Incredible courage and faith in the face of pure evil; Ugandan Saints, pray for us!

St. Charles Lwanga and Companions

 

Facts

Feastday: June 3

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For those of us who think that the faith and zeal of the early Christians died out as the Church grew more safe and powerful through the centuries, the martyrs of Uganda are a reminder that persecution of Christians continues in modern times, even to the present day.
The Society of Missionaries of Africa (known as the White Fathers) had only been in Uganda for 6 years and yet they had built up a community of converts whose faith would outshine their own. The earliest converts were soon instructing and leading new converts that the White Fathers couldn't reach. Many of these converts lived and taught at King Mwanga's court.
King Mwanga was a violent ruler and pedophile who forced himself on the young boys and men who served him as pages and attendants. The Christians at Mwanga's court who tried to protect the pages from King Mwanga.
The leader of the small community of 200 Christians, was the chief steward of Mwanga's court, a twenty-five-year-old Catholic named Joseph Mkasa (or Mukasa).
When Mwanga killed a Protestant missionary and his companions, Joseph Mkasa confronted Mwanga and condemned his action. Mwanga had always liked Joseph but when Joseph dared to demand that Mwanga change his lifestyle, Mwanga forgot their long friendship. After striking Joseph with a spear, Mwanga ordered him killed. When the executioners tried to tie Joseph's hands, he told them, "A Christian who gives his life for God is not afraid to die." He forgave Mwanga with all his heart but made one final plea for his repentance before he was beheaded and then burned on November 15, 1885.
Charles Lwanga took over the instruction and leadership of the Christian community at court -- and the charge of keeping the young boys and men out of Mwanga's hands. Perhaps Joseph's plea for repentance had had some affect on Mwanga because the persecution died down for six months.
Anger and suspicion must have been simmering in Mwanga, however. In May 1886 he called one of his pages named Mwafu and asked what the page had been doing that kept him away from Mwanga. When the page replied that he had been receiving religious instruction from Denis Sebuggwawo, Mwanga's temper boiled over. He had Denis brought to him and killed him himself by thrusting a spear through his throat.
He then ordered that the royal compound be sealed and guarded so that no one could escape and summoned the country's executioners. Knowing what was coming, Charles Lwanga baptized four catechumens that night, including a thirteen-year-old named Kizito. The next morning Mwanga brought his whole court before him and separated the Christians from the rest by saying, "Those who do not pray stand by me, those who do pray stand over there." He demanded of the fifteen boys and young men (all under 25) if they were Christians and intended to remain Christians. When they answered "Yes" with strength and courage Mwanga condemned them to death.
He commanded that the group be taken on a 37 mile trek to the place of execution at Namugongo. The chief executioner begged one of the boys, his own son, Mabaga, to escape and hide but Mbaga refused. The cruelly-bound prisoners passed the home of the White Fathers on their way to execution. Father Lourdel remembered thirteen-year-old Kizito laughing and chattering. Lourdel almost fainted at the courage and joy these condemned converts, his friends, showed on their way to martyrdom. Three of these faithful were killed on road.
A Christian soldier named James Buzabaliawo was brought before the king. When Mwanga ordered him to be killed with the rest, James said, "Goodbye, then. I am going to Heaven, and I will pray to God for you." When a griefstricken Father Lourdel raised his hand in absolution as James passed, James lifted his own tied hands and pointed up to show that he knew he was going to heaven and would meet Father Lourdel there. With a smile he said to Lourdel, "Why are you so sad? This nothing to the joys you have taught us to look forward to."
Also condemned were Andrew Kagwa, a Kigowa chief, who had converted his wife and several others, and Matthias Murumba (or Kalemba) an assistant judge. The chief counsellor was so furious with Andrew that he proclaimed he wouldn't eat until he knew Andrew was dead. When the executioners hesitated Andrew egged them on by saying, "Don't keep your counsellor hungry -- kill me." When the same counsellor described what he was going to do with Matthias, he added, "No doubt his god will rescue him." "Yes," Matthias replied, "God will rescue me. But you will not see how he does it, because he will take my soul and leave you only my body." Matthias was cut up on the road and left to die -- it took him at least three days.
The original caravan reached Namugongo and the survivors were kept imprisoned for seven days. On June 3, they were brought out, wrapped in reed mats, and placed on the pyre. Mbaga was killed first by order of his father, the chief executioner, who had tried one last time to change his son's mind. The rest were burned to death. Thirteen Catholics and eleven Protestants died. They died calling on the name of Jesus and proclaiming, "You can burn our bodies, but you cannot harm our souls."
When the White Fathers were expelled from the country, the new Christians carried on their work, translating and printing the catechism into their natively language and giving secret instruction on the faith. Without priests, liturgy, and sacraments their faith, intelligence, courage, and wisdom kept the Catholic Church alive and growing in Uganda. When the White Fathers returned after King Mwanga's death, they found five hundred Christians and one thousand catchumens waiting for them. The twenty-two Catholic martyrs of the Uganda persecution were canonized.

