Mirror 0715

Aid to the Church in Need

MIRROR GO REBUILD MY CHURCH

God is only a prayer away GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE

Aid to the Church in Need

MIRROR GO REBUILD MY CHURCH

CONTENTS PAGE God is only a prayer away...................................... J F Declan Quinn...............................1 The power of the Rosary........................................ Fr. Martin Barta..................................2 The Holy Rosary is a weapon of Peace............. Pope Francis......................................4 The power to conquer the World......................................................................................6 God is not remote..................................................... Pope Francis......................................7 In the presence of the Lord.................................... Fr. Michael Shields............................8 The accelerating breakdown of Society............. Pope Francis................................... 14 Baptised into Mission............................................... Pope Francis................................... 16 Hearing the Cry of the Poor................................... Pope Francis................................... 18 The worst discrimination......................................... Pope Francis................................... 20 Mary protects us........................................................ Syria................................................. 22 With God we can go on.......................................... Syria................................................. 23 Refuge in the Valley of the Christians.................. Syria................................................. 24 In ISIS Territory........................................................... Syria................................................. 25 Mass Stipends are vital...................................................................................................... 26 Prayer needs space.................................................. Africa................................................ 28 The Frontiers to the Gospel................................... Indonesia......................................... 30 The Marvel of the Rosary........................................ Johannes Freiherr Heereman....... 32

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

God is only a prayer away

GOD IS ONLY A PRAYER AWAY GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE A chairde, rises abound in today’s world and while there have always been crises there has never been a time like the present. The Migrant Crisis; the Environmental Crisis; the Middle East Crisis; the Drugs Crisis; the Population Crisis. The Crises in our Politics, in our Schools, in our Hospitals, in our Church, in our Homes, our Families and in our Lives. Crises are everywhere and appear to be growing incessantly.

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The dictionary defines ‘crisis’ as a condition of instability or danger. More than that however the word ‘crisis’, at least in its original meaning, connotes the idea of judging, evaluating and making a decision. Basically then every crisis implies taking a decision and clearly the bigger the crisis the bigger

the decision involved. And here of course ‘big’ decisions imply ‘big’ implications and ‘big’ commitments.

Such reasoning would lead one to suggest that perhaps, just perhaps, the apparent explosion of seemingly intractable crises that today are engulfing our world and our lives is in no small measure due to our individual and collective failures to take the ‘big’ decisions and make the ‘big’ commitments required. Yes it is all very human to be reluctant to take really big decisions and make really big life-changing commitments but could it possibly be the case that we as individuals and as society are losing the ability to do so? ow the truth is that from time to time we are all faced with, what for us, are really big decisions.

When that time comes I recommend that you decide only after having consulted a well-informed friend: talk to God, He is only a prayer away.

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Beir Beannacht

J F Declan Quinn Director, Aid to the Church in Need (Ire)

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THE POWER OF THE ROSARY PRAY THE ROSARY DAILY Dear Friends,

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his was the last request of Our Lady on 13 May 1917 in Fatima, where she revealed herself as Queen of the Holy Rosary. Indeed, there is scarcely any Church-recognised apparition of the Mother of God in which she does not urge us to pray the Rosary. So why is this prayer so important?

More than we can possibly imagine, we are all in the midst of a mighty spiritual battle, of which Saint Paul says: ‘For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.’

(Eph 6:12).

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nly as children of Mary, held by her hand and held in her heart, will we be able to emerge from it victorious. And the ‘weapon’ she has placed in our hands for this is precisely the Rosary. The month of October should be an impetus for us to once more take up the Rosary into our hands and to pray it with still greater faith, greater zeal and greater fidelity in our families.

And so we are inviting you once again this year to take part in the great prayer initiative: ‘One million children praying the Rosary’, which takes place every year on 18 October. At 9 o’clock in the morning, wherever they happen to be – whether in the kindergartens, schools, hospitals or at home – children on every continent will gather together spiritually to pray the Rosary for peace in the world.

Let us be assured by the power of the Rosary!

We all sense this, whether in everyday life or in the realm of global politics. The one who emerges victorious in this spiritual battle will be Mary, for God has chosen her to crush the serpent’s head. We will not come through this battle on our own.

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ow much these pure and simple hearts can gain from God, if we only teach them to pray with faith and trust! Let us strive to be a good example

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God is only a prayer away

to them and show them, from their earliest years the right means to use to arrive at a peaceful and happy future.

In his apostolic letter on the Holy Rosary, Pope Saint John Paul II assures us: ‘The Rosary is by its nature a prayer for peace, since it consists in the contemplation of Christ, the Prince of Peace, the one who is “our peace”.

The Rosary is also a prayer for peace because of the fruits of charity which it produces.

The Rosary allows us to hope that, even today, the difficult ‘battle’ for peace can be won.’

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ear Friends, let us have no doubt as to the power of the Rosary. In this ‘school of Mary’ we learn to direct our gaze towards Jesus. Thus we are also made capable of gazing upon one another, face to face, each time anew, of speaking to one another and being there for one another in time of need.

My grateful blessing upon you all,

Father Martin M. Barta, Spiritual Assistant

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THE HOLY ROSARY IS A WEAPON OF PEACE

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n October 18 this year, in Europe, North and South America, Australia, Asia and Africa, millions of children’s hands will join together to pray the Rosary for world peace. So they hope to change the world – with Our Lady’s help.

It began in 2004 in Venezuela, with a small group of children. Since then the idea has spread across the globe. If millions of children join together to ask her, then surely the Mother of Our Lord cannot refuse their plea for unity and peace among mankind!

Back then Venezuela was a prosperous country – compared to now. So Venezuela desperately needs more prayers – as do so many places in the world. In many countries, such as Argentina, the website for this initiative is one of the most frequently visited in the country. Sandra Liliana tells us frankly: ‘It was the first time I have ever

Part of a rather special worldwide community: young people praying the Rosary in Asuncion, Paraguay.

