Keep
your eyes open!...
June 21, 2012
THE TRIB TIMES WILL
RETURN IN TWO WEEKS, GOD WILLING (James 4:15).
(Jas 1:2-4) My
brethren, count it all joy, when you shall fall into divers
temptations: Knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience And
patience hath a perfect work: that you may be perfect and entire,
failing in nothing.
FIRST THINGS: Christianity is Not for Quitters
VISNEWS: Prayer Opens the Way to the Mystery of God's Plan
POPE BENEDICT XVI: "Our prayers are often a request for
help in our hour of need", he said. "That is natural because we need
help, the help of other people and of God. We must also bear in mind
that the prayer Christ taught us, the Our Father, is just such a
petition. With that prayer the Lord teaches us our priorities. Yet,
although it is natural to ask for things in prayer, that is not the
only reason to pray. There is also cause to give thanks, ... because we
receive so many good things from God. Thus prayer should also be praise
and, if we open our hearts, we come to realise that, despite all
problems, creation is beautiful and good".
In chapter one of his Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul praises God
"because 'he has made known to us the mystery of his will'. ... For
believers 'mystery' does not so much mean the unknown as the merciful
will of God, His plan of love which was fully revealed in Jesus Christ
and offers us the chance 'to comprehend with all the saints, what is
the breadth ... and depth' of that love". The unknown mystery of God
has been revealed and it is that God, ever since the beginning and for
all eternity, loves us.
"In prayer we learn to see the signs of this merciful plan in the
journey of the Church", the Holy Father concluded. "Thus do we grow in
the love of God, opening the door for the Blessed Trinity to come and
dwell among us, bringing us light and warmth and guiding our lives. ...
Prayer generates men and women not animated by egoism, desire to posses
and thirst for power, but by gratuitousness, the desire to love and
serve. In other words, they are animated by God, and only in this way
can we bring light into the darkness of the world".
MEDITATION: Thoughts by St Theophan
[Rom. 8:2-13; Matt. 10:16-22] He that endureth to the end shall be saved.
And do we have anything to endure? In this nobody is lacking.
Everyone's arena of endurance is vast; therefore our salvation is at
hand. Endure everything to the end and you will be saved. However, you
must endure skillfully; otherwise you may not gain anything by your
endurance.
First of all, keep the holy faith and lead an irreproachable life
according to faith; immediately cleanse every sin that occurs with
repentance.
Secondly, accept everything that you must endure as from the hands of
God, remembering firmly that nothing happens without God's will.
Thirdly, give thanks sincerely to God for everything, believing that
everything which proceeds from the Lord is sent by Him unto the good of
our souls — thank Him for sorrows, and for consolations.
Fourth, love sorrow for its great saving worth and cultivate your
thirst for it, like a drink which although bitter, is healing.
Fifth, keep in your thoughts that when a misfortune has come, you
cannot throw it off like tight clothes; you must bear it. Whether in a
Christian way, or in a non-Christian way, you must bear it nonetheless;
so it is better to bear it in a Christian way. Complaining will not
rescue you from misfortune, but only make it heavier; whereas humble
submission to God's Providence and good humour relieve the burden of
misfortunes.
Sixth, realize that you deserve even a greater misfortune — realize
that if the Lord wanted to deal with you as you rightly deserve, would
such a small misfortune really be enough?
Seventh, most of all, pray, and the merciful Lord will give you
strength of spirit. With such strength, others will marvel at your
misfortunes which seem like nothing to you.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Peace- Trust- Abandonment
12. When you are in trouble and anxiety, go and
plunge yourself in the peace of this adorable Heart, which no one can take
from you.
June 20, 2012
(Luk 13:25-27) But
when the master of the house shall be gone in and shall shut the door,
you shall begin to stand without; and knock at the door, saying: Lord,
open to us. And he answering, shall say to you: I know you not, whence
you are. Then you shall begin to say: We have eaten and drunk in thy
presence: and thou hast taught in our streets. And he shall say to you:
I know you not, whence you are. Depart from me, all ye workers of
iniquity.
