A message from Heralds of the Gospel' s feminine branch house in El Salvador

Dear friends,

I'm writing to you the Heralds of the Gospel' s feminine branch house in
El Salvador, where I was transferred  a few years ago. Fortunately we have
many activities here, but unfortunately we´re kept so busy I never find
time to keep up correspondence...That's why I have been out of touch for
so long! But I do remember and pray for all our old friends in Canada and
the US!

I wanted to tell you a good piece of news. As perhaps some of you already
know, our Founder, Msgr. John Cla Dias published a series of books of his
homilies, and the really good news is: they are now available in English!

The link below is to a website with more information about the books. I
hope you take a look, and are able to order them, they are an excellent
read for the whole family. They also make a perfect gift for priest
friends, as in aid in the preparation of homilies. Msgr. John  brings to
light the historical and symbolic aspects of the the Gospels throughout
the
beautifully illustrated pages of the Commentary.  Written in accessible
and attractive language, *"New Insights on the Gospel"* is full of
inspiring examples which are very useful for better understanding and
putting into practice the teachings of the Gospel in our daily lives. I'm
sure you will all really enjoy and benefit from this series.

http://heralds.ca/newinsights/

Asking for your prayers and promising mine,

In Jesus and Mary,
Michele MacDonald

*Heralds of the Gospel*
*El Salvador*

Feast of the Ascension. A Key that Unlocks the Meaning of Life

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

By Deacon Keith Fournier
May 16th, 2010

'Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him. Listen to the words of the Apostle: If you have risen with Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth. For just as he remained with us even after his ascension, so we too are already in heaven with him, even though what is promised us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies.' (St. Augustine)

CHESAPEAKE, VA. (Catholic Online) - Throughout most of the Catholic Church we celebrated the Ascension of the Lord this past Thursday. In some places, the Feast is transferred to this Sunday. Sadly, the Feast seems to have lost its depth and meaning in the experience of too many Catholics and other Christians. Does the Ascension affect our lives in the here and now? Is it a commemoration of an event which occurred 2000 years ago? Or, could it be the key that helps unlock the very meaning of our lives and the plan of God for the entire created order?

The great western Bishop Augustine proclaimed these words on the Feast: "Today our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven; let our hearts ascend with him. Listen to the words of the Apostle: If you have risen with Christ, set your hearts on the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God; seek the things that are above, not the things that are on earth. For just as he remained with us even after his ascension, so we too are already in heaven with him, even though what is promised us has not yet been fulfilled in our bodies."

When we went down into the Font of Baptism we were incorporated into Jesus Christ, made members of His Body, the Church. Therefore, as Augustine also wrote, "Where the Head is, there is the Body, where I am, there is my Church, we too are one; the Church is in me and I in her and we two are your Beloved and your Lover." In other words, we have ascended with the Lord! He is the Head and we are members of His Body. We cannot be separated. Augustine, reflecting the clear teaching of the early Church Fathers reminds us that the Head and the Body are the "One Christ." So, this is our Feast as well!
Pope St Leo the Great reflected on the joy the disciples experienced on that glorious day in these words: " (T)hat blessed company had a great and inexpressible cause for joy when it saw man's nature rising above the dignity of the whole heavenly creation, above the ranks of angels, above the exalted status of archangels. Now would there be any limit to its upward course until humanity was admitted to a seat at the right hand of the eternal father, to be enthroned at last in the glory of him to whose nature it was wedded in the Person of the Son."

Both of these Saints remind us why we should rejoice on this Feast of the Ascension. The Ascension does not mark the end of Jesus' relationship with the Church but the beginning of a new way of His relating to the world, in and through the Church. This way includes every one of us who bear His name. You see, we have also ascended with the Lord. When viewed with the eyes of Resurrection faith the Ascension is capable of transforming the way we view ourselves and live our daily lives. We are joined to Him and He to us! 

