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Sunday, November 15, 2015

Catholic News World : Sunday November 15, 2015 - SHARE

2015

#PopeFrancis Jesus "He is at our side; he walks with us; he loves us so much." #Angelus FULL TEXT - Video


ZENIT translation of the address Pope Francis gave today before and after praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square:
* * *
Dear brothers and sisters:
The Gospel of this second-to-last Sunday of the liturgical year proposes to us some of Jesus’ words about the last events of human history, oriented toward the complete fulfillment of the reign of God.
It is the preaching that Jesus gave in Jerusalem before his last Passover. It has certain apocalyptic elements, such as wars, famine, cosmic catastrophes. “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.”
Still, these segments are not the essential part of the message. The central nucleus around which the words of Jesus turn is he himself, the mystery of his person, and of his death and resurrection, and his return at the end of time. Our final goal is an encounter with the Risen Lord.
I would like to ask how many of you think about this: “There will be a day in which I encounter the Lord face to face.” And this is our goal, our encounter. We do not await a time or a place; rather we are going to encounter a person: Jesus. Thus the problem is not “when” these premonitory signs of the last days will occur, but rather that we find ourselves prepared. It’s also not about knowing “how” these things will happen, but instead “how” we have to act today, in awaiting these things.
We are called to live the present building our future with serenity and trust in God. The parable of the fig tree that sprouts, as a sign of approaching summer, teaches that the perspective of the end doesn't distract us from the present life, but rather brings us to look toward our current days with an outlook of hope.
Hope: this virtue that is so hard to live. The smallest of the virtues, but the strongest. And our hope has a face: the face of the Risen Lord, who comes “with great power and glory,” and this will manifest his love, crucified and transfigured in the Resurrection. The triumph of Jesus at the end of time will be the triumph of the cross, the demonstration that the sacrifice of oneself for love of neighbor, in imitation of Christ, is the only victorious power, the only stable point in the midst of the upheavals of the world. 
The Lord Jesus is not only the destination point of our earthly pilgrimage, but also a constant presence in our lives. That’s why when we speak of the future and project ourselves toward it, it is always to lead us back to the present.
He counters the false prophets, the fortune-tellers who predict that the end of the world is near; he counters fatalism. He is at our side; he walks with us; he loves us so much.
He wants to direct his disciples of every age away from curiosity about dates, predictions, horoscopes, and concentrate their attention on the today of history. 
I would like to ask you — but don’t answer out loud; each one answer to himself — how many are there among us who read the horoscope every day? Each one answer, and when you feel like reading your horoscope, look to Jesus who is with us. That is better and will serve us better.
This presence of Jesus calls us, yes, to anticipation and vigilance that excludes both impatience and lethargy, [both] the escaping to the future and the becoming prisoners of the current moment and worldliness. In our days, too, there is no lack of natural and moral disasters, nor of adversities and difficulties of every type. Everything passes, the Lord reminds us. His word alone remains as light that looks upon and steadies our journey. He always forgives us because he is at our side. We only have to look at him and he changes our hearts. May the Virgin Mary help us to trust in Jesus, the firm foundation of our lives, and persevere with joy in his love.
[Angelus]
Dear brothers and sisters, I want to express my profound sorrow over the terrorist attacks that bloodied France on Friday night, resulting in numerous victims.
To the president of the Republic of France and all of its citizens, I express my deepest sorrow. I feel particularly close to the families of those who lost their lives and the wounded.
Such barbarity leaves us stunned and makes us question how the heart of man could come up with and carry out such horrific acts, which have shattered not only France, but the whole world.
In the face of such intolerable acts, we cannot cease condemning this unspeakable attack on the dignity of the human person. 
I want to vigorously reaffirm that the path of violence and hate does not resolve the problems of humanity. And that to use the name of God to justify this path is blasphemy. 
I invite you to join in my prayer: let us entrust the defenseless victims of this tragedy to the mercy of God. Virgin Mary, Mother of mercy, plant in the hearts of all thoughts of wisdom and resolutions of peace. 
We ask her to protect us and to watch over the beloved French nation, the eldest daughter of the Church, all of Europe and the whole world.
Let us pray in silence for a moment and then, a Hail Mary …
[Hail Mary]
Yesterday in Tres Puntas, in the state of Minas Gerais, in Brazil, Fr. Francisco de Paula Victor was beatified. He was a Brazilian priest of African origin, the son of a slave. A generous parish priest, dedicated to catechesis and administering the sacraments, he was particularly distinguished by his great humility.
May his extraordinary testimony be a model for so many priests, called to be humble servants of the people of God. 
I greet everyone here, families, parishes, associations and each one of the faithful who have come from Italy and from so many parts of the world. In particular, I greet the pilgrims coming from Granada, Málaga, Valencia and Murcia, Spain, — so many Spaniards! — San Salvador and Malta. To the association 'Accompagnatori Santuari Mariani nel Mondo’ and the Cristo Rey secular institute. I wish all of you a good Sunday. And please, don’t forget to pray for mi. Have a good lunch and arrivederci.
[Transcription and translation by ZENIT]

