"CUM GRANDE HUMILITATE!"

"Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words."

A special "Thank you!"
Goes out to
John Michael Talbot
for giving us permission
to use his song on our
"Come to the Quiet"
You Tube Video
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Showing posts with label Pope Benedict XVI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pope Benedict XVI. Show all posts

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Congregation For The Doctrine Of The Faith

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INSTRUCTION ON PRAYERS FOR HEALING

In sanctuaries, other celebrations are held frequently which may not be aimed per se at specifically asking God for graces of healing, but in which, in the intentions of the organizers and participants, the obtaining of healing has an important part. With this purpose in mind, both liturgical and non-liturgical services are held: liturgical celebrations (such as exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction) and non-liturgical expressions of popular piety encouraged by the Church (such as the solemn recitation of the Rosary). These celebrations are legitimate, as long as their authentic sense is not altered. For example, one could not place on the primary level the desire to obtain the healing of the sick, in a way which might cause Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to lose its specific finality, which is to «bring the faithful to recognize in the Eucharist the wonderful presence of Christ and to invite them to a spiritual union with him, a union which finds its culmination in sacramental Communion.»(26)
The «charism of healing» is not attributable to a specific class of faithful. It is quite clear that St. Paul, when referring to various charisms in 1 Corinthians 12, does not attribute the gift of «charisms of healing» to a particular group, whether apostles, prophets, teachers, those who govern, or any other. The logic which governs the distribution of such gifts is quite different: «All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who distributes to each one individually just as the Spirit choses» (1 Cor 12:11). Consequently, in prayer meetings organized for asking for healing, it would be completely arbitrary to attribute a «charism of healing» to any category of participants, for example, to the directors of the group; the only thing to do is to entrust oneself to the free decision of the Holy Spirit, who grants to some a special charism of healing in order to show the power of the grace of the Risen Christ. Yet not even the most intense prayer obtains the healing of all sicknesses. So it is that St. Paul had to learn from the Lord that «my grace is enough for you; my power is made perfect in weakness» (2 Cor 12:9), and that the meaning of the experience of suffering can be that «in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church» (Col 1:24).

The Sovereign Pontiff John Paul II, at the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect, approved the present Instruction, adopted in Ordinary Session of this Congregation, and ordered its publication.
Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, September 14, 2000, the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross.
+ Joseph Card. RATZINGER
Prefect
+ Tarcisio BERTONE, S.D.B. Archbishop Emeritus of Vercelli
Secretary
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Friday, November 23, 2012

Thy Will Be Done



Frequently repeat the divine words of our dear Master, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven!" ~ Saint Padre Pio

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Three Qualities That Prevent Our Being Evil



If you possess these three qualities, you cannot be evil: first, if, for God's sake, you bear in peace all tribulation that comes your way; second, if you humble yourself in everything you do and receive,; third, if you love faithfully those things that cannot be seen with fleshly eyes. ~ From: Francis the Journey and the Dream

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In The Quiet, Think of Nothing More Than Christ



In the Quiet, everything is simpler and we confront our own silence there as we all must do from time to time. But...we should never be inclined to wallow in a morbid concentration of ourselves, even when alone in the Quiet. Instead, we should be thinking of nothing more than Christ.

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Without Prayer True Love Is Impossible



We must get to know the tension between the vertical ascent to God and the horizontal journey of love, reaching out to all the people on earth. We know that without prayer true love is impossible, and we learn from living that without love prayer becomes self-centered and barren. 

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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

This is what my whole heart desires to accomplish!



Until the work of restoring the church of Saint Damian was completed, blessed Francis still wore the garments of a hermit with a strap to serve as a belt, and he carried a staff and had sandals on his feet. Then, one day during the celebration of Mass he heard the words in which Christ bade his disciples go out and preach, carrying neither gold nor silver, nor haversack for the journey, without staff, bread, or shoes, and having no second garment. After listening to the priest's explanation of these words of the Gospel, full of unspeakable joy, he exclaimed: "This is what my whole heart desires to accomplish!" ~ Legend of the Three Companions

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The Cross



"The cross will never oppress you; its weight might cause you to stagger, but its strength will sustain you." ~ Saint Padre Pio

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Printer's Down!


