Aid to the Church in Need
MIRROR GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
Saint Padre Pio.
God’s Messengers Among Us
Blessed Chiara Luce Badano.
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
MIRROR GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
CONTENTS PAGE 70 Years of Serving the Church............................ Johannes Freiherr Heereman...........1 For the love of Christ................................................ Fr. Martin Barta..................................2 To be a Holy Priest in the Future........................................................................................4 On Becoming a Holy Priest.................................................................................................6 Deeply Rooted in Christ..................................................................................................... 10 God’s Messengers Among US........................................................................................ 12 Painting, Singing and Praying for Peace...................................................................... 14 Responding to the World in Crisis........................ Pope Pius XII................................... 16 The Universal Call to Holiness............................... Pope Francis................................... 20 Fathers are irreplaceable guardians and mediators of Faith............................................. Pope Francis................................... 20 Why do we call Catholic Priests ‘Father’?......... J F Declan Quinn............................ 26
‘A good pastor, a pastor after the heart of God, is the greatest treasure that the good God can give to a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy.’ ST. JOHN VIANNEY, CURÉ D’ARS
Editor: Jürgen Liminski. Publisher: Kirche in Not / Ostpriesterhilfe, Postfach 1209, 61452 Königstein, Germany. De licentia competentis auctoritatis ecclesiasticae. Printed in Ireland - ISSN 0252-2535. www.acn-intl.org
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
70 YEARS OF SERVING THE CHURCH Dear Friends,
foundation, five years ago, was a logical next step.
T
his year ACN will be 70 years old. Many of you I’m sure will have read or heard about its dramatic early beginnings. The initial idea came from Rome, when Pope Pius XII asked the abbot of the Norbertines to try and do something for the uprooted German refugees. He immediately thought of the young Father Werenfried in the abbey of Tongerlo in Belgium, who responded with the now famous article ‘Peace on Earth? No room in the Inn’ in the Christmas 1947 issue of the Abbey newsletter. And so began the great avalanche of giving. It was likewise at the prompting of Rome that the aid initiatives spread worldwide. Pope John XXIII asked for help for Latin America, Pope Paul VI for Asia and Africa, Pope John Paul II for the Church in Russia.
Hence the ‘institutional re-founding’ of ACN by Pope Benedict XVI as a pontifical
Today ACN has National Offices in 23 different countries and helps in more than 140. Looking back over these developments today, we can only marvel and say, ‘The Spirit blows where he wills…’ In fact he blows above all in the hearts of our benefactors. Without your generosity, ACN would not be what it is today. Thank you for your faithful charity!
PS. Our Irish Office is planning to take over 100 pilgrims to Fatima this September to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Our Lady’s apparition there. ACN is consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima and all our offices from around the world will be present at this great event. If you physically can come, please join me with the rest of the ACN family from around the world. If you can’t physically come please join us spiritually. The world is in crisis and is in ever greater need of your prayers.
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
1
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
FOR THE LOVE OF CHRIST... Dear Friends,
P
eter asks Jesus the question: ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus tells him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.’ (Mt 18:21f). And yes, it was with this call for reconciliation – a quite scandalous one in the immediate postwar era – that our charity, now the pontifical foundation ACN, first began 70 years ago.
we begin this anniversary year we must first of all acknowledge, on behalf of all our staff and co-workers, that ‘we are merely useless servants and have done no more than our duty’. For who can ever say he has done all he possibly could have done? Yet despite our failings, we believe utterly in the love of God, which can save the world.
Father Werenfried van Straaten was convinced ‘It is not the elimination This and this alone is that the love of God of the need that ultimately the servant’s reward. is greater than all our counts, but loving to Even the elimination of human hurt and bitterthe limits’. the need is not what ness. Trusting in God’s ultimately counts, but grace, he dared to ask the highest expression of love of his fellow rather the ability to love to the very limit, Christians; the love of Christ in fact. A love reflecting the infinite love of the Lord. that never ceases to stoop to serve one’s neighbour and so squeezes the best out of A journalist once challenged Mother the soul, as it were, ‘compelling’ it to conver- Teresa: ‘You are 70 now. When you die, the sion. Love like this – selfless, humble, and world will look just the same as it did before. therefore mighty – can move mountains. What will really have changed after all the So often in the course of the past seven efforts on your part?’ Without the least decades ACN has been confronted with the impatience she replied, ‘You know, I have never imagined I was capable of changing bitterest of human suffering. the world. I have only ever attempted to be And just as often we have experienced a droplet of pure water in which God’s love miracles of love. During this year we will can be reflected. Does that seem too little to describe many of these moments. But as you?’ Then she turned again to the reporter 2
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
and added, ‘Why don’t you also try to be a droplet of pure water? Then at least there would be two of us.’
D
ear Friends, you have been faithful to ACN over so many years and have never let us down. It is thanks to your help that we have been able to help others. As we begin this new year of 2017 we would like, together with you all, to renew this covenant with Christ for a further 70 years. Together then let us strive… 77 times a day, to forgive, 77 times to ask for mercy, 77 times to restrain our selfish impulses, 77 times to give of ourselves out of our poverty In doing so we will contribute to the fulfullment of the promise made by Our Lady in Fatima a 100 years ago: ‘In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph and an era of peace will be granted to the world.’
In gratitude,
ACN founder Fr. Werenfried Van Straaten visiting Fatima.
