant education. It was time spent in intellectual activity, apart from servile work, which permitted men to contemplate higher things—not just technical learning, but inquiry into human society and individual responsibility.

The arrival of Christianity expanded the meaning of contemplation further, by including the concept of prayer. The idea of the Sabbath, “and on the seventh day the Lord rested,” is an example of how the Church extended the freedom from servile labor to the entire community. What had hitherto been the prerogative of a few free men in a slave-based society eventually became the privilege of all. Unfortunately, it is a privilege that has been severely undermined by a new paganism, which is far less respectful of reflection and contemplation than many pre-Christian societies.

“Cut off from the worship of the divine,” says Pieper, “leisure becomes laziness and work inhuman.” Leisure: The Basis of Culture lays an unassailable theoretical groundwork for the recovery of healthy intellectual life that inspires us to take some concrete steps towards establishing a domestic refuge of Christian humanitas. It means keeping inane distractions to a reasonable minimum and substituting for them things like reading, creative activities and, most of all, prayer. In this way, all aspects of our life can be transformed—not just in terms of public worship, but in our social and artistic pursuits. In the meantime, an earnest practice of religion will give us a real appreciation of the important things in life, including the idea of leisure.

Matthew M. Anger
Chester, Va.

This article has been taken from the website of : The Homiletic and Pastoral Review and may be found at:
http://hprweb.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=160:leisure-the-basis-of-culture-by-josef-pieper&catid=44:o-p&Itemid=55

Important Points to Remember When the Priest Calls

2011-08-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

"Nervousness and the lack of knowledge of what to do when the priest calls often cause much delay and anxiety. This consideration has prompted us to offer a few suggestions which will help relieve the uneasiness in the minds of family.

1. Call the priest and give him the correct name and address.

2.Tell him whether the sick person is an adult or a child.

3. Indicate if the patient can receive Holy Communion. Give something of the condition of the patient according to the doctor's report or to your own opinion.

4. Make haste to prepare the patient's room for the coming of the priest:
- Place a chair and a table at the head of the bed. Cover the table with a clean white cloth.
- Arrange the following articles on the table:
- A crucifix upright with two lighted candles.
- A receptacle containing Holy Water.
- A glass of ordinary water and a teaspoon.
- A bowl for cleansing the priest's fingers.

5. If you foresee that the patient will receive the last rites:

- place on the table a small plate containing a bit of table salt or a slice of lemon with a good supply of cotton. Have ready a wash basin with soap, water, and a towel.
- Prepare patient for Extreme Unction by having hands, face and feet clean for Holy Oils. [When in doubt as to whether or not the patient will receive the last rites, play safe by making all the necessary preparations.]

6. When the priest enters with the Host, he should be met at the door by an adult member of the family, carrying a lighted candle.
This person should genuflect on greeting the priest and then proceed (in silence) to the patient's room.
When the priest enters the room, all should kneel!
If the patient wishes to confess, all should leave the room quietly. As soon as the priest opens the door, they may return to pray for the sick.

7. When the priest leaves, if he still carries the Host, he must be escorted to the door in the same manner as he was received.

8. The patient should be left alone for awhile.

9. If the priest used the cotton for Holy Oils, it must be burned in the fire.

10. The drinking water in which he purified his fingers, should be given to the sick person or drink or poured slowly onto the fire."

"No One Lives 'on Tabor' While on Earth"

2011-08-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

This feast became widespread in the West in the 11th century and was introduced into the Roman calendar in 1457. Before that, the Transfiguration of the Lord was celebrated in the Syrian, Byzantine, and Coptic rites. The Transfiguration foretells the glory of the Lord as God, and His Ascension into heaven. It anticipates the glory of heaven, where we shall see God face to face. Through grace, we already share in the divine promise of eternal life.

The New Testament presents three almost identical accounts of the Transfiguration in each of the synoptic Gospels (Matthew 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-9; and Luke 9:28-36). They tell us that Jesus went up onto a mountain (traditionally, Mount Tabor), with Peter, John and James, and in their presence He was transfigured, where His face shone like the sun and his clothes became as dazzling white as light itself. The three apostles saw Jesus conversing with Moses and Elijah, whereupon Peter proposed: "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elias." At this point, a bright cloud suddenly overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him."

On, March 13, 2006 Benedict XVI gave an address on the Transfiguration before reciting the midday Angelus with people gathered in St. Peter's Square. As we prepare to welcome this great Feastday next Saturday 6th August 2011, let us meditate prayerfully on his words:

  ...... Astonished in the presence of the transfigured Lord, who was speaking with Moses and Elias, Peter, James and John were suddenly enveloped in a cloud from which a voice arose that proclaimed: "This is my beloved Son, listen to him" (Mark 9:7).   When one has the grace to sense a strong experience of God, it is as though seeing something similar to what the disciples experienced during the Transfiguration: For a moment they experienced ahead of time something that will constitute the happiness of paradise. In general, it is brief experiences that God grants on occasions, especially in anticipation of harsh trials.

However, no one lives "on Tabor" while on earth.   Human existence is a journey of faith and, as such, goes forward more in darkness than in full light, with moments of obscurity and even profound darkness. While we are here, our relationship with God develops more with listening than with seeing; and even contemplation takes place, so to speak, with closed eyes, thanks to the interior light lit in us by the word of God.   The Virgin Mary herself, notwithstanding the fact that she was the human creature closest to God, walked day after day as though on a pilgrimage of faith (cf. "Lumen Gentium," 58), keeping and meditating constantly in her heart the word that God addressed to her, whether through the sacred Scriptures or through events of the life of her son, in which she recognized and accepted the Lord's mysterious voice.   This is, therefore, the gift and commitment for each one of us ......:

To listen to Christ, like Mary. To listen to him in the word, preserved in sacred Scripture. To listen to him in the very events of our lives, trying to read in them the messages of providence. To listen to him, finally, in our brothers, especially in the little ones and the poor, for whom Jesus himself asked our concrete love. To listen to Christ and to obey his voice. This is the only way that leads to joy and love.   ..... God the Father instructs us to listen to Jesus, his beloved Son. Let us pray that [we will] open our hearts to Christ and his saving message! He leads us through his suffering and death, to a share in his glorious resurrection.

Great joy for the Heralds of the Gospel: Ordination of Deacons

2011-07-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

Dom Benedito Beni dos Santos, Bishop of Lorena in Sao Paulo celebrated the ordination of yet more Deacons for the Heralds of the Gospel, one of whom was our own Brother Arthur, seen above:

The Heralds of the Gospel in England and Wales give thanks to God, and to Our Blessed Mother for this Grace granted to our country.

The ceremony may be seen here:

Celebrating Mary in Kirton, Lincolnshire.

2011-07-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

On may 13th, the Heralds accompanied the pilgrim statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for a solemn procession followed by an evening of prayer in the local parish of Kirton, Lincolnshire (England).

This area is famous for being the port of departure of the Mayflower that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims in 1620.

Good Friday - the day on which our redemption was won.

2011-04-21T00:58:00.000-07:00

“‘It is finished’; and he bowed his head and handed over his spirit.”

On Good Friday, the entire Church fixes her gaze on the Cross at Calvary. Each member of the Church tries to understand at what cost Christ has won our redemption. In the solemn ceremonies of Good Friday, in the Adoration of the Cross, in the chanting of the 'Reproaches', in the reading of the Passion, and in receiving the pre-consecrated Host, we unite ourselves to our Savior, and we contemplate our own death to sin in the Death of our Lord.

The Church - stripped of its ornaments, the altar bare, and with the door of the empty tabernacle standing open - is as if in mourning. In the fourth century the Apostolic Constitutions described this day as a 'day of mourning, not a day of festive joy,' and this day was called the 'Pasch (passage) of the Crucifixion.'
The liturgical observance of this day of Christ's suffering, crucifixion and death evidently has been in existence from the earliest days of the Church. No Mass is celebrated on this day, but the service of Good Friday is called the Mass of the Presanctified because Communion (in the species of bread) which had already been consecrated on Holy Thursday is given to the people.

Traditionally, the organ is silent from Holy Thursday until the Alleluia at the Easter Vigil, as are all bells or other instruments, the only music during this period being unaccompanied chant.

The omission of the prayer of consecration deepens our sense of loss because Mass throughout the year reminds us of the Lord's triumph over death, the source of our joy and blessing. The desolate quality of the rites of this day reminds us of Christ's humiliation and suffering during his Passion. We can see that the parts of the Good Friday service correspond to the divisions of Mass:

. Liturgy of the Word - reading of the Passion.
. Intercessory prayers for the Church and the entire world, Christian and non-Christian.
. Veneration of the Cross
. Communion, or the 'Mass of the Pre-Sanctified.'

Article from: the Catholic News Agency
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource.php?n=1087

The significance of Holy Thursday

2011-04-21T00:55:00.000-07:00

Except for the resurrection on Easter, Holy Thursday is possibly one of the most important, complex, and profound days of celebration in the Catholic Church. Holy Thursday celebrates the institution of the Eucharist as the true body and blood of Jesus Christ and the institution of the sacrament of the priesthood.

During the Last Supper, Jesus offers himself as the Passover sacrifice, the sacrificial lamb, and teaches that every ordained priest is to follow the same sacrifice in the exact same way. Christ also bids farewell to his followers and prophesizes that one of them will betray him and hand him over to the Roman soldiers.
Around the world, Bishops and priests come together at their local Cathedrals on Holy Thursday morning to celebrate the institution of the priesthood. During the Mass, the bishop blesses the Oil of Chrism that will be used for Baptism, Confirmation, and Anointing of the sick or dying.

At this Mass, the bishop washes the feet of twelve priests to symbolize Christ’s washing of his twelve Apostles, our first bishops and priests.

Later that night, after sundown – because Passover began at sundown- the Holy Thursday Liturgy takes place, marking the end of Lent and the beginning of the sacred "Triduum,” or three, of Holy Week. These days are the three holiest days in the Catholic Church.

This Mass stresses the importance Jesus puts on the humility of service, and the need for cleansing with water, a symbol of baptism. Also emphasized are the critical importance of the Eucharist and the sacrifice of Christ’s Body, which we now find present in the consecrated Host.

At the conclusion of the Mass, the faithful are invited to continue Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament throughout the night, just as the disciples were invited to stay up with the Lord during His agony in the garden before His betrayal by Judas.
After Holy Thursday, no Mass will be celebrated again in the Church until the Easter Vigil celebrates and proclaims the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Article from: Catholic News Agency
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource.php?n=1087

Archbishop Vincent Nichols: Building a culture of greater social responsibility

2011-04-07T07:31:00.000-07:00

The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, has spoken about ways in which a culture of greater social responsibility can be built in contemporary society. In an address, given at Oscott College, Birmingham on 28 March 2011, Archbishop Nichols reminded his audience that the role of faith in society had been strongly affirmed by Pope Benedict XVI during his state Visit to Britain last year.

Archbishop Nichols continued by outlining some of the concepts which would be needed in establishing a culture of greater social responsibility. These, he said: ' will include an understanding of the human person, and of that person in community; the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity; the role of key intermediate institutions in society; the theme of gift and giftedness'. He concluded his address by saying that the work of building a culture of greater social responsibility is also a profoundly spiritual one. The Oscott College address by Archbishop Nichols was given ahead of a public conference on the theme of social responsibility to be held in London on 6 April 2011 for those in political institutions, the civil service and in public service. Full text follows The last time I was here in Oscott College was in the presence of Pope Benedict. Who can forget those marvellous days last September, or the great encouragement we all received from our Holy Father’s presence and words? He strongly affirmed the role of faith in our society today. The Prime Minister, in his response at Birmingham Airport at the time of the departure of the Holy Father, also made important points. In particular he spoke about the determination of the Coalition Government to create ‘a culture of greater social responsibility’.

And, he stressed, the faith communities can be ‘architects of that new culture.’ Soon after that Visit, the Bishops’ Conference reflected on it and spoke out about our determination to play our part in this effort. We initiated three steps which, as a Conference, we could take. The first took place in Liverpool last February. It was a Conference bringing together many who are involved in the activities of the Catholic Church in social responsibility. They do not often meet. Indeed part of the purpose of the Conference was to draw up something of a profile of those activities, although we quickly realised that we are far from having a full picture of them. The second step was to consider more deeply and explicitly the conceptual framework of ideas which shape Catholic social action. Hence there was an academic seminar in London a short while ago on this theme. A discussion paper based on the day is being issued very shortly by the Bishops’ Conference. I hope it will be useful. The third step takes place on 6 April and is in the form of a public Conference for those in political institutions, in the civil service and in public service to engage with both the reality and the theory of the Catholic Church’s presence in our society today as it looks to foster a culture of greater social responsibility. In what I want to say this evening, I am going to draw on all of this.

Further, what I want to say will present to you some of the key concepts, or tools that an architect of greater social responsibility might need to draw on. These will include an understanding of the human person, and of that person in community; the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity; the role of key intermediate institutions in society; the theme of gift and giftedness. Finally I will reflect on how this vision of society and our commitment to it shapes our prayer as a priestly people.

THE PERSON AND THE COMMON GOOD.
There are many different phrases by which people express their understanding of what it is to be a human person. One such phrase is ‘homo economicus’. This means that the true meaning of the person is to be found in economic activity, in buying and selling, in meeting our own desires and needs. This, it is suggested, is what gives meaning to our existence. We will not agree, I’m sure, that this is a complete explanation of the meaning of our existence. But it is certainly expressive of much current day-to-day behaviour. Indeed some would say that today everything has a price, even friendships and relationships: they are a matter of calculation of benefit and risk and, at the end of the day, there is a balance sheet! Another similar phrase in use today is that of the ‘unencumbered self’. This suggests that what we are striving to achieve is a way of life in which I can stand alone, as far a possible free from duty towards others, free to pursue just what I want, in my own space, with my own time, in my own way. Once again, we will recognise that this cannot be the whole picture. Yet we also recognise that it is popular. Bringing together these two understandings of what it means to be a person leads to the ironic conclusion: Tesco ergo sum! We are brought together only by the market! Our Christian vision of what it is to be a human person is much fuller, more rounded, than that. We are, essentially, relational beings. We understand ourselves correctly only in relationship with others. We come into the world in the context of relationships. We know that our destiny is best understood in relationship to God. We find our fulfilment, most significantly, in relationships with others. What we treasure most about life is always tied up with our relationships to others: to those around us, to the Lord, to God. Indeed, within this understanding of the person is another important truth: we are beings who are always reaching out beyond ourselves. We reach out towards a greater understanding of the truth, of love. We reach out, instinctively, for that which goes beyond us: we are ‘self-transcending beings’. We know that we are not self-explaining or self-sufficient. Now if this is the fundamental truth about every person, then it is the highest truth also about how we live together in society. Within our communities, within our society, the good of every person is what is most fundamental. Another way of putting this is that no-one should be written off: not the elderly, the prisoners, the unborn, nor the less gifted. All are endowed with dignity and qualities proper to a human being as such. ‘Homo economicus’ will not see it thus: recognition is tied to contribution. A person unable to contribute will be held in little or no regard. The ‘unencumbered self’ will not see it thus: recognition will be granted to those who have ‘made it’, who have achieved status and self-sufficiency – the ‘celebrity comes to mind. But in our architecture, the purpose of the enterprise is the common good, the good of each and every person in society. Now the common good is more than the sum total of the good of individuals. That is an additional sum.

