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Tuesday, April 8, 2014

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2014


RIP Mickey Rooney longest time as an actor - Age 93 - Pray for his soul

Mickey Rooney was born as Joseph Yule, Jr.; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014. He was an American actor and entertainer . Rooney had one of the longest careers in acting history; he was first on film in 1927 and made his last appearance in 2014. He received many awards, including a Juvenile Academy Award, an Honorary Academy Award, two Golden Globes and an Emmy Award. He became a superstar as a teenager for his role as Andy Hardy. He had a leading role as Henry Dailey in The Family Channel's The Adventures of the Black Stallion. Rooney was one of the last surviving stars who worked in the silent film era. Accomplished singer and dancer, he received two special Oscars, the Juvenile Award in 1939, which he shared with Deanna Durbin and one in 1983 for his body of work.  He filed for bankruptcy in 1962, after spending $12 million he had earned. Standing five-foot-three inches tall, Rooney made his debut at age 15 months in his family's vaudeville act, Yule and 
Carter. His first film role in the silent "Not to Be Trusted". Rooney appeared in many popular films in 1934, "Captains Courageous" and "Boy's Town,". From 1944-46, Rooney served in the U.S. Army in the Jeep Theater, traveling 150,000 miles entertaining the troops. He won an Emmy for "Bill" in 1982 In 1993 he published autobiography "Life Is Too Short." 
 He's survived by wife Jan Chamberlin, a singer he married in 1978; son Mickey Rooney Jr. from his marriage to singer Betty Jane Rase; son Theodore Michael Rooney from his marriage to actress Martha Vickers; daughters Kelly Ann Rooney, Kerry Rooney and Kimmy Sue Rooney and son Michael Joseph Rooney from his marriage to Barbara Ann Thomason; and daughter Jonelle Rooney and adopted son Jimmy Rooney from his marriage to Carolyn Hockett. His son, Tim Rooney, died in 2006. His family is pictured below - 
Please pray for his soul....
From Wikipedia
Spouse(s)
  • Ava Gardner (m. 1942–1943)
  • B. J. Baker (m. 1944–1948)
  • Martha Vickers (m. 1949–1951)
  • Elaine Devry (m. 1952–1958)
  • Carolyn Mitchell (m. 1958–1966)
  • Marge Lane (m. 1966–1967)
  • Carolyn Hockett (m. 1969–1975)
  • Jan Chamberlin (m. 1978–his death)
Children9

Today's Mass Online : Tues. April 8, 2014

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 252


Reading 1NM 21:4-9

From Mount Hor the children of Israel set out on the Red Sea road,
to bypass the land of Edom.
But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!”

In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,
“We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from us.”
So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD said to Moses,
“Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and whoever looks at it after being bitten will live.”
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

Responsorial Psalm PS 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21

R. (2) O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
O LORD, hear my prayer,
and let my cry come to you.
Hide not your face from me
in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;
in the day when I call, answer me speedily.
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,
and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
and not despised their prayer.
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.
Let this be written for the generation to come,
and let his future creatures praise the LORD:
“The LORD looked down from his holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die.”
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.

Gospel JN 8:21-30

Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come.”
So the Jews said,
“He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”
He said to them, “You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.”
So they said to him, “Who are you?”
Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him.”
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

Pope Francis “It is impossible for us to free ourselves from sin on our own."


(Vatican Radio) The relationship between Christianity and the Cross and our own sins was the focus of Pope Francis’s reflections at his Mass on Tuesday in the Santa Marta residence.

In his homily, the Pope said Christianity does not exist without the Cross and stressed that we are unable to free ourselves from our sins on our own. The Cross, he said, is not an ornament to place on the altar but is the mystery of God’s love who takes our sins upon himself. He then reflected on the meaning of Jesus’s warning to the Pharisees “You will die in your sin.”