Free Catholic Movie : Joan of Arc : Stars Ingrid Bergman

Joan of Arc (1948) Unrated | 145 min | Biography, Drama, History | 15 April 1949 (Ireland) In the Fifteenth Century, France is a defeated and ruined nation after the One Hundred Years War against England. The fourteen years old farm girl Joan of Arc claims to hear voices from Heaven asking her to lead God's Army against Orleans and crowning the weak Dauphin Charles VII as King of France. Joan gathers the people with her faith, forms an army and conquerors Orleans. When her army is ready to attack Paris, the corrupt Charles sells his country to England and dismiss the army. Joan is arrested, sold to the Burgundians England and submitted to a shameful political trial in Rouen castle. - Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Director: Victor Fleming Writers: Maxwell Anderson (play), Maxwell Anderson (screenplay), 1 more credit » Stars: Ingrid Bergman, José Ferrer, Francis L. Sullivan |

#BreakingNews Death Toll of #Paris attacks at 132 with 352 Injured - Please Pray

There have been multiple attacks in Paris, France on Friday November 13, 2015. In a Bataclan theater gunmen entered dressed in black and shooting AK-47s, wounding and killing people. The gunfire lasted 10 to 15 minutes. There were also hostages taken at the Bataclan theater to early Saturday. With many killed by gunman. Multiple explosions occurred; one at the Stade de France outside Paris, a suicide bombing.  French President Francois Hollande, has declared a state of emergency, with borders closed. Update: 132 is the current death toll of these attacks. At least six shootings took place in Paris and three explosions. There were six to eight hostage takers one is still at large. Shootings around Paris killed several people outside a restaurant.
From BBC: Key Points
- Police are seeking a 'dangerous' suspect, named as Abdeslam Salah
- He is one of three brothers thought to be connected to the attacks
- Frenchman Omar Ismail Mostefai named as one of the attackers who died
- Seven people arrested in Belgium and six in France in connection with attacks
- Memorial at Notre Dame cathedral held for victims 132 people were killed and 352 injured, 99 critically  Please Pray....

#BreakingNews Death Toll at 41 with 200 injured from Bombs in Beirut, Lebanon - Please PRAY


Lebanon had a day of national mourning after 41 people were killed in two suicide bombings in the capital, Beirut. The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for attacks in Burj al-Barajneh, a mainly Shia suburb. Hezbollah forces are fighting IS in Syria nextdoor.  The bombs were suicide attacks, and the body of a third bomber was found nearby The blasts struck on Thursday Nov. 12, 2015 at a busy shopping street. Over 200 people were injured. The first bomb went off near a Shia mosque, and the second was inside a nearby bakery. The body of a third bomber that failed to detonate his explosives was found at the scene of the second blast.  They were two Palestinians and a Syrian.  Beirut have urged people to donate blood. Please PRAY for Peace....Image share Adn

#PopeFrancis joins in Prayer: "There is no religious or human justification for it. This is not human." FULL TEXT - Video

Pope Francis Full transcript of the Pope’s interview with TV2000

Your Holiness, what were your thoughts and feelings about the killing of Paris?


"I am moved and I am saddened. I do not understand, these things hard to understand, done by human beings. For them I am moved, pained, and I pray. I am very close to the French people, so dear, I am very close to the families of the victims and I pray for all of them.”

You've spoken several times of World War III in parts...


"This is a piece of it. There is no justification for these things.”

Above all there can be no religious justification?

"There is no religious or human justification for it. This is not human. For that reason, I’m close with all of France, I love them very much.”

