In
in the Refe O N te vo ld u o sh r a lt ra side: Why Gib
rendum
Editorial approved by Fr. Stuart Chipolina
Message of His Holiness Pope Francis for the 28th
Wo r ld D ay “Come to me all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest” Mt 11:28
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esus’ words, “Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28) point to the mysterious path of grace that is revealed to the simple and gives new strength to those who are weary and tired.
These words of Christ express the solidarity of the Son of Man with all those who are hurt and afflicted. How many people suffer in both body and soul! Jesus urges everyone to draw near to him – “Come to me!” – and he promises them comfort
and repose. “When Jesus says this, he has before him the people he meets every day on the streets of Galilee: very many simple people, the poor, the sick, sinners, those who are marginalized by the burden of the law and the oppressive social system… These people always followed him to hear his word, a word that gave hope! Jesus’ words always give hope!” (Angelus, 6 July 2014). On this XXVIII World Day of the Sick, Jesus repeats these words to the sick, the oppressed, and the poor. For they realize that they depend entirely on God and, beneath the burden of their trials, stand in need of his healing. Jesus does not make demands of those who endure situations of frailty, suffering and weakness, but offers his mercy
and his comforting presence. He looks upon a wounded humanity with eyes that gaze into the heart of each person. That gaze is not one of indifference; rather, it embraces people in their entirety, each person in his or her health condition, discarding no one, but rather inviting everyone to share in his life and to experience his tender love. Why does Jesus have these feelings? Because he himself became frail, endured human suffering and received comfort from his Father. Indeed, only those who personally experience suffering are then able to comfort others. There are so many kinds of grave suffering: incurable and chronic diseases, psychological diseases, situations calling for rehabilitation or palliative care, numerous forms of disability, children’s or geriatric diseases… At times human warmth is 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 hand-delivered 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. Cover: Patroness of GPLM Lady Cristina and Sir Peter attend a GPLM meeting on 6th Feb 2020 Photo © A.Sargent
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lacking in our approach to these. What is needed is a personalized approach to the sick, not just of curing but also of caring, in view of an integral human healing. In experiencing illness, individuals not only feel threatened in their physical integrity, but also in the relational, intellectual, affective and spiritual dimensions of their lives. For this reason, in addition to therapy and support, they expect care and attention. In a word, love. At the side of every sick person, there is also a family, which itself suffers and is in need of support and comfort. Dear brothers and sisters who are ill, your sickness makes you in a particular way one of those “who labour and are burdened”, and thus attract the eyes and heart of Jesus. In him, you will find light to brighten your darkest moments and hope to soothe your distress. He urges you: “Come to me”. In him, you will find strength to face all the worries and questions that assail you during this “dark night” of body and soul. Christ did not give us prescriptions, but through his passion, death and resurrection he frees us from the grip of evil. In your experience of illness, you certainly need a place to find rest. The Church desires to become more and more the “inn” of the Good Samaritan who is Christ (cf. Lk 10:34), that is, a home where you can encounter his grace, which finds expression in closeness, acceptance and relief. In this home, you can meet people who, healed in their frailty by God’s mercy, will help you bear your cross and enable your suffering to give you a new perspective. You will be able to look beyond your illness to a greater horizon of new light and fresh strength for your lives. A key role in this effort to offer rest and renewal to our sick brothers and sisters is played by healthcare workers:
of the Sick physicians, nurses, medical and administrative professionals, assistants and volunteers. Thanks to their expertise, they can make patients feel the presence of Christ who consoles and cares for the sick, and heals every hurt. Yet they too are men and women with their own frailties and even illnesses. They show how true it is that “once Christ’s comfort and rest is received, we are called in turn to become rest and comfort for our brothers and sisters, with a docile and humble attitude in imitation of the Teacher” (Angelus, 6 July 2014). Dear healthcare professionals, let us always remember that diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic treatments, research, care and rehabilitation are always in the service of the sick person; indeed the noun “person” takes priority over the adjective “sick”. In your work, may you always strive to promote the dignity and life of each person, and reject any compromise in the direction of euthanasia, assisted suicide or suppression of life, even in the case of terminal illness. When confronted with the limitations and even failures of medical science before increasingly problematic clinical cases and bleak diagnoses, you are called to be open to the transcendent dimension of your profession that reveals its ultimate meaning. Let us remember that life is sacred and belongs to God; hence it is inviolable and no one can claim the right to dispose of it freely (cf. Donum Vitae, 5; Evangelium Vitae, 29-53). Life must be welcomed, protected, respected and served from its beginning to its end: both human reason and faith in God, the author of life, require this. In some cases, conscientious objection becomes a necessary decision if you are to be consistent with your “yes” to life and to the human person. Your professionalism, sustained by Christian charity, will be the
