Keep
your eyes open!...
November 27, 2019
THE TRIB TIMES WILL
RETURN NEXT WEEK, GOD WILLING (James 4:15).
(1Co 1:4-8) I
give thanks to my God always for you, for the grace of God that is
given you in Christ Jesus: That in all things you are made rich in him,
in all utterance and in all knowledge; As the testimony of Christ was
confirmed in you, So that nothing is wanting to you in any grace,
waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who also will
confirm you unto the end without crime, in the days of the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
RHODE ISLAND CATHOLIC: The Holy Mass: The Perfect Thanksgiving by Bishop Thomas J. Tobin
BLOG: 12 Inspiring Thanksgiving Quotes from Catholic Saints
REVIEW: Origin of our Thanksgiving Day by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.
THE CATHOLIC KEY: Giving Thanks In All Circumstances by Bishop James V. Johnston
“… give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thes 5:18
This week Americans will celebrate the national holiday of
Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday. It has
origins that are both religious and civic harkening back to a time when
most Americans professed religious faith and it still serves to
reinforce the strong Judeo-Christian religious currents that shaped our
nation’s history and identity.
Giving thanks is a central part of
being a disciple of Jesus Christ. The word, Eucharist, has Greek
origins and translated means “thanksgiving.” The offering of ourselves
with Christ to the Father in the Mass is the supreme act of rendering
thanks for our creation and our redemption.
Saint Paul also speaks of the
central feature of thanksgiving in the life of a disciple. In his final
exhortation to the Church of Thessalonica, he writes “Rejoice always,
pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will
of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thes 5:18).
Two things about Saint Paul’s words
on thanksgiving jump out. First, that we are to give thanks “in all
circumstances.” I am familiar with giving thanks when something good
happens, or when I sit down for another meal. However, it initially
strikes most of us as odd to give thanks when things aren’t so good.
But that is exactly what Saint Paul teaches; we are to be thankful even
when things aren’t going our way. How can this be?
To understand this seemingly
unusual advice from the apostle Paul, we must first realize our
radically new status as citizens of a new kingdom. We now belong to God
and his reign. As citizens of this Kingdom, we are meant to see that
our misfortunes and sufferings are material for God’s reign, too. They
are things He permits for us to participate in building the Kingdom. We
are in Christ now, and all things in our lives have a mysterious
purpose for extending His Kingdom—especially our sufferings. So, in the
new logic of the Kingdom of God, and using Saint Paul’s words again,
“We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him,
who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). That is why a
disciple can give thanks “in all circumstances.”
The second thing we notice about Saint Paul’s advice is that giving
thanks in all circumstances is “the will of God” for us. Often, we turn
to God in prayer seeking His will. We certainly ought to do this when
we are confronted with important decisions.
However, we must not overlook the
inspired words of Scripture which speak of God’s will for all
disciples. This is one of those instances when God speaks to each of us
who are His children. His will is that we be people of thanksgiving in
all circumstances. Our lives should be marked by intentional
thanksgiving each day. One of the fruits of this way of life is joy;
grateful people are happy people.
As we join other Americans next
week to celebrate our national holiday, let’s not forget that “giving
thanks” is part of our vocation as Catholic disciples of Jesus Christ.
It’s not relegated to one day but is part and parcel to every day now
that we are citizens of the new Kingdom—the Kingdom established by
Christ, of which we are citizens through baptism.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 27- "On holy stillness of body and soul"
19. The patience of the sailor is tested in the
midday heat or when he is becalmed; and the lack of necessitities tries
the perseverance of the monk. When the one grows discouraged, he swims
in the water; and when the other becomes despondent, he mixes with crowds.
November 24, 2019
(Luk 23:40-43) But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither
dost thou fear God, seeing; thou art under the same condemnation? And
we indeed justly: for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this
man hath done no evil. And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when
thou shalt come into thy kingdom. And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to
thee: This day thou shalt be with me in paradise.
FR. GEORGE RUTLER:
Jesus Christ is the Word that brought into existence all that was in
the mind of His divine Father. His kingship consists in the power of
his Logos, which orders all things and is energized by the love between
him and the Father, which pours forth as the Holy Spirit. "In the
beginning was the Word [Logos]..." (John 1:1).
THE CATHOLIC THING: Dismas and His Opposites by Fr. Paul D. Scalia
EXCERPT HOMILY FR. ALTIER: As
the King of the Universe, Jesus, the Son of David, is enthroned as King
forever. Of course, our Lord is also the Son of God, but He is King
because of His charity as our Redeemer. Our Lord told us He came to
serve, not to be served; He is King because of His service. From all
eternity He is the Son of God, but He became King because He took our
humanity to Himself and then took our sins to Himself so we could be
transferred into His Kingdom, the Kingdom of Christ the King. One could
say with St. Paul in the second reading that He is King because He is
the “firstborn of all creation.” As God, He is the Creator; as man
crucified and risen, He is the firstborn of all creation.
When we consider humanity’s perspective, the charge Pilate pronounced
in the Praetorium he put in writing on the cross: Jesus is the King.