Vatican Radio Report: 
Pope Francis has sent a telegram to Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, assuring victims, their families and emergency personnel that he is united with them in prayer. Signed by the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the telegram condemns this and all acts of violence, and asks God to inspire thoughts of peace and solidarity. Below, please find Vatican Radio’s English translation of the telegram 
*****************************
 Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, 
Archbishop of Paris Informed of the horrific terrorist attacks that occurred in Paris and at the Stade de France, killing a great number of people and wounding many others, His Holiness Pope Francis joins in prayer with the suffering of families affected by the drama and the pain of the French people. He invokes God, Father of mercy, asking that He welcome the victims into the peace of His light and bring comfort and hope to the injured and their families. He assures them, and all of the personnel participating in aid efforts, of his spiritual closeness. Once again, the Holy Father vigorously condemns violence, which cannot solve anything, and he asks God to inspire thoughts of peace and solidarity in all and to impart on families in this trial and on all of the French people, the abundance of His Blessings. Cardinal Pietro Parolin Secretary of State of His Holiness

Sunday Mass Online : Sun. November 15, 2015 - 33rd Ord.Time - Readings and Video - SHARE


Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 158

Reading 1DN 12:1-3

In those days, I Daniel,
heard this word of the Lord:
"At that time there shall arise
Michael, the great prince,
guardian of your people;
it shall be a time unsurpassed in distress
since nations began until that time.
At that time your people shall escape,
everyone who is found written in the book.

“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake;
some shall live forever,
others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace.

“But the wise shall shine brightly
like the splendor of the firmament,
and those who lead the many to justice
shall be like the stars forever."

Responsorial PsalmPS 16:5, 8, 9-10, 11

R. (1) You are my inheritance, O Lord!
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord!
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
my body, too, abides in confidence;
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord!
You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord!

Reading 2HEB 10:11-14, 18

Brothers and sisters:
Every priest stands daily at his ministry,
offering frequently those same sacrifices
that can never take away sins.
But this one offered one sacrifice for sins,
and took his seat forever at the right hand of God;
now he waits until his enemies are made his footstool.
For by one offering
he has made perfect forever those who are being consecrated.

Where there is forgiveness of these,
there is no longer offering for sin.

AlleluiaLK 21:36

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Be vigilant at all times
and pray that you have the strength to stand before the Son of Man.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelMK 13:24-32

Jesus said to his disciples:
"In those days after that tribulation
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from the sky,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

"And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds'
with great power and glory,
and then he will send out the angels
and gather his elect from the four winds,
from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.

"Learn a lesson from the fig tree.
When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves,
you know that summer is near.
In the same way, when you see these things happening,
know that he is near, at the gates.
Amen, I say to you,
this generation will not pass away
until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.

"But of that day or hour, no one knows,
neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

Saint November 15 : St. Albert the Great : Patron of #Sciences; #Philosophers; #Scientists; Students

