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Showing posts with the label Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict: Parents Educators of the Faith

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How do we hand down faith? Do members of our families get together for dinner, quickly eat their food, and scamper off to watch something on television or hop on the computer, never to be seen again until bedtime? Or do we sit down to eat, and have leisurely conversations about important subjects and share what we did today? Maybe even sitting and talking long after the plates are empty. Around our house, nights like this are relished, but not always our reality. Today, the Holy Father, had a message for  parents and godparents of 16 babies he baptized, and that message was the importance of education. "To educate is a very challenging mission, said the Pope, and it is sometimes difficult for our limited human capacities." "But he added, “education becomes a wonderful mission if it is done in partnership with God, who is the first true educator of every man." "With prayer and the Sacraments, said Pope Benedict, parents will be able to discern the most

Inter Mirifica: Witnessing the Burial of the Old Sacramentaries, Via Facebook

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Our parish priests are taking Pope Benedict XVI up on his invitation: " I would like then to invite Christians, confidently and with an informed and responsible creativity, to join the network of relationships which the digital era has made possible. This is not simply to satisfy the desire to be present, but because this network is an integral part of human life. The web is contributing to the development of new and more complex intellectual and spiritual horizons, new forms of shared awareness." A case in point: This morning I didn't go to daily Mass; instead my family walked over to the high school and watched alumni men and women play their annual soccer games. It's a glorious day. When I returned home, these photos were posted on my parish's facebook page with this note: "Stay tuned for the Blessing of the New Roman Missals, at all Sunday Masses this weekend." Read more here...

'Can life still be something grand, even when suffering unexpectedly enters it?'

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' For many years I've had some involvement with persons with disabilities. Last Sunday I officiated at a wedding for two Deaf people. I regularly celebrate Sunday Mass in Sign Language. I'm not very good in that language and find conversations difficult, since I'm poor at reading signs. I've asked a number of experienced interpreters and their experience has been similar to mine. When you are learning a spoken language you reach a point when you can understand far more than you can express. With Sign Language it is the opposite. I've also been on the fringes of Faith and Life for many years. It is a movement, born from a pilgrimage to Lourdes in 1871, that is made up of 'communities made up of persons with an intellectual disability, their families and friends, particularly young friends, who meet together on a regular basis in a Christian spirit, to share friendship, pray together, fiesta and celebrate life'. San José Foundation More here .  

The Gift of Our Holy Father

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I came across a beautiful article written by Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York; I just had to share it. In the article the Archbishop tells of a story he read about an Episcopal parish in Maryland that decided to accept Pope Benedict XVI's invitation to reunite with Rome. When the pastor of the parish was asked why he accepted the invitation, the pastor responded: "It is our desire to be reunited with the Successor of St. Peter, the Bishop of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI." What a wonderful tribute to this pope and to the Papal Office itself. I also agree with Archbishop Dolan~how nice it is to see something positive written about the Church in the local mainstream press!  Thank you, Holy Father for your priesthood and your papacy. You can read the full article by Archbishop Dolan here .

Quote of the day

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"We know that even the smallest force of love is greater than the greatest destructive force and can transform the world" Pope Benedict XVI

'A Heavenly Farewell'

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Holly's post yesterday, Today is a big day for Pope Benedict XVI , prompted me to post the video above. Father Aedan McGrath, featured in the video, loved gadgets and would have been thrilled to know that on the 60th anniversary of the bird's trilling during the ordination of Fr Joseph Ratzinger he, now Pope Benedict XVI, 'tweeted' . I'm still not sure what tweeting is all about and what part it has to play in genuine communication but I'm delighted that the Holy Father sees the importance of using modern forms of communication to spread the Gospel. There is nothing superstitious about seeing incidents such as the bird trilling at the Pope's ordination as a blessing from God. There are many stories from the lives of great Irish monastic saints such as St Columban(us), St Columcille (Columba) and many more that show how all of God's creatures have their part to play in praising him. And we mustn't forget St Francis. St Martin de Porres had the

Today is a big day for Pope Benedict XVI.

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“The most important moment of my life,” he recalls—sixty years ago, 29 June 1951, Joseph Ratzinger was ordained a priest. ~ “We were more than forty candidates, who, at the solemn call on that radiant summer day, which I remember as the high point of my life, responded Adsum , Here I am. We should not be superstitious; but, at that moment when the elderly archbishop laid his hands on me, a little bird—perhaps a lark—flew up from the high altar in the cathedral and trilled a little joyful song. And I could not but see in this a reassurance from on high, as if I heard the words ‘This is good, you are on the right way.’” I know you’ll join me in offering Pope Benedict XVI our best wishes on the 60th anniversary of his priestly ordination.  Here are a few tidbits about Pope Benedict XVI you may not know.  Did you also know about the Pope's historic Tweet ?  Sixty years later and now it's the Pope who's doing the tweeting... Source: The VA.NEWS

"Without the Eucharist, the Church Simply Does Not Exist."

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Pope Benedict calls Eucharist ‘antidote’ to modern ills June 26, 2011 3:05 PM Vatican City, Jun 26, 2011 / 02:05 pm ( CNA/EWTN News ).- The Eucharist is the medicine which can heal our individualist society, Pope Benedict XVI said in his midday Angelus address on Corpus Christi Sunday. “In an increasingly individualistic culture in which Western societies are immersed - and which is tending to spread throughout the world - the Eucharist is a kind of ‘antidote’ which operates in the minds and hearts of believers and is continually sowing in them the logic of communion, of service, of sharing - in other words, the logic of the Gospel,” said Pope Benedict to pilgrims in St. Peters Square on June 26. Catholics believe that the bread and wine offered by Christ at the Last Supper literally became his body and blood - and that this same miracle is repeated by priests at every Mass since. Hence the name of today’s festivity – ‘Corpus Christi’ Sunday or ‘Body of Christ’ Sunday. “From the Euchar

Our Wonderful Holy Father!

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I found these beautiful, relaxed pictures of our dear Pope Benedict at his summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, and just wanted to share them with you... We love you, dear Papa!

Christ, faithful forever" - the official song of the Pope's meeting of Croatian Catholic family

Kristu vjerni zauvijek from CROpapa on Vimeo . While not sung in English, the music is lovely and the video beautiful.

Minute Meditation with Pope Benedict XVI

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‎ "We must learn to spend more time in front of God, before the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ; we must learn to recognize in silence, within our very selves, his voice that calls us and leads us to the depth of our existence."