After a 3 week (very painful) hiatus, our parish email is finally working again! And hence, the Areopagus resumes.
2-13-07
Greetings!
There is a story of St. Gregory (pope from 590-604AD). Upon greeting emissaries from the Emperor Justinian of the East (590AD), he wished to send them off with some gift. He took these ambassadors to the Collosseum, bent down and scooped up a handful of dirt onto a cloth. The officials were disappointed, having expected something much more valuable or something more splendid. After expressing this to Pope Gregory, he looked at them and said "you do not know what you have." He then opened the cloth, and the dirt was bleeding.
For the dirt was from a place that had seen many, many Christians martyred for their faith. And the blood of the martyrs bears witness to the truth of the Faith. We are blessed in America to have the freedom to worship God, but such is not the case everywhere. In its annual report, the Vatican cites 24 missionaries who died this past year. In many parts of the world, particularly Arabic countries, the freedom to practice Christianity is sharply curtailed. Note also the 9 priests in China recently arrested. May we give thanks for what we have, and pray for our brothers and sisters who suffer for their faithfulness to Christ and His Church.
Random thoughts on the March for Life:
-Did you see all the news coverage? Me neither. Not even the normally more sympathetic www.foxnews.com mentioned it. Now I'm no Washington expert, but how often do more then 100,000 people gather in D.C. to protest? Is this an everyday occurrence? It's almost as it there's a concerted effort to not mention this event…..but of course that would never happen….right?
-For the past 6 years, President Bush has made a phone call at Noon, to address and encourage those participating in the March. It certainly is heartening, especially when compared to his predecessor. But as one pro-lifer asked, "if he feels so strongly about the issue of life, why doesn't he actually attend the march himself?" The March after all takes place minutes from the White House. It's a fair question, and an action that, if taken, would certainly make a profound statement.
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24 Missionaries Died Violently in 2006
List Includes Priests, Religious, Laypeople
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 6, 2007 (
Zenit.org).- Twenty-four priests, religious and laypeople were killed in 2006 while carrying out their missionary work -- just one person less than 2005's figure.
The Vatican missionary agency Fides published the report on deaths, not only of missionaries but also of all the ecclesiastical personnel who died violently or sacrificed their lives, aware of the risk they faced, rather than abandon their commitment to give witness and engage in the apostolate.
The list of the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples avoids explicitly the term "martyrs," so as not to intervene in the judgment that the Church might eventually give on them.
Nevertheless, the Church proposes them for remembrance and prayer for their eternal rest.
Africa is the continent that registered the greatest number of victims last year: nine priests, a nun and a lay volunteer died violently. In
Kenya three priests were murdered, and in Nigeria, two priests disappeared.
The second continent marked by violent deaths in 2006 is America, where six priests, a nun and a layman lost their lives. The Church lost two of its members in
Brazil.
Two priests, a nun and a layman lost their lives in Asia.
One religious died violently in Oceania.
Fides explained that the list is provisional, as the names must be added of those on whom there will never be any information, those who "suffer in all corners of the planet and pay with their lives for their faith in Christ."
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9 Priests Arrested in China
ROME, JAN. 6, 2007 (
Zenit.org).- Nine priests were arrested in the diocese of Baoding, in the northern province of Hebei, China, reported AsiaNews.
The group of priests had met to study on Dec. 27, the day of their arrest. AsiaNews explained that it is likely they were arrested because they were meeting for a time of prayer during the Christmas season in a place unknown to the government.
The northern province of Hebei is the region with the highest number of Catholics (1.5 million), most of them belonging to the underground Church.
The Chinese government allows religious practice in the country only with recognized personnel and in places registered with the Religious Affairs Office and under the control of the Patriotic Association, whose statute provides for the creation of a national Church split from the Holy See.
According to AsiaNews, the Patriotic Association has launched a campaign of arrests of bishops, priests and believers from Hebei in a bid to subdue them. The agency reported that at least six underground bishops of
Hebei have disappeared after their arrest. Among them is Bishop James Su Zhimin, 73, of Baoding, who was arrested in 1996.
Auxiliary Bishop Francis Shuxin of Baoding was released on Aug. 24 by the Chinese authorities after 10 years of imprisonment.
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-Note: The pope is reportedly preparing a letter to Catholics in China. Another recent report states that most of the Catholic clergy in China have taken pains to be officially recognized by the Vatican, albeit often secretly.
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Crisis Article 3 Pastors
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From Priests for Life's Newsletter Jan-Feb 2007
"Over 700 individuals are now actively preparing for profession as Lay Associates of the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life."
