Paul Zalonski – Page 302

Faith Comes by Hearing: Illiteracy not an obstacle in sharing Biblical faith

An extraordinary gift has made the good news of the Bible better known for those who are unable to read and write. Reportedly 50 percent of the world is illiterate. An initiative of Jerry Jackson and colleagues, Faith Comes by Hearing, is making it possible for the world to hear the Bible in one’s language. It is available in more than 610 languages, reaching 185 countries and 5 billion people to date. AND the Pope now has an iPod with the audio Bible.

Watch the video clip on Faith Comes by Hearing here.

Support Faith Comes by Hearing!

Pope explains the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

This week, as you know, is a period of time for prayer (and fasting, I hope) for the intention of Christian Unity. The intention in my mind, and I might say, in the mind of the Pope, is a non-negotiable: we need not only to pray but to actively work for unity among Christians. This week, therefore, is an invitation to beg the Lord for the grace of unity for the Church.

Pope Benedict speaks to the matter of our own conversion, a deep change of heart viz. unity. We need a united witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ today.

It’s Christianity. Simple.

We seem to be asking the same question: What is Christianity? A perplexing question for believers, I suspect. Test everything, Saint Paul tells us. Indeed, probe the question and don’t be afraid of doubt and the questions. The certainty of faith is known in the experience and the investigation of the reasonableness of the faith.

Antonio Quaglio in article published today on ilsussidiario.net, “It’s Christianity. Simple.” reflects on what Father Julián Carrón spoke on at the New Encounter 2012 this past weekend: that Christianity, in its true sense, need to be lived without reservation and without excuses and justifications.

Continue reading It’s Christianity. Simple.

Unpacking the Pope’s World Day of Peace message for 2012

On January 1, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Mother
of God, the open the new civil year, and we observe the World Day of Peace. The
Pope gives a message on this day that sort of works as a programmatic statement
for his work throughout the year. 2012 is a year to work on the virtue of
justice. At some point the future I will define the virtue of justice more than
“giving another his or her just due.” The Pope clarified his thinking on justice which can be read here.

The secretary of the Pontifical Council
for Justice and Peace, the number 2 person at the Council, Bishop Mario Toso,
SDB, 61, spoke about the meaning of the Pope’s message for the Day, titled “Educate
Young People in Justice and Peace.” His interview with Mercedes de la
Torre from January 10 with Zenit follows:

ZENIT spoke with the Salesian bishop,
professor of social philosophy, former rector of the Pontifical Salesian
University and Consultor for 20 years of the Pontifical Council for Justice and
Peace, about Benedict XVI’s message.

ZENIT: Why does Benedict XVI address young
people in particular in this 45th Message for the World Day of Peace?

Continue reading Unpacking the Pope’s World Day of Peace message for 2012

Saint Anthony of the Desert

The father of monasticism, Saint Anthony reminds us of two things: to deny the self is a freeing gesture in one’s relationship with God and with others. Remember: we have communion with God and communion with our friends.

The denial of self is not merely the denial of material things but our preconceived ideas and skepticism. The second prayer highlights for me the vigilance needed to be aware of evil. The powers of darkness are real and need to be confronted.

The Collect

O God, who brought the Abbot Saint Anthony to serve you by a wondrous way of life in the desert, grant, through his intercession, that, denying ourselves, we may always love you above all things.

Prayer After Communion

Nourished for our healing by your Sacraments, O Lord, may we escape every snare of the enemy unharmed, just as by your grace Saint Anthony won glorious victories over the powers of darkness.

We have a common, irreducible destiny…in God: let’s live like it

New Year greetings are exchanged between the Holy
Father and the authorities of the City of Rome, the Region of Lazio, and the
Province of Rome. On one level this meeting is a formality, because it is. But
there is a deeper issue at hand: collaborate with others to build up the
Kingdom even when your partner is perhaps secular. As Saint John Bosco did, as
well as countless other good educators, if you want to influence others, then
get to know the other person. Rome’s ecclesial leaders aren’t always on the
same page as the civil leaders, but absenting oneself from the other is no way
to advance the good life. And the Pope realizes this fact.