EXCERPT CATHOLIC CHRONICLE: Reality check: The LCWR, CDF and the doctrinal assessment by Bishop Leonard P. Blair
When you are in a position of leadership or authority, it is a great
cross sometimes to know firsthand the actual facts of a situation and
then have to listen to all the distortions and misrepresentation of the
facts that are made in the public domain.
Having conducted the doctrinal assessment of the entity known as the
Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), I can only marvel at
what is now being said, both within and outside the Church, regarding
the process and the recent steps taken by the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) to remedy significant and longstanding
doctrinal problems connected with the activities and programs of the
LCWR.
The biggest distortion of all is the claim that the CDF and the bishops
are attacking or criticizing the life and work of our Catholic sisters
in the United States. One report on the CBS evening news showcased the
work of a Mercy Sister who is a medical doctor in order to compare her
to the attack that she and sisters like her are supposedly being
subjected to by authoritarian bishops. The report concludes with a
statement that the bishops impose the rules of the Church but the
sisters carry on the work of the Church.
Unless the sister in question is espousing and/or promoting positions
contrary to Catholic teaching—and there was no reason given to think
that she is—then the Holy See’s doctrinal concerns are not directed at
her or at the thousands of religious sisters in our country like her to
whom we all owe a debt of gratitude for all that they do in witness to
the Gospel.
What the CDF is concerned about, as I indicated, is the particular
organization known as the LCWR. Its function, responsibilities and
statutes were all originally approved by the Holy See, to which it
remains accountable. While it is true that the member communities of
the LCWR represent most of the religious sisters in the United States,
that does not mean that criticism of the LCWR is aimed at all the
member religious communities, much less all sisters.
FULL CDF REPORT: Doctrinal Assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious
CNA: News analyst examines media failures on Catholic issues
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Peace- Trust- Abandonment
10. Have recourse trustfully to God's loving kindness
and He will not forsake you, for He longs to bestow His graces. Though
you may have had the misfortune to offend Him, He is always ready to receive
you, provided you return humbly to Him.
June 15, 2012
THE TRIB TIMES WILL
RETURN NEXT WEEK, GOD WILLING (James 4:15).
(1Jn 5:6-8) This
is he that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ: not by water only but
by water and blood. And it is the Spirit which testifieth that Christ
is the truth. And there are Three who give testimony in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. And
there are three that give testimony on earth: the spirit and the water
and the blood. And these three are one.
Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Most sacred Heart of Jesus, pour down Your blessings abundantly on Your
holy Church, on the Supreme Pointiff, and on all the clergy. Grant
perseverance to the just, convert sinners, enlighten infidels, bless
our parents, friends, and benefactors, assist the dying, free the souls
in purgatory, and extend over all hearts the sweet empire of Your love.
- Indulgence of 300 days, once a day - Pope Pius X, 16 June 1906
NCR: Open Your Home to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: How Enthronement Will Change Your Family Forever
A Brief History of the Devotion
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a devotion that focuses
attention on the physical Heart is the symbol of His redemptive love.
Although tradition often situates the beginning of the practice of the
devotion to the year 1000, it might be more accurate to place its birth
during the time of the great mystics [St. Anselm and St. Bernard]
between 1050 and 1150. By the middle ages, because of a strong emphasis
on the Passion of our Lord, and because of the efforts of St.
Bonaventure and St. Gertrude the Great, the devotion became popularized
as a means of worshipping the mystery of Christ, living in the Church.
This devotion was promoted by great Saints, including St. Albert the
Great, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Francis de Sales, as well as the
great religious orders, such as the Benedictines, the Dominicans, and
the Carthusians. However, it must be recorded that the Saint who is
most often associated with this devotion is St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
[1647-1690]. After she received the Vision of the Sacred Heart, which
popularized the devotion, she was scorned by her mother superior who
thought her to be delusional. The Saint took ill. Mother superior told
St. Margaret Mary that she would believe the miracle of the vision if
the Saint were cured. She was and St. Margaret was able to promote the
devotion under the guidance of her spiritual director, St. Claude
Colombiere. Several books have been published on her extensive letters,
sayings and the revelations given to her by Our Lord.