Father Martin M. Barta, Ecclesiastical Assistant
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
3
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
TO BE A HOLY PRIEST IN THE FUTURE
W
ithout priests no sacraments, without sacraments no Church… But there is another preliminary step to this simple logic: Without seminarians, no priests. And therein lies the future of the Church. Yes, our support for seminarians is about nothing less than the future of the Church. The country in Latin America where we support the most priests is Peru. This is a still developing country, with modest growth in the cities, despite the suburban slums on the outskirts. In the countryside however, and above all in the Andes, the mainly indigenous Aymara people still live almost everywhere in poverty. Nevertheless, there are many vocations among them, a real treasure for the Church. In the seminary of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
in the Altiplano, or high plateau, of Chucuito Province there are 48 seminarians currently training for the priesthood. This preparation includes not only the study of theology and philosophy, for at weekends they also go out into the villages, giving religious instruction, visiting the sick and the lonely, reaching out to the young. ‘We are learning to serve’, says Wilber Sucapuca Jaila, ‘and we are trying to satisfy the people’s hunger for God’. His fellow seminarian Benjamin Huanca adds, ‘We don’t have much, but it’s not about material things. We have God in our hearts, that’s what counts.’ And Richard Pari Chambi speaks for all three, and for the other seminarians as
‘Here we are, Lord’: on pilgrimage near Chucuito in the Peruvian Andes.
4
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
well, when he says, ‘I am so happy in the vocation that God has granted me. I feel the desire within me to be a holy priest in the future.’ We are helping them to strive for this goal. With grants for each seminarian, we are helping the seminary to fill the holes in its budget. ‘The most important and fundamental thing for us is prayer and Holy Mass’, writes 19-year-old Denys Lerma Parillo. When he heard God’s call in his heart he at first thought, ‘I am not worthy, but nevertheless I am happy to be given this precious gift. And so I said, Here I am, Lord.’
Freshly ordained deacons: Seminarians with their bishop in Iquitos, Peru. Study time: talk on grace and the sacraments. Colombia.
It is the love of God and the love of Christ that moves these 48 young men, here in the mountains of Chucuito, just as it does the other 9 in the seminary of St Augustine in Iquitos, in the rainforest of the Peruvian Amazon, and the 20 others in St. Joseph’s seminary in Lurin, not far from the 8-million- strong metropolis of Lima, the Peruvian capital. Their circumstances differ widely, but the ultimate reason for their response to God’s call is the same in every case. You are strengthening this motivation with your generosity. For the other thing that is true, always and everywhere, is this: Without love for Christ, there will be no seminarians. •
Singing God’s praises: Seminarians in Lurin, Peru.
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
5
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
ON BECOMING A HOLY PRIEST1
W
rather than administrators they need to ‘go out to meet the people,’ especially the lost sheep. The pastor who stays behind his computer in the presbytery, he declared, is not an ‘authentic pastor.’
1
Pope Francis praised one priest for knowing his parishioners so well that he knew not only their names, but also their pets’ names! In an age in which so many priests, bishops and curial officials are enslaved by administrative tasks, Pope Francis is summoning them to reprioritise toward the Church’s evangelical mission.
hat is Pope Francis’ vision as to how priests (current and future) are to serve their people faithfully and fruitfully? The following has emerged from Pope Francis’words and his witness. The strength of a priest depends on his relationship with Christ.
Pope Francis has said that the touchstone of how deeply a priest is living his vocation is the extent to which he seeks Christ in his daily life. In a typically direct question, Pope Francis asked a gathering of Rome’s priests at the beginning of Lent, ‘At night, how does your day end? With God, or with television?’ At the heart of any priest’s ministry must be a living relationship with Christ, so that the priest sees as Christ sees and loves as He loves. It took the disciples time to really ‘become Christ’ to others so this is not a given at ordination. For this to happen, the priest needs to continue to grow in union with Christ through prayer and intimacy.
2
Just as he must be close to Christ so the priest must be close to the people he serves.
In his first Chrism Mass homily, Pope Francis famously spoke of how priests must be ‘shepherds living with the “smell of the sheep”’ If priests truly are to be pastors
6
3
As Pope Francis emphasized in the homily of his inaugural Mass, a priest’s authority must be linked to service, especially to the care and protection of the poorest, weakest, the least important and most easily forgotten.
This means that priests have to leave their comfort zone and have ‘real contact with the poor and the marginalised.’ Francis, who was known as the ‘slum bishop’ in Argentina because of his work among the poor, has said reaching out to those on the margins of society was ‘the most concrete way of imitating Jesus’. His own first visits after moving to the Vatican were to a jail for juveniles and to 1 http://rcdow.org.uk/vocations/priesthood/articles/seven-pillarsof-priesthood/
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
the southern Italian island of Lampedusa to pay tribute to impoverished immigrants who have died trying to get to Europe.
4
The priest must be a minister of mercy.
Pope Francis told a group of ten newlyordained priests that the most important advice he could give them was simply, ‘Be merciful.’ His motto Miserando Atque Eligendo (‘Chosen Through the Eyes of Mercy’) highlights that his own vocation was born in an experience of God’s mercy, when as a 16-year-old boy he went to confession on the feast of the St. Matthew, the great convert. Pope Francis’ reminder in his first Angelus address that God never tires of forgiving us is a clear call to priests never to tire in faithfully dispensing that mercy, both sacramentally and in their daily living.