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prayed the Rosary from beginning to end with my daughters. It was a wonderful experience! We prayed fervently for peace.’

In Hannover, in Germany a parish priest speaks words of gratitude for the initiative of ‘rediscovering the Rosary as a means of the new evangelisation’.

In Miami, USA, teacher Yamileth Rivera has been inspired by the idea and is asking for rosaries for her pupils. She wants to share this initiative ‘with all my friends and acquaintances who have children. We want to be a part of it!’

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n thousands of places around the world they are creating special ‘rosaries’ in readiness for the day of prayer. In Paraguay, they are using 50 oranges and five grapefruits; others are using the children themselves – with five

Also taking part: schoolchildren in India reading their ‘instructions’.

God is only a prayer away

groups of 10 children wearing coloured T-shirts: red, white, blue, green and yellow.

So they are explaining and living the Rosary in a very practical manner – for many parents, and especially grandmothers, it is a rare opportunity to share this treasure with the children.

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or many great saints this was the prayer of all prayers, after Holy Mass. Saint Francis of Sales, for example, says, ‘The Rosary is the best of all prayers’, and Pope Saint Pius IX famously declared, ‘Give me an army saying the Rosary, and I will conquer the world.’

It is the weapon of love, a weapon that brings peace. But mobilising, instructing and organising this ‘army’ demands not only time and effort, but also money.

To download this poster and join this campaign please go to www.million-kids-praying.net

Aid to the Church in Need strongly supports this campaign.

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WE WILL REDOUBLE OUR PRAYERS FOR YOU

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heir charism is to joyfully carry the Easter message into the world. The Missionary Sisters of the Cross of Chavanod are active in 16 different countries and, faithful to their founding charism, they live and work above all among women and the poor.

For the younger women this is not always easy. They need a thorough training. In India through your donations you have enabled 31 of them to attend a seminar in order to gain a deeper awareness of their mission.

Sister Mary Pinto is writing on behalf of them all: ‘This good news that you have agreed to help the younger sisters

has caused me to glow with greater zeal and enthusiasm to continue the work for our Mother Church with still greater fervour. Be assured that we the Sisters of the Cross, and especially the younger sisters, will redouble our prayers for our benefactors and for the success of all your projects.’

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THE POWER TO CONQUER THE WORLD

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lessed Pope Pius IX (1792 – 1878) once said ‘Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.’ Clearly Pope Pius appreciated the power of the Rosary.

Brazil 1962 -

The Power of the Rosary A threat of a communist takeover loomed over Brazil in 1962 when Dona Amelia Bastos formed a Rosary rally among a group of women to do their part in opposing the looming threat. Their goal was simply to pray the Rosary in large groups asking the Virgin Mary for help in opposing the Communist takeover towards which the President of Brazil was leaning at the time.

In Belo Horizonte 20,000 women reciting the Rosary aloud broke up a Communist rally.

In Sao Paulo, 600,000 women praying the Rosary caused the President to flee the country sparing the country from a Communist takeover.

Austria 1948 -

The Power of the Rosary After World War ll. the Allies turned over Catholic Austria to communist Russia. For three years the Austrian people endured this tyranny. Then, a Franciscan priest, 6

Father Petrus, remembering how the Christians, although greatly outnumbered, had defeated the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto through the Rosary, launched a Rosary crusade. Through it 70,000 people, one tenth of the Austrian population, pledged to say the Rosary daily for the Soviets to leave their country.

Austria was valuable to the Russians because of its strategic location and natural resources. Yet on May 13, 1955, the anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima, the Russians signed the agreement to leave Austria, and they did so without one person being killed or a single shot being fired.

To this day military historians remain baffled by the Russians’ withdrawal.

Japan 1945 -

The Power of the Rosary Located about 1 kilometre from where the A-Bomb went off on 6 August 1945 in Hiroshima Japan was a home with a church attached to it. The church was completely destroyed but the home survived as did the eight German Jesuit missionaries who faithfully prayed their daily rosary in that house.

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God is only a prayer away

POPE FRANCIS REMINDS US THAT GOD IS NOT REMOTE 1

here is no need to fritter away words in order to pray: the Lord knows what we want to say to him. The important thing is that our first word be ‘Father’. Thus Pope Francis repeated Jesus’ advice to the Apostles when he gave them the Our Father, according the Evangelist Matthew’s account (6:7-15). In order to pray, there is no need to make noise or believe that it is better to use more words.

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There is no need to trust in noise, the noise of worldliness. There is no need to heap up empty phrases: Jesus called this a characteristic of pagans.

Pope Francis went further, confirming that prayer must not be considered a magic formula: ‘Praying is not something magic; one doesn’t practice magic with prayer’.

1 Pope Francis MORNING MEDITATION IN THE CHAPEL OF THE DOMUS SANCTAE MARTHAE Thursday, 20 June 2013 as reported by L’Osservatore Romano, Weekly ed. in English, n.

26, 26 June 2013.

So how should we pray? Jesus has taught us: ‘he says that the Father who is in heaven ‘knows what you need before you ask him’. Therefore, let our first word be ‘“Father”. This is the key to prayer. Without speaking, without feeling this word, praying is not possible’.

‘To whom do I pray? The almighty God? He is too far away. I don’t feel him; neither did Jesus feel him. To whom do I pray? The God of the cosmos?

This is quite frequent nowadays, isn’t it? Praying to the cosmic God. This polytheistic model comes with a superficial culture’.

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ather, we must ‘pray to the Father’, who begot us. But this is not all: we must pray ‘our’ Father, that is, not the Father of a generic and too anonymous ‘all’, but the One ‘who begot you, who gave you life, who gave life to you and me’.