Sunday, November 18, 2012

Holiness



"Let us take the trouble to learn the lesson of holiness from Jesus, whose heart was meek and humble. The first lesson from this heart is an examination of conscience, and the rest - love of service - follow at once!" ~ Madre Teresa of Calcutta

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Abandon Yourself Totally


 
 
"Abandon yourself totally in the arms of the divine goodness of the heavenly Father and do not fear, because your fear would be more ridiculous than that of a child in his mother's womb." ~ Saint Padre Pio
 
 
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Monks Point To The Heart Of Things



VATICAN CITY

Benedict XVI says the vocation of monasteries is to point the world toward what is essential in life: seeking Christ and putting nothing before his love.

The Pope affirmed this today when he received in audience representatives of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Their three-day assembly concluded today.

Referring to the theme of the assembly, "Monastic Life and Its Significance in the Church and the World Today," the Holy Father said the theme was "particularly dear," as he took for his Petrine ministry the name of St. Benedict, founder of Western monasticism.

Monasteries, "seeking Christ and fixing their gaze on eternal realities," the Pontiff explained, "become spiritual oases that indicate to humanity the absolute primacy of God, through the continual adoration of this mysterious, but real, divine presence in the world, and the fraternal communion lived in the new commandment of love and mutual service."

Benedict XVI invited cloistered monks to "live the Gospel in a radical way deeply cultivating the spousal union with Christ" in awaiting the "glorious manifestation of the Savior."

If the vocation is thus lived, he continued, "then monasticism can comprise for all forms of religious and consecrated life a remembrance of what is essential and what has primacy in the life of every baptized person: seeking Christ and putting nothing before his love."

The Pope added that monasteries "should be ever more oases of ascetic life," where knowledge of Scripture is cultivated. 

"It is from this prayerful listening to the Word," he said, "that silent prayer is raised up in monasteries, which become a testimony for those who are welcomed as if it was Christ himself in these places of peace."
 
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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Evangelical Envy

Tunic worn by St. Francis found in Cortuna, Italy

O enviable envy! O emulation to be emulated by his sons! This is not that envy that is grieved over the goods of others; it is not that envy that is darkened by the rays of the sun; not that envy that is opposed to kindness; not that envy that is nurtured by spite. Do you think that evangelical poverty has nothing about it to be envied?

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life
Chapter LI

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Sunday, February 07, 2010

Vatican Cardinal: U.S. Sisters in Crisis After Embracing "Secular Culture"

Papa Benedict XVI with Cardinal Franc Rode

By Hilary White

ROME, February 5, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Some religious orders in the U.S. and most western countries are in a state of “modern crisis” because the members of the order have embraced “secular culture” and abandoned traditional religious practices, the head of the Vatican’s office for religious life has said.

But, said the cardinal, the religious life in the Catholic Church should be presenting an alternative to the “dominant culture,” “which is a culture of death, of violence and of abuse,” rather than mirroring it.

Cardinal Franc Rodé, the prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which is undertaking a review (known as a “visitation”) of the active religious life for women in the U.S., was speaking to a conference on religious life sponsored by the Archdiocese of Naples on Wednesday.

He said, “The crisis experienced by certain religious communities, especially in Western Europe and North America, reflects the more profound crisis of European and American society. All this has dried up the sources that for centuries have nourished consecrated and missionary life in the church.”

“The secularized culture has penetrated into the minds and hearts of some consecrated persons and some communities, where it is seen as an opening to modernity and a way of approaching the contemporary world,” the cardinal added.

In November last year, Cardinal Rodé forthrightly said that it is feminism that has created the crisis in the religious orders. In an interview with Vatican Radio, he said he had been “alerted” by an unnamed representative of the Church in the U.S., “to some irregularities or deficiencies” in the way the religious sisters were living.