5
The priest is called to a simplicity of life.
Diocesan priests do not take a vow of poverty, but commit themselves to a simple lifestyle. Pope Francis has repeatedly criticised priests who give in to vanity and worldly ambition. During his years in Buenos Aires, Cardinal Bergoglio’s example of living in a small apartment rather than an episcopal palace, taking public transportation rather than a car with a driver and cooking for himself GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
7
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
was a clear challenge to his fellow priests to examine the sincerity and authenticity of their own spiritual poverty.
6
The priest must be a model of integrity.
There can be no place in priests for a haughty clericalism, any kind of abuse of their position or a concern to climb the ecclesial career ladder – Pope Francis is calling and requiring priests to understand that their authority derives not from worldly power but from personal integrity and humility in imitation of Christ. Paying his pre-conclave bill at the priests’ residence personally immediately after his election was not just a nice gesture indicating a total absence of a sense of privilege, but it was a real sign that no priest should
consider himself exempt from the demands of ordinary accountability. Otherwise priests can ‘become wolves not shepherds’.
7
Finally the priest is to be a source of blessing for his people.
The anointing which he receives at his ordination is not meant just for himself – it is to flow through him to those he serves. As Pope Francis said at his first Chrism Mass, ‘A good priest can be recognised by the way his people are anointed... when our people are anointed with the oil of gladness, it is obvious: for example, when they leave Mass looking as if they have heard good news.’ This was also very much the theme of his second Chrism Mass homily – the priest is ‘anointed with the oil of gladness so as to anoint others with the oil of gladness.’ In his preaching, in his prayer, through being truly present to his flock in the realities of their everyday lives, the priest is to help them ‘feel that the fragrance of the Anointed One, Christ, has come to them through the priest.’ Speaking to the lay faithful Pope Francis them to ‘be close to your priests with affection and with your prayers, that they may be always be shepherds according to God’s heart. And pray for those whom God is calling to be priests that they may respond to this call with humility and joy.’ •
8
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
‘The future of humanity passes by way of the family’
www.worldmeeting2018.ie GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
9
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
DEEPLY ROOTED IN CHRIST
S
t. Paul was also a seminarian once. After his conversion, the future prince of apostles also had to spend some time studying and praying in the desert (cf. Galatians 1:17) before he began his missionary preaching.
A major part of their formation focuses on intercultural understanding, empathy and openness to other customs and cultures, while at the same time they strive for a deep rootedness in their relationship with Christ and a solid formation of personality.
Prayer and study are the fundamental duties of the seminarian. He therefore needs an appropriate environment (for St. Paul it was the solitude of the desert) and the appropriate aids.
In the seminary chapel in Yaoundé, Cameroon the seminarians of the congregation pray four times a day, and they also study seven hours a day. On top of this there are times for sport, garden work, eating together, etc. Central to everything, however, is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The rising bell is set for 5 a.m. and from 10 p.m. onwards silence is observed.
The Missionaries of the Most Holy Hearts of Mary and Jesus spend considerable time during their six-year formation learning about other cultures and ways of life. Their congregation originated in Spain and is present today in Africa and Latin America.
New challenges come and go, but the Gospel is valid for all time. Father Santos looks after the younger novices.
10
Currently, most of the congregation’s vocations come from Africa, which is
Truth is, he could spend every pound three times over: Father Alphonse is in charge of the formation in Yaoundé.
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
why the novitiate is situated in Butare, Rwanda and the main seminary in Yaoundé, Cameroon, where 23 young men currently pray and study. Later they will take the Gospel message out across their continent, and perhaps revive awareness of it in Europe too. The congregation, with its 130 members, is still relatively small and until recently had always managed to cover its own costs. But now, with the growing numbers of vocations in Africa, combined with
the consequences of the economic crisis in their mother country Spain and the associated general fall in donations and income, the community is struggling to make ends meet. They have asked our help for the training of the 23 seminarians in Yaoundé, and we have agreed. Who knows, maybe there is a future St. Paul among them? At any rate, it is a sound investment in the future. •
A SMALL GESTURE BUT A BIG IMPACT
H
ow many thoughts, emotions and devotions this little prayer book must have inspired by now! For over 60 years it has been used by the students and priests here at the seminary of St. Teresa in Taunggyi, Burma (Myanmar). But now it is slowly falling apart (see photo), the binding disintegrating, pages already lost here and there – and besides, there aren’t enough copies to go round. To say it is ‘well worn’ would be something of an understatement! As for the prayers inside, of course a prayer book never truly becomes obsolete, since every prayer reflects the light of eternity. But there are many new and beautiful prayers, many new devotions as well. The seminarians have already compiled and arranged some of these and now they plan to print them in a new prayer book. Thus this new booklet will also serve for many decades, guiding their prayers and opening their hearts to God. Your fraternal generosity is helping cover the cost of • printing this little manual.
