T HANK
YOU!
Editorial approved by Fr. Stuart Chipolina
Many people click on Faith in times of adversity:
Huge Growth
in online visitors during Holy Week and Easter events broadcast and shared by Vatican media reached millions of people around the world, attracting new viewers, followers and fans inspired by Pope Francis’ words and gestures.
Easter Triduum A
lessandro Gisotti, vice-editorial director of Vatican media said “We have been struck by the many emails we have received, comments and posts on our social media from people, even agnostics and non-believers, who say they have been moved by the words and gestures of the Holy Father during this very difficult period,” Huge spikes in online visitors, views, follows and comments on their numerous platforms showed that “many people, not just the Catholic faithful, were able to follow and ‘encounter’
the Holy Father and, through him, the Word of God thanks to this technology and especially to streaming services and social media,” he said in a response to a request from Catholic News Service for information about online engagement during Holy Week and Easter. Gisotti said that Vatican media outlets tried to put into practice that “creativity of love that the pope asks of us in order to overcome the isolation caused by the pandemic”. Their Vatican News site, which offers video, radio,
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.
Cover: Landscape with Noah Offering a Sacrifice of Gratitude (c.1803) by Joseph Anton T H A N K Koch.
Y OU!
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podcasts, images, news and audio services in more than 30 languages, saw its number of visitors and page views quadruple from the same liturgical period last year. Nearly 5.5 million users registered more than 14.5 million views on the vaticannews.va website between April 5 and April 13 versus Holy Week last year, which saw 1.5 million users and some 3.5 million page views. Vatican News live-streamed all the major events on its YouTube channels with live commentary in six languages, plus, for the first time, a channel featuring a sign-language interpreter. Easter events broadcast on YouTube, Gisotti said, had more than 2.1 million views. The social media accounts for Vatican News and Pope Francis also saw huge growth, he said. Over Holy Week the @Pontifex Twitter accounts surpassed 50 million followers, while the @Franciscus
Instagram accounts exceeded 7 million followers. The Vatican News Instagram account gained 27,000 new followers over Holy Week, bringing them to more than 436,000 followers. Vatican News tweets, over its different Twitter accounts in six languages, had 61 million views and received
31,000 mentions. There were almost 18 million viewers watching the live video feeds of Holy Week events on the Vatican News Facebook pages in different languages. The Good Friday Way of the Cross alone had more than five million viewers. Levels of engagement on Facebook
were high with 1.9 million actions on their accounts and an “exceptional number” of almost 143,000 comments made during the pope’s Easter events, Gisotti said. While all major papal Masses, liturgies and services have long been offered online, only a handful of events are broadcast
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worldwide via satellite each year. However, this year the Vatican offered all major Holy Week and Easter events for the first time. A total of six events were broadcast and distributed free-ofcharge, thanks to funding from the Knights of Columbus, to television outlets and networks around the world. Gisotti said they had no way to estimate the number of television viewers around the world, but there were almost 8 million households, 25 per cent of the audience share, tuning in to the Way of the Cross on the Italian public broadcasting company’s RAI 1 channel as well as 750,000 viewers on the Italian bishops’ conference TV channel and unspecified numbers of viewers on the stations’ streaming services. Easter Mass had a nearly 50 per cent share of the television audience in Italy with more than 8.1 million households viewing the entire event, while 17.5 million households tuned in for at least part of the event. Text by Carol Glatz, CNS. Images, opposite CNS/Andreas Solaro, Reuters pool, this page catholic.gi/GBC
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ishop Carmel spoke to the many people who had clicked on to the special Divine Mercy Mass streamed from the Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned either online or via television last month, during the time of Covid-19 lockdown. Adressing his comments to the camera instead of the congregation, the Bishop suggested that in the situation we are living in today, we ask that the Lord have mercy on us. “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endures forever!”1 Bishop Carmel continued, let us make our own Psalmist’s exclamation which we sang in the Responsorial Psalm: “The Lord’s mercy endures forever! This proclamation, this confession of trust in the all-powerful love of God, is especially needed in our own time, when mankind is
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experiencing bewilderment in the face of the Covid-19 Crisis. The invocation of God’s mercy needs to rise up from the depth of our hearts filled with suffering, apprehension, and uncertainty, and at the same time yearning for an infallible source of hope. Like St. Faustina, we wish to proclaim that apart from the mercy of God there is no other source of hope for mankind. We desire to repeat with faith: Jesus, I trust in you! Jesus in his ministry forgave sins, something that scandalized the leaders of the Jews. Jesus on the cross implores forgiveness for His torturers and opens the gates of heaven to repentant sinners. Even after the Resurrection of the Son of God, he speaks and never ceases to speak of God the Father, who is absolutely faithful to His eternal love for man… Believing in this love means believing in mercy”2 In the Divine Mercy icon the Lord also shows us His glorious wounds and His Heart, an inexhaustible source of light and truth, of love and forgiveness. Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the risen Christ and offers to humanity. What happens on the very day when Christ rose from the dead, in his very first appearance to
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Bishop prays for God’s Mercy during the Covid-19 crisis. the disciples: what are his first words to them? “Peace be with you,” he says twice. Bishop Carmel pointed out that Jesus does not reproach his disciples who all ran away to save themselves in the face of the crowds calling for crucifixion. And then what does he say? “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” This first gift of Easter is itself an act of mercy. God has given a sacramental and thus tangible form to the imparting of His mercy. This is the institution of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Bishop Carmel reminds us, an Easter gift to the Church. St. Faustina Kowalska saw coming from this Heart that was overflowing with generous love, two rays of light which illuminated the world. The two rays, [according to what Jesus Himself told her], that denote blood and water3.
