Wednesday, Sept. 12, 23rd Week in Ordinary Time
FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY NAME OF MARY
St. Alphonsus de Liguori wrote a most beautiful essay on the devotion to the Name of Mary in Christian history
www.themostholyrosary.com/appendix8.htm
This feast is a counterpart to the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (January 3). Celebration of the Most Holy Name of Mary began in Spain in 1513 and in 1671 was extended to all of Spain and the Kingdom of Naples. In 1683, Jan Sobieski, king of Poland, brought an army to the outskirts of Vienna to stop the advance of Muslim armies loyal to Mohammed IV in Constantinople. After Sobieski entrusted himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he and his soldiers thoroughly defeated the Muslims. Pope Innocent XI extended the feast to the entire Church.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/bible/readings/091212.cfm
WITH THE HOLY FATHER TODAY
General Audience - The Pope flew to the Vatican this morning for his Wednesday audience at the Aula Paolo VI.
Continuing his catecheses on prayer, focused at this time on prayer prayer in the Book of Revelation, he reflected
on what it teaches about the importance of prayer in the Church’s pilgrimage through history - "Prayer
enables us to discern the events of history in the light of God’s plan for the spread of his Kingdom".
At the end of the Audience, the Holy Father asked the faihful to offer prayers for peace, reconciliation
and respect for the rights of all in the Middle East, as he prepares to visit Lebanon on Sept. 14-16.
Strangely, more than two hours since the end of the General Audience earlier today (1 pm in Rome),
the Vatican Press Office has not yet posted any bulletins for Sept. 12.
SEPT. 12 ANNIVERSARIES
2006 - Benedict XVI's lectio magistralis at the University of Regensburg,
on "Faith, Reason and the University"
2008 - At the College des Bernardins in Paris, his lecture
on "The Origins of Theology and the Roots of Western Culture"
On Page 244 of this thread,
benedettoxviforum.freeforumzone.leonardo.it/discussione.aspx?idd=8527207&p=244&#idm1...
you will find a couple of excellent articles about the epochal nature of the Regensburg lecture, as well as my reconstruction of how the MSM had first reported the Regensburg lecture casually, as if it were just another papal discourse made in the course of a trip to Germany, without even getting into what it was all about; and how, 48 hours later, the lecture became the most controversial papal address ever given in modern history! [Which makes me think most of those who reported on it did not really even bother to read through it - because anyone who read the English text promptly released by the Vatican that day could not have failed to be stunned by its originality and comprehensiveness about faith and reason applied to the Christian and Islam experiences.]
Not one of the initial reports, except that of Ian Fisher in the New York Times, even picked up the citation from the Paleologue emperor, but even Fisher merely reported it en passant. In fact it was not until 48 hours since the speech was delivered - when the Pope was back in Rome - that MSM blew it up into the raging cause celebre that it became, and only after a Turkish religious leader expressed the first vehement Muslim reaction to the Paleologue citation.
Fisher's second article for the NYT, commenting now on the lecture in the context of the Muslim outrage, was light years away from the relatively objective tone of his original report. Fisher's double act, I find, typifies and illustrates best not just the unscrupulous opportunism of the MSM but also how they can and do shape, not just public opinion, but even events subsequent to some cause they have decided to advocate.
In the PRF thread dedicated to the APOSTOLIC VISIT TO BAVARIA, I had noted - before media attention turned to the lecture at all:
The lecture at Regensburg was masterly and masterful, and as I said earlier, it will give commentators and analysts weeks and months to work on. And for anyone who wishes to lecture on significant matters that are more abstract than concrete, a model of how to structure a presentation and to make it alive!
And yes, it should be distributed to all universities - Catholic universities to begin with - for required reading, expecially by students of history, religion, theology, philosophy, and the sciences; and by those in charge of these universities.
Obviously, I was considering the speech in its totality, and did not have the prescience to imagine that what the Pope said about Islam - or rather, just that one citation he had at the beginning - would prove to be a powderkeg capable of igniting the entire Muslim world and the anti-Benedict elements in the MSM to unprecedented, near-demented frenzy against the Holy Father!
Vatican reaction to mob violence and killings
in Cairo and Benghazi on the 9/11 anniversary
A tragic and most condemnable counterpoint to the 9/11 anniversary yesterday and that of the Regensburg lecture today was the mob attack on the US embassy in Cairo yesterday (where fortunately, no one was hurt, though the US flag was descrated), and hours later, a major terrorist attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in which the US ambassador and three of his staff members were killed by heavy-duty weapons.
The Vatican released a statement on the Libya attack, at a time when it was thought that the act, like the Cairo episode, was provoked by a YouTube amateur video produced by an Israeli American that allegedly mocks Islam. It now seems that the Libya attack was previously planned and well-orchestrated by Al-Qaeda in Libya, to retaliate for the US killing of a ranking Al-Qaeda official in Pakistan weeks ago, and that the video was simply used as a pretext.
Here is Fr. Lombardi's statemen, courtesy of Vatican Radio:
Profound respect for the beliefs, texts, outstanding figures and symbols of the various religions is an essential precondition for the peaceful coexistence of peoples.
The serious consequences of unjustified offence and provocations against the sensibilities of Muslim believers are once again evident in these days, as we see the reactions they arouse, sometimes with tragic results, which in their turn nourish tension and hatred, unleashing unacceptable violence.
The message of dialogue and respect for all believers of different religions, which the Holy Father is preparing to carry with him on his forthcoming trip to Lebanon, indicates the path that everyone should follow in order to construct shared and peaceful coexistence of religions and peoples.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 13/09/2012 00:21]