In Toronto, the The Fellowship of St. Joseph of the Association of Hebrew Catholics meets on a monthly basis. Hewbrew Catholics are Roman Catholic converts from Judaism who maintain certain elements of the Jewish tradition in their faith life. I have been interested in this Association for a number of years and may attend their Tuesday meeting for the month of October. St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) is considered to be one of their patron saints. You may find out more about the Association of Hebrew Catholics at the following link: http://hebrewcatholic.org/
Monthly Meeting of The Fellowship of St. Joseph of the Association of Hebrew Catholics. Blessed Trinity Parish, 3220 Bayview Avenue, Toronto. The Fellowship of St. Joseph of the Association of Hebrew Catholics invites everyone to monthly Tuesday night meetings.
Tuesday, October 30 - We will view a PowerPoint on "The Mass of the Early Believers" using documents from the early Church Fathers and other early Catholic literature regarding the Sacrifice of the Mass. Come and learn what the early Church believed and practised in their worship and how it is so similar to what we believe and practise today. The continuity over two thousand years is testimony that the Holy Spirit is "alive and well" in the Roman Catholic Church.
All meetings begin at 7:00 p.m. in the parish hall and end at approximately 9:00 p.m. Refreshments will be served. For more information please call Blessed Trinity Parish for more information at 416-226-0262.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might
Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, in the United States made this statement at the end of General Congregations, ahead of the phase in which the Synod Fathers hold small group discussions. He stated that there is general agreement, among the bishops, on the importance of the parishes in the development of the New Evangelism.
Note from the Minister of St. Angela Merici Fraternity:
The challenge for us Secular Franciscans is to think of ways that we can encourage the growth of the Catholic Faith in our respective parishes and the communities where we live. Perhaps, all fraternities should give this some thought and collectively come up with creative ideas to extend the New Evangelization in their home churches and the community, at large. Let us follow our Seraphic Father, St. Francis's example in building up the Church. Let us follow the "Call of San Damiano".
If your parish is participating in activities in the Year of Faith, I encourage you to take part and, perhaps, even sponsor, or develop such activities.
“They need to be short, the need to be on point. They need to be delivered as if one believes in it, not as if one is reading it. And you'll heard some very good things.”
Another Main Point:Persevering in the Mission of the Church
“Society itself still may have this transcendental directive that we are not ready to give it up on. We are realistic and it's threatened but we are not ready to give up on it.”
The Universal Call to Holiness
“Rather than fractioning, perhaps what best we can do is emphasize, we say the Universal call to Holiness for the Second Vatican Council, to emphasize the universal call to evangelization. That is a charge to which no one can escape, if one takes their discipleship and the Catholic faith seriously.”
Filipinos are excited about the canonization of Pedro Calungsod. Like Saint Sebastian, the Apostle St. Peter, he was persecuted for refusing to deny the Catholic faith. His life was short, but very intense. As a catechist and only a teenager he accompanied the Jesuit missionaries to the Marian Islands.
Many were converted as a result of his actions including the daughter of a tribal chief. As a result of that action he was executed by the girl's father. Martyred for the faith at the age of 18.
Pedro Calungsod can be considered to be the patron saint of young people in the Philippines.
James was born in the 14th century of a noble Polish family of Strepar and was educated in a Christian manner by his pious parents. To escape the dangers of the world, he entered the poor order of St. Francis when he was a young man. Very soon he became distinguished among his brethren for eminent virtue, rare attainments, and zeal for the salvation of souls.
Pope: "Faith enables us to cooperate in building a truly humane society"
A NEW SERIES OF CATECHESES ON THE SUBJECT OF FAITH
Vatican City, 17 October 2012 (VIS) - During his general audience this morning, Benedict XVI began a new series of catecheses which will cover the period of the Year of Faith. The Year, he said, is intended "to renew our enthusiasm at believing in Jesus Christ, ... to revive the joy of walking along the path He showed us, and to bear concrete witness to the transforming power of the faith".
1) The Council Meeting normally scheduled for Friday November 2nd will have to be re-scheduled. Members of the Council will be notified.