Jesus Christ bridged heaven and earth. Through His Incarnation, His Saving Life, Death and Resurrection, we have been set free from the consequences of sin, including the sting of death. (See, 1 Cor. 15:55) We are being created anew in Him daily as we freely cooperate with His grace. One of the Catechism's definitions of grace is "a participation in Divine Life".  (See, CCC #1997) It calls to mind the wonderful words of the Apostle Peter in his second letter. He reminded the early Christians that they were "participants in the Divine Nature". (2 Peter 1:4) So are we!

This Divine Life is mediated to us through the Word and the Sacraments - in the Church. We are incorporated into the Trinitarian communion of love, beginning now.  The Church is not some "thing", the Church is Some-One, the Risen Christ truly present in the world which was created through Him and is being re-created in Him. The Church is the new Israel sent into the world to continue His redemptive mission until He comes again. Then He will complete the work of Redemption. The Church, as the fathers were fond of saying, is the new world, and the world in the course of transfiguration. The Christian vocation is about learning to live this new relationship in Christ together, with the Father, through the Holy Spirit and for the sake of a world that still awaits its full redemption.

The Ascension of the Lord is not a final act in the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ. Nor is it some kind of "intermission" to be concluded upon Christ's Bodily return - which will most certainly occur. Rather, it is about a new way of being,living in Christ in the here and now. The Apostle Paul wrote to the early Christians in Galatia: "No longer do I live but Christ lives in me and the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God." (Galatians 2:19, 20) That is how we are invited to live, now.

Jesus said "Abide in me as I in you" (John 15:4). These are not mere sentiments of piety but meant to become reality, now. Christians can live differently - now - because we live "in" Jesus Christ. We can love differently - now - because we love "in" Jesus Christ. We can "be" differently - now - because, as St. Paul wrote to the Colossians, "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God". (Coll. 3:3) Our lives are "hidden in Christ"- now.

On this Feast of the Ascension we should ask ourselves this question, "How are we doing?" The Feast presents us with an invitation to assess the relationship between our profession of faith and its manifestation in our daily lives. St. Paul encouraged the Christians in Corinth in his second letter to take such an examination: "Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless, of course, you fail the test. I hope you will discover that we have not failed"
Philosophers and Theologians speak of "ontology" as the essence of being, what makes something what it is. There is an "ontological" meaning to this Feast of the Ascension. We have ascended with Him and are called to live on earth the very realities of heaven, beginning now. This Feast also gives us insight into the Feast of Pentecost which we will soon celebrate. The "breath" of God, His Spirit, has been breathed into this Church - and thus into each one of us - in order to capacitate us to live this way and engage in His ongoing work of redemption.

That work will not be complete until the One who ascended returns and hands the re-created cosmos back to the Father. That is "the plan", the "mystery" now revealed in Jesus Christ. That is what I meant as I began this reflection when I asked whether the Ascension is the key that helps unlock the very meaning of our lives and the plan of God for the entire created order?

Let me conclude with these words of the great Apostle and mystic Paul who reflects on this plan:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. In him we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us.
"In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us the mystery of his will in accord with his favor that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.... In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God's possession, to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:3-14)

Happy Feast!

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Remember, dear Christian that you have but one soul to save.

Pope Francis welcomes retired Pope Benedict back to Vatican

http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-francis-welcomes-retired-pope-benedict-back-vatican
VATICAN CITY

For the first time in history, the Vatican is home to a pope and a retired pope.

Pope Francis welcomed his predecessor, retired Pope Benedict XVI, to the Vatican on Thursday outside the convent remodeled for the 86-year-old retired pontiff and five aides. Pope Francis and Pope Benedict entered the convent's chapel together "for a brief moment of prayer," said Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.

Pope Benedict had been staying at the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo since retiring Feb. 28. Pope Francis traveled to the villa 10 days after his election to visit, pray and have lunch with Pope Benedict; the new pope also has telephoned his predecessor on at least two occasions.

In response to questions about the fact that Pope Benedict seemed to be much frailer than he was two months ago, Lombardi told reporters, "He's an elderly man, weakened by age, but he is not suffering from any illness."

