reflections, updates and homilies from Deacon Mike Talbot inspired by the following words from my ordination: Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach...
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 27, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- When he was a young boy, Fr. Mario Majano, 28, used to think a hero was someone out of an action comic book, a “flash, bang, superpower” kind-of-person.
As he grew older, Fr. Majano believed a hero to be someone who put themselves in harm’s way for others, he said during the Verizon Center Mass for Life in Washington, D.C. Attended by Cardinals Donald Wuerl and Timothy Dolan, and papal nuncio to the United States Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the event drew about 15,000 young people.
“Now I think that I can truly see that the true hero is someone who will let nothing — absolutely nothing, no matter how big, how small — get in the way of defending what they know to be true, of living with that mission of defending the smallest part of our society, of defending what they know comes directly from God.”
Fr. Majano related at the January 22 event how he happens to know just such a hero, a woman who “against all obstacles, against all trials, stood firm, and would not budge, would not move from what her beliefs were, when everything else in her life seemed to sway.”
The first of three major trials came for this woman while she was a high school student and was raped and became pregnant.
“Her family just let her be. She felt totally alone, [with] nowhere to go. [She was] practically disowned,” said Fr. Majano, who is the parochial vicar at our Lady of Sorrows Church in Takoma Park and the Archdiocese of Washington’s assistant director of priest vocations.
A friend told the woman she “shouldn’t be going through this” and that she “didn’t deserve this” since she did not have any support.
“This is impossible for you,” the friend said. “Just take the practical solution. Abort.” About 15,000 young people cheering that they will "stand for life." Pete Baklinski / LifeSiteNewsBut the woman responded: “I cannot face the rest of my life knowing that I have taken this one [life] from someone,” Fr. Majano related.
The woman said ‘no’ to abortion, and ‘yes’ to life, he said.
For a second time the woman found herself facing a trial, this time with a pregnancy from a man she loved but who had not committed to marriage. Her family urged her to abort and not take the risk of raising now two children without a father. They coaxed the woman, offering to “pay for everything.”
“For a second time, she was forced to look at this reality, look at her life and say: ‘It’s not perfect still. I’m not sure what my future holds. But…’ she said: ‘…No, I can’t, no matter how genuine, how full of love, and [how] well-intentioned that suggestion was.’ She said ‘No’ once again. ‘No’ to abortion, and ‘Yes’ to this life that was growing within her,” related Fr. Majano.
Thirteen years later, the woman now happily married, found herself facing yet again another trial, becoming pregnant during an intensive regime of chemical treatment for cancer.
Doctors despaired of the new life within her. “Because the medication was so strong, there is zero chance that this child will be born normally,” they told her, and suggested abortion as the only way forward.
“Normal or not, this is something I cannot, I will not do,” she told them.
“[She said] ‘No’ to that abortion, and ‘Yes’ to that life that was growing within her,” Fr. Majano said.
“Against every circumstance, against every setback that she experienced, this woman stood firm. I find that heroic,” said Fr. Majano. “This type of heroism is largely unsung in our society. And so we sing it today. We praise her.”
The next words uttered by the priest sent a shockwave throughout the entire stadium.
“And to this woman, for her valiant effort, for constantly staying firm, and focusing on her steadfast love for what life is, I simply say: ‘Thank you Mom! Thank you very much!’” The entire body of priests, bishops, and cardinals, including the papal nuncio, rise to their feet to acknowledge Rosa's heroic choices. Pete Baklinski / LifeSiteNewsThe entire stadium broke into applause. When Fr. Majano pointed out his mom in the audience, the entire body of priests, bishops, cardinals, and the papal nuncio on the center stage arose clapping exuberantly to acknowledge her heroism. About 15,000 excited young people joined them in the standing ovation.
Fr. Majano’s mother, Rosa, stood there weeping, tears of joy streaming down her face.
“We need to sing this type of heroism,” Fr. Majano said.
