Croatia Honors Life to be Born

 

Pro-Choice or Anti-Difference: Why Is Offering Another Choice Seen as an Act of War?

Pro-Choice or Anti-Difference: Why Is Offering Another Choice Seen as an Act of War?: Across the world, peaceful pro-life prayer vigils that offer support to women seeking abortion have been legislated out in the argument that it is distressing women. The reality is that these vigils are there to support the women and offer her an alternative to ending her pregnancy.

Overcome evil with good

http://sunday.niedziela.pl/artykul.php?dz=wiara&id_art=00135

 

Overcome evil with good

Milena Kindziuk, Andrzej Tarwid

‘He was a persevering and tireless witness of Christ: he overcame evil with good and he shed his blood for that’ – people gathered in Pilsudski Square in Warsaw rejoiced hearing these words of Pope Benedict XVI.

Once they had his phone number and now they participated in the beatification of his friend, colleague and acquaintance. This was an exceptional situation. That’s why those who had known Fr Popieluszko personally were deeply moved that day. And when Archbishop Angelo Amato began recollecting his own visit to the Museum dedicated to Fr Jerzy and shared how much he was impressed by the photos of ‘the deformed face of this mild Priest, resembling the flogged and humiliated face of the crucified Christ, the face that lost its beauty and dignity’ many people began crying. But the most moving picture was the figure of Marianna Popieluszko, a woman who was slightly bent, with a walking stick, standing in her Sunday best dark cherry costume close to the altar, staring at the portrait of Fr Jerzy, which was just in front of her. And then she walked slowly after the reliquary with the relics of her son. Humanly speaking, it was hard to experience. From the perspective of faith one can experience it with joy. And one can experience it like her, the saint’s mother. Since as Archbishop Amato said ‘the sacrifice of the young priest was not a defeat. The blood of martyrs is indeed the seed of Christians.’

In the history of the Church it must have been the first situation when a mother participated in her son’s beatification. And the first situation that she heard her being quoted in the beatification homily. It happened when Archbishop Amato said, ‘The testimony of the Mother of our Blessed is very moving. Marianna Popieluszko said, «My son, Fr Jerzy, was a strong believer all his life… When he served in the army he prayed the rosary despite his superior’s command. I never heard him complaining about God. He tried to accept every unpleasantness in the spirit of faith and love for Lord God.»’

Standing close to one another in the square The sun was shining on the Sunday morning of 6 June in Warsaw. The Polish people who gathered in Pilsudski Square felt that they were a community. United in prayer, reflection and joy they came to pay tribute to the Martyr; pay the debt, express their gratitude and they came to honour him.  

The first pilgrims arrived on Saturday. Some of them gathered at the grave of Fr Jerzy Popieluszko in Warsaw-Zoliborz and others gathered in Wilanow, at the Divine Providence Church, which is being contracted. But the majority gathered in Marshal Jozef Pilsudski Square. 31 years ago John Paul II celebrated Mass at this very place. A crucifix was put there to commemorate that event. And just next to the papal cross a white-red altar, crowned with the symbol of the Holy Spirit and the inscription ‘Overcome evil with good’ was constructed. Around this motto several dozen thousand people gathered in Masses celebrated by Fr Jerzy for the Homeland in the 1980s. About 150,000 people gathered around the altar with the motto, ‘Overcome evil with good’ on 6 June 2010. 
‘I like this altar very much. White refers to chastity. The most important thing is that the words proclaimed by Fr Jerzy were quoted. If all people followed these words the world would be better’, Marianna Popieluszko told ‘Niedziela’ just before the beginning of the beatification ceremony.
Parishes from all over Poland organised special pilgrimages but there were numerous individual pilgrims, too. An old man with a walking stick came from Grodno and going around the altar he asked the passers-by whether they had an extra invitation for the beatification Mass. Some woman took such an invitation out of her handbag and gave it to him.   