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The blood recalls the sacrifice of Golgotha and the mystery of the Eucharist; the water, according to the rich symbolism of the Evangelist John, makes us think of Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Spirit.4
“Jesus, I trust in You!” This prayer, dear to so many of us, clearly expresses the attitude with which we too would like to abandon ourselves trustfully in Your hands, 0 Lord, our only Saviour. The rays of Your Divine Mercy restore hope, in a special way, to those who feel overwhelmed by the burden of sin. Mary, Mother of Mercy, help us always to have this trust in your Son, our Redeemer. Help us too, St. Faustina, whom we remember today with special affection. Fixing our weak gaze on the divine Saviour’s face, we would like to repeat with you: “Jesus, I trust in You!” Now and for ever. Amen. 1. Ps 117:1 2. Rich in Mercy, 7 3. Diary, 299 4. Jn 3:5; 4:14
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Vatican News
A Special Blessing from The Holy Father to Rome and the whole World at this difficult time.
Orbi et Urbi Dand sisters,
ear brothers
Happy Easter!
Today the Church’s proclamation echoes throughout the world: “Jesus Christ is risen!” – “He is truly risen!”. Like a new flame this Good News springs up in the night: the night of a world already faced with epochal challenges and now oppressed by a pandemic severely testing our whole human family. In this night, the Church’s voice rings out: “Christ, my hope, has arisen!” (Easter Sequence). This is a different “contagion”, a message transmitted from heart to heart – for every human heart awaits this Good News. It is the contagion of hope: “Christ, my hope, is risen!”. This is no magic formula that makes problems vanish. No, the resurrection of Christ is not that. Instead, it is the victory of love over the root of evil, a victory that does not “by-pass” suffering and death, but passes through them, opening a path in the abyss, transforming evil into good: this is the unique hallmark of the power of God. The Risen Lord is also the Crucified One, not someone else. In his glorious body he bears indelible wounds: wounds that have become windows of hope. Let us turn our gaze to him that he may heal the wounds of an afflicted humanity. Today my thoughts turn in the first place to the many who have been directly affected
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by the coronavirus: the sick, those who have died and family members who mourn the loss of their loved ones, to whom, in some cases, they were unable even to bid a final farewell. May the Lord of life welcome the departed into his kingdom and grant comfort and hope to those still suffering, especially the elderly and those who are alone. May he never withdraw his consolation and help from those who are especially vulnerable, such as persons who work in nursing homes, or live in barracks and prisons. For many, this is an Easter of solitude lived amid the sorrow and hardship that the pandemic is causing, from physical suffering to economic difficulties. This disease has not only deprived us of human closeness, but also of the possibility of receiving in person the consolation that flows from the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist and Reconciliation. In many countries, it has not been possible to approach them, but the Lord has not left us alone! United in our prayer, we are convinced that he has laid his hand upon us (cf. Ps 138:5), firmly reassuring us: Do not be afraid, “I have risen and I am with you still!” (cf. Roman Missal, Entrance Antiphon, Mass of Easter Sunday). May Jesus, our Passover, grant strength and hope to doctors and nurses, who everywhere offer a witness of care and love for our neighbours, to the point of exhaustion and not infrequently at the expense of their own health. Our gratitude and
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affection go to them, to all who work diligently to guarantee the essential services necessary for civil society, and to the law enforcement and military personnel who in many countries have helped ease people’s difficulties and sufferings. In these weeks, the lives of millions of people have suddenly changed. For many, remaining at home has been an opportunity to reflect, to withdraw from the frenetic pace of life, stay with loved ones and enjoy their company. For many, though, this is also a time of worry about an uncertain future, about jobs that are at risk and about other consequences of the current crisis. I encourage political leaders to work actively for the common good, to provide the means and resources needed to enable everyone to lead a dignified life and, when circumstances allow, to assist them in resuming their normal daily activities. This is not a time for indifference, because the whole world is suffering and needs to be united in facing the pandemic. May the risen Jesus grant hope to all the poor, to those living on the peripheries, to refugees and the homeless. May these, the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters living in the cities and peripheries of every part of the world, not be abandoned. Let us ensure that they do not lack basic necessities (all the more difficult to find now that many businesses are closed) such as medicine and especially the possibility of adequate health care. In light of the present circumstances,