2) The next General Fraternity Meeting is scheduled for Friday November 9th. There may be a change in time. All members will be notified prior to the meeting.
3) Just a reminder to members to bring face cloths and towels to the next General Meeting for the Dr. Simone Collection (Canadian Food for Children).
4) The Collection for Street People is to take place on Friday February 8, 2013, not on November 9th. Winter clothing items such as hats and gloves can be considered for purchase as well as other items that were included in the last collection.
5) Divine Mercy devotions including Stations of the Cross and novena prayers (St. Pio of Pieltrecina) will continue at St. Gertrude's Parish, Oshawa at 2 pm on Friday October 26th. The purpose is to pray for vocations to the Secular Franciscan Order.
6) Holy Hour will continue every Monday at 6 pm at St. Gregory the Great Church, Oshawa.
7) Please pray for the Commissioned Project that you support.
8) Ongoing Formation- Read Chapter 4 of "To Live as St. Francis Lived" and complete the questions.
9) Promoting SFO vocations. New cards will be issued in November, once the time of the General Meeting has been set.
10) Defund Abortion Campaign- There will be a rally at Queens Park on Tuesday October 30th between noon and 2 pm. Some members are travelling by Go Train to the rally. If you wish to attend, contact Irene McEvers.
11) Christmas Party and Dinner- It is questionable whether we can proceed with this due to the fact that the hall at St. Gregory's Church is booked solidly. Alternative arrangements will have to be made. The fraternity members will be consulted and kept informed. There is a proposal to do Christmas dinner for Fr. Joe Macdonald's people at the Berkley Street House. This is being looked into.
12) Journey to Christmas at St. Gregory's- There will be special programs offered after 7 pm evening masses on Tuesday nights on December 4th, 11th and 18th. We will view Fr. Barron's Catholicism series together. This will be followed with a 20 minute question and sharing period. It should finish by 9 pm. The December 18th session will include the communal celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation with individual confessions being provided. There will be a number of priests in the confessional. Members of the fraternity are encouraged to attend and support Fr. Bob in this endeavour.
13) Teresa has forwarded the MI newsletter to those fraternity members that belong to the Militia Immaculata. As Minister of the Fraternity and a member of the MI, I wish to make this newsletter available to all the members of the fraternity. You may be interested in attending an MI meeting to find out what this is all about. The dates, times and location of such meetings are contained in the newsletter at The Little Voice
Updates to this newsletter will be made, once they are known.If I have left anything out or members want to include other information of interest, please contact me.
Ralph Martin, Lay Catholic Evangelist Reflects in the New Evangelization (Note: Ralph Martin is the Consultor for the Synod on the New Evangelization):
ROME, OCTOBER 16, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Every Baptized Catholic is called to evangelization, says Dr. Ralph Martin Consultor for the synod on New Evangelization. Read more here: http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=121902
International Theological Commission's Statement on Year of Faith
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 16, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is the translation of the statement released by the International Theological Commission regarding the Year of Faith. Link: http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=121903
Leader of Rescued Chilean miners Visits Pope for Year of Faith
Reminder of the Solemn Requiem Mass (Tridentine Latin Mass) for All Souls Day Friday November 2nd, 2012 (8 pm) which will celebrated at St. Isaac Jocques , Pickering. Prayers will take place at the catafalque for the Absolutions of the Dead. See the illustration below.
You may be interested in some posts that have been placed on the Oshawa Anglican Use (Roman Catholic) Sodality of the Good Shepherd Blog. I am continuing to post on this blog, despite deciding to take a break from Ordinariate issues while a number of issues are resolved.
This saintly man was a descendant of an ancient noble family. He spent his years on earth in unsullied purity. As a Franciscan he was professor of theology and then provincial of the order. He distinguished himself in all the virtues of a good religious, practiced the greatest personal severities, fasted much, and considered it a real pleasure to be accounted the last among his brethren.
