Aug 2016 182 by EuropeAxess Media

M . B a s i l P e n n i n g t o n O C S D

St. Bernard of Clairvaux 1090-1153

n “There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge; that is Curiosity. n There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others; that is Vanity. n There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve; that is Love.”

Bernard of Clairvaux

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The Young Abbot

The Peacemaker

Bernard, the founding abbot of Clairvaux Abbey in Burgundy, was one of the most commanding Church leaders in the first half of the twelfth century, as well as one of the greatest spiritual masters of all times and the most powerful propagator of the Cistercian reform. He was born in Fontaines-les-Dijon in 1090 and entered the Abbey of Citeaux in 1112, bringing thirty of his relatives with him, including five of his brothers; his youngest brother and his widowed father followed later. After receiving a monastic formation from St. Stephen Harding, he was sent in 1115 to begin a new monastery near Aube: Clairvaux, the Valley of Light. As a young abbot he published a series of sermons on the Annunciation. These marked him not only as a most gifted spiritual writer but also as the “cithara of Mary,” especially noted for his development of Mary’s mediatorial role.

Bernard’s spiritual writing, as well as his extraordinary personal magnetism, began to attract many to Clairvaux and the other Cistercian monasteries, leading to many new foundations. He was drawn into the controversy developing between the new monastic movement, which he preeminently represented, and the established Cluniac order, a branch of the Benedictines. This led to one of his most controversial and most popular works, his Apologia. Bernard’s dynamism soon reached far beyond monastic circles. He was sought as an advisor and mediator by the ruling powers of his age. More than any other, he helped to bring about the healing of the papal schism, which arose in 1130 with the election of the antipope Anacletus II. It cost Bernard eight years of laborious travel and skillful mediation. At the same time he labored for peace and reconciliation between England and France

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St. Bernard of Clairvaux is joint patron saint of Gibraltar with Our Lady of Europe St. Bernard of Clairvaux converts William, Duke of Aquitaine by Wouter Pietersz. Crabeth

and among many lesser nobles. His influence mounted when his spiritual son was elected pope in 1145. At Eugene IIIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s command he preached the Second Crusade and sent vast armies on the road toward Jerusalem. In his last years he rose from his sickbed and went into the Rhineland to defend the Jews against a savage persecution. The Writer

Although he suffered from constant physical debility and had to govern a monastery that soon housed several hundred monks and was sending forth groups regularly to begin new monasteries (he personally saw to the establishment of sixty-five of the three hundred Cistercian monasteries founded during his thirty-eight years as abbot), he yet found time to compose

many and varied spiritual works that still speak to us today. He laid out a solid foundation for the spiritual life in his works on grace and free will, humility and love. His gifts as a theologian were called upon to respond to the dangerous teachings of the scintillating Peter Abelard, of Gilbert de la Porree and of Arnold of Brescia. His masterpiece, his Sermons on the Song of Songs, was begun in 1136 and was still in composition at the time of his death. With great simplicity and poetic grace, Bernard writes of the deepest experiences of the mystical life, in ways that became normative for all succeeding writers. For Pope Eugene he wrote Five Books on Consideration, the bedside reading of Pope John XXIII and many other pontiffs through the

centuries.

Doctor of the Church

declared him a Doctor of the Church in 1830.

Bernard died at Clairvaux on 20 August 1153. He was canonized by Pope Alexander III on 18 January 1174. Pope Pius VII

(A Michael Glazier Book), Liturgical Press (1995) 82.

--from The Modern Catholic Encyclopedia

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. The magazine is online at uponthisrock.gi. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find exclusive Christian gifts in the WebShop. Cover: Fr. Stuart Chipolina celebrates Mass while on Pilgrimage. Photo: J. Bugeja

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F r. P i o t r G a s i o r e k w r i t e s

A Historical Overview of the Catastrophe that occurred in Gibraltar on the 4th of July 1943, and this year’s

Summer is a time of rest and relaxation, taking a break from normal life.

owever, for the Polish, it also heralds the Anniversary of the event known in Poland as the ‘Gibraltar Catastrophe’. On the 4th of July, 1943, the Polish nation suffered the bitter loss of General Władysław Sikorski, Prime Minister of The Second Republic of Poland and head of the Polish Military. Prior to that fateful day, General Sikorski had been in the Middle East, visiting Polish troops fighting the German Nazis. Leaving there he headed to Gibraltar to visit the Polish troops stationed here.