While the inscription proclaimed Him to be the King of the Jews, as we
read in the Gospel, we know He went to the Cross for all humanity, not
just the Jewish people. Even the thief from his cross recognized that
our Lord’s Kingdom was not of this world. In fact, it is clear that he
understood the Kingdom of Christ would be established only after His
death. For this reason, St. Dismas addressed our Lord, saying: “Jesus,
remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
This is an amazing statement made by one dying man to another! Why
would anyone ask a favor from someone who is dying? Perhaps someone
might ask for a person’s possessions that will be left behind, but
Dismas was looking forward. He was looking to the time when the Kingdom
of Christ would be established. Jesus was hanging from the Cross,
beaten and bloody, drawing near to death. Dismas was asking for
something that would require life after death. He was addressing a poor
man Who had been condemned as his King. Clearly Dismas was given a
special grace to make such a bold act of faith.
But we do not celebrate Jesus as simply the King of humanity or even as
the King of the world; we celebrate Jesus as King of the Universe. St.
Paul says all fullness was pleased to dwell in Him, and through Him all
things were reconciled. Prior to this St. Paul reminds us that all
things in heaven and on earth were created through Him and for Him.
Then St. Paul says Jesus is before all things and that in Him all
things hold together. Again, this is an absolute statement. So, if
Jesus created all things and all things were created for Him, then in
keeping all things together and reconciling all things in His Person,
Jesus shows Himself to be the King of all. Not only is Jesus King of
all persons, He is King of all things. The whole universe is His.
The vast majority of creation acknowledges Jesus as King. However,
angels and human persons have been given an intellect and a free will,
so unlike other creatures, we need to choose whether or not we will
receive Jesus as our King. He has dominion over all, but He will not
force us to accept Him or His authority. The evidence is overwhelming,
but a third of the angels and the much of humanity has rejected Him,
His love, His mercy, and His Kingship. We need to pray for the faith of
St. Dismas, look upon our Lord on the Cross, recognize Him seated on
the throne of David, and boldly proclaim Him to be our King!
EXCERPT ALETEIA: Here’s how to be a “king” after Jesus’ own heart
Christians are
not called to be kings in the negative, overbearing sense of the word,
but to be true “servant-leaders,” walking in the footsteps of Jesus
Christ. The only crown Jesus ever wore was a crown of thorns, which
illustrates the lengths he was willing to go in his love for his
people. He led others by serving them, even washing their feet on the
night before his death.Jesus does not rule over us like an earthly
king, but as a true king, one who has his people’s interests above his
own.
If we want to fully participate in Jesus’ royal office and be a “king”
in this world, we must lay down our pride and serve our neighbor. We
may never wear a golden crown on earth, but the crown that awaits us in
Heaven will be well worth the sacrifice.
EXCERPT UNIVERSALIS:
There is something important that we need to understand about the
kingdom of God: just as righteousness has no partnership with
lawlessness, just as light has nothing in common with darkness and
Christ has no agreement with Belial, so the kingdom of God and a
kingdom of sin cannot co-exist.
So if we want God to reign within us, on no account may sin rule in our
mortal body but let us mortify our earthly bodies and let us be made
fruitful by the Spirit. Then we will be a spiritual garden of Eden for
God to walk in. God will rule in us with Christ who will be seated in
us on the right hand of God — God, the spiritual power that we pray to
receive — until he makes his enemies (who are within us) into his
footstool and pours out on us all authority, all power, all strength.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 27- "On holy stillness of body and soul"
18. Shut the door of your cell to your body, the
door of your tongue to speech, and the inner gate to evil spirits.
November 20, 2019
(Mat 28:18-20) And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is
given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all
nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you. And behold I am with you all days, even to the
consummation of the world.
ARCHBISHOP OF TOKYO ISAO KIKUCHI: “In Japanese society, it is difficult to find tangible success in missionary activities.”
CATHOLIC HERALD: The staggering heroism of Japan’s saints
VATICAN NEWS: Pope travels to Thailand, Japan to promote life and peace
MORE: Pope Francis Sends Video Message to People of Japan
THE DIPLOMAT: Nagasaki, the Center of Catholicism in Japan, Prepares to Welcome Pope Francis
EXCERPT REUTERS: Pope Francis to take anti-nuclear mission to Japan’s ground zeros
Pope Francis takes his mission to
ban nuclear weapons this week to the only places where they were used
in war, visiting the World War Two ground zeros of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki as part of a tour of Japan and Thailand.
The seven-day trip, one of his
longest and most distant, gives Francis an opportunity to support and
encourage the tiny but well respected Catholic communities, which make
up less than 1% of the population in each country.
In fact, the Catholic populations
of each country - 389,000 in Thailand and 536,000 in Japan - are
smaller than crowds he has attracted at single events in other
countries.
After four days in Thailand,
Francis moves on to Japan, where international and domestic politics
will loom large, particularly on Nov. 24, when he visits Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
About 400,000 people were killed,
either instantly or from radiation illness or injuries resulting from
the atomic bombs that the United States dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6,
1945 and on Nagasaki three days later as it sought to end World War Two.
Francis wants a total ban on
nuclear weapons, going further than his predecessors when he said in
2017 that countries should not stockpile them even for the purpose of
deterrence.
This stance was criticized by conservatives within and outside the Catholic Church who say deterrence had worked for 75 years.
Japan stresses its unique status as
the only nation to have suffered atomic attacks and advocates
disarmament, but nonetheless relies on the U.S. nuclear umbrella as an
extended deterrent.
Francis will meet blast survivors,
pray, and read a major “message on nuclear weapons” at the bomb
epicenter in Nagasaki. He later visits Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.
