"When things change inside you,
things change around you."
(Fr Abiyot Desaleng)
Showing posts with label apostolate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apostolate. Show all posts
Misunderstanding about the Catholic Church
Archbishop Sheen once said:
"Many people hate the Catholic Church and her teachings,
but I do not believe I could find five people who really hate her and her teachings for what they really are.
They hate what they think are the Church and her teachings."
Christianity gives flavour, personality
In his homily (23 May 2013), Pope Francis focused on the savour that Christians are called to give to their own lives and to others’. The Holy Father said that salt the Lord gives us is the salt of faith, hope and charity. But, he warned, we must be careful that this salt, which is given to us by the certainty that Jesus died and rose again to save us, “does not lose its flavour, does not lose its strength.” This salt, he continued, “is not for keeping, because if the salt is preserved in a bottle it does not do anything: it is good for nothing”:
“Salt makes sense when you [use] it in order to make things more tasty. I also consider that salt stored in the bottle, with moisture, loses strength and is rendered useless. The salt that we have received is to be given out, to be given away, [in order] to spice things up: otherwise, it becomes bland and useless. We must ask the Lord not to [let us] become Christians with flavour-less salt, with salt that stays closed in the bottle. Salt also has another special feature: when salt is used well, one does not notice the taste of salt. The savour of salt - it cannot be perceived! What one tastes is the flavour of the food: salt helps improve the flavor of the meal.”
“When we preach faith, with this salt,” said Pope Francis, “those who receive the proclamation, receive it each according to his peculiarity, as [happens when salt is used judiciously] on food.” So, “Each with his own peculiarities receives the salt and becomes better [for it].” The Holy Father went on to explain that the “originality” that Christian faith brings is therefore not something uniform.
“Christian originality is not a uniformity! It takes each one as he is, with his own personality, with his own characteristics, his culture – and leaves him with that, because it is a treasure. However, it gives one something more: it gives flavour! This Christian originality is so beautiful, because when we want to make a uniformity - all salted in the same way - things will be like when the woman throws in too much salt and one tastes only salt and not the meal. The Christian originality is this: each is as he is, with the gifts the Lord has given him.”
“This,” the Pope continued, “is the salt that we have to give.” A salt that is “not to be kept, but to be given,” – and this, he said, “means a little [bit] of transcendence”: “To get out there with the message, to get out there with this richness that we have in salt, and give it to others.” On the other hand, he pointed out, there are two “ways out” for the salt to take, so that it does not spoil. First: to give the salt “in the service of meals, service to others, to serve the people.” Second: “transcendence toward the author of the salt, the creator.” The salt, he reiterated, "in order to keep its flavour, has need not only of being given through preaching,” but, “also needs the other transcendence, of prayer, of adoration.”
“In this way is the salt conserved, [in this way it keeps] its flavor. With the worship of the Lord I go beyond myself to the Lord, and with the proclamation of the Gospel I go out of myself to give the message. If we do not do this, however - these two things, these two transcendences, to give the salt - the salt will remain in the bottle, and we will become ‘museum-piece Christians’. We can show the salt: this is my salt - and how lovely it is! This is the salt that I received in Baptism, this is what I received in Confirmation, this is what I received in catechesis - But look: museum-piece Christians! A salt without flavor, a salt that does nothing.”
Apostolic zeal of first Christians, Japanese christians
“They left their homes,” he said, “they brought with them only few belongings:, and going from place to place proclaiming the Word. “They carried with them the wealth they had: the faith.” That, said Pope Francis, is, “The wealth that the Lord had given them. They were a simple faithful, baptised just a year or so - but they had the courage to go and proclaim. And people believed them! [Their preaching] worked miracles.”
Pope Francis noted how those early Christians had nothing but, “the power of baptism” that “gave them [their] apostolic courage, the strength of the Spirit.” The Pope went on to say, “I think of us, the baptised: do we really have this strength – and I wonder – do we really believe in this? Is Baptism enough? Is it sufficient for evangelisation? Or do we rather ‘hope’ that the priest should speak, that the bishop might speak ... and what of us? Then, the grace of baptism is somewhat closed, and we are locked in our thoughts, in our concerns. Or sometimes think: ‘No, we are Christians, I was baptised, I made Confirmation, First Communion ... I have my identity card alright. And now, go to sleep quietly, you are a Christian. But where is this power of the Spirit that carries us forward?”