Her private revelations promoted the establishment of a liturgical
feast day and the practice of offering reparation for the outrages
committed against the Blessed Sacrament on the First Fridays and the
Promises of the Sacred Heart.
St. Alphonsus was heavily influenced by St. Margaret Mary in his own devotion to the Sacred Heart.
In modern times it was Pope Pius IX who, in 1856, established the Feast
of the Sacred Heart and encouraged the efforts of the Apostleship of
Prayer-------a confraternity of faithful Catholics who encourage
groups, families, and communities to consecrate themselves to the
Sacred Heart.. In 1928 Pope Pius XI issued his encyclical
Miserentissimus Redemptor on reparation to the Sacred Heart. In 1956
Pope Pius XII published his encyclicalHaurietis aquas on the nature of
devotion to the Sacred Heart.
The devotion is usually practiced in preparation for the Feast of the
Sacred Heart following the Second Sunday after Pentecost. It is also
practiced in conjunction with the monthly
First Friday observance that is traditional in many parishes.
VIA THE PHILIPPINES: The Sacred Heart Devotion and St. Margaret Mary
In the apparitions to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Jesus gave these
twelve promises for those who are devoted to His Sacred Heart:
I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
I will establish peace in their families.
I will console them in all their troubles.
They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of their death.
I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
Sinners shall find in My Heart the source of an infinite ocean of mercy.
Tepid souls shall become fervent.
Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
I will bless the homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.
I will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts.
Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be effaced.
The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall
receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the
grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor
without receiving their Sacraments; My heart shall be their assured
refuge at that last hour.
LINK: Litany of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Peace- Trust- Abandonment
7. Act towards our Lord with entire confidence
and simplicity: do not spend time by dwelling too often on your past faults;
this only serves to satisfy self-love and to discourage us.
June 13, 2012
(Luk 2:19) But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.
NCR: Praying For and With Pope Benedict
MARK MALLET BLOG: She Will Hold Your Hand
CNA: Hundreds of clergy unite to pray Rosary for world's priests
On June 15, as the Catholic Church celebrates both the Feast of the
Sacred Heart and World Priest Day, over 500 priests and deacons will
pray the Rosary at 60 shrines in 60 countries around the world.
“At this time in history, we priests need to pray more, and we need our
lay brothers and sisters to pray for us, so we can become better and
holier priests so as to better serve God and his Church,” said Father
John Trigilio, president of the American Confraternity of Catholic
Clergy, in a June 7 statement.
Vatican-based Cardinal Raymond L. Burke is involved in the effort, and
will lead a recitation of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
Clergy and laypersons can coordinate their own Rosaries with those taking place at the shrines, through a schedule available at http://worldpriestday.publishpath.com/60-mysteries.
Thomas McKenna, executive director of the Confraternity of Catholic
Clergy, pointed to the “indispensable” connection between the Rosary
and the Catholic priesthood, in his group's statement on Thursday. He
encouraged all Catholics to seek the Virgin Mary's intercession for the
ordained.
“From Saint Dominic to Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI,” he noted,
“Holy Mother Church has consistently and traditionally encouraged the
faithful to pray for priests.”
PADRE PIO: "Love the Madonna and pray the rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today."
FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA Frank M. Rega: The Truth about Padre Pio's Stigmata Answering the carbolic acid accusations
Published in the June 2012 print edition of Catholic Family News
and scheduled for The Voice of Padre Pio, Sept-Oct. 2012, published by
his Friary in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy by Frank M. Rega
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Peace- Trust- Abandonment
6. When you have committed faults, do not be anxious
because anxiety, uneasiness and too much agitation withdraw the soul from
God and cause Jesus Christ to withdraw from the soul. Let us, rather, ask
pardon of Him and beg His Sacred Heart to restore us to favor.
June 12, 2012
(Rev 12:7-13) And
there was a great battle in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with
the dragon, and the dragon fought, and his angels. And they prevailed
not: neither was their place found any more in heaven. And that great
dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and
Satan, who seduceth the whole world. And he was cast unto the earth:
and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in
heaven, saying: Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of
our God and the power of his Christ: because the accuser of our
brethren is cast forth, who accused them before our God day and night.
