Jun
10
2008
The first International Eucharistic Congress was held in France in 1881. The 49th Congress will be held next week in Quebec City, Canada and will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of that city and the first Catholic diocese north of Mexico City. In his Mission Intention this month Pope Benedict has asked us to pray for the upcoming Congress. Let us do so today by reflecting on part of the Introduction to the “foundational theological document” which was issued to help the Church prepare for the Congress.
The central theme of the Congress, approved by Pope Benedict XVI, is “The Eucharist, God’s gift for the life of the world.” It is particularly important today to remember God’s gift, for, in the midst of remarkable technological progress, notably in the area of communication, our world experiences a deep interior emptiness that it perceives as an absence of God. Fascinated by its own creative capacities, contemporary humanity tends to forget its Creator and set itself up as the sole master of its own destiny. …
But today human beings are constantly pushing back the limits of our mastery over the transmission and end of life. Unchecked, this power over life and death, although technologically possible, threatens humanity itself. For, in the strong words of Pope John Paul II, a “culture of death” has taken over many secularized societies. The death of God in the culture leads almost inevitably to the death of human beings. We see this, not only in currents of nihilistic thought, but above all in the conflictual and broken relationships that are multiplying at all levels of human experience, disrupting marriage and the family, multiplying ethnic and social conflicts, and increasing the gulf between the rich and the huge majority who are the poor.
Today’s Readings: 1 Kings 17:7-16; Psalm 4:2-5,7b-8; Matthew 5:13-16
May
12
2008
These early Church martyrs were brothers and soldiers who, according to tradition, were baptized by St. Peter the Apostle. They gave their lives as Jesus and Peter did—in witness to the truth. May they intercede today for all Christians, that we will be courageous in standing for the truth of human dignity and in working against a culture that demeans the human person. Our reflection is from Pope Benedict’s 2008 Message for World Communications Day.
Man thirsts for truth, he seeks truth; this fact is illustrated by the attention and the success achieved by so many publications, programs or quality fiction in which the truth, beauty and greatness of the person, including the religious dimension of the person, are acknowledged and favorably presented. Jesus said: “You will know the truth and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). The truth which makes us free is Christ, because only he can respond fully to the thirst for life and love that is present in the human heart. Those who have encountered him and have enthusiastically welcomed his message experience the irrepressible desire to share and communicate this truth. As Saint John writes, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life … we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing this that our joy may be complete” (1 John 1:1-3).
Let us ask the Holy Spirit to raise up courageous communicators and authentic witnesses to the truth, faithful to Christ’s mandate and enthusiastic for the message of the faith, communicators who will “interpret modern cultural needs, committing themselves to approaching the communications age not as a time of alienation and confusion, but as a valuable time for the quest for the truth and for developing communion between persons and peoples” (John Paul II, Address to the Conference for those working in Communications and Culture, 9 November 2002).
Today’s Readings: James 1:1-11; Psalm 119:67-68,75-76; Mark 8:11-13
May
06
2008
In our General Intention we are praying with Pope Benedict that Christians may use literature, art, and mass media to create a culture which defends and promotes the values of the human person. Our prayer is not only for those who create art and media but also for all of us who use them. We pray that our use of these things may not support a culture of death but a culture of life. Let us reflect today on part of Pope Benedict’s 2007 Message for World Communications Day—“Children and the Media: A Challenge for Education.”
Educating children to be discriminating in their use of the media is a responsibility of parents, Church, and school. The role of parents is of primary importance. They have a right and duty to ensure the prudent use of the media by training the conscience of their children to express sound and objective judgments which will then guide them in choosing or rejecting programs available. In doing so, parents should have the encouragement and assistance of schools and parishes in ensuring that this difficult, though satisfying, aspect of parenting is supported by the wider community.
Media education should be positive. Children exposed to what is aesthetically and morally excellent are helped to develop appreciation, prudence and the skills of discernment. Here it is important to recognize the fundamental value of parents’ example and the benefits of introducing young people to children’s classics in literature, to the fine arts and to uplifting music. While popular literature will always have its place in culture, the temptation to sensationalize should not be passively accepted in places of learning. Beauty, a kind of mirror of the divine, inspires and vivifies young hearts and minds, while ugliness and coarseness have a depressing impact on attitudes and behavior.
