Commemoratio
sancti Malachiae, prophetae, qui, post transmigrationem Babylone diem magnum
Domini eiusque adventum in templum nuntiavit semperque et ubique mundam
oblationem nomini eius offerendam. (Roman Martyrology)
The commemoration of
Saint Malachi, the prophet, who, after the Babylonian Exile, announced the
great Day of the Lord, his coming into the Temple, and that an immaculate
offering be made to His Name, always and everywhere.
The Archdiocese of Boston, under the direction of His Eminence, Seán Cardinal O’Malley, OFM Cap., issued a new educational policy for its schools which includes a non-discrimination policy and reiterates that Catholic teaching will be taught in the curricula. There’s an openness to the real life situations people face and live each day but there is no compromise in the passing on the Truth to others: care for the whole person and concern for the eternal destiny of souls.
The Catholic New York announced in today’s edition that the Archdiocese of New York with the Dioceses of Brooklyn and Rockville Centre, will merge their college seminary formation programs. A statement was released on January 11, read here.
Pakistani Muslims protested the part of Pope Benedict’s State of the World address where he says the blasphemy law ought to be repealed. Well, Pakistan’s Muslims don’t think it’s wise.
The online magazine Catholic Culture (here below) carried this story today, which ran yesterday in the AFP, about a Muslim policeman killing Christian women when tensions are already running following the killing of Christians in a church. More sadness for humanity. It is also incredibly sad that the Egyptian Ambassador to the Holy See has stated that the view that Christians are not persecuted. Can you believe it??? The Ambassador’s head is in the sand.
Less than two
weeks after a church bombing in Alexandria left 21 Coptic Christians dead, an
off-duty policeman shot four Christians on a train, killing a 71-year-old man.
A fifth person was also wounded.
Continue reading Policeman shoots 4 Christians in Egypt, shouting Allah is great
Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete, the ecclesial assistant for Communion and Liberation in the USA, published in the Italy-based online magazine, Il Sussidiario, an appreciative article on this coming weekend’s New York Encounter, a faith and culture festival.
Continue reading The New York Encounter: a Different Cultural Event
The Pope always
seems to get criticized at every twist-and-turn. He announced a gathering in
Assisi to have a World Day of Prayer in part to commemorate the 25th
anniversary of the first Day of Prayer hosted by John Paul II and to build
bridges -he is the Pontiff, the “bridge builder”–after all. Benedict’s noble
and good motive is this: “I will make a pilgrimage to the town of St Francis,
inviting my Christian brethren of different confessions, leaders of the world’s
religious traditions and, in their hearts, all men and women of good will, to
join me on this journey in order to commemorate that important historical
gesture of my predecessor, and solemnly to renew the commitment of believers of
all religions to live their religious faith as a service to the cause of peace.”
Continue reading Bernard Fellay criticizes Pope unfairly over prayer at Assisi 2011
Another door to Pope John Paul’s beatification happened yesterday in Rome. The cardinals and bishops who are members of the Congregation of Saints have affirmed the veracity of the medical investigations of a miracle of attributed to the Venerable Servant of God Pope John Paul II, and the theological report on the same. Andrea Tornielli writes about the news.
“Since I began to love, love has never forsaken me. It has ever grown to its own fullness within my innermost heart.”
Our catechesis today deals with Saint Catherine of Genoa, a fifteenth-century saint best known for her vision of purgatory. Married at an early age, some ten years later Catherine had a powerful experience of conversion; Jesus, carrying his cross, appeared to her, revealing both her own sinfulness and God’s immense love. A woman of great humility, she combined constant prayer and mystical union with a life of charitable service to those in need, above all in her work as the director of the largest hospital in Genoa. Catherine’s writings on purgatory contain no specific revelations, but convey her understanding of purgatory as an interior fire purifying the soul in preparation for full communion with God. Conscious of God’s infinite love and justice, the soul is pained by its inadequate response, even as the divine love purifies it from the remnants of sin. To describe this purifying power of God’s love, Catherine uses the image of a golden chain which draws the soul to abandon itself to the divine will. By her life and teaching, Saint Catherine of Genoa reminds us of the importance of prayer for the faithful departed, and invites us to devote ourselves more fully to prayer and to works of practical charity.
Pope Benedict XVI
summary of Wednesday Catechesis on Saint Catherine of Genoa
Vatican City State, 12 January 2011