Feb 2015 164

St. Valentine’sDay: - does anyone really like it?

Mary: The pefect expression of FAITH Gibraltar’s interfaith harmony in UK Press Faith in Action: Introducing the Year of Consecrated Life

Fr. Stuart’s Editorial...

Despite the sins of her members, the Church is first and foremost the community of those who this arduous path are called to to nperfection, they feel holiness and encouraged by her who is the “model of virtues”. The strive each Council notes: “Devoutly meditating on her and day to contemplating her in the light achieve it. of the Word made man, the

I

Upon this Rock magazine is published monthly by EuropeAxess Media, Gibraltar. Editor: Fr. S. Chipolina: editor@uponthisrock.gi. Production Editor: A. Sargent angela@europeaxess.com. Upon this Rock magazine is entirely supported by advertising and donations. It is run in liaison with the Catholic Diocese of Gibraltar by EuropeAxess Media Ltd. as a not-for-profit project. For Advertisers: This magazine is handdelivered to homes, churches, hospitals and many businesses around Gibraltar every month. To discuss your advertising requirements, or promote your church group or charity, call Tel: +350 200 79335 email: angela@europeaxess.com. Editorial is selected by EuropeAxess Media in liaison with the Catholic Diocese of Gibraltar. Neither of these parties is responsible for the accuracy of the information contained herein, nor do the views and opinions expressed herein necessarily reflect the views and opinions of either party. Advertisers are not endorsed by virtue of advertising in this magazine. EuropeAxess Media Ltd. reserves the right to refuse space to any submissions or advertisements. Efforts have been made to establish copyright owners of images, but if we have used your material, and have not credited you, please contact us to discuss restoration.

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COVER PIC: The Rock at Dawn from Alcaidesa Photo: Anna Bensusan

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Mary

is the perfect expression of faith Church reverently penetrates more deeply into the great mystery of the Incarnation and becomes more and more like her Spouse” (Lumen gentium, n. 65).

So the Church looks to Mary. She not only contemplates the wondrous gift of her fullness of grace, but strives to imitate the perfection which, in her, is the fruit of her full compliance with Christ’s command: “You, therefore, must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).

Mary is all-holy. For the community of believers she represents the paradigm of the authentic holiness that is achieved in union with Christ. The earthly life of the Mother of God is characterized by perfect harmony with the person of her Son and by her total dedication to the redeeming work he accomplished.

The Church turns her gaze to the maternal intimacy that grew in silence during life in Nazareth and reached

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perfection at the moment of sacrifice, and she strives to imitate it in her daily journey. In this way, she is increasingly conformed to her Spouse. United like Mary with the Redeemer’s Cross, the Church, amid the difficulties, contradictions and persecutions that renew in her life the mystery of her Lord’s Passion, constantly seeks to be fully configured to him.

The Church lives by faith, seeing in her “who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Lk 1:45), the first and perfect expression of her faith. On this journey of trusting abandonment to the Lord, the Virgin goes before the disciples, adhering to the divine Word with an increasing intensity that embraces all the stages of her life and spreads to the very mission of the Church.

Her example encourages the People of God to practise their faith and to study

and develop its content, by keeping in their heart and meditating on the events of salvation.

Mary also becomes a model of hope for the Church. In listening to the angel’s message, the Virgin first directs her hope to the kingdom without end, which Jesus had been sent to establish. She stands firm near the cross of her Son, waiting for the divine promise to be fulfilled. After Pentecost, the Mother of Jesus sustains the Church’s hope despite the threat of persecution. She is thus the Mother of hope for the community of believers and for individual Christians, and she encourages and guides Her children as they await the kingdom, supporting them in their daily trials and throughout the events of history, however tragic.

May Mary mother of Jesus and our mother intercede for us always.