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may international sanctions be relaxed, since these make it difficult for countries on which they have been imposed to provide adequate support to their citizens, and may all nations be put in a position to meet the greatest needs of the moment through the reduction, if not the forgiveness, of the debt burdening the balance sheets of the poorest nations. This is not a time for self-centredness, because the challenge we are facing is shared by all, without distinguishing between persons. Among the many areas of the world affected by the coronavirus, I think in a special way of Europe. After the Second World War, this continent was able to rise again, thanks to a concrete spirit of solidarity that enabled it to overcome the rivalries of the past. It is more urgent than ever, especially in the present circumstances, that these rivalries do not regain force, but that all recognize themselves as part of a single family and support one another. The European Union is presently facing an epochal challenge, on which will depend not only its future but that of the whole world. Let us not lose the opportunity to give further proof of solidarity, also by turning to innovative solutions. The only alternative is the selfishness of particular interests and the temptation of a return to the past, at the risk of severely damaging the peaceful coexistence and development of future generations. This is not a time for division. May Christ our peace enlighten all who have
Italy responsibility in conflicts, that they may have the courage to support the appeal for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world. This is not a time for continuing to manufacture and deal in arms, spending vast amounts of money that ought to be used to care for others and save lives. Rather, may this be a time for finally ending the long war that has caused such great bloodshed in beloved Syria, the conflict in Yemen and the hostilities in Iraq and in Lebanon. May this be the time when Israelis and Palestinians resume dialogue in order to find a stable and lasting solution that will allow both to live in peace. May the sufferings of the people who live in the eastern regions of Ukraine come to an end. May the terrorist attacks carried out against so many innocent people in different African countries
United Kingdom
Syria
come to an end. This is not a time for forgetfulness. The crisis we are facing should not make us forget the many other crises that bring suffering to so many people. May the Lord of life be close to all those in Asia and Africa who are experiencing grave humanitarian crises, as in the Province of Cabo Delgado in the north of Mozambique. May he warm the hearts of the many refugees displaced because of wars, drought and famine. May he grant protection to migrants and refugees, many of them children, who are living in unbearable conditions, especially in Libya and on the border between Greece and Turkey. And I do not want to forget the island of Lesvos. In Venezuela, may he enable concrete and immediate solutions to be reached that can permit international assistance to a population suffering from the
Jerusalem
grave political, socio-economic and health situation.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Indifference, self-centredness, division and forgetfulness are not words we want to hear at this time. We want to ban these words for ever! They seem to prevail when fear and death overwhelm us, that is, when we do not let the Lord Jesus triumph in our hearts and lives. May Christ, who has already defeated death and opened for us the way to eternal salvation, dispel the darkness of our suffering humanity and lead us into the light of his glorious day, a day that knows no end. With these thoughts, I would like to wish all of you a happy Easter. Saint Peter’s Basilica Easter, 12 April 2020 © Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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Lesvos
Images, clockwise. Holy Father ©Vatican News. Overworked Covid19 medic selfies after 12/13 hr shifts ©Nicola Sgarbi, ©Aimée Goold|The Mirror. Praying at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem © Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90. A Medicins Sans Frontiers field hospital Idlib province, Syria, ©Omar Haj Kadour/MSF A Palestinian in Jerusalem ©Ahmad Gharabli/AFP Family in Lesvos refugee camp@ Manolis Lagoutaris|AFP
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John Newton and John Pontifex outline how Bishop Carmel Zammit’s Lenten appeal funds are badly needed during the Covid-19 Crisis
AID STEPPED UP DURING THE COVID-19 CRISIS
Catholic charity announces £4.3 million COVID-19 aid package
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LEADING Catholic charity has pledged €5 million (£4.3 million) to support clergy serving those badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Priests and religious Sisters caring for vulnerable communities around the world, who have lost their sources of income due to the coronavirus crisis, will receive emergency funding from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
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“The demand for social and spiritual care is soaring.” Announcing the new initiative, Dr. Thomas HeineGeldern, Executive President of ACN (International), said: “As a rising tide of human suffering related to COVID-19 makes itself felt around the world, the demand for social and spiritual care is soaring. “It is our wish that this aid, made possible thanks to our benefactors, will help ease the burden on our courageous religious, who stand on the front lines, bringing God’s love and compassion to our suffering brothers and sisters. “Now more than ever, the light and hope of the Lord is needed.” The charity will help priests and religious who have lost their means of support, so that they can continue their vital ministries, including caring for the sick and elderly.
