| October |
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Intentions of the Holy Father – Pope Benedict XVI OCTOBER
Mission: That in this month dedicated to the Missions every Christian community may feel the need to share in the Church’s universal mission with prayers, sacrifices and material help. (Please remember these intentions in your prayers)
Some Feasts in October
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In November
Jesus, the Compassion of God Compassion characterized the person of Jesus as well as his mission. Ignatius of Loyola , in guiding a person’s contemplation of the incarnation, paints a vivid picture of the mission of Jesus. He asks the person making the Spiritual Exercises to imagine how the Trinity hovers over the globe, perceiving the wounds of the world with sensitivity and care. At the sight of people of all colors, creeds, ages, and backgrounds struggling and lost, like sheep without a shepherd, the persons of the Trinity are moved with compassion. They then decide that one of them should become human to enable people to experience concretely God’s empathic concern. So the Word becomes flesh or, as John’s gospel puts it , “pitched his tent among us” (1:14). This Ignatian contemplation invites us to appreciate how God was not satisfied to love us from afar, but drew near in the person of Jesus. Throughout his life, and especially during his public ministry, Jesus accomplished his mission of incarnating the compassion of God for suffering humanity by proclaiming the good news to the poor, giving sight to the blind, healing the broken hearted, comforting the afflicted, and setting captives free. Before departing, he commissioned his disciples and the community he founded to continue his mission. Baptism hands that commission on to us, the Christian community. Ministry, broadly understood, refers to the wide variety of ways that Christians in all walks of life continue Christ’s compassionate presence in the world today. Taken from Urgings of the Heart, a Spirituality of Integration. by Wilkie Au and Noreen Cannon, p. 136 Meditative/Contemplative Prayer Experiences you can download Examen the bubbles: Paul Campbell SJ of Loyola Press just launched a new website called www.Other6.com Based on St. Ignatius’ Examination of Consciousness, it asks the user to respond to two questions: “Where have I found God today?” or “Where do I need to find God today?”. These are graphically represented as bubbles, where one can read one's own and other's comments.
New Scripture Series Fr. David has started a series of New Testament talks ‘Living Christ’s Life in the World’. These started on 19.30 (7.30 pm)Tuesday 23rd September These will continue every Tuesday evening Fr. David is at Seven Fountains.
An Online Retreat A 34 week retreat for Everyday Life - A Ministry of the Collaborative Ministry Office at Creighton University.http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/cmo-retreat.html
To help deepen your grasp of your Christian faith The Heythrop Institute for Religion Ethics and Public Life www.heythrop.ac.uk/HIREPL Thinking Faith www.thinkingfaith.org/index.htmThinking Faith is a free on-line publication of the British Jesuits.
There is no regular "issue date" - instead, articles are added at any time. 'Subscribing' to Thinking Faith is simply a matter of giving us your email address, then we will send you a message whenever a new article is added.
Seek Greener Holiday Pastures: Vatican recommends
Reuters reports the Vatican has issued a set of suggestions to help tourists minimise or offset environmental damage caused by their pursuit of rest and relaxation. "One can choose to be a tourist at odds with the Earth or in favour of it," said the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, according to excerpts published by Italy's ANSA news agency this week. Tips included taking less luggage on gas guzzling airplanes and cars, planting trees to offset tourists' carbon footprints and choosing vacation spots in closer harmony with nature, ANSA said. Under Pope Benedict and his predecessor John Paul, the Vatican has become progressively more "green", including installing photovoltaic cells on buildings to produce electricity. Last year, the Vatican hosted a scientific conference on climate change to underscore the role that religious leaders around the world could play in reminding people that damaging the environment is sinful. SOURCE Vatican tells vacationers to mind Mother Earth (Reuters, 23/6/08)LINKS Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People
Thoughts More miles over the tree tops, zooming up now and then for a few a few seconds to get a better around, and then sown again before there is time for someone to train a gun on us. Out to the coast line--- four Corsairs abreast, I am the slowest one to land. The trees pass, a streak of green: the beach a band of yellow on my left. Is it a post a mile ahead in the water, or a man standing? It moves toward shore. It is a man. All Japanese or unfriendly natives on New Ireland --- no restrictions --- shoot whatever you see. I line up my sight. A mile takes ten seconds at our speed . At 1,000 yards my .50-calibers are deadly. I know just where they strike. I cannot miss. Now he’s out of the water, but he does not run. The beach is wide. He cannot make the cover of he trees. He is cantered in my sight. My finger tightens on the trigger. A touch, and he will crumble on the coral sand. But he disdains to run. He strides across the beach. Each step carries dignity and courage in its timing. He is not and ordinary man. The shot is too easy. His bearing, his stride, his dignity --- there is something in them that has formed a bond between us. His life is worth more than the pressure of a trigger. I do not want to see him crumble on the beach. I release the trigger. I ease back on the stick. He reaches the tree line, merges with the streak of the green on left. I am glad I have not killed him I would never have forgotten him writhing on the beach. I will always remember his figure striding on the beach. I will always remember his figure striding over the sand, the fearless dignity of his steps. I had hs figure striding over the sand, the fearless dignity of his steps. I had his life balanced on a muscle’s twitch. I gave it back to him, and thank God that I did so. I shall never know who he was --- Japanese or native. But I realize that the life of this unknown stranger---probably an enemy---is worth more a thousand times more to me than his death. I should never quite have forgiven myself if I had shot him---naked,, courageous, defenceless, yet so unmistakably man.
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On the eve of the northern hemisphere holiday season, the Vatican has issued a set of guidelines for tourists on making their vacations more environmentally friendly.
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