God bless you Fr Stuart

Notes on the artwork

Artist: William Holman Hunt Date of painting: 1854–1860 Style: English Pre-Raphaelite Technique: Oil on Canvass Dimensions: 141 cm × 85.7 cm ‘The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple’ is a painting intended as an ethnographically accurate version of the subject traditionally known as “Christ Among the Doctors”, an illustration of the child Jesus debating the interpretation of the scripture with learned rabbis. The passage illustrated is from the Gospel of Luke. Hunt depicts the moment at which Mary and Joseph find Jesus, while the rabbis in the temple are reacting in various contrasting ways to his discourse.

“When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” “Why were you searching for me?” he asked.

“Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them.” Luke 2:48.

Mary pondered all these things in her heart as her son grew up.

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Forthcoming Novenas

R

o o ft o p lunches

NOVENA

In honour of Our Lady of Lourdes ST PAUL’S CHURCH 3rd - 11th February 6.30pm Rosary 7.00pm Mass 4 www.uponthisrock.gi

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International Press

Gibraltar’s interfaith

H

armony in the news

The Gibraltar Interfaith Group (GIG) were approached by the New Statesman, and representatives of each of the member Faiths were asked about the value of religious tolerance.

Mgr. Paul Bear, a staunch supporter of the GIG, spoke for Roman Catholics, our contribution ran as follows:

T

here are just over 20,000 Roman Catholics in Gibraltar, of a population of 35,000.

Our community stretches back over 300 years. Before 1704, church life on the Rock was subject to Spanish influence and control; and Catholics lived through many challenges over those three centuries. At points, its bishop was imprisoned, schools were closed without warning, and the population was almost completely evacuated in WWII. Perhaps because of the successive sieges imposed by Gibraltar’s neighbours, the different groups came to depend on each other. Businesslike relationships always existed between them, which then became friendships.

Monsignor Paul Bear explained “We have long held a deep respect for each other’s right to worship according to their own traditions. In fact, I do not think tolerance is the right word to use – we do not “tolerate” each other, we live in harmony.

The greatest input of the church towards inter-religious harmony takes place not so much at official levels, but

rather through constant pastoral encouragement that people get on with each other. This is not something we need to work for, but something we already have.”

The articles were reproduced as a series in the print and online editions of the New Statesman.

The full article and links to subsequent articles about other GIG member Faiths can be found at:

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www.newstatesman.com/ gibraltar/newstatesmangibraltar/2014/12/ rock-many-faiths-part-ianglican-and-catholic

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Mary Beth Bonacci

Editorial selected by Dr. Monique Risso

St.Valentine’sDay? Does anybody really like

I

used to think it was only single people who hated St. Valentine’s Day. Of course, it goes without saying that, in our Noah’s Ark world, the uncoupled among us would feel a little left out on the holiday that celebrates romantic love. On that evening, single people usually sit home with their Ben & Jerry’s, thinking about all of those happy couples out there, and the wonderful, romantic time they’re having.

But, more and more, I’m talking to married people who tell me they dread Valentine’s Day. My happily married sister, for instance, detests the day. She says it isn’t because it’s about love, which she’s all in favor of, but because of the expectations it generates. Like New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day is supposed to be special. It has to be good.

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I’ve been on both sides of this equation. I’ve spent plenty of Valentine’s Days as part of a “couple”, and I’ve spent plenty of them solo. I have to tell you – I don’t think Valentine’s Day was more enjoyable one way or the other. I do remember that, in the “coupled” years, the day offered a whole lot of fuel for arguments.

Where are we going to go? Did you make reservations? You’re wearing that?

Who can blame people for getting stressed out?

After all, Valentine’s Day isn’t just a day any more. It’s an entire season. It starts right after the new year, when the greeting card and jewelry industries begin their annual push. Then the entire media jumps in on the act. Everything is about “love” – how to get it, how to keep it, how to act while you’re in it.

Men learn that, if they don’t go to Jared’s the jewellers, they’re likely to wind up wearing their cocktails instead of drinking them. Women learn that lingerie is the way to a man’s heart – and that the Victoria’s Secret models have set an impossibly high bar for the way we’re supposed to look in that lingerie.