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PRAYING IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD - Fr. Michael Shields, ACN Evangelist-at-large, Siberia

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wo young Pentecostal men from a small Siberian village some distance from Magadan needed a place to stay as they went in search of work. To help them out I invited them to stay with me in the church for a few days. I also invited them to pray with me before the Blessed Sacrament in the evening for a Holy Hour.

After the first holy hour one of the young men had a shocked expression on his faced when he asked ‘What was that?’

I told him we had been praying before the Lord Jesus Christ in His sacramental form in the Holy Eucharist. To which the earnest young man responded by telling me that he had participated in many worship services but this first experience of Eucharistic Adoration was by far the deepest and the strongest he had ever felt the Lord.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen.

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Now for the past 20 years and more I have been making a morning and evening Holy Hour in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. During these pray times I experience a deep personal intimacy with Jesus.

This of course is not to say that sometimes my prayer-time is dry and empty of feeling.

Nevertheless I persevere in worshipping Him and give Him my best moments at the beginning and my best moments at the end of every day. Through this practice Jesus then is the centre of my every day. He is the centre of my life. s with the case of my young Pentecostal friends, I often invite people who want to deepen their faith to simply spend an hour with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Its effects are powerful. Indeed I know of many priests and a number of bishops who have come to realise that the perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is the most powerful renewal tool they have in their parishes and dioceses. St. Pope John Paul understood this and called for it as indeed did Blessed Mother Teresa.

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Obviously to pray before the Blessed Sacrament presupposes that one believes that Jesus is really present in the Holy Eucharist. However as was the case with my two young Pentecostal friends it sometimes happens that one’s non-Catholic belief in Christ can become more fully God is only a prayer away

alive when one comes to meet Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

The late Fr. Benedict Groeshel used to tell the story that as a young Franciscan novitiate, he entered the dark monastery chapel in the middle of the night, having decided he should pray since he couldn’t sleep. As he knelt before the altar he felt that someone else was in the room. A little frightened, the young Benedict turned on the light and at once his eyes focused on an older priest, his abbot, praying in ecstasy before the Blessed Sacrament. He watched his superior for a few moments and then, embarrassed, he turned off the light and left.

Father Benedict says in those few moments, ‘he saw the presence of Christ reflected in the face of a holy man’ and he never forgot it throughout his long life.

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irtually every time he spoke Archbishop Fulton Sheen encouraged the faithful to make a holy hour with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Once Archbishop Sheen was asked what inspired him to adopt the practice of make a holy hour. Was it a Pope? Some Priest? or a Saint? It was a Saint he said, a little unrecognised Chinese girl of eleven years of age.

He then explained that when the Communists took over China, they imprisoned a priest in his own rectory near the Church. After they locked him up in his own house, the priest was horrified to look 9

out the window and see the Communists proceed into the Church, where they went into the sanctuary and broke into the tabernacle. In an act of hateful desecration, they took the ciborium and threw it on the floor with all of the Sacred Hosts spilling out. The priest knew exactly how many Hosts were in the ciborium: thirty-two.

When the Communists left, they either didn’t notice or didn’t pay any attention to a small girl praying in the back of the Church.

But she saw everything and so that night the little girl came back. Slipping past the guard at the priest’s house, she went inside the Church. There she made a Holy Hour of prayer, an act of love to make up for the act of hatred.

After her Holy Hour she went into the sanctuary, knelt down, bent over and with her tongue received Jesus in Holy Communion, since at that time it was not permissible for laymen to touch the Sacred Host with their

hands. Thereafter each night the little girl continued to come back to make her holy hour and receive Jesus in Holy Communion on her tongue. n the thirty-second night, after she had consumed the last of the thirtytwo hosts, she accidentally made a noise and woke the guard who was sleeping. He ran after her, caught her, and beat her to death with the butt of his rifle. This act of heroic martyrdom was witnessed by the priest as he watched grief-stricken from his bedroom window.

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Archbishop Sheen was so inspired by the story that he promised God he would make a holy hour of prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament every day for the rest of his life.

Let us never underestimate the power of prayer and value of Eucharistic Adoration. •

‘How can anyone be opposed to praying and kneeling before the presence of the Son of God?’ Fr. Benedict Groeschel

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God is only a prayer away

NO MORE EXCUSES

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ext time you feel you have nothing more to offer…

Next time you feel of no use to anyone…

Next time you feel that you are not able to do anything…

Then remember that God can always use us.

Abraham was old Jacob was a liar Joseph was abused Moses had a stutter.

Gideon was a coward Sampson was a womaniser David was an adulterer Jonah ran from God. Job went bankrupt Martha was a worrier Peter denied knowing God... and Lazarus was dead!

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o no more excuses let us Make ourselves available to God.

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POPE FRANCIS’ FIVE FINGER PRAYER2

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The thumb is the closest finger to you. So start praying for those who are closest to you. They are the persons easiest to remember. To pray for our dear ones is a ‘Sweet Obligation.’

The next finger is the index. Pray for those who teach you, instruct you and heal you. They need the support and wisdom to show direction to others. Always keep them in your prayers.

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The following finger is the tallest. It reminds us of our leaders and those who have authority. They need God’s guidance.

The fourth finger is the ring finger.

Even though it may surprise you, it is our weakest finger. It should remind us to pray for the weakest, the sick and those plagued by problems. They need your prayers.

And finally we have our smallest finger, the smallest of all. Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. When you are done praying for the other four groups, you will be able to see your own needs but in the proper perspective, and also you will be able to pray for your own needs in a better way.

• 2 http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer. php?p=3396

‘Those who pray do more for the world than those who fight. If the world is going from bad to worse, it is because there are more battles than prayers’ Juan Donoso Cortés, Marqués de Valdegamas (1809 – 1853)

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God is only a prayer away

PERSECUTED & FORGOTTEN A report on Christians oppressed for their Faith

Persecuted and Forgotten?