Congratulations Archbishop Aymond, all ministers of all faiths, volunteers and prayer partners who minister to the prisoner and the ex-prisoner. Bravo!

Archbishop Gregory Aymond and others speak up for prisoners returning home: Jarvis DeBerry

Archbishop Gregory Aymond, in this file photo from Aug. 28, 2013, challenges the crowd to carry on the ideals in Martin Luther King's famous Dream speech as the Archdiocese of New Orleans joined with others across the nation to mark the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom with a prayer service on the lawn at Notre Dame Seminary. (file photo by Ted Jackson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

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By Jarvis DeBerry, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune The Times-Picayune
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on June 02, 2015 at 4:42 PM

This year on Holy Thursday, the day Christians celebrate Jesus' last meal with his disciples and commemorate his washing their feet, Pope Francis went to a prison chapel in Rome and knelt before 12 Roman inmates. The pope kissed the feet of those prisoners after he washed them. According to the Associated Press, those inmates wept as the pontiff humbled himself before them.
Archbishop Gregory Aymond, speaking May 31 at an event at Dillard University called "Welcome Home Sunday," said that in 2014 Pope Francis visited a juvenile prison and washed the feet of inmates there. "He gets on his knees," the archbishop said. "He washes their feet, and he kisses their feet to show respect."
Message received: If a man as important as the pope can show respect for the human dignity of prisoners, what's stopping us regular people? And if those who are locked up deserve our attention, our respect, aren't those who've been released also deserving?
Archbishop Aymond listed 10 things he said we ought to do for those who've been released from prison:

• Welcome them by name
• Tell them that "God is the God of a second chance and sometimes a third or fourth chance."
• Welcome their families and help those families support them.
• Help them find housing
• Help them find work
• Mentor them
• Challenge them to work toward rehabilitation
• "Invite them into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ."
• Help them reconcile with their victims.
• Be a presence for them so they can become "a people of thanksgiving."

All those things, the archbishop acknowledged, require us going "beyond our comfort zones." But when we are hesitant to do so, he said, we should ask ourselves, "What happens if we don't say, 'Welcome home?'"
Sunday's event was the brainchild of the Rev. William Barnwell, a retired Episcopal pastor who has been ministering to prisoners since the 1970s, and its chief purpose seemed to prick the consciences of believers, to persuade them to be true to the faith they profess -- and in all situations.
Rhett Covington, assistant secretary in the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, said that he often jokes that Jesus must be in prison. He's seen lots of clergy visit prisons to minister to inmates. But when those same people are released from prison, he said, those ministers don't welcome them as members of their church.
The most moving testimonial Sunday was offered by Parker Sternbergh, whose 3-year-old died in a hot van as his nanny -- a gambling addict -- played video poker. "I know I had to go and forgive her," Sternbergh told a full auditorium at Dillard. And to demonstrate her heart of forgiveness, she lobbied to be able to share communion with the woman responsible for the death of her child. That intimate act, that breaking the bread together and sharing the wine together, Sternbergh said, "made both of us be able to walk forward."
Debra Morton, pastor of Greater St. Stephens Full Gospel Baptist Church in New Orleans, said that Luke 15, which includes a story about a disrespectful son who leaves home, gets in trouble and returns seeking forgiveness, teaches us that "when somebody changes, we've got to release them from their past."
Like most people do, Morton described the story in Luke 15 as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Some editions of the Bible refer to it as the Parable of the Lost Son. But as Morton was speaking, I was remembering Timothy Keller who in his book "The Prodigal God," refers to it as the Parable of the Two Lost Sons.
If we only focus on the acting out committed by the younger brother, we will miss the fact that Jesus is addressing his parable to the Pharisees, people who believed themselves to be perfect, people Jesus has just heard muttering about his acceptance of unsavory characters.
The story isn't just about a younger brother who has messed up spectacularly. It's also about an older brother who believes himself to have never messed up and who, in his pouting, misses the opportunity to reconnect with his brother and celebrate with his father.
What a hard, hard message that is. It suggests that the people who are hard-hearted toward prisoners past and present are just as lost as those who've been locked up.
Jarvis DeBerry can be reached at jdeberry@nola.com. Follow him at twitter.com/jarvisdeberry.