The common good is more like a multiplication, in which the presence of a ‘0’ always means that the result is ‘0’, no matter how many others numbers are in the multiplication. This means that if anyone is totally omitted from the good produced in a society then the common good is not being served. Some trends in society diminish this focus on the good of the person. Bureaucracy and regulation, of themselves, do that. Think, for a moment, of the effect of regulation in some care-homes. A patient refused medication that is needed. Some staff simply tick the box: ‘refused’. The effort to coax, to entice, to persuade that person to take the medication is not part of the regime of regulation. A trust in regulation actually fosters inhumanity, for humanity is always a matter of social relationships. Humanity is served by how we get on together as well as by the effectiveness of our service of one another. So both are needed. Indeed, we can say that if social relationships have been so weakened, then the reliance on regulation may indeed come to the fore. Welfare workers do indeed need protection when social relationships have broken down long before contact is made with official sources. If this sense of the ‘common good’ is to thrive, not only is a vision of it required but also a depth of compassion. It is compassion, or fellow-feeling, which helps us to bridge the gaps between us. While there is indeed a moral imperative to keep the focus on the person, there is also a need for a certain quality of person to sustain that practical effort. The Archbishop of Canterbury, for example, frequently speaks of the kind of ‘character’ needed in society today. Others tend to explore the traditional notion of the ‘virtues’ as a way of highlighting some of the qualities needed for this vision of society to be realised: prudence to temper rashness; courage to counter opportunism; justice towards others rather that an insistence on rights, and justice towards God rather than today’s idolatries; temperance rather that consumerism and excess. This insistence in our architecture on the common good begins to point to the true purpose of wealth creation, undoubtedly a good in itself, but properly aimed at the common good of all.

This, too, is the purpose of financial services and, indeed, of the state itself, existing not for some purpose of its own, but in order to serve the common good of its people. Here may I add another thought from our Christian perspective. In the delivery of services, especially to those who are less well off, we need more than professionalism. We are responding not simply to an opportunity, but to a clear moral imperative. And that is best understood in its deepest Gospel roots: as a act of love. Indeed the common good is fully served by that Christian vision of love: the self-forgetful love seen in Christ himself.

SUBSIDIARITY AND SOLIDARITY
These two interlocking principles are key to the work of an social architect. Taken together, and held in tension, they set sights on the detailed application of some of the broader principles we have been looking at. Subsidiarity insists that action be taken at the most efficient and appropriate level, as near as possible to the recipients and contributors. Subsidiarity is a guard against excessive centralisation and a champion of the local level. It is, in some ways, a version of localism. Yet subsidiarity also contains the Latin word ‘subsidium’, pointing to the truth that the local level often needs the support of the higher level in other to fulfil its proper functions. That help may be professional, financial or administrative. But it should be offered to assist effectiveness, not to exert control.

Subsidiarity is based on the recognition of the legitimate competence to be found at the lower level. And this is where the place and importance of local level institutions come in. There are many institutions which make up civil society. They can be clubs and churches, societies and local enterprises. But their health and effectiveness is crucial to the health of a society as a whole. Indeed the state itself is always ordered to this level if it is to serve the common good. The effectiveness and vitality sought at this local level should also include political participation. Local institutions should have their role in the political life of the society and their members encouraged to do the same.

In other words, these local institutions can never – properly speaking – be deemed to be private or semi-private if they are seeking to serve the common good. They must have their space, and integrity, within the wider civil society for they serve a crucial role as intermediaries, especially in finding balances between the interests of the individual and those of the state. In contrast, and in interplay, with this is the principle of solidarity. Solidarity means always thinking in terms of ‘we’ and not ‘me’. Solidarity expresses the fundamental bond between all people. It is learned and fashioned in the family, in the wider social settings of childhood, in school, at work and reaches out into the fuller society, indeed the global network of mankind. Solidarity creates a ‘fellowship of goods’. As a principle it can be simply expressed: wherever some are excluded, then no-one can fully enjoy the good things of life. This we can sense, for example, at a family gathering from which some are excluded because of bad feelings. It is the essence of the Gospel parable of Dives and Lazarus. Since we are fundamentally bound together, then the good things of life are part of this ‘fellowship of goods’ and never simply a private prosperity. Solidarity is obstructed by sin. It is the opposite of selfishness, which, of course, finds a way in everywhere.

Structures of selfishness, of sin, impede a true expression of solidarity. For example, the wrong use of private property, the wrong use of power, the wrong use of information, information gathering and publicity, are all experienced as the sinfulness of structures, rooted in the selfishness of individuals. If solidarity is to be seen and experienced then there are some crucial tests to be put about how actions impact on the poorest. The repeated publication of photographs of paedophiles cause repeated distress to their victims. Is this considered by editors? The paying of huge bonuses is an affront to the poor, especially those who have suffered proportionately more than others in the financial crisis. Complex bureaucratic procedures impact most on those who might be most dependent on them. Solidarity has some hard, demanding and, maybe surprising edges.

GIFT AND GIFTEDNESS
Beneath, or within, these structural points lies a fundamental spirit or additional dimension. So far we have looked at an understanding of the person and the common good, at the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity, at the role of intermediate institutions and at the uses of power and property. But now I would like to underpin them all by a further reflection. This is a dimension strongly put forward by Benedict XVI in his Encyclical ‘Caritas in Veritate’. There he says that written into all truly human affairs is a logic of gift. Gratuity gives shape to who we truly are and all that we best perform. What does this logic of gift mean? Well each of us comes into the world as a gift. And we are welcomed not only as a gift, but also as a giver – a giver of joy, hope, anxiety and love. And this continues throughout our activities, when understood at their best. Indeed, there is a gift within every worthwhile exchange. I saw a furniture van the other day and its slogan said: ‘We are happy when you are happy.’ Moving furniture was not the whole story. There was something more to be had, which gave the actual task a new dimension. In teaching and learning, too, there is always an element of gift, something constantly exchanged between the teacher and the learner. And think of team activities such as music or sport. The outcome, for the most part, is more than the sum of the individual contracts. There is a goodness given and received, a joy that rubs off onto the other.

It is this additional ‘extra’ that truly makes us who we are and to which we respond when the best is brought out of us, too. Pope Benedict is looking for ways in which we can begin to recognise this ‘gratuitousness’ of all social interaction. When we can name and recognise it, then we can foster it, build on it and discover again what an important element in our well-being it truly is. It is not, of course, absent. There are many ways in which individuals and companies try to ‘give something back’, including a ‘social dividend’ in their aims and calculations. But this dimension of economic and social activity could be much more widely recognised and promoted. Indeed, this sense of gift and giftedness needs to start with each and every one of us. It is the key to being a volunteer and to many community-style initiatives. We need to get up, to get involved with others, to get into giving mode and thereby discover so much that is best about ourselves, our neighbourhood and our society.

The ‘Citizens’ organisation is a good example of this. This theme of ‘gift’ has deep roots in the language and experience of our faith. Eucharist is the great school of gratuity. At Mass we learn that everything lives by gift, and that everything is fulfilled by being given and received. In fact we can go further and say that this trace of giftedness, of giving and receiving, is the very trace of God in all things. This points, of course, to the mystery of the Blessed Trinity, that mystery of God himself, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three persons between whom and within whose unity there is a constant and creative exchange of love and truth. Out of that flow of love and truth comes creation, from there is born the restlessness of our hearts, and in that same flow all creation will find its fulfilment. This is what fulfils the sense of self-transcendence that we identified earlier as a hall-mark of our human nature. We reach out because we know we are not self-explaining, nor self-sufficient. We are a gift and we reach out in thanksgiving and praise. All of this is fulfilled in the person of Christ, he who is pure gift, given and returned in the mystery of life and salvation. In this Christ is a cosmic figure, a point of truth for all time, from its beginnings to its final end. And in this he reminds us that our giftedness reaches across the generations. We are indebted to those before us. We are responsible to those who follow. Christ shows us, too, how the truth of gift is ultimately seen in the Cross and in the Resurrection. The cross, the sign of total self-forgetfulness, is the true picture of love, of God’s ultimate solidarity, and the resurrection the picture of its fulfilment.

A PRIESTLY PEOPLE
In conclusion I would like to say that the work of building a culture of greater social responsibility is also a profoundly spiritual one. All that we have been talking about touches the spirit of the human person. And that spirit finds its true focus and purpose when it comes into unity with the spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit. Within that experience of faith, prayer is the first fruit.

So what shape might our prayer take when we have in mind this task of building up social responsibility? Permit me to return to the Visit of Pope Benedict. In his homily in Westminster Cathedral, the Holy Father said this: ‘The visitor to this Cathedral cannot fail to be struck by the great crucifix dominating the nave, which portrays Christ’s body, crushed by suffering, overwhelmed by sorrow, the innocent victim whose death has reconciled us with the Father and given us a share in the very life of God. The Lord’s outstretched arms seem to embrace the entire Church, lifting up to the Father all the ranks of the faithful who gather round the altar of the Eucharistic sacrifice and share it fruits. The crucified Lord stands above and before us as the source of life and salvation “the high priest of the good things to come”.’

In this meditation, the Pope directs our thoughts to Christ the High Priest, who embraces us all on the Cross, thereby including us in that one great act of offering. Then, he makes this same, unique sacrifice available to us in every celebration of the Mass, so that we may experience it afresh in this real and sacramental manner. What is more, Christ, risen into the presence of the eternal Father, makes an everlasting offering to the Father of all that is united to him, until everything is renewed in the new creation. Our participation in this great and continuous priestly act of Christ is our priestly mission. We are to be a priestly people, consciously offering our lives, our world, to the Father in union with Christ himself. This we do through our participation in the Mass, through our daily prayer, not least our Morning Offering, through our constant striving to be one with Christ who alone has the power to make us part of his offering to the Father. Then nothing in our lives remains futile or pointless, no suffering, no frustration, not even death itself. This is the priestly ministry to which we are called. As Pope Benedict said: ‘Let us pray then that the Catholics of this land will become ever more conscious of their dignity as a priestly people, called to consecrate the world to God.’ This is our high calling, one which we can affirm, explain to our children, encourage and celebrate.

In closing, some more words from the same homily of Pope Benedict: ‘I invite you once more to look to Christ who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection. I ask you to unite yourselves ever more fully to the Lord, sharing in his sacrifice on the Cross and offering him that “spiritual worship” which embraces every aspect of our lives…..and in doing so may your join….in building a society truly worthy of man , worthy of your nation’s highest traditions.’

From the website of the Diocese of Westminster:
http://www.rcdow.org.uk/archbishop/default.asp?library_ref=35&content_ref=3305

The Habit of the Heralds of the Gospel

2011-04-07T07:25:00.000-07:00

Arautos do Evangelho: Fr. Jules Ubbelohde, EP Chaplain to the Heralds of the Gospel Community in the UK, Explains the beautiful means of their Habit. - visite: www.tv.arautos.org.br - Arautos do Evangelho

Holy Thorn coming to British Museum

2011-03-31T07:36:00.000-07:00

Photo from British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_image.aspx?image=ps126524.jpg&retpage=20937

A relic believed to be from the Crown of Thorns placed on Jesus' head before his crucifixion, has been loaned by Stonyhurst College in Lancashire to the British Museum in London, as part of its Treasures of Heaven exhibition which opens in June.

The Thorn is said to have been seized from Constantinople, during the Fourth Crusade and later sold to Louis IX of France, who subsequently gave it to Mary Queen of Scots who took it with her to Holyrood in Edinburgh. Following her execution in 1587, the Holy Thorn was given to the Jesuits for safe-keeping, who brought it to Stonyhurst in the heart of the Ribble Valley.

Catriona Graffius, a sixth former at the school has also been interviewed as part of a downloadable guide being put together by the British Museum as part of the exhibition. She was asked to give her perspective on her school’s precious possession. Catriona said: “I was asked to describe the thorn, which has Mary Queen of Scots’ pearls twined around it. The thorn is placed in a chapel at Stonyhurst every year in Holy Week.”

The podcast is narrated by museum director Neil McGregor who also presents Radio 4’s ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects’ programme. (see link below). It is believed the thorn is one of 15 parts of the Crown of Thorns remaining in the world with the only other part held in the UK at Stanbrook Abbey in Worcestershire.

The British Museum’s Treasure of Heaven exhibition opens to the public on 23 June and runs until October. It brings together for the first time some of the finest sacred treasures of the Middle Ages featuring more than 150 objects drawn from more than 40 institutions in Europe and America During the medieval period relics (some genuine and some less so) were very popular and had great spiritual significance. Relics were usually set into ornate containers of silver and gold known as reliquaries, opulently decorated by the finest craftsmen of the age. They had spiritual and symbolic value and reflected the importance of the sacred contents.

The earliest items on display date from the late Roman period and trace the evolution of the cult of the saints from the 4th century AD to the peak of relic veneration in late medieval Europe. Relics featured in the exhibition include three thorns thought to be from the Crown of Thorns, fragments of the True Cross, the foot of St Blaise, and the Mandylion of Edessa (one of the earliest known likenesses of Jesus). Treasures such as these have not been seen in significant numbers in the UK since the Reformation, which saw the wholesale destruction of saints’ shrines. A bonfire of statues taken from churches around the country was made near the site of St Thomas More's house in Fulham. It burnt for several days.

This exhibition offers the perfect opportunity to glimpse the heritage of beautiful medieval craftsmanship that was lost to this country for centuries. To listen to Neil McGregor discussing the Holy Thorn on ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects’ programme go to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/pZ-Jq-iaTOiazy-YLBF2fg
Source: British Museum/Stoneyhurst

Pope Promotes Visiting Jesus in the Eucharist - Draws on Teaching of St. Alphonsus Liguori

2011-03-31T07:07:00.000-07:00

Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-32176?l=english VATICAN CITY, MARCH 30, 2011 (Zenit.org).-

Adoration of the sacramental Jesus.

Benedict XVI is reminding the faithful of the need for prayer, citing the teaching of an 18th century doctor of the Church who particularly encouraged visits to the Blessed Sacrament.The Pope dedicated his reflection at today's general audience to St. Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787). The saint was gifted with an exceptional intellect -- completing studies in canon and civil law by age 16 -- but also "a way of acting marked by gentle and meek goodness, which was born from his intense relationship with God, who is infinite Goodness."

The Holy Father recalled how Alphonsus "insisted a lot on the need for prayer" as a condition for doing God's will and achieving holiness. He cited the priest, who wrote, "God does not deny to anyone the grace of prayer, with which one obtains the help to overcome every concupiscence and every temptation. And I say, and repeat and will always repeat, for my entire life, that the whole of our salvation rests on prayer." "Outstanding among the forms of prayer fervently recommended by St. Alphonsus is the visit to the Most Blessed Sacrament or, as we would say today, adoration -- brief or prolonged, personal or in community -- of the Eucharist," the Pope added. "'Certainly,' wrote Alphonsus, 'among all the devotions this one of adoration of the sacramental Jesus is the first after the sacraments, the dearest to God and the most useful to us. O, what a beautiful delight to be before an altar with faith and to present to him our needs, as a friend does to another friend with whom one has full confidence!'"

