Year for Priests Closing

----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Father Patrick ... Sent: Fri, 4 June, 2010 16:06:31 Subject: Closing of The Year for Priesrts - Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus - June 11, 2010 Dear Friends in Christ: Greetings and Peace in the Name of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! I send the following important announcement concerning the Closing of the Year for Priests. I invite your prayer for priests, especially during these three important days in Rome. The Vatican Congregation for the Clergy has announced that Pope Benedict plans to close the Year for Priests by inviting every Catholic priest to join him in Rome from 9-11 June 2010. Every Catholic priest in the world, of whom there are around 407,000, is invited to the meeting, which will have the theme of "Faithfulness of Christ, Faithfulness of the Priest." The program, announced by the Congregation for the Clergy, indicates that the first day of the gathering will take place at the Basilica of Saint Paul-Outside-the-Walls and will have as theme "Conversion and Mission." The activities will include prayer, a conference to discuss the subject, Eucharist adoration, an opportunity for Confession and a Mass. On day two, June 10, the theme will be "Cenacle, invocation to the Holy Spirit with Mary, in fraternal communion." The venue for the morning reflections will be the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, while in the evening a "priestly vigil" will be held at Saint Peter's Basilica. The vigil will consist of priests offering their testimonies, singing and adoration of the Eucharist. Pope Benedict XVI will be present at the vigil and will greet the priests. The Year for Priests will be brought to a close on Friday, 11 June, which is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pope Benedict will preside over a Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica to conclude the Year for Priests. The final day of the meeting will have "With Peter, in ecclesial communion" as its theme. Thank you kindly for your prayer, concern and love for Priests. Sincerely in the Lord Father Patrick

Boniface Bishop Martyr

June 5 Memorial

Saint Boniface (675? - 754)

The Night Office and the Mass gave coverage for Readings.

The genuine voice is from A letter by St Boniface, “The careful shepherd watches over Christ's flock”.

A picture from among the Saints seemed to very odd or out of place.

Boniface was portrayed with a large AXE. This martyr is not having the axe at his neck. He is holding the axe in his left hand.

Fr. Foley, “Saint of the Day”, tells the story.

[STORY) Boniface literally struck a blow for Christianity in his attempt to destroy pagan superstitions. On a day previously announced, in the presence of a tense crowd, he attacked with an axe Donar's sacred oak on Mount Gudenburg. The huge tree crashed, splitting into four parts. The people waited for the gods to strike Boniface dead - then realized their gods were powerless, non-existent. He used planks from the tree to build a chapel.

Reading: A letter by St Boniface The careful shepherd watches over Christ's flock In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life’s different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her course. The ancient fathers showed us how we should carry out this duty: Clement, Cornelius and many others in the city of Rome, Cyprian at Carthage, Athanasius at Alexandria. They all lived under emperors who were pagans; they all steered Christ’s ship – or rather his most dear spouse, the Church. This they did by teaching and defending her, by their labours and sufferings, even to the shedding of blood. I am terrified when I think of all this. Fear and trembling came upon me and the darkness of my sins almost covered me. I would gladly give up the task of guiding the Church which I have accepted if I could find such an action warranted by the example of the fathers or by holy Scripture. Since this is the case, and since the truth can be assaulted but never defeated or falsified, with our tired mind let us turn to the words of Solomon: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own prudence. Think on him in all your ways, and he will guide your steps. In another place he says: The name of the Lord is an impregnable tower. The just man seeks refuge in it and he will be saved. Let us stand fast in what is right and prepare our souls for trial. Let us wait upon God’s strengthening aid and say to him: O Lord, you have been our refuge in all generations. Let us trust in him who has placed this burden upon us. What we ourselves cannot bear let us bear with the help of Christ. For he is all-powerful and he tells us: My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Let us continue the fight on the day of the Lord. The days of anguish and of tribulation have overtaken us; if God so wills, let us die for the holy laws of our fathers, so that we may deserve to obtain an eternal inheritance with them. Let us be neither dogs that do not bark nor silent onlookers nor paid servants who run away before the wolf. Instead let us be careful shepherds watching over Christ’s flock. Let us preach the whole of God’s plan to the powerful and to the humble, to rich and to poor, to men of every rank and age, as far as God gives us the strength, in season and out of season, as Saint Gregory writes in his book of Pastoral Instruction.

