ACN News - In search of a future in Iraq

A leading bishop has described how Christians in Iraq believe “there is no future” for them there but are afraid to flee abroad because of political uncertainty and crisis in neighboring countries.

Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, in the Kurdish north of Iraq, described the people’s shock after father of four Arakan Yacob, an Orthodox Christian, was shot dead on Tuesday, May 31st, in the nearby city of Mosul.

Mr. Yacob’s killing is the latest in a series of attacks. According to Archbishop Warda, since 2002 more than 570 Christians have been killed in religiously and politically-motivated violence.

In an interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Archbishop Warda said that since Mr. Yacob’s death a number of the faithful had said they wanted to emigrate.

He continued by saying that emigration was difficult, however, because of political crisis and uncertainty in neighboring Syria and Turkey.

Both countries have already provided sanctuary to many thousands of Christians who fled persecution in the years since 2003, when religious violence suddenly escalated after the overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Speaking from Erbil, Archbishop Warda told ACN, “The latest murder adds to the pessimistic view that there is no future.”

“No matter how you try to convince people things are getting better, they say look at these things that are happening.”

Describing renewed talk of emigration among Iraqi Christians, he went on, “Even the situation in neighboring Turkey is not that good, and with what’s going on in Syria at the moment, a family thinking of emigration has limited choices.”

But he refused to be downcast. He said, “The message of hope is always there – life should go on – that’s the message.”

Archbishop Warda has, nonetheless, made no secret of his people’s suffering and provided statistics showing that since the 1980s, Christians in Iraq had plummeted from up to 1.4 million to as low as 150,000.

Amid reports of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians fleeing the country, he went on to state that between 2006 and 2010, 17 Iraqi priests and two Iraqi bishops had been abducted and were either beaten or tortured by their kidnappers.

Of those, one bishop, four priests and three sub-deacons were killed.

With no sign of an end to the violence, it also emerged that Mr. Yacob, the Mosul Christian who died this week, had been the target of two previous kidnapping attempts.

His death came three weeks after the body of kidnap victim Ashur Yacob Issa, 29, was discovered on May 16th.

Mr. Issa’s family said they were unable to pay the $102,200 ransom demanded by his kidnappers.

As a Catholic charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, Aid to the Church in Need has prioritized help for Iraq in line with a 2007 directive from Pope Benedict XVI to help the Church in the Middle East where he said “it is threatened in its very existence.”

ACN has provided emergency aid for refugees in Iraq, Jordan and Turkey, food for displaced Christians in northern Iraq, and Mass stipends for poor and oppressed priests, as well as support for Sisters and help for seminarians displaced to the north of the country.

Thanking ACN, Archbishop Warda said, “It is reassuring to know that people are praying for us.”


With image of Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, northern Iraq


Editor’s Notes:



Directly under the Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.  ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work in over 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information contact Michael Varenne at michael@churchinneed.org or call 718-609-0939 or fax718-609-0938. Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard Street, PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222-0384. www.churchinneed.org

WAF Special Announcement for the 100 th Anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima's Apparition

World Apostolate of Fatima - Honolulu Division

June 7 St. Joseph apparition in France -prayer - Prayer For those in Need of Employment

From Mary Jane D.

On June 7, 1660, at about one o’clock in the afternoon, a young shepherd from Cotignac, 22 year-old Gaspard Ricard, was watching his flock of sheep on the eastern slopes of Mount Bessillon. The heat was oppressive and Gaspard was thirsty. Suddenly, he saw “a man at his side” who pointed to a rock, saying: “I am Joseph; lift this rock and you can drink.” Gaspard had his doubts because the rock looked heavy. The apparition repeated his instructions. The shepherd obeyed, moving the rock without difficulty, and found a source.

to read more about the apparition and the shrine in France:

click here

Short Novena prayer (translated from French)



Hail Joseph, you know that divine grace

has filled the Savior

who rested in your arms

and grew up under your eyes.

You are blessed among all people

and Jesus, the Divine Child

of your virginal bride is blessed.

Saint Joseph, foster father to the Son of God,

pray for us in our family concerns,

health and work,

until our last days and

deign to help us in the hour of our death. AMEN

(mention your intentions)

please remember the unemployed

and those who are seeking employment

ACN News - Botswana: God’s Love is the center of my life

An interview with Bishop Valentine Tsamma Seane – Bishop of Gaborone

Valentine Tsamma Seane was born on 2nd November of 1966 in Lobatse, Gaborone. On February 5th, 2009, Pope Benedict appointed him as the new Bishop of Gaborone.

