Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam

Bulletin for August 2009

Sunday Mass Times

0730 Mass in Thai
0930 Mass in English

Weekday Mass Times

18.00 Mass in Thai in Chapel of Building 3
18.00 Mass in English in Chapel of Building 2 [when there are English-speaking retreatants]

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Intentions of  Pope Benedict XVI

AUGUST

General:
That public opinion may be more aware of the problem of millions of displaced persons and refugees and that concrete solutions may be found for their often tragic situation.

Mission:
That those Christians who are discriminated against and persecuted in many Countries because of the name of Christ may have their human rights, equality and religious freedom recognized, in order to be able to live and profess their own faith freely.

Some Feasts in August

Also in August

In September

Collection

The Sunday Offertory Collection for the month of June was 10,797 Baht. We thank you for your very generous support of the mission & outreach of The Seven Fountains Spirituality Centre.

 Pope's Encyclical Urges Ethical Financial System

 Pope Benedict urges for a renewal of the global financial order based on "an ethics which is people centred" with the goal of common good, in his newly released encyclical.

The Caritas et Veritate encyclical, overdue by a couple of months reportedly due to difficulties encountered in translating to Latin, underscores the "need for a system with three subjects: the market, the State and civil society," to "civilising of the economy", the Vatican Information Service said, quoting from the text.
The encyclical is Benedict's third. Filled with terms like "globalisation," "market economy," "outsourcing," "labour unions" and "alternative energy,", the New York Times reported, "it is not surprising that the Italian media reported that the Vatican was having difficulty translating the 144 page document into Latin."

"The economy needs ethics in order to function correctly not any ethics, but an ethics which is people centered," the pope says.

Wealthier nations must help poorer ones with increased aid to eliminate hunger, because peace and security depend on it. Aid should go to better infrastructure in agriculture, irrigation and technology sharing.

"Above all, the intention to do good must not be considered incompatible with the effective capacity to produce goods," the Associated Press quotes him saying. "Financiers must rediscover the genuinely ethical foundation of their activity so as to not abuse the sophisticated instruments which can serve to betray the interests of savers."

"It's not an encyclical done for the crisis," Cardinal Renato Martino, the president of the Vatican's Council for Justice and Peace, was cited by the New York Times as saying at a news conference. But "if the encyclical had come out before the crisis, you would have said it was prophetic."

Benedict also agitates for more authority for the United Nations, so that the less powerful nations can have a voice through it.

A Reuters report quotes him saying that "there is an urgent need of a true world political authority" whose task would be "to manage the global economy."

The encyclical further explores issues of the environment, renewable energy, energy efficiency, technology, bioethics and the surrounding murky waters. In all these a moral responsibility must dominate, Benedict said.

SUMMARY OF ENCYCLICAL "CARITAS IN VERITATE"  http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vis/dinamiche/c2_en.htm

Meditative/Contemplative Prayer Experiences you can download

Pray-as-you-go can be found at www.pray-as-you-go.org

Sacred Space may be found at  www.sacredspace.ie

livesimply is a challenge to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with people in poverty.

www.progressio.org.uk/livesimply/AssociatesHome2/92990/livesimply/

Pope calls for "frank" recognition of Church's weaknesses  

In a letter to priests around the world to launch the Year for Priests, Pope Benedict deplored priests who were unfaithful to their vows and called for a "frank and complete acknowledgment" of the Catholic Church's weaknesses.

The Catholic Church must acknowledge that some priests have done great harm to others, but it also must thank God for the gifts the majority of priests have given to the Church and the world, Pope Benedict said in the letter.

In the face of scandal, "what is most helpful to the Church ... is not only a frank and complete acknowledgment of the weaknesses of her ministers, but also a joyful and renewed realisation of the greatness of God's gift of the priesthood," the pope said in his letter for the Year for Priests.

Pope Benedict said he hoped priests would use the year and its special events to deepen their commitment to their own renewal "for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today's world."

The year also is an occasion to thank the many priests who selflessly give their lives to serving the Church and alleviating human suffering and to recognise the sacrifice of priests who courageously minister under the threat of persecution, the pope said.

Pope Benedict asked people to keep in mind "the countless situations of suffering endured by many priests, either because they themselves share in the manifold human experience of pain or because they encounter misunderstanding from the very persons to whom they minister."

At the same time, he said, "there are also, sad to say, situations which can never be sufficiently deplored where the Church herself suffers as a consequence of infidelity on the part of some of her ministers."

