Catholic Register reports about the March for Life 2021. After being cancelled for in-person attendance last year, it is back to the Parliament Hill in 2021. Read more about this story here ...
And incredible news from Mali in Africa, where the nation and government were involved and supporting an expecting mother. "Halima Cisse was expected to have septuplets but apparently gave birth to very rare nonuplets – five girls and four boys – at a hospital in Morocco." The mother and all babies are feeling well. Read more about this story here ...
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We are reminded of the Great Commandment to love each other in the Gospel of this 6th Sunday of Easter. We learn how to LOVE from Our Mother MARY, and we thank God for all our MOTHER'S and their LOVE as we celebrate the MOTHER'S DAY. Let us present all our intentions today through the intercession of the Madonna della Libera. I went to take a few photos of her statue in our church so that you can salute her personally. Please visit here if you want to watch the Fiesta of Madonna dell Libera in Pratola Pelignia this year. And here is my message for this Sunday: www.vaticannews.va Jesuit Fr. Swamy: A caged bird sings for his birthday in prison. As Father Stan Swamy celebrates his 84th birthday in an Indian prison cell, numerous Church leaders voice calls for his release, with his fellow Jesuits saying “a caged bird still can sing.” It was surely not how he expected to spend his 84th birthday on Monday, 26 April. After over 6 months, Fr. Stan Swamy, SJ, an Indian priest with Parkinson’s disease, remains behind bars in a Mumbai prison. He was arrested on 8 October last year in Ranchi. His crime? Alleged links with Maoist rebels who are said to be behind a 2018 riot in Maharashtra state. His plea? Not guilty. He said before his arrest that he had never even been to Bhima Koregaon village, where the riots took place. Fr. Stan has spent his life serving the indigenous peoples of Jharkhand and elsewhere, standing up for their rights and speaking out on their behalf. Now, 200 days later and despite numerous appeals for his release on bail for health grounds, apart from innocence, Fr. Stan remains locked up. One of his fellow Jesuits and social activists, Fr. Cedric Prakash, wrote an open letter to Fr. Stan, and recalled his life of mission and service. “We continue to marvel at your unflinching commitment to the cause of justice,” said Fr. Cedric. “Over the years you have shown us all what it means to be a person for others, rooted in the non-negotiable faith-justice mandate.” He added that Fr. Stan lived his evangelical vow of poverty to the full and that he has taught countless people the true meaning of solidarity. (read more of the story here) ..... Mary tells us that God keeps His promises. His faithfulness in the face of the disloyalty of the Jewish people over the centuries before Christ is hardly credible. We reread the Old Testament. It tells of one dreary failure after another of their failure to live up to the Covenant that Yahweh had made with them; they constantly relapsed into idolatry and resisted God's commands. Yet, after their infidelity, murdering their Prophets, ignoring Yahweh's laws and resisting His Will, there was nevertheless a Covenant between Yahweh and His people. They had failed Him miserably and sadly, but as Mary says, God does not fail. How well have we, with whom God has entered into a New Covenant, kept our part of this covenant? Our Sinai is the "Sermon on the Mount", and our Decalogue is the "Beatitudes." Read them and weep! God, however, does not fail us even when we fail Him. How we need this reassurance, that in spite of our infidelities, God will not abandon us. We must remain serene and calm and never allow ourselves to be discouraged. God, our God, is a faithful God.
Prayer Mother of Jesus and Mother of God, teach us something of your quiet peacefulness and childlike confidence in your Son. Help us to trust Him, especially when things seem to go wrong. Help us to believe in Him as you did, that the promises He makes to us He will fulfill. Help us never to worry or be sad but always rejoice like you, in God, your Savior and ours, your beloved Son and our dearest Lord. Amen. (Read the whole article here) “Mater misericordiae”, the Latin for “Mother of mercy”; "Mater spei", or “Mother of hope”; and “Solacium migrantium", or “Solace of migrants” are the new invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Litany of Loreto, which is often recited at the end of the Rosary. ------------------------------------------ The Litany of Loreto takes its name from the Marian shrine of Loreto in Italy, where it is believed to have been used as far back as 1531. It was officially approved in 1587 by Pope Sixtus V, who suppressed all other Marian litanies used publicly. The Litany of Loreto is the only approved Marian litany. However, many more Marian litanies were and are in use, but are designated for private devotion, as is evident, for example, in the so-called Officia Mariana. Through the centuries at least 7 new invocations to Mary were added. Saint Pope John Paul II added “Mother of the Church” in 1980, and “Queen of families” in 1995. Pope Francis has now added three more. (Read the whole story here) MARY'S FAMILY: THE TRINITY ON EARTH"
It is only natural that the Church rejoice as one contemplates the modest home of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We read in the hymn from Matins on the feast of the Holy Family: ‘It is pleasing to recall the humble house of Nazareth and its slender resources. It is pleasing to tell again in song Jesus' hidden life. Jesus grows up in hidden seclusion, to be trained in Joseph's unpretentious trade. The loving mother sits beside her dear Son, the good wife by her husband, content if her loving attention can ease and comfort them in their weariness.' " 10 Let us offer to our Mother today: A loving review of her life with Jesus, as we recite the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. For more posts click here. We greatly miss the annual celebration in honour of the Madonna della Libera in our parish. Again her Feast day finds the church door closed. But it doesn't stop our affection to Mary. We call on her from our homes and watch the Fiesta from her home in Pratola Peligna in Italy. The video was recorded on May 1st, 2021. (click here to watch the video) |
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