CNS: Vatican publishes updated schedule for papal trip to Thailand, Japan
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 27- "On holy stillness of body and soul"
17. The monk is an earthly image of an angel who,
with the paper of love and letters of zeal, has freed his prayer from sloth
and negligence. The monk is he who openly declares: O God, ready is my
heart (Ps 61:10). The monk is he who says: I sleep, but my heart waketh
(Song 5:2).
November 18, 2019
(Luk 21:16-19) And you shall be betrayed by your parents and brethren
and kinsmen and friends: and some of you they will put to death. And
you shall be hated by all men for my name's sake. But a hair of your
head shall not perish. In your patience you shall possess your souls.
VIDEO: Four Last Things: Judgment ~ Fr Ripperger
REFLECTIONS FOR THE XXXIII SUNDAY
Vatican News Fr. Antony Kadavil
Msgr Charles Pope
Heaven is not automatic Fr John Zuhlsdorf
VIA UNIVERSALIS: A commentary of St Augustine on Psalm 95 Let us not resist the first advent, and the second will not terrify us
Then all the trees of the forest will exult before the face of the
Lord, for he has come, he has come to judge the earth. He has come the
first time, and he will come again. At his first coming, his own voice
declared in the gospel: Hereafter you shall see the Son of Man coming
upon the clouds. What does he mean by hereafter? Does he not mean that
the Lord will come at a future time when all the nations of the earth
will be striking their breasts in grief? Previously he came through his
preachers, and he filled the whole world. Let us not resist his first
coming, so that we may not dread the second.
What then should the Christian do? He ought to use the world, not
become its slave. And what does this mean? It means having, as though
not having. So says the Apostle: My brethren, the appointed time is
short: from now on let those who have wives live as though they had
none; and those who mourn as though they were not mourning; and those
who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing; and those who buy as
though they had no goods; and those who deal with this world as though
they had no dealings with it. For the form of this world is passing
away. But I wish you to be without anxiety. He who is without anxiety
waits without fear until his Lord comes. For what sort of love of
Christ is it to fear his coming? Brothers, do we not have to blush for
shame? We love him, yet we fear his coming. Are we really certain that
we love him? Or do we love our sins more? Therefore let us hate our
sins and love him who will exact punishment for them. He will come
whether we wish it or not. Do not think that because he is not coming
just now, he will not come at all. He will come, you know not when; and
provided he finds you prepared, your ignorance of the time of his
coming will not be held against you.
All the trees of the forest will exult. He has come the first time, and
he will come again to judge the earth; he will find those rejoicing who
believed in his first coming, for he has come.
He will judge the world with equity
and the peoples in his truth. What are equity and truth? He will gather
together with him for the judgement his chosen ones, but the others he
will set apart; for he will place some on his right, others on his
left. What is more equitable, what more true than that they should not
themselves expect mercy from the judge, who themselves were unwilling
to show mercy before the judge’s coming. Those, however, who were
willing to show mercy will be judged with mercy. For it will be said to
those placed on his right: Come, blessed of my Father, take possession
of the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of
the world. And he reckons to their account their works of mercy: For I
was hungry and you gave me food to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me
drink.
What is imputed to those placed on his left side? That they refused to
show mercy. And where will they go? Depart into the everlasting fire.
The hearing of this condemnation will cause much wailing. But what has
another psalm said? The just man will be held in everlasting
remembrance; he will not fear the evil report. What is the evil report?
Depart into the everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and
his angels. Whoever rejoices to hear the good report will not fear the
bad. This is equity, this is truth.
Or do you, because you are unjust, expect the judge not to be just? Or
because you are a liar, will the truthful one not be true? Rather, if
you wish to receive mercy, be merciful before he comes; forgive
whatever has been done against you; give of your abundance. Of whose
possessions do you give, if not from his? If you were to give of your
own, it would be largesse; but since you give of his, it is
restitution. For what do you have, that you have not received? These
are the sacrifices most pleasing to God: mercy, humility, praise,
peace, charity. Such as these, then, let us bring and, free from fear,
we shall await the coming of the judge who will judge the world in
equity and the peoples in his truth.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 27- "On holy stillness of body and soul"
16. I have seen monks who insatiably nourished
their flaming desire for God through stillness, generating fire by fire,
love by love, desire by desire.
November 15, 2019
(1Co 11:23-27) For I have received of the Lord that which also I
delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was
betrayed, took bread, And giving thanks, broke and said: Take ye and
eat: This is my body, which shall be delivered for you. This do for the
commemoration of me. In like manner also the chalice, after he had
supped, saying: This chalice is the new testament in my blood. This do
ye, as often as you shall drink, for the commemoration of me. For as
often as you shall eat this bread and drink the chalice, you shall shew
the death of the Lord, until he come. Therefore, whosoever shall eat
this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be
guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord.
HLI NEWS COMMENTARY: A Merciful Decision to Deny Joe Biden Holy Communion
CRISIS MAGAZINE: We Have a Right to Life, Mr. Biden—Not the Eucharist
NEWS REPORT: Blessed Sacrament stolen from Texas Catholic parish
A MOMENT WITH MARY: To contemplate the face of Christ with Mary is the “program”
I would like to rekindle this Eucharistic “amazement” by the present
Encyclical Letter, in continuity with the Jubilee heritage which I have
left to the Church in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte and
its Marian crowning, Rosarium Virginis Mariae.
To contemplate the face of Christ, and to contemplate it with Mary, is
the “program” which I have set before the Church at the dawn of the
third millennium, summoning her to put out into the deep on the sea of
history with the enthusiasm of the new evangelization.