“Above all, you could speak of a certain secularist mentality that has spread among these religious families, perhaps even a certain 'feminist' spirit,” the cardinal said.

Late last year, the increasingly loud complaints about the ongoing visitation from a small number of American communities prompted several public comments from the cardinal defending the Vatican’s decision to investigate the sisters’ lives. For some years now, Rodé has called on the sisters to refocus their communities on the “founding charisms” or original purpose of their orders.

The deterioration since the 1960s into radical feminism and leftist politics of most of the religious orders in the U.S., especially those of women, has not gone unnoticed in Rome. In 2008 at a meeting of religious men and women in Boston, Cardinal Rodé said that today there are some in religious life “who have chosen paths that have carried them away from communion with Christ in the Catholic Church, even though they have decided to physically ‘be’ in the Church.”

This assertion was bolstered in 2007 at a meeting of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a keynote speaker, Dominican Sister Laurie Brink, said that the more liberal congregations of sisters were leaving behind “institutional religion” and “moving beyond the Church, even beyond Jesus.”

What she called a “sojourning” order “is no longer ecclesiastical,” she said. “Religious titles, institutional limitations, ecclesiastical authorities no longer fit this congregation, which in most respects is Post-Christian.”

These statements were cited by the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) when it launched a doctrinal investigation into the beliefs and teachings of orders that are members of LCWR. The Apostolic Visitation being conducted by the Congregation for Religious is separate from the CDF investigation, but the latter has been excoriated as an “inquisition” by the same religious orders that have objected to the Visitation.

Read related LSN coverage:

Dissident U.S. Nuns Unlikely to Change, Even in Face of Vatican Inquiry and Shrinking Numbers: Experts

Monday, April 28, 2008

Edward Cardinal Egan Statement Regarding Rudy Giuliani Receiving Communion

Cardinal Egan released a statement today addressing the fact that Rudy Giuliani received Communion at the Papal Mass in New York. This is going to be big news because this is the first time a Cardinal, let alone a bishop, has addressed a pro-abortion Catholic politician receiving Communion since Archbishop Burke publically stated that he would deny John Kerry Communion should he present himself in his diocese.

Below is the media release we are sending out praising Cardinal Egan for defending the Eucharist. I invite each of you to join us in thanking Cardinal Egan for standing up.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 28, 2008

The following is a statement issued by Edward Cardinal Egan:

“ The Catholic Church clearly teaches that abortion is a grave offense against the will of God. Throughout my years as Archbishop of New York, I have repeated this teaching in sermons, articles, addresses, and interviews without hesitation or compromise of any kind. Thus it was that I had an understanding with Mr. Rudolph Giuliani, when I became Archbishop of New York and he was serving as Mayor of New York, that he was not to receive the Eucharist because of his well-known support of abortion. I deeply regret that Mr. Giuliani received the Eucharist during the Papal visit here in New York, and I will be seeking a meeting with him to insist that he abide by our understanding.”

http://www.ny-archdiocese.org/news-events/news-press-releases/index.cfm?i=7945

Monday, April 21, 2008

Monday, April 21, 2008

by

PAT BOONE


So, the Pope came to town.

Yes, and the town (little Washington, D.C.) practically came unglued. The media fell all over themselves, situating cameras all over the city and scrambling for position to broadcast every move His Eminence made. He even made Entertainment Tonight and virtually every news show on TV.

There was the president himself, waiting at the foot of the stairs as his guest descended from Shepherd I, to welcome the pope, who stepped nimbly down to the tarmac, beaming with delight. There were cherry-blossomed streets for the motorcade through the city, a grandly arrayed White House lawn where millions saw the pope and the president striding outside the Oval Office, and a red-carpeted entrance to the National Cathedral where hundreds of robed bishops waited reverently to receive the pontiff.