Nancy Pelosi WRONG AGAIN, as are most who claim to be Catholic and a Politician

So I generally stay away from that which could come across as more political than faithful.  I also do not want anyone to ever thing I'm pulling for one side over another in a purely political way.  I do not condemn anyone because their political views differ from mine, nor do I give blind faith allegiance to a political party or political movement.  I do steadfastly object to anyone, and I mean anyone, who, in the course of their political discourse, grossly misrepresents Holy Mother Church.  I also despise anyone, who for the sake of the ballot box, wants to claim to be Catholic and then refuses to remain faithful to their Catholicism while doing their job.  Our friend Nancy Pelosi, along with many other Democrats, and YES, many Republicans, who cling to their Catholicism demonstrate outright disobedience and sometimes heresy.

With no personal malice, only fraternal love to all brothers and sisters with same-sex attraction, Nancy Pelosi is WRONG and is willfully and blatantly injecting pure personal opinion and claims it to be Catholic.  In this case, NANCY PELOSI IS WRONG. Here is what she now claims to be consistent with Catholic teaching:

 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3296264/posts?page=6

THIS IS WRONG

Here is the official position of the Catholic Church on marriage:

http://www.catholicdoors.com/misc/marriage/matri.htm


Here is the official position of the Catholic Church on "so-called" gay marriage but also the official teaching of the dignity of ALL people and the call to chastity unique to one's life situation:

http://www.catholicdoors.com/misc/marriage/matri.htm


Bottom line is this; we can love, respect, pray for and be kind to all people, hard as it may be, if we trust God and love people with a love that helps the other on their journey to Heaven, their rode to salvation.  And if we be Catholic, if we understand what being Catholic is and what the relationship truly is between Jesus Christ and the Church (bridegroom and bride), then no Catholic, including Nancy Pelosi, or Joe Biden, or Rick Santorum, or Jeb Bush, or Marco Rubio, have any right, politician or not to either purposefully or even out of sheer ignorance, speak on behalf of Holy Mother Church, and then when doing so, absolutely misrepresent the spotless Bride of Christ.

And lest my more left leaning, Democratic Party controlled types of friends and readers take offense, in the pages of this blog, I will call out right, leaning, Republican or Tea party controlled folk too when they misrepresent the Church.  And often they do, trying to describe things like the death penalty, certain doctrines relative to war, the recent criticism of what the Pope might say about the environment, the proper role for government to play in all things social justice, economic, a preferential option for the poor.

Be as political as you need to be(and of course I will both pity and pray for you), take a side, but don't claim the Catholic identity if you are not willing to be Catholic, live Catholic and vote Catholic.  And even if you don't want to vote Catholic, a choice I guess you have free will to carry out, then don't misrepresent Catholicism in your explanations, comments like Ms. Pelosi has done, again, and again and again.

The Catholic Church speaks for Christ because he who hears you, hears me!  Luje 10:16

Good article about Solemnities and Sundays; know your Liturgical Calender

Solemnities That Trump Sundays

'No other feasts or memorials supplant the Sunday'

    

Rome, June 02, 2015 (ZENIT.org) Father Edward McNamara, LC              

 

Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy and dean of theology at the Regina Apostolorum University.

Q: Every June 29 the Church celebrates the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, even if this date falls on a Sunday. If I am not mistaken, the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome also holds this distinction -- that it "trumps" the ordinary Sunday celebration if it happens to fall on that day. Yet other solemnities and feasts that seem to have more doctrinal and spiritual importance than those, specifically those of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are moved to the Saturday before or the Monday after if they fall on a Sunday. Given the importance of Sunday in our faith, how is it determined which celebrations are able to "trump" a Sunday and others are not? -- A.H., New York

A: This question demonstrates the fact that what might appear as obvious to those of us who daily grapple with liturgical matters is not necessarily so obvious to the faithful. This is a very good question from an attentive Catholic and reminds us that occasionally it is good to explain these concepts which can easily cause confusion.

The liturgical calendar developed over many centuries and has been organized in several different ways. For several reasons the liturgical celebration of the proper prayers of a Sunday, especially outside of the major seasons, has been constantly in danger of being substituted by the celebration of popular saints and devotions. On several occasions the Church has had to intervene to restore the Sunday celebration to the central role it should have in the piety of the faithful.

The most recent attempts are the present rules promulgated after the Second Vatican Council. These rules established a new hierarchy of feasts and celebrations and a new table of liturgical days which indicates the precedence of one feast over another. The principal divisions of these celebrations are in solemnities, feasts, obligatory memorials and optional memorials.

