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Saturday, January 3, 2015

Catholic News World : Saturday January 3, 2015 - Share!

Touching Man Adopts 50 Babies in danger of Abortion - SHARE this Amazing True Story

A Catholic man named Tong Phuoc Phuc has adopted over 50 babies that would have been aborted. He promised God that he would do good if he wife would deliver their child when she was having difficulties. He noticed women leaving the abortion clinics and asked the doctors if he could bury the aborted babies. Then he used all his savings and made a baby grave yard. He has dug over 9000 graves for the aborted babies over the last 4 years. Phuc offered the women to adopt their babies with the desire that they will one day be reunited with their mothers. 

Breaking News Boko Haram Kidnaps 40 Boys on New Year's Eve - Please PRAY

AllAfrica Report/Vanguard: Nigeria: Boko Haram Abducts 40 Boys, Men in Borno Village -  Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have kidnapped 40 boys and young men in a remote village in Borno state on New Year's Eve‎, residents who fled the isolated settlement said on Saturday. Scores of Boko Haram militants stormed the Malari village and whisked away the males, aged between 10 and 23, into the nearby Sambisa forest, believed to be one of the Islamists' major bases. The news of the abductions came out only days later, when residents who fled the village arrived in the state capital Maiduguri late on Friday. "They came in pick-up trucks armed with guns and gathered all the men in the village outside the home of the village chief where they preached to us before singling out 40 of our boys and taking them away," Bulama Muhammad told AFP ‎Malari village lies 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) from the Sambisa forest and close to the town of Gwoza, which the militants captured last June declaring it part of their caliphate. "My two sons and three nephews were among those taken away by the Boko Haram‎ gunmen and we believe they are going to use them as conscripts," Muhammad said. "When we heard of the kidnap of 40 boys in Malari by Boko Haram we decided to leave because we could be the next target," said Alaramma Babagoni, who fled from the nearby village of Mulgwi. There was no immediate comment on the incident from the military in Maiduguri. Boko Haram is still holding in captivity more than 200 schoolgirls it abducted from their school in Chibok in Borno state last April. The Islamists are believed to control large swathes of territory in Borno as well as several towns and villages in two other northeastern states, Adamawa and Yobe. Boko Haram's five-year uprising in Nigeria has claimed more than 13,000 lives and has seen dozens of people, including women and children, kidnapped by the Islamists. Shared from AllAfrica/Vanguard Picture source: Google Images

RIP Fr. Sinnott - Maryknoll Missionary Priest of Korea Dies - helper of the Poor

Korea bids farewell to Fr Sinnott, a missionary who fought dictatorship with the Gospel
The Maryknoll missionary arrived in the Asian country in 1960. In his early years, he was involved in pastoral work, providing health care for the poor in the Diocese of Incheon. In 1974, he stood up to Dictator Park and fought to save eight innocent people from the gallows. For his efforts, he was expelled from the country. He came "home" in 2005 after he was appointed to the "Truth Commission", and spent his last years painting, writing poetry and praying.
Seoul (AsiaNews) - The Maryknoll community and many Catholics in South Korea bid a final farewell to Fr James Sinnott during a moving Mass, attended by a large number of people.
The courageous missionary spent a lifetime bearing witness to the Gospel. Under South Korea's military regime of General Park Chung-hee, he was expelled for defending the truth.
The priest, who had been ill for years, died on 23 December after a brief stay in hospital. His funeral was held in Paju's Cathedral of Repentance and Redemption, on the border with the North.
Fr Sinnott arrived in South Korea in 1960, seven years after the signing of the armistice between Seoul and Pyongyang, and was assigned to the Diocese of Incheon. Here, he was involved in pastoral work and health care for the poor, building a hospital for them.
He showed society's outcasts the value of Christ's love, whilst seeking to open the hearts of those who have a better role to play in the system.
This period was characterised by various military dictatorships, in particular under Park Chung-hee, who imposed the Yushin Constitution and ruled under martial law.
Violating the human rights of opponents became commonplace. Pushed by his conscience, Fr Sinnott left the poor to go to Seoul to support the pro-democracy movement.
In November of 1974, he organised an 11-hour sit-in with the wives of eight political prisoners, who had been sentenced to death on trumped-up charges.
Along with George Ogle, an American Methodist minister, the Catholic missionary began gathering evidence in favour of the condemned and managed to bring Members of the United States Congress to South Korea so as to alert the American public and influence Park.
South Korea's strongman granted them an audience and ensured them that the sentence would not be executed. However, at the beginning of 1975, Ogle was expelled from South Korea. On 8 April, the Supreme Court confirmed the sentence against the eight dissidents. The next morning they were dead.
This profoundly shocked the missionary and the victims' relatives. Three weeks later, Fr Sinnott was told that his visa had expired and that it would not be renewed. He had two days to leave the country.
He came back only in 2005, after he was appointed to the "Truth Commission" charged with investigating crimes committed under the dictatorship. In 2007, the eight dissidents were retried and acquitted.
Shortly after he was diagnosed, Fr Sinnott retired to the Maryknoll Mother House. Here he began to paint, write poetry and pray.

