Tuesday, May 21, 2013, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
SAN CRISTOBAL MAGALLANES & 24 OTHER MEXICAN MARTYRS (d 1915-1928)
The anti-Catholic persecutions by the governments of Mexico in the early 20th
century resulted in many martyrs. Cristobal, a diocesan priest, and 24 others
(21 priests and 3 laymen) coming from eight states of Mexico were beatified in
1992 and canonized in 2000. They were all falsely accused of rebellion and
summarily executed without a trial. Born to a poor family, Cristobal was 30 when
he was ordained. After being a school chaplain, he became parish priest of his
hometown where he built schools, catechism centers, industrial shops and even
spearheaded the construction of a dam to provide electricity. He actively
evangelized pagan natives, and preached and wrote against armed rebellion.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052113.cfm
AT THE VATICAN TODAY
At 5:30 p.m., Pope Francis visited the 'Dono di Maria' hospitality house run by the Missionaries of Charity
in the Vatican, and greeted the sisters, staff. volunteers and the needy persons who were being assisted
at the time of the visit.
Two years ago on this day...
Benedict XVI had a 15-minute conversation with the astronauts on board the international space shuttle, which broadcast live worldwide. Taking place fifty years since the first manned space flight by Yuri Gagarin in April 1961, it was a 'first' in papal history.
One year ago...
Benedict XVI lunched with the members of the College of Cardinals present in Rome at the Sala Ducale of the Apostolic Palace, to thank them for their good wishes to him on his recent 85th birthday and the seventh anniversary of his Pontificate.
Pope's luncheon for the cardinals:
'History is a struggle between
love of oneself and love of God'
Translated from the 5/21-5/22 issue of
Sorry for the poor photo quality. The pictures are from thumbnails on RV (left) and on OR (right).
History is a struggle between two loves: love of oneself and love of God - a struggle in which it is important to have friends around.
Pope Benedict XVI said this to the cardinals present in Rome who attended a luncheon offered Monday by the Holy Father to thank them for the good wishes they extended on his 85th birthday and the seventh anniversary of his Pontificate.
He began his after-luncheon remarks by saying:
At this time, my words can only be of gratitude. Gratitude to the Lord first of all for the years that he has conceded to me. Years with so many days of joy, splendid times, but also dark nights.
Looking back, however, one understands that even dark nights are necessary and good, and a reason for thanks a well.
Today, the words ecclesia militans ('Church militant') are a bit out of fashion, but in fact, we can understand even better that it is true, that it carries the truth.
We see how evil is trying to be dominant in the world and that it is necessary to join this struggle against evil. We see how evil is working in so many ways, often bloody, with various forms of violence, but also masquerading as good and as such, destroying the moral foundations of society.
The Pontiff then recalled St. Augustine for whom all of history is the struggle between two loves: love of oneself to the point of spurning God; and love of God to the point of giving oneself in martyrdom.
"We are in this struggle, and in this, it is very important to have friends. As for myself, I am surrounded by friends from the College of Cardinals - they are my friends, and I feel at home. I feel secure in this company of great friends who are with me and all of us together with the Lord".
[How many of those cardinals present could have heard those words without flinching? As holy as the Holy Father is, I cannot help thinking he was also being ironic in a typically German way to say those words the week a book came out in Italy that exposed some of his private files to the world - never mind if it is not he that comes out looking bad in any of it. DIM]
In conclusion, the Pope expressed his thanks for that friendship. First addressing Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, he said:
Thanks to you, Eminence, for everything you have done in this respect, and will always do. Thank you to all of you for your communion in joy as well as in sorrow.
Let us go forward. The Lord has said to us, "Take courage! I have defeated the world", and we are on the Lord's team, the winning team.
Thank you to everyone, and may the Lord Bless you all. Let us drink to that.
P.S. 2013 From the Vatican website, here is the Vatican's translation of the full remarks, the full text of which was not immediately available last year:
Your Eminence,
Dear Brothers,
At this moment my words can only be of gratitude. A “thank you” first of all to the Lord for the many years he has given me; years filled with many days of joy, marvelous times but also with dark nights. Yet, in retrospect, one understands that those nights were necessary and good, a cause for thanksgiving.
Today the phrase ecclesia militans is somewhat out of fashion but in fact we can understand ever more so that it is true, that it contains within it the truth. We see how evil wishes to dominate in the world and that it is necessary to fight against evil. We see that it does so in so many ways: cruelty, through the different forms of violence, but even disguised as good, and thereby undermining the moral foundations of society.
St Augustine said that all history is a struggle between two loves: love of self to the point of despising God; and love of God to the point of despising oneself, in martyrdom. We are caught up in this struggle, and in this struggle, it is very important to have friends.
And as for myself, I am surrounded by my friends in the College of Cardinals; you are my friends and I feel at home with you, I feel safe in this company of great friends, who are here with me and all together with the Lord.
Thank you for this friendship. Thank you, Your Eminence, for all you have done for this event today and for all that you always do. Thank you for the communion in joys and in troubles.