Many people in developing countries – already impoverished and with limited resources – rely on the local Church for basic social care, including health services. ACN’s help will come in the form of subsistence aid for religious communities and Mass stipends for priests across the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa. The charity already provides assistance of this sort, but ACN’s new initiative will see this help massively stepped up. Dr. Heine-Geldern said: “We are united in prayer with the brave and dedicated priests and nuns who give their all to serve the world’s most vulnerable communities, and with all who are suffering around the world. “This is a drop in the bucket in terms of what is and will be needed, but the Church plays a particularly vital spiritual and pastoral role in the day-today life of the world’s poorest Christian communities, and we must help strengthen the safety net it provides.
Supporting the most vulnerable communities. “I am so thankful to our donors, who, often despite their own pain and hardship, are reaching out to their fellow faithful. “It is a beautiful gesture, one that is helping to keep the Faith alive.”
Image: The Sisters of Charity of St. Charles Borromeo distribute food to poor households in Barangay Francisco, Tagaytay City during the Philippines’ COVID-19 lockdown. (© CBCP News) Map @ google.com
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EMPTY
C
ardinal Vincent Nichols is leading an Easter appeal for prayers and solidarity for the people of the Holy Land amid growing concerns about the impact of the coronavirus – especially on those who are most vulnerable. Embrace the Middle East, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) and Friends of the Holy Land (FHL), Christian charities in the region, have warned of dire consequences as the virus spreads in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, with many at risk, especially in Gaza and elsewhere, where there is acute poverty and very poor living conditions Leading the appeal for prayer and solidarity, Cardinal Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, said: “As we follow Jesus’ last days in Jerusalem culminating in his passion, death and resurrection, we should remember the many people of the Holy Land enduring their own Way of the Cross in the midst of this pandemic.” “I ask everyone, as we pray for all those suffering from this vicious virus, to pray for the people of the Holy Land particularly as we approach Easter.” In an area, parts of which suffer from massive housing shortage, lack of clean water, acute problems with medical supplies, fears have been expressed that the disease could spread rapidly, with many people at acute risk because of poor diet and underlying health conditions. With reports of just 256 ventilators in the West Bank and 87 in Gaza, concerns are growing of a health emergency in a region where latest data shows nearly 9,000 COVID-19 cases in Israel, with 54 deaths, and in Palestine, one death and
DUE TO THE COVID-19 CRISIS Holy Land: Bethlehem Manger Square 252 confirmed cases. A lockdown has been in place since last month, creating an economic crisis during the peak tourist season for workers especially in Bethlehem, Jerusalem and elsewhere. Describing difficulties of enforcing social distancing in densely populated areas where up to 15 people live in one house, FHL’s Executive Director Brendan Metcalfe said: “In a place where there is no clean water, and where soap is in short supply and there is no hand-sanitiser, can you imagine telling people to go and wash their hands? “While nobody is guaranteed protection from the virus, many of the people of the Holy Land are especially vulnerable and have absolutely no line of defence against this deadly
disease – with no savings to fall back on, nothing.” Neville Kyrke-Smith, National Director of Aid to the Church in Need, said: “For many of our friends and project partners this is a time of survival. I know from calls and social media that Christians suffering in the Holy Land and Middle East are praying for us this Holy Week and Easter. “We are united with them in prayer and hope – as we know the loving kindness of the faithful benefactors of ACN and other charities.” Tim Livesey, CEO of Embrace said: “Embrace is supporting a number of partners working in the West Bank and Gaza. With them, we are working to enable the most vulnerable in the community to access the support they need.