Botswana is one of Africa’s most stable countries and it has the longest continuous multiparty democracy. It is also a large producer of diamonds. What is the situation of Christianity in Botswana?

Botswana is known to be a Christian country. Statistically the Catholic Church accounts for 5 - 6% and other Christian Churches: Protestants, Pentecostals, Spirituals and other independent churches represent about 67%. So you can see it is a Christian country.

So the Catholic Church is a minority church?

Yes in that sense, but if you take the churches individually like Anglican Church, or the Lutheran Church, the Catholic Church is the largest single denomination. If you group the other Christian Churches together then they make up a larger part of the population.

How did Protestants come to outnumber Catholics?

The Protestants were the first ones to enter as missionaries and for many years they convinced the tribal chiefs not to allow the Catholic Church to enter the country. The Catholic Church was allowed to mission only in 1928. By then the Protestant churches were already well established.

You are a new bishop and one of the first things you wrote was: “I’m a Valentine with a big heart.” Why?

I love working with people and, I suppose, because of my openness and passion for working and serving people. I also discovered that my personality and my heart contribute to that expression: self-giving to others, serving the Church of Christ.

What is your other name?

I’m also known as Vala, which is short for Valentine. Many people also know me by Tsamma, which means a staff or walking stick. My grandfather gave this name to me because I used to walk with him and he said that I am his staff. The name stuck with me.

Why did you become a priest?

I originally wanted to become a lawyer and when a priest came to my parish to preach I thought that I could also serve the people as a priest. I went to the Seminary and I continued to be fulfilled and I discovered that it was my vocation, to serve the people of God as a priest.

The priestly vocation is not easy. You have to live a celibate life?

Yes it is very challenging and it is a gift from God. It is not just an individual decision and individual capability. One spends eight years in the seminary and the spiritual life is very important and this is what helps us in this journey, a journey of service. It is difficult and it is not easy and it demands self-giving all the time.

Upon your ordination all the important people of Botswana were present. Why was this such an event?

You have to remember that many people, including Catholics, have never witnessed an ordination. My predecessor was a bishop for 27 years, so most people were not there. There were 15,000 people at the city hall including visitors from the neighboring countries like South Africa - I worked as a priest in Pretoria. Bishops from Botswana and South Africa came as well as many stars, business people and government members. So it was a national event.

It rained during your ordination. It was seen as a special sign. Why is this?

Botswana is very arid, so rain is very precious to us. Even our money is called pula (rain). Rain brings life. As rain is very rare, whenever it rains it is precious and it is seen as a blessing. Even in my family during special occasions, when it rains, it is seen as a blessing. On that day it started as a sunny day. There were no clouds present but towards the end it rained and it was seen as a blessing, a special occasion. God was happy. The ancestors were happy, everybody was happy.

You also wrote that you have experienced God's love. How have you experienced His love?

I have experienced it all my life. We grew up well. We are five siblings: two brothers and three sisters. I have experienced the invisible hand of God all my life from childhood, in high school and throughout the various changes during my growth. As you mentioned, I was ordained a priest when I was 27 years old and people were wondering about my age. It happened again when I was ordained bishop. When I was ordained bishop there were only 10 bishops younger than me in the whole world. In our conference I am the youngest bishop. So I still experience today the love of God and this helps me to go on in the service of His church.

What have you chosen as a motto?

Deus Caritas Est – God is love. I read the encyclical of the Pope, but it just came to me; the love of God is that around which my life centers. The invisible hand of God, that love is what is guiding me. So I keep on appreciating and thanking God for that. I found that it is precious and it helps me to strive to do my work.

You have received so much. What is the first thing you wish to give to your diocese?

I want to encourage local vocations to the priesthood and religious life. I want the indigenous people to be able to discern and respond to God's call so that the church can be in the hands of the local people who understand the culture of the people. So far it is very promising because there are 16 young men in the major seminary, so the future is promising. I have already ordained three priests as the new bishop. The other thing is the promotion of a self propagating and self reliant church.

What does this mean?

It means that people should be ready to participate in the building of the church - financially and otherwise. Despite being poor, they can give in some other ways: their time, their skills and resources for the benefit of the church because people know that for a time they were receiving and now it is time to give. When I see the church as self-sustaining and self-propagating, then I will be happy.

AIDS is also a problem. What is your answer to this scourge?