“It is impossible for us to free ourselves from sin on our own. It’s impossible. These doctors of the law, these people who taught the law, didn’t have a clear idea on this. They believed, yes, in the forgiveness of God but considered themselves strong, self-sufficient and that they knew everything. And in the end they transformed religion, their adoration of God, into a culture with values, reflections, certain commandments of conduct to be polite and they believed, yes, that the Lord can pardon them, they knew this but they were far removed from all this.” 
Pope Francis said the serpent is the symbol of sin as seen in the bible. In the desert sin was lifted up but it is a sin that seeks salvation so that it heals. It is Jesus, the Son of Man, the true savior, who is lifted up.

“Christianity is not a philosophical doctrine, it’s not a programme for life survival or education, or for peacemaking. These are consequences. Christianity is a person, a person raised on the Cross, a person who annihilated himself to save us, who became sin. Just as sin was raised up in the desert, here God who was made man and made sin for us was raised up. All our sins were there. You cannot understand Christianity without understanding this profound humiliation of the Son of God who humbled himself and became a servant unto death, even death on a cross, in order to serve us.”
This is why, the Pope went on, the apostle Paul said we do not have other things to boast about, apart from our sins, and this is our misery. But through the mercy of God, we rejoice in the crucified Christ. It’s for this reason that ‘there is no Christianity without the Cross and there’s no Cross without Jesus Christ.

“The Cross is not an ornament that we must always put in the churches, there on the altar. It is not a symbol that distinguishes us from others. The Cross is mystery, the mystery of God who humbles himself, he becomes ‘nothing.’ He becomes sin. Where is your sin? ‘I don’t know, I have so many here.’ No, your sin is there, in the Cross. Go and find it there, in the wounds of the Lord and your sins will be healed, your wounds will be healed, your sins will be forgiven. The forgiveness that God gives us is not the same as cancelling a debt that we have with Him, the forgiveness that God gives us are the wounds of his Son on the Cross, raised up on the Cross. May he draw us towards Him and may we allow ourselves to be healed by him.”



Text from Vatican Radio website 


Official Logo for Pope Francis' trip to Korea presented to Vatican

(Vatican Radio) “Arise! Shine, for your light has come, the glory of the LORD has dawned upon you" (Is, 60:1): this is the motto for Pope Francis’ upcoming Apostolic Voyage to Korea (14 to 18 August 2014), the first Papal trip to the nation since Blessed John Paul II’s visit 25 years ago.

The motto and logo were presented to the Vatican by a delegation from the Korean Bishop’s Conference organizing committee who are in Rome this week to finalize the latest details of events. The group is led by Fr. Chung Ui-chul and Fr. Hur Young- Yup, respectively in charge of Liturgical Celebrations and Public Relations for the papal visit.

The official logo for the event is two intertwining flames, one blue and the other red, which rise from two waves that represent a boat . The colors indicate the two Koreas and the intertwining of the flames aims to emphasize a desire for the reunification of the two nations. The blue waves that form the boat are shaped like knife blades, a sign of the sacrifice of the martyrs of the Korean Church . The blue stands for God’s mercy which is as great as the ocean.

Pope Francis is travelling to South Korea for two main purposes. Firstly for the 6th Asian Youth Day (AYD), August 13-17, which is taking place in the diocese of Daejeon and will gather young Christians together from across the continent under the motto “Asian Youth! Wake up! The glory of the martyrs shines upon you”.

The AYD motto also points to the second purpose of Pope Francis visit: the beatification of 124 Korean martyrs. These are Paul Yun Ji-chung, the first Korean martyr, and 123 companions who were executed between 1791 and 1888 for the Faith by the Joseon Dynasty. 30 years ago, Pope John Paul II visited Korea for the canonization ceremony of 103 Korean martyrs including Andrew Kim Tae-gon, the first Korean native priest.

Asia is home to the world’s fastest growing Catholic community, more than doubling in numbers in the last century, despite remaining an overall religious minority. In Korea, Catholicism has grown by an estimated 70% over the past decade - numbering more than five million faithful - about ten percent of the national population.


Text from Vatican Radio website 


King Abdullah II of Jordan meets Pope Francis at Vatican

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received His Majesty the King Abdullah II of Jordan on Monday afternoon. The meeting which lasted 40 minutes took place over tea at the Pope’s residence, the Santa Marta guesthouse.

The visit took place in the context of the upcoming journey of the Pope Francis to the Holy Land, where he will also travel to Jordan.