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
11
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
O
ne in every 10 seminarians around the world is supported by ACN. Most of them are studying in Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Without this help there would be fewer priests in the world. Our aid covers many aspects, from scholarships, via construction aid through to help with the cost of printing religious literature. In a message of greeting to the candidates at the Benedict XVI Interdiocesan Seminary in Kendoumayah, Guinea-Conakry, given to mark the consecration of the newly opened seminary chapel, Emeritus Pope Benedict wrote as follows: ‘In December 1944, when I was called up for military service, the company commander asked each new recruit what his chosen profession would be. I replied that I wanted to become a Catholic priest. The recruiting sergeant told me I’d better choose a different profession, since in the new Germany there would be no need for priests any more. But I knew even then that this new Germany
was finished and that after the terrible devastation it would need priests more than ever before. Admittedly, the situation today is altogether different, but there are still many people who believe we no longer need priests any more; that it is a calling without a future. What an error! The priest is not a manager of the community’, Pope Benedict told them, ‘He is God’s messenger among us.’ It is this same outlook that infuses the prayer and studies of the 73 seminarians who are currently training here in Kendoumayah. The first ordinations to the diaconate have already taken place and the first messengers from here will be sent out this year to bear witness to God’s love for his people. How greatly the world needs this message today! And there could be still more of these messengers, including here in Kendoumayah. For there is not enough space at present; one of the dormitory buildings is still unfinished, with the result
12
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
that some of the seminarians have to sleep in one of the classrooms. A makeshift solution that needs to end as soon as possible. We have promised to help so that the work can be finished and that this world may be blessed with more Catholic priests. They come from every corner of the globe: In Papua New Guinea you are supporting 17 seminarians, in Ecuador another 40 in the seminary of San Pedro in the Archdiocese of Portoviejo,
another 34 in the seminary of St. Pius X in Istmina, Colombia, 105 in the seminary of Fenoarivo in Madagascar, and 49 seminarians of the Basilian Fathers in Ukraine – to name just a few. They will be a source of renewal in the Church and in the world for they know, thanks to a thorough formation, that ‘the true success of our mission is a gift of grace’, as Pope Francis has reminded us all. •
SOLIDLY CATHOLIC
F
or a priest to be without a Bible is surely unthinkable – which is why the seminarians in Sarajevo, in Bosnia Herzegovina are each to be given a copy of the Jerusalem Bible. The Dean of the Catholic faculty there believes it is the most suitable version for them, since it contains additional explanatory notes for their future pastoral work. Also important for future priests in this region, so marked by warfare and ethnic cleansing, is theological literature that deals with the moral aspects of violence and ideological manipulation and examines the ethical, historical and demographic aspects of interreligious relations. Such writings already exist; they are sound and solidly Catholic. But now they need to be printed in book form. That is where we come in. The Bible and the relevant theological literature belong to the spiritual toolkit of these seminarians. We have therefore promised help towards the cost of this project. GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
• 13
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
PAINTING, SINGING AND PRAYING FOR PEACE
T
anks instead of family cars, bomb blasts instead of sunshine, rubble instead of houses, wastelands instead of meadows, exile instead of homeland – many children in Syria and Iraq have known little else but war. Children love to paint the sun. Psychologists claim it represents a father’s authority and love. But their fathers are either dead or fighting in the war. The sun is just an expression of longing; the everyday reality is the shadow of death. In Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Latakia and everywhere else they are praying for the rumble of the tanks and the thunder of the guns to fall silent, for peace to come, so that they can go to school without fear.
14
They still have hope though – a hope reinforced by you, their brothers and sisters, generous Aid to the Church in Need benefactors who are helping them via their priests, religious sisters and bishops and showing the children that they and their families are not forgotten. Responding to an initiative of ACN, over a million children from 2,000 schools in Syria have painted pictures as a message of peace to the world. Some of the bishops have acted as spokesmen for the children and brought their appeals for peace to Europe, conveying them personally to senior political figures in the EU.
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
T
heir messages reflect high expectations. The politicians of Europe will not be able to fulfil them. Peace is the work of justice, as we already read in the prophet Isaiah (cf 32:17), who also describes for us the effects of this justice, namely ‘quietness and trust for ever. My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.’ Sadly we cannot fulfil their expectations either, but we can at least bring them some consolation, helping by our gifts to bring a little sunshine back into their lives and keeping their hope alive. And we can • pray with them in spirit.
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
15
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
RESPONDING TO THE WORLD IN CRISIS Pope Pius XII2
P
eace hangs in uncertain balance, as everyone must note with sadness and alarm. Moreover, people’s hearts and minds are kept in a state of anxious suspense. Not in a few nations the social classes are being incited to mutual hatred as their continuous rioting and agitation plainly threaten to subvert the very foundations of civil society. With this scene of disaster and misery before us we cannot but feel compelled to entreat all nations to make peace as friends and urge all Christians to storm heaven with more fervent prayers, never forgetting that all efforts are inadequate and unavailing if God’s good pleasure is not first obtained, according to the inspired words of the Psalmist: ‘unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.’3
2 Adapted and edited from OPTATISSIMA PAX, ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII, 18 December 1947 3 Ps.126,1.
The crisis is most serious indeed. Remedies must be found, and found without further delay. On the one hand the economic system of many countries has been dislocated and weakened to such an extent as to be powerless to meet the problems with which it is faced, and to provide the materials for appropriate constructive enterprise, where work might be available for the unemployed who now must live their lives in forced and fruitless idleness. On the other hand there is no lack of those who embitter and exploit the working man in his distress. Those who deliberately and rashly plan to incite the masses to tumult or infringement of the liberty of others are certainly not helping to relieve the poverty of the people but are rather increasing it by fomenting mutual hatred; this can even lead to complete chaos. At the same time it is the duty of all to realise that the world crisis is so serious today and so menacing for the future that it is imperative for all, especially the rich, to place the common welfare above their private advantage and profits. But it must be clearly and constantly borne in mind that the first and most urgent
16
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
need is to reconcile the hearts of men, to bring them to fraternal agreement and cooperation, so that they may set to work upon plans and projects in keeping with the demands of Christian teaching and needs of the present situation.