Persecuted and Forgotten? Executive Summary

A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2013–2015

Executive Summary

|1

243457 - ACN Executive Report-V7.indd 1

04/09/2015 12:18

Available to read online at acnireland.org

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THE ACCELERATING BREAKDOWN OF SOCIETY - POPE FRANCIS3 oday the changes affecting humanity and the planet are coupled with a more intensified pace of life, a process which might be called ‘rapidification’.

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Although change is part of the working of complex systems, the speed with which human activity has developed contrasts with the naturally slow pace of biological evolution.

Moreover, the goals of this rapid and constant change are not necessarily geared to the common good or to integral and sustainable human development.

Following a period of irrational confidence in progress and human abilities, some sectors of society are now adopting a more critical approach.

Human beings are endowed with a unique dignity and enjoy a right to life and happiness. So we cannot fail to consider the effects on people’s lives of

environmental deterioration, current models of development and the throwaway culture.

The social dimensions of global change include the effects of on employment, social exclusion, an inequitable distribution and consumption of energy and other services, social breakdown, increased violence and a rise in new forms of social aggression, drug trafficking, growing drug use by young people, and the loss of identity. hese are signs that the growth of the past two centuries has not always led to an integral development and an improvement in the quality of life.

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Some of these signs are also symptomatic of real social decline, the silent rupture of the bonds of integration and social cohesion.

Notably when media and the digital world become omnipresent, their influence can stop people learning how

to live wisely, to think deeply and to love generously.

3 Edited and extracted from Laudato Si 18,19, 43, 46 and 47.

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God is only a prayer away

n this context, the great sages of the past run the risk of going unheard amid the noise and distractions of an ‘information overload’.

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Read Pope Francis’

LAUDATO SI on acnireland.org

Efforts need to be made to help these media become sources of new cultural progress for humanity and not a threat to our deepest riches. True wisdom, as the fruit of self-examination, dialogue and generous encounter between persons, is not acquired by a mere accumulation of data which eventually leads to overload and confusion, a sort of mental pollution.

Real relationships with others, with all the challenges they entail, now tend to be replaced by a type of internet communication which enables us to choose or eliminate relationships at whim, thus giving rise to a new type of contrived emotion which has more to do with devices and displays than with other people and with nature.

LAUDATO SI PrAISe Be TO YOU

Today’s media do enable us to communicate and to share our knowledge and affections.

Yet at times they also shield us from direct contact with the pain, the fears and the joys of others and the complexity of their personal experiences.

For this reason, we should be concerned that, alongside the exciting possibilities offered by these media, a deep and melancholic dissatisfaction with interpersonal relations, or a harmful sense of isolation, can also arise.

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BAPTISED INTO MISSION - POPE FRANCIS4

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ll the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples5

All the baptised, whatever their position in the Church or their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelisation, and it would be insufficient to envisage a plan of evangelisation to be carried out by professionals while the rest of the faithful would simply be passive recipients.

The New Evangelisation calls for personal involvement on the part of each of the baptised.

Every Christian is challenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in Evangelisation; indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s saving love does not need much time

or lengthy training to go out and proclaim that love.

Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are ‘disciples’ and ‘missionaries’, but rather that we are always ‘missionary disciples’.

If we are not convinced, let us look at those first disciples, who, immediately after encountering the gaze of Jesus, went forth to proclaim him joyfully: ‘We have found the Messiah!’ 6 he Samaritan woman became a missionary immediately after speaking with Jesus and many Samaritans come to believe in him ‘because of the woman’s testimony’ 7

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So too, Saint Paul, after his encounter with Jesus Christ, ‘immediately proclaimed Jesus’ 8 Of course, all of us are called to mature in our work as evangelisers. We want to have better training, a deepening love and a clearer witness to the Gospel. In this sense, we ought to let others be constantly evangelising us.

4 Adapted from Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, n. 120-121 5 cf. Mt 28:19 6 Jn 1:41 7 Jn 4:39 8 Acts 9:20; cf. 22:6-21

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ut this does not mean that we should postpone the evangelising mission; rather, each of us should find ways to communicate Jesus wherever we are.

All of us are called to offer others an explicit witness to the saving love of the Lord, who despite our imperfections offers us His closeness, His word and His strength, and gives meaning to our lives.

Read Pope Francis’

EVANGELII GAUDIUM THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL on acnireland.org

In your heart you know that it is not the same to live without Him. What you have come to realise, what has helped you to live and given you hope, is what you also need to communicate to others.

Our falling short of perfection should be no excuse; on the contrary, mission is a constant stimulus not to remain mired in mediocrity but to continue growing. •

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HEARING THE CRY OF THE POOR - POPE FRANCIS9

ur faith in Christ, who became poor, and was always close to the poor and the outcast, is the basis of our concern for the integral development of society’s most neglected members.

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ach individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society. This demands that we be docile and attentive to the cry of the poor and to come to their aid.

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A mere glance at the Scriptures is enough to make us see how our gracious Father wants to hear the cry of the poor: ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them… so I will send you…’10 We also see how he is concerned for their needs: ‘When the Israelites cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up for them a deliverer.’ 11 If we, who are God’s means of 9 10 14 16

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Extracted from Evangelii Gaudium 186, 187, 188, 189, 191 Ex 3:7-8, 10 11 Jg 3:15 12 Dt 15:9 13 Sir 4:6 1 Jn 3:17 15 James 5:4 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Libertatis Nuntius (6 August 1984), XI, 1:AAS 76 (1084), 903

hearing the poor, turn deaf ears to this plea, we oppose the Father’s will and his plan; that poor person ‘might cry to the Lord against you, and you would incur guilt.’ 12 A lack of solidarity towards his or her needs will directly affect our relationship with God: ‘For if in bitterness of soul he calls down a curse upon you, his Creator will hear his prayer’.13 The old question always returns: ‘How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods, and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?’ 14 Let us recall also how bluntly the apostle James speaks of the cry of the oppressed: ‘The wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.’ 15 he Church has realised that the need to heed this plea is itself born of the liberating action of grace within each of us, and thus it is not a question of a mission reserved only to a few: ‘The Church, guided by the Gospel of mercy and by love for mankind,hears the cry for justice and intends to respond to it with all her might.’ 16

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God is only a prayer away

In this context we can understand Jesus’ command to his disciples: ‘You yourselves give them something to eat!’ 17 It means working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and to promote the integral development of the poor, as well as small daily acts of solidarity in meeting the real needs which we encounter.