Since then, his paintings have become one of the gifts most appreciated by guests at the house.
Shared from Asia News IT

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Today's Mass Readings : Saturday January 3, 2014

Christmas Weekday

Lectionary: 206


Reading 11 JN 2:29–3:6

If you consider that God is righteous,
you also know that everyone who acts in righteousness
is begotten by him.

See what love the Father has bestowed on us
that we may be called the children of God.
Yet so we are.
The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God’s children now;
what we shall be has not yet been revealed.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.
Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure,
as he is pure.

Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness,
for sin is lawlessness.
You know that he was revealed to take away sins,
and in him there is no sin.
No one who remains in him sins;
no one who sins has seen him or known him.

Responsorial PsalmPS 98:1, 3CD-4, 5-6

R. (3cd) All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Sing praise to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully before the King, the LORD.
R. All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

AlleluiaJN 1:14A, 12A

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.
To those who accepted him
he gave power to become the children of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelJN 1:29-34

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said,
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
He is the one of whom I said,
‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.’
I did not know him,
but the reason why I came baptizing with water
was that he might be made known to Israel.”
John testified further, saying,
“I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky
and remain upon him.
I did not know him,
but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me,
‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain,
he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”

Holy Name of Jesus Feast : Prayers - Litany - Novena to the Holy Name - SHARE

Today is the Feast of the Holy Name of JESUS. This is celebrated on different dates depending on the rite. However, the 8 days after Christmas signify the date of the Circumcision of Jesus. On that day Jesus was given His name as foretold by the angel. The monogram signifying the Holy Name of Jesus consists of the three letters: IHS. In the Middle Ages the Name of Jesus was written: IHESUS; the monogram contains the first and last letter of the Holy Name. (IMAGE SOURCE/SHARE GOOGLE)
NOVENA TO THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS
O Merciful Jesus, Who didst in Thy early infancy commence Thy office of Savior by shedding Thy Precious Blood, and assuming for us that name which is above all names; we thank Thee for such early proofs of Thine infinite love. We venerate Thy sacred name, in union with the profound respect of the Angel who first announced it to the earth, and unite our affections to the sentiments of tender devotion which the adorable name of Jesus has in all ages enkindled in the hearts of Thy Saints.

Animated with a firm faith in Thy unerring word, and penetrated with confidence in Thy mercy, we now most humbly remind Thee of the promise Thou hast made, that where two or three should assemble in Thy name, Thou Thyself wouldst be in the midst of them. Come, then, into the midst of us, most amiable Jesus, for it is in Thy sacred name we are here assembled; come into our hearts, that we may be governed by Thy holy spirit; mercifully grant us, through that adorable name, which is the joy of Heaven, the terror of Hell, the consolation of the afflicted, and the solid ground of our unlimited confidence,
all the petitions we make in this novena.

Oh! blessed Mother of our Redeemer! Who didst participate so sensibly in the sufferings of thy dear Son when He shed His Sacred Blood and assumed for us the name of Jesus, obtain for us,through that adorable name, the favors we petition in this novena.

Beg also, that the most ardent love may imprint on our hearts that sacred name, that it may be always in our minds and frequently on our lips; that it may be our defense and our refuge in the temptations and trials of life, and our consolation and support in the hour of death. Amen.
 