L
et all remember that the flood of evil and disaster that has over-taken the world in past years was due chiefly to the fact that the divine religion of Jesus Christ, that provider of mutual charity among citizens, peoples and nations, did not govern, as it should, private, domestic and public life. If things have gone wrong on account of the desertion from Christ, public and private life must return to Him as soon as possible: if error has clouded the minds of men, they must return to that truth which, revealed from on high, indicates the right way to heaven: if hatred has brought them fatal results, they must return to Christian love which alone can heal their many wounds, and
carry them over the crisis so filled with danger. At this time then we think it opportune to exhort all Christians to pray the Divine Infant to be pleased to ward off the threats of impending struggles and to quench the torches of revolt. May He illumine with light from above minds which are less often moved by stubborn malice than deceived by errors under the semblance of truth; May He repress and soothe rancour in men’s minds, compose discords and give new life and vigour to Christian charity. May He teach those who are wealthy, generosity to the poor, and May He console by His example and aid from on high those who are in need and distress and lead them to desire above all those heavenly gifts which are more precious and lasting During the present difficulties, we place much trust in the prayers of innocent children for whom the Divine Redeemer cherishes a special love. Let them raise to Him their limpid voices and tiny hands, tokens of interior innocence, in united prayer, imploring peace, harmony and mutual charity. To their fervent prayers, We desire them to add the works of Christian piety and those gifts of Christian generosity which may placate the Divine Justice offended by so many crimes, and, as their means allow, • bring relief to the needy.
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
17
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
THE UNIVERSAL CALL TO HOLINESS Pope Francis4
ll Christians, as baptised, are equal in dignity before God and are united by vocation, which is to holiness.5 Now we ask: what does this universal call to holiness consist of? And how can we achieve it?
A
So often, we are tempted to think that Holiness is granted only to those who have the opportunity to break away from the ordinary tasks, to devote themselves to prayer. But it is not so!
First, we must bear in mind that holiness is not something that we can procure for ourselves or obtain with our quality and our skills. Holiness is gifted to us by the Lord Jesus, when He takes us up with Him and clothes us in Himself, making us like Him.
Some people think that holiness is closing your eyes and putting on a pious face... No! That is not holiness!
In the Letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul says that ‘Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself up for her, to make her Holy’.6 There, Holiness truly is the most beautiful face of the Church: it is rediscovering ourselves in communion with God, in the fullness of His life and His love. It is understandable, then, that Holiness is not the prerogative of only a few: Holiness is a gift that is offered to all, without exception, so that it constitutes the distinctive character of every Christian. All of this helps us to realise that the Call to Holiness is not just for bishops, priests or religious... No. We are all called to become saints! 4 Adapted and edited from General Audience 19 November 2014 5 cf. Const. Lumen Gentium, 39-42. 6 Eph 5.25 to 26.
18
Holiness is something greater, more profound that God gifts us. Indeed, it is by living with love and offering Christian witness in our daily tasks that we are called to become saints. And everyone in the particular condition and state of life in which they find themselves is called to be a saint. Are you consecrated? Be Holy living your gift and your ministry with joy. Are you married? Be Holy loving and taking care of your husband or your wife, as Christ did with the Church. Are you a baptised person who is not married? Be Holy performing your work with honesty and competence and giving time to the service of others. ‘But, father, I work in a factory... I work as an accountant, always with the numbers, I cannot be a saint there...’ - ‘Yes, you can! There, where you work you can become a saint. God gives you
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
the grace to become a saint. God communicates with you.’ Always and everywhere you can become a saint, that is, by being receptive to the grace that is working in us and leads us to Holiness. Are you a parent or grandparent? Be Holy by passionately teaching your children or grandchildren to know and follow Jesus. And this takes a lot of patience, to be a good parent, a good grandfather, a good mother, a good grandmother, it takes a lot of patience and this patience is the Holiness exercising patience. Are you a catechist, educator or volunteer? Be Holy by becoming a visible sign of God’s love and His presence beside us. This is it: every state of life leads to Holiness, always! At home, on the streets, at work, at church, in the moment and with the state of life that you have, a door is opened on the road to sainthood. Do not be discouraged to travel this road. God gives you the grace to do so. And this is all that the Lord asks, is that we are in communion with Him and serve others.
Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
At this point, each of us can examine our conscience, we can do it now, everyone answering for himself, inside, in silence: So far how have we responded to God’s call to holiness? But do I want to improve, to be GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
19
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
a better Christian? This is the path to Holiness. When the Lord calls us to be saints, he does not call us to something hard or sad... Not at all! It is an invitation to share His joy, to live and offer every moment of our lives with joy, at the same time making it a gift of love for the people around us. If we understand this, everything changes and takes on a new meaning, a beautiful meaning, to begin with the little everyday things. An example. A person goes into a shop and meets a neighbour and is tempted to gossip, ‘No, no, no I will not gossip about anyone.’ That’s one step towards Holiness, this helps you to become more Holy. Then, at home, your son asks you to talk to him about his dreams: ‘Oh, I’m so tired,
20
I worked so hard today...’ - ‘But sit down and listen to your son, he needs this.’ And you sit, you listen with patience... This is a step towards Holiness. Then at end the day when we are all tired, ... We must pray! That’s another way to Holiness. Then Sunday comes and you go to Mass and take Communion, at times, a good confession that cleans us up a little. This also is a step towards Holiness. Then, Our Lady, so good, so beautiful, take up the Rosary and pray. This is a step towards Holiness. And so many steps towards holiness, little ones... Then when you go down the street, and see a poor person, someone in need, talk to him, give him something, another step towards Holiness.