best service you can offer for the safeguarding of the truest human right, the right to life. When you can no longer provide a cure, you will still be able to provide care and healing, through gestures and procedures that give comfort and relief to the sick. Tragically, in some contexts of war and violent conflict, healthcare professionals and the facilities that receive and assist the sick are attacked. In some areas, too, political authorities attempt to manipulate medical care for their own advantage, thus restricting the medical profession’s legitimate autonomy. Yet attacking those who devote themselves to the service of the suffering members of society does not serve the interests of anyone. On this XXVIII World Day of the Sick, I think of our many brothers and sisters throughout the world who have no access to medical care because they live in poverty. For this reason, I urge healthcare institutions and government leaders throughout the world not to neglect social justice out of a preoccupation for financial concerns. It is my hope that, by joining the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity, efforts will be made to cooperate in ensuring that everyone has access to suitable treatments for preserving and restoring their health. I offer heartfelt thanks to all those volunteers who serve the sick, often compensating for
structural shortcomings, while reflecting the image of Christ, the Good Samaritan, by their acts of tender love and closeness. To the Blessed Virgin Mary, Health of the Sick, I entrust all those who bear the burden of illness, along with their families and all healthcare workers. With the assurance of a remembrance in my prayers, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing. Given at the Vatican earlier this year.
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Fr. Stuart would like to thank all those who organized and helped with the Parish Novena of Our Lady of Lourdes at St. Paul’s Parish, Gibraltar and with the Concluding procession on the 11th February.
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Where Facts meets Faith by Rev. Dr. Bernard Farrell-Roberts
Must Faith Be Blind?
Does God Really Exist? and logical manner. By doing so they make it very difficult for young Christians to respond by making statements such as ‘because the bible says so’ without being ridiculed by their non-believing peers. So how can they respond to questions or statements such as:
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any Christians believe that we should simply accept everything the bible says, and that it is only by doing so without question that we demonstrate that we are true Christians. However, in today’s world, where everyone has instant access to vast amounts of both true information and misinformation, and where social media sites put forward individual opinions as facts, whether this is true or not, we find that the bible itself is under constant attack. In this world of today many books such as “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins have been written by sceptics in an attempt to argue against the existence of God in what they put forward as a factual
How can you trust a bible that was written hundreds of years after Jesus died, especially when we don’t really know who wrote it? How can your religion be any good if it is responsible for so many atrocities and wars? If there is a God, why does he allow so much suffering? God didn’t make us, the big bang and science can explain everything. How can you believe something as ridiculous as someone physically resurrecting from the dead?
It is becoming increasingly important, especially for young people in today’s world, that we help them to answer these questions. Statistics show that many young Christians lose their faith at college, or while at university, largely because their academic environments subject them to the above questions, and others. In the absence of the necessary answers, and with no family framework to guide them, they find themselves accepting the arguments of others as they drift away from their faith. So how can these questions be answered? Many Christians are surprised to learn that these questions, and many more, can be answered in the same factual and logical manner in which they were asked, and that Christians can argue against their non-believing peers using the same playing field as they do. What Christians need to understand and learn is that, contrary to what non-believers would have them believe, there is in fact more proof for such events as the resurrection of Jesus, and for the existence of God, than there is against these! For example, the biblical texts, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and many other historical documents
with a religious significance, have been endlessly studied by scholars of all religions, and also of no religion at all, from all over the world. These experts with all the tools at their disposal are easily able to separate historical fact from fiction. So when these scholars and experts establish something as a fact that even the atheist scholars accept, then that is the information we can safely use to answer the questions they put to us. It is time that we start appreciating just how much proof we actually have that strongly supports our faith. To help us to know what to say to others, we have at our disposal many books such as “The Devil’s Delusion” by David Berlinski, that have been written in order to expose the flaws in the arguments of such books as Dawkins’ “The God Delusion”. In the next issues of “Upon this Rock” we shall discuss these ‘facts’ and start building a strong foundation to our Faith, one based on fact and evidence.
Bishop’s Guidelines re: the Coronavirus O n 12th February Bishop Carmel Zammit issued guidelines for the Diocese of Gibraltar to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.
While the risk of catching the virus remains low locally and there is no emergency as such, we should all do what we can to minimize the chance of catching or spreading it.