Rosa, 53, told LifeSiteNews after the homily that Fr. Majano was her second crisis pregnancy. The choice she faced was either going to college or having the baby. Fr. Majano's mother Rosa weeps as the entire stadium gives her a hero's standing ovation. Pete Baklinski / LifeSiteNews“He’s my college degree, right there,” she said, all smiles.
Rosa, a mother of four daughters and one son, said that she can now clearly see that God had a plan for her son. “I never thought that he would become a priest,” she said. “It shows to me very clearly that God had chosen him, from the womb.”
To any woman facing a crisis pregnancy she would say: “Do not give up, God has a plan…always. God will never leave you alone."
Fr. Majano encouraged the young people to stand up for life. Rosa Majano, 53, says that no matter how bleak the situation, 'God has a plan.' Pete Baklinski / LifeSiteNews“It’s amazing to be here, because each one of us has been given the opportunity, has been given the chance, to live your life, and to be here.”
“We’re here defending that life. We’re simply here to champion the cause for those who have no voice, who have not had our opportunity,” he said.
In a comment to LifeSiteNews Tuesday, Fr. Majano said his priestly vocation is "rooted in my mother's yes."
"Without it how could I have had the opportunity to discover God's plan for me," he explained. "But beyond that, I believe my mother's character which led her to be so steadfast in this decision also affected the way she raised us. I remember from an early age that my mother's go-to place in times of need was the Church and by example always showed that God was essential to our lives no matter the situation. This definitely provided good ground in my life for the vocational message to sink in." For more of LifeSiteNews' in-depth, original coverage of the 2015 March for Life in Washington, D.C., click here.
Abbot and bishop. Born near Beauvais, France, he entered the military while still young, but soon gave up this career to become a monk at Corbie Benedictine Monastery where he served as tutor to the sons of Charles Martel. In 851, Odo was elected abbot, and in 861 became bishop of Beauvais. His reforms were much to the benefit of the Church in northern France, and he assisted in bringing about the reconciliation between Pope Nicholas I and the powerful ArchbishopHincmar of Reims after they had a dispute over Hincrnar�s deposition of Bishop Rothadius of Soissons in 862.
Vatican City, Jan 27, 2015 / 05:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The “globalization of indifference” was at the heart of Pope Francis’ Lenten message, in which he urged faithful to fight individualism with merciful hearts that are more attentive to the needs of others.
“(Jesus) is interested in each of us; his love does not allow him to be indifferent to what happens to us,” the Pope noted in his Jan. 27 Lenten message, saying that often times when we live a healthy and comfortable lifestyle, “we forget about others.”
“We are unconcerned with their problems, their sufferings and the injustices they endure...Our heart grows cold,” he observed, saying that today this “selfish attitude of indifference has taken on global proportions, to the extent that we can speak of a globalization of indifference.”
The Roman Pontiff’s Jan. 27 message, titled after the biblical passage “Make Your Hearts Firm” from James Chapter 5 verse 8, was given as a precursor for the start of the Church’s Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18.
Lent, he said, is a time of grace in which we encounter the love of the Lord, who first served us through his life and the washing of the disciples’ feet before his passion, and ultimately in his sacrificial death on the cross.
“God is not indifferent to our world; he so loves it that he gave his Son for our salvation,” the pontiff explained, saying that one of the most “urgent challenges” of today’s world – and the one to which he dedicated his Lenten message – “is precisely the globalization of indifference.”
This “globalization of indifference” is a reality that Christians must confront by going outside of themselves, he said, and highlighted three biblical passages he said would help to resist the temptation to withdraw and remain closed inside of ourselves.
“If one member suffers, all suffer together” from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians reminds us of the Church, the Pope explained, saying that the love of God breaks through the barriers of indifference we frequently put up.
“But we can only bear witness to what we ourselves have experienced,” he said, and encouraged faithful to turn to the sacraments during Lent – particularly the Eucharist – in order to better imitate the Lord.