To contemplate Christ involves being able to recognize him wherever he
manifests himself, in his many forms of presence, but above all in the
living sacrament of his body and his blood.
The Church draws her life from Christ in the Eucharist; by him she is
fed and by him she is enlightened. The Eucharist is both a mystery of
faith and a “mystery of light.” Whenever the Church celebrates the
Eucharist, the faithful can in some way relive the experience of the
two disciples on the road to Emmaus: “their eyes were opened and they
recognized him” (Lk 24:31).
Pope Saint John Paul II In his encyclical letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia, #6
REGISTER RADIO: Scott Hahn on the Holy Eucharist
ON EUCHARISTIC MIRACLES
The Eucharistic Miracles of the World
5 Extraordinary Eucharistic Miracles that Left Physical Evidence (With Pictures!)
5 Incredible Eucharistic Miracles from the last 25 Years
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 27- "On holy stillness of body and soul"
12. The cell of the monk is the confines of his
body; he has within a shrine of knowledge.
November 13, 2019
(1Pe 5:1-3) The ancients therefore that are among you, I beseech who am
myself also an ancient and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as
also a partaker of that glory which is to be revealed in time to come:
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking care of it, not by
constraint but willingly, according to God: not for filthy lucre's sake
but voluntarily: Neither as lording it over the clergy but being made a
pattern of the flock from the heart.
ARCHBISHOP CHAPUT SPEAKS
In USCCB debate, Chaput defends prioritizing fight against abortion
The Urgency of Religious Freedom
DACA and our future
EXCERPT CRISIS MAGAZINE: Cardinal Sarah Marshals the Church Militant
Cardinal Sarah’s latest book, The
Day Is Now Far Spent, the fruit of conversations with the author
Nicolas Diat, is something of a rallying cry in troublous times,
covering a panoramic panoply of topics, from globalism to the liturgy
and all points in between. Nor does he pull his punches or mince his
words. Take, for instance, these words from the very first page of the
book:
As Saint Paul VI
used to say, we are being invaded by the smoke of Satan. The Church,
which ought to be a place of light, has become a dwelling place of
darkness. It ought to be a secure, peaceful family home, but look: it
has become a den of thieves! How can we tolerate the fact that
predators have entered among us, into our ranks?
This is fighting talk, the words of
a soldier of the Church Militant lamenting that “some men of God have
become agents of the Evil One [who] have sought to defile the pure
souls of the littlest ones”. Such predators have “humiliated the image
of Christ that is present in every child”.
As a man of faith and tradition,
the Cardinal is comfortable speaking of the devil and of those who
serve him, and this includes those in the Church’s hierarchy who serve
the very devil in whom, apparently, they don’t believe. He is
singularly unimpressed with such modernist equivocation, the cankered
fruit of infidelity, stating with aphoristic bluntness that “relativism
is the mask of Judas disguised as an intellectual”. Nor would he want
to be caught wearing such a mask when meeting his Maker. “In a little
while I will appear before the eternal Judge… We bishops ought to
tremble at the thought of our guilty silences, our complicit silences,
our over-indulgent silences in dealing with the world.” Having been
forthright in his condemnation of the scandals within the Church, he is
equally forthright in his understanding of what is needed to heal the
divisions and avert the danger of schism: “The hermeneutic of reform in
continuity that Benedict XVI taught so clearly is an indispensable
condition of unity.” By contrast, it is the hermeneutic of rupture,
advocated and advanced by those seeking a break with tradition and the
deconstruction of doctrine, which presents the greatest danger to unity
within the Church.
As a loyal child of the Church, he
distinguishes between the Church, as the Mystical Body of Christ, and
those members of the Church who rebel against the Body. “The devil
drives us to division and schism. He wants to make us believe that the
Church has betrayed us. But the Church does not betray. The Church,
full of sinners, is herself without sin!” This is the ecclesiology of
the true believer, of those who see the Church as Triumphant in heaven
and as Militant on earth; it is the very antithesis of the ecclesiology
of those who would reduce the Church to being a merely political
institution, answerable “democratically” to that small minority of her
members who happen to be walking around on earth at any particular
time. It is the authentic ecclesiology of the communion of saints,
which receives its authority from heaven, and not the false
ecclesiology of the sort of “democratic” mob rule that has its source
in the non serviam of rebellion which leads, in turn, to the sort of
anarchy that Oscar Wilde rightly describes as “freedom’s own Judas”.
Cardinal Sarah understands that the
saints are always in a minority in the world and in the Church Militant
but that it is they, and not the ordinary Catholic in the pew, who have
saved and built the Faith. The saints, he says, are “the stump that
will always revive so that the tree does not die”; it is they, the
“little flock”, who serve as “a model for the Church and the world”;
and it is they who are “the cornerstone of mankind”. Only a fool would
follow the clamor for “majority rule” as an alternative to the rule and
example of the saints. In any case, we should never lose sight of the
fact that the saints are only a minority in a temporal—and therefore a
temporary—sense.
In eternity, which is all that
ultimately matters, they represent not only a majority in the Church
but a unanimous majority. If one sees the Church in her fullness as the
Church Triumphant, consisting of all the saints and angels in heaven,
we see that this is where the real power of the Church resides, under
God himself, and that this power doesn’t demand its rights but lays
itself down in loving service. Why would one give “votes” to those
calling themselves Catholics and clamoring for their rights, who might
be going to hell, over those who have served the Church so faithfully
in this life that they are in the Presence of Christ for all eternity?