Converting criminals

Benedict XVI recounted how Alphonsus had a very successful ministry among the poor of Naples, some of whom "often were dedicated to vices and carried out criminal activity." He explained, "With patience he taught them to pray, encouraging them to improve their way of living. Alphonsus obtained great results: In the poorest quarters of the city, there were increasing groups of persons who gathered in the evening in private homes and shops, to pray and meditate on the Word of God, under the guidance of some catechists formed by Alphonsus and other priests, who regularly visited these groups of faithful. [...]

[These meetings] were a real and proper source of moral education, of social healing, of reciprocal help among the poor: thefts, duels and prostitution virtually disappeared." The Pontiff proposed that such meetings could be "a model of missionary action in which we can be inspired today as well, for a 'new evangelization,' particularly among the poorest." The Bishop of Rome concluded by emphasizing how Alphonsus taught that holiness is meant for everyone: "The religious as religious, the lay person as lay person, the priest as priest, the married as married, the merchant as merchant, the soldier as soldier, and so on."

The Pope affirmed his gratitude to God, who "raises saints and doctors in different times and places who, speaking the same language, invite us to grow in faith and to live with love and joy our being Christians in the simple actions of every day, to walk on the path of holiness, on the path to God and to true joy."

--- --- --- On ZENIT's Web page: Full text: www.zenit.org/article-32175?l=english

The Annunciation of the Lord - Solemnity - March 25th

2011-03-22T02:30:00.000-07:00

The Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, is one of the most important in the Church calendar. It celebrates the actual Incarnation of Our Savior the Word made flesh in the womb of His mother, Mary.

The biblical account of the Annunciation is in the first chapter of the Gospel of Saint Luke, 26-56. Saint Luke describes the annunciation given by the angel Gabriel to Mary that she was to become the mother of the Incarnation of God.

Here is recorded the "angelic salutation" of Gabriel to Mary, 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee" (Ave, gratia plena, Dominus tecum - Lk 1:28), and Mary's response to God's will, "Let it be done to me according to thy word" (fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum) (v. 38)

This "angelic salutation" is the origin of the "Hail Mary" prayer of the Rosary and the Angelus (the second part of the prayer comes from the words of salutation of Elizabeth to Mary at the Visitation).

The Angelus, a devotion that daily commemmorates the Annunciation, consists of three Hail Marys separated by short versicles. It is said three times a day -- morning, noon and evening -- traditionally at the sound of a bell. The Angelus derives its name from the first word of the versicles, Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae (The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary).

Mary's exultant hymn, the Magnificat, found in Luke 1:46-55, has been part of the Church's Liturgy of the Hours, at Vespers (evening prayer), and has been repeated nightly in churches, convents and monasteries for more than a thousand years.

The Church's celebration of the Annunciation is believed to date to the early 5th century, possibly originating at about the time of the Council of Ephesus (c 431). Earlier names for the Feast were Festum Incarnationis, and Conceptio Christi, and in the Eastern Churches, the Annunciation is a feast of Christ, but in the Latin Church it is a feast of Mary. The Annunciation has always been celebrated on March 25, exactly nine months before Christmas Day.

On 03/25/2007 Pope Benedict spoke movingly of the Annunciation:

Mary’s “Yes” to the Angel’s Annunciation and Christ’s “Yes” to fulfilling His Father’s will find renewal in history in the Saints’ “Yes”, especially that of the Martyrs who are killed because of their faith in the Gospel. ...
“The Annunciation is a humble, hidden event that no one saw or knew,” the Pope said, “except for Mary. But at the same time it is a decisive moment in the history of humanity. When the Virgin said ‘Yes’ to the Angel’s Annunciation, Jesus was conceived and with Him began a new era in history, which was eventually sanctioned by the ‘new and eternal covenant.”

“In fact,” the Pontiff said, “Mary’s Yes was the perfect reflection of that by Christ when he came into the world as one can read in the way the Letter to the Hebrews interprets Psalm 39: “Then I said, 'As is written of me in the scroll, Behold, I come to do your will, O God' (Heb 10: 7).”

The Son’s obedience mirrors that of the Mother and thus, thanks to the meeting of these two “Yes”, God was able to take a human form. Since it celebrates a central mystery of Christ, His incarnation, the Annunciation is also a Christological event.”

”Mary’s response to the Angel continues in the Church, which has been called to make Christ present in history, making itself available so that God may continue to visit humanity with His Mercy.” ...

Finally, the Pope noted that “in this time of Lent, more frequently do we contemplate Our Lady who on Calvary seals the “Yes” she pronounced in Nazareth. United with Jesus, Witness of the Father’s love, Mary experienced the martyrdom of the soul. We invoke with confidence her intercession that the Church, faithful in its mission, may bear courageous witness to God’s love before the whole world.”

The Most Revd Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, on the Ordinariate

2011-03-22T02:13:00.000-07:00

Joan Lewis of EWTN, asked the following questions of the Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Revd Vincent Nichols:

This interview is to be found in full on the Ordinariate Portal website at:
http://ordinariateportal.wordpress.com/2011/03/19/joan-lewis-ewtn-interview-with-archbishop-vincent-nichols-on-the-ordinariate//

JL: What has been the reaction in general of Catholics to the Ordinariate and how have they been informed about this?

VN: Well clearly the 15 January was a very important moment, and in preparation for it, we’ve put out over the months a number of indicative statements as to what this means, but immediately before it we gave fairly a comprehensive set of questions and answers to try and catch some of the points of misunderstanding, some of the points where clarity was lacking, and some of the points of anxiety. And of course when the Holy Father was here he spoke to bishops, he spoke to us bishops about the Ordinariate, and I think made his mind very, very clear as to what he intends and what he hopes for. And his explanation, which I repeated in the homily on 15 January, is very simple; he says this is a gesture; this is step, which is designed to serve the greater cause of full visible unity between our churches. And I think what he means is this: is that this Ordinariate creates a space, creates if you like a workshop, where the great patrimonies of the Catholic tradition and the more recent one of the Anglican tradition, can see how they fit together, where they do indeed compliment, where there is indeed a rich patrimony from Anglicanism, which is consonant with Catholic faith and which enriches it. And in a way that’s what the Ordinariate is. The Holy Father, with huge generosity, is creating a space within our visible Catholic life for those who want to come into full communion but stay together with a historic identity which they love and which has formed them, in that identity which is truly Catholic. The word that we use if ‘Anglican Patrimony’ – it’s not a terribly good expression, but it’s a kind of shorthand for recognising some of that character, feel, identity, that people love about themselves because it’s an enrichment. He’s asking us to see how it works out – and nobody knows how it will work out, frankly – but it is now a bridge, and opportunity, for those within the Anglican Communion who are convinced – and this is the crucial thing – who are convinced of the necessity of the Petrine Office as it is now exercised, to come, with their faith, into full communion with that Office.

JL: You mentioned ‘bridge’ and of the titles that I love most that a Holy Father has is pontifex maximus – he is a bridge-builder because that’s what pontifex means. Now, again, recently in December the Holy Father spoke of John Newman – because if we go back to the Oxford Movement we look at now Blessed John Henry Newman trying to bring closer to unity the Anglicans and the Catholics – the Catholic heritage. The Pope spoke of him in December and he kind of repeated words really – and I believe you mentioned this in your homily – he repeated words that he had said at the beatification, when he said ‘the path of Newman’s conversion is a path of conscience – not a path of self-asserting subjectivity but a path of obedience to the truth’, and you say his conversion – I mean you’re quoting his words – his conversion ‘to Catholicism, required him to give up almost everything that was dear and precious to him: possessions, profession, academic rank, family ties and many friends’. I’m discovering why there is much joy – and I’ve seen and felt it and heard it at the parish in particular that I’m more familiar with – the Anglican, Catholic one almost - there is much joy involved in the Ordinariate but there also involve a sense to quote Newman of, like a ‘parting of friends’. What would you tell someone today who has doubts about this parting, someone who says ‘Please help me Father, help me understand that this is what I should be doing’, that is to say, joining the Ordinariate.

VN: Well there is no point in pretending that it isn’t a difficult step to make, and it’s difficult at all sorts of levels; it’s difficult because it will, most probably, mean the leaving of a church building that people love, it will mean a change of relationships with those probably with whom they will have been worshipping – at least some, it depends on those who make an individual decision, but in a body, to come into full communion. I think – what could I say? – I think, in the end, like John Henry Newman, it is a question of following that pathway, of a truth which is slowly unfolded to us.

It’s very interesting that the Pope reflected in December, an analysis that I first came across from Fr Avery Dulles, that Newman’s life was characterised by three conversions. The first, when he was about 15, when he said he came to understand in a month-long process of prayer, that there were two – I think the word was ‘irreducible truths’, in his life: the truth that he existed and that God existed. And, as it were, that exploration of that relationship – that call and response between himself and God – was the inner dynamic of everything, then, that he did. So that’s where we have to go back – we have to start there. And to say it’s only in that arena that Newman’s meaning of conscience – which is that kind of conversation, that exploration, that attentiveness to the reality of God – that’s where it must begin.

Then Newman’s second conversion, was his, if you like, conversion from a more evangelical stand to one that recognised the importance of dogma – so the one that said this Christian gift is given, and protected, and enhanced through the teachings of the Church, the dogma of the Church. You can’t just leave it to personal opinion, you can’t just leave it to the ebb and flow of the influences of society, you can’t just leave it to personal inspiration by the Holy Spirit – it has to have this framework of teaching to it.

And then his third – which is the one which brought him into the Catholic Church – the second one kind of started that Catholic renewal within the Church of England, the Tractarian movement. But his third conversion was to recognise the importance of the principle of primacy as a lynchpin, if you like, to the cohesiveness of the doctrinal framework that religious truth and experience needs, which is rooted in that personal call between the individual and God.

So that’s the journey that Newman made and, in a way, that’s the journey that we all make. And often, you know, I and other people sometimes feel resentful about the central authority of the Pope, and that kind of ability to call us to order, but you have to get over that and you have to see that this is part of the way God unfolds truth for us. That’s the journey that we all make, and certainly those who are on the verge of coming into the Ordinariate, that’s the pathway that they too are following. Which is why it’s so lovely that the Ordinariate has as its patronage, Our Lady of Walsingham and Blessed John Henry Newman.

JL: Just before we go, can we look maybe at a couple of the practical aspects that I’ve been learning about? So in coming months, at Lent and so forth, the people will be studying and then coming into the church and then priests will be ordained closer to Pentecost. But there are going to be practical problems – a priest who has a home and a parish and everything else right now – where do they go to live? And of course there are some that are married priests, they will still be priests in the Catholic Church, but where do they go to live? Who takes care of a salary – because there’s many practical things to think of? Is there kind of a fund or foundation that’s going to be there to create the financial means for them to function? It is a whole new structure – and how’s that going to work?

VN: Yes it is. And one of the things that the Holy Father said to us when he was here, that we as the dioceses of England & Wales, he appealed to us to be very generous, to help to bring this to life, as it were. And that’s what we’re doing at the moment. Every Catholic bishop is alert and ready – ready to have a conversation with an Anglican clergyman and a group of people, when they make that decision and when the Anglican priest speaks to his bishop and says, look, this is what I’ve now decided I want to do. And our bishops will do their utmost to start that process and to find places where those priests, who sooner or later will have to leave their rectories and their accommodation provided by the Church of England, and come. Now, fortunately, as far as we know, the spread of the groups of Anglicans with their clergy, who are seemingly likely to come, are fairly well spread out. So that it means that our dioceses are… – no one diocese is dealing with a big number; it’s feasible. Now, I think they’re the first steps.

We’re looking at possible points of employment for them, because you will see in the constitution for the Ordinariate there’s a greater openness to its priests earning a wage than there would normally be in a diocese, but that’s to make it possible – so we’re looking at these possibilities. The longer view is, of course, that the Ordinariate will – a bit like a diocese – support its own priests and that’s going to take some time to get there. So it’s a corporate effort – it’s a joint effort at the moment, and I’m very glad of that because I wouldn’t want the Ordinariate thinking of itself at a distant from the dioceses – it is very much overlapping an intermeshing with the dioceses, because we’re all Catholics, because that’s exactly what we’re coming together for. But we have put in a quarter of a million pounds into a fund to get it going, and I know other people are contributing in different ways. I know of some of our Catholic parishes, who have had collections for the Ordinariate, so it will get going, and we should be very trusting in the Lord.

JL: This is history. You’ve said it and we all agree – this is a very historical move. And like anything that is history-making, the first steps are going to be tentative and you do have – (VN: It takes courage) – it takes courage, you have challenges to face, so. Just one last question, because I do know you have appointments. The Anglicans who come into the Ordinariate – they will be Catholics – they’re going to have the wealth – the history, the buildings, the Vatican – of the Catholic faith. What do you think is going to be their contribution?

VN: Well it’s actually quite difficult to tie down, but these would be strands: I think many of them have a different spiritual tradition. So, if you like their spiritual fathers from the Anglican tradition have a particular insight to offer to us all. So there’s a kind of pattern of spirituality, a pattern of prayer, which obviously is not radically different but has different tones. They often have a rather different pattern of theological formation which probably pays more attention to patristics – to the writings of the fathers, to the patristic tradition. They have – and space is allowed for this in the new Personal Ordinariate – probably a different balance of how decisions are made within the Church. They will probably have councils and consultative bodies that come from a tradition of having a much stronger part to play, so I think that will come. And I think, also, there will be a rather different feel to their sense of mission. An Anglican priest instinctively believes his mission is everybody, now we instinctively believe our mission is to Catholics, as priests. I think they will help us to be a bit more confident in the public sphere of saying, well the call of the gospel, the invitation of the gospel, is towards everybody and it is towards everybody that we should be looking and caring. That’s what we might receive.

JL: And that’s exactly what I’ve heard, these five days, that’s the impression I’ve received of these ministers that are coming in; how they perceive their mission and what you’ve just said to me. I’m going to ask my listeners to remember all these people who, with great courage, are coming into the Ordinariate; to remember you obviously in their prayers – I know you have appointments. We’ve been speaking with Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, and we’ll be seeing you again here and perhaps some day in Rome, and I look forward to the first ordinations and I’ll be back for those.

VN: Thank you very much indeed and God bless all your listeners, and thank you for being here.

Japan's Earthquake and The Akita Shrine

2011-03-18T07:48:00.000-07:00

Tsunami wave Japan, image courtesy bosbouwbeleggingen.n

The Shrine of Akita, site of the apparitions of 1973 and close to the epicentre, was saved

There the Virgin announced to Sister Agnes Sasagawa major disasters if the world did not do penance.

The Akita shrine is located about 150 kilometres from Sendai, the site closest to the epicentre of the earthquake that struck northern Japan on Thursday, which originated in the sea, creating a devastating tsunami.

Although the city took fire and some buildings have been destroyed, the damage appears to have been lesser than in other parts of the country, and for example the Akita International University has been able to maintain open communications. The area is among the least damaged.