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General Władysław Sikorski.

Polish Commemoration at Europa Point

It is possible that there was another reason behind Sikorski’s visits to the troops. He had, around this time, received documentation from Germany’s Ambassador in Turkey, Von Papen, pertaining to the Katyn massacre. These documents are believed to contain details of the decisions made on the 5th of March 1940, by Joseph Stalin and other important names in the Soviet Union, that led to the murder, in April and May of that year, of an estimated 22,000 Polish officers, police and distinguished people that the Soviets had deemed to be intelligence agents. The victims of the Soviet Union’s crime were buried in mass graves in different sites that are now in today’s Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The possession of this information would have made Sikorski a dangerous man to the united forces of Russia, Britain and America. They had united to fight Hitler, this part of history is true, but the British and Americans were concerned that Russia may break the coalition against Germany. On July 4th, 1943, the British Navy aircraft Liberator was waiting at the airfield, ready to fly from Gibraltar to London. At 11pm in the evening all were aboard and the aircraft took off, only to suddenly loose height, almost immediately ditching into the sea, killing all passengers and leaving only the Czech pilot, Phral, alive. From this quick and catastrophic event many questions, doubts and uncertainties arose. How is it possible that from a descent from such a low altitude, a “soft” landing as such, General

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Sikorski and all his companions should perish? How is it possible that only the pilot survived? Unfortunately the answers to these questions are, to this day, a mystery, held in classified British documents. These unanswered questions lead many to believe that the incident was more than just an accident. It is possible that Sikorski was in possession of information that could de-stabilise the Allied cooperation against Hitler. This information, possibly pertaining to Joseph Stalinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s murder of many millions of innocent men and women, was known by the British and Americans, but they were being extorted by their Russian counterparts to overlook the genocide of Polish nationals. A typical wartime tactic on their behalf. I cannot say if these theories are true, I am not a historian nor do I have access to the British Archive of classified documents. Suffice to say this is a very difficult piece of Polish History. We lost not only a strong soldier who fought for Poland and

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intended to expose the genocide of over 20 thousand polish soldiers and civilians, but also a Prime Minister who wished to keep Poland from being part of Stalinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Communist regime. On Monday the 4th of July 2016 we gathered at the Sikorski Monument at Europa Point, which was designed by Bishop Charles Caruana, to commemorate the anniversary. We began by singing the Polish national anthem, then reminded ourselves of this historic event. We prayed for the victims and for other Poles who have died for Polish Freedom. This anniversary, although sad, binds us in our nationality and reminds us that we have many great heroes. We can feel proud of our strong nation that has such a difficult and beautiful history. In fact this feeling is even stronger for us who are abroad. To be Polish it is something to be proud of. God save Poland and Gibraltar, these lands are connected through a common history, and we give thanks for our lives now. Father Peter Gasiorek

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Cursillo Team Leaders write...

Is Prayer important t o YO U ? All of us long to connect with someone who can identify with our circumstances and share in our day to day life.

rayer is just that, a personal experience and intimate connection with our loving Heavenly Father. The Power of prayer is not the result of the person praying, the power resides in the God who is being prayed to. No matter the person praying, the passion behind the prayer, or the purpose of the prayer, God answers prayers that are in agreement with His will. When we pray passionately and purposefully, according to God’s will, God responds powerfully. There are no magic formulas to prayer. Our prayers being answered is not dependant on how long or complicated the prayers are. We don’t have to use certain words or phrases to get God to answer our prayers. In fact, Jesus rebuked those who pray using repetitions, he said “And when you pray do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they

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think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:78). Prayer is communicating with God, all you have to do is ask God for His help in the simplest of ways, using your own language. The Carmelite Nuns dedicate their lives to prayer and contemplation. For a Carmelite nun, prayer is guided by the teachings and experience of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross as well as the saints who have followed in their footsteps. The sisters in the convent at Ronda, established in the 16th Century, belong to the Mercedarian order. It is a cloistered order devoted to prayer, penance and perpetual abstinence. There is a direct link between the Carmelite nuns in Ronda and Gibraltar through Jennifer Del Corazon De Jesus, a Gibraltarian who joined the order nearly 30 years ago. Recently the Cursillo Movement in Gibraltar paid Sister Jennifer a visit. Whilst the Cursillo Movement organised the trip, it was open to anyone who wanted to attend. [See photo on page 13] The group of approximately 60 started the day very early, having to be at the other side of the frontier by 7:45am. A bus was waiting to take them to the train station in San Roque to catch the 8:58am train to Ronda.

