Dear Reader,
For weeks ZENIT has been reporting intensely on the response of the Holy See and the Pope to the painful scandal of sexual abuse committed by priests in several countries. It is terribly tragic news, which saddens us profoundly as children of the Church. After this news blitz, some readers are weary and, I admit, so are we. It seems to have become the only topic out there.
However, we cannot allow these atrocious crimes to make us forget the hundreds of thousands of men and women, the countless priests, men and women religious -- the great majority -- who day by day give their lives to God and to neighbor in so many hospitals, schools, parishes and missions. Today many of them are associated with the scandals because of superficial reporting. But ZENIT will not abandon them. We will continue to report unwaveringly on the Church's attitude in response to the abuses, but we will not fail in our commitment to give a global and objective picture -- a picture concealed by some media in their reporting on the priesthood.
We believe that our mission at this precise moment is more necessary than ever. We believe it is ever more urgent for lay professionals to continue to give keys to information from an independent news agency, so that the truth is better understood, since only the truth will make us free.
We were profoundly inspired by the prayer Benedict XVI raised before the statue of the Immaculate Conception in the center of Rome on Dec. 8. The Pope prayed thus: "Every day, in fact, in the newspapers, on television and on the radio bad news is broadcast, repeated, amplified, so that we become used to the most terrible things and inured to them, and in a certain way poisoned, since the negative effect is never completely eliminated but accumulates day after day."
The Pope paid homage "to all those who in silence, not with words but with deeds, strive to practice this evangelical law of love that propels the world forward. There are so many of them even here in Rome and they rarely hit the headlines. They are men and women of all ages, who have realized that it is not worth condemning, complaining or accusing; that it is better to respond to evil by doing good. This changes things; or rather it changes people, and hence improves society."
ZENIT wants to continue to report on these men and women so that they will also make the news, but we will not be able to do so without your help.
Greetings from Rome!
Jesús Colina,
Editorial Director
By Julia DuinRead the rest of the article here
There's this odd sleight of hand going on in the nation's capital.It used to be that you called the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) or someone at the Vatican to get the Catholic Church's side of things. With evangelicals - a far more diverse and scattered group - you could call a certain handful of organizations, magazine editors and pastors and pretty much get the drift of what the born-again crowd thought.
That all changed around the time of the 2004 elections. Liberal folks realized that religion was important to the electorate and if you can't beat them, not only join them but appropriate their brand.
All of a sudden, new groups including the word "Catholic" sprung up like crocuses in March: Catholics United, Catholic Democrats and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Ground.
The emergence of such groups infuriated William Donohue of the Catholic League to no end, as he felt these were faux Catholic organizations that were being showcased to show then-candidate Barack Obama had Catholic support. It didn't help that atheist billionaire George Soros was donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Catholics in Alliance group.
Long ago Pope Urban VIII addressed the issue of apparitions by stating: "In cases which concern private revelations, it is better to believe than not to believe, for, if you believe, and it is proven true, you will be happy that you have believed, because our Holy Mother asked it. If you believe, and it should be proven false, you will receive all blessings as if it had been true, because you believed it to be true."
Mary the Dawn
Mary the dawn, Christ the Perfect Day;
Mary the Gate, Christ the Heavenly Way!
Mary the Root, Christ the Mystic Vine;
Mary the Grape, Christ the Sacred Wine!
Mary the Wheat-sheaf, Christ the Living Bread;
Mary the Rose-tree, Christ the Rose blood red!
Mary the Font, Christ the Cleansing Flood;
Mary the Chalice, Christ the Saving Blood!
Mary the Temple, Christ the Temple’s Lord;
Mary the Shrine, Christ the God Adored!
Mary the Beacon, Christ the Haven’s Rest;
Mary the Mirror, Christ the Vision Blest!
Mary the Mother, Christ the Mother’s Son;
Both ever blest while endless ages run. Amen.