In 1973 Our Lady gave the world three messages to a nun of the convent of the Sisters of the Eucharist in Akita (Japan), Sister Agnes Sasagawa, then a novice. The messages were on 6 July, 3 August and 13 October of that year, and came from a icon. She could hear in spite of being deaf, physical defect which was cured later. That image bleed and shed tears, until all events disappeared in 1981.

Through Sister Agnes, Our Lady warned the world of strong punishment if they did not do penance and prayer, especially the Rosary.

She also said: "The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that there will be cardinals against cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by his colleagues ... Churches and altars will be sacked, the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord ... The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. Think of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no forgiveness for them. "

On April 22, 1984 the bishop of the diocese of Niigata, which is part Akita, John Shojiro Ito, apparitions approved, and in June 1988 the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, endorsed the decision of the prelate.

Brother Arthur

Shahbaz Bhatti: "I Want to Serve Jesus"

2011-03-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends
I think you will like to read this excerpt from an interview with Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pakistani Minister who has been recently assassinated and was a Catholic .
Let us pray for him.
Best regards
Br Arthur

Shahbaz Bhatti: "I Want to Serve Jesus"
Excerpt of Interview With Pakistani Minority Minister

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 6, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is an excerpt from the 2008 book-length interview with Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pakistani Federal Minister for Minorities who was assassinated last week.

The book is titled “Christians in Pakistan or Where Hope Is Tested (Marcianum Press, 2008). In this excerpt, Bhatti reveals his motivations for being an outspoken advocate for religious freedom.

* * *

I was offered high government positions and asked to quit my struggle but I always refused to give up even at the cost of my life. I said: "No, I want to serve Jesus as a common man". I am happy with this devotion. I do not want popularity; I do not want any position. I want just a place at Jesus' feet.

I want that my life, my character, my actions speak for me and indicate that I am following Jesus Christ. Because of this desire, I will consider myself even to be more fortunate if -in this effort and struggle to help the needy, the poor, to help the persecuted and victimized Christians of Pakistan - Jesus Christ will accept the sacrifice of my life. I want to live for Christ and I want to die for Him.

I do not feel any fear in this country. Many times the extremists wanted to kill me, many times they wanted to put me in prison, they threatened me, they harassed me and they terrorized my family. Even my parents, my mother and my father, were asked by the extremists few years ago to stop their son from continuing with his mission, this struggle to help the Christians and the needy. Otherwise they would have lost me. But my father always encouraged me. I said: "Until I live, until my last breath, I will continue to serve Jesus, to serve the poor humanity, the suffering humanity, the Christians, the needy, the poor".

I want to share that I am very much inspired by the Holy Bible and the life of Jesus Christ. The more I read the New and Old Testament, verses from the Holy Bible, the word of God, the more it gives me strength, determination. When I see that Jesus Christ sacrificed His everything and our Lord sent His Son for our redemption and salvation, I ask myself how I can follow that path of the Calvary. And our Lord said: "Come to me, hold your cross, and follow the path". The verses I like the most from the Holy Bible read: "I came to you when I was hungry, when I was thirsty, when I was imprisoned".

So when I see the poor people, I think Jesus might have come to me. Hence I always try to help, along with my colleagues, those in need, the hungry, the thirst.

Lent:Why the Christian Must Deny Himself [Part 2]

2011-03-09T11:14:00.000-08:00

Lent: Why the Christian Must Deny Himself [cont'd]
Brother Austin G. Murphy, O.S.B.

The full article may be found on the website of Ignatius Insight http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2005/murphy_denyhimself1_feb05.asp

Obstacles To Grace

So, it is not wrong, in itself, to seek tasty, enjoyable food: but still a person should not do so. For when a person seeks the enjoyment of eating, his action is tainted with inclinations to sloth, complacency, and self-love. That is, his motives are mixed. For when he seeks the joys of food, selfish inclinations are at work in his heart along with whatever good motives there might be. Now, if a person only looks at the external act of eating or the objective value of enjoying food, he will not see this. But, if he honestly looks into the heart, he will see that sloth, complacency, and self-love are present in the desire for the joys of eating. Having such mixed motives is simply part of our imperfect condition in this world.

These selfish inclinations in a person's heart, which are present when he seeks the enjoyment of eating, are the sort of things that hinder a person's growth in holiness and virtue. To grow in holiness and virtue every person needs God's help–we know that a person cannot do it on his own. As Christ says, "Apart from me you can do nothing." Hence, the help of God's grace is needed to grow in virtue and to live a life of continual conversion. Yet the presence of these inclinations to sloth, complacency, and self-love get in the way of a person's reception of God's grace. They are obstacles to receiving more grace.

Therefore, the Christian, who is dedicated to conversion, must remove these obstacles from his heart, so that he may receive more grace and become a better follower of Christ. A person should not expect God to force his grace on him without his consent. As we know, God chooses to work with a person's cooperation. And, so, he is obliged to work with God to remove these inclinations from his heart as much as possible.

This is done by fasting. For fasting, by checking a person's desires for what is not necessary, teaches him to seek what is sufficient when he eats. When he fasts, he does not seek the enjoyment of food, but is simply seeking what he needs to eat and drink. And since he is no longer pursuing the joys of food, the self-centered inclinations that accompany this pursuit are not allowed a chance to spring up in his heart. A person gives up things he enjoys because in so doing he denies inclinations such as sloth, complacency, and self-love a chance to be active in his heart.

Purifying The Heart

This is why it is better to fast. Fasting removes these obstacles so that being more receptive to God's grace, a person will grow in holiness and virtue. The self-centered inclinations that accompany pleasure-seeking are not directed towards God–therefore, they do not lead the heart to God but away from him. Their presence in the heart creates a divided heart–a heart, which does not completely look to God for its needs. As St. Augustine teaches, a divided heart is an impure heart.

Purifying the heart, then, will involve denying oneself the pursuits of pleasures in things like food and drink. For thus a person protects his heart from the self-centered inclinations that are bound to coexist with these pursuits.

This provides one answer to the question, "Why must we fast?" (and, by extension, to the question, "Why should one practice self-denial?"). Since, by fasting, a person no longer seeks after the joys of food and drink, the heart is set free to focus more completely on God. By turning away from his concerns for the pleasures of eating, he can turn more wholeheartedly to God. And this, we know is what continual conversion is all about.

By fasting, then, a person turns to God more intently. This is reflected in God's words spoken through the Prophet Joel: "Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning." Naturally, a person is reluctant to give up through fasting things he enjoys–but by doing so he turns his attention to God and waits for him. He places his trust in him that he will give him the joy he needs–joys "greater than when grain and wine abound." But he has to trust and be willing to persevere through the dry times that will accompany fasting. If he puts his hope in God, however, the Scriptures assure him that he will not be disappointed.

For the sake of his ongoing conversion, then, the Christian must fast. But we might add another, better reason for fasting. Not only does fasting benefit a person's own individual spiritual progress, it also benefits his neighbor.

It is commonly pointed out that fasting can help others by allowing those who fast to increase their almsgiving with the money saved from eating less. But the benefit referred to here is of a different sort. It is due to our being connected with each other through prayer, so that a person's offering of prayer can help others. Now, prayers for others are more effective the more united the person praying is to Christ, since Christ is the source of the benefits gained through prayer. So the more converted a person becomes to the Lord, the more effective his prayers for others: "The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects." And since fasting aids a person's continual conversion, it strengthens his prayers so that they benefit others more. In this way, he can help his neighbor through fasting.

Moreover, this service to his neighbor through fasting is an imitation of Christ. He offered himself on the Cross for others. A person too, in union with Christ, offers himself through the sacrifice of fasting. In fasting, he has the opportunity to join Christ in offering himself for the sake of others. Thus, even if a person's heart were pure and always free from selfish inclinations–as was Christ's–he should still fast–as did Christ. Through Christ he has the chance of helping others through voluntary acts of self-denial. Christian love is, indeed, eager for such chances to serve others.

So, in a very real way that is clearly visible to the eyes of faith, the Christian must fast out of love of neighbor. He is commanded by Jesus to live in his love. This love is the love that compels a person "to lay down his life for his friends." That is, it is the love that compels him to sacrifice his own preferences and desires on behalf of others. And this is what each person is invited to do through fasting– to give up things he enjoys for the benefit of others. And, as we are told, "there is no greater love than this."

There are good reasons then, why a person must practice fasting and develop disciplined eating habits. Fasting and, by extension, self-denial are important for a person's continual conversion as well as for others who need our prayers. So, the Christian should regularly ask himself, "What do I really need? What can I do without?" and consider the advantages of denying himself even things that are not necessarily bad.

A better understanding of the virtue of denying oneself would undoubtedly benefit our society, where one is taught only how to say, "yes" to what one wants and desires. The practice of self-denial provides a humble yet profound way of giving oneself to God and others out of love, thus breaking the tendency to self-absorption. For, as we have said, self-denial is necessary for helping bring about ongoing conversion, which is sought out of love of God: and one restrains oneself and sacrifices one's desires out of love of neighbor. Love, then–real liberating, sacrificial love–is behind voluntary self-denial.

For part one, go to: http://heraldsgospelsinengland.blogspot.com/2011/03/lent-why-christian-must-deny-himself.html

Brother Austin G. Murphy, O.S.B., is a member of St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, Ill. He was born in Huntington, L.I., and grew up in Suffern, N.Y. In December of 1995 he received his B.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago. While in formation and preparation to take solemn vows at St. Procopius Abbey, he teaches high school mathematics at the abbey’s high school, Benet Academy.

Lent: Why the Christian Must Deny Himself [Part 1]

2011-03-09T08:51:00.000-08:00

Lent: Why the Christian Must Deny Himself
Brother Austin G. Murphy, O.S.B.

This article may be found on the website of Ignatius Insight http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2005/murphy_denyhimself1_feb05.asp

We still ask ourselves as Ash Wednesday approaches, "What am I doing for Lent? What am I giving up for Lent?" We can be grateful that the customs of giving up something for Lent and abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent have survived in our secular society. But, unfortunately, it is doubtful that many practice them with understanding. Many perform them in good faith and with a vague sense of their value, and this is commendable. But if these acts of self-denial were better understood, they could be practiced with greater profit. Otherwise, they run the risk of falling out of use.

A greater understanding of the practice of self-denial would naturally benefit those who customarily exercise it during Lent. Better comprehension of self-denial would also positively affect the way Christians live throughout the year. The importance of self-denial can be seen if we look specifically at fasting and use it as an example of self-denial in general. Indeed, fasting, for those who can practice it, is a crucial part of voluntary self-denial.

But since we live in a consumerist society, where self-indulgence rather than self-denial is the rule, any suggestion to fast will sound strange to many ears. It is bound to arouse the questions: Why is fasting important? Why must a Christian practice it? Using these questions as a framework, we can construct one explanation, among many possible ones, of the importance of self-denial.

To answer the question "Why must the Christian fast?" we should first note that fasting, in itself, is neither good nor bad, but is morally neutral. But fasting is good insofar as it achieves a good end. Its value lies in it being an effective means for attaining greater virtue. And because it is a means for gaining virtue– and every Christian ought to be striving to grow in virtue–there is good reason to fast.

Some people point out that fasting is not the most important thing and, therefore, they do not need to worry about it. Such reasoning displays a misunderstanding of our situation. But, since the excuse is common enough, some comments to refute it are worthwhile.

Doing Small Things Well

First, while it is true that fasting is not the most important thing in the world, this does not make fasting irrelevant or unimportant. There are, certainly, more urgent things to abstain from than food or drink, such as maliciousness, backbiting, grumbling, etc. But a person is mistaken to conclude that he therefore does not need to fast. He should not believe that he can ignore fasting and instead abstain in more important matters. Rather, fasting and avoiding those other vices go hand in hand. Fasting must accompany efforts to abstain in greater matters. For one thing, fasting teaches a person how to abstain in the first place.

Moreover, it is presumptuous for a person to try to practice the greater virtues without first paying attention to the smaller ones. As Our Lord says, "He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much" and so can be trusted with greater things. Therefore, if a person wants to be able to abstain in greater matters he must not neglect to abstain in smaller matters, such as through fasting.

Finally, there is a subtle form of pride present in the person who says that because something is not very important, he does not need to do it. Whoever makes such a claim implies that he does only important things. But the average person is rarely called to do very important things. Accordingly, each person is more likely to be judged on how he did the little, everyday things. Even when, rarely, a person is called to do a great work, how often does he fall short? All the more reason, then, for a person to make sure that he at least does the small things well. Furthermore, if he truly loves the Lord, he will gladly do anything–big or small–for him. So, in the end, saying that fasting is not the most important thing is not a good excuse for avoiding it.

What, then, is the reason for fasting? To answer this let us first clarify what fasting entails. It involves more than the occasional fast, such as on Good Friday. To be effective, fasting requires disciplined eating habits all the time. There are certainly days when a person should make a greater effort at abstaining from food and drink. These are what we usually consider days of fasting and they must be practiced regularly. But, still, there are never days when a person is allowed to abandon all restraint. A person must always practice some restraint over his appetites or those periodic days of fasting arc valueless. Always keeping a check on his desires, a person develops good habits, which foster constancy in his interior life. So, in addition to practicing days of fasting on a regular basis, a person should continuously restrain his desires, such as those that incline him to eat too much, to be too concerned with what he eats, or to eat too often.

We might, then speak of the discipline of fasting in order to avoid the impression that fasting is sporadic. The operative principle behind the discipline of fasting is simple: to limit yourself to only what is necessary for your physical and psychological health–no more, no less. St. Augustine puts it concisely when he teaches: "As far as your health allows, keep your bodily appetites in check by fasting and abstinence from food and drink." So, fasting is meant only to keep a person's unnecessary wants in check. A person is not– nor is he permitted–to deny himself what is necessary for his health. The discipline of fasting instead asks a person to check his desires for what is superfluous and not necessary.

Realizing True Well-being

Consequently, fasting should not threaten a person's health. And there is no foundation for believing that fasting is somehow motivated by anti-body sentiments. Fasting actually does good for the body by helping it realize its well-being. The body needs to be in conformity with the spirit and this requires such disciplines as fasting. In this way, the body is like a child. Children would never realize their true well-being if their parents never told them "no," but gave in to every one of their desires. In the same way, if a person never says "no" to his bodily desires, his body will never realize its true well-being. That is, the body needs such discipline to be brought into conformity with the spirit. For otherwise, it cannot share in the spiritual blessings of Christ.

This makes perfect sense when we consider that the human person is not just a soul, but is matter as well. A person’s body, too, is to be renewed in Christ. Fasting is one way that a person brings about a harmony between body and soul, so that being made whole he can be one with Christ.

The Christian belief that the body is intimately united to the soul should also make a person suspicious of the opinion that fasting is merely external. External acts stem from the desires of the heart within, as Our Lord says in the Gospel. So, a person's external acts are linked to his interior desires. The external act of abstaining from food and drink, therefore, clearly affects a person internally. It does not permit his desires within to reach fulfillment. Thus fasting has the ability to keep interior desires in check, which is important for improving a person's interior life.