O almighty God, who didst appoint Thy blessed confessor Balthassar to serve Thee worthily both in the pulpit and in the confessional, mercifully hear our prayers, and grant us through his merits and intercession, the grace to labor incessantly for the salvation of souls and produce worthy acts of virtue. Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
Wealth is the principal topic of this Sunday's Gospel (Mark 10:17-30). Jesus teaches that it is very difficult for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God, but not impossible; in fact, God can conquer the heart of a person who has many possessions and move him to solidarity and sharing with the needy, with the poor, to enter into the logic of the gift. This is how wealth presents itself in the life of Jesus Christ, who - as the Apostle Paul writes - "rich though he was, he became poor for us so that we might become rich though his poverty" (2 Corinthians 8:9).
As often happens in the Gospels, everything begins from an encounter. In this case Jesus' meeting with a man who "had many possessions" (Mark 10:22). He was a person who from his youth had faithfully observed the commandments of God's Law, but he had not yet found true happiness; this is why he asks Jesus what he must do to "inherit eternal life" (10:17). On the one hand, like everyone else, he is after life in its fullness. On the other hand, being used to depending on his wealth, he thinks that he might be able to "buy" eternal life in some way, perhaps by observing some special commandment. Jesus welcomes the profound desire that is in him and, the evangelist notes, casts a gaze full of love upon him, God's own gaze (cf. 10:21). But Jesus also understands what the man's weakness is: it is precisely his attachment to his many possessions, and this is why he invites him to give everything to the poor, so that his treasure - and thus his heart - will no longer be on earth but in heave, and adds: "Come! Follow me!" (10:22). That man, instead of accepting Jesus' invitation, goes away sad (10:23) since he is unable to give up his wealth, which can never give him happiness and eternal life.
It is at this point that Jesus offers his teaching to the disciples, and to us today: "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" (10:23). The disciples are puzzled, and even more so when Jesus adds: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." But seeing that the disciples are astonished he says: "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God" (10:24-27). St. Clement comments on the episode in this way: "The story teaches the rich that they must not neglect their salvation as if they were already condemned. They need not throw their wealth into the sea or condemn it as insidious and hostile to life, but they must learn how to use their wealth and obtain life" ("What rich person will be saved?" 27, 1-2). The Church's history is full of examples of rich people who used their possessions in an evangelical way, achieving sanctity. We need only think of St. Francis, St. Elizabeth or St. Charles Borromeo. May the Virgin Mary, Seat of Wisdom, help us to welcome Jesus' invitation with joy so that we might enter into the fullness of life.
Greetings to those gathered in St. Peter's square.
Dear brothers and sisters!
Yesterday in Prague Frederick Bachstein and 13 of his confreres of the Order of Friars Minors were beatified. They were killed in 1611 because of their faith. They are the first persons who have been beatified in the Year of Faith, and they are martyrs: they remind us that believing in Christ also means suffering with him and for him.
[In English he said:]
I greet all the English-speaking visitors present. During this Year of Faith may we, like the man in today's Gospel, have the courage to ask the Lord what more can we do, especially for the poor, the lonely, the sick and the suffering, so as to be witnesses and heirs to the eternal life God promises. Upon all of you, I invoke God's abundant blessings of peace.
[Concluding in Italian he said:]
I wish everyone a good Sunday. Have a good week. Thank you! Have a good Sunday everyone!
ALESSANDRO BRUSTENGHI is a 34-year-old friar on the brink of becoming the next big Italian singing voice - a tenor in the style of Andrea Bocelli and Luciano Pavarotti. His debut album, Voice From Assisi, is out next week. His home is the Franciscan monastery in Assisi, where one of his jobs is to tell tourists the story of his order's founder, St Francis. Here's his fascinating and unique guide to the stunning hilltop town.
From December 28, 2012 to January 2, 2013 . Rome will host the young adult European meeting which has been organized by the Taizé Community. This event will bring together thousands of young people from different denominations who will meet Benedict XVI. This is the 35th edition of this meeting and will be a foretaste of the World Youth day in Rio.
Blessed Honorat was born on October 16, 1829 in Biala Podlaska (Poland). He was the son of Stefan Kozminski and Aleksandra Kahlowa and at baptism, was given the name of Wenceslaus.