“In particular we help to fund Caritas Jerusalem, and other partners in Gaza, including the Near East Council of Churches and the Al Ahli Anglican hospital to maintain essential health services. With COVID19 the healthcare system there is now more stretched than ever.” Friends of the Holy Land has launched the FHL Pentecost Challenge, a relief fund for struggling families, and Aid to the Church in Need is stepping up pastoral relief programmes for families and Church communities, especially in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Images: Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster (Copyright: © Mazur/catholicnews. org.uk Manger Square, Bethlehem (© Friends of the Holy Land)
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. A joint appeal to enable the most vulnerable to access support during the Covid-19 crisis.
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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.
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Anne Mesilio writes
Tumbleweed Tumbleweed © Maciej Bledowski | Dreamstime.com
I
was standing at my window looking out at the heavy rain.
Someone told me once that rain was heaven crying, well, it must have been having a right old bawl that day! For me it was day 29 of lock down, that new word to keep us at home in order to survive the global outbreak of this Novel Coronavirus, COVID-19. No need to say too much about it as it is as familiar to us as a weather forecast, and just as capricious. What was not familiar, and probably still as you read this, is having to isolate from each other, even if it is for the good of all, it’s called surviving. Humans are wired for social interaction, seeing our family and friends, getting together for social occasions, greeting each other with hugs. Overnight that changed, now we must not do any of that! In modern parlance, I cannot get my head around this. No more family get togethers, large gatherings, all sports cancelled, shops and work places closed, and on it goes. Stay away from each other! This virus has become
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a pandemic, it is sneaky, no respecter of a persons creed, culture, geography, age. Ah age, the elderly in society are known to be the most vulnerable to this virus and its deathly consequences, and for care and safety have been hardest hit with the strict lock down rules. It will have been the separation from families that will have been the most difficult to cope with. As John Donne wrote, maybe prophetically in 1642, “No man is an island, entire of itself”. We need each other. Staring out at the rain and the desolate picture of emptiness it provoked I was reminded, out of the blue, of old Western movies where tumble weeds were icons of the old West. Picture an abandoned prairie town in which, rolling down the deserted street, chased along by a shrieking wind, a twisted ball of dead foliage, tumbling its seeds as it rolls. It is a scene which has become synonymous with the American West. The picture evokes isolation, loneliness, a feeling of disconnection from the world around us. Confinement, loss of our usual routine, social and physical contact, frustration, health problems, mental as well
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as physical, can make us feel like that tumbling tumble weed. Pope Francis said “For weeks now it has been evening. Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice in people’s gestures, their glances give them away. We find ourselves afraid and lost”. He kept a lonely vigil in an eerily deserted St. Peter’s Square in Rome. Watching this elderly man, dressed all in white, walk purposefully along on a rainy evening at dusk, the scene a surreal blue, it was one I will keep with me for some time. Part of his incredible pertinent homily went as follows: “The storm exposes our vulnerability and uncovers those
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false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules, our projects, our habits and priorities. It shows us how we have allowed to become dull and feeble the very things that nourish, sustain and strengthen our lives and our communities”. Well, my thoughts have become like the seeds of the tumble weeds, scattered everywhere. Living in isolation, having no family here to break the day, I can only share how it is for me, but you may find echoes for you. I sorely miss chatting to friends, acquaintances, you know, actually exercising my vocal chords. My throat was dry recently and my daughter suggested, as a poetry lover, I read, aloud, a poem a day! Simple, effective and actually memory provoking. As a young teenager growing up in Ireland
Seeing the social media photos and video clips of Gibraltar’s empty streets, shuttered shops, bars and restaurants is very sobering indeed. Shelter in place, lock down, and cocooning is the Irish version of staying at home. I like the cocooning as it evokes visions of a beautiful butterfly emerging at the end of the cycle after the caterpillar gets its wings. The world keeps turning while we hunker down at home. Katherine Tynan’s poem comes to mind; “All in the April evening, April airs were abroad, the sheep with their little lambs, passed me by on the road”. Nature never sleeps. Florence Nightingale was born on 12th May 1820 so this year we celebrate her 200th birthday. Her incredible work with sick and dying soldiers during the Crimean War (1853-1856) is well documented and records her as the founder of modern nursing. During this pandemic of modern
times extra hospital facilities are opening and carrying her name, a very fitting tribute to this pioneering nurse and leader. With this being the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife it could not have been more timely. It might have passed without too much fuss, but no chance now! May is the month of Mary, and Pope Francis, showing strong leadership to the faithful prayed:
O Mary, you shine continuously on our journey as a sign of salvation and hope. We entrust ourselves to you, Health of the Sick.