Pope Francis said we need to be, “faithful to the Spirit, to proclaim Jesus with our lives, through our witness and our words”:
When we do this, the Church becomes a mother church that produces children [and more] children, because we, the children of the Church, we carry that. But when we do not, the Church is not the mother, but the babysitter, that takes care of the baby – to put the baby to sleep. It is a Church dormant. Let us reflect on our Baptism, on the responsibility of our Baptism.
The Pope recalled the persecutions in Japan in the 17th century, when the Catholic missionaries were expelled and Christian communities remained for 200 years without priests. On their return, the missionaries found “all communities in place, everyone baptised, everyone catechized, all married in the Church,” Thanks to the work of the baptised. There is a great responsibility for us, the baptised: to proclaim Christ, to carry the Church - this fruitful motherhood of the Church – forward. Being a Christian does not mean making a career in study to become a lawyer or a Christian doctor, no. Being a Christian ... is a gift that makes us go forward with the power of the Spirit the proclamation of Jesus Christ. "
Finally, the Pope said that Mary, during the persecution of the first Christians, “prayed so much” and animated those who were baptised to go forward with courage:
We ask the Lord for the grace to become courageous baptised [Christians], confident that the Spirit we have in us, [which we] received through Baptism, always drives us to proclaim Jesus Christ with our lives, through our witness and also with our words. So be it.”
--Pope Francis, 17 April 2013
http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-mass-with-ior-employees
Do we know how to speak of Christ in our daily life?
In the First Reading, what strikes us is the strength of Peter and the other Apostles. In response to the order to be silent, no longer to teach in the name of Jesus, no longer to proclaim his message, they respond clearly: “We must obey God, rather than men”. And they remain undeterred even when flogged, ill-treated and imprisoned. Peter and the Apostles proclaim courageously, fearlessly, what they have received: the Gospel of Jesus. And we? Are we capable of bringing the word of God into the environment in which we live? Do we know how to speak of Christ, of what he represents for us, in our families, among the people who form part of our daily lives?
--Pope Francis, Homily, 14 April 2013, Basilica of St Paul outside the Walls
http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-st-pauls-homily-full-text
Letter of St Francis Xavier to St Ignatius
聖方濟．薩威司鐸 書信集
我們到新教友的村裏去，他們是 幾年前受洗的。葡萄牙人從來沒 有在這地區居住過：因為土地貧 瘠，極少出產。本地的基督信 徒，缺少司鐸，除了知道他們是 基督徒外，一無所知。沒有人給 他們施行聖事，也沒有人教他們 信經、天主經、聖母經和天主十 誡。
自從我來到這裏以來，總沒有休 息：不斷巡遊各鄉村，為尚未領 洗的孩童付洗。我使無數的嬰兒 重生，按這裏人所說的，他們不 知區別左右。但是兒童們不讓我 唸日課，也不讓我進食或休息， 除非我先教他們一端經文。這時 我才開始了解，天國屬於相似他 們的人。
我既不能忍心地拒絕他們如此虔 誠的要求，我就先教他們明認對 父、子、及聖神的信仰，然後再 教給他們使徒信經、天主經、聖 母經。我發覺他們天賦很高，如 果早有人用基督的誡命陶冶他 們，無疑的，他們必定成為很好 的基督信徒。
在這些地區，有許多人不是基督 信徒，只是因為沒有人使他們成 為基督徒。我多次想到，要遍訪 歐洲所有的大學，尤其是巴黎大 學，到處像狂人一樣大聲疾呼： 並恐嚇那些把學問放在愛德之上 的人， 說：「可憐！有多少靈 魂、由於你們的過失而紛紛墮入 地獄！」
但願他們把對學問的用心、用到 這使徒工作上，好使他們能把學 識與天賦才能的帳目、向天主交 清！
他們中間有許多人，被這種思想 所感動，並借助於默想天主的事 理，便會努力學習聆聽天主在他 們內所說的話，進而放棄貪慾， 擺脫俗事，願意完全服從天主的 旨意和召喚。那麼，他們便會從 心靈深處向主呼求說：「主，我 在這裏；祢願我做什麼？請派我 到祢所願意的任何地方去吧！即 使到印度去。」
We have visited the villages of the new converts who accepted the Christian religion a few years ago. No Portuguese live here, the country is so utterly barren and poor. The native Christians have no priests. They know only that they are Christians. There is nobody to say Mass for them; nobody to teach them the Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Commandments of God’s Law.
I have not stopped since the day I arrived. I conscientiously made the rounds of the villages. I bathed in the sacred waters all the children who had not yet been baptized. This means that I have purified a very large number of children so young that, as the saying goes, they could not tell their right hand from their left. The older children would not let me say my Office or eat or sleep until I taught them one prayer or another. Then I began to understand: “The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
I could not refuse so devout a request without failing in devotion myself. I taught them, first the confession of faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, then the Apostles’ Creed, the Our Father and Hail Mary. I noticed among them persons of great intelligence. If only someone could educate them in the Christian way of life, I have no doubt that they would make excellent Christians.