-That's amazing! Fr. Frank Pavone was recently granted approval for an ecclesiastical society. So far so good! 700 already in the process. That's beautiful!
From that same newsletter comes an account of the recent arguments for partial birth abortion at the Supreme Court Nov. 8 th. Fr. Frank Pavone was in the gallery. Take a look at this segment:
"In regard to safety one of the key questions from Chief Justice Roberts was that I, as the abortionists claim, partial-birth abortion is safer because it requires fewer insertions of instruments into the woman's body, why would it not then also follow that the safest method is live birth altogether, with the killing of the child outside the womb? The pro-abortion side did not have an answer to that specific question, which proves the point that Congress and the Bush Administration make, namely, that this procedure must be banned so that society has a clear barrier against infanticide."
I wish this were a joke…
"The Church of England has announced it will use the songs of U2 frontman Bono to replace its hymns in an effort to boost its numbers, reported the Daily Telegraph of London. The first "U2-charist" in England , an adapted Communion service that uses the Irish rock group's best-selling songs in place of hymns, will take place in a Lincoln church in May. Bishop Timothy Ellis of Grantham said it was "very important that we continue to try and find ways of worshipping that are surprising, challenging and fun. Rock music can be a vehicle of immense spirituality." The idea of a "U2-charist was first used in 2005 in the Episcopal Church in the United States , where priests and ministers have celebrated services dressed as clowns. Source: Reuters, National Catholic Register 2-11-07
-Here's a wild guess that such stunts will not generate any long term fruit. As far as rock music having "immense spirituality"—no doubt it does. But consider the source of that spirituality and realize that the devil has "spirituality" too—but it has nothing to do with God.
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Some exciting news. The Legionaries of Christ just ordained 55 priests! Full disclosure, I went on a discernment pilgrimage to Rome with them in the Jubilee Year. It was a very beautiful experience. Their vitality and fidelity to Christ & His Church are beacons of hope.
55 Legionaries of Christ Ordained
By Cardinal Rod in Rome
ROME, DEC. 24, 2006 (ZENIT.org).- The prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life presided over the priestly ordination of 55 Legionaries of Christ.
"Be convinced that you are priests the world needs," Cardinal Franc Rod exhorted the ordinands at the Mass on Saturday in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, "because the world needs God, because without him life has no meaning, because God is the only antidote to sadness and despair, because he is the only remedy to death."
"Live joyfully! No difficulty, no weakness can ever be a reason to abandon yourselves to sadness or despair," the cardinal said in his homily.
The number of Legionary priests now tops 700. The congregation has more than 2,500 seminaries in formation.
The newly ordained comprise 22 Mexicans, 12 Americans, nine Spaniards, three Canadians, three Italians, two Brazilians, an Irishman, a German, a Chilean and a Venezuelan.
Cardinal Rod ordained 59 Legionaries in the same basilica in 2004. At the end of that ceremony, he presented on behalf of Pope John Paul II the definitive decree of approval of the statutes of the Regnum Christi movement. Regnum Christi, which is affiliated with the Legion, has about 65,000 members worldwide.
The ordination ceremony drew a crowd of more than 2,500, including nearly 600 Legionary priests and brothers working or studying in
Italy, and several ambassadors to the Holy See.
Concelebrating the Mass were Archbishop Luigi de Magistris, retired major pro-penitentiary, and Auxiliary Bishop Paolo Schiavon of Rome.
Father Ivaro Corcuera, general director of the Legionaries, said: "We have prayed that these new priests to be holy. May they live in order to love God and serve people."
He added: "May they be priests according to the heart of Christ, who live to know, love and share his love with others, giving their lives in a spirit of charity and hope, capable of doing more, whatever is necessary, for the service of mankind, the Holy Father and all bishops in communion with him."
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And on the women's side:
Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist.
Founded with 4 sisters in 1997. Currently have 73! "Our most pressing need continues to be additional living space. Although we only recently completed the Phase II expansion of a Motherhouse originally built to accommodate 23 sisters, we are already over-capacity with 73 sisters to house right now, and perhaps a dozen or more when we accept new postulants next fall." Mother Assumpta Long, O.P. is the Prioress General.
-Having visited these sisters a number of times, one can't help but be attracted to their utter joy and love of Christ. They are youthful. They are faithful. Perhaps, not incidentally, they also wear the full religious habit. And lest that habit be a deterrent, Sr. Mary Samuel is quite the mean floor hockey player…habit or not!
God bless you! Phil Lawson For the latest info on St. Peter's, check out the parish website: www.saintpetercatholic.com (You can also find old editions of the Areopagus here)