So the following guidelines have been put in place:
1. Everyone should sanitise hands before attending Mass.
2. The Holy Water fonts will not be in use for the time being. 3. Priests and Eucharistic Ministers to sanitise their hands again before distribution of the Eucharist. 4. The ‘Sign of Peace’ will not
be offered during Mass.
5. The Bishop recommends, in the strongest possible terms, that everyone should receive Communion by hand for the time being, not on the tongue. 5. Temporary suspension of permission to offer the Precious Blood during Mass. Priests and Eucharistic
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Ministers will exercise discretion in offering Communion when visiting the sick and elderly and take special care to sanitise their hands afterwards. The full guidelines are available to read in every Church should the faithful have any queries.
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David Patrick Paul Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool, KCSG, KCMCO
Why Gibraltar should vote On the 6th February The Gibraltar ProLife Movement was pleased to introduce patron Lord Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool, KCSG, KCMCO who gave a powerful address to a crowded outdoor meeting in Casemates Square.
We are pleased to reproduce the text of Lord Alton’s speech here for our readers to study.
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the Eighth Army. In 1942 those Desert Rats were on their way to the Battle of El Alamein and to the subsequent Allied invasion of Italy. For his generation, Gibraltar – the Rock – was the iconic bastion, the fortress which represented Britain’s determination to resist the overwhelming destruction of Europe by fascism. It stood emblematically and patriotically as a last redoubt, a last outpost, in a dark and dangerous time. Even in antiquity, Gibraltar – one of the two Pillars of Hercules – represented the furthest outpost of the known and civilised world.
n a referendum on March 19th, Gibraltar is facing a life and death decision.
Mythology has it that one of Hercules’ descendants was the mother of Hippocrates – the founder of modern medicine. Beyond the myth we know that the Hippocratic Oath – with its injunction to do no harm – still forms the bedrock of medicine practised with ethics – but is routinely disregarded by those who have industrialised medicine for reasons of ideology or private gain.
That’s why there are 600 abortions every working day in the UK’s charnel houses and it’s why Gibraltar should vote No. Significantly, in Gibraltar’s new law there are no time limits in abortions which could be approved by non-specialist doctors e.g. in Section 163 A (1) (b): “if two registered medical practitioners employed by the Gibraltar Health authority are of the opinion, formed in good faith- (b) that the termination is necessary to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman…” In the UK this sort of open ended provision has led to babies with a cleft palate being aborted up to birth – and 90% of babies with Downs Syndrome being aborted.
Will it stand with Hippocrates and do no harm – compassionately caring for both a mother and her child –
And for other abortions, up to 12 weeks, I would like to hear from legislators what they think happens at 11 weeks, 6 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes that suddenly affords a developing child the right to
Should it follow the U.K. – where there have been 9 million abortions, one every three minutes – and legalise the routine taking of life in the womb?
Speaking in Gibraltar, today, against a change in the law, I couldn’t help thinking about the Rock’s extraordinary story: its strategic importance and what Gibraltar has represented across endless pages of history. During the Second World War, having sailed with thousands of others from Liverpool, my late father came through the Straits of Gibraltar as a young soldier in
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or discard the prohibition not to kill? Gibraltar’s new law (which is already an Act pending approval in the referendum) effectively allows abortion on demand – as in the UK. Lay people and even lawyers reading the proposed new law may think that it has many checks and balances but the UK‘s experience is that those safeguards are not worth the paper on which they are written.
Today, Gibraltar will need all the courage and strength of Hercules if it is to resist their attempts to barbarise its medical services by permitting the destruction of babies in the womb.
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The Gibraltar law uses a phrase about fatal foetal abnormality – for which there is no agreed definition.
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life, and why that child should be denied protection before this arbitrary point? Science teaches us that life begins at fertilisation. And science has moved on dramatically since abortion was
legalised. When the UK’s obsolete limits were being set, we didn’t know what was happening in the womb. We do now. This is a law which flies in the face of science and humanity. Today we know so much more about the undeniable humanity of the child in the womb.
It’s abundantly clear that once life begins, we should do no harm.
Yet, the new law completely disregards this principle and the mounting evidence about the pain and suffering experienced by the child. Some legislators in Gibraltar have argued that the UK government would have imposed a wide abortion law on Gibraltar if it doesn’t introduce one itself. That is simply not true and in any event, it would be deeply offensive for a territory, which rightly boasts of having selfdetermination, to be treated like a 19th century colony of the UK. Voters in the forthcoming referendum must not think that they are under duress from London – if, they are, then the Gibraltar government should say who in the UK is telling it to conform to a law and ethical code which is contested all over the world. Be clear, neither the UK Supreme Court nor its predecessors in the House of Lords, have ever had jurisdiction over Gibraltar
Compassionate, moral, legal and ethical advice on how to vote in the Referendum
NO on March 19 and neither the UK Supreme Court, nor the European Court of Human Rights, have ever acknowledged the right to abortion. The 30 Articles of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights contains no “right” to abortion but it does declare the right to life.