There was also an effort to reinforce the Sunday celebration, which henceforth could only be supplanted by major celebrations.

The Sundays of the major liturgical seasons of Advent, Lent and Easter are higher on the table than solemnities, and thus solemnities which fall on these Sundays are usually transferred.

Since the Immaculate Conception falls during Advent, it is thus transferred except in some countries such as Spain and Italy, in which it is also a public holiday and is always celebrated on Dec. 8.

The same thing sometimes happens to St. Joseph and the Annunciation, which always fall during Lent or Easter. Indeed next year, in which the Annunciation would fall on Good Friday, it will be moved until after the Easter octave and will be celebrated Monday, April 4.

Some countries receive a special exception to the general rule from the Holy See on an ad hoc basis. For example, permission is practically always given to the Mexican bishops to celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12, even if it coincides with a Sunday of Advent. This permission is not extended beyond the national frontiers.

For the Sundays of Christmas and ordinary time, the rules are less strict. Even in this case, however, only solemnities and feasts of the Lord supplant the Sunday. All other feasts and memorials are omitted if they coincide with the Lord’s Day.

This is why the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul replaces the Sunday; the same holds for any other such solemnity, even if it is not usually a holy day of obligation (such as the Nativity of St. John the Baptist on June 24).

The special category of the feasts of the Lord also substitute the Sunday. These differ from solemnities insofar as they are celebrated as feasts (that is, with Gloria but with only two readings and no Creed) unless they coincide with a Sunday or are usually celebrated on a Sunday anyway. They are the following:

-- The Baptism of the Lord, celebrated on the Sunday after Jan. 6 (or, where the solemnity of the Epiphany is transferred to the Sunday that occurs on Jan. 7 or 8, on the following Monday);

-- The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, celebrated on the Sunday within the octave of Christmas, or, if there is no Sunday, on Dec. 30;

-- The Presentation of the Lord, celebrated on Feb. 2;

-- The Transfiguration of the Lord, celebrated on Aug. 6;

-- The Exaltation of the Holy Cross, celebrated on Sept. 14 (in some countries, especially in Latin America, it is celebrated on May 3 for historical and pastoral reasons);

-- The Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, celebrated on Nov. 9. (This is a feast of the Lord because the basilica was originally dedicated under the title of the Most Holy Savior and this remains part of its official title: "Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in the Lateran." The dedications to St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist were added in the 10th and 12th centuries, respectively.)

No other feasts or memorials supplant the Sunday. For a grave reason, a bishop may order or permit a special Mass to be celebrated on a Sunday of ordinary time, such as a Mass for peace during a major crisis.

And a 7th century Pope named Eugene

St. Eugene

 

Facts

Feastday: June 2
Death: 657

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Eugene I was a Roman priest who had held various positions in the Church and was known for his charity and his sanctity. He was consecrated Pope on August 10, 654, while his predecessor, Pope St. Martin I, was still alive (he died on September 6), an exile and prisoner in the Crimea by order of Monothelite Emperor Constans II. Martin is reported to have approved the election, but many believed Eugene was a puppet of Constans. Eugene soon asserted his independence by refusing the Emperor's demands that he acknowledge Peter as Patriarch of Constantinople and allow toleration of the Monothelites. Constans was furious, and only the capture of Rhodes by the Moslems in 654 and their defeat of Constans at the naval battle of Phoenix in 655 saved Eugene from sharing the fate of his predecessor. Eugene died in Rome on June 2. His feast day is June 2nd.

Converting unbelievers to Christianity even as they were about to be killed for their faith

Sts. Marcellinus and Peter

 

Facts

Feastday: June 2
Death: 304

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Though we know very little about these two martyrs under Diocletian, there is no question that the early church venerated them. Evidence of the respect in which they were held are the basilica Constantine built over their tombs and the presence of their names in the first eucharistic prayer.
Pope St. Damasus says that he heard the story of these two martyrs from their executioner who became a Christian after their deaths. Marcellinus, a priest, and Peter, an exorcist, died in the year 304. According to a legendary account of their martyrdom, the two Romans saw their imprisonment as just one more opportunity to evangelize and managed to convert their jailer and his family. The legend also says that they were beheaded in the forest so that other Christians wouldn't have a chance to bury and venerate their bodies. Two women found the bodies, however, and had them properly buried.