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of the
testimony: and they loved not their lives unto death. Therefore,
rejoice, O heavens, and you that dwell therein. Woe to the earth and to
the sea, because the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath,
knowing that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he
was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman who brought forth the
man child.
NEWS HEADLINE: Syrian troops and rebels clash across country
Syrian troops attacked a rebel-held town in the centre of the country
with helicopter gunships on Monday and shelled other restive areas
across the country, activists said.
The aerial assault targeted the strategic river crossing town of Rastan
that has resisted repeated government offensives for months, they said.
It is part of an escalation of violence in recent weeks that comes
despite an internationally-brokered cease-fire that was supposed to go
into effect on April 12 but never took hold.
"The regime is now using helicopters more after its ground troops
suffered major losses," said Rami Abdul-Rahman of the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights. "Dozens of vehicles have been destroyed
or damaged" since the end of May.
Syria's Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi recently said that
rebels are now using sophisticated anti-tank missiles. Videos posted by
activists over the past week have shown many destroyed tanks and
armored personnel carriers.
CUTTING EDGE: Syrian Christians Flee as they are Violently Dispossessed of Life and Property
The remaining Christians of Qusayr, a town near Homs, have fled for
their safety. This followed an ultimatum from the chieftain of the
forces opposing the Assad regime in Syria, Abdel Salam Harba. Reports
out of Syria note that of the 10,000 Christians who once lived in
Qusayr, only 1,000 had remained since the beginning of the
conflict in 2011 between government forces and insurgents.
Following months of threats, mosques in Qusayr broadcast an ultimatum
from minarets that usually call faithful Muslims to prayer. The
statements from the mosques declared, "Christians must leave Qusayr
within six days, which expires this Friday." The ultimatum expired on
June 8.
The Christians who had remained took courage from calls from an
Catholic priest from Italy, Jesuit Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, who had
stayed in Qusayr for a week and called the faithful towards "praying
and fasting for peace in the midst of the conflict".
ANALYSIS: The Fate of Syria's Christian Minority
AMERICAN CATHOLIC WEEKLY: Syria Crisis Continues
Caritas Lebanon reports that refugees are continuing to arrive from
Syria as more Christians and Alawite Muslims fear they could become
targets of Sunni Islamic militants who want to avenge the Houla
massacre. On May 25-26 an attack alleged to have been committed by
Syrian army forces and militia-supporters left about 108 people dead in
Houla, including 49 children and 34 women. A Greek Syrian Catholic said
that he left his village because of fighting between the army and
rebels but especially because of a plague of kidnappings of Christians.
Refugees said if other massacres happen, “Christians may pay a high
price.” One Syrian priest said, “Everyone is afraid.... We don’t know
what the future holds.” Muslim fundamentalists could take advantage of
a regime change in Syria, he said, adding that the best way to deter
extremism is for all citizens to work together. “Right now people think
that if ‘they’ win, then ‘I’ lose. But we all can lose. We need to
rebuild together,” he said.
MORE: Syria crisis: More Armenians flee as Middle East violence rages on
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Peace- Trust- Abandonment
5. Keep your heart in peace and let nothing trouble
you, not even your faults. You must humble yourself and amend them peacefully,
without being discouraged or cast down, for God's dwelling is in peace.
June 8, 2012
THE TRIB TIMES WILL
RETURN NEXT WEEK, GOD WILLING (James 4:15).
(1Co 10:16-17) The
chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the
blood of Christ? And the bread which we break, is it not the partaking
of the body of the Lord? For we, being many, are one bread, one body:
all that partake of one bread.
FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI: A Feast for the World
Corpus Christi is a time to reflect again on those
words. It is not a matter of all belonging to the same club – like the
United Nations – which confers upon all members a similar status. Rather
it is matter of believing that if Jesus is really present in the Eucharist,
then the same Christ Jesus who is in me is also in the others who received
Him. He is the same Christ Jesus who is in all those who ever received
Him, going all the way back to the Upper Room on Holy Thursday. Corpus
Christi is not, then, just a feast for the Church; it is also a feast for
the world, for it offers to the world a unity and fraternity – a conviviality
– that the world desires but cannot achieve.
