Communion & Liberation: March 2013 Archives

passing of Benedict.jpgThis day blessed Benedict in the presence of his brethren ascended directly from his cell toward the East into heaven; this day, his hands raised, he breathed forth his soul in prayer; this day he was received by the Angels into glory. (Vespers Mag. Ant.)


Our prayer today is for all who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict and the gifts given to the Church and world by the Benedictines. Most especially our prayer today is with the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation who counts Saint Benedict as one of the co-patrons of the movement. May we who live the path given by the Servant of God Father Luigi Giussani to "incline our heart" unto the Lord's.

Father Giussani once said to the Benedictine monks of Cascinazza (Milan), "Christ is present! The Christ announcement is that God became one of us and is present here, and gathers us together into one body, and through unity, His presence is made perceivable. This is heart of the Benedictine message of the earliest times. Well, this also defines the entire message of our Movement, and this is why feel Benedictine history to be the history to which we are the closest."


JM Bergoglio.jpgResearch is running on steroids in the hours since Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected to be our new Roman Pontiff, Francis. This is especially true with members of Communion and Liberation who are eager to see what connection they can make with the new Pope. Who could blame us?

In the first paragraph Bergoglio writes about a lecture he gave on the Religious Sense where he says, "...I was not simply performing  a formal act of protocol ... I was expressing the gratitude that is due to Msgr Giussani. For many years now, his writings have inspired me to reflect and have helped me to pray. They have taught me to be a better Christian, and I spoke at the presentation to bear witness to this."

Pope Francis on the Religious Sense.pdf

(From, Eliza Buzzi, A Generative Thought: An Introduction to the Works Luigi Giussani, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2003).

Yesterday afternoon I posted here on Communio a Traces article, "The Attraction of the Cardinal."

Father Julián Carrón wrote to members of CL on the election of Pope Francis as the Bishop of Rome.


JC.jpg

Within the irrepressible joy of having a new guide for our community of believers, I am struck by how he managed to communicate to us, from his very first movements, with simple gestures comprehensible to everyone, where his gaze is fixed. With his choice of name, Francis, he shows us that he has no other wealth but Christ. He trusts no modality of communicating this if not plain and simple witness to Christ.


Pope Francis's disarming request expressed the awareness that this witness is pure grace and that we must beg for it: "I ask you to pray to the Lord that He will bless me." In the Pope's prayer, together with the crowd in St. Peter's Square, the miracle of the life that is the Church--whose heart is Christ Himself--took shape before the eyes of the world.

Way of the Cross 2013.jpg

Since 1996, Communion and Liberation, an ecclesial movement in the Catholic Church, has organized the Way of the Cross over the Brooklyn Bridge. With God's grace, year after year the event has grown -- thirty people became a hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, a thousand, until, at last year's Good Friday thousands New Yorkers followed the Cross all the way to Ground Zero.

 

It thus gives me great joy to invite you to participate in this year's Way of the Cross over the Brooklyn Bridge to Ground Zero.  The event begins at 10am on Good Friday - March 29, 2013 - at St. James Cathedral-Basilica, 250 Cathedral Place (corner of Jay and Tillary Streets) and it will conclude at 1:30pm so the participants can attend the Good Friday service in their parish.  The cathedral can be reached by taking the A, C, or F train to the Borough Hall Stop in downtown Brooklyn. 

 

After a station on the Brooklyn Bridge, the procession will follow the cross to a third station at City Hall Park in Manhattan, and a fourth station near Ground Zero. The final station will be at St. Peter's Church on Barclay Street, concluding at 1:30 pm.

 

At each station, there will be readings from the Passion, a meditation, a reflection and hymns.  All are invited to participate.

 

For more information, please call Communion and Liberation at (212) 337-3580 or visit the website.

About the author

Paul A. Zalonski is from New Haven, CT. He is a member of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, a Catholic ecclesial movement and an Oblate of Saint Benedict. Contact Paul at paulzalonski[at]yahoo.com.

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This page is a archive of entries in the Communion & Liberation category from March 2013.

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