With so much time on our hands why not make time for a daily Rosary this month as a special offering to Our Lady. Pope Francis; “How many people every day are exercising patience and offering hope, taking care to sow not panic but a shared responsibility.” Let us not be like tumble weeds, aimless and purposeless, we have one collective aim here,
© A. Sargent | uponthisrock.gi
during the Summer I would recite poetry to help pass the time as I churned the cream into a lump of golden butter. Another thought was for the fact that this virus attacks the lungs. The lungs main role is to bring in air from the atmosphere and pass oxygen into the bloodstream. From there, it circulates to the rest of the body. Tropical rainforests are often called the “lungs of the planet” because they generally draw in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. With the shut down of factories globally the lungs of the plant began breathing again, a staggering and unforeseen consequence which has literally given breathing space to our poor beleaguered planet which was in a critical condition thanks to our abuse of it.
to come through this, safely, and we should remember that we are not alone. Pope Francis said “ Jesus experienced total abandonment in a situation he had never before experienced in order to be one with us in everything. He did it for me, for you, for all of us; he did it to say to us: “Do not be afraid, you are not alone. I experienced all your desolation in order to be ever close to you”. “Dear friends, look at the real heroes who come to light in these days: they are not famous, rich and successful people; rather, they are those who are giving themselves in order to serve others.”
Hear! Hear!
Rush Hour in Gibraltar during the COVID-19 Lockdown© A. Sargent | uponthisrock.gi
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Stewardship of the planet for the next generation
TheW
ILD
be keptW
COVID-19
is not a ‘silver lining’ for the climate, says UN Environment chief.
G
reenhouse gas emissions are down and air quality has gone up as governments react to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Inger Andersen, has cautioned against viewing this as a boon for the environment. Ms. Andersen calls instead for a profound, systemic shift to a more sustainable economy that works for both people and the planet. “The global coronavirus pandemic, which has already caused unimaginable devastation and hardship, has brought our way of life to an almost complete halt. The outbreak
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will have profound and lasting economic and social consequences in every corner of the globe. In the face of such turmoil, as the SecretaryGeneral has indicated, COVID19 will require a response like none before – a “war-time” plan in times of human crisis. And as we inch from a “wartime” response to “building back better”, we need to take on board the environmental signals and what they mean for our future and wellbeing, because COVID-19 is by no means a “silver lining” for the environment. Visible, positive impacts – whether through improved air quality or reduced greenhouse gas emissions – are but temporary, because they come on the back of tragic economic slowdown and human distress. The pandemic will also result in an increase in the amounts of medical and hazardous waste generated. This is no one’s model of environmental response, least of all an environmentalist’s. And indeed, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography has highlighted that fossil fuel use would have to decline by about 10 percent
must
ILD
around the world, and would need to be sustained for a year to show up clearly in carbon dioxide levels.
Ahealthy planet means fewer diseases Any positive environmental impact in the wake of this abhorrent pandemic, must therefore be in our changing our production and consumption habits towards cleaner and greener. Because only long-term systemic shifts will change the trajectory of CO2 levels in the atmosphere. So, in the aftermath of the crisis, when economic stimulus packages composed of infrastructure are designed, there is a real opportunity to meet that demand with green packages of renewable energy investments, smart buildings, green and public transport, etc. The Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, Inger Andersen, addresses a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya., by UNEP/Cyril Villemain With respect to the disease itself, part of the challenge ahead is understanding where
such diseases come from, because the health of our planet plays an important role in the spread of zoonotic diseases, i.e. disease originating from pathogens that transfer from animals to humans. As we continue to encroach on fragile ecological ecosystems, we bring humans into ever-greater contact with wildlife. Further, illegal wildlife trade and illegal wet markets are not infrequent causes of such diseases. Around 75 per cent of new and infectious diseases are zoonotic and, in fact, about 1 billion cases of illness and millions of deaths occur every year from these diseases.