For the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus let's pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart

Lord, have mercy Christ, have mercy Lord, have mercy Christ, hear us Christ, graciously hear us. God the Father of Heaven, God the Son, Redeemer of the world, God, the Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, One God, Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father, Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mother, Heart of Jesus, substantially united to the Word of God, Heart of Jesus, of Infinite Majesty, Heart of Jesus, Sacred Temple of God, Heart of Jesus, Tabernacle of the Most High, Heart of Jesus, House of God and Gate of Heaven, Heart of Jesus, burning furnace of charity, Heart of Jesus, abode of justice and love, Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love, Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues, Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise, Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts, Heart of Jesus, in whom are all treasures of wisdom and knowledge, Heart of Jesus, in whom dwells the fullness of divinity, Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father was well pleased, Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received, Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills, Heart of Jesus, patient and most merciful, Heart of Jesus, enriching all who invoke Thee, Heart of Jesus, fountain of life and holiness, Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our sins, Heart of Jesus, loaded down with opprobrium, Heart of Jesus, bruised for our offenses, Heart of Jesus, obedient to death, Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance, Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation, Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection, Heart of Jesus, our peace and our reconciliation, Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who trust in Thee, Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in Thee, Heart of Jesus, delight of all the Saints, Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, V. Jesus, meek and humble of heart.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. have mercy on us. spare us, O Lord. graciously hear us, O Lord. have mercy on us, O Lord. R. Make our hearts like to Thine.

Let us pray; Almighty and eternal God, look upon the Heart of Thy most beloved Son and upon the praises and satisfaction which He offers Thee in the name of sinners; and to those who implore Thy mercy, in Thy great goodness, grant forgiveness in the name of the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who livest and reignest with Thee forever and ever. Amen.

June is the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Month of the Sacred Heart

 

The Month of June (Overview - Calendar) is dedicated to the Sacred Heart. The Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Friday following the second Sunday after Pentecost. In addition to the liturgical celebration, many devotional exercises are connected with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Of all devotions, devotion to the Sacred Heart was, and remains, one of the most widespread and popular in the Church.
Understood in the light of the Scriptures, the term "Sacred Heart of Jesus" denotes the entire mystery of Christ, the totality of his being, and his person considered in its most intimate essential: Son of God, uncreated wisdom; infinite charity, principal of the salvation and sanctification of mankind. The "Sacred Heart" is Christ, the Word Incarnate, Saviour, intrinsically containing, in the Spirit, an infinite divine-human love for the Father and for his brothers.

Read it all:   http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/06_1.cfm

God's Love is always with us, even during difficulty and failures: Pope Francis

Pope’s Morning Homily: In Failure, God’s Love Triumphs

Reflects on the Path of Redemption During Mass at Casa Santa Marta

    

Vatican City State, June 01, 2015 (ZENIT.org) Junno Arocho Esteves              

 

“The path of our redemption is a path of many failures. Even that last one, that of the cross, is one of scandal. But it is precisely there where love conquers.”

This was the reflection given by Pope Francis during his morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta today.

The Holy Father reflected on today’s Gospel from St. Mark, in which Jesus tells the parable of the vineyard owner’s son who was killed by the tenants when trying to obtain the fruits of the vineyard.

“Have you not read this Scripture passage: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes?’” Jesus says.

The Pope said that while the story seems to be a failure, it is in fact of history of love between God and his people. Recalling Jesus’ parable, the Holy Father said that it is precisely in that death where everyone finds life.

“The prophets, the men of God who spoke to the people, who have not been heard, who have been discarded, will be his glory,” he said. “The Son, the last one sent, who Himself has been discarded, judged, unheard and killed, has become the cornerstone. This history, that begins with a dream of love, and that seems to be a story of love, but then seems to end in a story of failure, ends with the great love of God who brings forth salvation from what is discarded; from His discarded Son, He saves us all.”

The 78 year old Pontiff said that the Bible contains countless events in history that show God’s love, despite the disobedience and rebelliousness of his people.

“The path of our redemption is a path of many failures. Even that last one, that of the cross, is one of scandal. But it is precisely there where love conquers. And that story that begins with a dream of love and continues with a history of failure, ends with the victory of love: the cross of Jesus.”

The Pope called on the faithful to not forget this difficult path by examining one’s conscience.

“If each one of us does an examination of conscience, we will see how many times, how many times the prophets have been cast aside. How many times we have said to Jesus: ‘Go away’, how many times we wanted to save ourselves, how many times we thought we were the just ones.”

Concluding his homily, Pope Francis encouraged those present to remember this history of love. This memory, he said, is “of that seed of the love that God has planted in us and how it has gone, and to do the same that Jesus did in our name: He humbled Himself.”