Among the crowds there was also a group of 11 people from the region of Silesia. They ran from the monument to the Killed Miners of the Wujek Coal Mine. They were members of the Catholic Action from Knurow, marathon runners, miners and charges of Caritas. Within two days they covered over 320 km to take part in the beatification ceremony. 

Just before the Sunday Mass many people said that they recollected the 1980s. ‘Then we also felt we were one. First. When ‘Solidarity’ was founded and then after marshal law had been imposed we felt unity during the Masses celebrated by Fr Jerzy. That’s why we felt we must be here.’ 
Like in the 1980s there were artists and workers, the young and the old. They spoke about their encounters with Fr Jerzy; how they listened to the fragments of his sermons broadcasted on international radios. The phenomenon of those homilies continues to fascinate us today. Even those people, like the solicitor Maciej Bendarkiewicz, who participated in the Masses Fr Jerzy celebrated.  
‘Fr Jerzy uttered beautiful short sentences. His thoughts were ordered. Participating in the first Masses he celebrated I was absolutely convinced that he read his sermons. My conviction was based on the fact that he visited my family and then he spoke differently.’ Fr Jerzy was cautious not to introduce any shadow of hatred during his Masses. Every Mass celebrated in the intention of our Homeland ended with an appeal to remain peaceful. It ended with prayers for the government. The participants left the church in the mood of reflection and need to do good in order to overcome evil.
‘People followed him from parish to parish since he had such a gift that they saw themselves better in his eyes’, said Maja Komorowska, an outstanding Polish actress.  

In Pilsudski Square there was another person without whom the beatification would not have happened. It was Cardinal Jozef Glemp who made the decision to let Fr Popieluszko stay in Poland. He did not force him to go to Rome, to escape. If he had done so he would have saved his life. But then we would not have had a saint today… 

The Primate spoke about his dilemma in public in the year 2000 when he apologised for not having saved the life of Fr Jerzy Popieluszko in spite of all attempts to do that. ‘May God forgive me but perhaps it was his holy will’, the cardinal said in his famous sermon at the Theatre Square in Warsaw.
It was Cardinal Glemp that took the decision and supported the process of beatification of Fr Jerzy, about which Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz mentioned thanking the Senior Primate.  

The Mass held in Pilsudski Square was co-celebrated in Latin by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Polish Bishops’ Conference and foreign hierarchs, including Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. The following cardinals were present: Stanislaw Dziwisz, Jozef Glemp, Henryk Gulbinowicz, Franciszek Macharski as well as Adam Maida from Detroit (USA) and Kazimierz Swiatek from Belarus. There were also people from the sphere of politics, including Prime Minister Donald Tusk, former president Lech Walesa, MPs and senators and the presidential candidates: Jaroslaw Kaczynski and Bronislaw Komorowski.
During the beatification of Fr Jerzy the prayers also embraced the perpetrators of his death. The celebrants asked God ‘to show his mercy for the dead and a grace of conversion to the living.’

Timeless message 
 
The beatification ceremony of Fr Jerzy resembled the joyful days of the papal pilgrimages to Poland. When Archbishop Nycz, presenting the life of the Candidate for the altars, said that in 1987 the Servant of God John Paul II prayed at Fr Jerzy’s grave and the Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, prayed there in 2005, silence fell over the square. The gathered felt that history was happening before their eyes. Their reactions were similar when they heard the words of Archbishop Amato who also reminded them that the Polish Pope John Paul II prayed at the Martyr’s grave in 1987.