As for the ordinary Catholics in
the pew, we should be less concerned with votes on the parish council
and more concerned with the lighting of votive candles. We should not
demand “rights” but should embrace the responsibility of seeking the
Kingdom of God, asking for the assistance of the saints that, by the
grace of God, we might become saints ourselves. And yet, as Cardinal
Sarah laments, “we forget that heaven exists”. We are so caught up with
the things of the world that we forget the first and final things. “We
no longer see heaven,” he says, “and we no longer see God, either.”
Instead of losing ourselves in the things of this world, we need to
lose ourselves in Christ so that we might find ourselves in him. This
is why Cardinal Sarah urges priests to regain their Christocentric
focus. What he says to them is as applicable to the rest of us. The
priest, he says, “must not let himself be taken in by the world, as
though the time dedicated to Christ in intimate, silent prayer were
wasted time. The most wonderful fruits of our ministry are born in
silent prayer in front of the tabernacle.” Nothing more need be said.
“The rest is silence,” as Hamlet tells us, and, as Cardinal Sarah
reminds us, the best is silence also.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 27- "On holy stillness of body and soul"
8. A monk living with another monk is not like
a monk living as a solitary. When a monk is alone, he has need of great
vigilance and of an unwandering mind. The former is often helped by his
brother; but an angel assists the latter.
November 11, 2019
(Mat
5:9-12) Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the
children of God. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice'
sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when they
shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against
you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice for your reward is very
great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before
you.
POPE FRANCIS:
Dear brothers and sisters, my thoughts go to beloved Iraq, where the
protest demonstrations that have taken place this month have caused
many deaths and injuries. While expressing sorrow for the victims, and
closeness to their families and the wounded, I invite the authorities
to listen to the cry of the people for a dignified and peaceful life. I
urge all Iraqis, with the support of the international community, to
follow the path of dialogue and reconciliation and to seek just
solutions to the country’s challenges and problems. I pray that this
tormented people will find peace and stability after so many years of
war and violence, in which they have suffered so much.
BREAKING: Chaldean Patriarchate: three days of fasting to call for peace to return in Iraq
ACN NEWS: Aid to the Church in Need begins repair of churches, church buildings in Iraq’s Christian homeland
ALETEIA NEWS: Deadly protests in their country leave Iraqi Christians between hope and fear
Iraqi Christians, concentrated in
the north of the country, are far from the epicenter of deadly protests
in Baghdad, but their fate may be tied to the outcome of what
demonstrators are calling a “revolution” in Iraq. While protestors in Baghdad have
emphasized interfaith unity, protests have in fact been concentrated in
Iraq’s nine Shiite provinces, with limited participation from the Sunni
Muslim and minority-dominated north of the country.
Most Christians live close to
Mosul, Iraq’s largest Sunni Arab city, where the streets have been
quiet. Mosul residents told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that after
three years of war, people are tired of violence and “do not want war
anymore.” Protesting, they also said, might lead to accusations that
they are ISIS sympathizers trying to bring down the Iran-backed
regime—which could lead to an even more violent reaction from the
militias and security services who control the city.
Christians in northern Iraq largely
live in towns where, because of the fraught security situation,
protesting is banned by security forces and the Nineveh Provincial
Council. At most, some churches have held services calling for peace.
At Sts. Behnam and Sarah Church in Qaraqosh, the largest Christian city
in Iraq, Catholics gathered to pray for peace in their country, with
altar servers carrying Iraqi flags for the occasion.
Many of the issues highlighted by
protestors in Baghdad are the same ones faced by young Christians:
unemployment, corruption, and a government steered by Iranian
interests. On the Nineveh Plains, many Christians live under the
control of Iranian-backed militias, who have been accused of extorting
the local population, interfering with the economy, and intimidating
minorities.
MMRI: Iraqi Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako: Christians In Iraq Are Discriminated Against
Louis Raphaël I
Sako, the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon, said in an October
18, 2019 interview on Sharqiya News TV (Iraq) that Iraqi school
curricula that speak ill of Jews and Christians should be rewritten
entirely to discuss comradery, citizenship, and respect towards other
religions. When asked about Christian militias that fought against
Islamic State (ISIS), Sako said that there are no militias fighting on
behalf of Christianity and that he had asked leaders in the PMU to
prevent Christian parts of the PMU from identifying themselves as
Christian. He expressed opposition to Christians taking up arms and
fighting in the name of Christianity. In addition, Sako said that
Christians in Iraq and Nineveh have been very hurt by Islamic terrorism
in the region and that they are broken, unhappy, and discriminated
against by the state and employers.
FIDES.ORG: The
"misleading representations" of the initiatives of the Chaldean
Patriarch regarding the protests in the streets have been rejected
The recent meetings of Chaldean
Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako with the participants in the protest
demonstrations taking place in Baghdad in no way expressed an
"antagonistic" position of the leaders of the Chaldean Church towards
the government and national political institutions. They only wanted to
show solidarity with the legitimate demands of the demonstrators,
recognized as such also by the government, and to reiterate support for
the process of creating a genuine rule of law also in Iraq. This was
underlined by a statement released by the Chaldean Patriarchate itself,
which states in its title the intention to deny the "misleading
representations" circulated in the media and social networks in Iraq
regarding some of the Patriarch's initiatives, such as the recent
visits made by the Primate of the Church Chaldean to some wounded
hospitalized after the clashes in the streets and to the demonstrators
gathered in Tahrir Square, in Baghdad.
