Day: October 22, 2017

Posted in MORNING Prayers, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

World Mission Sunday – 22 October – 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

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World Mission Sunday – 22 October – 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

‘Mission at the Heart of the Christian Faith’

Pope Francis’ Message for World Mission Sunday 2017, which is focused on Mission at the Heart of the Christian Faith.WORLD MISSION SUNDAY 22 OCT 2017

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Once again this year, World Mission Day gathers us around the person of Jesus, “the very first and greatest evangeliSer” (PAUL VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 7), who continually sends us forth to proclaim the Gospel of the love of God the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.    This Day invites us to reflect anew on the mission at the heart of the Christian faith.    The Church is missionary by nature; otherwise, she would no longer be the Church of Christ but one group among many others that soon end up serving their purpose and passing away.   So it is important to ask ourselves certain questions about our Christian identity and our responsibility as believers in a world marked by confusion, disappointment and frustration, and torn by numerous fratricidal wars that unjustly target the innocent.  What is the basis of our mission?   What is the heart of our mission?   What are the essential approaches we need to take in carrying out our mission?

Mission and the transformative power of the Gospel of Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life

1. The Church’s mission, directed to all men and women of good will, is based on the transformative power of the Gospel.   The Gospel is Good News filled with contagious joy, for it contains and offers new life: the life of the Risen Christ who, by bestowing His life-giving Spirit, becomes for us the Way, the Truth and the Life (cf. Jn 14:6).   He is the Way who invites us to follow Him with confidence and courage.   In following Jesus as our Way, we experience Truth and receive His Life, which is fullness of communion with God the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.   That life sets us free from every kind of selfishness and is a source of creativity in love.

2. God the Father desires this existential transformation of his sons and daughters, a transformation that finds expression in worship in spirit and truth (cf. Jn 4:23-24), through a life guided by the Holy Spirit in imitation of Jesus the Son to the glory of God the Father.   “The glory of God is the living man” (IRENAEUS, Adversus Haereses IV, 20, 7).  The preaching of the Gospel thus becomes a vital and effective word that accomplishes what it proclaims (cf. Is 55:10-11): Jesus Christ, who constantly takes flesh in every human situation (cf. Jn 1:14).

Mission and the kairos of Christ

3. The Church’s mission, then, is not to spread a religious ideology, much less to propose a lofty ethical teaching.   Many movements throughout the world inspire high ideals or ways to live a meaningful life.   Through the mission of the Church, Jesus Christ himself continues to evangelize and act; her mission thus makes present in history the kairos, the favourable time of salvation.   Through the proclamation of the Gospel, the risen Jesus becomes our contemporary, so that those who welcome Him with faith and love can experience the transforming power of His Spirit, who makes humanity and creation fruitful, even as the rain does with the earth.  “His resurrection is not an event of the past; it contains a vital power which has permeated this world.   Where all seems to be dead, signs of the resurrection suddenly spring up.  It is an irresistible force” (Evangelii Gaudium, 276).

4. Let us never forget that “being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea but the encounter with an event, a Person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction” (BENEDICT XVI, Deus Caritas Est, 1).   The Gospel is a Person who continually offers Himself and constantly invites those who receive Him with humble and religious faith to share His life by an effective participation in the paschal mystery of His death and resurrection.   Through Baptism, the Gospel becomes a source of new life, freed of the dominion of sin, enlightened and transformed by the Holy Spirit.  Through Confirmation, it becomes a fortifying anointing that, through the same Spirit, points out new ways and strategies for witness and accompaniment.   Through the Eucharist, it becomes food for new life, a “medicine of immortality” (IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH, Ad Ephesios, 20, 2).

5. The world vitally needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   Through the Church, Christ continues his mission as the Good Samaritan, caring for the bleeding wounds of humanity, and as Good Shepherd, constantly seeking out those who wander along winding paths that lead nowhere.   Thank God, many significant experiences continue to testify to the transformative power of the Gospel.   I think of the gesture of the Dinka student who, at the cost of his own life, protected a student from the enemy Nuer tribe who was about to be killed.   I think of that Eucharistic celebration in Kitgum, in northern Uganda, where, after brutal massacres by a rebel group, a missionary made the people repeat the words of Jesus on the cross:   “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?” as an expression of the desperate cry of the brothers and sisters of the crucified Lord.   For the people, that celebration was an immense source of consolation and courage.   We can think too of countless testimonies to how the Gospel helps to overcome narrowness, conflict, racism, tribalism, and to promote everywhere, and among all, reconciliation, fraternity, and sharing.