Many, many people hereabouts are not becoming Christians for one reason only: there is nobody to make them Christians. Again and again I have thought of going round the universities of Europe, especially Paris, and everywhere crying out like a madman, riveting the attention of those with more learning than charity: “What a tragedy: how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!”
I wish they would work as hard at this as they do at their books, and so settle their account with God for their learning and the talents entrusted to them.
This thought would certainly stir most of them to meditate on spiritual realities, to listen actively to what God is saying to them. They would forget their own desires, their human affairs, and give themselves over entirely to God’s will and his choice. They would cry out with all their heart: Lord, I am here! What do you want me to do? Send me anywhere you like – even to India.
Charity in Education
First of all, if we wish to appear concerned about the true happiness of our foster children and if we would move them to fulfil their duties, you must never forget that you are taking the place of the parents of these beloved young people. I have always laboured lovingly for them, and carried out my priestly duties with zeal. And the whole Salesian society has done this with me.
My sons, in my long experience very often I had to be convinced of this great truth. It is easier to become angry than to restrain oneself, and to threaten a boy than to persuade him. Yes, indeed, it is more fitting to be persistent in punishing our own impatience and pride than to correct the boys. We must be firm but kind, and be patient with them.
I give you as a model the charity of Paul which he showed to his new converts. They often reduced him to tears and entreaties when he found them lacking docility and even opposing his loving efforts.
See that no one finds you motivated by impetuosity or wilfulness. It is difficult to keep calm when administering punishment, but this must be done if we are to keep ourselves from showing off our authority or spilling out our anger.
Let us regard those boys over whom we have some authority as our own sons. Let us place ourselves in their service. Let us be ashamed to assume an attitude of superiority. Let us not rule over them except for the purpose of serving them better.
This was the method that Jesus used with the apostles. He put up with their ignorance and roughness and even their infidelity. He treated sinners with a kindness and affection that caused some to be shocked, others to be scandalised, and still others to hope for God’s mercy. And so he bade us to be gentle and humble of heart.
They are our sons, and so in correcting their mistakes we must lay aside all anger and restrain it so firmly that it is extinguished entirely.
There must be no hostility in our minds, no contempt in our eyes, no insult on our lips. We must use mercy for the present and have hope for the future, as is fitting for true fathers who are eager for real correction and improvement.
In serious matters it is better to beg God humbly than to send forth a flood of words that will only offend the listeners and have no effect on those who are guilty.
-- St John Bosco
Gift of tongues -- in action
The man who is filled with the Holy Spirit speaks in different languages. These different languages are different ways of witnessing to Christ, such as humility, poverty, patience and obedience; we speak in those languages when we reveal in ourselves these virtues to others. Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak. We are full of words but empty of actions, and therefore are cursed by the Lord, since he himself cursed the fig tree when he found no fruit but only leaves. Gregory says: “A law is laid upon the preacher to practise what he preaches.” It is useless for a man to flaunt his knowledge of the law if he undermines its teaching by his actions.
--St Anthony of Padua
CHOSEN, CALLED, AND SENT
Here is my servant whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom my soul delights.
I have endowed him with my spirit
that he may bring true justice to the nations.
He does not cry out or shout aloud,
or make his voice heard in the streets.
He does not break the crushed reed,
nor quench the wavering flame.
Faithfully he brings true justice;
he will neither waver, nor be crushed
until true justice is established on earth,
for the islands are awaiting his law.
Thus says God, the Lord,
he who created the heavens and spread them out,
who gave shape to the earth and what comes from it,
who gave breath to its people
and life to the creatures that move in it:
I, the Lord, have called you to serve the cause of right;
I have taken you by the hand and formed you;
I have appointed you as covenant of the people and light of the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to free captives from prison,
and those who live in darkness from the dungeon.
My name is ‘The Lord’,
I will not yield my glory to another,
nor my honour to idols.
See how former predictions have come true.
Fresh things I now foretell;
before they appear I tell you of them.
Islands, listen to me,
pay attention, remotest peoples.
The Lord called me before I was born,
from my mother’s womb he pronounced my name.
He made my mouth a sharp sword,
and hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me into a sharpened arrow,
and concealed me in his quiver.