A
Reflection on Corpus Christi
What does Corpus Christi mean to me? It
does not only bring the liturgy to mind; for me, it is a day on which heaven
and earth work together. In my mind’s eye it is the time when spring is
turning into summer; the sun is high in the sky, and crops are ripening
in field and meadow. The Church’s feasts make present the mystery of Christ,
but Jesus Christ was immersed in the faith of the people of Israel and
so, arising from this background in Israel’s life, the Christian feasts
are also involved with the rhythm of the year, the rhythm of seedtime and
harvest. How could it be otherwise in a liturgy which has at its center
the sign of bread, fruit of earth and heaven? Here this fruit of the earth,
bread, is privileged to be the bearer of him in whom heaven and earth,
God and man have become one. The way the Church’s feasts fit in with the
seasons of the year is therefore not an accident. Consequently we must
go on to discover the inner rhythm of the Church’s year and see the place
Corpus
Christi has within it.
First of all, clearly, it grows out of the mystery
of Easter and Pentecost: it presupposes the Resurrection and the sending
of the Spirit. But it is also in close proximity to the Feast of the Trinity,
which reveals the inner logic in the connection between Easter and Pentecost.
It is only because God himself is the eternal dialogue of love that he
can speak and be spoken to. Only because he himself is relationship can
we relate to him; only because he is love can he love and be loved in return.
Only because he is threefold can he be the grain of wheat which dies and
the bread of eternal life. Ultimately, then, Corpus Christi is an
expression of faith in God, in love, in the fact that God is love. All
that is said and done on Corpus Christi is in fact a single variation
on
the theme of love, what it is and what it does. In one of his Corpus
Christi hymns Thomas Aquinas puts it beautifully: nec sumptus consumitur
- love does not consume: it gives and, in giving, receives. And in giving
it is not used up but renews itself. Since Corpus Christi is a confession
of faith in love, it is totally appropriate that the day should focus on
the mystery of transubstantiation. Love is transubstantiation, transformation.
Corpus
Christi tells us:Yes, there is such a thing as love, and therefore
there is transformation, therefore there is hope.And hope gives us the
strength to live and face the world. Perhaps it was good to have experienced
doubts about the meaning of celebrating Corpus Christi, for it has
led us to the rediscovery of a feast which, today, we need more than ever.
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI)
The Feast of Corpus Christi- Blessed Josemaria
The Corpus Christi procession makes Christ present
in towns and cities throughout the world. But his presence cannot be limited
to just one day, a noise you hear and then forget. It should remind us
that we have to discover our Lord in our ordinary everyday activity. Side
by side with this solemn procession, there is the simple, silent procession
of the ordinary life of each Christian. He is a man among men, who by good
fortune has received the faith and the divine commission to act so that
he renews the message of our Lord on earth. We are not without defects;
we make mistakes and commit sins. But God is with us and we must make ourselves
ready to be used by him, so that he can continue to walk among men. (Christ
is Passing By, 156)
Going to Communion every day for so many years!
Anybody else would be a saint by now, you told me, and I, I'm always the
same!
Son, I replied, keep up your daily Communion,
and think: what would I be if I had not gone? (The Way, 534)
Have you ever thought how you would prepare yourself
to receive Our Lord if you could go to Communion only once in your life?
We must be thankful to God that he makes it so
easy for us to come to him: but we should show our gratitude by preparing
ourselves to receive him very well. (The Forge, 828)
MEMORIAL OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
VIA Catholic Pacific Northwest:The
Saturday after the feast of Corpus Christi is devoted to the Blessed
Mother and focuses our attention on the mystery of her Immaculate
Heart. This feast began to be celebrated during the seventeenth century
bringing together centuries of devotion to the heart of Mary. St. John
Eudes spent much of his life working to spread devotion to this feast.