Mission inspires a spirituality of constant exodus, pilgrimage, and exile

6. The Church’s mission is enlivened by a spirituality of constant exodus.   We are challenged “to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all the peripheries in need of the light of the Gospel” (Evangelii Gaudium, 20).   The Church’s mission impels us to undertake a constant pilgrimage across the various deserts of life, through the different experiences of hunger and thirst for truth and justice.   The Church’s mission inspires a sense of constant exile, to make us aware, in our thirst for the infinite, that we are exiles journeying towards our final home, poised between the “already” and “not yet” of the Kingdom of Heaven.

7.  Mission reminds the Church that she is not an end unto herself but a humble instrument and mediation of the Kingdom.   A self-referential Church, one content with earthly success, is not the Church of Christ,hhis crucified and glorious Body.  That is why we should prefer “a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security” (ibid., 49).

Young people, the hope of mission

8. Young people are the hope of mission.   The person of Jesus Christ and the Good News He proclaimed continue to attract many young people.   They seek ways to put themselves with courage and enthusiasm at the service of humanity.   “There are many young people who offer their solidarity in the face of the evils of the world and engage in various forms of militancy and volunteering…  How beautiful it is to see that young people are ‘street preachers’, joyfully bringing Jesus to every street, every town square and every corner of the earth!” (ibid., 106).   The next Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, to be held in 2018 on the theme Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment, represents a providential opportunity to involve young people in the shared missionary responsibility that needs their rich imagination and creativity.

The service of the Pontifical Mission Societies

9. The Pontifical Mission Societies are a precious means of awakening in every Christian community a desire to reach beyond its own confines and security in order to proclaim the Gospel to all.   In them, thanks to a profound missionary spirituality, nurtured daily, and a constant commitment to raising missionary awareness and enthusiasm, young people, adults, families, priests, bishops and men and women religious work to develop a missionary heart in everyone.    World Mission Day, promoted by the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, is a good opportunity for enabling the missionary heart of Christian communities to join in prayer, testimony of life and communion of goods, in responding to the vast and pressing needs of evangelization.

Carrying out our mission with Mary, Mother of Evangelization

10. Dear brothers and sisters, in carrying out our mission, let us draw inspiration from Mary, Mother of Evangelisation.   Moved by the Spirit, she welcomed the Word of life in the depths of her humble faith.   May the Virgin Mother help us to say our own “yes”, conscious of the urgent need to make the Good News of Jesus resound in our time.  May she obtain for us renewed zeal in bringing to everyone the Good News of the life that is victorious over death.   May she intercede for us so that we can acquire the holy audacity needed to discover new ways to bring the gift of salvation to every man and woman.

From the Vatican, 4 June 2017
Solemnity of Pentecost

Mary, Mother of Evangelisation, Pray for the Church, Pray for us all – that we may go forth and make the Good News of Jesus resound in our time!MARY MOTHER OF EVANGELISATION - 22 oct 2017

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 22 October – St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

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Saint of the Day – 22 October – St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) Pope, Philosopher, Theologian, Writer, Preacher, Professor and Teacher, Apostle of the Holy Eucharist, Eucharistic Adoration, Charity and Mercy.   Patronages – Archdiocese of Kraków, World Youth Day (Co-Patron). World Meeting of Families 2015 (Co-Patron), Young Catholics, Families, Świdnica.   St John Paul was the second longest-serving pope in modern history after Pope Pius IX, who served for nearly 32 years from 1846 to 1878.   Born in Poland, John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope since the Dutch Pope Adrian VI, who served from 1522 to 1523.   John Paul II’s cause for canonisation commenced in 2005 one month after his death with the traditional five-year waiting period waived.   On 19 December 2009, John Paul II was proclaimed Venerable by his successor Pope Benedict XVI and was beatified on 1 May 2011 (Divine Mercy Sunday) after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints attributed one miracle to his intercession, the healing of a French nun from Parkinson’s disease.   A second miracle attributed to John Paul II’s intercession was approved on 2 July 2013 and confirmed by Pope Francis two days later (two miracles must be attributed to a person’s intercession to be declared a saint).   John Paul II was canonised on 27 April 2014 (again Divine Mercy Sunday), together with Pope John XXIII.   On 11 September 2014, Pope Francis added John Paul II’s optional memorial feast day to the worldwide General Roman Calendar of saints, in response to worldwide requests.   It is traditional to celebrate saints’ feast days on the anniversary of their deaths but that of John Paul II (22 October) is celebrated on the anniversary of his papal inauguration.