He said to me, ‘You are my servant (Israel)
in whom I shall be glorified’;
while I was thinking, ‘I have toiled in vain,
I have exhausted myself for nothing’;
and all the while my cause was with the Lord,
my reward with my God.
I was honoured in the eyes of the Lord,
my God was my strength.
And now the Lord has spoken,
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
to gather Israel to him:
‘It is not enough for you to be my servant,
to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back the survivors of Israel;
I will make you the light of the nations
so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’
Thus says the Lord,
the redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to him whose life is despised, whom the nations loathe,
to the slave of despots:
Kings will stand up when they see you,
and princes will bow,
for the sake of the Lord, who has been faithful,
the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.
Thus says the Lord:
At the favourable time I will answer you,
on the day of salvation I will help you.
(I have formed you and have appointed you
as covenant of the people.)
I will restore the land
and assign you the estates that lie waste.
I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out’,
to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
On every roadway they will graze,
and each bare height shall be their pasture.
Isaiah 42:1-9,49:1-9 ©
SENT OUT TO THE WORLD
One of the Cardinal’s best-loved meditations includes the words, “God has created me to do him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another” (Meditations on Christian Doctrine). Here we see Newman’s fine Christian realism, the point at which faith and life inevitably intersect. Faith is meant to bear fruit in the transformation of our world through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the lives and activity of believers. No one who looks realistically at our world today could think that Christians can afford to go on with business as usual, ignoring the profound crisis of faith which has overtaken our society, or simply trusting that the patrimony of values handed down by the Christian centuries will continue to inspire and shape the future of our society. We know that in times of crisis and upheaval God has raised up great saints and prophets for the renewal of the Church and Christian society; we trust in his providence and we pray for his continued guidance. But each of us, in accordance with his or her state of life, is called to work for the advancement of God’s Kingdom by imbuing temporal life with the values of the Gospel. Each of us has a mission, each of us is called to change the world, to work for a culture of life, a culture forged by love and respect for the dignity of each human person. As our Lord tells us in the Gospel we have just heard, our light must shine in the sight of all, so that, seeing our good works, they may give praise to our heavenly Father (cf. Mt 5:16).
--Benedict XVI, Speech at Hyde Park, 18th September 2010
INTERIOR LIFE NEEDED FOR THE PROPHETIC OFFICE
By letting the light of faith shine in our hearts, and by abiding in that light through our daily union with the Lord in prayer and participation in the life-giving sacraments of the Church, we ourselves become light to those around us; we exercise our “prophetic office”; often, without even knowing it, we draw people one step closer to the Lord and his truth. Without the life of prayer, without the interior transformation which takes place through the grace of the sacraments, we cannot, in Newman’s words, “radiate Christ”; we become just another “clashing cymbal” (1 Cor 13:1) in a world filled with growing noise and confusion, filled with false paths leading only to heartbreak and illusion.
--Benedict XVI, Speech in Hyde Park, 18th September 2010
THREE LESSONS FROM NEWMAN
Let me begin by recalling that Newman, by his own account, traced the course of his whole life back to a powerful experience of conversion which he had as a young man. It was an immediate experience of the truth of God’s word, of the objective reality of Christian revelation as handed down in the Church. This experience, at once religious and intellectual, would inspire his vocation to be a minister of the Gospel, his discernment of the source of authoritative teaching in the Church of God, and his zeal for the renewal of ecclesial life in fidelity to the apostolic tradition. At the end of his life, Newman would describe his life’s work as a struggle against the growing tendency to view religion as a purely private and subjective matter, a question of personal opinion. Here is the first lesson we can learn from his life: in our day, when an intellectual and moral relativism threatens to sap the very foundations of our society, Newman reminds us that, as men and women made in the image and likeness of God, we were created to know the truth, to find in that truth our ultimate freedom and the fulfilment of our deepest human aspirations. In a word, we are meant to know Christ, who is himself “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6).
Newman’s life also teaches us that passion for the truth, intellectual honesty and genuine conversion are costly. The truth that sets us free cannot be kept to ourselves; it calls for testimony, it begs to be heard, and in the end its convincing power comes from itself and not from the human eloquence or arguments in which it may be couched. Not far from here, at Tyburn, great numbers of our brothers and sisters died for the faith; the witness of their fidelity to the end was ever more powerful than the inspired words that so many of them spoke before surrendering everything to the Lord. In our own time, the price to be paid for fidelity to the Gospel is no longer being hanged, drawn and quartered but it often involves being dismissed out of hand, ridiculed or parodied. And yet, the Church cannot withdraw from the task of proclaiming Christ and his Gospel as saving truth, the source of our ultimate happiness as individuals and as the foundation of a just and humane society.