At the age of 11, Wenceslaus began his secondary school education and it was during this time that he lost his faith. He graduated in 1844 and enrolled in the Department of Architecture at the Warsaw School of Fine Arts. In 1845, he lost his father and in April 1846, he was arrested and sent to prison with his friends for conspiring against the Russians, who at the time occupied Poland.
In a prison cell, Wenceslaus experienced a spiritual upheaval. His faith was renewed and in a mysterious way, as he will say, a divine order was introduced into his soul. "The Mother of God," he wrote in his spiritual journal, "having been moved by the prayers of my mother… interceded for me with the Lord; thus it was that He came to me in my prison cell and gently led me to the faith."
After eleven months of imprisonment, Wenceslaus was freed and to the great surprise of those who knew him, in 1848 he entered the Capuchin Order, taking the name Honoratus. After professing vows and finishing his philosophical and theological studies, he was ordained a priest. As a priest, he began an enthusiastic and zealous apostolic activity in Warsaw.
He was an indefatigable confessor and preacher. In his pastoral work he strongly promoted Third Order of St. Francis and the circles of the "Living Rosary."
A real test came to him and those with him on the night of November 27, 1864, when the Capuchin friary in Warsaw was shut down by the persecutors. The friars were given a choice: either freely depart from the Polish territory occupied by Russians or remain there without any prospects of public activity or development. Father Honorat's decision was clear: "It is here that God wishes to have us…therefore it is here that we shall work."
In 1867, Father Honorat offered himself to Christ through the hands of Mary as her "slave," giving himself over to her completely as an instrument for her hands. From that moment forward, the motto of his life was contained in a sentence expressing limitless trust: "Mary, I am completely Yours---Tuus totus."
Between the years 1874-1895, Father Honorat was a "prisoner of the Confessional." In this short time, he founded a mysterious network of apostolic communities covering the lands of the Kingdom of Poland. This great evangelical tree continued to branch out and at the end of the 19th century, twenty-five different religious Congregations started by Father Honorat counted thousands of brothers and sisters.
He died on December 16, 1916. He was one of the most inspired figures in the most difficult times of Poland's history. It is not any surprise therefore that on September 1, 1988, the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, presided over the ceremony of his beatification. (Source: The Franciscan Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows)
Translation: We praise thee, O God : we acknowledge thee to be the Lord. All the earth doth worship thee : the Father everlasting. To thee all Angels cry aloud : the Heavens, and all the Powers therein. To thee Cherubim and Seraphim : continually do cry, Holy, Holy, Holy : Lord God of Sabaoth; Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty : of thy glory. The glorious company of the Apostles : praise thee. The goodly fellowship of the Prophets : praise thee. The noble army of Martyrs : praise thee. The holy Church throughout all the world : doth acknowledge thee; The Father : of an infinite Majesty; Thine honourable, true : and only Son; Also the Holy Ghost : the Comforter. Thou art the King of Glory : O Christ. Thou art the everlasting Son : of the Father. When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man : thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb. When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death : thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God : in the glory of the Father. We believe that thou shalt come : to be our Judge. We therefore pray thee, help thy servants : whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood. Make them to be numbered with thy Saints : in glory everlasting.
Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, in his first pastoral letter, invoked the Catholic history of California and called on all Catholics to witness to the "New World of Faith."
The Franciscan connection to the Catholic history of California is a strong one, considering that Franciscan missionaries were highly instrumental in bringing the Christian faith to this region between 1769 and 1823. There were a total of 21 missions established during this time.
The discussions at the Synod have been rich and productive with many ideas being brought forth that are creative and imaginative. May the Holy Spirit continue to inspire the bishops in their discussions and continue to motivate them in the time ahead.