Lord Alton Patron of GPLM addressing the crowds at Casemates Square
Historically, Gibraltar has always acknowledged the right to life and the legal protection of the child in the womb by joint operation of Section 6 of the Gibraltar Constitution
Order in Council (and its 1969 predecessor) and recital 3 of the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child.
So, be in no doubt, the central proposition in the forthcoming Referendum is nothing less than the abolition, in part, of the right to life. And also be clear about the secondary question - whether to capitulate to the powerful international abortion industry which has specifically targeted Gibraltar, the Isle of Man and Malta. It is surprising that Gibraltar’s
government, which prides itself on being robust, should have rolled over so easily. Its citizens, though, are renowned for their patriotic grit, sense of duty, and for remembering the rock from which they have been hewn. By voting No, Gibraltar will be sending a clear signal that both lives matter – and that it will not be bullied into abandoning its values and ethics. Globally, the tide is turning, and country after country is questioning the abandonment of the Hippocratic Oath and the industrialised ending of vulnerable fragile lives. Just as progressive countries are once again rising to the defence of the right to life and legal protection of the most vulnerable, it would be a tragedy if Gibraltar abandoned its historic duty to be a bastion in defence of civilised values and the very right to life itself.
On March 19 Gibraltar should vote No.
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Where Science meets Faith: Rev. Dr. Bernard Farrell-Roberts writes about the results of new research data.
The
Truth of the
Shroud of Turin and the
Sudarium of Oviedo
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vidence of the Resurrection would provide proof of the Divinity of Christ, so do the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo provide this proof? Until recently scientists had doubts about their authenticity, but recent research seems to show otherwise. The Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth, 14 feet long by 42 inches wide. On it there is an image of an anatomically perfect but wounded man with a beard, moustache, and shoulder-length hair parted in the middle. He is muscular and between 5 feet 7 inches and 6 feet 2 inches tall. The wounds and blood stains on the Shroud match the accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus. The wounds visible in the image include large round wounds on one wrist and both feet (the position of the body hides the second wrist). A large wound in the side entering the ribcage, where the spear is said to have pierced Christ. Some small punctures on the forehead
and scalp consistent with a crown of thorns being pressed into it. Numerous linear gashes on the body and facial swelling, such as those scourging and beatings would have left, and blood flow down both arms. These wounds are consistent with the nails, spear, crown of thorns, scourging, beating and the nailed hands being raised above the body of the biblical and historical accounts of the crucifixion. Could these have been caused by the crucifixion of someone else, not Christ? Several of the above are unique features to Christ’s crucifixion. He was nailed to the cross rather than the traditional method of being tied to it by ropes. He was given a crown of thorns due to the title of “King of the Jews” that he had been given. He was also wounded in the side by a spear in order to speed up his death before the Passover commenced. So it is clear then, the image left on the shroud is that of the crucified Christ, but how did it get there? Could it be a forgery that was either painted or imprinted in
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eacon Bernard Farrell-Roberts is currently running a course designed to deepen the relationship of any Catholic with God. All are welcome, even if you have not been able to attend previously.
The course is run at the Catholic Community Centre, Gibraltar, on Wednesdays 6.30pm - 7.30pm.
Although the course is free of charge, any donation towards costs is welcomed.
For additional information please contact Deacon Bernard deaconbernardfarrellroberts@gmail.com
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some other way, or is it a real image of Jesus caused by the Resurrection? The Shroud has an undisputed, well documented history from 1349. Before that a less well documented history has it leaving Jerusalem, travelling through Edessa and Constantinople (in Turkey), before arriving in Lirey, in France. Due to this uncertainty it is important to know first, just how old the Shroud is. A Carbon-14 test was done on the Shroud in 1988 when a single sample was dated as
being 638 years old, with the result that the Shroud appeared to be some sort of Medieval forgery. However, it was later discovered that the sample tested had been taken from a repair that nuns had carried out after a fire in 1532. This resulted in other scientific dating tests being performed on samples from the original linen. A test of the decay of VANILLIN, an organic compound, then revealed that the Shroud originated between 1022 BC and 678 AD. A Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy test of cellulose degradation was then carried out, dating the Shroud as somewhere between 700 BC to 100 AD. Then a Raman laser spectroscopy test of cellulose degradation revealed it had originated between 700 BC and 300 AD. Finally, 3 mechanical tests indicated the Shroud was produced between 1 AD and 800 AD. The mean date for the origin of the Shroud according to these six tests is about 33 BC, close enough to be accepted as existing at the time of Jesus.