A statement issued from the Holy See Press of office said His Majesty had the opportunity to reaffirm the feelings of the people of Jordan who are preparing to welcome the Pope and to more open to collaboration in the commitment to peace and interfaith dialogue .


Text from Vatican Radio website 


Jesuit Priest Killed in Syria RIP Dutch Fr. Frans Van der Lugt devoted to the Needy



Asia News report: 
by Bimal Kerketta sj*
Fr Bimal Kerketta, a priest who runs a school in Minya (Egypt) tells AsiaNews about his friendship with the Jesuit clergyman killed yesterday in Homs. "He was killed in the monastery garden," a fellow Jesuit in Homs says.
"Fr Frans was killed in the monastery garden with two shots to the head. It was a deliberate act," said Fr Said Ziad Hilal SJ who talked to the Arabic service of Vatican Radio about the priest who was slain yesterday in Homs.
Fr Bimal Kerketta SJ, an Indian priest who runs a Jesuit school in Minya (Egypt), talked to AsiaNews about his friendship with the Jesuit priest who lived in Syria for 50 years, where he tried to hold together the local community, which included both Christians and Muslims.

Fr Kerketta's testimonial follows. (Adaptation by AsiaNews)


 Homs (AsiaNews) -
Before the war in Syria, I visited Homs twice and I lived with Fr Frans van der Lugt for a few days. I saw his work and daily activities. He was a brave man, devoted to others, regardless of their religion.
He always tried to do his best to bring Muslims and Christians of various denominations together, in every sphere of life.
Father Frans was fully integrated into the life and culture of the Syrian people. He spoke Arabic very well and had great scientific knowledge of the Qur'an. Syrian Muslims will feel his loss the most. Many Muslims had come to live in the monastery under his care. Even an Islamic sheikh and his family had found refuge.
A Jesuit, Fr Frans van der Lugt ran special programmes for disabled Muslims and Christians, for the needy, the disadvantaged and the marginalised of society. He had special programmes for women who came to see him every day: for literacy, job training and home economics. Some worked in the vineyard of the Jesuit community.
His death is a severe blow for peace-loving Muslims and Christians. Now both sides will be even more scared. Even among different Christian denominations, it will not be easy to take steps towards one another, to work together.
In Islamic countries, we priests focus on people's humanity, on standing together as brothers and sisters.
In two days, Fr Frans would have turned 76. He was born 10 April 1938.
When he heard the news, the Jesuit community in Minya was shocked, because until his death he was able to maintain a balance between army troops and rebels, helping Muslims and Christians to live side by side.
The life of the Jesuit community in Homs is extremely difficult. None of the ten priests who lived in Syria has left the country, even though life is hard and hazardous since the war broke out. But such is our vocation as Jesuits: to serve Christ and the people with our lives.
During the fighting, our vineyard was attacked, captured and looted by the rebels. Now it is hard to reach: everything was destroyed.
The place where he was killed is controlled by the rebels. These use Christian homes and buildings to attack the Syrian army.
The place is more than a thousand years old with narrow streets. When soldiers move in, the rebels attack them with guerrilla tactics . . . thanks to the strong support of some Gulf States.
It is sad that religion, rather than bind humans, kills them, erasing ancient bonds of spirit and life.
As for me, I am ready to go to Syria and work there, at any time. I am talking to my superiors. God save Syria.
*Fr Bimal Kerketta is an Indian priest who has lived in Egypt for ten years. He heads the Jesuit-run school in Minya.

(Nirmala Carvalho contributed to this article)