The problem, as I see it, is that Valentine’s Day doesn’t celebrate love as a decision or a way of living. Valentine’s Day celebrates the feeling of being in love. Now, anyone who has ever been in love can attest to the fact that the feeling isn’t constant. It comes and goes. It has to come and go. If it didn’t, no one would live long enough to see the birth of their children. That level of emotional intensity just cannot be sustained indefinitely. The heart couldn’t take it.

So heaven forbid if you’re not both in one of those high “feelings” phases on Valentine’s Day. Of course you still love each other and you’re still committed to each other. But that isn’t enough.

You’re relationship isn’t really acceptable unless you’re experiencing some kind of constant emotional high. You need to do something to rekindle those feelings – now. They need to show up that evening. Maybe the restaurant will do it, or the jewelry, or the lingerie.

Of course, if your relationship happens to be on an “up” cycle on February 14th, you’re in luck.

The stars are all aligned, and you can both go out and wallow in your mutual smitten-ness.

Although even here, there is a danger. If we make such a big deal about our feelings, will they stick around? Will tonight be

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the night they begin to fade into the background again? Will the high expectations of the evening cause them to slip back?

They show up on their own timetable, not ours. The great C.S. Lewis wrote at length about being “surprised by joy.”

He said that true joy always arrives when it is least expected – when our attention is focused completely outside of ourselves.

And often, once we realize it is there, we begin to examine it – to try to enhance or prolong it.

And then we lose it. We only experience that joy when we’re totally absorbed by that which gives us joy.

But Valentine’s Day tends to focus us inward, on our own feelings. That is the antithesis of true love, which is selfforgetful and focused entirely on the goodness, beauty and welfare of the other. We try to use restaurants and candlelight and romantic atmosphere to manufacture those feelings, but it doesn’t work. And so we feel inadequate. Our relationships just don’t measure up.

What’s the solution? For coupled and uncoupled, it’s the same. Forget about yourself.

Forget about your feelings.

Make February 14th the day

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http://wegeekedthis.com/

The problem is that feelings don’t generally respond well to command performances.

when you focus entirely on the people you love. Spouse, friends, siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews – let them know you love them.

Tell them how grateful you

are to have them in your life.

Celebrate them. Thank God for them. Think of ways you can show your appreciation for the gift of their presence in your life.

And maybe, just maybe, when

you least expect it, you too will be “surprised by joy.”

Article first published on www.reallove.net. Mary Beth Bonacci is an internationally known Catholic speaker.

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Editorial from the Congregation for Institutes of consecrated life and Societies of apostolic life

Consecrated INTRODUCING THE YEAR OF

Each year, the Feast n 2013, Pope Francis declared that a Year of I Consecrated Life be celebrated throughout of the Presentation of the world. The ‘year’ began on the First Sunday of the Lord on February Advent, November 30, 2014 and will run until the World Day of Consecrated Life, February 2, 2016.

2nd, marks the day A special logo was commissioned, which we have reproduced on the opposite page. This work was entrusted to the experienced and award the Church thanks winning Italian artist Carmela Boccasile. She chose a dove supporting a polyhedral globe on one wing while resting on the water. The dove God for the gift of safeguards three stars that arise from the water with it’s other wing.

The motto ‘Gospel, Prophecy, Hope. Consecrated life in today’s different forms of Church’ is arranged above and below the design. The detail concerning each element of the design is very insightful. consecrated life, we he Logo: Creative Rationale pray that our Church will TThe Logo for the Year of Consecrated Life expresses through symbols the fundamental values of consecrated life. In it we recognize continue to be enriched the “unceasing work of the Holy Spirit, who in every age shows forth the richness of the practice of the evangelical counsels through a by the life and witness multiplicity of charisms. In this way too he makes ever present in the of these dedicated men Church and in the world, in time and space, the mystery of Christ”. In the lines that outline the form of the dove one can make out the word ‘Peace’ in Arabic: this is a reminder that consecrated life is called to and women. be the model for universal reconciliation in Christ.

