DON'T FORGET GOD ON VACATION

Work Also Shouldn't Distract Us From Him

Benedict XVI is proposing that the way to live an authentic life is by leaving moments for God, as much during work as during vacation.

The Pope suggested this today during the general audience in St. Peter's Square, during which he focused on the figure of Rabanus Maurus, an 8th century monk from Germany.

The Holy Father concluded his address by citing one of Rabanus' phrases: "He who neglects contemplation is deprived of the vision of the light of God; he who is carried away with worry and allows his thoughts to be crushed by the tumult of the things of the world is condemned to the absolute impossibility of penetrating the secrets of the invisible God."

The Pontiff contended that "Rabanus Maurus addressed these words to us today."

He explained: "While at work, with its frenetic rhythms, and during vacation, we have to reserve moments for God. [We have to] open our lives up to him, directing a thought to him, a reflection, a brief prayer. 

"And above all, we mustn't forget that Sunday is the day of Our Lord, the day of the liturgy, [the day] to perceive in the beauty of our churches, in the sacred music and in the Word of God, the same beauty of our God, allowing him to enter into our being."

"Only in this way," the Pontiff concluded, "is our life made great; it is truly made a life."

¿ABOLIR EL CELIBATO SACERDOTAL?

¿Por qué no escuchan a los sacerdotes que vivimos felizmente nuestra condición de consagrados? (Por José Manuel Otaolaurruchi, L.C.) 

Los sacerdotes somos como los aviones, nos convertimos en noticia internacional cuando alguno cae, pero se olvidan los miles que se encuentran ofreciendo su humilde y eficaz servicio cada día.

Desde que se apropió de los noticieros el caso del padre Alberto Cutié se han emitido innumerables opiniones, casi todas orientadas a que los sacerdotes nos veamos liberados del celibato. Incluso algunos medios han recurrido a ex-sacerdotes casados para reforzar su parecer. ¡Eso no se vale! Los que opinan son precisamente los que no son célibes. ¿Por qué no escuchan a los sacerdotes que vivimos felizmente nuestra condición de almas consagradas y que de ningún modo compartimos nada de lo que se escucha?

La vocación sacerdotal es un don y un misterio, como decía el Papa Juan Pablo II. Es misterio porque nos trasciende y es un don porque nace en el corazón de los llamados a entregar nuestra vida en su totalidad, por amor a Dios, sirviendo a los más necesitados con un corazón indiviso.

La felicidad que experimentamos es inmensa, porque recibimos muestras de afecto y gratitud de muchas personas, no de una, sino de cientos. También recibimos el consuelo y la gratitud de Dios quien hace plena nuestra entrega dándonos el ciento por uno en esta vida y luego la Vida Eterna.

No negociables para las elecciones

NO NEGOCIABLES

La presión de la sociedad civil es un elemento que puede cambiar la historia; más aún, la historia de las acciones políticas a favor de la vida y la familia.

Corresponde a la sociedad darle seguimiento a sus propuestas y no solo expresar su voluntad en la urna. Con vista a las próximas elecciones, los católicos tenemos Cuatro valores no negociables (tomados del «Manifiesto de los valores no-negociables» en la elecciones europeas de 2009):

1. Vida. -La persona es sagrada e inviolable, desde la concepción hasta la muerte natural

2. Familia.-  La familia nace del compromiso conyugal. El matrimonio es un voto, en el que el hombre y la mujer hacen donación de sí mismos y se comprometen a la procreación y el cuidado de los hijos

3. Libertad de enseñanza.-  Los padres tienen el derecho y el deber de educar a sus hijos.  Son ellos —no el Estado, ni los empresarios educativos, ni los profesores— los titulares de ese derecho.

4. Bien común.-  El Estado está al servicio de la sociedad y no al revés.  El papel de la autoridad es ordenar la comunidad política no según la voluntad del partido mayoritario sino atendiendo a los fines de la misma, buscando la perfección de cada persona, aplicando el principio de subsidiaridad y protegiendo al más débil del más fuerte.

Saying Grace In A Restaurant

Last week, I took my children to a restaurant. 

My six-year-old son asked if he could say grace. 

As we bowed our heads he said, 'God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And Liberty and justice for all! Amen!' 

Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark, 'That's what's wrong with this country. Kids today don't even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!' 

Hearing this, my son burst into tears and asked me, 'Did I do it wrong? Is  God mad at me?' 

As I held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job, and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table 

He winked at my son and said, 'I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer.' 

'Really?' my son asked. 

'Cross my heart,' the man replied. 