Botswana was fortunate that when AIDS was discovered the government stood out and spoke aloud: we have this problem. They wanted the world to know and in that way Botswana received assistance. The government also budgeted and provided free medication as well as AIDS education from primary through to university. Those with the disease received anti-viral ARVS and these were distributed in all the hospitals for free for those people in need. It is good because these people were accepted and the state accepted that it was a problem and the government was able to allocate resources towards that.

However, it is in the educational aspect where we differ. The government, for instance, promotes condoms; condom-sense instead of common sense. The church talks about common sense because the church understands that as human beings we are intellectual beings with the ability to control ourselves and we can do that if we are educated. We stress more the “Education for Life” program.

While the government is doing its best to help people with medication, it [the government] says that this has to be an attack on all fronts including of course the distribution of condoms, which is not for us to promote. The church promotes “Education for Life”. The government and the NGO's missed the point in the beginning. Only now are they turning around and slowly seeing the wisdom of the church because of the problem of multi-partners. They are seeing the problem and are addressing the issue through education.

By multiple partners, do you mean polygamy?

No, polygamy is not a common practice in Botswana. It is in the culture but it is not a common practice. The issue is multiple partners before marriage or even after and not multiple wives. This is what has contributed to the problem. We hope that the church’s message will be heard and will help the country make the right choices for the good of the country.

Are the young people willing to listen to this message of the church?

Yes, the young people are. It is a question of forming the conscience of people and ultimately the choice belongs to them, but they can only activate their knowledge if they are informed. So what we do is give people knowledge and information, and then they are left to make their choice because the conscience is the “highest court of appeal”. Ultimately their conscious will have to choose: we choose what culture says, we choose what the state is promoting, we choose what the church says.

The government is seeing the wisdom of the church with regards to the issue of AIDS?

Yes slowly, slowly they are seeing it. You cannot think that by distributing prophylactics to people that you can say that you are doing something. If people are conditioned they become totally dependent and then they lose their ability to contain themselves and you end up behaving on your impulses, feelings and senses and forgetting that you have the ability to say ‘yes’ or ‘no' and forgetting that you are a responsible person.

How is the relationship between Church and government especially now that you are the bishop?

Fortunately the government of Botswana has a history of having good relations with the church because the church, when it began in 1928, the government at that time was incapable of building schools and clinics and the missionaries were able to do so. That partnership has always been there. That is why there is this understanding that the church is there also to help the human person not only spiritually, but also as a whole.

What is your hope for the future of the Catholic Church in Botswana?

My hope is that the Church will continue to grow in Botswana; in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, in self sustainability and to see more Catholic families, more people marrying in church, strengthening the foundations of family life. All this will add to make our nation a better nation and a better country for all.


With picture of Bishop Valentine Tsamma Seane – Bishop of Gaborone


This interview was conducted by Marie-Pauline Meyer for "Where God Weeps," a weekly television and radio show produced by Catholic Radio and Television Network in conjunction with the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.

On the Net: Where God Weeps: www.wheregodweeps.org





Editor’s Notes:



Directly under the Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.  ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work in over 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information contact Michael Varenne at michael@churchinneed.org or call 718-609-0939 or fax718-609-0938. Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard Street, PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222-0384. www.churchinneed.org

EWTN Media Missionary Alerts - USCCB SPRING GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Be sure to catch the annual Spring General Assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), June 15-16, from the Hyatt Regency Bellevue Hotel in Seattle.

Highlights among various key issues being discussed by the Conference include voting on revisions to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, a document on physician assisted suicide, and the Spanish translation of the Mass along with an appendix for inclusion of major feast days of Spanish-speaking countries.

Day 1 - Wednesday, June 15h
Morning Session, 1-3:30 PM ET
Afternoon Session, 4:30-8 PM ET

Day 2 - Thursday, June 16th
Morning Session, 12-1:30 PM ET

VATICAN II: 50 YEARS AND STILL CHALLENGING

Picture source

Reprinted with permission.

Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

When we observed the Pauline Year in 2009 we also marked the half-century anniversary of the convocation of Vatican II. Fifty years earlier on the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, January 25, 1959, Pope John Paul XXIII had announced the convocation of a general council for the universal Church. And the Second Vatican Council was born. Blessed John XXIII had been pope for fewer than 100 days. Trembling with emotion, he issued the call for an ecumenical council in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in the presence of 17 cardinals of the Curia and other Church servants.