The train ride took just over an hour with some beautiful scenery along the way. When the group arrived in Ronda, it was a cloudy and chilly morning with a few raindrops here and there, but nothing to dampen their spirits. First event for the day was a nice breakfast, including coffee and some nice Spanish bread. After breakfast the group made their way to the convent where, at 12:30pm, Fr. Charlie celebrated Mass. After a beautiful celebration of the Eucharist, the group had a few hours of free time, including time for a spot of lunch at some of the brilliant restaurants in Ronda, and some sightseeing. At 5pm the group returned to the church as it had been arranged for Sister Jennifer to meet them there. Sister Jennifer addressed the group on the ‘Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy’, in which she pointed out that as this year is the ‘Year of Mercy’, we should focus on putting these into practice in our daily lives. The talk lasted around 45 minutes, and she then opened up the session to

questions. After a few points were raised and questions answered, the group enjoyed some drinks and cakes which the nuns had prepared for them. The group left Ronda at 7:40pm by train and had another opportunity to enjoy the lovely views on the way back to San Roque. It was a lovely day with family and friends in a spirit of Christian community. The Cursillo Movement believes that prayer from the heart is the soul of the Christian person. It is the best tool for holiness and the best weapon against the power of evil. Prayer from the heart is the backbone of growing into being a good Christian. A direct and intimate experience with God is the basis of prayer from the heart. Prayer becomes exciting when we discover the Lord in our everyday personal events. Jesus is our model for prayer. He prayed before major decisions, spending time in intimate communion with the Father. The Holy Spirit compelled Jesus to go into the desert to pray before his public ministry. Before choosing the

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Cursillo Team Leaders

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Cursillo Team Leaders write...

Is Prayer impor tant t o YO U ?

- Recently the Cursillo Movement in Gibraltar paid a visit to Sister Jennifer in Ronda. -

twelve He prayed. Before He made the long way to Calvary, He prayed. Prayer was, for Jesus, communion with the Father. Prayer aims at nourishing us and launching us to action. It does that by helping us to know, love and serve God. For the Cursillo Movement prayer has always been the strength of all the functions of the Movement. Why not join us at our ongoing programme of events. The Cursillo Movement meets every Monday evening at 9pm at St. Theresaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Church. Events range from Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Mass and talks delivered by the clergy or members of the Team of Leaders. We also have Cursillo weekends coming up on the 13th to the 16th of October for women and from the 10th to 13th November for men.

If you are interested

in attending a Cursillo please contact us on Mob: 5 8 0 0 8 8 8 5 or send us an email on cursillogibraltar@ gmail.com and we shall send you the enrolment forms, we look forward to seeing you there. God Bless

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Anne Mesilio reflects...

:How do you know when it is Summer in Ireland?

nce upon a time everything was so much simpler.

We did not have, or indeed need, detailed weather forecasts enhanced by satellite images and graphics, but relied on warnings like sunny intervals, scattered showers, winds increasing or decreasing, and as for ‘pollen count’ and ‘UV Index’ well, those would have been words in a foreign language.

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If the sun was shining from a clear blue sky it was picnic time, never mind that the elusive shower might catch us. Should we be blessed with clear blue skies two days in a row, imagine our joy at heading off to the beach, or ‘strand’ as we knew it. The tide times would be chalked up with a warning for high tide, to ignore this could spell disaster. Being caught unawares in the rushing incoming tide was too scary for words. When the tide was out a huge stretch of beach lent itself to games, beach combing,

A:The rain feels warmer! picnics, ice cream and fishing in rock pools for crabs, all with a wary eye on the distant line of blue which marked the sea. I remember misty early August mornings when my mother used to wake me with her gentle urge to get dressed.