Then, in a theatrical whisper, he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started this whole thing), 'Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes.' 

Naturally, I bought my kids ice cream at the end of the meal. My son stared at his for a moment, and then did something I will remember the rest of my life. 

He picked up his sundae and, without a word, walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her, 'Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes; and my soul is good already.' 

Pentecostés: Nacer del Espíritu

Vida en el Espíritu (Jn 20, 19-23)

(P. Luis Tamayo)

Leía un comentario que me llamó la atención y cuando se refería a los humanos en general, no nos definía como personas, ni siquiera como seres humanos. Nos llamaba mamíferos. Y la verdad es que cada vez le entiendo más. Si uno lo piensa, en esto hay algo de verdad, y eso explica muchas de las reacciones, de los gestos y de los comportamientos que nos salen. 

Esta semana fue el partido de fútbol de la final, Barcelona Manchester. Imagino que visteis el comportamiento irracional, animal, descerebrado de la gente en las calles de Barcelona… patadas, puñetazos, insultos. Hay mucho de animal en nuestra forma de relacionarnos con los demás. La forma de celebrar las victorias se parece más a un programa de Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente. 

Si miramos el lenguaje seductor se asemeja mucho a los rituales de apareamiento de muchas especies animales. El deseo de ser mirados, valorados. Desplegar nuestras habilidades, luciéndolas, como pavos reales, por el deseo de ser amados. Esto es lo que el escritor que he mencionado antes llama animal, y lo que el evangelio mismo llama carne o mundo. Son reacciones, ambiciones, deseos que nacen de lo más animal del ser humano. Por ejemplo el afán de las riquezas, el deseos de triunfo, son carne. Es carne todo lo que es inmediato, pasajero, efímero. Es carne el vivir en un clima de rivalidad, de competitividad. De buscar machacar, vencer, destrozar al rival. Es muy animal el sentirse superior al otro, dominarlo, humillarlo. Cuantas discusiones no tienen una sincera búsqueda de la verdad, que enriquece y beneficia a todos, sino la oscura satisfacción de sentirse vencedor. De humillar, de quedar por encima de los demás. Se llama la seducción del poder, del mirar al resto de la humanidad desde arriba. De sentirse más fuerte, de inspirar temor y respeto. La campaña política que estamos viviendo en España es más un careo entre dos gallitos que un verdadero debate político donde se habla de propuestas.

La fiesta de Pentecostés es una invitación a nacer de nuevo, y a descubrir que además de esa carne que nos constituye, de ese animal de instintos básicos, hay una oferta, que hay que acoger libre y voluntariamente, y ésta es la posibilidad de nacer a la vida en el Espíritu. Pentecostés es una vuelta a los grandes valores del Evangelio. El mundo no creyente necesita ver en los cristianos lo que es una vida nueva, que supone la transformación de nuestra humanidad y llevarla a los extremos de amor divino, que nos enseña Jesús. 

Nacer a la vida del Espíritu supone vivir con otras categorías y con otros criterios. El principal es el amor, la entrega, la generosidad, la donación de uno mismo, y vivir en función de los demás. Eso es nacer de nuevo. “Sabemos que hemos pasado de la muerte a la vida, cuando amamos a nuestros hermanos”. 1ª Jn 3,14.

Feast of Pentecost

Receive the kiss of the Holy Spirit for your mission!

(Fr. James McTavish FMVD)

Today we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit in the Feast of Pentecost. The gospel is taken from John 20, 19-23. The 1st reading is Acts 2,1-11, the Psalm is 103, and the 2nd reading from 1st Corinthians 12, 3-7, 12-13.

Do you like gifts? Today is coming the great gift promised by Jesus, the Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit come! Renew the face of the earth. How much our world of today needs renewal. Lord send forth your Spirit. Today the Church celebrates the great feast of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles of the early Church. This divine fire that changed everything. 

Before the apostles were timid, they had run away from the cross and denied Jesus. But after the coming of the Holy Spirit they were full of boldness, proclaiming the mighty works of God in the middle of persecutions. What happened? They received the Helper, the Divine consoler, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit. We too need his presence to change our lives so we do not get tired to ask, “Maranatha! Come Holy Spirit!”