“It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws near to man, and man to God. But where charity is not found, God cannot dwell. If, then, we possess charity, we possess God, for ‘God is Charity.’”
Today, November 15, we celebrate the feast day of Saint Albert the Great (1206-1280), Doctor of the Church, bishop, teacher, theologian, and one of the Church’s greatest intellects. Widely admired for his wisdom and learning, he was known as “Albertus Magnus” to his contemporaries (“Albert the Great”), and by those who came after him as “Doctor universalis” (“Teacher of all that there is to know”). Saint Albert is the patron saint of scientists. His works constantly remind us of the importance of both faith and reason, and that there can be no separation between these—in fact, faith and reason reinforce and sustain each other.
Albert was born the son of a military Lord in service to Emperor Frederick II. The family lived in Lauingen on the Danube, near Ulm, Germany. His parents were wealthy, which afforded him the finest education. Also quite pious, they instructed him in the ways of the faith. As a child, he was drawn to scientific pursuits, and demonstrated an unexpected aptitude for reasoning given his age. So advanced was his thinking, he began studying humanities and natural sciences at the university of Bologna at just 15. The university, closely associated with the Dominican Order, drew Albert closer to his commitment to serving the Lord. This was further fired by the arrival of Blessed Reginald of Orleans, a Dominican preacher and former professor in Paris, who arrived at the college to preach.
Not long after, a second Dominican, Blessed Jordan of Saxony, arrived in Padua. An eloquent preacher, he drew many—including young Albert—toward religious life. Albert’s family was opposed to his entering the Order, given his youth and exceptional scientific prowess, but Albert was torn. One night, in his dreams, he saw himself entering the order, only to depart soon afterwards. The very next day, he heard Blessed Jordan preach, specifically about how the Devil turns those who would enter religious orders away from their calling through dreams and false promises. After Mass, Albert found Blessed Jordan, inquiring: “Master, who revealed my heart to you?” He subsequently entered the Order that summer, at the age of 16.
As a Dominican, Albert continued his studies, earning a Doctorate in theology. He obediently taught, wherever he was sent, traveling to Cologne, Padua, Bologna, Saxony, Fribourg, Ratisbonne, and Strasbourg. In each of these places he attracted numerous disciples, some of them destined for illustrious careers. However, Albert himself remained humble and focused only o the Lord.
When Blessed Jordan died in 1237, Albert assumed his duties as General until his successor was elected. At that point, he returned to Cologne, where he was to meet his most illustrious disciple, Saint Thomas Aquinas. While his classmates saw Thomas as a mute and unlearned man, Albert recognized in him the grace and glory of the Lord. Together, they traveled to the University of Paris, where Saint Albert’s theology and philosophy blossomed and changed the manner in which the world thought. While he wrote many scientific works, he was, first and foremost, a Catholic. Gifted with encyclopedic knowledge, he used this gift in service to the Church. He used his reason and thinking diligently. He was a brilliant scholar, student and seeker for truth. His writings fill thirty-eight volumes. His explanations on vast subjects took twenty years to complete. Albert possessed boundless writing energies and wrote exclusively on natural science, logic, rhetoric, mathematics, astronomy, ethics, economics, politics, metaphysics, physics, mineralogy, chemistry, biology, botany and human/animal physiology.
While Saint Albert would have been quite content to remain in Paris, writing and teaching, obedience to his Order bade him travel back to Germany when he was elected Provincial. He thereafter served his community, traveling to all the monasteries in his jurisdiction by foot, without any money, across long distances—Austria, Bavaria, Saxony, and Holland. In 1260, he was appointed bishop of Regensberg. After three years, he was permitted to resign, but was subsequently called to be an adviser to the pope and was sent on several diplomatic missions. Amid his journeys and works of zeal, Saint Albert found the time to write his thirty-eight volumes on the natural sciences, philosophy and theology.
Saint Albert died, apparently of fatigue, at the age of seventy-three. His body was buried at the Dominican Church, Saint Andrea’s, in Cologne. Three years after his death, his body was in a state of perfect preservation and his body exuded the delightful fragrance or sanctity recorded at the graves of many saints. Miraculous healings were reported at his tomb side. Others received visions that were recorded due to Albert's intercession. His relics continue to be venerated there today.
It is often said of Saint Albert the Great: "He was great in science, greater in philosophy, greatest in theology." He discovered a science above all other sciences—the knowledge that only God can impart, a heavenly wisdom that comes when reason and faith are joined together in charity towards others in prayer and action. Saint Albert reminds us not to rely on anything or trust anyone more than God. In this trust, faith and reason unite, leading us toward a greater knowledge of eternity.
Marian Prayer of Saint Albert the Great:
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” For note, Mary, for you have found grace, not taken it as Lucifer tried to so. You have found grace, not lost it as Adam did. You have found favor with God because you desired and sought it. You have found uncreated Grace, that is, God himself became your Son, and with the Grace you have found and obtained every uncreated good.”
Selected Quotation from Saint Albert the Great:
"There are some people who attribute all these things to divine order and say that we must not consider in them any other cause but the will of God. This in part we can agree to. Yet we do not say that he does this because of a natural cause of which he is the first mover, since he is the cause of all movement; for we are not seeking a reason or explanation of the divine will but rather investigating natural causes which are as instruments through which God's will is manifested. It is not sufficient to know these things in a general sort of way; what we are looking for is the cause of each individual thing according to the nature belonging to it. This is the best and most perfect kind of knowledge."
God Our Father,
you endowed St. Albert with the talent of combining human wisdom with divine faith. Keep us true to his teachings that the advance of human knowledge may deepen our knowledge and love of you. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Today's Mass Readings and Video : Sat. November 14, 2015

Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 496


Reading 1WIS 18:14-16; 19:6-9

When peaceful stillness compassed everything
and the night in its swift course was half spent,
Your all-powerful word, from heaven’s royal throne
bounded, a fierce warrior, into the doomed land,
bearing the sharp sword of your inexorable decree.
And as he alighted, he filled every place with death;
he still reached to heaven, while he stood upon the earth.

For all creation, in its several kinds, was being made over anew,
serving its natural laws,
that your children might be preserved unharmed.
The cloud overshadowed their camp;
and out of what had before been water, dry land was seen emerging:
Out of the Red Sea an unimpeded road,
and a grassy plain out of the mighty flood.
Over this crossed the whole nation sheltered by your hand,
after they beheld stupendous wonders.
For they ranged about like horses,
and bounded about like lambs,
praising you, O Lord! their deliverer.