John of Cross “In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.”

THURSDAY 3^rd June

Mk. 12:28-34

There is no commandment greater than these

MEDITATION OF THE DAY from MAGNIFICAT Missalette

“You shall love"

• Love is the soul's inclination, strength, and power in making its way to God, for love unites it with God. The more degrees of love it has, the more deeply it enters into God and centers itself in him. We can say that there are as many centers in God possible to the soul, each one deeper than the other, as there are degrees of love of God possible to it...
  
  
• Once it has attained the final degree, God's love will have arrived at wounding the soul in its ultimate and deepest center, which is to transform and clarify it in its whole being, power, and strength, and accord ing to its capacity, until it appears to be God.
  
  
• When light shines upon a clean and pure crystal, we find that the more intense the degree of light, the more light the crystal has concentrated within it and the brighter it becomes; it can become so brilliant due to the abundance of light it receives that it seems to be all light. And then the crystal is undistinguish able from the light, since it is illumined according to its full capacity, which is to appear to be light.
  
  
• When the soul asserts that the flame of love wounds it in its deepest center, it means that insofar as the Holy Spirit reaches its substance, power, and strength, he assails and wounds it.

SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS

Saint John of the Cross (+ 1591) is called the Mystical Doctor.

Corpus Christi in Rome

ROME: CORPUS CHRISTI

Greetings and Peace in the Lord!

Today in Rome they celebrate Corpus Christi;

The Pope will celebrate the Eucharist in front of St John Lateran Basilica,

he will then lead a Eucharistic Procession to St Mary Major Basilica.

I am sure that you know that Pope Benedict

will depart Rome tomorrow Friday, for Cyprus.

He will be on the island of Cyprus, until Sunday.

We need to pray for God's special blessings on his Pastoral Visit.

He will have some very important meetings

with the Orthodox Patriarchs.

He will also deliver the Preparatory Document

for the October Synod

"On the Church in the Middle East"

Please pray for both of these important intentions.

Sincerely in the Lord

Father Patrick

Uganda St Charles Lwanga and Companions – June 3

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Saint Charles Lwanga & Companions, Martyrs
Memorial
June 3rd

King Mwanga of Uganda launched persecutions of Christians in response to their opposition to his homosexual and corrupt court. St. Charles, the master of his pages, was martyred with fourteen other pages on June 3, 1886; other companions were killed later.

Source: Daily Roman Missal, Edited by Rev. James Socías, Midwest Theological Forum, Chicago, Illinois ©2003
Patronage:
African Catholic Youth Action, Catholic youth, converts, torture victims

Collect:
Father,
You have made the blood of the martyrs
the seed of Christians.
May the witness of Saint Charles and his companions
and their loyalty to Christ in the face of torture
inspire countless men and women
to live the Christian faith.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.

"The African martyrs add another page to the Church's roll of honor -- an occasion both of mourning and of joy. These African martyrs herald the dawn of a new age. If only the mind of man might be directed not toward persecutions and religious conflicts but toward a rebirth of Christianity and civilization! Africa has been washed by the blood of these latest martyrs, and first of this new age (and, God willing, let them be the last, although such a holocaust is precious indeed). Africa is reborn free and independent."
- from the homily at the canonization of Saint Charles Lwanga and companions by Pope Paul VI

Died at Namugongo, Uganda, 1885-1887; beatified in 1920; canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1964; feast added to the Roman Calendar in 1969; declared the protomartyrs of Black Africa. Twenty-two Catholic men, including seventeen young pages between the ages of 13 and 30, plus some Protestants, were martyred by King Mwanga of Uganda. Their heroic courage rivalled that of the early martyrs.

Catholic Christianity began to take root in Uganda after Cardinal Lavigerie's White Fathers established missions in central Africa in 1879. Progress was made under the rule of the not unfriendly local chieftain named Mtesa; however, his successor, Mwanga detested the faith that would accuse him of debauchery.

King Mwanga of Uganda took as chief steward a young Christian named Joseph Msaka Balikuddembe. Joseph detested the king's debauched ways, especially his attempts to corrupt other young men of Uganda, whom the steward tried to protect. Mwanga distrusted foreign visitors, fearing they might report his evil ways to the British government, which had given him his power.