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Images: The shroud of Turin, the Sudarium of Oviedo, Roman Leptons, Mediterranean olive flowers © Robert Perry
In 1978, of 58 pollen grains taken from the surface of the Shroud, 45 were indigenous to the Sea of Galilee region 2,000 years ago, 13 of which were unique to that region. 6 of the others were from the Middle East, 2 from Edessa, and 1 from Constantinople. The remaining grains were from France and Italy where the Shroud is now. With these results the theory of a Medieval forgery became far less likely. The blood stains on the Shroud are real (type AB blood, with male DNA), and congealed on the cloth before the image was created. It is beneath the image, exactly as it would be in a resurrection. As was the custom, coins had been placed on the eyes of the man. They are Roman Leptons,
specially minted by Pontius Pilate in Judea in 29 AD, so this funeral must have happened after 29 AD.
The Shroud itself then originated in the 1st century AD in Palestine at about the time of Jesus’ death.
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ut, what about the image? How was it produced? The image is limited to the uppermost surface of the linen, thereby excluding the use of all paints, dyes, chemicals or vapours of any kind. Light, but not heat radiation then becomes the most likely method used. The image though is not a quick, sudden burn, but a discolouration caused by rapid
dehydration. Scientists could possibly replicate the image with Excimer ARF Lasers, however, it would take billions of watts of vacuum ultraviolet radiation to do so, focused on the linen for one 40 billionth of a second. To date there is no laser in the world capable of doing this today, and there clearly would not have been either at the time of Christ’s death! Even more complex to produce is the image itself, as it is a perfect photographic negative, present regardless of whether or not the cloth was touching the body. The radiation that discoloured the cloth was emanating equally from every point of the body, implying that the cloth must have collapsed through the body. There is no
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known scientific explanation for a body becoming “mechanically transparent” so that solid objects, like cloths, could pass through it. The only explanation is that the body became “non-physical” (i.e., lost its solidity)? Many physicists believe that there is no other conclusion possible. Finally, there have historically been some unexplained anomalies in the imprint on the Shroud, that did not seem to fit historical records. However, if we add the use of a facecloth, specifically the “Sudarium of Oviedo”, claimed to have been placed around Christ’s face in the tomb, not only are these anomalies explained, but recent scientific research has discovered a series of amazing coincidences that strongly suggest that both cloths were used on the same person at the time of Christ’s death. Considering all the evidence it is very likely the Shroud and the Sudarium are the burial cloths of Christ, and evidence of His Resurrection, and this has caused conversions among many scientists.
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Mother’s Day
Todays society still has far to go in wholeheartedly supporting motherhood.
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anic March, the first month of meteorological Spring, so eagerly awaited but it comes slowly.
It can be mid April before Winter loosens it’s tenacious grip of frost, snow and general chill. The austere season of Christian Lent usually occurs through March but reasons to celebrate can be found. The first of the month is St. David’s Day for the Welsh, the eighth is International Women’s Day, the seventeenth is St. Patrick’s Day for the Irish, the nineteenth St. Joseph’s Day for the workers and this year, the twenty second, is Mother’s Day. Laetare Sunday, mid Lent Sunday so observed because after weeks of strict fasting the rules were relaxed for one day. This day was also seen as a day
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when the faithful were required to return to their mother church, that would be the main church near their home where a special service was held. The tradition became known as “mothering”. It became a day of celebration when families gathered to feast and unite around the centre piece of the occasion which was the Simnel Cake, a truly mouth watering fruit cake made from the highly prized Simnel flour (fine wheat flour), and covered with almond paste topping. On Mother’s Day we honour the mother of the family and motherhood, the maternal bonds that join us and the influence she exerts on the family and society. If we look to the miracle at Cana when the wine ran out at a wedding and Mary interceded with her son saying “do whatever he tells you” we see this influence in action. A
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profound moment to reflect on. Victorian England saw the subjugation of women and girls to a horrifying degree. This has been amply illustrated in the hierarchy of “upstairs, downstairs” which ensured society kept them at the lowest level of this unbreakable code. It has been estimated that more than a million women, and girls aged between eleven and fifteen were in domestic service where their mistreatment was commonplace. They were known, in a demeaning and humiliating manner as “slaveys”. Young girls especially were vulnerable to sexual exploitation and sadly, when discovered to be pregnant, were severely punished by law, and often paid with their lives for giving birth to illegitimate babies.