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selected by Maria Louisa Aguilera

Life • The Dove on the Water

The dove is the classic symbol of the action of the Holy Spirit, the source of life, inspiring creativity. This is a reminder of the origins of our history: in the beginning the Spirit of God moved on the waters (cf Gen 1,2). The dove, gliding above a sea swollen with yet unexpressed life, symbolizes a patient and hopefilled fertility, while the symbols around it reveal the creative and renewing action of the Spirit. The dove also brings to mind the consecration of the Christ’s human nature through baptism.

The waters are made of mosaic fragments; indicating the complexity and harmony of human and cosmic elements that are made to “groan” by the Spirit according to God’s mysterious plans (cf Rom 8, 26-27) so that they may converge into a hospitable and fruitful encounter leading to a new creation. The dove flies among the waves of history, above the waters of the deluge (cf Gen 8, 8-14). The men and women, whose consecration was marked by the Gospel, have always been pilgrims among the nations; they live out their various charismatic and diaconal roles like “good administrators of the multiform grace of God” (1Pt 4,10); they are marked by the Cross of Christ, even unto martyrdom.

• The Three Stars

These represent the three ideals of consecrated life, giving witness to the Trinity, a sign of Communion in the Church and service through charity (confessio Trinitatis, signum fraternitatis e servitium caritatis). The stars express the circular relationships found in Trinitarian love, which consecrated life is called to live daily in the world. The stars aew also remind us of the triple halo used in Byzantine iconography to honor Mary, the Mother of God, the first Disciple of Christ and the model and patron of every consecrated life.

• The Multifaceted Globe The small multifaceted globe symbolizes the planet with its myriad variety of nations and cultures, as explained by Pope Francis. It is the breath of the Spirit that sustains it and leads it towards the future: an invitation to all consecrated persons “to become bearers of the Spirit (pneumatophoroi), authentically spiritual men and women, capable of endowing history with hidden fruitfulness”.

• The Motto

way of living and acting”, and then as vital wisdom in the light of the multiple counsels that the Lord gave to his disciples. The Gospel shows the way ahead and is a source of joy.

• Prophecy: reminds us of the prophetic character of consecrated life, which “takes the shape of a special form of sharing in Christ’s prophetic office, which the Holy Spirit communicates to the whole People of God”. This is an authentic prophetic ministry that is born from the Word and is nourished by the Word of God when this is welcomed and lived out in various circumstances of life. This function is carried out through courageous denunciation and in announcing new ‘visits’ by God; also, “through the exploration of new ways to apply the Gospel in history, in expectation of the coming of God’s Kingdom”.

•Hope: reminds us of the ultimate fulfillment of the Christian mystery. We are living through an era that is characterized by widespread uncertainties and projects bourne out of short-term

vision: hope is needed in a context of cultural and social fragility, at a time when the horizon is dark because “it often seems that the signs of God’s presence have been lost from sight”. Consecrated life is permanently focused on the eschatology: it witnesses that every hope will eventually have its definite fulfillment, and transforms the waiting “in work and mission, that the Kingdom may become present here and now”.

As a sign of hope, consecrated life needs to be close to people and to show mercy; to be a paradigm of a future free from all kinds of idolatry.

“Encouraged by the charity that the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts” (Rm 5,5) consecrated persons are therefore called to embrace the universe and to become a memorial of the Trinitarian love, catalysts of communion and unity, praying sentries on the crest of history, and to become one with humanity in its anxieties and in its silent search for the Spirit.