The immediate reaction was – silence. Later Pope John mentioned that he expected the cardinals to be elated and overjoyed with enthusiasm. But this was not the case. Quickly and from various parts of the world several cardinals expressed skepticism, saying this was “a rash and impulsive decision,” “a hornet’s nest,” and “premature, senseless, and doomed in advance to failure.” But history quickly exposed their poor judgment, and John XXIII’s dauntless confidence in the working of the Holy Spirit bore rich fruit.

Now in 2012 we observe the 50th anniversary of the opening session of Vatican II.

A significant anniversary

Three years of preparation led to the four sessions of Vatican II, which began in 1962 and concluded in 1965. Blessed John XXII passed to his eternal reward after the first session, and Pope Paul VI presided over the remaining three sessions.

Three decades earlier Pope Pius XI had considered a general council, and in the early 1950s the same thought occupied Pope Pius XII. But conditions were not right. The 1959 announcement by John XXIII was welcomed by the majority of leading theologians, who wondered if this new council would be a continuation of Vatican I held almost a century earlier. But the intrepid Dominican Yves Congar expressed the confidence that this would be a new council and not a continuation of Vatican I: “I saw in the council an opportunity for the recovery of the true meaning of the episcopacy and of ecclesiology. This would be a pastoral council.”
Many consider Vatican II a Pauline council. The 16 instructional and directional documents reveal theological insights imbued with many themes found in St. Paul’s letters enlightening Biblical theology and spirituality, the theology of the church, the universal call to holiness, liturgical renewal, engaging contemporary society. And the revised liturgical year cycles of Scripture readings for Mass draw heavily from the letters of Paul. And what authority is quoted most frequently in the documents of Vatican II? None other than St. Paul the Apostle.

In the nascent Church, Paul played a prominent role in the epochal event we now call the Council of Jerusalem (Gal 2:1-10 and Acts 15:1-22). Like Vatican II, the Council of Jerusalem dealt with challenging pastoral questions. Paul, Titus, Barnabas, and others came to Jerusalem to meet with Peter, James, and other leaders of the apostolic Church to meld different but complementary charisms and gifts for the good and growth of the Church. The Jerusalem Council is an early example of the very real interrelationship between the human and the divine in Christ’s Church. A similar interplay was experienced at the Second Vatican Council.

The Proper Perspective

The past is prologue, so with wisdom we recall the past as well as point to the future. Today it is important to recall the insight of Blessed John Henry Newman at the time of the First Vatican Council (1870), that there is always a lack of historical perspective after an ecumenical council. “It is rare,” Newman wrote, “for a council not to be followed by great confusion…. The century following each council has ever been a time of great trial…and this seems likely to be no exception.”

This perceived lack of historical perspective after Vatican II caused some observers to suggest erroneously that the Council rejected the historical consciousness of the Church in order to meet the needs of our contemporary world, overlooking history and tradition. Pope Benedict XVI aptly described this as a
“hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture” by which Vatican II is seen as an end of tradition, a new start from scratch, a history and a theology based on a false distinction between a “pre-conciliar Church” and a “post-conciliar Church.”

Our faith reminds us that the Holy Spirit guided the Church through all the centuries before John XXIII’s inspiration to convoke a council. The Holy Spirit was with the Fathers of the Council during the Vatican II. The Holy Spirit has been with the church during the past fifty years as we gradually incorporated the Council’s teachings. And the Holy Spirit will be with the Church in all the years to come. St. Paul made this crystal clear in his writings. If we lose sight of this fundamental truth, we risk the confused thinking that the Holy Spirit would abandon Christ’s Church. But we know that the Holy Spirit, like Christ Himself, is with us always.

An important lesson of Vatican II

Benedict XVI prudently teaches us that the false “hermaneutic of discontinuity and rupture” needs to be replaced by an authentic “hermeneutic of continuity and reform.” History shows us that the Church is not always the same, but is reformed and always reforming. Continuity and reform provide the correct map for the study and implementation of Vatican II.

Blessed John XXIII told us: “This Council wishes to transmit doctrine pure and whole without attenuating it or falsifying it, but not watching over this precious treasure as if we were concerned only with antiquity. We wish to present the sure and immutable doctrine in a way that answers the needs of our time. The deposit
of faith and our venerated doctrines are one thing; the way they are announced is another thing.” Pope John called for the Second Vatican Council to be a synthesis of faithfulness and dynamism in the spirit of Saints Peter and Paul and the Council of Jerusalem.