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
Small things are small steps toward Holiness. And every step towards holiness will make us better people, free from selfishness and being closed in on ourselves, and open us up to our brothers and sisters and their needs. In the First Letter of Saint Peter we hear this exhortation: ‘As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace. Whoever preaches, let it be with the words of God; whoever serves, let it be with the strength that God supplies, so that in all things God
may be glorified through Jesus Christ.’7 Here is the call to Holiness! Accept it with joy, and let us support one another, because we do not travel the path to Holiness by ourselves, no, each on their own, but together, that one body which is the Church, loved and made Holy by the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us go forward with courage, on this • path towards Holiness. 7 1 Peter 4. 10-11
GIVING FROM OUR POVERTY
T
he good, the true and the beautiful – all are somehow inextricably linked. This at least is the experience of the parish of Our Lady of Grace in São Paulo, Brazil. Their freshly renovated parish church is located at No. 274 Serra de Capivaruçu Street.
Thanks to your generosity it is, as Father Francisco Reginaldo writes, ‘still more harmonious now and incomparably beautiful’. And this is helping the people ‘to come together better and pray more intensely’, he tells us, adding that he has also already noticed that many more people now visit Jesus in the Tabernacle, go to confession and come to Holy Mass. At the same time the number of baptisms and weddings has noticeably increased. The people are happy and demonstrate a healthy pride in their church and in its close links with ACN. And not only this; Father Francisco has actually found several new benefactors for ACN. ‘They cannot give much, but then; ‘It is all the more important that we in our own poverty should strive to help others who are in still greater need than we are.’ •
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
21
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
FATHERS ARE IRREPLACEABLE GUARDIANS AND MEDIATORS OF FAITH Pope Francis8
T
he word ‘father’ is a term dearer than any other to us Christians because it is the name by which Jesus taught us to call God: father. The meaning of this name took on new depth from the very way Jesus used it to turn to God and to manifest his special relationship with Him. The blessed mystery of God’s intimacy, Father, Son and Spirit revealed by Jesus, is the heart of our Christian faith. ‘Father’ is a term familiar to everyone, a universal word. It indicates a fundamental relationship, the reality of which is as old as human history. Today, however, one has reached the point of claiming that our society is a ‘society without fathers’. In other words, particularly in Western culture, the father figure would be symbolically absent, paled, removed. At first, this was perceived as a liberation: liberation… from the father-master, from the father as the representative of the law that is imposed from without, from the father as the censor of his children’s happiness and the obstacle to the emancipation and autonomy of young people.
8 GENERAL AUDIENCE, Wednesday, 28 January and 4 February 2015
22
At times in some homes authoritarianism reigned in the past, in some cases even oppression: parents who treated their children like servants, not respecting their individual needs for growth; fathers who did not help them to start out on their journey with freedom — and it is not easy to bring up a child in freedom; fathers who did not help them assume their own responsibilities to build their future and that of society. This, certainly, is not a good approach; but, as often happens, one goes from one extreme to the other. In our day, the problem no longer seems to be the invasive presence of the father so much as his absence, his inaction. Fathers are sometimes so concentrated on themselves and on their work and at times on their career that they even forget about the family. And they leave the little ones and the young ones to themselves. As Bishop of Buenos Aires I sensed the feeling of orphanhood that children are experiencing today, and I often asked fathers if they played with their children, if they had the courage and love to spend time with their kids. And the answer was negative in most cases: ‘But I can’t, because I have so much work...’. And the father was absent from the little child growing up, he did not
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
play with him, no, he did not waste time with him. We must be more attentive: the absent father figure in the life of little ones and young people causes gaps and wounds that may even be very serious. And, in effect, delinquency among children and adolescents can be largely attributed to this lack, to the shortage of examples and authoritative guidance in their everyday life, a shortage of closeness, a shortage of love from the father. And the feeling of orphanhood that so many young people live with is more profound than we think. They are orphaned in the family, because their fathers are often absent, also physically, from the home, but above all because, when they are present… they do not behave like fathers. They do not converse with their children. They do not fulfill their role as educators. They do not set their children a good example with their words, principles, values, those rules of life which they need like bread.
Saint Louis, father of Thérèse of Lisieux.
T
he educative quality of the time the father spends raising the child is all the more necessary when he is forced to stay away from home because of work. Sometimes it seems that fathers don’t know what their role in the family is or how to raise their children. So, in doubt, they abstain, they retreat and neglect their responsibilities, perhaps taking refuge in the unlikely relationship as ‘equals’ with their children. It’s true that you have to be a ‘companion’ to your child, but without forgetting that you are the father! If you behave only as a peer to your child, it will do him or her no good. And we also see this problem in the civil community. The civil community with its institutions, has a certain — let’s call it paternal — responsibility towards young people, a responsibility that at times is neglected or poorly exercised. It too often leaves them orphaned and does not offer them a true perspective. Young people are thus deprived of safe paths to follow, of teachers to trust in, of ideals to warm their hearts, of values and of hopes to sustain them daily.