It is true, of course, that a person should be more vigilant over his interior life than over his external actions. He must be attentive to interior motives, desires, intentions, to make sure that his fasting is affecting his interior life as it ought–and not giving rise to pride, anger, or impatience.

In fact, only by considering the interior self, and how fasting can affect it, does one see the high value of fasting. If someone looks only at the external act of eating, and does not consider the underlying internal desires of the heart, then the value of fasting cannot be seen. For, clearly, there is nothing wrong with the very act of eating. Nor do the enjoyments of food and the pleasures of eating, as such, harm a person. The joys and comforts of eating are good. Like all created goods, they testify to the goodness of God, who made them. Therefore, the enjoyment of eating and drinking manifests the goodness of God. A person ought to see God's goodness in the joys of these things, and give God thanks for them. The enjoyment of food can then actually help lift the mind and heart to God.

But by lifting a person's gaze to God, created goods point beyond themselves, to greater joys. Consequently, he who truly enjoys God's goodness in created things, such as food and drink, will not remain attached to them. Rather, he will go beyond them, readily giving them up, in order to enjoy the higher things, which St. Paul says we must seek.

Seek What Is Better

This might lead some to ask: If the enjoyment of eating does me no harm, and can in fact manifest God's goodness, why sacrifice this joy by fasting? That is, why check my unnecessary desires for what is enjoyable? After all, there is nothing wrong with enjoying food. Why, then, if I enjoy having a snack, or eating fine foods, sacrifice these things? Again, they are not bad or sinful.

The answer is: Because it is better. Having a tasty meal prepared just to my liking is good, but it is better to sacrifice such things. Showing why it is better to fast than to neglect fasting will provide the reason why a Christian is expected to fast.

A Christian must be seeking what is better, and not merely trying to avoid what is bad. This is the only way to live a life of continual conversion, to which we are committed by baptism. The Christian must face decisions with the question: "What is the better thing for me to do?" He must not, when he has a decision to make, approach what he is inclined to do with the justification: "Well, there is nothing wrong with doing it." If that is his approach, then he is not genuinely seeking improvement in his life. Spiritual progress becomes impossible.

Ongoing conversion, to which, again, the Christian must be dedicated, involves going from good to better. This conversion is unreachable for him who in his life refuses to give up the lesser goods in order to attain greater goods. Due to fallen human nature, every person is prone to be complacent. Each of us is reluctant to change his ways. But clearly, if a person has not yet reached perfection, there are certainly greater goods for him to realize. Fasting, in many ways, is simply the choice to give up lesser goods for greater ones, to abstain from the joys of food and drink in order to attain greater joys from God. It seeks for more. If a person ever stops seeking for more, then he has stopped seeking God.

Why is it better to fast than not to fast? Again, we said that the enjoyment of food and drink is good. Enjoying food is not the problem. Fasting does not tell a person not to enjoy eating–I think this is impossible–as much as it says not to seek the enjoyment of eating. A person may take the joys of food as they come, and be grateful for them: but he should not pursue such joys.

True, there are legitimate occasions, such as when entertaining guests, where especially enjoyable foods are procured. But this is done for the sake of hospitality and for lifting up the heart and mind to God in thanksgiving. The joys of food and drink are not sought, consequently, for their own sake but for God's glory. Thus, the person is not really seeking the joys of eating and drinking, as such: he uses them only to pass beyond them to God. Hence, he who uses the joys of eating and drinking rightly will readily give them up. Because fasting is better than not fasting, he will deny himself these joys regularly. "Looking to the reward," moreover, he will not often make the excuse that hospitality, or the "need" to celebrate, requires that he allow himself enjoyable foods. In truth, it is more often the case that self-denial and restraint are called for.

See Part 2:
http://heraldsgospelsinengland.blogspot.com/2011/03/lent-why-christian-must-deny-himself_09.html

Brother Austin G. Murphy, O.S.B., is a member of St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, Ill. He was born in Huntington, L.I., and grew up in Suffern, N.Y. In December of 1995 he received his B.A. in Economics from the University of Chicago. While in formation and preparation to take solemn vows at St. Procopius Abbey, he teaches high school mathematics at the abbey’s high school, Benet Academy.

Pope Benedict XVI's Message for Lent 2011

2011-03-09T03:39:00.000-08:00

Pope Benedict's Message this year has as its title a passage with a theme from Colossians: "You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him." (cf. Col 2: 12) The full text is given below:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Lenten period, which leads us to the celebration of Holy Easter, is for the Church a most valuable and important liturgical time, in view of which I am pleased to offer a specific word in order that it may be lived with due diligence. As she awaits the definitive encounter with her Spouse in the eternal Easter, the Church community, assiduous in prayer and charitable works, intensifies her journey in purifying the spirit, so as to draw more abundantly from the Mystery of Redemption the new life in Christ the Lord (cf. Preface I of Lent).

1. This very life was already bestowed upon us on the day of our Baptism, when we "become sharers in Christ's death and Resurrection", and there began for us "the joyful and exulting adventure of his disciples" (Homily on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, 10 January, 2010). In his Letters, St. Paul repeatedly insists on the singular communion with the Son of God that this washing brings about. The fact that, in most cases, Baptism is received in infancy highlights how it is a gift of God: no one earns eternal life through their own efforts. The mercy of God, which cancels sin and, at the same time, allows us to experience in our lives "the mind of Christ Jesus" (Phil 2: 5), is given to men and women freely.The Apostle to the Gentiles, in the Letter to the Philippians, expresses the meaning of the transformation that takes place through participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, pointing to its goal: that "I may come to know him and the power of his resurrection, and partake of his sufferings by being molded to the pattern of his death, striving towards the goal of resurrection from the dead" (Phil 3: 10-11). Hence, Baptism is not a rite from the past, but the encounter with Christ, which informs the entire existence of the baptized, imparting divine life and calling for sincere conversion; initiated and supported by Grace, it permits the baptized to reach the adult stature of Christ.

A particular connection binds Baptism to Lent as the favorable time to experience this saving Grace. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council exhorted all of the Church's Pastors to make greater use "of the baptismal features proper to the Lenten liturgy" (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum concilium, n. 109). In fact, the Church has always associated the Easter Vigil with the celebration of Baptism: this Sacrament realizes the great mystery in which man dies to sin, is made a sharer in the new life of the Risen Christ and receives the same Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead (cf. Rm 8: 11). This free gift must always be rekindled in each one of us, and Lent offers us a path like that of the catechumenate, which, for the Christians of the early Church, just as for catechumens today, is an irreplaceable school of faith and Christian life. Truly, they live their Baptism as an act that shapes their entire existence.

2. In order to undertake more seriously our journey towards Easter and prepare ourselves to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord - the most joyous and solemn feast of the entire liturgical year - what could be more appropriate than allowing ourselves to be guided by the Word of God? For this reason, the Church, in the Gospel texts of the Sundays of Lent, leads us to a particularly intense encounter with the Lord, calling us to retrace the steps of Christian initiation: for catechumens, in preparation for receiving the Sacrament of rebirth; for the baptized, in light of the new and decisive steps to be taken in the sequela Christi and a fuller giving of oneself to him.

The First Sunday of the Lenten journey reveals our condition as human beings here on earth. The victorious battle against temptation, the starting point of Jesus' mission, is an invitation to become aware of our own fragility in order to accept the Grace that frees from sin and infuses new strength in Christ - the way, the truth and the life (cf. Ordo Initiationis Christianae Adultorum, n. 25). It is a powerful
reminder that Christian faith implies, following the example of Jesus and in union with him, a battle "against the ruling forces who are masters of the darkness in this world" (Eph 6: 12), in which the devil is at work and never tires - even today - of tempting whoever wishes to draw close to the Lord: Christ emerges victorious to open also our hearts to hope and guide us in overcoming the seductions of evil.

The Gospel of the Transfiguration of the Lord puts before our eyes the glory of Christ, which anticipates the resurrection and announces the divinization of man. The Christian community becomes aware that Jesus leads it, like the Apostles Peter, James and John "up a high mountain by themselves" (Mt 17: 1), to receive once again in Christ, as sons and daughters in the Son, the gift of the Grace of God: "This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favor. Listen to him" (Mt17: 5). It is the invitation to take a distance from the noisiness of everyday life in order to immerse oneself in God's presence. He desires to hand down to us, each day, a Word that penetrates the depths of our spirit, where we discern good from evil (cf. Heb 4:12), reinforcing our will to follow the Lord.

The question that Jesus puts to the Samaritan woman: "Give me a drink" (Jn 4: 7), is presented to us in the liturgy of the third Sunday; it expresses the passion of God for every man and woman, and wishes to awaken in our hearts the desire for the gift of "a spring of water within, welling up for eternal life" (Jn 4: 14): this is the gift of the Holy Spirit, who transforms Christians into "true worshipers," capable of praying to the Father "in spirit and truth" (Jn 4: 23). Only this water can extinguish our thirst for goodness, truth and beauty! Only this water, given to us by the Son, can irrigate the deserts of our restless and unsatisfied soul, until it "finds rest in God", as per the famous words of St. Augustine.

The Sunday of the man born blind presents Christ as the light of the world. The Gospel confronts each one of us with the question: "Do you believe in the Son of man?" "Lord, I believe!" (Jn 9: 35. 38), the man born blind joyfully exclaims, giving voice to all believers. The miracle of this healing is a sign that Christ wants not only to give us sight, but also open our interior vision, so that our faith may become ever deeper and we may recognize him as our only Savior. He illuminates all that is dark in life and leads men and women to live as "children of the light".

On the fifth Sunday, when the resurrection of Lazarus is proclaimed, we are faced with the ultimate mystery of our existence: "I am the resurrection and the life... Do you believe this?" (Jn11: 25-26). For the Christian community, it is the moment to place with sincerity - together with Martha - all of our hopes in Jesus of Nazareth: "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world" (Jn 11: 27). Communion with Christ in this life prepares us to overcome the barrier of death, so that we may live eternally with him. Faith in the resurrection of the dead and hope in eternal life open our eyes to the ultimate meaning of our existence: God created men and women for resurrection and life, and this truth gives an authentic and definitive meaning to human history, to the personal and social lives of men and women, to culture, politics and the economy. Without the light of faith, the entire universe finishes shut within a tomb devoid of any future, any hope.

The Lenten journey finds its fulfillment in the Paschal Triduum, especially in the Great Vigil of the Holy Night: renewing our baptismal promises, we reaffirm that Christ is the Lord of our life, that life which God bestowed upon us when we were reborn of "water and Holy Spirit", and we profess again our firm commitment to respond to the action of the Grace in order to be his disciples.

3. By immersing ourselves into the death and resurrection of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are moved to free our hearts every day from the burden of material things, from a self-centered relationship with the "world" that impoverishes us and prevents us from being available and open to God and our neighbor. In Christ, God revealed himself as Love (cf. 1Jn 4: 7-10). The Cross of Christ, the "word of the Cross", manifests God's saving power (cf. 1Cor 1: 18), that is given to raise men and women anew and bring them salvation: it is love in its most extreme form (cf. Encyclical Deus caritas est, n. 12). Through the traditional practices of fasting, almsgiving and prayer, which are an expression of our commitment to conversion, Lent teaches us how to live the love of Christ in an ever more radical way. Fasting, which can have various motivations, takes on a profoundly religious significance for the Christian: by rendering our table poorer, we learn to overcome selfishness in order to live in the logic of gift and love; by bearing some form of deprivation - and not just what is in excess - we learn to look away from our "ego", to discover Someone close to us and to recognize God in the face of so many brothers and sisters. For Christians, fasting, far from being depressing, opens us ever more to God and to the needs of others, thus allowing love of God to become also love of our neighbor (cf. Mk 12: 31).

In our journey, we are often faced with the temptation of accumulating and love of money that undermine God's primacy in our lives. The greed of possession leads to violence, exploitation and death; for this, the Church, especially during the Lenten period, reminds us to practicealmsgiving - which is the capacity to share. The idolatry of goods, on the other hand, not only causes us to drift away from others, but divests man, making him unhappy, deceiving him, deluding him without fulfilling its promises, since it puts materialistic goods in the place of God, the only source of life. How can we understand God's paternal goodness, if our heart is full of egoism and our own projects, deceiving us that our future is guaranteed? The temptation is to think, just like the rich man in the parable: "My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come...". We are all aware of the Lord's judgment: "Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul..." (Lk 12: 19-20). The practice of almsgiving is a reminder of God's primacy and turns our attention towards others, so that we may rediscover how good our Father is, and receive his mercy.

During the entire Lenten period, the Church offers us God's Word with particular abundance. By meditating and internalizing the Word in order to live it every day, we learn a precious and irreplaceable form of prayer; by attentively listening to God, who continues to speak to our hearts, we nourish the itinerary of faith initiated on the day of our Baptism. Prayer also allows us to gain a new concept of time: without the perspective of eternity and transcendence, in fact, time simply directs our steps towards a horizon without a future. Instead, when we pray, we find time for God, to understand that his "words will not pass away" (cf. Mk 13: 31), to enter into that intimate communion with Him "that no one shall take from you" (Jn 16: 22), opening us to the hope that does not disappoint, eternal life.

In synthesis, the Lenten journey, in which we are invited to contemplate the Mystery of the Cross, is meant to reproduce within us "the pattern of his death" (Ph 3: 10), so as to effect a deepconversion in our lives; that we may be transformed by the action of the Holy Spirit, like St. Paul on the road to Damascus; that we may firmly orient our existence according to the will of God; that we may be freed of our egoism, overcoming the instinct to dominate others and opening us to the love of Christ. The Lenten period is a favorable time to recognize our weakness and to accept, through a sincere inventory of our life, the renewing Grace of the Sacrament of Penance, and walk resolutely towards Christ.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, through the personal encounter with our Redeemer and through fasting, almsgiving and prayer, the journey of conversion towards Easter leads us to rediscover our Baptism. This Lent, let us renew our acceptance of the Grace that God bestowed upon us at that moment, so that it may illuminate and guide all of our actions. What the Sacrament signifies and realizes, we are called to experience every day by following Christ in an ever more generous and authentic manner. In this our itinerary, let us entrust ourselves to the Virgin Mary, who generated the Word of God in faith and in the flesh, so that we may immerse ourselves - just as she did - in the death and resurrection of her Son Jesus, and possess eternal life.

BENEDICTUS PP XVI

Posted by:Independent Catholic News:
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=17803

Cardinal Prefect celebrates Mass in Rome to commemorate 10th Anniversary

2011-03-08T08:38:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

On the 22 of February 2011 we commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Pontifical Recognition of the Heralds of the Gospel given by late Pope John Paul II in 2001.

Cardinal Antonio Canizares, Prefect of the Congregation for the Divine Liturgy and the discipline of the Sacraments presided the Eucharist celebrated on this occasion at the Church of the Heralds of the Gospel, St Benedetto in Piscinula, Rome. In his homily the Cardinal encouraged all our members and friends to continue our mission of announcing Christ in our world with our characteristical enthusiasm.

I was very pleased to be there and I had the opportunity to pray for all of you in various significant places in Rome but in particular in the historical Coliseum where so many martyrs gave their lives to uphold the faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ, the same faith that, do to the heroism of those martyrs of the beginning of the Church, we have received today and will last till the end of times.