Pope Benedict encouraged priests to use St John Vianney as a model for their priesthood, recognising Holy Orders as an incredible gift of God that calls for a renewed commitment each day to living a holy life.

While the sacraments a priest celebrates are valid independently of his personal holiness or worthiness, the pope said, priests cannot overlook the fact that the closer they draw to Christ and to living as he did, the more effective their ministry will be.

The pope specifically asked the world's priests to focus on learning from St John Vianney's devotion to the Eucharist and his conviction about the importance of the sacrament of penance.

St John Vianney "taught his parishioners primarily by the witness of his life. It was from his example that they learned to pray, halting frequently before the tabernacle for a visit to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament," the pope said.

His success in teaching his people the importance of praying before the Eucharist was not so much the result of preaching or catechesis, but what they observed when they saw him celebrating Mass, he said.
His focus on Christ's sacrifice for the sins of the world naturally led to an emphasis on teaching people the importance of confession, the pope said.

"Priests ought never to be resigned to empty confessionals or the apparent indifference of the faithful to this sacrament," Pope Benedict wrote.

In St John Vianney's France, "confession was no more easy or frequent than in our own day," but the saint insisted that the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist demanded that people be reconciled with God and he made sure he was in the Church for long hours each day in case someone came wanting to confess their sins, he said.

The pope said St John Vianney knew how to encourage the fearful and sorrowful to open themselves to God's love and mercy through the sacrament.

"But to those who made a lukewarm and rather indifferent confession of sin, he clearly demonstrated by his own tears of pain how 'abominable' this attitude was: 'I weep because you don't weep,' he would say," the pope wrote.

Pope Benedict also said priests must support and encourage each other because only in that way "will priests be able to live fully the gift of celibacy and build thriving Christian communities in which the miracles which accompanied the first preaching of the Gospel can be repeated."

The pope entrusted the Year for Priests to the Blessed Virgin Mary and asked her "to awaken in the heart of every priest a generous and renewed commitment to the ideal of complete self oblation to Christ and the Church."

"Despite all the evil present in our world," he said, Jesus' victory over sin and death "gives us the strength to look to the future with confidence."

Every Friday in the Old Wooden Chapel at 19.30 – 20.30

Everyone is welcome – you might like to bring your Bible with you.

 English to replace Latin?

Irish Jesuit Tom Casey, writing in the Jesuit America magazine, makes the case for replacing Latin with English as the official language of the church.In a tightly argued brief, Tom points out that there is no 2000-year tradition to favour the retention of Latin: the early Church surprisingly adopted Greek (rather than Hebrew or Latin) as its language.  The fact that Latin, with its clarity and flexibility, was the lingua franca of Western Europe led to its adoption by the church in the fourth and fifth centuries. Today English is the most widely used language in the world. Is it time for the church to make another adjustment?

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   http://www.thinkingfaith.org/index.htm

Thinking Faith is a free on-line publication of the British Jesuits.

Subscribe to these Thinking Faith alerts using อีเมลนี้จะถูกป้องกันจากสแปมบอท แต่คุณต้องเปิดการใช้งานจาวาสคริปเพื่ออ่านมันได้

The Church in Cambodia has ordained the first Jesuit priest since the Church revived in the country during the early 1990s.

Father Phongphand (Jub) Phokthavi, a Thai national, was ordained by Bishop Emile Destombes, apostolic vicar of Phnom Penh, on May 24, in a special ceremony in Battambang attended by 2,000 people.

During the ceremony, Jesuit Monsignor Enrique Figaredo, apostolic prefect of Battambang, a Spanish Jesuit who formerly worked for JRS, said Father Phongphand "always gives himself to others, loves the poor and encourages people who have lost hope." The monsignor, who has known the priest for 20 years, cited one occasion when Father Phongphand saw some people without shoes and offered them his own, saying, "I have another pair."

A Future Presentation on some of the Children we Sponsor through Education

Through the scholarship sponsorship programme, the Seven Fountains community supports the educational paths of some 450 Karen children.
For her doctoral dissertation, Pia M. Vogler has been engaged since late 2007 in ongoing anthropological research on life transitions and migration of Karen children.

Based in Catholic Huay Tong village, the village of Fr. Vinai, Pia has been following the daily lives of Seven Fountain scholarship children and their peers, accompanying them to school, on their household tasks, as well as during leisure activities. During this time, Pia noted seasonal changes in the children’s lives as well as major life course transitions as the children move towards adulthood.