They… become filled perhaps with idols but their hearts are robbed; are obliged to dream of amusement and pleasure but they are not given work;
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
23
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
become deluded by the god of money, and they are denied true wealth. And so it would do everyone good, fathers and children, to listen again to the promise that Jesus made to his disciples: ‘I will not leave you orphans’ (cf. Jn 14:18). He is, indeed, the Way to follow, the Teacher to listen to, the Hope that the world can change, that love conquers hatred, that there can be a future of brotherhood and peace for all.
E
very family needs a father. We find in the Book of Proverbs, words that a father addresses to his own son, and it reads like this: ‘My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. My soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right’ (Pr 23:15-16). Nothing could better express the pride and emotion a father feels when he understands that he has handed down to his child what really matters in life, that is, a wise heart.
I taught you the things you didn’t know, I corrected the errors you didn’t see. I made you feel a profound and at the same time discrete affection, which maybe you did not fully recognize when you were young and unsure. I gave you a testimony of rigour and steadfastness that perhaps you didn’t understand, when you would have liked only complicity and protection. I had first to test myself in the wisdom of my heart, be vigilant of my excesses of sentiment and resentment, in order to carry the weight of the inevitable misunderstandings, to find the right words to make myself understood.’ Now, continues the father, ‘I see that you strive to be this way with your own children, and with everyone, and it moves me. I am happy to be your father’.
This father does not say: ‘I am proud of you because you are the same as me, because you repeat the things I say and do’. No, he does not say anything so simple to him. He says something much more important, which we can understand in this way: ‘I will be happy every time I see you act with wisdom, and I will be moved every time that I hear you speak with rectitude. This is what I wanted to leave to you, that this one thing become yours: the attitude to feel and act, to speak and judge with wisdom and rectitude. And that you might be like this, 24
Saint Jospeh.
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
This is what a wise father, a mature father, says. A father knows all too well what it costs to hand down this heritage: how close, how gentle and how firm to be. But what consolation and what recompense he receives when the children honour this legacy! It is a joy that rewards all the toil, that overcomes every misunderstanding and heals every wound.
with patience, gentleness, magnanimity and mercy.
T
The father who knows how to correct without humiliating is the one who knows how to protect without sparing himself.
he first need, then, is precisely this: that a father be present in the family. That he be close to his wife, to share everything, joy and sorrow, hope and hardship. And that he be close to his children as they grow: when they play and when they strive, when they are carefree and when they are distressed, when they are talkative and when they are silent, when they are daring and when they are afraid, when they take a wrong step and when they find their path again; a father who is always present. To say ‘present’ is not to say ‘controlling’! Fathers who are too controlling cancel out their children, they don’t let them develop. The Gospel speaks to us about the exemplarity of the Father who is in Heaven — who alone, Jesus says, can be truly called the ‘good Father’ (cf. Mk 10:18). Everyone knows that extraordinary parable of the ‘prodigal son’, or better yet of the ‘merciful father’, which we find in the Gospel of Luke in chapter 15 (cf. 15:11-32). What dignity and what tenderness there is in the expectation of that father, who stands at the door of the house waiting for his son to return! Fathers must be patient. Often there is nothing else to do but wait; pray and wait
A good father knows how to wait and knows how to forgive from the depths of his heart. Certainly, he also knows how to correct with firmness: he is not a weak father, submissive and sentimental.
If, then, there is someone who can fully explain the prayer of the ‘Our Father’, taught by Jesus, it is the one who lives out paternity in the first person. Without the grace that comes from the Father who is in Heaven, fathers loose courage, and abandon camp. But children need to find a father waiting for them when they come home after failing. They will do everything not to admit it, not to show it, but they need it; and not to find it opens wounds in them that are difficult to heal. The Church, our mother, is committed to supporting with all her strength the good and generous presence of fathers in families, for they are the irreplaceable guardians and mediators of faith in goodness, of faith in justice and in God’s protection, like • St. Joseph.
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
25
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
WHY DO WE CALL CATHOLIC PRIESTS ‘FATHER’?9 A chairde,
S
ince Jesus told His disciples not to call anyone on earth their father (Mt. 23:9), some of us may be wondering why we give our priests this title. The answer requires some explaining. We obviously do not call a priest ‘Father’, in the same sense that Jesus called God ‘Abba, Father’ (Mk. 14:36). God alone is our true Father. A priest is a father in another sense. Today, we use the word ‘father’ in a variety of ways. In addition to the biological father, it is not uncommon to hear people speak of a child’s legal father or foster father or adoptive father or step-father. A priest is a father not in a biological or legal or patriotic sense, but in a spiritual sense. He is someone who has been entrusted by Christ and His Church with the spiritual welfare of the people he serves.
A priest exercises his spiritual fatherhood in any number of ways. When he baptises, he immerses a person in the mystery of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection and raises from the font a child of God ‘begotten of water and Spirit’ (Jn. 3:5). When he hears confessions, he looks upon the repentant sinner with the compassionate and merciful eyes of a loving father. When he preaches, he breaks open God’s Word and tells the people not what they wish to hear, but what they actually need to hear if they are to deepen their relationship with Christ. When he celebrates Mass, he stands in the place of Christ and provides spiritual food and nourishment for those in attendance. When he anoints the sick and ministers to the dying, he fortifies others in their weakness and prepares them for the journey ahead that will bring them either back to health or to a new life beyond the pale of death. As spiritual fathers, priests have many responsibilities that spill over into other areas of life.