One beautiful thing about this gift of the Holy Spirit is that it really is a gift, it is unmerited. The disciples had not really done anything to deserve it. They had abandoned Jesus in his hour of need yet in the Gospel today we see Jesus returning amongst them, not to denounce them but to announce to them “Peace be with you!” He says it twice and shows them his hands and feet with their wounds. “Peace be with you because I have overcome the world”. It is the first day of the week, the first day of the new creation. Who will make all things new? The Holy Spirit! “As the Father sent me, so I send you”. After saying this he breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit”. What a beautiful gesture to breath on them. They receive the breath of life, the divine breath, the Spirit of the Lord. This breath that once blew over the chaos of creation bringing order, this Spirit of life that was breathed into the clay of lifeless man to animate him and bring him to life (See Gen 2,7). This ‘kiss of life’ to bring the disciples back from the dead. As anyone who has done a First Aid course will know, the ‘kiss of life’ is a way to resuscitate someone who has stopped breathing. This technique also called ‘mouth to mouth’ is when air is blown into a person to revive them. Jesus breathes on his disciples giving them the kiss of life, the kiss of divine life. 

Jesus wants to send the disciples into the mission in the same way as he was sent – ‘As the Father sent me, so I send you’. How were you sent Lord? With a kiss! The Church Fathers called the Holy Spirit ‘the kiss between the Father and the Son’. How reassuring to be sent with a kiss. When I was a schoolboy I was not allowed to leave my house without first getting a kiss from my mum. She would send me with a kiss. God wants to send us into the mission with a kiss. Where do we get this divine kiss? In prayer of course. I remember the letters of my grandmother. She would write to me and on the back of the envelope she would put S.W.A.L.K. I asked what this meant. Sealed With A Loving Kiss! How nice to receive news sealed with a loving kiss. Every time we pray with the Scripture we are receiving Good News sealed with a kiss, the kiss of our loving Father in heaven who in the Word of God runs out to meet us, to embrace us and to kiss us (Cf. Dei Verbum 21). To be sent into the mission with this kiss of love. To feel loved when we go to the mission. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me and has sent me to proclaim the Good News of his love. Each moment of prayer is to receive the love to be equipped for the mission. Of course after receiving all this love we will run to the mission! This is why prayer is the motor of the mission. As Jaime Bonet, the founder of Verbum Dei states “a truly apostolic life is an abundantly contemplative life”. In prayer we receive the Spirit, this Spirit who as Pope John Paul II reminded us is “the principal agent of the mission”.

So of course after receiving the Spirit the apostles ran to the mission overflowing with love! Each one ready to do battle enriched with the gifts of the Spirit- joy, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Which gift do you most need in your life? Ask, and you will receive. “There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them. The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose”(1 Cor 12, 4-7). All the gifts of the Spirit are for a good purpose, to build up the Church, the Body of Christ. Today our world needs to receive the Spirit, to receive the Divine breath of life, to transform, to put order where there is chaos and to animate all of us Christians to work and serve for the good of others. 

May the ‘powerful wind from heaven’ that the disciples experienced on Pentecost morn all those years ago come and fill us with his holy presence and his many gifts. May the tongues of fire rest on our heads too! The Spirit gave them the gift of speech and all who were listening understood them. Let us ask for this same gift that when we speak all can understand. What is it that makes our speech and our lives understandable to all? The universal language of love. Everyone understands when they are being loved. May each Christian today receive the Divine breath of pure love, that their lives can be animated only by this love for the building of Christ’s body, the Church. May each of us use the gifts we receive today not simply for our own sanctification but to love those around us. Come Holy Spirit, renew the face of the earth! Come and set our hearts on fire. The Spirit gave the first apostles the gift of speech. Grant us the gift of speech so that we too can proclaim with passion “the mighty acts of God” (Acts 2, 11). 

Happy Feast of Pentecost to all of you!

SET FREE THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT

Biblical Reflection for Solemnity of Pentecost

(By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB)

Christian theology of the Holy Spirit is rooted in Judaism. The term Spirit translates the Hebrew word (ruah) and even in the pronunciation of it we detect God's wind and breath. The wind of God, the breath of God, the presence of God are all ways of referring to God's presence.

The expression "Holy Spirit" was used only seven times in the Old Testament, whereas the terms "Spirit of God" or "Spirit of the Lord" occurs 67 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. In the very first line of the book of Genesis 1:1, God's Spirit was gently hovering over the primordial waters waiting for the opportune moment of drawing order from that chaos.

Jesus, himself, uses the sensory image of the wind in the mysterious, nocturnal conversation with Nicodemus when he talks about the Spirit as the wind that blows where it wills [cf. John 3]. This, then, is the Spirit's first function in the Scriptures: to be the mysterious presence of God in history, not reducible to human or earthly logic.