For full, unedited text see http://www.vatican.va/roman_ curia/congregations/ccscrlife/ anno-vita-consacrata/logo_ anno-vita-consacrata_en.htm

The motto further highlights the identity and prospective, experience and ideals, grace and journey that consecrated life has lived through and is still living, within the Church as people of God, as it journeys together with the different nations and cultures toward the future.

• Gospel: this indicates the fundamental rule of consecrated life, which is the “sequela Christi as taught by the Gospel”. First of all as “a living memorial of Jesus’

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The Day

S un Danced

the

In 1930 the Fatima appiritions were declared ‘Worthy of belief’

I

t rained.

Sunday October 13th 1917 saw heavy rain falls all over Europe, especially in Fatima.

This sudden change from balmy Autumn transformed the dusty

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roads into quagmires as the pilgrims gathered. This was the chosen day for the promised sign and thousands were converging on the little town, buoyed up with expectation. Whatever

Fatima: the back story, part two. Anne Mesilio In 1930 the Vatican made the following declaration on Fatima: In virtue of considerations made known, and others which for reason of brevity we omit; humbly invoking the Divine Spirit and placing ourselves under the protection of the most Holy Virgin, and after hearing the opinions of our Rev. Advisors in this diocese, we hereby: 1. Declare worthy of belief, the visions of the shepherd children in the Cova da Iria, parish of Fatima, in this diocese, from 13 May to 13 October, 1917.

2. Officially permit the devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. happened today was to validate the apparitions, not just to the pilgrims, but to the Church and the world. Some came out of curiosity, others were sceptics, and others came from anger, believing the children were playing games. Atheists too were among the huge crowd as well as journalists, including those from the national secular newspaper O’Seculo (The Century) which was published in Lisbon, 1880-1978. Avelino de Almeida, chief editor of this

In 1989 Arturo and Adela Holmes brought a statue of ‘The Devine Mercy’ all the way from Fatima for St. Paul’s Parish Church. In 1990 Arturo organized a pilgrimage to Fatima under the banner ‘Immaculate Heart of Mary’ and twice yearly after that on the dates of the first and last apparitions, 13 May and 13 October until his death in 1997.

The pilgrims were mainly St. Paul’s parishoners and his daughter, Tina Mosquero took over from that time to date, and hopefully for many years to come...

‘Fatima through the years’ photos

by Manolo Gomez. anticlerical and liberal paper was a witness to the astounding events. He reported thus; “From the road, where the carriages were crowded together and where hundreds of persons had stayed for want of sufficient courage to advance across the muddy ground, we saw the huge crowd turn towards the sun which appeared at its zenith, clear of the clouds. It resembled a flat plate of silver, and it was possible to stare at it without the least discomfort. It did not

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burn the eyes. It did not blind.

We would say that it produced an eclipse. Then a tremendous cry rang out, and the crowd nearest us were heard to shout: ‘Miracle! Miracle! Marvel!

Marvel!’ Before the dazzled eyes of the people, whose attitude transported us to biblical times, and who, dumb-founded, heads uncovered, contemplated the blue of the sky, the sun trembled, it made strange and abrupt movements, outside of all cosmic laws, ‘the sun danced’, according to the typical expression of the peasants.”

Even at that he was sceptical, continuing:

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“Miracle, as the people shouted? Natural phenomenon, as the experts says? For the moment, that does not concern me; I am only saying what I saw... the rest is a matter for Science and the Church.”

There was an estimated 70,000 people there to witness and marvel. Panic took hold, its true, but at that moment healing took place too; the blind could see, the lame could walk, the sun returned to normal, soaked clothing dried, the ground became firm, as if it had not rained at all. That quantity of witnesses surpasses those who, two thousand plus

years ago, witnessed Christ’s resurrection.

A marvellous thing, the phenomenon could be admired from beyond Fatima. And even, some perfectly credible witnesses, who were very far away from the Cova da Iria, related having seen the unprecedented spectacle of the dance of the sun, exactly like the thousands of pilgrims gathered around the holm-oak.