In the proposed presentation, Pia would like to make her preliminary research findings available to the Seven Fountains community and learn from their feed-back questions and insights. The presentation will focus on the value of school and work in the children’s lives and the cultural differences between the children’s home and school cultures. Pia will also highlight the importance of migration for education, and the challenges and opportunities young people encounter as they leave their homes to study in other highland villages and/or in wider Thai society."

Pia M. Vogler, is a DPhil canditate in the Department of International Development (QEH), University of Oxford and an affiliated researcher at the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD), Chiang Mai University

N.B. Kindly let Pia &/or Fr. David know if you are interested in such a presentation, and when you might be free.

Fr. Miguel is soon to become a Golden Jubilarian

50 years ago to the day, on 8th December 1959, a young Miguel Garaizabal entered the Jesuit Noviciate in Spain.

This year Fr. Miguel celebrates 50 years a Jesuit – a life of fidelity and dedication, to God and to others, particularly to those often overlooked by the world, and sometimes even by us. The Seven Fountains Community is hoping to celebrate the occasion in some appropriate manner.

Than Hartman has very kindly and very generously offered to co-ordinate our efforts. If you would like contribute to marking Fr. Miguel’s Golden Jubilee as a Jesuit, please contact Than.

Kids & Parents

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3.
The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.
Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.
'If Jesus were sitting here, He would say,
'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.'
Kevin turned to his younger brother and said,
' Ryan , you be Jesus !'
A father was at the beach with his children when the four-year-old son ran up to him,
grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

'Daddy, what happened to him?' the son asked.
'He died and went to Heaven,' the Dad replied.
The boy thought a moment and then said,
'Did God throw him back down?'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A wife invited some people to dinner.
At the table, she turned to their six-year-old
daughter and said,
'Would you like to say the blessing?'
'I wouldn't know what to say,' the girl replied.
'Just say what you hear Mommy say,' the wife
answered.
The daughter bowed her head and said, 'Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?'.

Sharing News

Andrew and I have recently returned from a wonderful month-long visit to England. (In Andrew’s case, England and Scotland). The weather was sunny and hot on most days and England looks its best in the summer with clear blue skies and beautiful countryside.

We did the usual round of visiting friends and family and catching up on all the news. Our most enjoyable days were with our children and grandchildren. One of the drawbacks of choosing to live in Thailand, is that we do miss seeing our close family, and we miss a number of important occasions. However on this visit we were able to see and hear our granddaughter sing in the girls’ choir at St Albans Cathedral and also watch her school musical where she was one of the leading lights. Our grandson continues to delight us with his chatter and questions.

During our visits to friends and family the same question kept cropping up. ‘Why have you retired to Thailand?’.

Of course we have all the main reasons that most of us give for living in this lovely country, for instance the great climate, wonderful food,  Thai hospitality and smiles, and last but not least, one’s pension goes a lot further here than in the UK.

However this year, when faced with that question on many occasions, we gave the answer more thought. I think that both Andrew and I are now agreed that what makes our retirement in Thailand more special and what really makes us feel at home and welcome in this country, thousands of miles away from our own home country – is the Community at Seven Fountains Spirituality Centre. The caring priests, the chapel, the great choir, the gardens, the friends and not least of all, the feeling of peace that one experiences when entering into the grounds of  Seven Fountains; these are things we have not really experienced elsewhere, and we have spent most of our lives travelling to wonderful parts of the world.

It is the sense of community that is very important, how people greet each other after Mass and how nice it is to come back to the community to find that people have actually noticed you weren’t around for a few weeks!

I am sure our feelings mirror those of many of you here at Seven Fountains.

In this bulletin that Father David prepares for us each month, (and I would like to add that it is actually Father David’s hard work and research that makes the Bulletin so readable and enjoyable) it would be very nice to add some personal memorable data such as special birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, confirmations etc. If you have anything to add to September’s Bulletin such as a special occasion or a special event, or even your own short offering of words of wisdom or amusement, please send me an email or speak to me after Mass on Sundays.

We can all contribute in many ways to the value of the Bulletin and make it personal to each and everyone of us.

With every good wish

Pippa.

Email: อีเมลนี้จะถูกป้องกันจากสแปมบอท แต่คุณต้องเปิดการใช้งานจาวาสคริปเพื่ออ่านมันได้  

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