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Until 1860 it had been legal to beat servants who had no recourse to the law. Life was harsh but these young girls were given a day off on Laetare Sunday to go home for a visit with their mothers and other family members. They had to walk, often a mile or more but they went with excitement in their hearts, they were going home to mother. Despite the misery which ruled their young lives this was a day to be joyful and they gathered flowers along the way to give to their mothers. Winter still held a grip on the land but the shy violets would already have put in an appearance. They could be found huddling in leafy litter or peeping demurely beneath some ancient hedge. The girls would crouch down and gently and carefully pluck these amethyst purple blooms, perhaps enjoying a whiff of their sweet floral earthy scent. They may not have known their place in folklore and the popularity of their fragrance and medicinal uses but they knew it would bring a smile to a beloved mother’s face.
Anne Mesilio writes nestled beneath our mother’s heart beat, where our own hearts begin to beat before she is even aware of it. Pope Francis, head of the family in Christ said:
“It is worthwhile to live as a family, a society grows strong, grows in goodness and beauty if built on the foundations of the family”.
Photo Wikimedia Commons
It was the Ancient Greeks and Romans who held festivals to honour the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele and the earliest Mother’s Day celebrations can be traced back to these Spring festivals. On this Mother’s Day families will honour mothers and motherhood with feasting, cards, flowers, maybe breakfast in bed, gifts, chocolate jewellery, as this is generally a happy time. However, it is not always a special day for struggling single mothers, and those who will have fled to the safety of a hostel with their children to escape an abusive situation. This is such a painful and stressful time, a lonely one too. Women mourn lost mothers either to death or the living death that is Alzheimer’s. Those with fertility issues are tormented with this longing to become mothers. Perhaps in a deep secret part of her being a woman mourns a lost vulnerable life to natural causes or otherwise. Women and children around the world are mired in poverty which fuels abuse
and exploitation. They are susceptible to disease caused by poor hygiene and lack of nourishment. They flee from war, hunger, poverty and social injustice. “Gender inequality is one of the oldest and most pervasive forms of inequality in the world. It denies women their voices, devalues their work and make women’s position unequal to men’s, from the household to the national and global levels.” This is really harrowing in the 21st century. Mothers have often been referred to as the glue which holds families together but being a mother is more than just giving birth. “Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother” (Oprah Winfry). It is carrying and caring for a life completely dependant on her before she even sees it, often before she even knows it is there. Psalm 139; 13-18. “For you created my inmost being: you knit me together in my mothers womb … I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;.” Yes, we all began life
He also recognises “In many cases in today’s society, parents come home exhausted, not wanting to talk, too tired to share a family meal”. Taking the commercialism away from Mother’s Day, it is perhaps a chance to touch base and rediscover what is important in our lives. The celebration of Mother’s Day allows us to reflect on who we want to be as a family and how we’re all connected to one another. Make it a day to remember the importance of mothers in our lives, even those who have gone before us because they will have bequeathed us a legacy: “Let her who gave birth to you rejoice”. Proverbs 23:25.
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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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Fionn Shiner writes
Parents of ‘abducted’ girl issue impassioned plea T
he parents of Huma Younus – the girl at the centre of an abduction, forced marriage and conversion case – have begged the international community for help, fearing her case will be deliberately delayed for several years until she “turn[s] 18”. In an exclusive video message to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Younus and Nagheena Masih, said they will take her case to the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Huma’s mother, Nagheena, said: “On February 3rd we went to the Sindh High Court but our little girl was not in the court room. If we do not get justice, we will address [the case] to the Supreme Court of Pakistan. “We believe that the government and the judges are delaying the decision because our girl is 14 years old. They want to wait for her to turn 18 and then close the case.” Huma’s parents say she was abducted on 10th October 2019, forced to marry her abductor, Abdul Jabbar, and convert from Catholicism to Islam.