Finally, Newman teaches us that if we have accepted the truth of Christ and committed our lives to him, there can be no separation between what we believe and the way we live our lives. Our every thought, word and action must be directed to the glory of God and the spread of his Kingdom. Newman understood this, and was the great champion of the prophetic office of the Christian laity. He saw clearly that we do not so much accept the truth in a purely intellectual act as embrace it in a spiritual dynamic that penetrates to the core of our being. Truth is passed on not merely by formal teaching, important as that is, but also by the witness of lives lived in integrity, fidelity and holiness; those who live in and by the truth instinctively recognize what is false and, precisely as false, inimical to the beauty and goodness which accompany the splendour of truth, veritatis splendor.
--Benedict XVI, Hyde Park Vigil Address, 18th September 2010
We need modern apostles
How much we need, in the Church and in society, witnesses of the beauty of holiness, witnesses of the splendour of truth, witnesses of the joy and freedom born of a living relationship with Christ! One of the greatest challenges facing us today is how to speak convincingly of the wisdom and liberating power of God’s word to a world which all too often sees the Gospel as a constriction of human freedom, instead of the truth which liberates our minds and enlightens our efforts to live wisely and well, both as individuals and as members of society.
Let us pray, then, that the Catholics of this land will become ever more conscious of their dignity as a priestly people, called to consecrate the world to God through lives of faith and holiness. And may this increase of apostolic zeal be accompanied by an outpouring of prayer for vocations to the ordained priesthood. For the more the lay apostolate grows, the more urgently the need for priests is felt; and the more the laity’s own sense of vocation is deepened, the more what is proper to the priest stands out. May many young men in this land find the strength to answer the Master’s call to the ministerial priesthood, devoting their lives, their energy and their talents to God, thus building up his people in unity and fidelity to the Gospel, especially through the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice.
--Benedict XVI, Westminster Cathedral, Saturday, 18 September 2010
"Knowing" means loving
“I know my sheep and mine know me”. “To know”, in the idiom of sacred Scripture, never refers to merely exterior knowledge, like the knowledge of someone’s telephone number. “Knowing” means being inwardly close to another person. It means loving him or her. We should strive to “know” men and women as God does and for God’s sake; we should strive to walk with them along the path of God's friendship.
--Benedict XVI, Homily at the closing of the Year for Priests, 11 June 2010
CHRISTIANITY IN EUROPE, THANKS TO A LAY WOMAN
"13 and on the sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to give heed to what was said by Paul. 15 And when she was baptized, with her household, she besought us, saying, 'If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.' And she prevailed upon us." (Acts 16:13-15)
It is worth reflecting on the fact that Christianity began in Europe through this lady's response to God's calling. Lydia set about her mission to Christianise the whole world from within, starting with her own family.
--Commentary of the Navarre Bible
Storming heaven
After being chosen Archbishop, he [Karol Wojtyla] said in one of his first sermons: "Today, our work is made more difficult; our hands are tied; doors are not opened to us; we must storm heaven violently to gain it for ourselves and for the souls entrusted to our care."
(O'Connor, pp 154-155)
The Good Shepherd looks after every single sheep
"'The good shepherd knows his sheep and they know him'(John 10:14). A bishop should try to ensure that as many as possible of those who, together with him, make up the local Church can come to know him personally. He for his part will seek to be close to them, to know about their lives--what gives joy to their hearts and what saddens them. Such mutual acquaintaince cannot be built through occasional meetings. It comes from a genuine interest in what is happening in their lives regardless of age, social status, or nationality, whether they are close at hand or far away. ...
"Every human being is an individual person and therefore I cannot program a priori a certain type of relationship that could be applied to everyone, but I must, so to speak, learn it anew in every case. ...
"Every person is a chapter to himself. I always acted with this conviction ...
"Interest in others begins with the bishop's prayer life: his conversations with Christ, who entrusts 'His own' to him. Prayer prepares him for encounter with others. ... I simply pray for everyone every day. As soon as I meet people, I pray for them, and this helps me in all my relationships. ... I welcome everyone as a person sent to me and entrusted to me by Christ.
"I don't like the word 'crowd', which seems to anonymous; I prefer the word 'multitude', in Greek 'plethos' (cf Mark 3:7, Lk 6:17, Acts 2:6, Acts 14:1 and elsewhere). ... That's how it was in Manila, where there were millions of young people. Yet in a case like that it would have been wrong to speak of an anonymous crowd."
(John Paul II, Rise, Let Us Be On Our Way, pp 65-67)
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