11 October 2012 Saint Peter's Square Holy Mass for the Opening of the Year of Faith
Today:
12 OCTOBER 2012 Clementine Hall, at 12:30 Meeting with Bishops who participated in the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council and Presidents of Episcopal Conferences
21 OCTOBER 2012 Saint Peter's Square, at 9:30 PAPAL MASS Canonization of Blesseds: - Giacomo Berthieu - Pedro Calungsod - Giovanni Battista Piamarta - Maria del Monte Carmelo Sallés y Barangueras - Marianna Cope - Caterina Tekakwitha - Anna Schäffer
FIRST VESPERS OF ADVENT for the Roman Pontifical Universities, Seminaries and Ecclesiastical Colleges 1 December 2012
ECUMENICAL CELEBRATION Solemnity of the Conversion of St Paul 25 January 2013 Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE 2 February 2013 Vatican Basilica
PALM SUNDAY 24 March 2013 Saint Peter's Square
DAY DEDICATED TO THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION 28 April 2013
DAY OF CONFRATERNITIES AND POPULAR PIETY 5 May 2013
VIGIL OF PENTECOST 18 May 2013
EUCHARISTIC ADORATION Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ 2 June 2013
EVANGELIUM VITAE DAY 16 June 2013
CONCERT FOR THE YEAR OF FAITH 22 June 2013 Saint Peter's Square
CONCLUSION OF THE PILGRIMAGE OF SEMINARIANS AND NOVICES 7 July 2013 Saint Peter's Square
Fr. Bonaventure suggests that we, like, St. Francis, make everything we do be a prayer. He encourages us to persevere in prayer and sacrifice ourselves constantly to God. God will answer us in His own time, not ours.
Seraphin's parents were poor in earthly goods and obscure in the sight of men. But the spirit of prayer which his mother instilled in the boy was an inheritance of priceless value. The loving lessons of his mother caused Seraphin to make the firm resolve to remain innocent and become a saint.
He fostered tender devotion to the Blessed Mother and occasionally visited her shrine at Loreto, not far from his home. Once, on his way to the shrine, he found the River Potenza so high that no boatman ventured across. In his eagerness to get to the shrine, Seraphin stepped on the water, and it became like solid ground beneath him; he crossed the river on his way to the shrine and back without so much as wetting the soles of his feet.
“Christians, often ignorant of the content of their own faith and incapable because of this of living of and for it, are not capable of interreligious dialogue that always begins with the assertion of one’s own convictions. There is no room for syncretism or relativism! Faced with adepts from other religions with a strong religious identity, it is necessary to present motivated and doctrinally equipped Christians.”
Continued:
“This makes the new evangelization a priority to form coherent Christians, capable of demonstrating their faith, with simple words and without fear. Interreligious dialogue thus becomes an occasion for deepening and witnessing one’s faith.”
An Argentine prelate, Archbishop Héctor Aguer of La Plata:
“The theological and philosophical errors which circulate in academic centers, seminaries and novitiates and which are spread through preaching and catechesis, give rise to confusion among the people of God, and are included among the causes of the present situation of faith. The New Evangelization requires the overcoming of these defects which weaken the certitude of the faith; for this reason, the formation of pastoral agents must correspond to the Magisterium of the Church.”
Cardinal Vinko Puljic of Bosnia-Herzegovina:
"The New Evangelization will succeed if it manages to restore the sanctity of marriage, which is the family nest of love, in such a way that it becomes a little Church. Then, the parochial community will become a powerful motor of evangelization, because it will have strong drivers leading it toward God."
"The most powerful thing in evangelization is the encounter with Christ, knowing how to love and accept Christ. This occurs by means of the deepest witness of faith. The family is the strongest witness to the faith, which it transmits with its heart"
Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow:
“One thing is certain. Science is not enough. Documents are not enough. Our Church structures are not enough. These do not quite reach the heart of man."
"A characteristic sign of our times is that the Church today speaks much more effectively when she expresses herself with the message of Divine Mercy. God used a humble religious, Saint Faustina Kowalska, as he did a wise and holy shepherd, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla - John Paul II, so that the eternal truth of God rich in faithful love would resound in a more revealing way in today’s restless world … It seems that man today has managed to preserve within himself a sensitivity toward a disinterested mercy. And this itself - God’s mercy which influences his fate - makes itself heard and touches the deepest chords of the human heart.”
