Just in:
We just got a message from Brother Peter, a Christian missionary in
Zimbabwe who spoke briefly at our January Walk for Life this year.
He said that people are being massacred right now in the general
vicinity of his church. He asks prayers from everyone.
Please alert all prayer chains immediately
Virgin Most Holy, Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother,venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan under the title "Help of Christians", the entire Church in China looks to you with devout affection. We come before you today to implore your protection. Look upon the People of God and, with a mother’s care, guide them along the paths of truth and love, so that they may always be a leaven of harmonious coexistence among all citizens.
When you obediently said "yes" in the house of Nazareth, you allowed God’s eternal Son to take flesh in your virginal womb and thus to begin in history the work of our redemption. You willingly and generously cooperated in that work, allowing the sword of pain to pierce your soul, until the supreme hour of the Cross, when you kept watch on Calvary, standing beside your Son, who died that we might live.
From that moment, you became, in a new way, the Mother of all those who receive your Son Jesus in faith and choose to follow in his footsteps by taking up his Cross. Mother of hope, in the darkness of Holy Saturday you journeyed with unfailing trust towards the dawn of Easter. Grant that your children may discern at all times, even those that are darkest, the signs of God’s loving presence.
Our Lady of Sheshan, sustain all those in China,who, amid their daily trials, continue to believe, to hope, to love. May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world, and of the world to Jesus. In the statue overlooking the Shrine you lift your Son on high, offering him to the world with open arms in a gesture of love. Help Catholics always to be credible witnesses to this love, ever clinging to the rock of Peter on which the Church is built. Mother of China and all Asia, pray for us, now and for ever. Amen!
[Today, the Church asks the faithful around the world to pray for China. HIstory of this image of Our Lady here. More details here.]
UPDATE: This prayer intention seemed to be promoted well; only problem was the Chinese government banned pilgrimages to her shrine in order to block any possible displays of unity between Chinese Catholics and Rome. So be it. One cannot ban conscience -- or prayer. God's will in all things.
Donna Marie brings this tragedy to our attention.
One of [Rebecca] Payne's professors, who asked not to be named, said she was an athletic training major and called Payne the "sweetest young lady."
"She was one of the leaders in the program," the professor said. "She was always the first to volunteer to help, a bubbly outgoing personality, a nurturer for the young people coming through."
Payne's friends were stunned by her death. "She was a great person," said Andy Celella, a sophomore at Northeastern who described Payne as loyal and caring. "Whenever I saw her, she was smiling. Anything you needed, you could ask her, and she'd say, 'Sure, I'll take care of it.' "
Payne, who was from New Milford, Conn., was an athletic, energetic woman with an easy temper and a love of sports, her friends said. For two years, she was a camp counselor at Camp Washington, a sleep-away camp for children and teenagers in Lakeside, Conn.
"She was very good with kids," said Kevin Holland, the camp's director. "She was always very high-energy, very upbeat. She was great at pepping up the whole group and keeping them going."
Words fail. Prayers needed.
Fr Tim Finigan pointed out this excellent prayer intention, in which Karen H. prays the rosary for priests on Sunday evenings during May. You could join in this evening, or next Sunday -- or every day! I'm delighted to point out that our diocese has this apostolate, in which women support priests in prayer according to the document published by the Congregation for the Clergy, entitled Adoration, Reparation, Spiritual Motherhood for Priests. I noticed Karen's combox is filling with requests for her to remember their priests as well. Weak! Let's all pray, and storm heaven for this worthy intention.
Two horrific stories have put a damper on this lovely day, one from Bangladesh, the other from England. The former is a tale of a teenage daughter, daughter of a pastor, who has been "punished" by the community for the family's Christian faith. The latter is of a teenage boy who paid the price in blood for his peaceful stance.
Elina Das is the only Christian student at her school, he said. “Always local boys used to tease her on her way to school,” he said, “and used to tell her filthy words against Christianity and western culture.”
Five villagers attacked her when she went from her thatched house to an outdoor latrine, said investigating officer Sanwar Hossen of Fulbaria police station.
“Five people lying in ambush in the pitch-dark near the toilet snatched her by gagging her mouth with her body scarf [and taking her] to a nearby tea stall, 400 meters from the house, where they gang-raped her,” Hossen said.
That family has taken refuge and has received dire threats pressuring them to withdraw the police report. What is a father to do? How does one balance faith and family under such circumstances? As for the other:
A teenager murdered the day after his 16th birthday was killed in an unprovoked attack after he refused to take part in a fight, police said tonight. A manhunt was under way to track the killer responsible for cutting “gentle giant” Jimmy Mizen's neck with glass following a row as he went to buy a Lottery ticket with his brother.
One of nine children from a devout Catholic family, he died in his brother's arms. As we rejoice in the gift of our children, we must realise that our ultimate treasure is in heaven. May these families find comfort in the coming weeks, and our hearts go out to all for whom Mothers Day is a bittersweet remembrance.