Father Micahel Shields, ACN's Evangelist-at-large.
26
9 Adapted and edited from ‘The spiritual fatherhood of the priest’ By Father Dennis J. Billy. http://catholicphilly.com/2010/02/features/year-of-the-priest/the-spiritual-fatherhood-of-the-priest/ Posted February 11, 2010. Father Dennis J. Billy, C.Ss.R., is the John Cardinal Krol Chair of Moral Theology at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
They guide, protect and nourish all those who are under their care, especially those who are defenseless and without a voice. They look out for the needs of the poor and the marginalised, those who can no longer fend for themselves. They are deeply concerned for the well-being of those at the very beginning of life’s journey and those at the very end. They stand up for the dignity of all, the unborn, the handicapped, the seriously ill and the aged. A priest considers all human beings members of his family. He has given up the comforts of a wife and children to be a part of a different sort of family, one that goes beyond the ties of blood and is held together by bonds of spirit and a deep willingness to serve. To call a priest ‘Father’ is not only a sign of respect, but also a reminder to him (and to us) of the dignity of his calling, the weight of his office, and the deep love he is called to bear for all God’s children.
one in every nine priests and through their donations supports the formation of one out of every ten seminarians. Invariably these priests and seminarians labour in the toughest of the Lord’s vineyards, where material poverty is rampant and Christian persecution is the norm. Thank you for all your support, both spiritual and material. The world would be a colder, darker, more cruel place without the warmth of your love, the light of your witness and the touch of your hand. May the good Lord continue to reward you for all the love you show Him in helping His priests be, and His seminarians, become Spiritual ‘fathers’ to all His orphaned children. We all need a father, we always need a father. We all need a family, we always need a family. Christ founded the Church to ensure that all of us would always have a father, a mother, brothers and sisters. As Christians, we are never alone in this world, we are always being spiritually accompanied, we are always being loved. That is the Joy of the Gospel and that is the Hope of the world.
Every priest needs our prayers / our spiritual support for he has assumed many important responsibilities for which he must one day answer to God.
Beir Beannacht
Priests also need our material help. And here worldwide through their Mass stipends ACN benefactors supports the mission of
J F Declan Quinn Director, Aid to the Church in Need (Ire)
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
27
GOD’S MESSENGERS AMONG US
Aid to the Church in Need
Pilgrimage to Fatima 11-15 September 2017
Commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Our Lady’s Apparition and 70 years of Aid to the Church in Need. All the ACN family is going to Fatima. Aid to the Church in Need was consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima on the 14th of September 1967. If you can come, please join us with the rest of the ACN family from around the world. If you can’t physically come please join us spiritually.
The world is in crisis and is in ever greater need of your prayers. 28
Aid to the Church in Need
7
YEARS OF AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED
THANKS TO YOU... ORDAINED A DEACON, THANKS TO YOU I would like to express my appreciation to ACN, because I feel touched by what you do, especially for us, the Church in Africa. It was by the grace of God and through your help that I was ordained a deacon this year in August in Tororo archdiocese, Uganda. A future priest in Uganda THE RIGHT DECISION Thank you for your letters of thanks, which you send me after every donation. They are just a few lines, yet they show me how deeply ACN is imbued with love and joy. Your words do me good, for they show me that it was the right decision to choose your charity. A benefactor in Naples, Italy BAKING FOR THE MIDDLE EAST Bless you in your work of assisting the Christian refugees in the Middle East. Our parish priest asked our faith formation classes to collect for baskets needed by the refugees. Children brought in coins, and moms and catechists began baking for a bake sale at church. We are pleased to be able to send a cheque. We hope that you will be able to fill some baskets for those in need. Members of a parish in the United States
WHERE TO SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTION FOR THE CHURCH IN NEED Please use the Freepost envelope.
IBAN IE32 BOFI 9005 7890 6993 28 BIC BOFI IE2D
Aid to the Church in Need,
info@acnireland.org
If you give by standing order, or have sent a donation recently, please accept our sincere thanks. This MIRROR is for your interest and information.
www.acnireland.org
Registered Charity Numbers: (RoI) 9492 (NI) XR96620.
151 St. Mobhi Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.
(01) 837 7516
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
WE ARE CALLED TO BE MISSIONARIES OF JOY
IT IS NOT THE ELIMINATION OF THE NEED THAT ULTIMATELY COUNTS, BUT LOVING TO THE LIMITS. ACN Spiritual Assistant
‘Do not condemn others, but do what you can. Pray that God may grant us holy priests for the Church in West and East. Pray without ceasing, and help wherever you can!’
The early days: ‘rucksack priests’ bearing gifts of bacon and love.
Aid to the Church in Need
THE MIRROR IS AVAILABLE TO READ AT ACNIRELAND.ORG
MIRROR GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.
THE OF THE
Aid to the Church in Need
Aid to the Church in Need
MIRROR GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
MIRROR
Miracles do Happen Prayer makes Miracles
Being God’s Mercy in the home
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
GOSPEL FAMILY
Joy for the World Saint Padre Pio.
God’s Messengers Among Us
17 - 1
Aid to the Church in Need
MIRROR
Blessed Chiara Luce Badano.
Give Hope, Give Joy in a World at War.