The
Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a feast day devoted to Mary
and especially examines her life of purity. Many times the heart is
used to symbolize the inmost depths of our humanity. This feast
emphasizes the fact that Mary's whole being was pure and free of the
stain of sin for the whole of her life. Through her love and devotion
to God, Mary was chosen as the resting-place of the Holy Spirit mother
of the Most High.
The
feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a counterpart of the feast of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which we celebrated the day before. Both
feasts serve as an example to the faithful by showing us fellow human
beings so devoted to the love and will of God that they overcame every
temptation to sin.
Devotion
to the Immaculate Heart of Mary has gained wide appeal in this century.
At Mary's apparition at Fatima, this theme was expressed by the Blessed
Mother to the three children.
In the midst of the second world war Pope Pius XII put
the whole world under the special protection of our Savior's Mother by
consecrating it to her Immaculate Heart, and in 1944 he decreed that in
future the whole Church should celebrate the feast of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary. Pius XII instituted the feast of the Immaculate Heart of
Mary for the whole Church, so as to obtain by her intercession "peace
among nations, freedom for the Church, the conversion of sinners, the
love of purity and the practice of virtue" (Decree of May 4, 1944).
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Peace- Trust- Abandonment
4. It is His Will that we should apply to Him in
all our needs, with humble, respectful, but very filial trust, abandoning
ourselves entirely to His loving care like children to a good father.
June 7, 2012
(Luk 20:25) And he said to them: Render therefore to Caesar the things, that are Caesar's: and to God the things that are God's.
ST. THOMAS MORE: “I die the king’s faithful servant, but God’s first.”
CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH DOCTRINAL NOTE (2002): On some questions regarding The Participation of Catholics in Political Life
MUST SEE VIDEO: Test of Fire: Election 2012
EDITORIAL: Jealous God Obama Attacks Rival Religions
EXCERPT ANALYSIS: Catholic voters key to presidential win
"Religious liberty is becoming a major campaign issue as many
Catholics, along with other Americans, are realizing that religious
freedom and conscience protection can no longer be taken for granted,"
said Mary Ann Glendon, a Harvard law professor and a former U.S.
ambassador to the Holy See.
Glendon, who grew up in a family of Massachusetts Democrats, is a
registered independent and supports Republican nominee Mitt Romney. She
said his "explicit promise" to reverse any regulation that restricts
religious liberty is "reassuring."
Pete Flaherty, religious outreach director for Romney, said his
campaign will try to reach Catholics individually, "diocese by diocese,
parish by parish."
Romney, a Mormon, "stands shoulder to shoulder with the Catholic
voter," said Flaherty, his longtime senior adviser. During GOP
primaries, exit polls showed Romney won among Catholics in every state
but Tennessee, and their vote decided close contests in Ohio and
Michigan.
"Catholic voters will have a clear choice in this election, when it
comes to protecting life, traditional marriage, and religious freedom
and the recognition that economic growth lifts people out of poverty
and provides them with the dignity of work," Flaherty said.
A Gallup survey in early May found Catholic voters evenly split for
Obama and Romney, though white Catholics who identified themselves as
"mostly" or "moderately" religious favor Romney and the nonreligious
support Obama.
RELATED: Colleen Carroll Campbell: A sleeping church wakes up
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Peace- Trust- Abandonment
3. Bury all your misery in the mercy of the loving
Heart of Jesus and think of nothing but of pleasing Him by forgetting self.
Henceforth let Him do all that He wills in you, with you and for you.
June 5, 2012
(Mat 5:10-12) 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.
THE EXTRAORDINARY WITNESS OF ORDINARY PEOPLE: VIVA CRISTO REY! Weekly Column by Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M., Cap.
Earlier this week we celebrated Memorial Day. For most of us, the
holiday informally marks the start of summer. Over the next three
months families will take their vacations, the pace of life will slow a
bit, and people will have a little more precious time to relax and
restore their spirits.
The purpose of recreation is to renew us in body and soul; to give us
time to think; to reconnect us with family and the gift of being alive.
For me, that usually means a week of fishing with friends, catching up
on a pile of good books and enjoying a few good movies.