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They say Huma is 14 and argue that the marriage is invalid, in line with the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act that forbids marriage involving anyone under 18. On 3rd February this year, Huma was summoned to appear in court. Had she done so, it would have been a first in Pakistani court history but in the event she did not attend. In her absence, the Sindh High Court ruled, in accordance with Shari‘a law, that, even if Huma was proven to be a minor, her marriage would be valid as, once a girl of any age has had her first period, she can marry. Her parents said: “We appeal to the international community to raise their voices for us and we thank Aid to the Church in Need… that continues to
support us.” The Sindh High Court’s pronouncement went against the letter of the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, passed in 2014, to stop forced marriages to minors in the province, primarily of Hindu and Christian girls, where it is prevalent. Condemning the apparent failure to act in accordance with the marriage act, Huma’s lawyer, Tabussum Yousaf, told ACN that such laws “are formulated and approved only to improve the image of the country in front of the international community, ask for development funds, and freely trade Pakistani products on the European market.” At a debate on the persecution of Christians on the 6th February, in the UK House of Commons, Brendan O’Hara, MP for Argyll
and Bute, raised the issue of Huma’s abduction. He said: “Will the Minister or her Government respond—if not today, at some point in the future—to this critical issue of a child, who has been abducted, forced to convert and forced into marriage?” In response, UK foreign office minister Heather Wheeler said: “…we condemn all forced marriages. If I did not say it loudly enough, I say it again now.” Image: Huma Younus, the 14 year old girl at the centre of a forced marriage case © Aid to the Church in Need
Upon This Rock is online
Fionn Shiner & John Pontifex write
Christians in the north are all marked men and women A
ccording to one of Nigeria’s most respected bishops “Killing Christians” and “Destroying Christianity” in northern Nigeria are top objectives for Islamist terror groups, he says all the faithful are now at risk. Bishop Matthew Kukah of Sokoto said that in persecuting Christians, Boko Haram had “exploited” an opportunity provided both by northern Nigeria’s “Muslim elite” and President Muhammadu Bahari’s regime. The bishop accused leading Muslims of systematic discrimination against Christians and hit out against “the most nepotistic and narcissistic government in known history”. Bishop Kukah made his comments in a homily at the funeral of 18-year-old seminarian Michael Nnadi of the Good Shepherd Seminary, Kaduna, who was abducted and murdered. The bishop said: “For us Christians, this death is a
metaphor for the fate of all Christians in Nigeria, but especially northern Nigeria. “For us Christians, it would seem safe to say that we are all marked men and women today.” Mr Nnadi was one of four seminarians kidnapped at Kaduna seminary on 8th January – the others were all released. The abductions followed the apparent beheading of 10 Christians on Christmas Day 2019 by a Daesh (ISIS) affiliate. On 20th January Boko Haram killed Rev. Lawan Andimi, chairman of the Adamawa state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria. Describing the Muslim elite’s years-long refusal to grant equality to Christians in the north, Bishop Kukah said in his homily: “This is the window that the killers of Boko Haram have exploited and turned into a door of death. “It is why killing Christians and destroying Christianity is seen as one of their key missions.” Criticising the government for incompetence and prejudice against Christians, the bishop said: “[President Buhari’s] north has become one large grave yard, a valley of dry bones, the nastiest and most brutish part of our dear country.”
The bishop went on to criticise people – including in the West – who deny the religious component to the violence in northern Nigeria. He said: “Are we to believe that simply because Boko Haram kills Muslims too, they wear no religious garb? Are we to deny the evidence before us, of kidnappers separating Muslims from infidels or compelling Christians to convert or die?” Begging the faithful not to retaliate, he said: “Are we angry? Yes, we are. Are we sad? Of course, we are. Are we tempted to vengeance? Indeed, we are. Do we feel betrayed? You bet. Do we know what to do? Definitely.” He added: “Are we in a war? Yes. But what would Christ have us do? The only way He has pointed out to us is the nonviolent way. It is the road less travelled, but it is the only way.” The bishop paid tribute to the support provided by leading
Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need throughout seminarian Michael Nnadi’s ordeal and afterwards. He said: “A staff [member] of the Aid to the Church in Need, an organisation dedicated to the cause of the persecution of Christians around the world, called me frantically immediately after the news of the kidnappings of the seminarians went out.” He added: “They remained with us emotionally”. Images: Bishop Kukah of Sokoto. Nigerian Youth Protest via web. © Aid to the Church in Need
The world is largely silent in the face of Christian persecution. The scale of the problem is so great, silence is no longer acceptable. Persecuted Christians need YOU - and all of us! Together our prayers and actions can make a difference. You can PLEDGE YOUR SOLIDARITY by: • Praying ACN’s Prayer found in leaflets in your local Church, or your own prayers for Persecuted Christians in danger. • Sharing this article and Christian Persecution facts with others so that all understand the need.
Set up a monthly gift:
Bishop Carmel Zammit Lenten Appeal for‘Aid to the Church in Need’, Gibraltar International Bank, Account Name: ‘Trustees RCC/CAN’ Account Number: 00812022, Sort Code: 60-83-14.