Following the previous report on the Archbishop of Canterbury's address to the Synod, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople , Bartholomew I addressed the crowds after the opening mass for the Year of Faith at St. Peter's Basilica. Representing 300 million Orthodox Christians, he recalled the importance of working toward a deeper sense of unity as set by the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. He went on to state that the year of faith and the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council offers an opportunity for both churches to draw closer on the path to unity.
In this Year of Faith, let us all work towards the goal of the reunion of the churches of the east and west.
His Grace, Dr. Rowan Williams Says Contemplation is 'Key to Humanity'
His Grace, Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury addressed the Synod of Bishops yesterday. In the process of doing so, he focused on the correlation between contemplation and the New Evangelization. More can be read at Zenit: http://www.zenit.org/article-35703?l=english
The Marian Seraphic Spirituality Like Our Seraphic Father St. Francis, the Franciscans of the Immaculate strive to be perfectly conformed to the poor, humble, crucified Jesus through a life of prayer, supernatural charity, poverty and penance. They are totally consecrated to the Immaculate Virgin after the recent example offered by St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe.
According to the World Health Organization, nearly 450 million people around the world suffer from mental health disorders (which the WHO defines as both neurological and substance-use disorders). In one such country there is one psychiatrist for one million people. This is an appalling problem. As Franciscans, as Catholics, as Christians we must be concerned about this.
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 10, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Starting today, Arabic will be added to Wednesday's General Audience, to explain Pope Benedict XVI’s words to those present in St. Peter’s Square as well as those connected through the media.
ROME, ITALY, October 8 (CNA/EWTN News) .- As Catholics around the world celebrated the feast of St. Francis of Assisi on Oct.4, the oldest Capuchin friar in Italy said his life as a follower of the 13th century saint "has been a blessing."
Father Giulio Criminesi, 74, entered the minor seminary at the age of 12. In 1957 he began his novitiate at the very first monastery of the Capuchin order in the town of Camerino, and was later ordained a priest in Loreto.
On Day 2 of the Synod, Cardinal Dolan has suggested that the sacrament of penance should be the sacrament of the New Evangelization. Considering how few Catholics seem to practice this sacrament, there should be an emphasis in restoring this and make it a central point of spiritual growth, both individually and collectively.
His Holiness John Paul II beatified Mother Mary Angela Truszkowska on April 18 at the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome. She is the Foundress of the Felician Sisters is now known as Blessed Mary Angela. She was a Franciscan Tertiary.
After the Franciscan Order had been blessed in the glorious death of its first martyrs, St. Berard and his four companions, holy rivalry was aroused among the children of St. Francis to offer their blood in preaching the Faith of Christ.
In 1227, Daniel, provincial of Calabria, a man of eminent sanctity, and six companions, Angelus, Samuel, Donulus, Leo, Hugolinus, and Nicholas, with the blessing of the minister general, went to Africa to preach the Gospel of Christ to the Mohammedans. Landing at Ceuta, they resolved to preach in that large city. Before entering the city proper, they learned from Christian merchants that a strict order prohibited entrance to all Christians. They realized that their undertaking was fraught with the greatest danger, and they prepared themselves accordingly.
This is an interesting comparison of the stigmata of St. Pio of Pietrelcina and that of St. Francis.This is, in no way, questioning the authenticity, of this phenomena.
Some may wonder why links to the Oshawa Anglican Use of the Roman Catholic Church are included in this blog. As one of the commissioned projects of the St. Angela Merici Fraternity and part of our ecumenical outreach, we continue to support our new neighbours of the Catholic Church. The Minister of this fraternity sponsored two Anglicans in the catechetical process and reception into the Catholic Church. Many members of the fraternity attended the reception of the members of the Anglican Use Sodality of the Good Shepherd on April 25, 2012. Since then, we also have attended and participated in several Anglican Use Catholic Masses as well as evensongs (vespers). We continue to look forward to supporting our Anglican Use brothers and sisters as they become part of the Canadian Deanery of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.
St. Thomas More, pray for us. Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for us.
The Synodal Assembly will take place from the 7th to the 28th of October 2012 on the theme of "The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith"
Reports on the Synod will be available on this blog.