Cardinal Newman shrewdly projected that it takes a century to integrate fully the wisdom of an ecumenical council. At the outset of Vatican II Pope John XXIII noted that “It is now only dawn….” We are still digesting the work of Vatican II: 16 important decrees approved by more than 2,500 Council Fathers, who cast over 1,200,000 ballots after more than 1,000 speeches and over 6,000 written interventions.

As we enter the 50th anniversary celebration of the Second Vatican Council, let us consider this an invitation and opportunity to refresh and renew ourselves by rereading (or reading for the first time) the dynamic teachings of the Council. These documents reveal a Church ever faithful, a divine gift, a Church ever dynamic, and a grace that continues from that very first council at Jerusalem.

Both continuity and reform are the call of Vatican II, the great Council that will always have the power to draw us closer to Jesus Christ and to each other.

Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that “The Church both before and after the Council is the same one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church journeying through time.”

Send Your Angel to Mass

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Shared by my friend Ed. BTW, he has many good posts about the Holy Spirit. Be sure to visit his blog.

*This very special prayer was written by a devout woman named Ruth Merz from Cincinnati, Ohio. Ruth was the mother of eight children who was diagnosed with cancer, which eventually and sadly claimed her life. Unable to attend mass because of her illness, she wrote this wonderful prayer. We hope that her words will convey special meaning to those who are ill and to their friends and families who care for them. Please feel free to share it with anyone that you feel might benefit from it.

SEND YOUR ANGEL TO MASS:

O’ Holy angel at my side Go to church for me Kneel in my place at Holy Mass Where I desire to be. At offertory in my stead Take all I am and own And place it as a sacrifice Upon the Altar throne. At Holy Consecration bell, Adore with Seraph’s love My Jesus hidden in the Host Come down from Heaven above. There pray for those I dearly love And those that cause me grief That Jesus’ blood may cleanse all hearts Give suffering souls relief. That when the priest Communion takes Then bring my Lord to me That His sweet heart may rest in mine And I His temple be. Pray that the sacrifice divine May all man’s sin efface Then bring me Jesus’ blessing home The pledge of every grace. Amen

Prayer Request for Father Prabhakar

Our Lady of Good Health - Our Lady of Vailankanni

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Please keep my good friend Father Prabhakar in your prayers as he returns to India today. May our Lady of Velankanni protect him during his flight home.

Anniversary of Father Gordon MacRae's First Mass Celebration and Prayers for His Release

The other day I forwarded to Father Gordon the email I received regarding the first anniversary of the Beatification of Father Jerzy Popieluszko. I sent it to him because part of the litany reads: "...Unjustly accused, pray for us..."

Father Gordon wrote via Charlene: ...thank you for the Novena information. June 6 is also the anniversary of my first Mass...

I told Father that I would be praying for him through the intercession of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko. If possible, I would ask that you join me in praying for Father's release from prison with the following prayer.

God, source of all good, I thank you that in your love you have endowed Blessed Father Jerzy Popiełuszko with the dignity of the priesthood.

You sent him to ardently proclaim Your word, dispense the holy sacraments, courageously act in Your name and be close to every human being, calling for forgiveness, unity and peace. You endowed him with the grace of martyrdom through which he came to resemble Christ along the way of the cross.

We adore and thank you, Lord, for this great gift to the Church, especially because you have made him an intermediary in the dispensing of grace. In Your infinite mercy, deign to include him in the communion of saints and through his intercession grant the grace of Father Gordon MacRae's release from prison where he has been unjustly and wrongly imprisoned for so long, for which I trusting implore You. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.



(Information on any grace received should be submitted to:

The Postulancy of Blessed Jerzy Popie³uszko

ul, Hozjusza 2

01-565 Warsaw, Poland)

Bl. Jerzy Popieluszko Anniversary June 6th

Pope Dedicates Prayer in June to Priests

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VATICAN CITY, MARCH 31, 2011 (Zenit).- Benedict XVI is dedicating the month of June to pray that priests be united to the heart of Christ. Read the rest here



Apostleship of Prayer

First Friday Devotion - Promises of Jesus to Persons and Families who Honor His Sacred Heart

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1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will give peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
5. I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.
9. I will bless those places wherein the image of
My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.
10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
11. Persons who propagate this devotion shall
have their names eternally written in my Heart.
12. In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.

Source

"There is no grater proof of our Lord's earnest desire that we practice devotion to His Heart than the remarkable and almost unbelievable promises He made t those who carry out His requests.