In the small village of Alburitel, situated eighteen or nineteen kilometres from Fatima, the whole town was able to enjoy the vision of the solar prodigy.

Nearly one hundred years later in this advanced world of technology and instant communication, Our Lady’s call to prayer to the three “pastorhinos” is as relevant today as it was then. Our world is in turmoil from wars, famines, natural disasters, ‘mans inhumanity to man’, it just goes on. Yet, in the world’s most dangerous conflict areas, volunteers risk their lives helping to build peace. It is not all war of course, the Ebola outbreak which has devastated lives, mainly in West Africa, called on human resources like never before to help combat the spread of this deadly disease. Special prayer vigils were held too. We are not however enjoying world peace.

“This is an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations and/or people. World peace is an idea of planetary non-violence by which Continued on page 14

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OZ Book Review by Debbie Eade

utside our

C omfort

one

“...when I sat down with ‘Outside Our Comfort Zone’, it didn’t feel as if I were reading a book. It felt as if Charles were sitting beside me, talking, laughing, explaining and I was riveted!”

O

utside Our Comfort Zone is a surprising book in very many ways. It is a surprise that it should have been written at all, because Charles Bruzon had never planned to write any sort of book, let alone his autobiography and personal testimony. Finding himself with time on his hands in 2013,

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possibly for the first time in his life, he decided to write as he convalesced after surgery for bowel cancer. It took him just three weeks, which was remarkable considering the depth of information and recall in this book. The circumstances of its publication are surprising because, sadly, the book had to be published posthumously: Charles died unexpectedly, soon after completing it.

It is a surprising book because of its wide-ranging content. It is not purely autobiographical: in

it, Charles also discusses history, politics, religion and a great deal more. He describes the book as an Autobiography and Personal Testimony. For me, perhaps the most surprising thing of all is that when I sat down with Outside Our Comfort Zone, it didn’t feel as if I were reading a book. It felt as if Charles were sitting beside me, talking, laughing, explaining - and I was riveted.

Charles Bruzon’s life was surprising. He was an extremely proud Gibraltarian and a staunch defender of the Rock and its

people. He was ordained as a priest at a young age and then took the dreadfully hard decision to leave the clergy, eight years later. He became involved in politics, something that he felt was natural for a dedicated Christian, and at the time of his death he was Minister for Housing and Minister for the Elderly in the GSLP Government of Gibraltar.

‘Outside Our Comfort Zone’ is not just a chronology of these events in his life. In it, the author bares his soul, explaining his feelings, his emotions and his reasons for taking some of the decisions in his life.

The book does begin, however, right at the beginning. Charles sets the scene by introducing us to his parents and siblings and talks of his days as a child; he describes what it was like to have been evacuated during the Second World War and educated in what he remembers as being a Nissen hut in Northern Ireland.

He describes how much the Gibraltarian evacuees longed to come home, and what it was like when they did. He relates tales from his school days once he was happily back in Gibraltar, including a funny story about the only reason he wasn’t given the strap for misbehaving in class was that the Bedenham blew up at that exact moment.

He goes on to describe, simply and beautifully, why he had felt

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called to the priesthood, and tells us what his six years of study at the seminary, Ushaw College in Durham, were like. He expresses his joy when, at the age of 24, he became Father Charles Bruzon and was “plunged into the world as a secular priest” after six years “living what seemed to me to be more akin to the monastic life, hardly ever leaving the safety and protection that one felt within”.

The reader can imagine his eyes becoming clouded as he talks of the pain of taking the most difficult decision of his life, eight years after being ordained, to cease being a member of the Clergy.

When the Dispensation Document was issued, releasing Father Bruzon from his priestly duties and allowing him to become a layman once again, he was asked by Bishop Healy to “go forth and lead an exemplary Christian life” and that, he says, “with God’s help and through no merits on my part, is what I have genuinely tried to do since then”.