SHORT PRAYER BY POPE LEO XIII:
O Lord, you see how everywhere the winds have burst forth, and the sea
is convulsed with the great violence of the rising waves. Command, we
beseech you who alone are able, both the winds and the sea. Restore to
mankind the true peace of your name, that peace which the world cannot
give, and the calm of social harmony. Under your favor and inspiration
may men return to due order, and having overthrown the rule of greed,
bring back again as ought to be, the love of God, justice, charity
toward neighbor, temperance in all desires. May your kingdom come. May
all recognize that they are subject to you, and must serve you who are
truth and salvation; that without you they labor in vain. In your law
is reason and fatherly kindness. You are ever at hand with your
strength and your copious power to help man to keep it. Life upon earth
is a warfare, but you watch the contest and aim man to conquer. The
weak you sustain; the victor you crown.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 27- "On holy stillness of body and soul"
6. A monk is he who strives to confine his incorporeal
being within his bodily house, paradoxical as this is.
November 8, 2019
(Heb 12:1-2) And therefore we also having so great a cloud of witnesses
over our head, laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us,
let us run by patience to the fight proposed to us: Looking on Jesus,
the author and finisher of faith, who, having joy set before him,
endured the cross, despising the shame, and now sitteth on the right
hand of the throne of God.
LIFESITE ARCHIVES: The little-known but incredible story of the Holy Face of Manoppello
THE HOLY FACE: Padre Domenico da Cese (1905–1978)
Padre Domenico da Cese (1905–1978) was a stigmatist monk of the
Capuchin order.He was born Emilio Petrarca in Cese, near Avezzano,
Abruzzo, Italy, on 27th March 1905.
On 12th January 1915, at the age of 10, he predicted an earthquake
which did take place on the following day and took its toll in the area
around Avezzano. Emilio and his father were buried under debris of the
church which collapsed on them while they were taking part in a
service. The buried were helped by an unknown man with a bloodstained
face...
In October 1964, being a Capuchin already, Padre Domenico made a
pilgrimage to Manoppello. When he saw the Face, he shouted "This is
truly him! This is the man who saved me in 1915! This is his face!".
Fifty years after being saved, the Capuchin asked his superiors to be
transferred to Manoppello. Since that time until his death he was a
passionate promoter of Christ's Face – he gave lectures, showed
pilgrims round and informed the church authorities about the Image. At
the same time he was held in high esteem by the local community as he
had the stigmata and was believed to be a mage with extraordinary
healing powers. He compared the colours emitted from the Image to the
colours on the wings of butterflies (these days it is known that such
effects come into being without any pigments due to the refraction and
interference of light).
On 22nd September 1968 at 6 a.m. Domenico met Padre Pio, the famous
mystic and stigmatist well known for his bilocation ability, sitting in
a choir pew. Twenty hours after this meeting Padre Pio died in his cell
in San Giovanni Rotondo, located 150 kilometres away.
In 1978 Padre Domenico wished to see the great Christian relic i.e. the
Turin Shroud. It turned out to be his last trip from Manoppello. In a
Turin street the two-metre giant was run down by the smallest car in
the world, the Fiat 500.
Padre Domenico died in the hospital on 17th September 1978. His grave
is located in Cese and is venerated by the local folk and numerous
pilgrims. The faithful pray for his beatification.
LINK: Prayer for Beatification of the Servant of God Father Domenico da Cese, Apostle of the Holy Face
ALETEIA: Was this bilocating priest caught on camera at Padre Pio’s funeral?
TESTIMONY: Nudged by faith: St. Pio, the Holy Face and Padre Domenico da Cese
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA Tamara Klapatc: Updates on Padre Domenico - Volto Santo; Manoppello, Italy.
Recently, I was in Manoppello, Italy visiting with Sr. Petra- Maria
Steiner. I have seen first hand the need for all of us to help in
getting the Servant of God Padre Domenico da Cese known. While there I
also met with Fr. Carmine Cucinelli, the Rector of the Basilica del
Volto Santo, who has given me his blessing and approval for this
apostolate in the United States.
For those of you who are willing: first we need to get Sr.
Petra-Maria's books out there about his incredible life and his
tireless effort in spreading devotion to the Holy Face of our Risen
Lord. Secondly, the prayer cards, by praying for Padre Domenico's
intercession. Few people know about the Volto Santo; however, even
fewer ever heard about this humble Capuchin who made the connection
between the Shroud of Turin and the Holy Face. Padre Domenico was
gifted with the ability to read souls, the stigmata, bilocation -
caught on film during Saint Padre Pio's funeral, (most of you have
probably seen by now) as well as many other spiritual gifts.
Cese is a poor area of Italy, that is why after visiting the tomb of
Padre Domenico, his childhood home and the church where he was
miraculously saved by a "stranger", I feel a deep sense that our help
is very much needed. A bank account for the beatification process had
been set up in Manoppello for Padre Domenico if anyone is interested. I
believe in my heart, there is a reason for all of this at this time.
Please feel free to contact me with any ideas or in any way you can help, also thank you for your time.
May God bless you all abundantly especially through the intercession of the Servant of God Padre Domenico da Cese.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 27- "On holy stillness of body and soul"
5. The beginning of stillness is to throw off all
noise as disturbing for the depth of the soul. And the end of it is not
to fear disturbances but to remain insensible to them. He, who in actually
going out does not go out, is gentle and wholly a house of love. He is
not easily moved to speech, and he cannot be moved to anger. The opposite
of this is obvious.