Responsorial PsalmPS 105:2-3, 36-37, 42-43

R. (5a) Remember the marvels the Lord has done!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Sing to him, sing his praise,
proclaim all his wondrous deeds.
Glory in his holy name;
rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done!
or:
R. Alleluia.
Then he struck every first born throughout their land,
the first fruits of all their manhood.
And he led them forth laden with silver and gold,
with not a weakling among their tribes.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done!
or:
R. Alleluia.
For he remembered his holy word
to his servant Abraham.
And he led forth his people with joy;
with shouts of joy, his chosen ones.
R. Remember the marvels the Lord has done!
or:
R. Alleluia.

AlleluiaSEE 2 THES 2:14

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God has called us through the Gospel,
to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

GospelLK 18:1-8

Jesus told his disciples a parable
about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.
He said, “There was a judge in a certain town
who neither feared God nor respected any human being.
And a widow in that town used to come to him and say,
‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’
For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,
‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being,
because this widow keeps bothering me
I shall deliver a just decision for her
lest she finally come and strike me.’”
The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.
Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
who call out to him day and night?
Will he be slow to answer them?
I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.
But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Saint November 14 : St. Lawrence O'Toole


St. Lawrence O'Toole
CONFESSOR
Feast: November 14
Information:
Feast Day:
November 14
Born:
1128, Castledermot, Kildare, Ireland
Died:
November 14, 1180, Normandy, France
Canonized:
1225 by Pope Honorius III
Major Shrine:
St Lawrence's church in Chorley, England

Confessor, born about 1128, in the present County Kildare; died 14 November, 1180, at Eu in Normandy; canonized in 1225 by Honorius III.
His father was chief of Hy Murray, and his mother one of the Clan O'Byrne. At the age of ten he was taken as a hostage by Dermot McMurrogh, King of Leinster. In 1140 the boy obtained permission to enter the monastic school of Glendalough; in that valley-sanctuary he studied for thirteen years, conspicuous for his piety and learning. So great was his reputation in the eyes of the community that on the death of Abbot Dunlaing, early in 1154, he was unanimously called to preside over the Abbey of St. Kevin. Dermot, King of Leinster, married Mor, sister of St. Lawrence, and, though his character has been painted in dark colours by the native annalists, he was a great friend to the Church. He founded an Austin nunnery, of the reform of Aroaise, in Dublin, with two dependent cells at Kilculliheen (County Kilkenny) and at Aghade (County Carlow), in 1151. He also founded an abbey for Cistercian monks at Baltinglass, and an abbey for Austin canons at Ferns.
St. Lawrence, through humility, declined the See of Glendalough in 1160, but on the death of Gregory, Archbishop of Dublin (8 October, 1161), he was chosen to the vacant see, and was consecrated in Christ Church cathedral by Gilla Isu (Gelasius), Primate of Armagh, early in the following year. This appointment of a native-born Irishman and his consecration by the successor of St. Patrick marks the passing of Scandinavian supremacy in the Irish capital, and the emancipation from canonical obedience to Canterbury which had obtained under the Danish bishops of Dublin. St. Lawrence soon set himself to effect numerous reforms, commencing by converting the secular canons of Christ Church cathedral into Aroasian canons (1163). Three years later he subscribed to the foundation charter of All Hallows priory, Dublin (founded by King Dermot), for the same order of Austin canons. Not content with the strictest observance of rules, he wore a hair shirt underneath his episcopal dress, and practised the greatest austerity, retiring for an annual retreat of forty days to St. Kevin's cave, near Glendalough. At the second siege of Dublin (1170) St. Lawrence was active in ministration, and he showed his political foresight by paying due deference to Henry II of England, during that monarch's stay in Dublin. In April, 1178, he entertained the papal legate, Cardinal Vivian, who presided at the Synod of Dublin. He successfully negotiated the Treaty of Windsor, and secured good terms for Roderic, King of Connacht. He attended the Lateran Council in 1179, and returned as legate for Ireland. The holy prelate was not long in Dublin till he deemed it necessary again to visit King Henry II (impelled by a burning charity in the cause of King Roderic), and he crossed to England in September of that year. After three weeks of detention at Abingdon Abbey, St. Lawrence followed the English King to Normandy. Taken ill at the Augustinian Abbey of Eu, he was tended by Abbot Osbert and the canons of St. Victor; before he breathed his last he had the consolation of learning that King Henry had acceded to his request.