Sincerely yours,
In Jesus and Mary
Br Arthur EP

Photos: thanks to sanbenedettoinpiscinula.blogspot.com/

LIVING EXAMPLE OF THE GIFT OF WISDOM [Part 2]

2011-03-01T14:06:00.000-08:00

Resume of the Doctoral Thesis in Theology of Msgr. Joao Scognamiglio Cla Dias, EP (cont'd)

Click here to read Part 1: http://heraldsgospelsinengland.blogspot.com/2011/03/living-example-of-gift-of-wisdom.html

It is easier to experience the gifts of the Holy Spirit than to explain them scientifically, as an emminent theologian affirmed. Monsignor Joao Cla overcame this problem by taking a unique approach to his doctorate in theology.

The Kingdom of God

The thesis begins with a theoretical discussion on grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, based on the episode of St. Luke’s Gospel in which Jesus answers the Pharisees regarding the coming of the Kingdom of God: “Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them, ‘The Kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, “Lo, here it is!” or “There!” for behold, the Kingdom of God is in the midst of yoy.” (Lk 17:20-21)
In this simple dialogue there are two implicit contradictory conceptions of the Kingdom of God: the worldly one of the Pharisees, and the completely spiritual one of Jesus. There are in fact two forms of wisdom present here: that of the world and that of the Holy Spirit.

Innocence, the door to wisdom.

After presenting the doctrinal presuppositions on how grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit operate in souls, as well as the speculative and practical effects of the gift of wisdom, the author proceeds to the biographical information, comparing the principal episodes of the life of Plinio Correa de Oliveira with the theological dovtrine on the gifts of wisdom and mysticism. The narration thus reveals, as in a compendium, the effects of the gift of wisdom in the soul of Dr. Plinio. Contrary to the experience of numerous mystics, who only reached the plenitude of these effects after a long journey of spiritual ascension, in Dr. Plinio, wisdom manifested itself in his earliest childhood, indicating that for him, the gate to wisdom was innocence.

Some contemplative effects of wisdom were especially evident in Dr. Plinio’s visualisation of history; in which, with great perspicacity, he discerned the “footsteps of God” For him, the centre of history was Our Lord Jesus Christ and His mystical spouse, the Holy Church, and the fight between good and evil was the true compass of events. From this basic principle he drew the doctrine exposed in his essay Revolution and Counter-Revolution. Another contemplative effect of wisdom was his school of thought, presenting a notion of the universe under two aspects, like two wings of the spirit: doctrinal and symbolic.. As Dr. Plinio was accustomed to recall, the divine perfections are reflected in the universe constituting a splendid mosaic, which the well-formed soul should know how to interpret and use as a means to raise itself to the Creator.

“Flash” -a movement of the gift of wisdom.

Among the most important elements of Dr. Plinio’s spirituality were the motions of the gift of wisdom, which he called “flashes” because of their similarity to a light that suddenly illuminates the understanding and inflames the will, disposing one to understand certain truths of the Faith, in a virtually evident and pleasing manner, and imparting a great generosity of soul to practice virtue. Reputable theologians verify the existence of this mystical phenomenon,confirming it to be the most sublime grace the soul can receive on this earth. According to Dr Plinio, these mystical graces are bestowed on all the faithful, more often than one might think, and various theologians share this viewpoint. Nevertheless an excessively rationalist formation leads many people to ignore the motions of the Holy Spirit, and the secularization of mentalities persuades them to give credence only to material values and the unbridled pleasures of life.

Ardent charity, discernment of spirits and prophetism.

Some practical effects of wisdom became manifest in Dr. Plinio as fruit of his ardent charity. Zeal for the glory of God acted as the driving force which constantly urged him to to give himself tirelessly to the works of the apostolate, spiritual formation of his followers and unceasing efforts for their perseverance in the vocation. This zeal for the salvation of souls led him to offer himself as a victim to God in 1975, seeking to obtain superabundant graces for the flourishing of the lay movement he founded. The sufferings resulting from a terrible car accident three days later -the after-effects of which prevented him from walking for the rest of his life -were the bloody price he joyfully paid with unbounded generosity.

The charism of discernment of spirits, which made him an unequalled director of souls, as well as the gift of prophetism, were some of the other practical effects of wisdom expressed in his person. His charism of prophetism remains registered in inumerable articles published in O Legionario, the official organ of the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo, and afterwards in other large-circulation periodicals in Brazil, such at the Folha de Sao Paulo.

Blessed are the peacemakers.

According to the common opinion of theologians, the gift of wisdom corresponds to the seventh beatitude: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.” (Mt 5:9) Peace is the tranquillity of order, as St. Augustine teaches. Thus the wise man seeks to establish peace, first within himself, and afterwards around himself, creating conditions for true peace to reign. This was the ideal of Dr. Plinio’s entire existence: the restoration of Order, according to the Law of God, in temporal society. From this also arose this great complexity: not seeing the realisation of his most ardent desire, namely the fulfilment of the promise made by Our Lady in Fatima: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.” This would be tantamount to the establishment of the spiritual kingdom of Christ on earth.

Love of the cross and configuration with Christ.

Those who open their soul to wisdom embrace suffering, Dr. Plinio stated. It is through suffering that the Christian becomes more like Christ, and this similarity is the principal and most sublime effect of the gift of wisdom. For the hedonist mentality of modern man, it is difficult to accept this truth, and accept suffering with resignation. This led Dr. Plinio to bring to his followers’ attention the importance of the cross in the process of sanctification: “We must never flee from suffering, as from a ghost, but rather pass through a series of archways of suffering throughout the course of life. They will lead us to the magnificent stained-glass window of death which opens … and then we will see heaven.” This disposition of soul led him to say at the end of his life: “I would die disappointed if I thought I had fled from even one ounce of suffering.”

This conviction in the face of adversity expressed itself above all in Christian resignation with which he confronted his final sickness. Although he had a presentiment of his impending end some months beforehand, even declaring it to some of his collaborators, he did not alter his routine of intense activity, nor did he manifest the symptoms of the disease which sapped his strength, but rather, he continued to march forward with confidence in
Providence towards “that magnificent stained-glass window of death”, certain of seeing heaven after passing through it. All the physical sufferings and interior trials of his final days were endured with a serenity, meekness and dignity that profoundly impressed all who accompanied him in the hospial until the final moment of departure for eternity. Shortly after breathing his last, his physiognomy, until then etched with pain, shone with abgentle smile, revealing a remarkable expression of peace, and confirming the authenticity of what he himself had taught and practiced: “It is a characteristic of oblation that it be made with such goodwill that, at the moment of the consummatum est a smile blossoms.”

His complete conformity with Our Lord Jesus Christ was consummated -the most sublime effect of the gift of wisdom.

[1] Benedict XVI, Speech, 5/12/08

Click here to read Part 1: http://heraldsgospelsinengland.blogspot.com/2011/03/living-example-of-gift-of-wisdom.html

LIVING EXAMPLE OF THE GIFT OF WISDOM [Part 1]

2011-03-01T12:45:00.000-08:00

Resume of the Doctoral Thesis in Theology of Msgr. Joao Scognamiglio Cla Dias, EP

To read Part 2 click here: http://heraldsgospelsinengland.blogspot.com/2011/03/living-example-of-gift-of-wisdom-part-2.html

It is easier to experience the gifts of the Holy Spirit than to explain them scientifically, as an emminent theologian affirmed. Monsignor Joao Cla overcame this problem by taking a unique approach to his doctorate in theology.

In his thesis The Gift of Wisdom in the Spirit; Life and Work of Plinio Correa de Oliveira, Msgr. Joao Cla Dias, EP, decided to approach the theme from a unique perspective, by examining the power that the gift of wisdom acquires in one who profoundly lives it, rather than presenting its strictly abstract aspects. Thus the thesis focuses on analysing the action of the Holy Spirit in one of the greatest Catholic leaders of recent time: Plinio Correa de Oliveira, “an important figure in the history of the Brazilian Church,” according to a member of the examination board, Fr. Marcelo Neves.

Maintaining an objective perspective - as members of the examination board affirmed - Msgr. Joao gives his personal testimony regarding the gift of wisdom in Plinio Correa de Oliveira, which forty years of close contact allowed him to observe in detail. “No one could have explained this secret od Dr. Plinio Correa de Oliveira’s life and work with such insight as Msgr. Joao, his son and disciple” attested another examiner Fr. Alberto Ramirez.

Fr Carlos Arboleda highlighted an additional point: the thesis “aims at showing that salvation history is not isolated from human history , that the faith experience does not exclude an existence that interprets and acts upon it.” Consequently, to be more efficacious , theological teaching should provide living examples, making stated truths more tangible.

The need to live out the Faith.

Msgr. Joao Cla portrays and writes with balance and love, and “does the work of a theologian and not merely a narrator,” as Fr. Marcelo Neves notes.

Indeed, while the thesis is strongly biographical in character, it remains within the ambit of authentic theology. In order to produce a masterly and appealing theological work which not only instructs but also inspires the practice of virtue, it is necessary for the author to have lived the truths examined. Either the Faith is lived, or, as St James teaches, it is dead. (cf. Jms 2:14-26)
This important aspect of theological study was noted, in other terms by Pope Benedict XVI in a speech to the members of the International Theological Commission: “From the viewpoint of one who does theology, the fundamental virtue of the theologian is to seek obedience to faith, the faith that opens our eyes. This humility renders the theologian a collaborator of the truth. In this way it will not happen that he speaks of himself. Interiorly purified by obedience to the truth, he will reach, instead, the point that the Truth itself, that the Lord, can speak through the theologian and theology." [1]

The power of St Anthony’s testimony: “I saw Him!”

From the outset, in presenting his thesis defence, Msgr. Joao makes a point of demonstrating that the efficacy of personal testimony is superior to theological arguments alone. In this regard, he recalls how important for the faithful of Alexandria was the example of St Anthony in proclaiming the divinity of Christ, in the fight against the arians. “St Anthony - his thesis states - had mystically seen the divinity of Our Lord. He was a live witness to this truth of Faith. For this reason, he was sought by St Athanasius to come to Alexandria, where countless Christians and heretics gathered in the Basilica to see him. The nonagenarian hermit, whose mere presence imposed respect, sat near the altar while the Archbishop ascended the pulpit and proclaimed the divinity of Our Lord. Suddenly, a voice of protest arose from amidst the crowd. St Anthony was astonished by the unseemly interruption and asked for a translation of the words he had heard, since he did not understand Greek. ‘The Lord - they translated for him - was only a man, created by God and subjected to death and transition.’ St Anthony arose and exclaimed: “I saw Him!” A murmur ran through the naves of the church. On their knees, the faithful cried out: ‘He saw Him! He saw the divinity of Our Lord!, The authoritative voice of this man, for whom the supernatural truth of Christ’s divine nature had become, in effect, evident by virtue of a supernatural vision, was the greatest blow the heresy suffered, more than the splendid and logical doctrine exposed in the Council. This is an example of the value and contribution of a living witness.

Origin of the thesis, the testimony of the author: ‘I saw him!’

After this introduction, Msgr. Joao continues: “Now, mutatis mutandis, it must be declared that this thesis was also born of the author’s witness. “With profound emotion he recalls, in the first chapter of the thesis, the day -March 15, 2005- that he made his profession of Faith at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“As the pen moves across the paper in writing these lines, the left hand of the author rests once again on Sacred Scripture; and from the depths of his soul this declaration springs forth, with the same spirit, gravity and consciousness as in the previous oath”
The author solemnly declares that all transcriptions of Dr. Plinio’s words “are faithful to the reality of his expression during that time,” since they were taken directly “from the archive of his conferences, commentaries and conversations, in addition to his writings. If there be any disproportion in my appraisement of him, it would be for having fallen short of his true worth.”

Msgr. Joao goes on to consider the true joy he has had in knowing this treasure of oral and written works which rank among the doctrinal explanations produced by the Holy Church, based on Revelation, over the centuries. Nevertheless, he emphasises, having known “Plinio Correa de Oliveira intimately for forty years,” he was also the recipient of another “very noteworthy” blessing in seeing the “wealth and grandeur” of these doctrines “in a living manner, that is to say, “producing their effects in the soul of a man.”

Therefore, this thesis has been prepared not simply as a discourse of reason, but above all, as a testimony from the depth of the heart, declaring the importance of living example. For the supernatural truths regarding grace and the action of the Holy Spirit is souls -more specifically the gift of wisdom- became a virtually palpable reality for the author in his contact with Dr. Plinio, who was his teacher, leader, model and guide; his father and founder. He could well exclaim, “I saw Him!”

[1] Benedict XVI, Speech, 5/12/08

To read Part 2 click here: http://heraldsgospelsinengland.blogspot.com/2011/03/living-example-of-gift-of-wisdom-part-2.html

Pope prays for victims of New Zealand earthquake

2011-02-23T10:52:00.000-08:00

During today's general audience, the Pope recalled how "a new and powerful earthquake, even more devastating than the one last September, has struck the city of Christchurch, in New Zealand, causing considerable loss of life and the disappearance of many people, to say nothing of the damage to buildings.

The Holy Father went on to say: "At this time my thoughts turn especially to the people there who are being severely tested by this tragedy. Let us ask God to relieve their suffering and to support all who are involved in the rescue operations. I also ask you to join me in praying for all who have lost their lives".

Source: VIS

With great joy, the Heralds of the Gospel welcome former Church Of England Bishops ordained as Catholic Priests

2011-02-21T08:59:00.000-08:00

On Saturday 15 January 2011, Keith Newton, John Broadhurst, and Andrew Burnham, three former Anglican Bishops, were ordained to the Catholic priesthood at Westminster Cathedral by the Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. They are the founding members of the world’s first Personal Ordinariate for Anglicans coming into full communion with the See of Peter, erected on the same occasion. Two brothers of the Heralds of the Gospel were present at the historic event. Their comments are reproduced below, as many of our readers throughout the world wish to know our opinion about this highly significant moment in the life of the UK.

"Witnessing this unprecedented event made us feel that we were touching Church history with our own hands. The Cathedral was full to capacity, with some 1,500 to 2,000 people. The congregation was not composed, as usual, only of Catholics; there were also a large number of Anglicans in attendance.

There were hundreds of priests from the Diocese of Westminster, along with Bishop Alan Hopes, Archbishop Bernard Longley from Birmingham, and some seminarians. Three former Anglican nuns who were also recently received into the Catholic Church took part in the event: Sister Caroline Joseph, Sister Jane Louise and Sister Wendy Renata.

A message from the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, His Eminence Cardinal William Levada was read at the start of the Mass, establishing the first Personal Ordinariate, known as “The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.” Fr. Keith Newton was announced as the first Ordinary.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols began his homily saying: “Many ordinations have taken place in this Cathedral during the 100 years of its history. But none quite like this. Today is a unique occasion marking a new step in the life and history of the Catholic Church. This morning the establishment of the first Personal Ordinariate under the provision of the Apostolic Constitution ‘Anglicanorum Coetibus’ has been announced in our hearing. So I too salute John Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton who are to be the first priests of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. In particular I offer my prayers and best wishes to Keith, chosen by the Holy Father to be its first Ordinary. This is indeed an historic moment.”

