Saturday, January 29, Third Week in Ordinary Time
From left: A children's book on Juniper; Murillo's 1618 painting; and the Brother Juniper cartoon.
Servant of God BROTHER JUNIPER [Fra Ginepro] (Italy, d 1258)
One of the original Franciscans with St. Francis
Little is known about Ginepro's life before he joined Francis and his band of brothers in 1210, except
that he was a close friend of Francis from his younger days. Although he has come down in Franciscan
annals as the 'Franciscan clown' or 'jester of the Lord', he was entrusted by Francis to set up
Franciscan 'places' in Gualdo and Viterbo, and he was with St. Clare, conforting her on her deathbed.
He was renowned for his simplicity and kindness. A 1618 Murillo painting depicts him about to give up
his garments to a beggar. Five centuries later, the 18th-century missionary Junipero Serra would take
his religious name from Francis's friend. In 1958-1989, Brother Juniper inspired a popular syndicated
cartoon depicting him in modern situations.
Readings from today's Mass: www.usccb.org/nab/readings/012911.shtml
OR today.
Pope addresses International Commission for Catholic-Orthodox theological dialog:
'Christins must have reciprocal trust to serve peace and justice'
He expresses participation in the difficulties faced by Christians
in many parts of the world
Other Page 1 items: An essay on the ancient roots of Christianity in Ethiopia; Egypt 'in flames'
as street uprisings continue calling for President Mubarak to step down after 30 years; at the
Davos World Economic Forum, the presidents of Germany and France defend the euro. In the
inside pages: Iraq forms a government commission to look after religious minorities and deal
with continuing terrorist threats against them; and Cardinal Tauran, president of the Pontifical
Council for Inter-Religious Dialog, says the Church will pursue dialog with Islam regardless
of temporary drawbacks like Al-Azhar's suspension of annual talks with his Council.
PAPAL EVENTS TODAY
The Holy Father met today with
- The community of the Pontifical Ethiopian College in the Vatican. Address in Italian.
The Vatican released the video and text of the Holy Father's message to the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas
in Manila, Philippines, which marked the 400th anniversary of its founding yesterday on the Feast of St. Thomas
Aquinas, at which the Pope was represented by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect of the Congregation for
Catholic Education. Older than Harvard, UST is Asia's oldest university.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 30/01/2011 08:06]