In October 1885, Mwanga ordered his followers to kill an Anglican missionary, Bishop James Hannington. The Catholic steward Joseph protested at the murder of a fellow Christian. The following month, Mwanga had him beheaded. "A Christian who gives his life for God is not afraid to die," Joseph proclaimed. "Mwanga has condemned me without cause; but tell him I forgive him from my heart." To the king's astonishment, the Christians were not cowed by his sudden outrage.

Six months later Mwanga's savagery was even worse. He discovered that a 14-year-old page, Mwafu, had been receiving instruction in the Catholic faith. He called for Denis Sebuggwago, who had been teaching the page, and killed him by thrusting a butcher's cleaver or spear through his throat. That night Charles Lwanga, the new master of the pages, baptized five of them including Kizito, who he had repeatedly rescued from Mwanga's pederasty.

The next day the baptisms were discovered. Enraged, Mwanga assembled all the pages and ordered the Christians to separate themselves from the others. Fifteen, all under the age of 25, did so at once and were later joined by two others who were already under arrest and by two soldiers. They were asked if they wished to remain Christian and each replied, "Until death." The king then ordered every Protestant and Catholic living in the royal enclosure to be put to death.

Thirty-two Catholics and Protestants were led 37 miles away to a place called Namugongo to be burned to death in a literal holocaust. Three were killed on the way. One of these, a district judge named Matthias Kalemba, declared, "God will rescue me. But you will not see how he does it, because he will take my soul and leave you only my body." He was cut into pieces and left to die slowly by the roadside.

The rest of the martyrs were taken to Namugongo. They were imprisoned there for seven days while a huge pyre was prepared. At the appointed time on Ascension Day, they were forced to lie down on reed mats. Wrapped up in the mats and tightly bound, they were laid side by side. Fuel was poured on them, and they were set afire. As their executioners sang barbarously, the martyrs died confidently praying to their Savior.

The persecution spread. A leader among the confessors was Matthias Murumba, who was killed with revolting cruelty. During the reign of Mwanga about 100 Christians of various denominations were martyred.

• Andrew Kagwa (Kaggwa, d. 1886) was a native chief of Kigowa and the royal bandmaster of King Mwanga. He was baptized in 1881, converted his wife, and became active in missionary work. He had gathered a large body of catechumens around him. Condemned to death for the faith, he right arm was severed from his body before he was beheaded.
• Charles Lwanga (d. 1886) was a servant of the king, who was baptized in November 1885 and martyred the following June. He succeeded Joseph Mkasa as master of the pages and continued his predecessor's censure of the king's homosexual practices and corruption of the young pages. This intensified King Mwanga's hatred of Catholics.
• Denis (Dionysius) Sebuggwago (Sebuggwawo) (d. 1885) was a servant of the King. He killed with a butcher's cleaver by the king himself because he was taught teaching the catechism. He was the first victim of the persecution.
• John Maria Muzeyi (d. 1886) practiced the corporal works of mercy until his martyrdom.
• Joseph Mikasa (Mkasa, Musaka) Balikuddembe (d. 1885), was the Christian steward in charge of the pages, at the court of King Mwanga of Uganda. He was beheaded on November 15, when he denounced the king's notorious immoralities and his murder of Joseph Harrington, a Protestant missionary, and his group.
• Kizito (d. 1886), 13-year old boy, who went to his death "laughing and chattering," was saved from the king's pedophilic tendencies by Charles Lwanga, who baptized the child.
• Mbanga (Mbaga) Tuzinde (d. 1886) was a page to the king and the adopted son of the chief executioner. He had to resist the pleas of his family up until the moment of he was thrown on the pyre at Namuyongo. At the last moment his father killed him with a blow to the neck to prevent him from suffering the agony of burning.
• Matthias Kalemba (d. 1886) was a Membo judge, who was tortured to death.
• Matthias Murumba, a Muslim assistant judge who converted, first to Protestantism, then to the Catholic faith. He was baptized by Fr. Livinhac, then martyred on Kumpala Hill.
• Pontain Ngondwe (d. 1886), a soldier in the Royal Guard (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Farmer, Faupel, Gill, Thoonen, Walsh, White).