KAROL JÓZEF WOJTYŁA, elected Pope on 16 October 1978, was
born in Wadowice, Poland, on 18 May 1920.

He was the third of three children born to Karol Wojtyła and Emilia
Kaczorowska, who died in 1929. His elder brother Edmund, a
physician, died in 1932, and his father, Karol, a non-commissioned
officer in the army, died in 1941.

He was nine years old when he received his First Communion and
eighteen when he received the Sacrament of Confirmation.   After
completing high school in Wadowice, he enrolled in the Jagellonian
University of Krakow in 1938.

When the occupying Nazi forces closed the University in 1939,
Karol worked (1940-1944) in a quarry and then in the Solvay
chemical factory to earn a living and to avoid deportation to Germany.

Feeling called to the priesthood, he began his studies in 1942 in
the clandestine major seminary of Krakow, directed by the Archbishop
Adam Stefan Sapieha.   During that time, he was one of the organisers
of the “Rhapsodic Theatre”, which was also clandestine.

After the war, Karol continued his studies in the major seminary,
newly reopened and in the school of theology at the Jagellonian
University, until his priestly ordination in Krakow on 1 November
1946.   Father Wojtyła was then sent by Cardinal Sapieha to Rome,
where he attained a doctorate in theology (1948).   He wrote his
dissertation on faith as understood in the works of Saint John of
the Cross.   While a student in Rome, he spent his vacations
exercising pastoral ministry among Polish emigrants in France,
Belgium and Holland.

Undated filer of the young Karol Wojtyla, who later became Pope John Paul II. Pope John Paul II is not in a coma but is beginning to lose consciousness and his general condition remains “critical”, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said Saturday, 02 April 2005. The spokesman also appeared to confirm concerns that the 84-year-old pope was nearing the end. EPA/STF (B/W only) +++(c) dpa – Bildfunk+++

In 1948, Father Wojtyła returned to Poland and was appointed a
curate in the parish church of Niegowić, near Krakow, and later at
Saint Florian in the city.   He was a university chaplain until 1951,
when he again undertook studies in philosophy and theology.   In
1953, Father Wojtyła presented a dissertation at the Jagellonian
University of Krakow on the possibility of grounding a Christian
ethic on the ethical system developed by Max Scheler.   Later he
became professor of moral theology and ethics in the major
seminary of Krakow and in the theology faculty of Lublin.

On 4 July 1958, Pope Pius XII appointed Father Wojtyła auxiliary
bishop of Krakow, with the titular see of Ombi.   Archbishop
Eugeniusz Baziak ordained him in Wawel Cathedral (Krakow)
on 28 September 1958.

On 13 January 1964, Pope Paul VI appointed Bishop Wojtyła as
Archbishop of Krakow and subsequently, on 26 June 1967, created
him a Cardinal.

Bishop Wojtyła took part in the Second Vatican Council (1962-
1965) and made a significant contribution to the drafting of the
Constitution Gaudium et Spes.   He also took part in the five assemblies
of the Synod of Bishops prior to the start of his Pontificate.

On 16 October 1978, Cardinal Wojtyła was elected Pope and on 22
October he began his ministry as universal Pastor of the Church.

Pope John Paul II made 146 pastoral visits in Italy and, as the Bishop
of Rome, he visited 317 of the current 322 Roman parishes.   His
international apostolic journeys numbered 104 and were expressions
of the constant pastoral solicitude of the Successor of Peter for
all the Churches.

His principal documents include 14 Encyclicals, 15 Apostolic
Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions and 45 Apostolic Letters.
He also wrote five books:   Crossing the Threshold of Hope (October
1994); Gift and Mystery:   On the Fiftieth Anniversary of My Priestly
Ordination (November 1996);   Roman Triptych, meditations in
poetry (March 2003);   Rise, Let Us Be on Our Way (May 2004)
and Memory and Identity (February 2005).

Pope John Paul II celebrated 147 beatifications, during which he
proclaimed 1,338 blesseds and 51 canonisations, for a total of 482
saints.   He called 9 consistories, in which he created 231 Cardinals
(plus one in pectore).   He also presided at 6 plenary meetings of the
College of Cardinals.