When we stop to consider that the one who made these promises is the second person of the Most Blessed Trinity, 'who can neither deceive nor be deceived,' we are amazed that individuals and families would hesitate to place all their trust in the Sacred Heart for the solution of each and every one of their difficulties...

If Jesus promises, He intends to keep them. No one can ever accuse Him of breaking His world. For those who trust Him and who carry out His requests, He will, if necessary, work miracles to redeem His pledge...

Truly we can call the promises of the Sacred Heart a hidden treasure. ..

Most prayer books and manuals of devotion enumerate twelve promises with the result that the majority of Catholics think these are all the promises our Lord made and that they were made exactly as they were published.

Actually, however, the so-called "twelve promises" do not begin to enumerate all the promises made by our divine Lord to St. Margaret Mary. As a matter of fact, they are not even a summary of them, but rather are a selection of those best calculated to arouse sentiments of love for the Sacred heart in the hearts of the faithful and get them to practice the devotion. It is true, these twelve promises are to be found in the writings of St. Margaret Mary, but not all in one place nor in exactly the same words..."

Enthronement of the Sacred Heart by Rev. Francis Larkin, SS.CC.

Sacred Heart of Jesus - Prayer to Jesus, Our True Friend

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Jesus, You are my only true friend.


You share my burdens; You take them upon Yourself; You alone know how to turn them to my advantage. You listen to me kindly when I tell you my troubles and You never fail to lighten them.

I find You at all times and in all places; You never leave me, and if I am obliged to change my abode, I will always find You wherever I go.

You are never annoyed at listening to me; You never cease to help me. If I love You, I am sure of being loved in return. You have nothing to gain from my possessions and You do not make Yourself poor in sharing Yours with me.

No matter how miserable I may be, You will never cease to be my friend for the sake of someone else more noble, more worthy, or even more holy; and death itself- which separates us from ll other friends - will serve only to reunite us forever. Old age or misfortune will not cause You to abandon me; on the contrary, You will never be closer to me, n or will I enjoy Your presence more, than when all seems to go against me.

You tolerate my faults with admirable patience; even my infidelities and ungratefulness never hurt You to such a degree that You are not always ready to come to me, if I so desire it.

O Jesus, grant that I may die praising You, that I may die loving You, that I may die for the love of You.

Amen.

- From Reflections on St. John, the Friend of Jesus Christ, by St. Claude la Columbiere, S.J.

Enthronement of the Sacred Heart, by Rev. Francis Larkin. SS.CC.

Ascension Thursday

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"The disciples worshiped the most high Lord who had come down from above the heavens, made the earth into heaven and gone up again whence he came, having united things below with things above and formed one Church, at the same time heavenly and earthy, to the glory of his love for mankind. Then they returned with joy from the Mount of Olives, whence the Master had ascended, to Jerusalem and were continuously in the temple with their minds set on heaven, praising and blessing God (Lk 24:53) and preparing themselves to receive the promised coming of the divine spirit..

...that is how those called by Christ's name should order their lives. They should persevere in prayers and supplications, and in imitation of the angels, have their eyes lifted up to the Master above the heavens, praising and blessing him with irreproachable conduct, and waiting for his mystical coming..."

- Saint Gregory Palamas, Meditation of the Day, Magnificat, June 2011, Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord

Reminder - Novena to the Holy Spirit for Pentecost Starts Tomorrow

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Just wanted to remind you that not only is tomorrow the First Friday of June, the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, it is also the first day of the the Novena to the Holy Spirit. The entire nine day novena can be found at EWTN.

The novena in honor of the Holy Spirit is the oldest of all novenas since it was first made at the direction of Our Lord Himself when He sent His apostles back to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit on the first Pentecost. It is still the only novena officially prescribed by the Church. Addressed to the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, it is a powerful plea for the light and strength and love so sorely needed by every Christian.

Novena to the Holy Spirit for the Seven Gifts

The Blessings of Having a Large Family

I was blessed with growing up the eldest of 5 children. We are still extremely close to one another. They are the best brothers and sisters in the world and I am not just saying that. I sometimes feel sorry for our son, being an only child. But it was all in God's plan.

The Month of June - Dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

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"I will say with David: 'I have found my heart to pray to my God' (2 Kings 7:27); yes, I have found this Heart in the adorable Eucharist when I have found there the Heart of my Lord, of my Friend, of my Brother, that is to say, the Heart of my amiable Redeemer."

- St. Bernard, , Vitis Mystica

Source: Enthronement of the Sacred Heart by Rev. Francis Larkin, SS.CC., St. Paul Editions