(source: For All the Saints, Saint Patrick's church, Washington, DC

Saint Justin Martyr

1. The earliest explanation we have of the Eucharist is from St. Justin
2. Treatise on the resurrection

Memorial of Justin, martyr
Justin was born around 100 in Samaria of pagan Greek parents. He was brought up with a good education in rhetoric, poetry, and history. He studied various schools of philosophy in Alexandria and Ephesus, joining himself first to Stoicism, then Pythagoreanism, and then Platonism, looking for answers to his questions. While at Ephesus, he was impressed by the steadfastness of the Christian martyrs. Justin became a Christian, but he continued to wear the cloak that was characteristic of the teacher of philosophy. He opened a school of Christian philosophy and there he engaged the Cynic philosopher Crescens in debate, and soon after was arrested on the charge of practicing an unauthorized religion. He refused to renounce Christianity, and was put to death by beheading along with six of his students, one of them a woman. A record of the trial, probably authentic, is known as The Acts of Justin the Martyr. The earliest explanation we have of the Eucharist is from St. Justin:

On Sunday we have a common assembly of all our members, whether they live in the city or the outlying districts. The recollections of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as there is time. When the reader has finished, the president of the assembly speaks to us; he urges everyone to imitate the examples of virtue we have heard in the readings. Then we all stand up together and pray. On the conclusion of our prayer, bread and wine and water are brought forward. The president offers prayers and gives thanks to the best of his ability, and the people give assent by saying, “Amen”. The Eucharist is distributed, everyone present communicates, and the deacons take it to those who are absent. We hold our common assembly on Sunday because it is the first day of the week, the day on which God put darkness and chaos to flight and created the world, and because on that same day our savior Jesus Christ rose from the dead. (First Apology of St. Justin Martyr)

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 12:18-27.

Treatise on the resurrection

Saint Justin (c.100-160), philosopher and martyr
Treatise on the resurrection, 2.4.7-9

« I believe in the resurrection of the flesh» (Creed)

People who are in error say there is no resurrection of the body and that it is impossible for it to be restored to its integrity once it has been destroyed and reduced to dust. According to these same people the salvation of the flesh would not only be impossible but even harmful. They blame the flesh, accuse its faults and make it responsible for sin and thus they say that, if this flesh is to rise again, its faults will rise with it... Further, our Savior said that: «Those who rise from the dead do not marry but are like angels in heaven». But angels, they say, have no flesh, nor do they eat or unite in marriage. Therefore, they say, there will be no resurrection of the flesh...

How blind are the eyes of the intellect on its own! For they have not noticed that «the blind see, the lame walk» (Mt 11,5) on earth at the Savior's word... so that we might believe that the flesh in its entirety will rise again at the resurrection. If he cured diseases of the flesh on this earth and restored wholeness to the body, how much more will he do so at the moment of resurrection so that the flesh might rise again wholly and without blemish ... It seems to me that such people fail to look at the divine action in its totality at the beginning of creation, in the forming of man. They don't attend to the reason why earthly things were made.

The Word said: «Let us make man in our image and likeness» (Gn 1,26)... Obviously man, formed in the image of God, was flesh. Therefore how absurd it is to claim that flesh formed by God in his own image is despicable and worthless! Clearly flesh must be precious in God's eyes since it is his creation. And since the culmination of his plan for all the rest of creation is to be found in it, this is what has the greatest worth in the eyes of the Creator.

+ + + + + + + +

Visitation Ein Karem

NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Monday, May 31

FEAST OF THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

For the Night Office this morning we had a choice from or five weighty Patristic Readings.
The Venerable Bede writes with a simplicity and warmth.
Even if he travelled beyond his own country he has been classified among the Fathers of the Holy Land. His words are touching with a sense of closeness and intimacy with the geographical place.