The word ‘solidarity’ is a little worn and at times poorly understood, but it refers to something more than a few sporadic acts of generosity. It presumes the creation of a new mindset which thinks in terms of community and the priority of the life of all over the appropriation of goods by a few. olidarity is a spontaneous reaction by those who recognise that the social function of property and the universal destination of goods are realities

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which come before private property.

The private ownership of goods is justified by the need to protect and increase them, so that they can better serve the common good; for this reason, solidarity must be lived as the decision to restore to the poor what belongs to them.

These convictions and habits of solidarity, when they are put into practice, open the way to other structural transformations and make them possible.

Changing structures without generating new convictions and attitudes will only ensure that those same structures will become, sooner or later, corrupt, oppressive and ineffectual.

In all places and circumstances, Christians, with the help of their pastors, are called to hear the cry of the poor. • 17 Mk 6:37

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LACK OF SPIRITUAL CARE IS THE WORST DISCRIMINATION - POPE FRANCIS

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od’s heart has a special place for the poor, so much so that he himself ‘became poor’ (2 Cor 8:9).

The entire history of our redemption is marked by the presence of the poor.

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For the Church, the option for the poor is primarily a theological category rather than a cultural, sociological, political or philosophical one. God shows the poor ‘his first mercy’. 19 This divine preference has consequences for the faith life of all Christians, since we are called to have ‘this mind… which was in Jesus Christ’ (Phil 2:5). Inspired by this, the Church has made an option for the poor which is understood as a ‘special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity, to which the whole tradition of the Church bears witness’.20 This option, as Benedict XVI has taught, ‘is implicit in our Christian faith in a God who became poor for us, so as to enrich us with his poverty’.21 This is why I want a Church which is poor and for the poor.

18 Extracted from Evangelii Gaudium 197,198, 199, 200,201 19 JOHN PAUL II, Homily at Mass for the Evangelisation of Peoples in Santo Domingo (11 October 1984), 5: AAS 77 (1985), 358.

20 JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (30 December 1987), 42: AAS 80 (1988), 572.

21 Address at the Inaugural Session of the Fifth General Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops (13 May 2007), 3: AAS 99 (2007), 450.

22 SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS, S. Th., II-II, q. 27, a. 2.

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They have much to teach us. Not only do they share in the sensus fidei, but in their difficulties they know the suffering Christ.

We need to let ourselves be evangelised by them. The New Evangelisation is an invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to put them at the centre of the Church’s pilgrim way.

We are called to find Christ in them, to lend our voice to their causes, but also to be their friends, to listen to them, to speak for them and to embrace the mysterious wisdom which God wishes to share with us through them. ur commitment does not consist exclusively in activities or programmes of promotion and assistance; what the Holy Spirit mobilises is not an unruly activism, but above all an attentiveness which considers the other ‘in a certain sense as one with ourselves’.22

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This loving attentiveness is the beginning of a true concern for their person which inspires me effectively to seek their good. This entails appreciating the poor in their goodness, in their experience of life, in their culture, and in their ways of living the faith.

True love is always contemplative, and permits us to serve the other not out of

God is only a prayer away

necessity or vanity, but rather because he or she is beautiful above and beyond mere appearances: ‘The love by which we find the other pleasing leads us to offer him something freely’.23 The poor person, when loved, ‘is esteemed as of great value’,24 and this is what makes the authentic option for the poor differ from any other ideology, from any attempt to exploit the poor for one’s own personal or political interest.

Only on the basis of this real and sincere closeness can we properly accompany the poor on their path of liberation. Only this will ensure that ‘in every Christian community the poor feel at home. Would not this approach be the greatest and most effective presentation of the good news of the kingdom?’25 Without the preferential option for the poor, ‘the proclamation of the Gospel, which is itself the prime form of charity, risks being misunderstood or submerged by the ocean of words which daily engulfs us in today’s society of mass communications’.26 ince this Exhortation is addressed to members of the Catholic Church, I want to say, with regret, that the worst discrimination which the poor suffer is the lack of spiritual care. The great majority of the poor have a special openness to the faith; they need God and we must not fail to offer them his friendship, his blessing, his word, the celebration of the sacraments and a journey of growth and maturity in the faith.

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Our preferential option for the poor must mainly translate into a privileged and preferential religious care. o one must say that they cannot be close to the poor because their own lifestyle demands more attention to other areas. This is an excuse commonly heard in academic, business or professional, and even ecclesial circles.

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While it is quite true that the essential vocation and mission of the lay faithful is to strive that earthly realities and all human activity may be transformed by the Gospel,27 none of us can think we are exempt from concern for the poor and for social justice: ‘Spiritual conversion, the intensity of the love of God and neighbour, zeal for justice and peace, the Gospel meaning of the poor and of poverty, are required of everyone’.28 •

‘Grace is not part of consciousness; it is the amount of light in our souls, not knowledge nor reason’

23 Ibid., I-II, q. 110, a. 1. 24 Ibid., I-II, q. 26, a. 3.

25 JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (6 January 2001), 50: AAS 93 (2001), 303.

26 Ibid. 27 Cf. Propositio 45.

28 CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Instruction Libertatis Nuntius (6 August 1984), XI, 18: AAS 76 (1984), 908.