In the last year of his pontificate, Pope Benedict was seen walking with a cane on more and more public occasions; after Pope Benedict retired, Lombardi confirmed that he had had a pacemaker inserted before becoming pope in 2005 and had undergone a brief procedure in November to replace the battery.

While the Vatican is now home to a pope and his predecessor, neither lives in the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace. Pope Francis continues to live in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican guesthouse just south of St. Peter's Basilica where the cardinals stayed during the conclave; the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery where Pope Benedict is living is just to the north of the basilica.

Arriving in Castel Gandolfo a couple hours before his retirement became official, Pope Benedict told a crowd gathered in the town square to welcome him, "I am a simple pilgrim who begins the last stage of his pilgrimage on this earth.

"With all my heart, with all my love, with my prayers, with my reflection, with all my interior strength, I still want to work for the common good and the good of the church and humanity," he said, reaffirming his plans to spend his retirement in a "hidden life" of prayer and study.

The location he chose as his residence had served since 1994 as home to four different communities of cloistered nuns -- Poor Clares, Carmelites, Benedictines and Visitandines -- who each spent a five- or three-year term there in a life dedicated to praying for the pope and the church.

The structure includes what was once the Vatican gardener's house; before the first group of nuns took up residence, Blessed John Paul II had it expanded to about 4,600 square feet, including a large chapel, refectory and infirmary.

Since the Visitandine nuns moved in November, the building has undergone a remodeling, including an expansion of the library specifically for Pope Benedict.

The retired pope will live in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery with Archbishop Georg Ganswein, his secretary, who also serves Pope Francis as prefect of the papal household; and with four consecrated laywomen from Memores Domini, Lombardi said. The building also has a guestroom designed particularly for visits from Pope Benedict's older brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger.

The Italian government helicopter bringing Pope Benedict to the Vatican from Castel Gandolfo was met at the Vatican heliport by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state; Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals; and other officials from the Vatican governor's office and the secretariat of state.

Waiting in St. Peter's Square to see the helicopter arrive was a priest from Kenya, who did not want to give his name. He told Catholic News Service, "It's good (Pope Benedict) comes to pray for the new pope and everyone else. He teaches us how to pray."

"I guess he didn't want any fanfare," the priest said, noting that the large video screens in St. Peter's Square were blank and the Vatican Television Center did not provide images. A battery of TV cameras stood outside the square with the same hope of catching a glimpse of the helicopter.

Jenna Cooper of Cornwall, N.Y., who is studying at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, said she came to the square "because I love Pope Emeritus Benedict. I wanted to be here to offer my prayerful support. I wanted to witness this historic event.

"It's a beautiful witness that he's dedicating his life to prayer; it shows how important prayer is for the life of the church," Cooper said.

Fr. Bryan Jerabek of the diocese of Birmingham, Ala., also studying at Holy Cross, said he came to see the retired pope fly back and was hoping the Vatican would show video on the monitors, "but he asked to be hidden from the world" so perhaps he asked that there not be live coverage. "But it was nice to see the helicopter."

As for having a pope and a retired pope living in the Vatican, Jerabek said: "It's absolutely unprecedented. We're all still trying to figure out what it means."

Noting that Pope Francis has visited and phoned Pope Benedict, Jerabek said, "It's obvious he wants to have a close relationship with his predecessor. And now he can take a 15-minute walk to see him."

[Carol Glatz from Catholic News Service contributed to this story.]

Private Audience for Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and the bishops of England and Wales.

The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, along with Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and the Bishops of England and Wales joined the General Audience in St Peter's Square on Wednesday, 17 April. Pope Francis welcomed all the English-speaking pilgrims adding, "I offer a cordial welcome to the members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, and I assure them of my prayers for their episcopal ministry." After the General Audience the Holy Father held an impromptu Private Audience for the bishops of England and Wales. The Bishops of England and Wales were on retreat the Pallazolla near Rome and joined the General Audience along with more than 50,000 pilgrims from around the world.

Sun 26th May:Annual Procession in honour of Our Lady of Lourdes