During Mass “we become what we receive: the Body of Christ. In this body there is no room for the indifference which so often seems to possess our hearts,” the Pope explained.
He then pointed to the verse in Genesis Chapter 4 when God asks Cain “Where is your brother?” This passage, he said, is representative of the various parishes and Christian communities around the world.
“Do these ecclesial structures enable us to experience being part of one body? A body which receives and shares what God wishes to give? Or do we take refuge in a universal love that would embrace the whole world, while failing to see the Lazarus sitting before our closed doors?” the pontiff asked.
In order to both receive what God gives to us and make it bear fruit in our communities we need to go beyond the boundaries of the physical Church, the Pope said, noting that this is first done through our prayers to the saints in heaven, who intercede for us with joy.
Secondly, a particular parish or community can cross these boundaries by engaging “in the life of the greater society of which it is a part, especially with the poor and those who are far away.”
The Church is “missionary by her very nature,” he said, and commissioned parishes and communities not to remain self-enclosed, but go out to every nation and people so that they therefore become “islands of mercy in the midst of the sea of indifference!”
Pope Francis then pointed to the biblical verse in James “Make your hearts firm” from which the title of his message is taken, saying that it speaks to the temptation for individual Christians to become indifferent.
“Flooded with news reports and troubling images of human suffering, we often feel our complete inability to help,” he observed.
Both praying together as a community and performing small acts of charity are concrete ways that can prevent us from getting “caught up in this spiral of distress and powerlessness,” the Pope explained.
He then drew attention to the “24 Hours for the Lord” initiative of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization. Set to take place March 13-14, in the middle of Lent, confessions will be available for the entire 24 hour period.
The Pope, who is set to preside over a penitential liturgy for the event, expressed his hope that it “will be observed throughout the Church, also at the diocesan level (as) a sign of this need for prayer.”
Also noting the importance of conversion, the Bishop of Rome said that seeing the suffering of others inevitably reminds us of our dependency on God, as well as on our brothers and sisters, and encouraged all to ask for God’s grace in accepting their limitations.
If we do this, he said, “we will trust in the infinite possibilities which God’s love holds out to us (and) we will also be able to resist the temptation of thinking that by our own efforts we can save the world and ourselves.”
Pope Francis concluded his message by praying that during Lent, each person receive “a heart which is firm and merciful, attentive and generous, a heart which is not closed, indifferent or prey to the globalization of indifference.”
Obedience to the will of God is the path of holiness. This was the main theme of Pope Francis' homily during his daily morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta.
Today's first reading from the Letter to the Hebrews explained that the sacrifices of old were not enough "for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats take away sins."
According to Vatican Radio, the Holy Father said that Christ's death on the Cross showed that the sacrifice that pleases God is not of an animal but the offering of "one's own will to do the will of the Father."
The Pope also reflected on today's responsorial psalm, which stated: "Here I am Lord; I come to do your will."
"This is the path of holiness, of the Christian," he said. "That the plan of God may be done, that the salvation of God may be done."
"The opposite of this began in Paradise with Adam's disobedience. And that disobedience brought evil to the whole of humanity. Our sins are also acts of disobedience to God, of not doing his will. Instead, the Lord teaches us that this is the path, there is no other."
The Holy Father said that while this path began in Heaven, with Jesus' 'yes' in obeying the will of the Father, on earth it began with the Blessed Virgin Mary's 'yes' in accepting God's will to bring the Savior into the world.
However, the Jesuit Pope noted, accepting God's will "isn't easy". He recalled Jesus temptation in the desert as well as in the Mount of Olives, where Christ accepted the torments that awaited him. Saying that "many options are presented to us on a tray", the Holy Father said that in order to discover what the will of God is, one must ask for the grace.
Posing a question to the faithful present, the Pope asked whether one prays for the desire to do God's will or look for a compromise.
Pope Francis concluded his homily by highlighting three essential prayers: to pray to know God's will, to pray for the desire to do His will, and once known, to pray for the strength to do his will.