Priest Killed in Nicaragua RIP Fr. Juan Meza - Age 42

Agenzia Fides  - "As a father and pastor of the pilgrim Church in the Diocese of Jinotega, I want to express, on behalf of the priests, religious and laity, our feeling of deep sorrow for the murder of our beloved priest Juan Francisco Blandon Meza, pastor of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, which is situated in the municipality of Wiwili, department of Jinotega": this is what the statement sent to Fides Agency by the Bishop of the Diocese of Jinotega, Mgr. Carlos Enrique Herrera, O.F.M. said with regards to the murder which took place on Sunday evening, April 6.
According to the reconstruction of the police, with the help of a witness, the priest, 42, was found near his home along with two women, when he was joined by a man, the husband of one of the two, who opened fire, killing his wife and the priest, with two shots and then killed himself. Other investigations are being carried out. While the community of Wiwili is in shock because father Blandón Meza was known for his commitment towards social groups and for the defense of human rights, Mgr. Herrera said to the press that "Father Juan Francisco was killed due to the man’s psychological instability".
In the official statement the Bishop expresses closeness to the familiy and gratitude for the many initiatives of prayer, including those of the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua, and continues: "We urge our members to pray for our dear father Blandon, remembering him as a charismatic, sociable, cheerful priest, who inspired young people to follow Jesus Christ; motivated many lay people to believe and fight for the respect of the human person’s dignity, the common good and solidarity towards others". Finally, the statement invites to attend the funeral, on Wednesday, April 9, at the Cathedral of San Juan. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 08/04/2014)