21

THE VIRGIN MARY PROTECTS US ‘In February of 2014, the jihadists completely ravaged our church. They destroyed the icons, shredded the Books of Gospels and burnt down the altar. They also stole anything they could get their hands on.’

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r George Hadad, the Melkite priest in Yabroud (50 miles north of the capital Damascus) is still heartbroken by the desecration of the church. The town fell under the control of rebel forces in 2011 including the jihadist Al-Nusra brigade, who made the Christians’ lives hard. Al-Nusra soldiers used explosives to remove the cross from the church.

Fr. George said: ‘Fortunately, the damage was not as extensive as we had feared.

The Blessed Virgin had protected Yabroud.

The Muslims of Yabroud are also saying this. They revere the Blessed Virgin just as we do.

“In fact, we have always got on well with the Muslims of Yabroud. During the occupation there were a few who collaborated with the jihadists – but this was a small minority of uneducated people. The Muslims even helped the Christians to safeguard me whenever I left the house.’

Before the war about 3,500 Christians lived in Yabroud. Most left, but almost 80 per cent have returned since the town was retaken in March 2014.

Aid to the Church in Need is supporting Fr. George and the Christians in Yabroud with numerous projects, providing food and other essentials for 1,500 families – and to keep the Faith alive in these dark times ACN is provided a donation so catechesis can start again at 10 centres in the region, including one in Yabroud for 480 young Catholics.

Local Melkite Archbishop Jean Arbach said: ‘Thankfully we are able to continue with our pastoral work, despite the difficulties. We thank Aid to the Church in Need for this.

“Our clergy are doing what they can. I am very proud that the priests stayed with their congregations, even in difficult situations. I trust that God will give us peace through the intercession of the Virgin Mary.’

•

22

God is only a prayer away

ONLY WITH GOD CAN WE GO ON ‘You can’t imagine in what kind of circumstances the family was living.

It was damp and cold in that cellar. It was like a catacomb. You could hardly breathe… It was horrible when I saw it.

They lived like that for three years.’

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r Annie Demerjian of the Sisters of Jesus and Mary who is looking after families in Aleppo, northern Syria described the living conditions of one family.

‘The father owned a flower shop.

However, he had to close it. Bit by bit they had to sell everything they owned: furniture, electrical devices, clothing – they gave everything away for a little food. At some point they moved into the cellar. The rent for their former flat was too expensive. There was no electricity in the cellar. Both children, a son and a daughter, had to give up their studies because they didn’t have any more money.’

Faith gives her hope in the midst of the suffering: ‘I don’t ask God about the why. I only ask Him to give me the strength I need for the day. This removes the burden from my shoulders.

And I have realised one thing: the Lord acts subtly, but He acts. We see this every day.

This is the only reason we can go on.’

And with the scale of the need, the help of God is necessary. Sr Annie told us: ‘At the moment we are helping about 600 families with clothing, food, gas or anything else they need to survive. We are only able to do this thanks to the support of Aid to the Church in Need.’

ACN has helped Sr Annie with substantial assistance to provide the basic essentials for these warscarred people in Aleppo and nearby Hassake. ‘I can’t express how thankful we are to those who have made donations…The people need spiritual food, but also the kind you can bite into.’

•

The father sought Sr Annie’s assistance last year. ‘We immediately decided to help the family. They now have electricity, perhaps not all the time, but still… The girl has told us that we have given them new hope to live.’

But Sr Annie told ACN that their story is by no means unusual. ‘It doesn’t matter which house you go into, each has a sad story to tell. We are really surrounded by evil.’

23

STILL SEEKING REFUGE IN THE VALLEY OF THE CHRISTIANS undreds of families, in particular Christian families, have fled to the coastal regions and the Valley of the Christians, including Homs.

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Homs, who rely on the Church for everything. Thanks to your love we have been providing aid for Fr. Ziad’s work with these needy families.

They have lost all of their possessions and are in need of everything: shelter, blankets, mattresses, clothing, and so on. Some of the sick among the refugees depend on medicines,’ Fr. Ziad Hilal told ACN.

But the Jesuit priest is expecting more arrivals as violence increases in Hassake, Raqqua and Aleppo. ‘Many families are being torn apart. I met a family – the father is still in Aleppo while the mother and her children were able to escape. The people are in a dreadful situation at the moment.’

•

At present Aid to the Church in Need is supporting 2,000 families in the Valley of the Christians and a further 2,000 in

24

God is only a prayer away

CROSSING ISIS TERRITORY ased in Aleppo, Sister Annie Demerjian also organises help for Hassake about 200 miles to the northeast. As it’s too dangerous for Christians to travel there from Aleppo – ‘the overland route passes through ISIS territory’ – she works with a Syriac Orthodox priest in Hassake.

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During winter 2014-2015 they were able to get vital heating oil to about 100 Christian families as well as other essential supplies, including food.

But it’s not easy to send help from Aleppo: ‘In the past year we had to resort to a ruse. We wanted to send more than 600 anoraks for children and young people by bus to Hassake. But we were warned that ISIS could confiscate the goods if it was evident that they were coming from Christians for Christians. We were therefore helped by friendly Muslims who entered the name of a Muslim as the sender and a Muslim as the recipient on the delivery note. It worked.’

•

25

MASS STIPENDS ARE A VITAL SUPPORT FOR THE CHURCH ass intentions are of vital importance. This fact was so self-evident to Father Werenfried that in his last will and testament he stated: ‘Any financial means remaining to me I hereby bequeath to our section for Mass intentions.’

So he understood that Mass intentions were a vital aid, that has unfathomable depth. For the Church is both divine and human, and her priests must live, both spiritually and physically. Often Mass offerings are their sole material support.