November 6, 2019
(2Ti 2:1-3) Thou therefore, my son,
be strong in Christ Jesus: And the things which thou hast heard of me
by many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men who shall be fit to
teach others also. Labour as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
NEWS REPORT: Traditional Catholic parishes grow even as US Catholicism declines
Traditional Catholic parishes run
by one society of priests are growing in the United States, defying the
trend of decline in the broader American church over previous
decades. Over the past year, parishes run by the Priestly
Fraternity of St. Peter, a society of priests dedicated to celebrating
the traditional Latin form of the Catholic liturgy, have reported large
increases in Sunday Mass attendance. The traditional liturgy that draws
attendees is the form of the Mass celebrated before the reforms
instituted at the Second Vatican Council, a meeting of the church’s
bishops in the 1960s.
In Los Angeles, the fraternity did
not have their own church until 2018, but Mass attendance over the past
year doubled from 250 per Sunday to 500. The parish’s pastor, Fr. James
Fryar, commented for the fraternity’s website that, after his parish
added a fourth Mass on Sunday, “another 200 people came.” The Naples,
Florida, parish has been around for less than two years, but close to
400 people attend every Sunday, an increase of 20% from 2018. The
pastor, Fr. James Romanoski, told the Washington Examiner the parish
has been “averaging a new household — sometimes a family, sometimes an
individual — every week” for over a year.
Romanoski said people are attracted
to the liturgy and the strong community, which includes groups for men
and women, young and old alike, and monthly potlucks. “It’s a
great place for their kids, the priests are very involved with all the
people, and the people themselves can gel like a family,” said
Romanoski. Romanoski added that people often join from other
parishes, and even daily Masses get an average of about 50 parishioners
in attendance.
One Naples parishioner, Greg
Colker, was a Protestant who converted to Catholicism but first
attended a “standard” American Catholic parish, “not at all
particularly traditional, not at all particularly liberal,” he told the
Washington Examiner.
The traditional liturgy proved
transformative for him, and he described it as “something that has
formed from the heart of the church to form us into better people.” He
added, “There’s this big lie that the traditional stuff is legalistic
and rigid. I have found it to be anything but. I have found the
teaching to be clear and useful.” Sunday Mass attendance at the
fraternity's parish in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho increased by about 29% in
the past two years, while the parish in Atlanta has grown by 30% in the
last year.
It is difficult to gauge the total
number of Catholics affiliated with the fraternity's parishes or who
regularly attend traditional liturgies, as neither the church nor the
fraternity provide public information about attendance. The popularity
of the fraternity among American Catholics can be approximated through
other factors, including priestly ordinations and the society's
presence in dioceses around the country.
The fraternity has witnessed a
steady increase in the number of priests in the society since its
founding in 1988, and ordinations continue to grow. Between 2007 and
2012, an average of 10 seminarians were ordained priests each year.
Between 2013 and 2018, that number has jumped to an average of almost
15 per year. Annual reports provided to the Washington Examiner by the
society show the number of the fraternity's personal parishes has
tripled from 11 to 33 in the U.S. since 2008. A personal parish is a
Catholic community recognized by bishops based on a special feature of
the group, such as commitment to celebrating the Latin liturgy, rather
than geographical location.
Social media pages offer a less
conventional way of gauging interest in traditional Catholicism, with
humorous pages such as TradCatholic Memes and Traditional Catholic
Memes for Working Class Teens garnering 12,000 and 9,000 likes,
respectively. Another page, The Beauty of Catholicism, which frequently
posts images of the traditional liturgy, has almost 130,000 likes.
The growth of FSSP parishes comes
amid decades of decline in the Catholic Church in the U.S., which has
been marred by sexual abuse scandals. Since 1970, the number of priests
in the U.S. has declined by about 38% to 36,580 in 2018.
In absolute terms, the Catholic
population has grown from 54.1 million in 1970 to 76.3 million in 2018,
although that is down from a high of 81.2 million in 2005. In relative
terms, however, the Catholic population has declined as a share of the
overall U.S. population over the past decade, from 24% in 2007 to 20%
in 2019. The number of people identifying as former Catholics has
skyrocketed from 1.8 million in 1975 to 26.1 million in 2018.
Former Catholics tend to leave the
church at a young age, with one survey showing almost 80% of erstwhile
Catholics abandon the faith before age 23. About half of millennials,
those born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s, who were raised
Catholic no longer identify as Catholic. Two surveys of former
Catholics from the past decade found people who left usually did so
because they slowly lost interest in religion, stopped believing the
church’s teachings, and did not have their spiritual needs met.
A survey from 2018 found weekly
Mass attendance across U.S. parishes declined 6 percentage points from
2005 to 2017. An average of 39% of American Catholics attended Mass
weekly from 2014-2017, whereas weekly Mass attendance was at 75% in
1955.
Colker wondered whether less traditional Catholicism could account for the decline in faith. “I
think the jury is still out on whether or not more modern forms of
Catholicism are doing a good job at transmitting the faith,” said
Colker.
ABOUT: The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (In full communion with Rome)
SOCIETY OF ST. PIUS X (NOT in full communion with Rome)
CATHOLIC ANSWERS: The Status of the Society of St. Pius X (Part 2)
CRISIS MAGAZINE: SSPX: Back to the Bad Old Days?