WHAT YOUR LENTEN GIFT CAN DO £45 can save widows and orphans in Nigeria £150 gives emergency aid to those fleeing from violence
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SAMUEL - God’s Special Gift
A Story by Manolo Galliano continues to be serialised
Chapter 9
After seeing his special friend lead through the streets towards his crucifixion, Samuel had been exhausted by his distress …
Samuel woke up with a start, shivering profusely, and with the vivid image still in his mind of his friend Jesus’ eyes piercing into his, as if pleading for his help. He blinked several times and rubbed his eyes, realising all at once that he seemed to be getting quite wet. For the first time, he opened
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This is the story of Samuel, a child with a mental disability and his encounter with Jesus, Continuing from Issue 224 who became his very special friend. his eyes wide and saw that the sky had darkened so much that, for a moment, he thought that he had overslept and that it might already be nighttime. However, for a fleeting moment, he saw the sun glide, blood-red and malevolent, behind the masses of black, billowing clouds, and this made him realise that oddly enough it was still daytime. The warm rain which had been falling intermittently, bringing an odour of damp earth into the deserted square, suddenly began to pelt down furiously in great torrents. All at once everything became
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pitch black! Samuel, who by now was quite drenched, became very frightened. He crouched into a rigid ball under the dripping sycamore tree, wrapping his arms tightly over his head. However, just then, an ear-splitting clap of thunder quickly made him change his mind and he instinctively burst off in the direction of the nearby houses, eager to find a safer spot away from the storm. As he stumbled in confused panic across the semi-flooded square, he tripped over a submerged cobblestone and careened heavily against the side of an imposing stone building. His troubles did not end there, for the impetus of his headlong fall, together with the incredible force of the rainwater flooding the square, resulted in propelling his small body through a narrow low-level opening in the wall. The very next moment, he was dropping headlong into a dark cellar and, hitting his head sharply against some projecting object, he lost all consciousness. Whilst Samuel remained
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sprawled out on the wet floor of the underground chamber, trembling and whimpering, his father and sister had been embarking on a frantic and fruitless search for him. The last time that they had seen him, earlier that morning, he had been lying fast asleep in Mathias’ house and they would have hardly imagined all that had happened to him in the meantime. They themselves had been constantly on the move, for most of that day, trying to follow the movements of the Master and becoming more and more concerned about the seemingly fateful course of events. On information they had received, they had first rushed to King Herod’s palace in the Upper City, but, when they got there, they discovered that Jesus had already been taken back to the Roman Procurator’s fortress residence. When they at last reached the courtyard in front of the vast building, they were just in time to see Jesus being escorted up the massive, ceremonial staircase by Roman soldiers
Story so far can be found at uponthisrock.gi and some Temple guards. Already, at that early hour of the morning, curious crowds were beginning to form, many of them pilgrims visiting Jerusalem, totally unaware of the captive’s identity. After a short while, they were joined by a very distraught Mary of Magdala, who told them all the latest news concerning the Master’s arrest, the previous evening, in the vicinity of the Mount of Olives. According to her sources, he had been taken the previous evening, almost secretly, before Annas, the former High Priest and then placed in a cellar until the following day. Apparently an emergency meeting of the Sanhedrin had been held very early that morning at which trumped-up charges of blasphemy had been levelled against Jesus. A final decision was now being sought from the Roman Procurator, Pontius Pilate.
Whilst they waited anxiously, they noticed the arrival of a number of sternlooking Pharisees and Scribes, accompanied by a large and motley band of excitable “hangers-on” and would-be sympathisers. Jacob rightly suspected that they had most probably been sent by the High Priest in order to create ill-feeling and resentment among the populace against Jesus. After what seemed like hours, they heard the blare of trumpets heralding the appearance of
Pontius Pilate, a short heavilybuilt man, with receding grey hair and deep hooded eyes. Accompanied by German mercenaries, the Procurator descended the stairway and seated himself on a ceremonial marble seat to the right of the stone-paved courtyard. As he gazed impassively at the jostling crowds held back by the Roman militia, the Master was led down, the sun beating mercilessly on his uncovered head and glinting on the heavy chains on his hands and feet. To be continued…
Why? Alpha will be running at St. Joseph’s Parish centre, every Wednesday evening for 10 weeks from mid-January 2020. Each evening comprises a meal, a short video and a lively, pressure-free, fun discussion. It’s absolutely free and open to everyone, especially people who are looking for the answers to life’s big questions.
Welcome to Alpha!
Please contact by phone or whatsapp Chris Pitaluga on 56584000 or by email on cjpitaluga2012@gmail.com
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