Out of bed in a flash I knew what to do. Off I would go, barefoot over the dew spangled grassy fields, eyes cast down, searching. Reverently I would kneel, brush the dew aside and carefully pick the nest of three white glistening mushrooms,

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. . . o n m u s h r o o m s a n d m o l l u s c s a n d M a n ’ s i n h u m a n i t y t o M a n e v e n i n t h e Ye a r o f M e r c y. the first of my early morning foraging. Coming home in triumph with my bounty, my mother would soon have them cleaned and simmering seductively in creamy milk with a little butter and a dash of pepper. Delicious, but for added piquancy the milk was from our own cow, and the butter I had probably made the day before. A snapshot of nostalgia from the scrap book of memories of summers past, to contrast with today’s fast paced multi-tasking demands of crazy, busy chaotic living. Welsh poet William Henry Davies got it right; “a poor life this is if, we have no time to stand and stare”. In this modernised mechanised world, where is the time to listen to the birds, savour a sunset, find time to “be still and know I am God”. Time is the master and we are its slaves, busily making money in every cut throat way of life. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, rivalries and treachery have been the order of the day. Cain killed his brother Abel and man has been killing ever since. It is one hundred years since the Battle of the Somme. (Ten million military personnel died on both side in WWI.) This wanton loss of life was caused by the supercilious posturing of the few, with only personal aggrandizement in mind. Eighty years ago, still living memory, the Spanish civil war began and we have endured another world war and all the wars in between. Man seems to have an insatiable appetite to destroy, and not only human life. “We got it wrong the first

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time and maybe we were a bit hasty publishing our findings back then. But we are absolutely certain that we’ve got the right age now,” Paul Butler, an ocean scientists from Bangor University was speaking about the discovery and subsequent killing of what would become known as the Ming Mollusc. Named after the Chinese Ming Dynasty because it was born around 1499 but unfortunately killed by researchers when they opened its shell to determine its age. Found off the Icelandic coast in 2006 it was thought to be 406 years old, but after using more accurate high resolution imaging equipment to count the rings on the shell, this has been revised upwards to 507 years. But, now its dead, and may have lived on for an age undetermined! Europe became a beacon light for millions fleeing from war in Syria and in the wreckage of their broken lives our hearts break for the children. What

childhood memories will fill their scrap books? A hole has been blown in their young lives which can never be filled. Summer is meant to celebrate the best bits in life and as we look back, golden memories should glow. We bequeath these times to our own children and try and emulate for them these carefree childhood summers for their scrap books. There have been tumultuous political upheavals of late which have turned life as we knew it upside down overnight. Myopic vision, scare mongering and lies have led to a confused and uncertain future. Pope Francis has urged; “a little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just”. Mercy is given, not asked for, it costs nothing but pays dividends. It is the year of Mercy after all, what will we have achieved come its end in December?

Going on a summer holiday is always the highlight of these days. Somewhere new perhaps, a yearly visit to grandparents, first time camping, maybe even a first visit to the seaside. Whatever summer holidays involve, they are memory making times, and we can relive them together by sharing, every summer tells its own story. It has all the ingredients, laughter, sadness, happiness, smiles, hope and love. We invest heavily in summer and it never seems to last long enough. It’s OK to be lazy as summer breezes waft by and I once heard someone say that summer should get a speeding ticket! It should be the stuff of dreams, a never ending childhood echo from the pages of lovingly crafted scrap books, because according to Shakespeare “summer’s lease hath all too short a date”. So too does childhood.

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D r. M o n i q u e R i s s o a t t e n d e d a m e e t i n g o f m e d i c a l p r o f e s s i o n a l s a t t h e Va t i c a n

Medicine with a His Holiness Pope Francis addressed members of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations in the Clemantine Hall, Vatican City.

Pope Francis said: he first reflection that I would like to share with you is this: today we are witnessing a paradoxical situation, which concerns the medical profession. On the one hand, we note — and we thank God for it — the advances made in medicine, thanks to the work of scientists who passionately and unsparingly dedicate themselves to the search for new cures. On the other hand, however, we also find the danger of a doctor loosing his own identity as a servant of life. Cultural disorientation has beset what seemed to be an unassailable sphere: yours, medicine! Although, by their very nature, healthcare professions are at the service of life, they are sometimes induced to disregard life itself. Yet, as the Encyclical Caritas in Veritate reminds us: “Openness to life is at the centre of true development”.