LITANY OF THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS





Lord, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
Lord, have mercy


God our Father in heaven
have mercy on us
God the Son,
have mercy on us
Redeemer of the world
have mercy on us
God the Holy Spirit
have mercy on us
Holy Trinity, one God
have mercy on us
Jesus, Son of the living God
have mercy on us
Jesus, splendor of the Father
have mercy on us
Jesus, brightness of everlasting light
have mercy on us
Jesus, king of glory
have mercy on us
Jesus, dawn of justice
have mercy on us
Jesus, Son of the Virgin Mary
have mercy on us
Jesus, worthy of our love
have mercy on us
Jesus, worthy of our wonder
have mercy on us
Jesus, mighty God
have mercy on us
Jesus, father of the world to come
have mercy on us
Jesus, prince of peace
have mercy on us
Jesus, all-powerful
have mercy on us
Jesus, pattern of patience
have mercy on us
Jesus, model of obedience
have mercy on us
Jesus, gentle and humble of heart
have mercy on us
Jesus, lover of chastity
have mercy on us
Jesus, lover of us all
have mercy on us
Jesus, God of peace
have mercy on us
Jesus, author of life
have mercy on us
Jesus, model of goodness
have mercy on us
Jesus, seeker of souls
have mercy on us
Jesus, our God
have mercy on us
Jesus, our refuge
have mercy on us
Jesus, father of the poor
have mercy on us
Jesus, treasure of the faithful
have mercy on us
Jesus, Good Shepherd
have mercy on us
Jesus, the true light
have mercy on us
Jesus, eternal wisdom
have mercy on us
Jesus, infinite goodness
have mercy on us
Jesus, our way and our life
have mercy on us
Jesus, joy of angels
have mercy on us
Jesus, king of patriarchs
have mercy on us
Jesus, teacher of apostles
have mercy on us
Jesus, master of evangelists
have mercy on us
Jesus, courage of martyrs
have mercy on us
Jesus, light of confessors
have mercy on us
Jesus, purity of virgins
have mercy on us
Jesus, crown of all saints
have mercy on us


Lord, be merciful
Jesus, save your people
From all evil
Jesus, save your people
From every sin
Jesus, save your people
From the snares of the devil
Jesus, save your people
From your anger
Jesus, save your people
From the spirit of infidelity
Jesus, save your people
From everlasting death
Jesus, save your people
From neglect of your Holy Spirit
Jesus, save your people
By the mystery of your incarnation
Jesus, save your people
By your birth
Jesus, save your people
By your childhood
Jesus, save your people
By your hidden life
Jesus, save your people
By your public ministry
Jesus, save your people
By your agony and crucifixion
Jesus, save your people
By your abandonment
Jesus, save your people
By your grief and sorrow
Jesus, save your people
By your death and burial
Jesus, save your people
By your rising to new life
Jesus, save your people
By your return in glory to the Father
Jesus, save your people
By your gift of the holy Eucharist
Jesus, save your people
By your joy and glory
Jesus, save your-people


Christ, hear us
Christ, hear us
Lord Jesus, hear our prayer
Lord Jesus, hear our prayer
Lamb of God, you take away

the sins of the world
have mercy on us
Lamb of God, you take away

the sins of the world
have mercy on us
Lamb of God, you take away

the sins of the world
have mercy on us

Let us pray.
Lord, may we who honor the holy name of Jesus enjoy his friendship in this life and be filled with eternal joy in the kingdom where he lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Saint January 3 : St. Genevieve : Virgin : Patroness of Paris