The Archbishop, who became visibly moved at moments, added: “I thank so many in the Church of England who have recognised your sincerity and integrity in making this journey and who have assured you of their prayers and good wishes[…] We thank our Holy Father Pope Benedict for not only placing this Ordinariate under the protection of Our Lady of Walsingham but also for giving it Blessed John Henry Newman as its patron.”

During his homily he quoted Blessed Newman: “In January 1863 he wrote in his diary these distressing words: As a Protestant, I felt my religion dreary, but not my life – but, as a Catholic, my life dreary, not my religion.”

He also said: “The Pope’s ministry to the visible unity of the Church is central to the faith of the Catholic Church. It is central to the faith of those who enter into full communion in this Ordinariate. It is central to the welcome, encouragement and support the Catholic community in England and Wales gives to this development and to all who seek to be part of it […]
“The mission they receive, the mission of reconciliation, comes from the wounds of Christ. This is the mission we share and at every Mass we once again gaze on the wounded, broken body of the risen Lord. Our mission is characterised by woundedness: a mission to a wounded world; a mission entrusted to a wounded Church, carried out by wounded disciples. The wounds of sin are our business. The wounds of Christ, even though we have caused them, are also our consolation and strength.”

He concluded by saying: “The first to witness these wounds, the first, perhaps, to grasp their true significance, was Mary, Mother of Jesus. Standing at the foot of the cross she witnessed the inflicting of those wounds. Holding his dead body she must have been marked by the blood shed from them. Now she looks down on our new priests from the other side of this Cathedral crucifix above me. Mary always holds before us her Son, presenting him to us as our hope and salvation. Nowhere does she do so with more grace and elegance than in the image of Our Lady of Walsingham. As this Ordinariate, her Ordinariate, comes into being so may we entrust to her the work of bringing it to fulfilment.”

The prolonged applause with which the whole congregation at Westminster Cathedral greeted the newly ordained Catholic priests at the close of the celebration expressed the joy and happiness which filled our hearts. The stirring ceremony called to mind a vision that St. Dominic Savio received regarding England, which marked him deeply. His words to St. John Bosco are written in the famous book, The Life of St. Dominic Savio:

“If I could speak to the Pope, I would tell him that in the midst of the great trials that await him, he should not cease to work with special solicitude for England. God is preparing a great triumph for Catholicism in that Kingdom. [...] Listen carefully. One morning as I was making my thanksgiving after Communion, a very strong distraction took hold of me. I thought I saw a great plain full of people enveloped in thick fog. They were walking about like people who had lost their way and did not know which way to turn. Someone near me said: ‘This is England’. I was just going to ask some questions, when I saw Pope Pius IX just like I have seen him in pictures. He was robbed magnificently and carried in his hand a torch alive with flames. As he walked slowly toward that immense gathering of people, the leaping flames from the torch dispelled the fog, and the people stood in the splendour of the noonday sun. ‘That torch’, said the one beside me, ‘is the Catholic Faith, which is going to light up England.’”

And, out of the mists of history, comes another story, which dates to the first conversion of England: One day Pope Saint Gregory the Great (540 – 604) was walking through the Roman market when he saw some slaves for sale. They were prisoners of war, very fair and of a good appearance. The Pontiff inquired about the ancestry of those men. He was informed, “sunt angli” (“they are Anglos”). And the Pope exclaimed, “non sunt angli, sed angeli” (“they are not Anglos, but angels”). Shortly afterwards, Saint Gregory the Great sent a mission to convert the Anglos, led by St. Augustine of Canterbury.

Nearly a thousand years later, Henry VIII caused an awful wound in the beautiful face of this land, through his role in the separation of the Church of England from the Universal Church. Yet for everything there is a season, and now the time for healing is nigh. So let us continue to pray fervently for its second conversion, that is, for the complete return of the former ‘Island of Saints’ to the bosom of the Mystical Spouse of Christ.

The Ordinariate seems to be the first big step in that direction. Benedict XVI speaks of its establishment as “a prophetic gesture”, allowing Anglo-Catholics to fulfil their long cherished dream of coming corporately into full communion with the Universal Church.

Together with the more than 6 million Roman Catholics of the UK, the Heralds of the Gospel wish to express their joy and tell these brothers and sisters in Christ: “Welcome home!”

Our Lady of Walsingham: pray for us.
Blessed John Henry Newman: pray for us.

Br. Arturo Hlebnikian,
Sr. Beth MacDonald
Br. José M.L. Brandao

In Persona Christi Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

2011-02-06T07:06:00.000-08:00

"A man offers his humanity to Christ, so that Christ may use him as an instrument of salvation, making him, as it were, another Christ. In our world is there any greater fulfillment of our humanity than to be able to re-present every day in the Person of Christ, ("in persona Christi"), the redemptive sacrifice, the same sacrifice which Christ offered on the cross?"

Holy Father John Paul II

The Heralds´s Charism and its activities all over the world.

2011-02-06T06:58:00.000-08:00

Be ready for martyrdom

2011-02-01T10:52:00.000-08:00

In today's Epistle: Hebrews 12: 1-4, we are reminded that if we are requested to deny God or to act against the divine will, e.g., to kill an innocent person, we must rather sacrifice our own life than contradict the supreme claims of God upon us.

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us 2 and persevere in running the race that lies before us
2 while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.
3 Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.
4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

According to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the official martyrology contains the names of 132 Catholics who have died for the faith since 2001. But this is not a complete list. Its 2005 report acknowledges that there are “many more possible ‘unknown soldiers of the faith’ in remote corners of the planet whose deaths may never be reported.”

In the West today, most people think that dying for ones faith in Jesus Christ is something which only happens in history books. In modern Europe, we are used to Christianity being mocked or defamed, but we have not yet, thank God, had the experience of Christian martyrdom. “Three things distinguish anti-Christian persecution and discrimination around the world,” said Denver’s Archbishop Charles Chaput to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. “First, it’s ugly. Second, it’s growing. And third, the mass media generally ignore or downplay its gravity.”

Witness and martyrdom in the Bible

The mission of Jesus was too difficult and too great to be accomplished by simple force. "It had to be accomplished through the much harder way of courageous suffering and dying in witness of the truth. Hence the New Testament model is not the warrior but the martyr, of which Jesus on the Cross is the supreme example, accompanied by his mother Mary, her heart pierced spiritually by the same lance that pierced the heart of her Son (cf. Lk 2:34-35)."

The strict concept of martyrdom is first clearly stated in the Bible in the story of the seven brothers and their mother (2 Macc 7) who died rather than eat pork which the Greek oppressors tried to force upon them to indicate their renunciation of the law and the covenant with God. But in the same persecution, Judas Maccabeus was not a martyr — although he died fighting for the Jewish Law — because he died fighting, not as one submitting to being killed.

Jesus Himself prophetically exhorted His disciples to be the witnesses of His life and His words. He even predicted in detail their lot: they will be chased from the Synagogue, betrayed by their own relatives, accused and hauled before kings and governors, and put to death for His name (Mt 10:17, 24; Lk 21:12).
The first Christian martyr after Jesus Himself was St Stephen, stoned to death in Jerusalem for preaching the Gospel. As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them"; and when he said this, he fell asleep (Acts 7:59-60). Even during Our Lord's Public Ministry, St John the Baptist died a martyr's death, in witness to the law of God regarding marriage.

Not out of hatred of the enemy

Thus the Christian martyr does not die out of hatred of the enemy as a soldier might, but out of love for his killers, as Jesus taught and lived (Mt 5:43-48). "No man has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends" (Jn 15:13), but for the Christian our enemies are also our friends as long as their conversion is possible. After Stephen: St Peter, St Paul, and St James the Apostle (Acts 12:2) were all martyrs, and following them a "great cloud of witnesses" (Heb 12:1). In the liturgy of the Church, special honour is given to the Virgin Martyrs (women and men, Rev 14:4) who are models of both the virtues of chastity and courage.

Christians who do not die for the faith, may yet share in martyrdom, as the Virgin Mary did, by being ready to die for it. Christians are engaged in a spiritual warfare:
Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand. — Eph 6:11-13
Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. — 1 Pet 5:8-9

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, martyrdom is the highest form of witness to the faith. One contemporary moral theologian writes: "The suffering and death of so many Christian martyrs up to the present time in confession of their religion is the most eloquent witness to the conviction of the Church that the faith may never be denied." Today, many people despise martyrdom. Why is that? Among other factors: loss of strong belief in the next life; loss of belief in the evil of apostasy, leading to the notion that pragmatically it is better to compromise even on essentials; lack of the virtue of fortitude, sapped by easy living; the belief that nothing is worth dying for.

The same moralist writes: "If a man is requested to deny God or to act against the divine will, e.g., to kill an innocent person, he must rather sacrifice his own life than contradict the supreme claims of God upon him. Martyrdom, by which a man lays down his life for Christ and his brothers, as Christ did for us (1 Jn 3:16), is the highest proof of love. 'Though few are presented with such an opportunity, nevertheless all must be prepared to confess Christ before men, and to follow Him along the way of the cross through the persecutions which the Church will never fail to suffer' (LG 42)."

The truth for which you suffer is crucial! One can admire mistaken people who suffer for their beliefs — but one cannot imitate them or commend them. If the truth of the cause, or the goodness of the virtue, were in question, or mistaken, there would be no reason to suffer for them: it would be the height of absurdity!

But true martyrdom is a triumph. So the early Christians rejoiced when one of their number was faithful unto death. Similarly, during the persecutions of the 16-17th century, seminarians at the English College, Rome, used to gather at the foot of the chapel's painting of the Holy Trinity to sing a Te Deum whenever news arrived that a former student had been put to death for the Faith. It is a victory over the world, the flesh and the devil — everything that opposes your Christian life. It is the greatest way to die; it is the highest form of Christian death. See the section on martyrdom in the Catechism of the Catholic Church #2471-4.

This post is based on an article on the website of Catholic Culture.org. The full article may be seen at:
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=8633

From the Library

2011-01-25T11:56:00.000-08:00

Click on the link below to access a copy of:

St Augustine: The Confessions
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1101.htm

St. Augustine's Tractates (Lectures) on the Gospel of John

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6sOlTOKQPDAJ:www.newadvent.org/fathers/1701.htm+John+21+-+the+early+church+fathers&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

The Brothers of the Heralds of the Gospel join in prayer with the The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.

2011-01-25T10:39:00.000-08:00

On 21 October 2010 The Brothers of the Heralds of the Gospel took part in an afternoon of prayer in Reading, with the The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.

What is the point of Life?

2011-01-20T05:18:00.000-08:00

In 1936 a young American student had an experience which changed his life. Though nominally a Christian, the young no longer believed that the cosmos had been brought into being by an intelligent and purposive Creator or that the human soul had any destiny to look forward to except that of oblivion or that there was any real moral meaning to life except one based on the pleasures and preferences of this or that individual or group.

“However, like many other seminal shapers of Christian thought, including Justin Martyr, St. Augustine, and C. S. Lewis, Dulles was led through the study of philosophy to question the certitude of his doubts and denials. Aristotle taught him to appreciate the dignity of reason and to see the design at the heart of the created world. Through Plato he came to see that moral value—things true and beautiful and good—were more than mere whims of preference; they had an objective basis in that which was ultimately real. All of this came together for him one gray rainy February afternoon when he left his carrel in Widener Library (where he had been reading a chapter from St. Augustine's City of God that he had been assigned in a course on medieval history) and began to trudge through the melting snow and mud along the banks of the Charles River:

As I wandered aimlessly, something impelled me to look contemplatively at a young tree. On its frail, supple branches were young buds attending eagerly the spring which was at hand. While my eye rested on them the thought came to me suddenly, with all the strength and novelty of a revelation, that these little buds in their innocence and meekness followed a rule, a law of which I as yet knew nothing. How could it be, I asked, that this delicate tree sprang up and developed and that all the enormous complexity of its cellular operations combined together to make it grow erectly and bring forth leaves and blossoms? The answer, the trite answer of the schools, was new to me: that its actions were ordered to an end by the only power capable of adapting means to ends–intelligence–and that the very fact that this intelligence worked toward an end implied purposiveness–in other words, a will. It was useless, then, to dismiss these phenomena by obscurantist talk about a mysterious force of "Nature." The "nature" which was responsible for these events was distinguished by the possession of intellect and will, and intellect plus will makes personality. Mind, then, not matter, was as the origin of all things. Or rather not so much the "mind" of Anaxagoras as a Person of Whom I had had no previous intuition.

This epiphany was for Dulles not so much a moment of mystical illumination as an insight or recognition of the then-and-thereness of the created order and of the reality that sustains and governs it by a beneficent providence, the same reality Dante referred to as "the Love that moves the Sun and the other stars". In time, through personal friendships, through the study of the Holy Scriptures, through the witness of a believing community, Avery Dulles would learn the name of that Love: Jesus Christ, the Son of Man of the four canonical Gospels, the eternal Son of the heavenly Father, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, the Savior of the world, the Lord of the Church, the coming King and judge of all. “

This young man was the future Cardinal Avery Dulles, SJ, (died 2008)a prominent post-Vatican II American Catholic theologian.

…
Every thinking person wonders within themselves about the meaning and purpose of human life. They all ask themselves the same questions:

“Who am I? Where did I come from and where am I going? What is the meaning of my life, and of life itself? How should I live in this present world? Is there life beyond the grave and where will I be thirty seconds after I am dead? Such questions, of course, are not unique to Christians. Indeed, they are the property of all persons everywhere. But the Christian faith does not shrink from the task of considering such questions in the light of our common human strivings and with the aid of reason. illumined by faith.

In the opening lines of his encyclical letter Fides et Ratio, Pope John Paul II put it this way:

Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth-in a word, to know himself-so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fulness of truth about themselves.”

…... “ As he later reflected on that initial step of faith and all that has followed since, Cardinal Dulles, in words that echo St. Augustine's Confessions, celebrates the grace of God in the life of the mind and invites others to taste and see that the Lord is good and faithful and true:

That I did eventually make this act of faith is attributable solely to the grace of God. I could never have done so by my own power. The grace which I received was a tremendous and unmerited privilege, but I sincerely believe that it is one which God, in His faithfulness, will deny to none who earnestly seek Him in prayer. I found Him to be exactly as Our Lord had described Him–a Father Who would not give a stone in place of bread, or anything but the Holy Ghost to those who asked for it. "Knock, and it shall be open unto you."

This is from a review of Cardinal Dulles' book - A History of Apologetics
on the 'Ignatius Insight' website The full article may be read on their website at:
http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2005/tgeorge_forewd_dulles.asp

Purgatory - a Loving Reality.

2011-01-20T04:18:00.000-08:00

"THIS IS PURGATORY, AN INTERIOR FIRE"
by Benedict XVI

From the general audience of January 12, 2011

[...] Catherine's thought on purgatory, for which she is particularly known, is condensed in the last two parts of the book mentioned at the beginning: "Treatise on Purgatory" and "Dialogues on the Soul and Body."