SSPX NEWS: Transmitting What We Have Received: An Interview with the SSPX Superior General
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 27- "On holy stillness of body and soul"
4. A discerning monk will have no need of words,
since he is enlightened by deeds rather than by words.
November 4, 2019
(1Jn 2:15-18) Love not the world, nor the things which are in the
world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in
him. For all that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh and
the concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life, which is not of
the Father but is of the world. And the world passeth away and the
concupiscence thereof: but he that doth the will of God abideth for
ever. Little children, it is the last hour: and as you have heard that
Antichrist cometh, even now there are become many Antichrists: whereby
we know that it is the last hour.
FR. DWIGHT LONGENECKER:
First we overlook evil. Then we permit evil. Then we legalize evil.
Then we promote evil. Then we celebrate evil. Then we persecute those
who still call it evil.
FIRST THINGS: Reading the Signs of the Times
THE CATHOLIC THING: Lost in a Dark Wood: Final Thoughts on the Amazon Synod
EXCERPT THE CATHOLIC THING: Christ’s Triumph
A holy Franciscan priest I knew
once said about the Church in our day: “The world is too much with us.”
The Church is meant to stand apart from the world and announce the
jarring news that God has transformed the world through His Son’s
Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection.
The Church does not come
hat-in-hand to the world. The Church judges the world in order to call
men to repentance. The natural order in our fallen world finds it
fulfillment only when enlivened by God’s supernatural gift of grace.
Creation awaits its ongoing incorporation into the supernatural order
of redemption.
The salvation of souls is the
mission of the Church. The natural order must be conformed to Christ in
order to help us more readily embrace the mystery of Christ, and live
in this world in such a way as to attain the life of the world to come.
Sursum corda! Lift up your hearts!
the Church cries. The invisible world has been revealed in Christ, and
we now turn towards Him and away from our own faulty and corrupted
ideas about the meaning of reality.
Catholic sacred art and music are
perfect examples of how the Church has drawn man away from pagan
self-worship expressed in idolatrous images and Dionysian irrational
indulgence. Eternal life, not merely temporal contingencies, and
certainly not pagan errors, must be the focus of the Church’s life.
Schneider decries the worldly
emphasis of much of Church life today: “In the last years, the activity
of the Holy See and of many bishops’ conferences has even turned
predominantly to temporal affairs, which leads ultimately to
naturalism, which is the essence of the “heresy of action.”
Schneider defines this heresy as “frenzied activism.” He writes that
“the ‘heresy of action’ was already condemned by Pope Leo XIII in his
Apostolic Letter Testem Benevolentiae. . . .Pope Leo XIII refuted the
error of those clergy who, on the practical level, gave primacy to the
active virtues and to temporal and natural realities to the detriment
of supernatural realities, i.e., grace, prayer, penance. . .the ‘heresy
of action’ substitutes (practically speaking) “the primacy of man and
his actions for the primacy of God’s action.”
The result is: “The ‘heresy of action’ with its spirit of naturalism
causes a void in the souls of ecclesiastics and especially of bishops.
. . .these men attempt to fill this void with continuous meetings,
assemblies, and synods on different hierarchical levels and
geographical regions. All of these meetings produce a document, usually
an excessively long document. It seems there is a direct proportion
between the spiritual void and the length of the documents produced.
These lengthy documents contain much impressive rhetoric and beautiful
theories, but little sound theology and practical usefulness.”
EXCERPT MARK MALLET BLOG: A NEW WARNING?
A noteworthy event may have
happened in October, two days after that strange ritual in the Vatican
Gardens. According to an unverified report, Sr. Agnes Sasagawa of
Akita, who received that message above, allegedly received another on
the 6th (I spoke with a friend who knows a priest close to the circle
of Sr. Agnes, and he confirms this is what he has also heard, though he
too is awaiting more direct confirmation). The same angel who spoke to
her in the 1970’s allegedly appeared again with a simple message for
“everyone”:
Put on ashes and pray for a
repentant rosary every day.—source EWTN affiliate WQPH Radio;
wqphradio.org; the translation here seems awkward and might possibly be
translated, “pray a rosary for repentance every day” or “pray a
penanace rosary every day”.
An accompanying note from the
“messenger” referred to Jonah’s prophecy (3:1-10), which was also the
Mass reading on October 8th, 2019 (that day, the Gospel was about
Martha putting other things before God!). In that chapter, Jonah is
instructed to cover himself in ashes and warn Nineveh: “Forty days more
and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Is this a warning for the Church that
we have, at last, put the branch to God’s nose?
As Christians, we are not helpless.
Through prayer and fasting, we can cast out the demonic from our lives
and even suspend the laws of nature. I think it’s time that we took the
call to pray the Rosary seriously, which was one of the remedies
specifically given at Fatima to avert “the annihilation of nations.”
Whether this recent message from Akita is authentic or not, it’s the
right one for this hour.
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 27- "On holy stillness of body and soul"
3. A friend of stillness is a courageous and decisive
thought which keeps constant vigil at the doors of the heart, and kills
or repels the thoughts that come. He who practises silence with perception
of heart will understand this last remark; but he who is yet a child is
unaware and ignorant of it.
Links 
E-mail
Dr. Zambrano 
Home
Jubilee
2000: Bringing the World to Jesus
The
Tribulation Times Archives:
FAIR
USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the
use of which
has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We
are making such material available in our efforts to advance
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this
constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted
material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance
with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research and educational
purposes. For more detailed information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of
your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain
permission from the copyright owner.