As a priest himself, the founder of ACN was always conscious of the words of his friend, Pope Saint John Paul II, who wrote: ‘The Church draws her life from the Eucharist’, and likewise of the words of Vatican II which describe the Eucharist as the ‘source and summit of the Christian life’ (Lumen Gentium, 11).

Without this support, those who raise up the Lord with their hands would have no bread, no roof, no clothing. Without it some might be tempted to seek paid work and would then have less time for ministering to souls.

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SAINT PAUL SAYS ‘Do you not know... that those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings?’

(1 Cor 9:13). He says this not only to the Corinthians, but also to us. Your Mass offerings are a part of this. Of course we cannot ‘buy’ the spiritual graces of the Mass. But the offering made to the priest unites the giver, by virtue of his intention, more intimately with the Holy Sacrifice. Every 26 seconds, somewhere in the world, Mass is offered for the intentions of our benefactors, and one priest in every nine is supported in his priestly ministry. Last year you gave 1.2 million Mass intentions. Yet the need is still great, above all for priests in the Islamic countries. We could even distribute 2 million intentions, if we had them...

26

God is only a prayer away

53 seminarians.

Without the consecrated hands of the priest, there can be no Eucharist. Yet thousands of priests live close to the bread line – and often in great solitude as well. The chance to meet together with other priests offers an oasis of spiritual and fraternal renewal. This again is where your Mass intentions come in.

But it is not only the priests who benefit from these offerings. As Bishop Wilfredo of the diocese of Guantánamo-Baracoa in Cuba informs us, his 15 priests also use the Mass intentions you give them to help the poor, with food for the elderly and catechesis for children – and even to buy medicines for his frail predecessor, Bishop Carlos Baladron Valdes.

In Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world, the Catholic faithful cannot support their priests, for they themselves have nothing. Some are unemployed, others mere day labourers. And legal barriers in this Islamic country prevent them getting help from neighbouring India. Your Mass intentions are helping 24 priests in the diocese of Khulna to care for and provide instruction to the poor, and another 18 in the diocese of Sylhet to do the same.

In Ukraine, where during the Soviet era the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was almost liquidated, you are, for example, helping priests staffing the seminary in Kiev provide pastoral and academic training to

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Patagonia, in remotest Argentina, over 100 priests are meeting together this year, having saved up the travel costs from these Mass offerings. Now they can meet to discuss the situation in their parishes, in light of the apostolic letter Evangelii Gaudium, and also celebrate Holy Mass together. Father Werenfried would have • been delighted.

I

The Christ the King care home in Lebanon: elderly priests celebrate Mass for your intentions.

27

PRAYER NEEDS MORE SPACE ather Pawlowski often kneels before Our Lady of Kibeho. Then, as he admits somewhat hesitantly, ‘I entrust myself to her tender maternal care.

I ask her to help me be still more faithful to my vocation here, so that Kibeho can grow and Mary can lead all these people along the path of reconciliation.’

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Kibeho in southern Rwanda is the first Marian apparition site in Africa to have been officially recognised by the Church. Pallotine Father Zbigniew Pawlowski is the Rector of the Shrine. It was here, between 1981 and 1989 that Our Lady appeared to three local girls.

Two of the three are still alive today. One visionary, Alphonsine, now lives in a convent in Italy, another, Nathalie, lives at the shrine itself. The third seer, Marie-Claire, was murdered during the massacres in 1994, which Our Lady had already prophesied with tears.

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he killing did not spare Kibeho either, but today it is a place of healing for wounded souls.

By now the shrine sees more than 600,000 pilgrims each year. They come from many different countries, including even Europe and the Americas.

A place of healing: the ‘Mother of the Word’ and her children.

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God is only a prayer away

And there are more and more of them each year. Even now the infrastructure is inadequate to receive them all. ‘But they must all be able to come, for there are miracles of reconciliation and conversion that happen here.’

Many of the pilgrim groups include former murderers, ‘who have been released from jail and now stand together with others who only just escaped the massacres at the time. Now they stand together before Our Lady and pray for reconciliation.’

Kibeho is a wellspring of graces for a traumatised society.

‘Our Lady comforts them all.’ There was even a bishop who came from Mexico, crushed by the murderous drug wars in his diocese, to beg Our Lady of Sorrows for help. Soon afterwards, the biggest drug boss was captured. And just as in Lourdes, Fatima, Czestochowa and other renowned shrines, again and again there are healings of the sick.

That is why we must pray still more.’

And this is exactly what Father Pawlow ski has been doing, for twelve years now, together with the other Pallottine Fathers and Religious Sisters. And that is what they also say to the growing throng of pilgrims. he Blessed Virgin introduced herself to the three girls as ‘Nyina wa Jambo’, as ‘Mother of the Word’.

She told Nathalie, ‘Stay close to me. People and things pass away. But as for you, pray.

Pray much, so that you can stand firm.’

Her words apply to us all.

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As for Father Pawlowski, his ‘fervent wish’ is that he can welcome more pilgrims ‘in this place of reconciliation and forgiveness’. But to do this the facilities of the shrine need to be extended and the number of guest rooms increased. ‘Prayer needs more space’. This is where we can help.

•

ore and more families are coming too. Many childless couples come, asking for the grace of fertility, and not infrequently ‘we afterwards get messages about the birth’. Our Lady also predicted that the family as an institution would suffer.

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Yet the charism of Kibeho is also ‘the message of perseverance. The world is in a bad way – that is what Mary told us during those eight years, through the three girls. And the suffering is not over yet.

Grace for life: Father Pawlowski baptising a child in Kibeho.