And since all good things are meant to be shared, I can already
recommend – in fact, enthusiastically recommend -- a film that no
Catholic should miss this summer.
For Greater Glory opens in select theaters this Friday, June 1.
Written, directed and acted with outstanding skill, it’s the story of
Mexico’s Cristero War (also known as La Cristiada, 1926-29). Largely
ignored until recently – even in Mexico – the war resulted from
Mexico’s atheist constitution of 1917, subsequent anti-religious
legislation and fierce anti-clerical persecution by the government of
President Plutarco Elias Calles, who came to power in 1924.
The Catholic response to the Calles regime first took the form of
non-violent petitions, suspended religious services and economic
boycotts. But bloody popular resistance broke out in 1926. By 1929,
50,000 Cristero rebels were fighting the federal government. A small
number of priests took up arms with their people. More than 90,000
persons died in the fighting. In the process, the authorities murdered
thousands of Catholic laypeople and dozens of priests.
Blessed Miguel Pro, a Jesuit priest, was executed without trial in
1927. Blessed Jose Sanchez del Rio, age 14, was shot to death for
refusing to deny his faith in 1928. In both cases, the martyrs’ last
words were Viva Cristo Rey! (Long live Christ the King!) The Church has
since honored dozens of other Mexican martyrs for their heroism during
the Calles persecution. By 1929, pressured by Cristero success and U.S.
diplomacy, federal authorities agreed to ease some restrictions on the
Church and end violent persecution.
By 1929, pressured by Cristero success and U.S. diplomacy, federal
authorities agreed to ease some restrictions on the Church and end
violent persecution. Mexico’s bishops accepted the brokered peace. The
Cristero rebellion slowly died out. But the government soon betrayed
its promises. Brutal anti-religious policies renewed and continued.
Federal authorities murdered hundreds of former Cristero leaders and
thousands of former Cristero fighters in reprisals. And the government
continued its belligerence against the Church throughout the 1930s – a
campaign of atheist violence and antireligious hatred that provided the
backdrop for two of Graham Greene’s finest books: his travelogue, The
Lawless Roads (1939), and arguably his greatest novel, The Power and
the Glory (1940). Of course, gripping history does not automatically
translate into good drama. Too many films for the family and religious
markets suffer from lots of good intentions, but a lack of resources,
inadequate talent and weak professional skills. For Greater Glory
succeeds where so many similar films have failed. Led by Academy Award
nominees Andy Garcia and Catalina Sandino Moreno, along with Oscar
Isaac, Eva Longoria, Ruben Blades, Eduardo Verastegui and others, the
cast is superb. And the writing gives them the kind of robust material
they need to work with: strong dialogue, fully developed characters,
vivid moral conflicts in a time of revolutionary violence, and a
compelling story that never lags, thanks to the skilled directing of
Dean Wright.
To describe this film as stirring or powerful would do it a disservice.
For Greater Glory is much more than an exercise in piety; it’s an
extraordinary portrait of ordinary people struggling to defend their
convictions. It’s among the most absorbing films by any director or
movie studio that I’ve seen in the past few years.
One of the hymns Cristeros sang as they went into battle had these words:
The Virgin Mary is our protector and defender when there is something to fear,
She will defeat the demons, crying "Long live Christ the King!"
She will defeat the demons, crying "Long live Christ the King!"
Soldiers of Christ let us follow the flag that the Cross shows the army of God!
Let us follow the flag, crying "Long live Christ the King!"
We Americans in 2012 live in a different land in a different time.
We’re blessed with freedoms the Cristeros could only imagine. But those
freedoms depend on our willingness to defend them. Religious liberty is
never guaranteed by anything but our own vigilance. Even in this
country, contempt for religious faith, and especially the Catholic
faith, is alive and well. For Greater Glory captures with memorable
power and grace where that bigotry can lead -- and the cost of
resisting it.
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT: The Story, Martyrs, and Lessons of the Cristero War
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Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Peace- Trust- Abandonment
2. The Spirit of God does all things in peace.
Let us have recourse to God with love and confidence, and He will receive
us into the arms of His mercy.
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