Let us move ahead, the Lord said: "Courage! I have conquered the world.} We are on the Lord’s team, hence on the winning team. I thank you all. May the Lord bless all of you. And let us raise our glasses.DIM]
Earlier, Cardinal Sodano addressed the following tribute to the Holy Father in the name of the College of Cardinals:
Holy Father, beloved Successor of Peter, last April 16 you observed your 85th birthday, celebrating Mass with the bishops of Bavaria at the Pauline Chapel.
On that day, I had the honor to take part myself in that moment of intense prayer representing the larger Pontifical family. Before the Mass began, I had the duty to thank you for the generous service you have given to the Church in the course of these years, after having responded with love to Jesus's call, "If you love me, feed my lambs, feed my sheep" (Jn 21,15-17).
On that occasion, I asked the Lord to realize in you the promise made by God to the righteous man in Psalm 91: "Longitudine dierum replebo eum et ostendam illi salutare meum" (With length of days I will satisfy him, and fill him with my saving power) (Ps 91,16).
With the same sentiments, I am happy today to renew to Your Holiness, the wishes of my brother cardinals who live in Rome, who congratulate you on the milestone that you have reached and express to you their most fervent wishes for the future.
We are still in Easter time, and 'Alleluia' continues to come from our hearts for the wonders that God continues to manifest among us through the ministry of the Successor of Peter.
Of course, our voices cannot be like those of the Rome Opera Chorus which recently performed for you Verdi's Te Deum, nor can we be like the powerful voices of the Leipzig Choir who on April 20, sang for you Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's famous Lobgesang.
But with the same enthusiasm, at least, we raise a hymn of thanks to the Lord for the gifts that he has given you and that he has given his Holy Church through your Petrine ministry.
Indeed, during the past seven years, you have never ceased to invite all believers to rediscover the content of the faith, a faith that is professed, celebrated, lived and prayed, as you reminded us very well in the Apostolic Letter Porta fidei.
To a world in search of a better future, Your Holiness has always reminded us that the only forces for progress are those that change man's heart, in fidelity to the spiritual values that can never be extinguished.
Moreover, as a good Samaritan on the roads of the world, you continue to urge us to serving our neighbor, reminding us of the words of Jesus: "Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me" (Mt 25,41).
And now, Holy Father, thank you for inviting us to this fraternal agape. Among the many gravosi negotia (serious matters) of every day, may Your Holiness be able to enjoy at least a moment, or some moments, of that otia (leisure) that the ancient Romans spoke of.
Grateful for your example of great fraternity, we express to you our closeness at the start of the eighth year of your Pontificate and we wish you long and happy and blessed years.
P.S. 2013 Compare Cardinal Sodano's words above (or even the words he addressed to Benedict XVI right after the latter announced his renunciation of the Papacy on February 11, 2013) with the pro-forma telegram he and the other cardinals would send to Benedict XVI less than one year later, at the start of the pre-Conclave General Congregations! - and you have a measure of the hypocrisy and fawning, on the one hand, that characterizes typical 'deference' (even by so-called 'princes of the Church') to whoever happens to be at the top, and on the other, the thoughtless cruelty with which the same person is treated after he is no longer 'in power'. I hope Pope Francis is not now the victim of the very same hypocrisy from these very same 'princes'!
P.P.S. At this point, I must note that there was no such wholesale and individual overt rejection of Pope John Paul II when he passed away - even if it is true that the universal praises that came from the cardinals (more than half of them already cardinals at the time he died) could not have been only because he died, and no one should speak ill of the dead, but also because the chronicles of the time had already made a judgment on his Pontificate as a great one in the years since his affliction became evident, and many, if not all, of them doubtless agree with that judgment.
And of course, there was no such wholesale rejection and criticism of any of the other Popes in my lifetime upon their death. The invectives against Pius XII only began after the success of the 1960 anti-Pius XII propaganda play 'The Deputy'; and posthumous criticism of Paul VI, which re-surfaced at a decent interval after he died, centered on passionate denunciation of his encyclical Humanae vitae by media and all the secular voices, as well as polemics over how he had implemented Vatican II. But there was none against John XXIII nor John Paul I (who, of course, only had 33 days as Pope).
No, it fell on Benedict XVI, still very much alive - whom before March 13, 2005, many of those very same cardinals who then heartlessly rejected him or ignored his virtues and achievements to focus on his presumed failings and inadequacies, had praised to high heavens for his well-known virtues and the good things he did as Pope - to be the overnight object of rejection and none-too-subtle blame for the current problems of the Church. One would think they at least owe him the respect that is due to age, to an 86-year-old man, who was Pope and one they all once recognized as a holy man!
Yet, one can almost hear behind their reservations a "Thank God he resigned!", giving him no credit whatsoever for the wisdom and good sense of his selfless decision to resign. A decision that enabled them to elect, so to speak, the Pope of their dreams.
Of course, I am bitter. Not so much against the media, because that's the way they are, but about the cardinals and other Church prelates who have behaved monstrously towards Benedict, and who, in articulating their most un-Christian rejection of him and his Pontificate, can and do exercise some influence and conditioning over the faithful. Because, shame on them, they, more than anyone else, ought to know better.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 21/05/2013 20:31]