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There is no true development without this openness to life. “If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of a new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away. The acceptance of life strengthens moral fibre and makes people capable of mutual help”. This paradoxical situation may be seen in the fact that, while persons are being accorded new rights — at times even presumed rights — life itself is not always protected as a primary value and primordial right of every human being. The final aim of the doctor’s action is always the defence and promotion of life. The second point: in this context of contradiction, the Church makes an appeal to

consciences, to the consciences of all healthcare professionals and volunteers, and especially to you gynaecologists, who are called to assist in the birth of new human lives. Yours is a singular vocation and mission, which requires study, conscientiousness and humanity. There was a time when women who helped in the delivery were called “comadre” [co-mothers, midwives]: like one mother with another, with the real mother. You, too, are “co-mothers” and “co-fathers”, you too. A widespread mentality of the useful, the “culture of waste” that today enslaves the hearts and minds of so many, comes at a very high cost: it asks for the elimination of human beings, especially if

they are physically or socially weaker. Our response to this mentality is a decisive and unreserved “yes” to life. “The first right of the human person is his life. He has other goods and some are more precious, but this one is fundamental — the condition of all the others” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on procured abortion, 18 November 1974). Things have a price and can be sold, but people have a dignity; they are worth more than things and are above price. So often we find ourselves in situations where we see that what is valued the least is life. That is why concern for human life in its totality has become, in recent years, a real priority for the Church’s Magisterium, especially for the most defenceless; the disabled, the sick, the newborn, children, the elderly, those whose lives are most defenceless. In a frail human being, each one of us is invited to recognize the face of the Lord, who in his human flesh experienced the indifference and solitude to which we so often condemn the poorest of the poor, whether in developing countries or in wealthy societies. Every child who, rather than being born, is condemned unjustly to being aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ, bears the face of the Lord, who even before he was born, and then just after birth, experienced the world’s rejection. And every elderly person – I spoke of children: let us move to the elderly, another point! And every elderly person, even if he is ill or at the end of his days, bears the face of Christ. They cannot be discarded, as the “culture of waste” suggests! They cannot be thrown away!

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Mission

The third aspect is a mandate: be witnesses and diffusers of the “culture of life”. Your being Catholic entails a greater responsibility: first of all to yourselves, through a commitment consistent with your Christian vocation; and then to contemporary culture, by contributing to recognizing the transcendent dimension of human life, the imprint of God’s creative work, from the first moment of its conception. This is a task of the new evangelization that often requires going against the tide and paying for it personally. The Lord is also counting on you to spread the “gospel of life”. Within this perspective, hospital departments of gynaecology are privileged places of witness and evangelization, for wherever the Church becomes “the bearer of the presence of God”, there, too, she becomes the “instrument of the true humanization of man and the world” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Doctrinal Note on Some Aspects of Evangelization). By fostering an awareness that the human person, in his frailty, stands at the centre of all medical and healthcare work, the healthcare facility becomes “a place in which the relationship of treatment is not a profession” — your relationship of treatment is not a profession — “but a mission; where the charity of the Good Samaritan is the first seat of learning and the face of suffering man is the

R ISTI A

Christ’s own Face” (Benedict XVI, Address at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 3 May 2012). Dear friends and physicians, you are called to care for life in its initial stage; remind everyone, by word and deed, that this is sacred — at each phase and at every age — that it is always valuable. And not as a matter of faith — no, no — but of reason, as a matter of science! There is no human life more sacred than another, just as there is no human life qualitatively more significant than another. The credibility of a healthcare system is not measured solely by efficiency, but above all by the attention and love given to the person, whose life is always sacred and inviolable. Never fail to ask the Lord and the Virgin Mary for the strength to accomplish your work well and to bear witness courageously — courageously! Today courage is needed — to bear witness courageously to the “gospel of life”! Thank you very much. © Copyright: Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Address given at the Clementine Hall Friday, 20 September 2013.