"May the Lord give us the grace, to all of us, that one day we may say that which He said to that group, that crowd that followed him, those who were sitting around him, as we heard in the Gospel: 'This is my mother and my brothers," he said. "Those who do the will of God are my brother, my sister and mother.' Doing the will of God makes us a part of Jesus' family, it makes us a mother, father, sister, brother."
When she was 56, Angela Merici said "No" to the Pope. She was aware that Clement VII was offering her a great honor and a great opportunity to serve when he asked her to take charge of a religious order of nursing sisters. But Angela knew that nursing was not what God had called her to do with her life.
She had just returned from a trip to the Holy Land. On the way there she had fallen ill and become blind. Nevertheless, she insisted on continuing her pilgrimage and toured the holy sites with the devotion of her heart rather than her eyes. On the way back she had recovered her sight. But this must have been a reminder to her not to shut her eyes to the needs she saw around her, not to shut her heart to God's call.
All around her hometown she saw poor girls with no education and no hope. In the fifteenth and sixteenth century that Angela lived in, education for women was for the rich or for nuns. Angela herself had learned everything on her own. Her parents had died when she was ten and she had gone to live with an uncle. She was deeply disturbed when her sister died without receiving the sacraments. A vision reassured her that her sister was safe in God's care -- and also prompted her to dedicate her life to God.
When her uncle died, she returned to her hometown and began to notice how little education the girls had. But who would teach them? Times were much different then. Women weren't allowed to be teachers and unmarried women were not supposed to go out by themselves -- even to serve others. Nuns were the best educated women but they weren't allowed to leave their cloisters. There were no teaching orders of sisters like we have today.
But in the meantime, these girls grew up without education in religion or anything at all.
These girls weren't being helped by the old ways, so Angela invented a new way. She brought together a group of unmarried women, fellow Franciscan tertiaries and other friends, who went out into the streets to gather up the girls they saw and teach them. These women had little money and no power, but were bound together by their dedication to education and commitment to Christ. Living in their own homes, they met for prayer and classes where Angela reminded them, " Reflect that in reality you have a greater need to serve [the poor] than they have of your service." They were so successful in their service that Angela was asked to bring her innovative approach to education to other cities, and impressed many people, including the pope.
Though she turned him down, perhaps the pope's request gave her the inspiration or the push to make her little group more formal. Although it was never a religious order in her lifetime, Angela's Company of Saint Ursula, or the Ursulines, was the first group of women religious to work outside the cloister and the first teaching order of women.
It took many years of frustration before Angela's radical ideas of education for all and unmarried women in service were accepted. They are commonplace to us now because people like Angela wanted to help others no matter what the cost. Angela reminds us of her approach to change: "Beware of trying to accomplish anything by force, for God has given every single personfree will and desires to constrain none; he merely shows them the way, invites them and counsels them."
Saint Angela Merici reassured her Sisters who were afraid to lose her in death: "I shall continue to be more alive than I was in this life, and I shall see you better and shall love more the good deeds which I shall see you doing continually, and I shall be able to help you more." She died in 1540, at about seventy years old.
Pope Francis says that the training of priests must be a “work of art, not a police action…We must form their hearts. Otherwise we are creating little monsters. And then these little monsters mold the people of God. This really gives me goose bumps.”
Pray Tell has heard increasing reports in the last few years about difficulties with some recently ordained priests. There are divisions in some parishes because some younger guys are more traditional or conservative or legalistic than much of their flock. This seems to be an important issue that needs addressing. To get the conversation going, Pray Tell went to some folks we knew in diocesan offices and asked them to reflect on the issue as constructively as possible. The three contributors writing below have asked to remain anonymous. Given the highly sensitive nature of this issue, and the possibility of hurt feelings within dioceses if the writer were known, Pray Tell has agreed to their request for anonymity. We hope this puts the focus on the message rather than the writer. We asked the contributors, “What is a positive, constructive way to deal with young priests who have good zeal, who want to do the right thing, but what they do sometimes doesn’t build up the church and instead causes ill will? What good attitudes are needed? Is there a need for better education and formation? Is it an issue of maturity, and can we be hopeful that the crucible of life will polish rough edges in young people’s temperaments?” We hope that younger priests will come to Pray Tell, feel respected, and hear the loving challenges presented them. And we welcome them, and you, to join the conversation! awr/npc
NEW ORLEANS —Recent incidents of vandalism and criminal activity at St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 have forced new security measures for people who visit the historic site.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans announced the change Monday morning in an attempt to curtail and protect the cemetery after a recent uptick in criminal activity.