The second function of the Spirit in the Old Testament is that of putting things in order. The Genesis creation account [Chapter 1] reveals a descending Spirit upon this formless world and its descent produces the miracle of creation, the transformation of chaos into cosmos, of disorder, into order, of anonymity into community. 

The third function of the Spirit in the Old Testament is life-giver. In Genesis 2:7, we read: "The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the Spirit, the breath of life and man became a living being. As a result of this divine breath, the human creature is transformed into a living being, no longer to be simply a creature but a partner made in the image and likeness of God, with whom and to whom God speaks and confides responsibility for the world."

The fourth function of the Holy Spirit is guide. We read in Isaiah 11: "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord." The fear of the Lord is not something that terrorizes people but could be understood as our ability to say "wow," "awesome" before God's handiwork and God's creation.

The fifth function of the Spirit is healer, articulated so powerfully in the prophecy of Ezekiel 36:26-27 -- "I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees." The Spirit enters, recreates, restores to health and vanquishes sin.

The sixth function of the Holy Spirit is the universal principle. We read in Joel 3:1-2: "I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, even upon the men-servants and the maid-servants, in those days I will pour out my spirit." The day will come when all humanity will be truly possessed by the spirit and that day will coincide with the eagerly awaited Messianic age of which the prophets speak. It was this principle that captivated Jesus'activity and ministry in a remarkable way.

The seventh function of the Holy Spirit takes place on the feast of Pentecost when the disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. The coming of the Holy Spirit signals the start of a world-wide mission for Christians beyond their geographic boundaries of Israel, first from Israel to Rome, and then from Rome then to the ends of the earth. It is a mission that overcomes human obstacles and has the Spirit as its driving force.

GUIADOS POR EL ESPÍRITU SANTO

El Espíritu Santo, plenitud de la obra de Cristo 

(Por monseñor José Ignacio Munilla, obispo de Palencia)

Para que nos demos cuenta de la importancia del Espíritu Santo en la vida de la Iglesia, nos puede ayudar el reflexionar sobre las palabras de Jesús en el Evangelio de San Juan: "Os conviene que yo me vaya, porque así vendrá a vosotros el Espíritu que viene de mi Padre" (Jn 16, 7). Dicho de otra manera: ¡hemos "salido ganando" con la Ascensión de Jesús a los cielos, porque fue compensada con creces en la venida del Espíritu Santo! En efecto, sin la acción del Espíritu Santo no habríamos podido conocer en profundidad a Jesucristo: "Pero el abogado, el Espíritu Santo, a quien el Padre enviará en mi nombre, hará que recordéis cuanto yo os he enseñado y os lo explicará todo" (Jn 14, 26). 

Dos errores distintos, pero confluyentes:

 

Necesitamos renovar nuestra fe en el Espíritu Santo, precisamente cuando se está extendiendo la absurda creencia de que el "acceso" a la figura de Jesucristo haya podido permanecer vedado hasta el momento presente. Parece que gracias a algunas recientes investigaciones ¡estaríamos en disposición de conocer, por primera vez, el mensaje original de Jesucristo! Esta falsa suposición se está difundiendo en ámbitos y niveles bien distintos:

En primer lugar, la encontramos muy desarrollada en la abundante literatura y filmografía anticatólica de corte esotérico. Se intenta intoxicar la opinión pública, presentando lo que es mera quimera e invención, bajo un ambiguo formato que emula a la historia novelada. Los guiones de estas producciones son muy similares: la Iglesia Católica habría "secuestrado" al auténtico Jesucristo a lo largo de la historia, hasta que ha llegado este momento en que somos liberados de la ignorancia, gracias al descubrimiento de algún papiro secreto que habría sido ocultado y custodiado a lo largo de los siglos por las órdenes oscurantistas medievales. ¡La cosa sería para tomarla a risa, si no fuera por la desafección sembrada, que lleva incluso a confundir la ficción con la realidad!

Pero no estamos hablando exclusivamente de un fenómeno extraeclesial. Entre nosotros, también se desarrollan métodos exegéticos que buscan el acceso al "Jesús histórico", que bien parecen dar crédito a la premisa de que la fe en Jesucristo predicada por la Iglesia Católica se haya alejado de la figura originaria. En efecto, determinadas exégesis de los textos evangélicos utilizan exclusivamente el método histórico-crítico, y desprecian o ignoran la exégesis canónica que la Iglesia ha realizado durante veinte siglos bajo la asistencia del Espíritu Santo. Quienes así proceden, parecen olvidarse de que el Magisterio de la Iglesia y los mismos santos, han sido inspirados y sostenidos en todo momento por la acción del Espíritu, para profundizar y predicar el misterio de Cristo.