"Mary's faith was the most perfect that ever existed and it is most worthy of our admiration and imitation. In speaking about our Lady's faith, we might mention that we do not find the virtue of faith in the soul of Our Divine Lord, for faith is 'the evidence of things we see not' and the human soul of Christ ever beheld the beatific vision of the Divine Essence...
...Eve, contrary to the assurance she had received from God, believed the serpent and brought death into the world. Mary, Our Queen, believed the angel when he told her that she, remaining a virgin, would become the Mother of God and in this way, she brought salvation into the world. St. Augustine says, that when Mary consented to the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, by means of her faith she opened heaven to men...
What tremendous demands were made on Mary's faith! In the beautiful words of St. Alphonsus: 'The Most Holy Virgin had more faith then all men and angels. She saw her Son in the crib of Bethlehem, and believed him the Creator of the world. She saw him fly from Herod and yet believed him the King of kings. She saw him born and believed him eternal. She saw him poor and in need of food, and believed him the Lord of the universe. She saw him lying on straw, and believed him omnipotent. She observed that he did not speak, and she believed him Infinite Wisdom. She head him weep, and believed him the Joy of Paradise...And blessed is she who has believed, because the things promises to her by the Lord shall be accomplished.'...
Islamabad (AsiaNews) - Arshed Masih died last night in hospital from the serious injuries - burns covering 80% of his body – which the 38 year old Pakistani Christian suffered when he was set on fire because he refused to convert to Islam. The funeral of man, who died after three days of agony, should take place in the late afternoon, but the family has asked that "before an autopsy is performed." The Christian community of Pakistan condemns "with firmness" the latest episode of violence and denounces the "slowness" of the federal and provincial government to punish those responsible.Read the rest here
This is a brief overview of the feature documentary: The documentary explores the background behind the 3 children who witnessed visitations of the Virgin Mary in Fatima 1917, and who predicted the miracle of the sun which was witnessed by over 70,000 people along with prophesising many major world events. The in depth nature in which The story is portrayed is both absorbing and fascinating; It shows the journey that three children went on and how their courage and beliefs changed the face of Portugal.
The Marian comprehension of the Church most decisively counters a merely bureaucratic concept of the Church. We cannot make the Church, we must be her. And only to the extent that faith, by our doings, moulds our being, are we Church, and is the Church living within us.Shared by Brother John Samaha, S.M.
Only in being Marian do we become Church. Even in the beginning, the Church was not made, but begotten. She was begotten when in the soul of Mary there awakened the fiat. This is the most profound desire of the Council: that the Church awaken within our souls. Mary shows us the way.
Excerpt from Ecclesiology:
"Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today"
by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, p. 10.
At any Satellite City Hall DMV locationsFor more information please check here.
Outer Island DMV's as well
Cost is $30.50 because you get a new 5 Digit plate. Then when renewing your plates yearly there will be an extra $25.00 added and the donation will be sent to APCCC. We have to have 150 to keep the Licence Plate Program going. We would like to see well more than 150 through out the island. If anyone has any questions please have them contact me directly at 234-7233.
St. Toribio de Mogrovejo and Indiana Jones have a lot in common. Both were good natured, traveled mostly alone, held a deep knowledge of ancient civilizations, were learned in many languages and, of course, wore hats.Read the rest over at Goodness Reigns
While Indy wore his classic Fedora, St. Toribio wore a much different kind of hat, an archbishop’s mitre. Much like Indiana Jones who would leave his teaching job to globe trot on numerous escapades, St. Toribio was asked to leave Spain where he was a law professor to begin missionary adventures in Peru.
LIMA, Peru, MARCH 19, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The archbishop of Lima has called a Eucharistic and Marian conference in celebration of the Year for Priests and the Eucharistic vocation of the priesthood.Read the rest of the Zenit article here.
Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, archbishop of Lima, announced Wednesday the May 29-June 6 event.