He said on January
12,

“The challenges we are currently facing are numerous and complex, and can
be overcome only if we reinforce our awareness that the destiny of each of us
is linked to that of everyone else. For this reason … acceptance, solidarity
and legality are fundamental values. The present crisis can, then, be an
opportunity for the entire community to verify whether the values upon which
social life is founded have generated a society that is just, fair and united,
or whether it is necessary to undertake a profound rethink in order to
rediscover values which … not only favor economic recovery, but which are
also attentive to promoting the integral good of human beings.”

Continue reading We have a common, irreducible destiny…in God: let’s live like it

Bertone recalls the Church’s particular vocation: being a sign and instrument of God’s love and justice

The other day the Pope’s Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio
Bertone SDB celebrated Mass for the Vatican’s jurists where he noted “with the
beginning of a new judicial year … we are again invited to reflect upon the
relationship between divine and human justice, so that our consciences may be
illuminated and our actions may, as far as possible, correspond to the divine
will and its plan of love for each individual and for the community of man.” Moreover,
Bertone picked up a current theme of Benedict’s these days, that is, that of
justice, in which he called attention to the specific vocation of the Church to
be “a sign and instrument of God’s love [charity], and of His justice which is always an
expression of His merciful love.”

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2012

The theme of the ’12 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (18-25 Jan) is taken from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians “We will all be changed by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (15:51-58).

The Church prays for Unity among Christians

Make known in us, O Lord, the abundance of your mercy
and, in the power of your Spirit, remove the divisions between Christians, that
your Church may appear more clearly as a sign raised high among the nations and
the world, enlightened by your Spirit, may believe in the Christ whom you have
sent.

On the 25th, Pope Benedict will pray Vespers on the feast of the Conversion of St Paul at the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls with ecumenical partners. He’s been committed to this work of ecumenism and has worked to give the work a better and authentic focus. He’s called the “Pope of Christian Unity.” Let’s be united in prayer for the the intention of full, visible unity among Christians.

Cardinal Francis Eugene George, OMI, turns 75, submits resignation

Today is Cardinal Francis Eugene George’s 75th birthday. Congrats and continued blessings!!!

His Eminence is this nation’s highest profiled cardinal and bishop who is a superb public thinker as well as a pastor of souls. Since 1997 he’s been the archbishop of Chicago and since 1998 he’s been a member of the College of Cardinals. Both positions were given to him by Blessed Pope John Paul II.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law says of a bishop who reaches his 75th birthday:

A diocesan bishop who has completed the seventy-fifth year of age is requested to present from office to the Supreme Pontiff, who will make provision after he has examined all the circumstances (401).

The Chicago Tribune ran this article today.

Pray for Cardinal George and for the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Jesus Christ is our light

The days following the feasts of the Epiphany (Theophany) and the Baptism of the Lord, the Church focuses her attention on a relationship with the Lord as the Way, the Light and the Truth. The biblical narratives at Mass this week have us praying with the scenes of Christ the healer. With His baptism, Jesus’ ministry inaugurated and his light now shines more brightly for us to see the path to salvation.

Jesuit Father Steven Bonian tells us that “In … Syriac Spirituality we find St. Ephrem speaking
in mystical poetry of the light of Christ residing in every Christian: the same
light that Moses saw on the mountain at the burning bush; that gleamed through
Mary at his incarnation, and the river Jordan at his baptism. Ephrem envisions
that we too will shine forth with Christ’s light at our resurrection – for all
eternity!

It is very important for us to come to know Jesus Christ, our Lord,
in his true light: as he really lives in the light of the Trinity. It is the
ultimate grace from God the Father to have Jesus revealed to us in his true
Light. This grace can only be given to those who are willing to seek it: ‘ask
and it will be given to you,’ the Lord says.”