Information:
Feast Day:January 3
Born:
422 at Nanterre near Paris, France
Died:500 at Paris, France
Patron of:Paris
Her father's name was Severus, and her mother's Gerontia: she was born about the year 422, at Nanterre, a small village four miles from Paris, near the famous modern stations, or Calvary, adorned with excellent sculptures, representing our Lord's Passion, on Mount Valerien. When St. Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, went with St. Lupus into Britain to oppose the Pelagian heresy, he lay at Nanterre in his way. The inhabitants flocked about them to receive their blessing, and St. Germanus made them an exhortation, during which he took particular notice of Genevieve, though only seven years of age. After his discourse he inquired for her parents, and addressing himself to them, foretold their daughter's future sanctity, and said that she would perfectly accomplish the resolution she had taken of serving God, and that others would imitate her example. He then asked Genevieve whether it was not her desire to serve God in a state of perpetual virginity, and to bear no other title than that of a spouse of Jesus Christ. The virgin answered that this was what she had long desired, and begged that by his blessing she might be from that moment consecrated to God. The holy prelate went to the church of the place, followed by the people, and, during long singing of psalms and prayers, says Constantius,[1] that is, during the recital of None and Vespers, as the author of the life of St. Genevieve expresses it,[2] he held his hand upon the virgin's head. After he had supped, he dismissed her, giving her a strict charge to her parents to bring her again to him very early the next morning. The father complied with the commission, and St. Germanus asked Genevieve whether she remembered the promise she had made to God. She said she did, and declared she would, by the divine assistance, faithfully perform it. The bishop gave her a brass medal, on which a cross was engraved, to wear always about her neck, to put her in mind of the consecration she had made of herself to God; and at the same time, he charged her never to wear bracelets, or necklaces of pearls, gold or silver, or any other ornaments of vanity. All this she most religiously observed, and considering herself as the spouse of Christ, gave herself up to the most fervent practices of devotion and penance. From the words of St. Germanus, in his exhortation to St. Genevieve never to wear jewels, Baillet and some others infer that she must have been a person of quality and fortune: but the ancient Breviary and constant tradition of the place assure us that her father was a poor shepherd.

About fifteen years of age, she was presented to the Bishop of Paris to receive the religious veil at his hand, together with two other persons of the same sex. Though she was the youngest of the three, the bishop placed her first, saying that heaven had already sanctified her; by which he seems to have alluded to the promise she had already made, in the presence of SS. Germanus and Lupus, of consecrating herself to God. From that time she frequently ate only twice in the week, on Sundays and Thursdays. Her food was barley bread with a few beans. At the age of fifty, by the command of certain bishops, she mitigated this austerity so far as to allow herself a moderate use of fish and milk. Her prayer was almost continual, and generally attended with a large flow of tears. After the death of her parents she left Nanterre, and settled with her grandmother at Paris, but sometimes undertook journeys upon motives of charity, and illustrated the cities of Meaux, Laon, Tours, Orleans, and all other places wherever she went, with miracles and remarkable predictions. God permitted her to meet with some severe trials; for at a certain time all persons indiscriminately seemed TO be in a combination against her, and persecuted her under the opprobrious names of visionary, hypocrite, and the like imputations, all tending to asperse her innocency. The arrival of St. Germanus at Paris, probably on his second journey to Britain, for some time silenced her calumniators; but it was not long ere the storm broke out anew. Her enemies were fully determined to drown her, when the Archdeacon of Auxerre arrived with , or blessed bread, sent her by St. Germanus, as a testimony of his particular esteem for her virtues, and a token of communion. This seems to have happened whilst St. Germanus was absent in Italy in 449, a little before his death. This circumstance, so providentially opportune, converted the prejudices of her calumniators into a singular veneration for her during the remainder of her life. The Franks or French had then possessed themselves of the better part of Gaul, and Childeric, their king, took Paris. During the long blockade of that city, the citizens being extremely distressed by famine, St. Genevieve, as the author of her life relates, went out at the head of a company who were sent to procure provisions, and brought back from Arcis-sur-Aube and Troyes several boats laden with corn. Nevertheless, Childeric, when he had made himself master of Paris, though always a pagan, respected St. Genevieve, and, upon her intercession, spared the lives of many prisoners, and did several other acts of clemency and bounty. Our saint, out of her singular devotion to St. Dionysius and his companions, the apostles of the country, frequently visited their tombs at the borough of Catulliacum, which many think the borough since called St. Denys. She also excited the zeal of many pious persons to build there a church in honour of St. Dionysius, which King Dagobert I afterwards rebuilt with a stately monastery in 629. St. Genevieve likewise performed several pilgrimages, in company with other holy virgins, to the shrine of St. Martin at Tours. These journeys of devotion she sanctified by the exercises of holy recollection and austere penance.