Today’s Readings: Acts 20:17-27; Psalm 68:10-11,20-21; John 17:1-11a
Apr
25
2008
The author of the Gospel that bears his name is identified with John Mark, whose mother Mary’s house was used as a meeting place by the early Church in Jerusalem (see Acts 12:12,25). His cousin was St. Barnabas and, when Sts. Paul and Barnabas went on a missionary journey, Mark accompanied them. But Mark left them and St. Paul’s loss of confidence in him led to a split with Barnabas. Even in the early Church there were conflicts and hard feelings. In time they were reconciled and Mark helped Paul when he was in prison in Rome (Colossians 4:10). It was while Mark was in Rome that he got to know St. Peter (1 Peter 5:13) from whom he acquired the material he used to write his Gospel. As we continue our prayer with a focus on this month’s Mission Intention, let us pray that future priests may develop a deep love for Scripture. By meeting the Lord Jesus present in the Scriptures may they grow closer to him and be filled with a desire to share the Good News of Jesus with everyone they meet and serve.
In October the Synod of Bishops will meet to discuss the importance of the Scriptures. Our reflection today is from Pope Benedict’s January 21, 2008 address to the committee that is preparing for that Synod.
The next General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will reflect on “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church”. Among the Ecclesial Community’s many and great duties in today’s world, I emphasize evangelization and ecumenism. They are centered on the Word of God and at the same time are justified and sustained by it. As the Church’s missionary activity with its evangelizing work is inspired and aims at the merciful revelation of the Lord, ecumenical dialogue cannot base itself on words of human wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:13) or on neat, expedient strategies, but must be animated solely by constant reference to the original Word that God consigned to his Church so that it be read, interpreted and lived in communion with her. In this area, St Paul’s doctrine reveals a very special power, obviously founded on divine revelation but also on his own apostolic experience, which confirmed anew the awareness that not wisdom and human eloquence, but only the power of the Holy Spirit builds the Church in the faith (1 Corinthians 1:22-24; 2:4f).
Today’s Readings: 1 Peter 5:5b-14; Psalm 89:2-3,16-17; Mark 16:15-20
Apr
24
2008
St. Fidelis, a name which means “Faithful”, was born in what is now Germany and became known as “the poor man’s lawyer” because he generously gave his time to defend the rights of the poor who could not afford the services of a lawyer. In 1612 he left this profession and became a Capuchin Franciscan. In 1622 the Pope created a special office in the Vatican to coordinate the Church’s missionary activities around the world—the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. St. Fidelis was placed in charge of the Capuchin mission in Switzerland and he was so successful in bringing back Catholics who had left the Church during the Protestant Reformation that he was martyred, making him the Proto-martyr of the Propagation of the Faith. We ask this faithful witness to intercede with us for future priests: may they be courageous and faithful in bringing the Catholic faith to their people. Our reflection is from Pope John Paul’s Apostolic Exhortation, “Shepherds After My Own Heart,” on the Formation of Priests, #46.
There are spiritual and religious values present in today’s culture, and man, notwithstanding appearances to the contrary, cannot help but hunger and thirst for God. However, the Christian religion is often regarded as just one religion among many or reduced to nothing more than a social ethic at the service of man. As a result, its amazing novelty in human history is quite often not apparent. It is a “mystery,” the event of the coming of the Son of God who becomes man and gives to those who welcome him the “power to become children of God” (John 1:12). It is the proclamation, nay the gift, of a personal covenant of love and life between God and human beings. Only if future priests, through a suitable spiritual formation, have become deeply aware and have increasingly experienced this “mystery” will they be able to communicate this amazing and blessed message to others (1 John 1:1-4).The [Second Vatican] Council…, while taking account of the absolute transcendence of the Christian mystery, describes the communion of future priests with Jesus in terms of friendship. And indeed it is not an absurdity for a person to aim at this, for it is the priceless gift of Christ, who said to his apostles, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15).Today’s Readings: Acts 15:7-21; Psalm 96:1-3,10; John 15:9-11