Saint of the day:
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Antonia Messina was born into a poor family in a small town in Sardinia, Italy, in 1919. She was the second of 10 children and she had to leave school after only four years to help her bed-ridden mother tend to the house and the other children.Despite her heavy responsibilities at home, Antonia became a very active member of Catholic Action at the age of 10. When she was 16, she was attacked while out gathering wood. She was beaten and murdered by a would-be rapist, fighting him off to her last breath. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1987 as a martyr of purity. She is a patron of rape vicitims.
Daily Readings:
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1The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, of all things which Jesus began to do and to teach, 2Until the day on which, giving commandments by the Holy Ghost to the apostles whom he had chosen, he was taken up. 3To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion, by many proofs, for forty days appearing to them, and speaking of the kingdom of God. 4And eating together with them, he commanded them, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard (saith he) by my mouth. 5For John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence. 6They therefore who were come together, asked him, saying: Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7But he said to them: It is not for you to know the times or moments, which the Father hath put in his own power: 8But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth. 9And when he had said these things, while they looked on, he was raised up: and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10And while they were beholding him going up to heaven, behold two men stood by them in white garments. 11Who also said: Ye men of Galilee, why stand you looking up to heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as you have seen him going into heaven.
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2O clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the voice of Joy, 3For the Lord is high, terrible: a great king over all the earth.6God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of trumpet. 7Sing praises to our God, sing ye: sing praises to our king, sing ye. 8For God is the king of all the earth: sing ye wisely. 9God shall reign over the nations: God sitteth on his holy throne.
CNA Europe:
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Madrid, Spain, May 16, 2012 / 04:04 pm (CNA).- A Spanish diocese has rejected a request by the city government to have Bishop Juan Antonio Reig Pla transferred due to a controversial Good Friday sermon that critics have labeled as “homophobic.”
“Our father and pastor, Juan Antonio Reig Pla, the Bishop of Alcala de Henares, has always taught Catholic doctrine with charity and truth, and he will continue to do so with the grace of God,” the diocese said in a statement.
The motion to transfer the bishop was presented by the group Union, Progress and Democracy and was backed by other left-leaning organizations as well as the Spanish Socialist Party. The ruling People’s Party, however, has opposed the motion, which demands that the bishop be transferred to another diocese and that he not be invited to any official event in the city.
Bishop Reig Pla has faced intense criticism after remarks given in a Good Friday sermon in which he condemned sexual practices he believes to be harmful.
As part of a larger cultural critique of sexual behavior in modern society, he lamented how some with same-sex attraction “corrupt and prostitute themselves or go to gay night clubs” in order to “validate” their struggle.
“I assure you what they encounter is pure hell,” he said on April 6.
In response to the bishop, Socialist Party spokesman Javier Rodriguez said his comments have put him as well as the diocese “on the homophobic map.”
In its statement, however, the Diocese of Alcala de Henares underscored its respect for all persons, regardless of their condition, and for legitimately constituted authorities.
But it also stressed the need for the right to religious freedom and that “no human institution has the authority to judge, and much less, prevent the teaching of Catholic doctrine.”
When such an effort is made formally by a political institution, the diocese said, “The result is a sad and intolerable violation of human rights and of the principle of the separation of Church and state.”
Bishop Reig Pla has gained the support of the Bishops’ Conference of Spain, whose secretary general, Auxiliary Bishop Juan Antonio Martinez Camino of Madrid called the controversy caused by his sermon “unjust.”
The International Federation of Associations of Catholic Doctors has also voiced support for Bishop Reig Pla as well as more than 20 locals struggling with same-sex attraction who personally wrote the bishop to thank him for his remarks. -
Rome, Italy, May 16, 2012 / 04:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- FOCUS campus ministry is considering taking their successful brand of youth apostolate to Europe in order to meet the challenge of evangelizing formerly Christian societies.
Founder and president Curtis Martin called the potential task “unique” in that “you are proclaiming the Gospel to people who already know parts of the Gospel.”
“I think there is tremendous opportunity, especially in the Americas, but also in Western Europe because we have such a deep, Catholic Christian culture, but people are drifting away,” he told CNA in Rome May 9.
Launched only 14 years ago, FOCUS – the Fellowship of Catholic University Students – has grown from four missionaries serving one campus in Kansas to over 260 missionaries serving nearly 60 campuses in 28 states across the U.S.