TODAY'S SAINT : APRIL 8 : ST. JULIA BILLIART

St. Julia Billiart
FOUNDRESS
Feast: April 8


Information:
Feast Day:April 8
Born:12 July 1751 at Cuvilly,France
Died:8 April 1816 at Namur, Belgium
Canonized:22 June 1969 by Pope Paul VI
Patron of:against poverty, bodily ills, impoverishment, poverty, sick people, sickness
Foundress, and first superior-general of the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame of Namur, born 12 July, 1751, at Cuvilly, a village of Picardy, in the Diocese of Beauvais and the Department of Oise, France; died 8 April, 1816, at the motherhouse of her institute, Namur, Belgium. She was the sixth of seven children of Jean-François Billiart and his wife, Marie-Louise-Antoinette Debraine. The childhood of Julie was remarkable; at the age of seven, she knew the catechism by heart, and used to gather her little companions around her to hear them recite it and to explain it to them. Her education was confined to the rudiments obtained at the village school which was kept by her uncle, Thibault Guilbert. In spiritual things her progress was so rapid that the parish priest, M. Dangicourt, allowed her to make her First Communion and to be confirmed at the age of nine years. At this time she made a vow of chastity. Misfortunes overtook the Billiart family when Julie was sixteen, and she gave herself generously to the aid of her parents, working in the fields with the reapers. She was held in such high esteem for her virtue and piety as to be commonly called, "the saint of Cuvilly". When twenty-two years old, a nervous shock, occasioned by a pistol-shot fired at her father by some unknown enemy, brought on a paralysis of the lower limbs, which in a few years confined her to her bed a helpless cripple, and thus she remained for twenty-two years. During this time, when she received Holy Communion daily, Julie exercised an uncommon gift of prayer, spending four or five hours a day in contemplation. The rest of her time was occupied in making linens and laces for the alter and in catechizing the village children whom she gathered around her bed, giving special attention to those who were preparing for their First Communion.
At Amiens, where Julie Billiart had been compelled to take refuge with Countess Baudoin during the troublesome times of the French Revolution, she met Françoise Blin de Bourdon, Viscountess of Gizaincourt, who was destined to be her co-laborer in the great work as yet unknown to either of them. The Viscountess Blin de Bourdon was thirty-eight years old at the time of her meeting with Julie, and had spent her youth in piety and good works; she had been imprisoned with all of her family during the Reign of Terror, and had escaped death only by the fall of Robespierre. She was not at first attracted by the almost speechless paralytic, but by degrees grew to love and admire the invalid for her wonderful gifts of soul. A little company of young and high-born ladies, friends of the viscountess, was formed around the couch of "the saint". Julie taught them how to lead the interior life, while they devoted themselves generously to the cause of God and His poor. Though they attempted all the exercises of an active community life, some of the elements of stability must have been wanting, for these first disciples dropped off until none was left but Françoise Blin de Bourdon. She was never to be separated from Julie, and with her in 1803, in obedience to Father Varin, superior of the Fathers of the Faith, and under the auspices of the Bishop of Amiens, the foundation was laid of the Institute of the Sisters of Notre Dame, a society which had for its primary object the salvation of poor children. Several young persons offered themselves to assist the two superiors. The first pupils were eight orphans. On the feast of the Sacred Heart, 1 June, 1804, Mother Julie, after a novena made in obedience to her confessor, was cured of paralysis. The first vows of religion were made on 15 October, 1804 by Julie Billiart, Françoise Blin de Bourdon, Victoire Leleu, and Justine Garson, and their family names were changed to names of saints. They proposed for their lifework the Christian education of girls, and the training of religious teachers who should go wherever their services were asked for. Father Varin gave the community a provisional rule by way of probation, which was so far-sighted that its essentials have never been changed. In view of the extension of the institute, he would have it governed by a superior-general, charged with visiting the houses, nominating the local superiors, corresponding with the members dispersed in the different convents, and assigning the revenues of the society. The characteristic devotions of the Sisters of Notre Dame were established by the foundress from the beginning. She was original in doing away with the time-honored distinction between choir sisters and lay sisters, but this perfect equality of rank did not in any way prevent her from putting each sister to the work for which her capacity and education fitted her. She attached great importance to the formation of the sisters destined for the schools, and in this she was ably assisted by Mother St. Joseph (Françoise Blin de Bourdon), who had herself received an excellent education.
When the congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame was approved by an imperial decree dated 19 June, 1806, it numbered thirty members, In that and the following years, foundations were made in various towns of France and Belgium, the most important being those at Ghent and Namur, of which the latter house Mother St. Joseph was the first superior. This spread of the institute beyond the Diocese of Amiens cost the foundress the greatest sorrow of her life. In the absence of Father Varin from that city, the confessor of the community, the Abbé de Sambucy de St. Estève, a man of superior intelligence and attainments but enterprising and injudicious, endeavored to change the rule and fundamental constitutions of the new congregation so as to bring it into harmony with the ancient monastic orders. He so far influenced the bishop. Mgr. Demandolx, that Mother Julie had soon no alternative but to leave the Diocese of Amiens, relying upon the goodwill of Mgr. Pisani de la Gaude, bishop of Namur, who had invited her to make his episcopal city the center of her congregation, should a change become necessary. In leaving Amiens, Mother Julie laid the case before all her subjects and told them they were perfectly free to remain or to follow her. All but two chose to go with her, and thus, in themid-winter of 1809, the convent of Namur became the motherhouse of the institute and is so still. Mgr. Demandolx, soon undeceived, made all the amends in his power, entreating Mother Julie to return to Amiens and rebuild her institute. She did indeed return, but after a vain struggle to find subjects or revenues, went back to Namur. The seven years of life that remained to her were spent in forming her daughters to solid piety and the interior spirit, of which she was herself the model. Mgr. De Broglie, bishop of Ghent, said of her that she saved more souls by her inner life of union with God than by her outward apostolate. She received special supernatural favors and unlooked-for aid in peril and need. In the space of twelve years (1804 - 1816) Mother Julie founded fifteen convents, made one hundred and twenty journeys, many of them long and toilsome, and carried on a close correspondence with her spiritual daughters. Hundreds of these letters are preserved in the motherhouse. In 1815 Belgium was the battlefield of the Napoleonic wars, and the mother-general suffered great anxiety, as several of her convents were in the path of the armies, but they escaped injury. In January, 1816, she was taken ill, and after three months of pain borne in silence and patience, she died with the Magnificat on her lips. The fame of her sanctity spread abroad and was confirmed by several miracles. The process of her beatification, begun in 1881, was completed in 1906 by the decree of Pope Pius X dated 13 May, declaring her Blessed. [Note: She was canonized in 1969 by Pope Paul VI.]
St. Julie's predominating trait in the spiritual order was her ardent charity, springing from a lively faith and manifesting itself in her thirst for suffering and her zeal for souls. Her whole soul was echoed in the simple and naove formula which was continually on her lips and pen: "Oh, qu'il est bon, le bon Dieu" (How good God is). She possessed all the qualities of a perfect superior, and inspired her subjects with filial confidence and tender affection.

(Taken From Catholic Encyclopedia)
SOURCE: EWTN.COM