UPDATE: A priest in England adds depth to the story, having heard a local radio report:
Jimmy's mother spoke very movingly on the radio this morning. She said she didn't feel anger; just a terrible sadness for the parents of those who killed her son. As I listened to her I wondered how secularists can take pleasure in knocking Christianity. She came across not just as a woman comforted by her faith but as one able to forgive and think of others at a terrible moment in her life. Let's also keep Jimmy's parents in our prayers.
The family's healing is possible through forgiveness. I'm gratified to know that the mum responded in this way. Sounds impossible, but to scroll through the forgiveness stories on this blog (here) is to see what can happen with God's grace. Prayers for all.
Stephanie's parents and professor want her story known. I am only too happy to oblige, though I wish there were no story. Women have to know that they cannot fix men; nor do they deserve abuse. In the words of her grieving prof:
As anyone who reads here regularly knows, I don't understand women, even as I find their nature the most fascinating and annoyingly complex thing on the planet. But do I really need to tell you, ladies, (as I told the class) that a man who hits you is not a man, but a barbarian? If he does it once, he'll do it again. If he can hit you, he can kill you. If he can even think of inflicting harm on the one person for whom a tender solicitude should possess his being, there's an evil brewing that love will not cure. You are supposed to be the object of his adoration, not his therapist. Do you think you can change him? You won't. And you don't really love him, either. You love an idea of what he could be if only...he would change, if only that good side you once saw would take control. But that won't happen either. If you think you love him enough, you may end up dying in his presence.
Spread the word. God willing, this will fall into the hands of someone who needs to hear it. [Thanks to FructusVentris]
Kindly pray over this good intention. (Scroll down for details.)
These comments about femininity -- coming from a Russian prison -- are touching. Consider the setting: Siberia. Disheveled lives. Dank surroundings. Offer of a beauty pageant to break the monotony.
"A woman should always be beautiful," says Natalya Khapova, 26, as she poses on her pedestal. "Not just outside the fence. Even if she's in here, she should show her beauty. A woman is everything gentle and wonderful - or she should be."
But where "active participation in the social life of the camp" can help women win early parole, the "Miss Spring" contest has become an important way for the female inmates to demonstrate good behaviour.
"We wanted to find ways to occupy convicts' free time," says Natalya Baulina, the prison's administrative head. "When I first introduced the idea to the women, they were in utter shock. The only pageant they knew was Miss Universe - women parading in barely visible swimsuits before male judges."
The inmates thirst for beauty, meaning and success after their incarceration ends.
Yulia Lutsak, 30, is serving four years for illegal drug trafficking. She says a miscarriage, a cheating husband, and unemployment led her into drug use. "I was on opium for three years, then heroin for a year," she admits. "I didn't have enough money, and someone asked me, 'Why don't you sell some?' That's how I wound up here."
Yulia works as a supervisor and has a starring role in the pageant. She is already planning her new life on the outside. "I want to take computer courses," she says, "and then maybe work at an orphanage."
She says she never wants to come back to UF 91/9, but she worries about the likelihood of finding work and the temptation to sink back into her old ways. "Maybe I lack self esteem," she says. "I think after the pageant I'll feel more confident."
Every state has its prisons. Every prisoner should count on our prayers. There but for the grace of God go any of us. Remember the power of beauty and love.
Dear Readers, I know you will all join in lifting up this intention.
Paulos Faraj Rahho, the Chaldean bishop of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul was kidnapped on Friday after he finished celebrating the rite of the Via Crucis at a local church.
Eyewitnesses said that a group of armed men stopped the bishop as he was travelling in his car and took him by force.
His three travel companions were killed, and the Pope released a rare nightime statement, asking that he be returned safely. How many of us who are praying the Stations of the Cross this Lent truly believe that we'd be called to walk so closely with Our Lord in His passion. May this faithful bridegroom return to his flock without injury.
Jackie Parkes, writes about a battle being waged in England concerning sex education.
UK teenage pregnancy figures have rocketed under the government's supposed crackdown 10 years ago, statistics have shown. The Department of Health, which set a target of halving reducing teenage pregnancies by 2010, has admitted that "progress needs to accelerate" following the news that the UK now has the highest teenage birth-rate in Europe.
Of course the government's answer is the "Children's Plan," which is more of the same, inevitably increasing the casualty rate.
Paul Tully, SPUC general secretary, said: "The Children's Plan promises a review of best practice in sex education. Every review since 1990 has led to calls for 'more of the same' policy - sex education and wider provision of sex facilities (abortion, contraception, sex advice) to children and teenagers.
"The government's reviewers and advisors are not only committed to the promotion of explicit sex information and abortion services. Many of them are actually providers of such services - funded by the government - like Brook, and the abortion service BPAS.
Complicity with darkness on every level. Compromised interest, willful blindness, throwing kids to the wolves for private gain. The slide has been long established, with a major acceleration with the Lambeth Conference of 1930. The decline becomes exponential at a certain point, and we're witnessing it now. We must believe in the power of prayer because that's all that's left. Immaculate Heart of Mary, save your children.
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