Felicia was a descendant of the very distinguished and wealthy family of the Meda. She was born at Milan in Lombardy in 1378. She had good parents, who reared the pious and gifted child in the fear of God, and left nothing undone that could be of advantage in her spiritual development. In a very short time she acquired a remarkable command of the Latin language.
Italian friar Alessandro Brustenghi is setting out to woo music lovers around the world. He is one of the first monks in history to land a major record deal. His debut album "Voice From Assisi" will be released on October 15 through Decca Records/Universal. Alessandro's journey into musical stardom started when he was discovered by Mike Hedges, who was looking for 'the next Italian tenor'.
The Holy Father was present in Loreto today. May Our Lady of Loreto intercede for all of our needs and intentions.
Homily Given at Loreto October 4th, 2012
Your Eminences, Dear Brother Bishops, Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On 4 October 1962, Blessed John XXIII came as a pilgrim to this Shrine to entrust to the Virgin Mary the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, due to begin a week later. On that occasion, with deep filial devotion to the Mother of God, he addressed her in these words: "Again today, and in the name of the entire episcopate, I ask you, sweetest Mother, as Help of Bishops, to intercede for me as Bishop of Rome and for all the bishops of the world, to obtain for us the grace to enter the Council Hall of Saint Peter’s Basilica, as the Apostles and the first disciples of Jesus entered the Upper Room: with one heart, one heartbeat of love for Christ and for souls, with one purpose only, to live and to sacrifice ourselves for the salvation of individuals and peoples. Thus, by your maternal intercession, in the years and the centuries to come, may it be said that the grace of God prepared, accompanied and crowned the twenty-first Ecumenical Council, filling all the children of the holy Church with a new fervor, a new impulse to generosity, and a renewed firmness of purpose" (AAS 54 [1962], 727).
Fifty years on, having been called by divine Providence to succeed that unforgettable Pope to the See of Peter, I too have come on pilgrimage to entrust to the Mother of God two important ecclesial initiatives: the Year of Faith, which will begin in a week, on 11 October, on the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, and the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which I have convened this October with the theme "The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith". Dear friends, to all of you I offer my most cordial greetings. I thank the Most Reverend Giovanni Tonucci, Archbishop of Loreto, for his warm words of welcome. I greet the other bishops present, the priests, the Capuchin Fathers, to whom the pastoral care of this shrine is entrusted, and the religious sisters. I also salute Dr. Paolo Niccoletti, Mayor of Loreto, thanking him for his courteous words, and I greet the representatives of the government and the civil and military authorities here present. My thanks also go to those who have generously offered their assistance to make my pilgrimage possible.
As I said in my Apostolic Letter announcing the Year of Faith, "I wish to invite my brother bishops from all over the world to join the Successor of Peter, during this time of spiritual grace that the Lord offers us, in recalling the precious gift of faith" (Porta Fidei, 8). It is precisely here at Loreto that we have the opportunity to attend the school of Mary who was called "blessed" because she "believed" (Lk 1:45). This Shrine, built around her earthly home, preserves the memory of the moment when the angel of Lord came to Mary with the great announcement of the Incarnation, and she gave her reply. This humble home is a physical, tangible witness to the greatest event in our history, the Incarnation; the Word became flesh and Mary, the handmaid of the Lord, is the privileged channel through which God came to dwell among us (cf. Jn 1:14). Mary offered her very body; she placed her entire being at the disposal of God’s will, becoming the "place" of his presence, a "place" of dwelling for the Son of God. We are reminded here of the words of the Psalm with which, according to the Letter to the Hebrews, Christ began his earthly life, saying to the Father, "Sacrifices and offering you have not desired, but you have prepared a body for me… Behold, I have come to do your will, O God" (10:5, 7). To the Angel who reveals God’s plan for her, Mary replies in similar words: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). The will of Mary coincides with the will of the Son in the Father’s unique project of love and, in her, heaven and earth are united, God the Creator is united to his creature. God becomes man, and Mary becomes a "living house" for the Lord, a temple where the Most High dwells. Here at Loreto fifty years ago, Blessed John XXIII issued an invitation to contemplate this mystery, to "reflect on that union of heaven and earth, which is the purpose of the Incarnation and Redemption", and he went on to affirm that the aim of the Council itself was to spread ever wider the beneficent impact of the Incarnation and Redemption on all spheres of life (cf. AAS 54 [1962], 724). This invitation resounds today with particular urgency. In the present crisis affecting not only the economy but also many sectors of society, the Incarnation of the Son of God speaks to us of how important man is to God, and God to man. Without God, man ultimately chooses selfishness over solidarity and love, material things over values, having over being. We must return to God, so that man may return to being man. With God, even in difficult times or moments of crisis, there is always a horizon of hope: the Incarnation tells us that we are never alone, that God has come to humanity and that he accompanies us.