Charles’ faith was of vital importance to him, and that is very clear from this book. He discusses his beliefs, the strength he had always gained from being a Christian, and his joy at being professed as a Secular Franciscan in December 2000.

Apart from his faith and the family he adored, the other passion in Charles Bruzon’s life was politics, in the sense of politics being used to do good.

Many people question whether religion and politics can mix, but Charles’ answer is that he simply could not un-mix them.

He refers to Pope Benedict’s first encyclical letter, saying that his Christian faith as a Catholic “is what inspired me to become a politician, because fundamental to that Christian

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faith is the distinction between what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God, in other words, the distinction between Church and State…. We must inevitably face the question of how true JUSTICE can be achieved and delivered here and now for our people”.

That sense of justice led Charles Bruzon to become one of the first members of the Voice of Gibraltar Group and he was very active in defending Gibraltar’s interests in the face of what he describes in the book as Spain’s ‘obsession’ with ‘recapturing’ Gibraltar.

He describes the work done by the VOGG to make Gibraltar’s voice heard, not only throughout Europe but all over the world.

He only left the VOGG in 2001, when he became a full member of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party. The rest is history.

Why did Charles Bruzon title his book ‘Out of Our Comfort Zone’? “Because that is the only Christian way” he explains “We have to step outside what is comfortable in order to follow Christ”.

My husband, David Eade,

wrote the preface for this book before publication. In it he says: “If you knew Charles well, knew him in passing or never met him at all, it matters not. By the time you have read his words you will know him as well as anyone. You will know him as a devout man, a humble Christian, a strong socialist and a proud Gibraltarian”. No more need be said: this book, like its author, is a delight.

Proceeds from the book sales are to go to Gibraltar Cancer Relief. Books are available from Cathedral or Cornerstone Bookshops & the Gibraltar Heritage shop, priced just £5.

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backdrop of the First World War which had introduced Europe to the most horrific and powerful forms of warfare yet seen, that Our Lady exhorted the children to pray for its end.

She asked the Church to pray and offer sacrifices to God in order that peace may come upon the world. At the 90th celebrations in recalling the apparitions to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta, Cardinal Sodano declared; “Fatima triumphed over the incredulity of the world, the opposition of the authorities and the reservations of the Church”. As we approach the 100th anniversary can we do less than renew the spirit of prayer to say the rosary daily for peace in our time and end the culture of death and destruction so prevalent today?

Thousands will once again converge on Fatima in 2017.

Among them will be Monolo and Lilian Gomez from Gibraltar who have travelled there twice a year for the past twenty years.

In that time, they have seen two Popes at close range, from whom they received blessings.

They surely epitomize the spirit of what Fatima is all about?

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When Mary met Elisabeth: Painting in the church of El Sitio, Suchitoto, El Salvador

continued from page 11 nations willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance that prevents warfare. The term is sometimes used to refer to a cessation of all hostility amongst all humanity”. (Wikipedia).

It is not happening and God’s law is being increasingly squeezed out of daily life. There is a constant struggle between the forces of good and evil.

Throughout history there have been supernatural apparitions and signs which go to the heart of human events and which, to the surprise of believers and non-believers alike, play their part in the unfolding of history.

Fatima is undoubtedly the most prophetic of modern apparitions and in a nutshell; Fatima is a dreadful ultimatum to the world to stop sinning. The enormity of mankind’s rebellion against God and God’s infinite hatred of sin is the foundation of the Fatima message.

We have commemorated the 100th anniversary of WWI with due remembrance but it would surely be better if there never was a need for such occasions as we forgo war and all its devastation. It was against the

R ISTI A

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The Trust is ecumenical and has provided money to many groups, individuals and churches during the last 12 years. It is run by a Board of Trustees.

We invite applications for funding from anyone who wishes to launch an evangelistic initiative or who needs support for an existing Christian missionary activity.

Please write to: The Chairman, Christian Mission Trust, 4 South Pavilion Road, Gibraltar.

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