"We want to protect the cemetery, but also ensure the visitors to the cemetery are receiving correct information from a licensed and insured tour guide to protect them as well," said Sherri Peppo, director of the archdiocesan cemeteries office.
In the past year, Peppo said, St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 has been broken into and vandalized several times. She said that in some instances, security cameras have been removed from the site.
She said another reason for the new security measures are recent reports of unlicensed tour guides encouraging tourists to deface tombs or giving false historical information for outrageous fees.
"[With] these things going on, we had to take action to increase security and better monitor what is going on in the cemetery," Peppo said.
According to the archdiocese, tour companies and guides will have to register with Peppo's office, show proof of insurance and city licensing and pay a registration fee. Rates range from a $450 monthly fee to $4,500 annually in order to be compliant.
Small companies or tour guides who operate occasional tours can still register. They will be issued a one-time $40 pass to the cemetery.
Peppo said the the new measures have received support from local groups like Save Our Cemeteries and the Professional Tour Guides of New Orleans. She added that the revenue brought in from the permits will go directly toward making improvements at the cemetery, such as 24-hour security and restoration projects.
The new plan will be effective beginning in March, when tourists will be asked to join a tour to visit the cemetery. More information can be found on the archdiocese's cemeteries website.
Pope's Morning Homily: Mothers and Grandmothers Are First in Transmitting Faith
Calls on Faithful to Not Dilute Faith During Daily Homily
Rome, (Zenit.org) Junno Arocho Esteves | 95 hits
In his homily at Casa Santa Marta this morning, Pope Francis stressed the importance of mothers and grandmothers in transmitting the faith to future generations.
The first reading of today's Memorial of Sts. Timothy and Titus recounts Paul's letter to Timothy, in which he recalls the faith of the latter's mother and grandmother.
"I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears, so that I may be filled with joy, as I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and that I am confident lives also in you," St. Paul writes.
According to Vatican Radio, the Holy Father said that mothers and grandmothers are the ones who first transmit faith.
"It is one thing to pass on the faith, and another to teach the matters of faith. Faith is a gift: it is not possible to study Faith. We study the things of faith, yes, to understand it better, but with study [alone] one never comes to Faith. Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit, which surpasses all [“academic”] formation," the Pope said.
Reflecting on why it is mainly women who pass on the faith, the Holy Father noted that Jesus was brought into the world by a woman.
"It is the path chosen by Jesus. He wanted to have a mother: the gift of faith comes to us through women, as Jesus came to us through Mary." The Jesuit Pope went on to ask whether women today are aware of their duty to transmit the faith. He also stressed Paul's exhortation to guard the Faith so that it may remain strong.
“We have – all of us – received the gift of faith: we have to keep it, at least in order that it not become watered down, so that it remains strong, with the power of the Holy Spirit who gave it to us," he said.
If this faith becomes diluted, he warned, it becomes a "specialized kind of knowledge" and turns faith from something that is lived to something that is learned.
The Holy Father also said that being timid and ashamed is what dilutes faith and that it instead must be nourished with power, love and prudence.
Concluding his homily, Pope Francis called on the faithful to pray for the grace of sincere Faith.
"A Faith that is not negotiable depending on the opportunities that come, a Faith that every day I try to revive or at least ask the Holy Spirit to revive it, and make it bear much fruit," he said.