It is important to observe that, in her mystical experience, Catherine never had specific revelations on purgatory or on souls that are being purified there. However, in the writings inspired by our saint purgatory is a central element, and the way of describing it has original characteristics in relation to her era.

The first original feature refers to the "place" of the purification of souls. In her time [purgatory] was presented primarily with recourse to images connected to space: There was thought of a certain space where purgatory would be found. For Catherine, instead, purgatory is not represented as an element of the landscape of the core of the earth; it is a fire that is not exterior but interior.

This is purgatory, an interior fire. The saint speaks of the soul's journey of purification to full communion with God, based on her own experience of profound sorrow for the sins committed, in contrast to the infinite love of God. We have heard about the moment of her conversion, when Catherine suddenly felt God's goodness, the infinite distance of her life from this goodness and a burning fire within her. And this is the fire that purifies, it is the interior fire of purgatory.

Here also there is an original feature in relation to the thought of the era. She does not begin, in fact, from the beyond to narrate the torments of purgatory – as was usual at that time and perhaps also today – and then indicate the path for purification or conversion. Instead our saint begins from her own interior experience of her life on the path to eternity.

The soul, says Catherine, appears before God still bound to the desires and the sorrow that derive from sin, and this makes it impossible for it to enjoy the Beatific Vision of God. Catherine affirms that God is so pure and holy that the soul with stains of sin cannot be in the presence of the Divine Majesty. And we also realize how far we are, how full we are of so many things, so that we cannot see God. The soul is conscious of the immense love and perfect justice of God and, in consequence, suffers for not having responded correctly and perfectly to that love, and that is why the love itself of God becomes a flame. Love itself purifies it from its dross of sin.

Theological and mystical sources typical of the era can be found in Catherine's work. Particularly there is an image from Dionysius the Areopagite: that of the golden thread that unites the human heart with God himself. When God has purified man, he ties him with a very fine thread of gold, which is his love, and attracts him to himself with such strong affection that man remains as "overcome and conquered and altogether outside himself." Thus the human heart is invaded by the love of God, which becomes the only guide, the sole motor of his existence.

This situation of elevation to God and of abandonment to his will, expressed in the image of the thread, is used by Catherine to express the action of the divine light on souls in purgatory, light that purifies them and elevates them to the splendors of the shining rays of God.

Dear friends, the saints, in their experience of union with God, reach such profound "knowledge" of the divine mysteries, in which love and knowledge are fused, that they are of help to theologians themselves in their task of study, of "intelligentia fidei," of "intelligentia" of the mysteries of the faith, of real deepening in the mysteries, for example, of what purgatory is. [...]

__________

The Most Revd Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster - Christian faith gives society the means to act together for the common good.

2011-01-09T12:07:00.000-08:00

Archbishop of Westminster’s Reflection on the impact of the Christian Faith on society.

‘O Rising Sun, you are the splendour of eternal light and the sun of justice. O come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.’

These are the words of a special anthem for this evening in the Prayer of the Church. They add to the beauty of our evening celebration. But they also raise a question. As we enjoy the splendour of this celebration, do we think of ourselves among those who sit ‘in darkness’? It doesn’t seem too appropriate, really!

Yet there is a sobering thought that will not leave us. It will return the minute we step outside this Cathedral: our society is experiencing some hard times. And during them some are being hurt, and some are angry, as we have already seen.

So as we absorb this Christmas message, as we proclaim that the ‘Rising Sun is the splendour of eternal light and the sun of justice’, we must reflect on how we are responding. As a society we are, more often than not, capable of great generosity in the face of adversity. Every disaster illustrates this. Charity appeals are met with generosity. When hardship is before our eyes, a sense of solidarity will emerge. This is surely one of our sources of hope.

But it is difficult to sustain. In an emergency, we trust that life will quickly get back to normal so that we can each resume our customary patterns and get back to our own business. But what if this ‘emergency’ lasts? What if it becomes a lasting reality? Do we, then, simply turn back to our own and turn our backs on those in need? Or does the very nature of ‘our own business’ actually change?

In facing this challenge, the truth we proclaim this evening has something to say. Religious truth may not be particularly popular at the moment and easily mocked. Yet it has resilience. Our Christmas story is being told and retold at this time, in the half remembered words of the carols, in many homes as families set up a crib or display their Christmas cards. It is sung and celebrated in churches up and down the land. And it contains a message which is immediately relevant to the times we are facing.

The figures in the crib form a community. They come together in adversity and are there for each other. At their centre is the most vulnerable of their number: the child Jesus. Even the natural world, in the shape of ox and ass, seems to play its part.

At the heart of this story is a revelation of something crucially important about our nature. In contrast to a prevailing culture, here we learn that we are made for each other, that we belong together. In contrast to the view that puts the individual first, constantly emphasising the importance of individual needs and rights, and well practised in the culture of blame, this story tutors us in the priority we are to give to each other and to our common good. Here the call to community is the fundamental good, and not seen as a necessary constraint on individual freedom. Here fulfilment is found in the service of others, rather than in the pursuit of self-interest, especially the service of those who are vulnerable and dependent.

The true impact of this story and the truth it conveys are only fully grasped if its deeper religious truth is also remembered. Here, in the manger, is a child who is not just caught in poverty and so attracting our sympathy; here is a child who will not just grow into a preacher of extraordinary power and gain our admiration; here, rather, is a human being who is also and totally God. This truth, the truth of the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, raises the lessons of the crib to a new and transforming height. The child, in his birth, and the man in his teaching, his death and his resurrection, is proclaiming the truth about us with all the authority that is of God. It is the ultimate authority, for God is the ultimate author of life.

Here we come to sources of strength and inspiration whatever we face. Here, in the presence of the Christ, we are not only taught about our solidarity with one another but we are also given the where-with-all, the grace, to sustain that solidarity even in the most taxing of times.

Faith has an important contribution to make. This Christian faith not only makes clear the challenge facing us – to act together, consistently, in community for the common good – but also gives us the means to sustain that effort through a power that is not our own. Rather that power, that grace of God, comes to us always as a gift of love that is for our good. We come to Christ to receive that love. We open our hearts that it may fill them. Then we know how we must act in our world today.

The full text of this message may be found at:
http://www.rcdow.org.uk/archbishop/default.asp?library_ref=35&content_ref=3162

"Let the celestial trumpets" from"Samson" (Georg Friedrich Hándel)

2011-01-09T12:04:00.000-08:00

Imitating Baby Jesus Isn't Enough - a Call to a Total Transformation

2011-01-09T11:32:00.000-08:00

ZE11010708 - 2011-01-07
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-31387?l=english
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 7, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The Christ Child incarnates a host of virtues, but Christmas is a call to more than imitating the goodness of Baby Jesus, says Benedict XVI. Instead, it is an invitation to a total transformation wrought by participation in divine nature.

The Pope made this reflection Wednesday during the first general audience of the new year, held in Paul VI Hall. He dedicated his address to a consideration of Christmas, saying it "is not only a remembrance but is above all a mystery; it is not only a memory but also a presence."

The Holy Father's meditation emphasized the "today" of the feast, explaining that "in the liturgical celebrations of these holy days we lived in a mysterious but real way the entrance of the Son of God into the world and we were illumined once again by the light of his brilliance. Each celebration is an actual presence of the mystery of Christ and in it is prolonged the history of salvation."

"Today, as then," he said, "God reveals himself in the flesh, namely, in the 'living body' of the Church journeying in time, and, in the sacraments, he gives us salvation today."

...Pope Benedict declared that Christmas must be rescued from an "overly moralistic and sentimental mask."

"The celebration of Christmas does not propose to us only examples to imitate, such as the humility and poverty of the Lord, and his benevolence and love for men," he said. "But it is rather an invitation to allow oneself to be totally transformed by him who entered into our flesh."

The Pope cited St. Leo the Great to clarify his point: "The Son of God ... joined himself to us and joined us to himself in such a way that the abasement of God to the human condition became a raising of man to the heights of God."

Hence, the Holy Father explained, "God's manifestation has its purpose in our participation in divine life, in the realization in us of the mystery of his Incarnation. This mystery is the fulfillment of man's vocation."

Citing St. Leo another time, he noted: "Again St. Leo the Great explains the Christmas mystery's concrete and always present importance for Christian life: 'The words of the Gospel and of the Prophets ... inflame our spirit and teach us to understand the Lord's nativity, this mystery of the Word made flesh, not so much as a memory of a past event, but as an event that unfolds before our eyes ... it is as if it was proclaimed again in today's solemnity: "I give you the announcement of a great joy, which will be for all the people: today, in the city of David, a Savior is born for you who is Christ the Lord."'

"And he adds: 'Recognize, O Christian, your dignity, and, made participant of the divine nature, be careful not to fall again, with unworthy conduct, from such greatness into primitive baseness.'"

The Pope concluded with an invitation to live Christmastide "with intensity."

"After having adored the Son of God made man and placed in the manger," he said, "we are called to pass to the altar of the Sacrifice, where Christ, the living Bread come down from heaven, offers himself
to us as true nourishment for eternal life. And what we have seen with our eyes, at the table of the Word and of the Bread of Life, what we contemplated, what our hands have touched, that is the Word made flesh, let us proclaim him with joy to the world and witness to him generously with all our life."

--- --- ---

On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text: www.zenit.org/article-31386?l=english

Solemnity of the Mother of God

2011-01-01T07:48:00.000-08:00

n the 4th and 5th centuries debates about the nature of Christ raged in the Church. The debate was about the relationship of Christ's divine and human natures. At the center of this debate was one particular title which had been given to Mary. From the 3rd century onward, Christians had referred to Mary as theotokos, meaning "God-bearer." The first documented usage of the term is in the writings of Origen of Alexandria in AD 230.

Referring to Mary as the mother of God was popular in Christian piety, but Nestorius patriarch of Constantinople from 428-431, objected. He suggested that Mary was only the mother of Jesus' human nature, but not his divine nature. Nestorius' ideas (or at least how others perceived his arguments) were condemned at the Council of Ephesus in AD 431, and again at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451.

The Church decided that Christ was fully God and fully human, and these natures were united in one person, Jesus Christ. Thus Mary could be called "mother of God" since she gave birth to Jesus who was fully divine as well as human. Since this time, Mary has been frequently honored as the "mother of God" by Catholics, Orthodox, and many Protestants.

The Solemnity of Mary Mother of God falls exactly one week after Christmas, the end of the octave of Christmas. It is fitting to honor Mary as Mother of Jesus, following the birth of Christ. When Catholics celebrate the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God we are not only honoring Mary, chosen among all women throughout history to bear God incarnate, but we are also honoring our Lord, who is fully God and fully human. Calling Mary "mother of God" is the highest honor we can give Mary. Just as Christmas honors Jesus as the "Prince of Peace," the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God honors Mary as the "Queen of Peace" This solemnity, falling on New Year's Day, is also designated the World Day of Peace.

Rejoice Mary, Mother of God,
Virgin, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee:
blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb,
for thou hast borne the Savior of our
souls.
Meet it is in truth, to glorify thee,
O Birth-giver of God,
ever blessed, and all undefiled,
the Mother of our God.
More honorable than the Cherubim,
and beyond compare
more glorious than the Seraphim,
thou who without stain didst bear God the Word,
true Birth-giver of God, we magnify thee.

Heralds of the Gospel in England and Wales

LATIN IS NOT DEAD

LATIN IS NOT DEAD

What is Prayer? Why should we pray?

Pope Benedict XVI: grave threats to the Church's public moral witness

What is Ordinary Time in the Catholic Liturgical Year?

Bishop Peter Elliott's report on the Ordinariate in England

To three Cherubim and Seraphim

Concerns raised over 'three parent test tube baby' experiments

Priestly formation requires integrity and asceticism, as well as "heroic constancy and fidelity.

Who are the Heralds of the Gospel?

May all our friends have a blessed and holy Christmas.

POPE TO INFANT JESUS: MANIFEST YOUR POWER

How silently, how silently The wondrous gift is given!

How silently, how silentlyThe wondrous gift is given!So God imparts to human heartsThe blessings of His heaven.No ear may hear His coming,But in this world of sin,Where meek souls will receive him still,The dear Christ enters in.

"We Must Let Ourselves Be Illumined by the Ray of Light That Comes From Bethlehem"

Our Lady of Guadalupe Seen as Model for Spreading Christ's Message

LEARNING EVANGELIZATION FROM A MOTHER

Recent events for the Heralds UK

Celebration of the FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING

Feast of St. Martin of Tours

Treasures of Westminster Cathedral

Opening hours:

Entry:

Contact:

Happy Feast of All Saints

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]

Archbishop Vincent Nichols adresses Judges Service at Westminster Abbey

Seven Sorrows and Joys of Saint Joseph

St Therese of the Infant Jesus -Doctor of the Church

Wednesday 28 September - National Day of Prayer and Fasting for Life.

THE POPE HAS COME TO GERMANY, HE SPEAKS OF GOD

Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham - 24 September.

The Episcopal Ordination of The Right Reverend John Sherrington - the new Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Westminster.

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - September 8th

Forty Hours Adoration

Forthcoming Receptions for the Ordinariate

Friday Abstinence - The practice of Friday Penance takes effect from Friday 16 September 2011

The Will and the Good in Being

Saint Alphonsus de Liguori – Of the Assumption of Mary

BISHOP CONLEY ON THE NEW TRANSLATION

Christianity and the Pursuit of Leisure

Important Points to Remember When the Priest Calls

"No One Lives 'on Tabor' While on Earth"

Great joy for the Heralds of the Gospel: Ordination of Deacons

Celebrating Mary in Kirton, Lincolnshire.

Good Friday - the day on which our redemption was won.

The significance of Holy Thursday

Archbishop Vincent Nichols: Building a culture of greater social responsibility

The Habit of the Heralds of the Gospel

Holy Thorn coming to British Museum

Pope Promotes Visiting Jesus in the Eucharist - Draws on Teaching of St. Alphonsus Liguori

The Annunciation of the Lord - Solemnity - March 25th

The Most Revd Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, on the Ordinariate

Japan's Earthquake and The Akita Shrine

Shahbaz Bhatti: "I Want to Serve Jesus"

Lent:Why the Christian Must Deny Himself [Part 2]

Lent: Why the Christian Must Deny Himself [Part 1]

Pope Benedict XVI's Message for Lent 2011

Cardinal Prefect celebrates Mass in Rome to commemorate 10th Anniversary

LIVING EXAMPLE OF THE GIFT OF WISDOM [Part 2]

LIVING EXAMPLE OF THE GIFT OF WISDOM [Part 1]

Pope prays for victims of New Zealand earthquake

With great joy, the Heralds of the Gospel welcome former Church Of England Bishops ordained as Catholic Priests

In Persona Christi Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

The Heralds´s Charism and its activities all over the world.

Be ready for martyrdom

From the Library

The Brothers of the Heralds of the Gospel join in prayer with the The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.

What is the point of Life?

Purgatory - a Loving Reality.

The Most Revd Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster - Christian faith gives society the means to act together for the common good.

"Let the celestial trumpets" from"Samson" (Georg Friedrich Hándel)

Imitating Baby Jesus Isn't Enough - a Call to a Total Transformation

Solemnity of the Mother of God

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.