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THE FRONTIERS TO THE GOSPEL ‘You shall be my witnesses… to the end of the earth.’ So says Jesus in the Acts 1:8. And in St. Mark he says: ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.’ (16:15). eaching the end of the earth today is not so much a question of distance, as of resources. In the diocese of Ruteng, in Indonesia, 100 years after the first baptisms, 90% of the population are Catholic.

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But the influence of Muslims and of the sects, and the advance of a consumer society, is making it necessary to expand and deepen the work of evangelisation.

A seminar for 600 people – priests, religious, catechists and ordinary lay folk – is being organised to study the first apostolic letter of Pope Francis (Evangelii Gaudium) and will be an opportunity to take stock and explore new ways of evangelisation.

The cost will be significant, and it will give a new impetus to the mission of Christian witness.

‘Some people give to the Missions by going.

Other people go to the Missions by giving.’

Loving the Gospel: Father Wilhelmus in Indonesia, a child of the missions.

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God is only a prayer away

n Sanggau, in Indonesian Borneo, the Catholics are hoping for something similar from the renovation of their ‘Wisma Tabor’ retreat house and the construction of a dignified chapel.

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Each year somewhere between 12,000 and 15,000 catechists, women’s groups, parish leaders, pastoral ministry teams, young people, altar servers and others follow the courses and retreats held here. Thanks to this high usage, they are able to cover the running costs of the centre. But now the floor and roof are becoming rotten and unsafe. Mosquitoes and beetles are invading, and the rain is coming in. The retreat house can be renovated, but the chapel must be completely rebuilt.

Most of the Catholics – who make up half the population – are members of the Dayak tribe, the original inhabitants of Borneo.

They live mainly by rice farming and latex collecting. They give what they can, but they are still short of funds.

The few missionaries who are here go from village to village, organising Bible study and prayer groups and providing catechetical instruction. What they need above all is help with travel costs, accommodation and catechetical materials. hrist’s missionary command applies to everyone, ourselves included. But there is necessarily a division of labour – which is surely best expressed by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church and Patroness of the Missions: ‘Since I cannot be a missionary in deeds, I wanted to be so through love and penance.’ That is something we can all imitate her in.

•

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n the diocese of Diphu, in India, the situation is different again. Here it is partly a matter of primary evangelisation (among the Garo tribe, for example), and partly of consolidating and deepening the faith (among the Karbi people).

But only very few priests and religious sisters know and understand the languages, songs, dances and customs of these different tribes well enough to be able to make the Good News known to them across the cultural barriers. But hearts are open.

Learning the Gospel: Summer camp for families of the Garo tribe in India.

31

THE MARVEL OF THE ROSARY Dear Friends, istory can tell of numerous incidents that confirm the intercessory power of the Rosary, and many popes have attributed defining historical events to the intervention of the Mother of God, in response to the prayer of the Rosary. Among the most renowned, to this day, is the battle of Lepanto on 7 October 1571.

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For me personally, it was a relatively insignificant experience that has burned itself indelibly on my memory. I was in year six (age 11) at school and on the point of failing in my English class, with the risk of failing the whole year and not moving up to the next class. So ahead of the next, crucial assessment I decided to pray the Rosary every evening – and also to study, of course.

To the astonishment of my teacher and of my mother, my assessment was good. And I remain convinced that my prayers helped me more than the study. Ever since then I have always trusted to the power of the Rosary.

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aint Francis of Assisi once said: ‘Hell trembles at just one Hail Mary’. How much more so, then, at the entire Rosary! It is impossible to number the many minor and major marvels the prayer of the Rosary has worked throughout the world. We must pass this experience on to others.

Johannes Freiherr Heereman, Executive President of ACN International

WHERE TO SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTION FOR THE CHURCH IN NEED Please use the Freepost envelope.

Aid to the Church in Need, 151 St. Mobhi Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.

(01) 837 7516

info@acnireland.org www.acnireland.org

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IBAN IE32 BOFI 9005 7890 6993 28 BIC BOFI IE2D 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.

Registered Charity Numbers: (RoI) 9492 (NI) XR96620.

God is only a prayer away

EASING THE PAIN...

Every morning when I get up I thank God for electricity and gas, for the heating, cooking and running hot water for my shower. It pains me greatly to imagine the suffering my sisters and brothers in Syria and Iraq are enduring. I pray the enclosed will ease some of the pain.

A benefactress in Australia For peace and human dignity I am enclosing a donation for the support of our persecuted sisters and brothers.

We are three retired religious, and we closely follow the dramatic events in the world. When one member suffers, the whole body suffers.

We love to receive the Mirror. We turn to our heavenly Father in prayer, and we remain close to all who work for peace and human dignity.

A religious sister in France Making the impossible possible Today I received your birthday wishes. I was very touched since I still remember, as a young girl, seeing the Bacon Priest standing in the pulpit. I am always delighted to receive your Mirror and greatly admire all your initiatives. By staying true in faith and love, you have made the impossible possible.

ACN has enriched my life and in difficult times strengthened my faith and my trust.

A benefactress in Belgium

...THANK YOU AMDG Dear Friends, Thanks to your help we are able to collaborate with thousands of others in bringing the Word of God to millions of souls in need.

Thank you for being a , a Witness to Hope and a ‘little light’ in the darkness. Our world needs our light, our families need our light.

May the Good Lord continue to bless you and all who are dear to you for the love you are showing to the least of all God’s children.

In Christ,

J F Declan Quinn Director, Aid to the Church in Need (Ire) PS. God is only a prayer away.

‘LET US BE ASSURED BY THE POWER OF THE ROSARY!’ ACN Spiritual Assistant

October 2013, Fatima in Rome: We fly to Thy Protection…

‘In the Rosary we turn to the Virgin Mary so that she may guide us to an ever closer union with her Son Jesus to bring us into conformity with Him, to have His sentiments and to behave like Him.’

Pope Francis, Message to young Lithuanians, October 2013.

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