The idea of the Son of God dwelling in the "living house", the temple which is Mary, leads us to another thought: we must recognize that where God dwells, all are "at home"; wherever Christ dwells, his brothers and sisters are no longer strangers. Mary, who is the Mother of Christ, is also our mother, and she open to us the door to her home, she helps us enter into the will of her Son. So it is faith which gives us a home in this world, which brings us together in one family and which makes all of us brothers and sisters. As we contemplate Mary, we must ask if we too wish to be open to the Lord, if we wish to offer our life as his dwelling place; or if we are afraid that the presence of God may somehow place limits on our freedom, if we wish to set aside a part of our life in such a way that it belongs only to us. Yet it is precisely God who liberates our liberty, he frees it from being closed in on itself, from the thirst for power, possessions, and domination; he opens it up to the dimension which completely fulfills it: the gift of self, of love, which in turn becomes service and sharing.
Faith lets us reside, or dwell, but it also lets us walk on the path of life. The Holy House of Loreto contains an important teaching in this respect as well. Its location on a street is well known. At first this might seem strange: after all, a house and a street appear mutually exclusive. In reality, it is precisely here that an unusual message about this House has been preserved. It is not a private house, nor does it belong to a single person or a single family, rather it is an abode open to everyone placed, as it were, on our street. So here in Loreto we find a house which lets us stay, or dwell, and which at the same time lets us continue, or journey, and reminds us that we are pilgrims, that we must always be on the way to another dwelling, towards our final home, the Eternal City, the dwelling place of God and the people he has redeemed (cf. Rev 21:3).
There is one more important point in the Gospel account of the Annunciation which I would like to underline, one which never fails to strike us: God asks for mankind’s "yes"; he has created a free partner in dialogue, from whom he requests a reply in complete liberty. In one of his most celebrated sermons, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux "recreates", as it were, the scene where God and humanity wait for Mary to say "yes". Turning to her he begs: "The angel awaits your response, as he must now return to the One who sent him… O Lady, give that reply which the earth, the underworld and the very heavens await. Just as the King and Lord of all wished to behold your beauty, in the same way he earnestly desires your word of consent… Arise, run, open up! Arise with faith, run with your devotion, open up with your consent!" (In laudibus Virginis Matris, Hom. IV,8: Opera omnia, Edit. Cisterc. 4, 1966, p.53f). God asks for Mary’s free consent that he may become man. To be sure, the "yes" of the Virgin is the fruit of divine grace. But grace does not eliminate freedom; on the contrary it creates and sustains it. Faith removes nothing from the human creature; rather it permits his full and final realization.
Dear brothers and sisters, on this pilgrimage in the footsteps of Blessed John XXIII – and which comes, providentially, on the day in which the Church remembers Saint Francis of Assisi, a veritable "living Gospel" – I wish to entrust to the Most Holy Mother of God all the difficulties affecting our world as it seeks serenity and peace, the problems of the many families who look anxiously to the future, the aspirations of young people at the start of their lives, the suffering of those awaiting signs or decisions of solidarity and love. I also wish to place in the hands of the Mother of God this special time of grace for the Church, now opening up before us. Mother of the "yes", you who heard Jesus, speak to us of him; tell us of your journey, that we may follow him on the path of faith; help us to proclaim him, that each person may welcome him and become the dwelling place of God. Amen!