The wild must be kept wild Humanity’s expansion on the terrestrial earth surface means that, today, human activity has altered almost 75 per cent of the earth’s surface, squeezing wildlife and nature into an eversmaller corner of the planet. And yet, nature is critical to our own survival: nature provides us with our oxygen, regulates our weather patterns, pollinates
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Main article: UN Environment Programme
OR I G I NS OF C OV I D -1 9
The closest known wildlife sequence to SARSCoV-2 which causes the Covid-19 disease, remains the sequence from the virus isolated from an intermediate Horseshoe Bat.
Zoonotic Disease Infographic © UrbanPetHospital&Resort
Horseshoe Bat © Nicolas Fernandez | Dreamstime.com
ZOONOTIC DISEASE FACTS
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pmc/articles/PMC7086482/
our crops, produces our food, feed and fibre, but it is under increasing stress. As we continue our relentless move into natural habitats, contact between humans and reservoir hosts increases, whether as a result of urbanization, habitat loss and fragmentation, or live animal markets – all of which increases the likelihood of interaction between these vectors and humans. According to IPBES, we have seen 100 million hectares of agricultural expansion in the tropics between 1980 and 2000, roughly equal to the size of France and Germany combined. The “wild” must be kept “wild.” It is time to restore our forests, stop deforestation, invest in the management of protected areas, and propel markets for deforestation-free products. Where the legal wildlife trade chain exists, we need to do a far better job of improving hygiene conditions. And of course, there
is the urgent need to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, the fourth most common crime committed worldwide. Building a ‘different economy’
The better we manage nature, the better we manage human health The better we manage nature, the better we manage human health. This is why the post-2020 biodiversity framework that countries around the world are expected to agree on this year matters greatly. An important pillar in our post-COVID recovery plan must be to arrive at an ambitious, measurable and
inclusive framework, because keeping nature rich, diverse and flourishing is part and parcel of our life’s support system. Even more important when you consider that between 25-50 per cent of pharmaceutical products are derived from genetic resources. And as the engines of growth begin to rev up again, we need to see how prudent management of nature can be part of this “different economy” that must emerge, one where finance and actions fuel green jobs, green growth and a different way of life, because the health of people and the health of planet are one and the same, and both can thrive in equal measure.”
See the original article https://news.un.org/en/ story/2020/04/1061082
SO CALLED ‘SPANISH FLU’ STARTED IN KANSAS, USA
The ‘Spanish Flu’ influenza epidemic occurred in at least three waves, as visualized in Europe and America. The first wave appeared in the spring of 1918, in a well-documented outbreak at a military base in the farm state of Kansas 1. During WWI American troops carried the disease to many parts of the world in crowded troop trains and ships. It is thought to have originally been an avian flu’
https://academic.oup.com › emph › article-pdf › eoy024
FUNDING AVAILABLE
The Christian Mission Trust provides local Christians with donations for evangelistic initiatives and outreaches. 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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SAMUEL - God’s Special Gift
A Story by Manolo Galliano continues to be serialised
This is the story of Samuel, a child with a mental disability and his encounter with Jesus, Continuing from Issue 226 who became his very special friend.
Chapter 10 continued..