Martin identifies the “FOCUS effect” as the infectious enthusiasm of young people after they have their “lives changed by Jesus Christ” and recognize that “the Catholic Church is the home that all Christians are called to.”
“When they go on to college campuses and they’re living a life of joy and friendship, it radiates,” he said.
“Everybody desires to have joy and friendship but our world offers very little of that, so when they go on campus they stand out like a star in the middle of a dark night.”
Speaking beneath the shadow of the dome of St. Peter’s basilica, Martin said he recognizes that most young people in Europe “typically know that Jesus Christ is a historical figure” and are even aware that “he died on a cross and even that he rose from the dead.”
“But they don't know how to make those realities, the reality of what Christ did, have any impact on their lives.”
Because of this, he believes that the young people of the old world are now ripe for “a bold, energetic, zealous and joyful proclamation of the Gospel that invites them to think again what their life is all about.”
The organization is no stranger to the European continent. Last year Martin and his team hosted an evangelization summit in the Spain prior to World Youth Day in Madrid. Next month they will be present at the 50th Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, Ireland. They’ve also had missionaries serve temporarily at the European campuses of American universities.
“We’re just begging God that when the time is right, if it’s something that the Church calls for, that we'll be ready to respond. We’re eager to go wherever the Holy Spirit leads us,” said Martin.
The FOCUS team will be back in Rome this October for the Synod of Bishops when up to 100 campus leaders will pray and fast “begging God to send grace upon the Church.” In the evenings they also hope to meet with many of the participating bishops to discuss Blessed John Paul II's vision of the New Evangelization and, perhaps, the expansion of FOCUS into Europe.
“Right now, there's plenty of work to do in the United States but if the Holy Spirit calls us to go elsewhere, we'll do everything we can to meet that call.” -
Valencia, Spain, May 15, 2012 / 04:05 pm (CNA).- A top Vatican official called the Virgin Mary the “greatest source of hope” during the economic crisis now facing Spain and most of the countries of Europe.
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, made his remarks during the traditional “Missa d’Infants” (Children’s Mass) in Valencia.
The outdoor Mass at Virgin Mary Square is the largest celebration in honor of the Blessed Mother under the patronage of “Our Lady of Abandoned Children.” Dozens of children’s choirs participate in the Mass each year.
During his homily, the cardinal said devotion to Mary is especially important “during the difficult times of our life, amidst the great difficulties we are experiencing” and as society faces a “critical hour” in history.
He went on to say that at the root of the massive crisis facing the country, and the real problem facing mankind, “is the breakdown of humanity, the lack of a true vision of man, who is inseparable from God.”
Citing the words of Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Canizares stressed that when God disappears, “man is unable to achieve greatness.”
“He loses his dignity and becomes the mere product of blind evolution, to be used and abused.” Only in God and with God, who loves man unconditionally, “as we feel in Mary, will the change that the earth needs come to pass,” he said.
The cardinal’s homily was met with a standing ovation by the thousands of people gathered for the Mass.
At the conclusion of the Mass, Archbishop Carlos Osoro of Valencia thanked the cardinal for his words and asked him to convey to Pope Benedict XVI “our sincere affection and communion and the prayer of all the Christians of the pilgrim Church of Valencia.”
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© Copyright Universal Church of Divine Inspiration
Now we have celebrated the birth of the Christ-child,
a blessing to the holy family & Universal Church;
prepare us all, with love, forgiveness, wisdom & understanding,
through the power of the Holy Spirit,
for His final return - the everlasting Kingdom.
In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ...
Amen †
Almighty God, as we prepare with joy
to celebrate the gift of the Christ-child,
embrace the Earth, oh merciful one, with your glory
and be for us a living hope, for His return,
in Jesus Christ our Lord & saviour.
Amen †
1Cor 2:4-5 My conversation and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not be based on human wisdom but on the power of God.
Blessed is the Word of the Lord †
you sent John the Baptist to prepare
the way of your Son:
give us courage to speak the truth,
to hunger for justice,
and to suffer for the cause of the right,
with Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen †
Mal 2:7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him because he is the messenger of the LORD who rules over all.
Blessed be the Word of the Lord †
Isa 65:13 Therefore these are the words of the Lord God:
My servants will eat, while you go hungry;
my servants will drink, while you go thirsty;
my servants will rejoice, while you are put to shame...
Blessed be the Word of the Lord †
http://www.hymnlyrics.org/