From 1978, Pope John Paul II convoked 15 assemblies of the Synod
of Bishops: 6 ordinary general sessions (1980, 1983, 1987, 1990,
1994 and 2001), 1 extraordinary general session (1985) and 8
special sessions (1980, 1991,1994,1995,1997,1998 (2) and 1999).

On 3 May 1981, an attempt was made on Pope John Paul II’s life
in Saint Peter’s Square.   Saved by the maternal hand of the Mother
of God, following a lengthy stay in the hospital, he forgave the
attempted assassin and, aware of having received a great gift,
intensified his pastoral commitments with heroic generosity.

Pope John Paul II also demonstrated his pastoral concern by
erecting numerous dioceses and ecclesiastical circumscriptions,
and by promulgating Codes of Canon Law for the Latin and the
Oriental Churches, as well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
He proclaimed the Year of Redemption, the Marian Year and the
Year of the Eucharist as well as the Great Jubilee Year of 2000,
in order to provide the People of God with particularly intense spiritual
experiences. He also attracted young people by beginning the
celebration of World Youth Day.WYD 2YOUTH GATHER IN CZESTOCHOWA FOR WORLD YOUTH DAY

No other Pope met as many people as Pope John Paul II. More
than 17.6 million pilgrims attended his Wednesday General Audiences
(which numbered over 1,160). This does not include any of
the other special audiences and religious ceremonies (more than 8
million pilgrims in the Great Jubilee Year of 2000 alone). He met
millions of the faithful in the course of his pastoral visits in Italy
and throughout the world. He also received numerous government
officials in audience, including 38 official visits and 738 audiences
and meetings with Heads of State, as well as 246 audiences and
meetings with Prime Ministers.

President Jimmy Carter with Pope John Paul II, photograph by Bill Fitz-Patrick, October 6, 1979. Pope John Paul II was the first pope to ever visit the White House. Courtesy National Archives, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, Atlanta, Georgia.

Pope John Paul II died in the Apostolic Palace at 9:37 p.m. on
Saturday, 2 April 2005, the vigil of Sunday in albis or Divine Mercy
Sunday, which he had instituted. On 8 April, his solemn funeral
was celebrated in Saint Peter’s Square and he was buried in the
crypt of Saint Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Francis prays in front of the tomb of the late Blessed John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican April 2, the eighth anniversary of his death. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters) (April 2, 2013)

 

John Paul II was beatified in Saint Peter’s Square on 1 May 2011 by
Pope Benedict XVI, his immediate successor and for many years
his valued collaborator as Prefect for the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith and canonised on 27 April 2014, together
with Pope John XXIII, by Pope Francis.0005260_tu-es-petrus-le-chiavi-del-regno-da-giovanni-paolo-ii-a-benedetto-xvi-1-x-60-minpope benedict holds a new portraitCanonisation 1.canonisation 2.canonisation 3.

Booklet for the Celebration of the Canonization of Blesseds John XXIII and John Paul II, 27 April 2014 from the Vatican

Posted in MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

Thought for the Day – 22 October – The Memorial of St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

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Thought for the Day – 22 October – The Memorial of St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

Before John Paul II’s funeral Mass in St Peter’s Square, hundreds of thousands of people had waited patiently for a brief moment to pray before his body, which lay in state inside St Peter’s for several days.   The media coverage of his funeral was unprecedented.

Presiding at the funeral Mass, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger–then dean of the College of Cardinals and later Pope Benedict XVI–concluded his homily by saying:  “None of us can ever forget how, in that last Easter Sunday of his life, the Holy Father, marked by suffering, came once more to the window of the Apostolic Palace and one last time gave his blessing urbi et orbi (‘to the city and to the world’).

“We can be sure that our beloved pope is standing today at the window of the Father’s house, that sees us and blesses us.   Yes, bless us, Holy Father.   We entrust your dear soul to the Mother of God, your Mother, who guided you each day and who will guide you now to the glory of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”

Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us!mary mother of god pray for us
St John Paul, ‘Witness to Hope’ – Pray for us!st jp pray for us.2

“Christ is the center of the universe and of human history” was the opening line of John Paul II’s 1979 encyclical, Redeemer of the Human Race. In 1995, he described himself to the United Nations General Assembly as “a witness to hope.”

Posted in MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

Quote/s of the Day – 22 October – The Memorial of St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

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Quote/s of the Day – 22 October – The Memorial of St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

“The cemetery of the victims of human cruelty
in our century is extended to include
yet another vast cemetery,
that of the unborn.”the cemetery-st jop - 22 oct 2017

“The ultimate test of your greatness
is the way you treat every human being.”