King Clovis, who embraced the faith in 496, listened often with deference to the advice of St. Genevieve, and granted liberty to several captives at her request. Upon the report of the march of Attila with his army of Huns, the Parisians were preparing to abandon their city, but St. Genevieve persuaded them, in imitation of Judith and Hester, to endeavour to avert the scourge, by fasting, watching, and prayer. Many devout persons of her sex passed many days with her in prayer in the baptistry; from whence the particular devotion to St. Genevieve, which is practiced at St. John-le-rond, the ancient public baptistry of the church of Paris, seems to have taken rise. She assured the people of the protection of heaven, and their deliverance; and though she was long treated by many as an impostor, the event verified the prediction, that barbarian suddenly changing the course of his march, probably by directing it towards Orleans.

Our authority attributes to St. Genevieve the first design of the magnificent church which Clovis began to build in honour of SS. Peter and Paul, by the pious counsel of his wife Saint Clotilda, by whom it was finished several years after; for he only laid the foundation a little before his death, which happened in 511 . St. Genevieve died about the same year, probably five weeks after that prince, on the 3rd of January, 512, being eighty-nine years old. Some think she died before King Clovis. The tombs of St. Genevieve and King Clovis were near together. Immediately after the saint was buried, the people raised an oratory of wood over her tomb, as her historian assures us, and this was soon changed into the stately church built under the invocation of SS. Peter and Paul. From this circumstance, we gather that her tomb was situated in a part of this church, which was only built after her death. Her tomb, though empty, is still shown in the subterraneous church, or vault, betwixt those of Prudentius, and St. Ceraunus, Bishop of Paris. But her relics were enclosed by St. Eligius in a costly shrine, adorned with gold and silver, which he made with his own hands about the year 630, as St. Owen relates in his life. The author of the original life of St. Genevieve concludes it by a description of the basilic which Clovis and St. Clotilda erected, adorned with a triple portico, in which were painted the histories of the patriarchs, prophets, martyrs, and confessors. This church was several times plundered, and at length burnt, by the Normans. When it was rebuilt, soon after the year 856, the relics of St. Genevieve were brought back. The miracles which were performed there from the time of her burial rendered this church famous all over France, so that at length it began to be known only by her name. The city of Paris has frequently received sensible proofs of the divine protection through her intercession. The most famous instance is that called the miracle of Des Ardens, or of the burning fever. In 1129, in the reign of Louis VI, a pestilential fever, with a violent inward heat, and pains in the bowels, swept off, in a short time, fourteen thousand persons, nor could the art of physicians afford any relief. Stephen, Bishop of Paris, with the clergy and people, implored the divine mercy, by fasting and supplications. Yet the distemper began not to abate till the shrine of St. Genevieve was carried in a solemn procession to the cathedral. During that ceremony many sick persons were cured by touching the shrine, and of all that then lay ill of that distemper in the whole town, only three died, the rest recovered, and no others fell ill. Pope Innocent II coming to Paris the year following, after having passed a careful scrutiny on the miracle, ordered an annual festival in commemoration of it on the 26th of November, which is still kept at Paris. A chapel near the cathedral, called anciently St. Genevieve's the Little, erected near the house in which she died, afterwards from this miracle, though it was wrought not at this chapel, but chiefly at the cathedral, as Le Beuf demonstrates, was called St. Genevieve Des Ardens, which was demolished in 1747 to make place for the Foundling Hospital.[3] Both before and since that time, it is the custom in extraordinary public calamities to carry the shrine of St. Genevieve, accompanied by those of St. Marcel, St. Aurea, St. Lucan martyr, St. Landry, St. Merry, St. Paxentius, St. Magloire, and others, in a solemn procession to the cathedral; on which occasion the regular canons of St. Genevieve walk barefoot, and at the right hand of the chapter of the cathedral, and the abbot walks on the right hand of the archbishop. The present rich shrine of St. Genevieve was made by the abbot, and the relics enclosed in it in 1242. See the " Ancient Life of St. Genevieve," written by an anonymous author, eighteen years after her death, of which the best edition is given by F. Charpentier, a Genevevan regular canon, in octavo, in 1697. It is interpolated in several editions.

SOURCE: EWTN.COM