Nosotros no dudamos de que la promesa de asistencia del Espíritu se ha visto cumplida con creces, de forma que hoy estamos en disposición de hacer una afirmación que posiblemente pueda sorprender y escandalizar a quienes han asumido los errores de planteamiento a los que nos hemos referido: los católicos del siglo XXI tenemos un conocimiento mucho más profundo y exacto de la figura y del mensaje de Jesucristo que el que tuvieron sus primeros discípulos. Más aún, no nos cabe duda de que los cristianos que vivan dentro de cinco siglos se habrán acercado a Jesucristo y a su Evangelio, todavía más que nosotros.

En pocas palabras: el paso del tiempo no nos ha alejado de Jesucristo, sino todo lo contrario; ya que es el Espíritu Santo quien dirige la historia de la salvación hasta la plena manifestación del Señor en la Parusía. Mientras tanto, el Paráclito, el Espíritu de la Verdad, continúa guiándonos hacia la plena comprensión del misterio de Cristo, nos fortalece con sus dones y nos enriquece con sus carismas.

Nos preparamos para un nuevo Pentecostés, porque Dios desea completar en nosotros la santidad que obró en María. Así lo decía el "Papa bueno", el beato Juan XXIII: "El Espíritu Santo, que formó el cuerpo de Cristo en el seno de María, forma también, une, sana y fortifica a los miembros de Cristo". Por ello, por intercesión de Santa María suplicamos: ¡Ven, Espíritu Santo!

A Catholic Framework for Economic Life

(A Statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops)

As followers of Jesus Christ and participants in a powerful economy, Catholics in the United States are called to work for greater economic justice in the face of persistent poverty, growing income-gaps, and increasing discussion of economic issues in the United States and around the world. We urge Catholics to use the following ethical framework for economic life as principles for reflection, criteria for judgment and directions for action. These principles are drawn directly from Catholic teaching on economic life. 

1. The economy exists for the person, not the person for the economy. 

2. All economic life should be shaped by moral principles. Economic choices and institutions must be judged by how they protect or undermine the life and dignity of the human person, support the family and serve the common good. 

3. A fundamental moral measure of any economy is how the poor and vulnerable are faring. 

4. All people have a right to life and to secure the basic necessities of life (e.g., food, clothing, shelter, education, health care, safe environment, economic security.) 

5. All people have the right to economic initiative, to productive work, to just wages and benefits, to decent working conditions as well as to organize and join unions or other associations. 

6. All people, to the extent they are able, have a corresponding duty to work, a responsibility to provide the needs of their families and an obligation to contribute to the broader society. 

7. In economic life, free markets have both cleat advantages and limits; government has essential responsibilities and limitations; voluntary groups have irreplaceable roles, but cannot substitute for the proper working of the market and the just policies of the state. 

8. Society has a moral obligation, including governmental action where necessary, to assure opportunity, meet basic human needs, and pursue justice in economic life. 

9. Workers, owners, managers, stockholders and consumers are moral agents in economic life. By our choices, initiative, creativity and investment, we enhance or diminish economic opportunity, community life and social justice. 

10. The global economy has moral dimensions and human consequences. Decisions on investment, trade, aid and development should protect human life and promote human rights, especially for those most in need wherever they might live on this globe. 

According to Pope John Paul II, the Catholic tradition calls for a “society of work, enterprise and participation” which “is not directed against the market, but demands that the market be appropriately controlled by the forces of society and by the state to assure that the basic needs of the whole society are satisfied.”  (Centesimus Annus, 35).  All of economic life should recognize the fact that we all are God’s children and members of one human family, called to exercise a clear priority for “the least among us.”  

POPE2YOU.NET TO APPEAL TO YOUTH

New Vatican Web Site Launches Thursday

The Vatican is set to unveil its newest Web page this week. Called Pope2You.net, the site aims to bring the words and messages of Benedict XVI to the youth.

Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of the Vatican Council for Social Communications, told ZENIT the project is a response to Benedict XVI's message for the World Day of Social Communications, which was addressed to the "digital generation."

The president of the dicastery said the idea began with the aim of getting the youth to read the message the Pope addressed to them on the responsible use of new technologies.

He said the site allows young people to do many of the things they can do on other sites, but with a twist.

He said the site looks "to create new forms to relate with young people," and to help the Pope "speak to young people to bring the message of hope and joy."
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On the Net:
www.pope2you.net