Luke 1:39-56

Reading A sermon by St Bede the Venerable Mary proclaims the greatness of the Lord working in her soul My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour. With these words Mary first acknowledges the special gifts she has been given. Then she recalls God’s universal favours, bestowed unceasingly on the human race. When a man devotes all his thoughts to the praise and service of the Lord, he proclaims God’s greatness. His observance of God’s commands, moreover, shows that he has God’s power and greatness always at heart. His spirit rejoices in God his saviour and delights in the mere recollection of his creator who gives him hope for eternal salvation. These words are often for all God’s creations, but especially for the Mother of God. She alone was chosen, and she burned with spiritual love for the son she so joyously conceived. Above all other saints, she alone could truly rejoice in Jesus, her saviour, for she knew that he who was the source of eternal salvation would be born in time in her body, in one person both her own son and her Lord. For the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. Mary attributes nothing to her own merits. She refers all her greatness to the gift of the one whose essence is power and whose nature is greatness, for he fills with greatness and strength the small and the weak who believe in him. She did well to add: and holy is his name, to warn those who heard, and indeed all who would receive his words, that they must believe and call upon his name. For they too could share in everlasting holiness and true salvation according to the words of the prophet: and it will come to pass, that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. This is the name she spoke of earlier: and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour. Therefore it is an excellent and fruitful custom of holy Church that we should sing Mary’s hymn at the time of evening prayer. By meditating upon the incarnation, our devotion is kindled, and by remembering the example of God’s Mother, we are encouraged to lead a life of virtue. Such virtues are best achieved in the evening. We are weary after the day’s work and worn out by our distractions. The time for rest is near, and our minds are ready for contemplation.

Ein Karem Village Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (courtesy of www.goisrael.com) Nestled in the terraced hills southwest of Jerusalem is the village of Ein Karem, where picturesque lanes lead you to the traditional spot where Elizabeth “felt life” when she met her kinswoman Mary, and where John the Baptist was born and raised. Luke 1:39 tells us that after the annunciation, Mary hurried to “a town in the hill country of Judah” to visit Elizabeth, who was also pregnant. Centuries ago, Christians began to mark Elizabeth’s hometown at Ein Karem, whose name means “spring of the vineyard.” Though just a short drive from Jerusalem’s modern neighborhoods, once you arrive you can leave the everyday world behind and step back in time. You’ll still find the spring, where no doubt Elizabeth drew water for her household. If you arrive in the waning of winter you’ll see the almond trees rejoicing in their pink and white blossoms; in summer the grapevines on their terraces still bear fruit. As you watch children at play in the little village park, it’s easy to imagine John as a young boy clambering across these very slopes. Ein Karem was less than a day’s walk from the Temple in Jerusalemto which Zechariah, John’s father, would be called to his duties as a priest. It was while serving at the altar of incense in the Temple that Zechariah saw the angel Gabriel, who informed him that his aged wife Elizabeth would give birth after years of barrenness. The shock must have caused Zechariah to forget his manners at angelic meetings! He immediately questioned the angel’s words, and so was struck voiceless until the naming ceremony at his son’s circumcision. In the cool, restful interiors of Ein Karem’s churches you can see where ancient Christians marked the site of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, and where Mary uttered her great praise poem that begins with the words “My soul glorifies the Lord...” (Luke 1:46). Keep your Bibles open to Luke’s Gospel here, because in the gardens, quiet corners and courtyards you can also pause over the story of Elizabeth’s naming of John (Luke 1:59-60) and Zechariah’s own poem of praise and prophecy (Luke 1:67-79). Many tradtitions surround John’s early years. One tells of his miraculous survival of the murder of the innocents by King Herod. John was only a few months older than Jesus and thus, when the order came from Herod to kill all the boys “in Bethlehem and the vicinity” (Matt. 2:16), John, too, was in mortal danger. It is said that Elizabeth managed to conceal her son in a cave (still shown to visitors) and though the soldiers came close, they unknowingly passed over his hiding place.

COMMENT - Holy Trinity

Thank you, William,
COMMENT

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: William J ...
To: Fr Donald ...
Sent: Mon, 31 May, 2010 13:01:27
Subject: Re: [Blog] The Most Holy Trinity

Dear Father Donald,

God does not live in splendid solitude but rather is an inexhaustible source of life that is ceaselessly given and communicated.”

I am very excited by the extract you quote from Pope Benedict. What he does is make us realisethat we do not simply observe the Trinity all around us, in Creation, in Scripture, in the fulfilment of mankind's destiny, but that we participate in the life of the Trinity, the 'why' Christ became man. "Love" can be a bland word: he makes us aware that to live in the love of the Trinity is no less than toparticipate in the life of God, the "inexhaustible source" of life ceaselessly given and communicated.

Truly Inspirational.

... in Our Lord,

William