Tuesday, January 26
SAINTS TIMOTHY AND TITUS (1st century AD), Disciples of St. Paul, Bishops
Timothy and Titus are both mentioned by St. Paul several times in his letters, especially Timothy, and in fact, two letters to Timothy
and one to Titus are part of the New Testament. Pope Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis on December 13, 2006, to them, following
his catecheses on the Twelve Apostles and Paul himself. Both were Greek-born (Though Timothy's mother was Jewish), met up with Paul
during his missionary travels, and travelled with him or were sent on missions by him. Paul's affection and confidence in his two
disciples is evident in his letters. Indeed, Timothy went on to be Bishop of Ephesus, and Titus, Bishop of Crete. Legend says that
St. John first came to stay with Timothy in Ephesus before he was exiled to Patmos. The Orthodox Church also venerates Timothy as
a martyr, because it is said he was stoned to death (around 80 AD) by pagans who protested a Christian procession led by him. Titus
apparently lived peacefully to age 95 (around 107 AD).
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/012610.shtml
A small digression: While searching for Timothy and Titus images, I came upon a videogame
named after them, as a teaching tool by a Christian company.
The player is supposed to help T&T look for Romans who have stolen some of Paul's letters.
In the process, it provides information about the places that the disciples travelled to
and appropriate Biblical passages.
OR for 1/25/-1/26/10:
At the Sunday Angelus, Benedict XVI says communion among Christians
will make the Gospel announcement more credible:
'The Church does not level out diversity but harmonizes them in unity'
He also calls for 'peaceful and just solutions' to immigrants' problems
Other Page 1 stories: "Everything is (almost) ready for an intention to disarm" by the US and Russia
[a weird headline for a non-news development that is being reported like grasping at straws in the wind!
Mr. Vian is resorting to editorial stratagem because he took it for granted that the US-Russia disarmament
treaty would be automatically renewed when it expired last month, completely ignoring that Russia is playing
out every chance it can get to assert itself on the world stage, and delaying this treaty renewal is one way
to do that]; and in Haiti, need becomes desperation [not for lack of assistance, but because of the extreme
difficulty of moving aid promptly to the victims when the entire city and its infrastructure has been made
almost completely non-functional] NB: The newspaper came out before the Vespers yesterday at St. Paul,
so, that event is not reported except for a note that it would take place.
No events scheduled for the Holy Father today.
Vatican philately office to
raise funds for Haiti
The Governatorate of Vatican City State has announced that it is launching a special initiative, through its Philately Office, to raise funds for the Haitians struck by the earthquake earlier this month.
The Vatican will issue a special surcharge on a Vatican stamp this year commemorating the 1500th anniversary of the founding of the Shrine of the Madonna delle Graazie in Mentorella near Rome.
900,000 stamps with a face value of 0.65 Eurocents will be sold for an additional 0.20 Eurocents each. A total surcharge of 150,000 Euros is expected.
Christian Unity Council denounces
leak of unauthorized draft of
Catholic-Orthodox discussion points
regarding the Petrine primacy
Translated from
the Italian service of
January 26, 2010
The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity notes 'with great regret' the unauthorized publication of a draft text that is being considered by the Mixed International Commission for Theological Dialog between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches as a whole.
[The text was posted yesterday by Sandro Magister on his www.chiesa site - See accompanying article and link posted on this thread at the bottom of the preceding page, p. 62]
A note from the Council states that "it was a draft which consisted on a list of points to be studied and analyzed, and until now, only discussed minimally by the Commission".
In the last meetings of the Commission held in Paphos, Cyprus, last October, the note says further, "it was expicitly agreed that the text would not be published until it had been examined by the entire membership."
For now, the note concludes, "no document has been agreed on, therefore the published text has no authority nor official character".
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 27/01/2010 19:31]