Jesus has died on the cross and poorly little Samuel tries to escape the cellar he was washed into‌ After a number of false attempts, he managed to clamber up the makeshift mound he had made and squeeze through the narrow
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opening onto the square outside. As he crawled outside, he saw that it was early evening and that the first bright stars were already appearing in the clear, dark violet sky. He felt very frightened and did not have the faintest idea where to go or what to do. He felt so cold and so tired that his only thought was of finding somewhere warm on which to lie down. Just then a stooped old man, wearing a long and hooded cape, turned the corner of the empty square, leading an ox-drawn cart, laden high with bales of hay, covered by coarse
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hessian sacking. As it trundled past him, almost pressing him flat against the wall, Samuel decided, without a moment’s thought, to climb up on it. With his last ounce of strength, he jumped up on the cart without the old man ever noticing, and burrowing deep inside, he was soon curled up fast asleep. Whilst he slept fitfully, the ox-drawn cart continued on its slow, winding way through the labyrinth of streets, until it at last reached the Valley Gate. There, the guards on sentry duty, did not even bother to prod the stacks of hay with their spears, as they usually did, and therefore never discovered that there was a stowaway travelling on it. The final destination of the cart was a ramshackle stable, situated just outside the city walls, near a field planted with all types of market produce. The old man only stayed around long enough to unhitch the ox for the night and, closing the slatted door firmly behind him, left for his own house nearby. At first light, Samuel woke up with a start, most probably awakened by the bellowing of the ox. He felt quite exhausted and had a splitting headache, but nevertheless, he decided to scramble out of the warm cocoon in which he had been ensconced all night, removing wisps of straw from his hair and tunic as he went. He could not recall how he had got there, although he remembered vaguely having hitched a lift the previous evening on an ox-cart. He stared warily at the ox and tried to move stealthily as far away from it as possible,
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cringing his nose in disgust at the awful stench. The ox watched his every move with apparent disinterest, but then it made as to get up, sufficient cause for Samuel to race to the door in panic, making good his escape. As he rushed outside into the open, he found himself by a small fenced-in field planted with huge cabbages set out in neat rows. At the far end there was a low rock escarpment and further away he could make out the stone walls and fortified towers of Jerusalem. Samuel knew that his father and sister would have missed him by now, although certain that he would be punished for running away like that, he also knew that they would be happy to have him back again. As he set off once more in the direction of the city, he suddenly began to tremble violently, his head began to spin and he became very dizzy. Nevertheless, he stumbled along as best he could, on occasions trampling and tripping over the vegetables until, at last, he reached the rock-face. All at once, he lost his balance, fell over, hitting his head heavily against a boulder and lost all consciousness. Darkness and silence enfolded him instantly, and he felt himself floating inexorably, ever deeper in a strange spiralling motion, towards a faraway pinprick of bright light. This became ever larger and more brilliant until it suddenly exploded into a fantastic burst of blazing colours and, to his utter amazement, he found himself back again in the same field. At first, he thought that
Story so far can be found at uponthisrock.gi nothing much had changed, but then he realised that he no longer felt unwell and that he had a distinct feeling of weightlessness which he had never experienced before. Looking down, he was surprised to see, lying motionless beside him, the prone figure of a young boy with tousled hair, slanted eyes and a small button nose. He was certain that he had seen that face before. And then, by some strange instinct, it dawned on him that the reason why it appeared so familiar was because that little boy was no other than himself. Incredible as it seemed, he knew, instantly, that surely he must be dead. Before he could quite recover from his initial shock, he heard a very familiar voice calling his name, and turning round, he recognised Jesus walking slowly towards him and stretching out his arms in welcome. Samuel looked closely at him and was glad to see that he was no longer covered in blood or suffering in any way, as had been the case the last time that he had set eyes on him. Now his friend was smiling warmly and his brilliant white robe shimmered as he said to him. “Come, little sparrow, I have just been preparing a special place for you in my Father’s house where you will dwell with me forever”. Samuel was filled with an incredible joy and immediately rushed over to where Jesus stood and encircled his arms firmly around his waist, gazing in rapt delight at him. He felt so blissfully happy and secure that he wished with all his might that he could remain like
that always. However, Jesus took him by the hand and told him. “Listen, my precious little friend. You know that you have helped me in many different ways, without your even realising it. So to prove to you how much I love you, there is someone very special that I want you now to meet”. As he said this, Samuel saw appear, what looked like a pillar of light, out of which emerged the slight figure of a fairly young woman, with long auburn hair, dressed in a lightcoloured robe. His heart missed a beat and he had the strangest tingling feeling down his spine for, by some inner instinct, he realised that this could only be his very own mother. “Oh, Mama, Mama!” he exclaimed plaintively, in between bouts of sobbing and laughter. “Where have you been all this time?” The woman knelt down beside him, wrapping her arms around him and rocked him gently to and fro. Samuel nestled ever deeper in her soft embrace, experiencing all the warmth and peace of a baby cocooned in a
mother’s womb, as he heard her whisper in his ear. “My dear, dear son. I have always loved you, although you may not have seen me. The reason that I had to leave you as a baby was because the good Lord, in His great wisdom and for His greater glory, decided to call me to be with Him”. Samuel gazed back at her and seemed to detect tears in her marvellous olive-brown eyes which seemed to shine like dewdrops on flowers in the early morning. She pressed him to her once more and kissed him over and again, saying. “Farewell for now, my little one, for I must now leave you for a short while. But soon, we shall all be together again in the Lord’s love”. To be continued…
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