We watched as the gentle, white-robed spiritual leader knelt in silent homage to a likeness of the Virgin Mary, one very special to him from his beloved Bavaria. The police, the special security guards accorded to the most important visiting dignitaries, and governmental representatives by the hundreds crowded around him at every turn, wanting make him feel welcome and appreciated and secure wherever he went. In the hours and days that followed, the news broadcasters reported on his words to Catholic leaders and his poignant meeting with some who had been abused sexually in their youth by priests they had trusted. He earnestly expressed his personal grief and the shame brought on the church by the actions of those priests, and he prayed for those who had suffered.

I viewed this, and so much more, in amazement. I can't remember any head of state in my lifetime – not Anwar Sadat or Menachem Begin or Thatcher or Blair or Kruschev or Gorbachev, or anybody – getting more lavish and wholehearted reception.

And all of this for a churchman, a religious leader, not a politician!

So, where was the guardian of our civil liberties, the vaunted champion of our Constitution, the self-appointed watchdog of our freedoms – the ACLU? Wasn't it howling in protest at this supposed breach of the "wall of separation between church and state"? How could it be silent as our elected leaders, our senators and congressmen, even the president himself, stopped what they were doing and paid homage to a religious prelate – as if they were somehow "endorsing" his personage and his mission? And how could taxpayers be saddled with the considerable expense of accommodating his every move? Weren't ACLU lawyers instantly in courts, seeking injunctions against this "illegal" governmental recognition of who he is, and what he represents, the purely religious convictions of millions of our citizens?

No, they were strangely silent, nowhere in evidence. Not a peep.

Why, do you suppose? I think I know. I believe that even in their diabolical determination to remove every vestige of religion from public life – every mention of God or scripture from pledges, from currency, from public ceremony – that even they realize there are still some limits to how far they can go in robbing the vast majority of Americans of their freedom of speech, of expression, of liberty itself. I think they sensed that, were they to mount their customary screeches, litigation and protest, against the most admired single person on the planet, they might just spark a long overdue rejection of their insidious campaign.

People might just look again at the First Amendment to our Constitution and see that the actual wording is "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"; they might look up the word in the dictionary and discover the word means "concerning" – and come to the obvious realization that the amendment means that our government shall make no laws at all about religion, instead leaving such matters to the people. And then, they would make sense of the concluding phrase of the provision, "nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof"!

And more of us would delve back into our history to discover that President Thomas Jefferson (the misappropriated patron saint of the ACLU), notwithstanding the phrase "a wall of separation between church and state" in his 1802 letter to a Baptist church in Danbury, Conn., appropriated taxpayer funds to pay ministers to promote Christianity to the Indians, notably the Kaskaskia, Wyandotte and Cherokee tribes from 1803 to 1807. This was 13 years and more after the First Amendment was enacted, and yet Jefferson is the authority on that amendment whom the ACLU always cites so perversely.

Further, we might find out that President Jefferson inaugurated financial support for chaplains in the armed services and, in 1806, signed the Articles of War in which he "earnestly recommended to all officers and soldiers, diligently to attend divine services." The commander in chief of the military! Where was this "wall of separation"?

It should be clear to any true student of history that Jefferson meant that the "wall of separation" was a one-dimensional wall, meant only and exclusively to keep the government's paws off religion, and its free expression. And off the simple freedom of speech, as well. It should be equally clear that our Founding Fathers brought their faith and religious conviction into the creation of our republic. So how can it be that those documents and their authors are used to deny the very freedoms they were intended to preserve?

Not so long ago, President Ronald Reagan stood at the ugly barrier between the communist-oppressed Germans and their democratic brothers, and demanded, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" The world heard, and so did the Soviet dictators – and the wall came down.

The timely visit of the pope, and the intimidated silence of the atheistic opponents of religion, tells me the hour has come for us collectively to shout – to demand of the creators of this fabricated "wall of separation" depriving the constitutional rights of multiple millions of Americans – "ACLU, tear down this wall!"