“Nobody is so poor he has nothing to give
and nobody is so rich he has nothing to receive.”

“It’s better to cry than be angry
because anger hurts others,
while tears flow silently through the soul
and cleans the heart.”the ultimate test - st jp - 22 oct 2017

“If you want peace, work for justice.
If you want justice, defend life.
If you want life, embrace truth.”if you want peace - st jp - 22 oct 2017

“Darkness can only be scattered by light,
hatred can only be conquered by love.”darkness - st jp - 22 oct 2017

“In this silence of the white Host,
carried in the Monstrance, are all His words;
there is His whole life given in offering to the Father
for each of us;
there is also the glory of the glorified body,
which started with the Resurrection
and still continues in Heavenly union.”

St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)in this silence of the white host - st jp - 22 oct 2017

Posted in PAPAL ENCYLICALS, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 22 October – The Memorial of St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

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One Minute Reflection – 22 October – The Memorial of St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

“Victory to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!“…Revelations 7:10

REFLECTION – “Not only the devil is involved in spiritual warfare but the Holy Spirit is equally involved, or more involved in it,
bringing men and women of goodwill the ability to overcome evil in their lives, so that they too can say: “Where evil abounded, grace super-abounded!” (Rom 5:20).” …St John Paul (The Holy Spirit (Dominum Et Vivificantem – 1986)not only the devil - st jp - 22 oct 2017

PRAYER – Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit! Your light will never fail us! By the intercession of St John Paul, grant us the grace to ever call on You, blessed and Holy Trinity, one God who brings us everlasting light and protection here on earth from the evil one. St John Paul, pray for us, amen.st jp pray for us

Posted in MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Our Morning Offering – 22 October – The Memorial of St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

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Our Morning Offering – 22 October – The Memorial of St Pope John Paul II (1920-2005)

Thanksgiving for the Eucharist
By St Pope John Paul II

For our paschal lamb,
Christ, has been sacrificed.
Therefore, let us celebrate the feast!
O Christ the Saviour,
we give You thanks
for Your redeeming sacrifice,
the only hope of men!
O Christ the Saviour,
we give You thanks
for the Eucharistic breaking of bread,
which You instituted,
in order to really meet, Your brothers,
in the course of the centuries!
O Christ the Saviour,
put into the hearts of the baptised,
the desire to offer themselves with You
and to commit themselves,
for the salvation of their brothers!
You who are really present
in the Blessed Sacrament,
spread Your blessings abundantly
on Your people…Amenprayer of thanksgiving for the eucharist - st john paul - 22 oct 2017

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Memorials of the Saints – 22 October

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St Pope John Paul II (Optional Memorial) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEQKbB5sKKc
—
St Abericus Marcellus
St Alodia of Huesca
St Apollo of Bawit
St Benedict of Macerac
St Bertharius of Monte Cassino
St Cordula
St Donatus of Fiesoli
Bl Esclaramunda of Majorca
St Hermes of Adrianople
St Ingbert
St Leothade of Auch
St Lupenzius
St Mark of Jerusalem
St Maroveus of Precipiano
St Mellon
St Moderan of Rennes
St Nepotian of Clermont
St Nunctus of Mérida
St Nunilo of Huesca
St Philip of Adrianople
St Philip of Fermo
St Rufus of Egypt
St Symmachus of Capua
St Valerius of Langres
St Verecundus of Verona
—
Martyrs of Heraclea – 4 saints: A group of four clerics in Heraclea (modern Marmara Ereglisi, Turkey) who were arrested in the persecutions of Diocletian. They were imprisoned, abused and ordered to turn over all the scriptures that they had hidden from authorities; they refused and were executed together. Martyrs. – Eusebius, Hermes, Philip and Severus. They were burned at the stake in 304 in Adrianople (modern Edirne, Turkey).

Martyrs of Adianople:
• Blessed Alexander
• Blessed Anna
• Blessed Elisabeth
• Blessed Glyceria
• Blessed Heraclius
• Blessed Theodota

Martyred in the Spanish Civil War:
• Blessed Álvaro Ibáñez Lázaro
• Blessed Andrés Zarraquino Herrero
• Blessed Estanislao García Obeso
• Blessed Germán Caballero Atienza
• Blessed José Menéndez García
• Blessed Josep Casas Lluch
• Blessed Luis Minguel Ferrer
• Blessed Pedro Lorente Vicente
• Blessed Victoriano Ibañez Alonso