The words of the homily about the motto of Fr Jerzy’s life were also meaningful, ‘He realised that the evil of the dictatorship had its source in Satan and that’s why he encouraged people to overcome evil with good and God’s grace.’ Archbishop Amato mentioned the Marxist ideology as evil and a system based on lies, rejecting the evangelistic values that Fr Jerzy defended. ‘Religion, the Gospel, dignity of human person and freedom were not consistent with the Marxist ideology. That’s why the destructive wrath of the big liar, God’s enemy and torturer of mankind, the one that hates the truth and spreads lies, broke out against him. In those years, as it happened in history, in the big area of Europe, the light of reason was overcome by darkness and good was replaced by evil’, he said.
Archbishop Amato paid attention to the universalism of the Blessed’s message, ‘Facing another wave of persecutions against the Gospel and the Church the timeless message, which must rule in our hearts today, is the one expressed by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, presenting a synthesis of the martyr’s testimony of Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko. The Pope says that he new Blessed was a priest and martyr, an enduring and tireless witness of Christ; he overcame evil with good and shed his blood for that.’

The beatification ceremony ended with a procession during which the reliquary of the Blessed Martyr was carried to the Divine Providence Sanctuary in the district of Wilanow in Warsaw.
"Niedziela" 24/2010

Truth Never Changes

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The following quotations are taken from the excellent documentary

Messenger of the Truth

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"It seems tom me that in the history of the Church, the history of Christianity,

there are many examples showing how you have to defend the truth. You have to defend it to the end."

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'Justice and the right to know the truth require us from this pulpit to repeatedly demand a limit on the tyranny of censorship."

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" That we may be free of  dread and fear but also of desire for revenge , we pray to the Lord."

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" The workers of Huta Warsaw asked the Bishop to appoint a church for them so that they could consider it "their " church .

I work and live in this parish so the bishop suggested that the church of St. Stanislaws Kostka become such a church for Huta, Warsaw."

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" We are bowing our heads today due to the tragic deaths of our brothers, the miners who perished at the hands of traitors. They perished because they defended a worthy place for God in human work. They defended Justice, Truth, Freedom and Dignity. They defended Love and the ideals of Solidarity."

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"Of course, the help of well-meaning people who send us donations from abroad plays a great role too.

In fact I would like to use this opportunity to thank the organization " Medical Aid for Poland."

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" Today I would like to talk or rather address the Holy Father in the form of a letter. I hope the penal code does not contain any penalties for writing a letter to the Holy Father.

'During the enslavement of our Nation, you were and continue to be the one who strengthens in us the hope for the victory of good over evil, love over violence, truth over falsehood '"

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"Month after month the turnout of people coming to the mass kept increasing. Nowadays thousands of people come. People arrive from different cities. What do they get from the mass. Here people pour out their grief, their pain. They pour it out in prayer, in spontaneous singing, and in silence which is also a great prayer. That experience of community, silence and discipline: and this is probably our main objective, that the suffering that people experience everyday, at work, in prisons, on the streets, that their suffering is not wasted. The role of the priest is to direct, through a Holy Mass, the suffering of the people towards God.`

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`Be with them Holy Mother. Be with them, to those condemned to forced isolation without a trial, with all those who suffer from the imprisonment of their loved ones. When it was suggested to our Polish brothers to leave the country, you were saying with pain in your voice, It is impossible that there is no place for Poles in Poland. Everyone has the right to live in their homeland. No one should be condemned to exile.``

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`I thank all our guests who come from other cities to get together in prayer, to build solidarity of hearts.

I thank the representatives of the working class from Glowow, from the mines, `Jurjan`and Àndalusia` from Piekary in Silesia, from the plants in Turbet.

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`To live in Truth is the basic minimum of human dignity, even if the price to defend the Truth could be costly. `

You need to always remain faithful to the Truth. Truth can never be betrayed.

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`I am addressing all those who recently have been threatening me in their letters with - I quote_ `a bullet in the head, a cut throat, or being hanged on the cross.`

Since they are capable of such threats, I urge them also to have the courage to sign their letters instead of cowardly sending them anonymously, or providing fake addresses.`

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`To triumph evil with good and maintain human dignity we cannot fight with force. The country can`t be strong if it feels any force. He who is unable to succeed by using the heart and mind has to win by force. Let us pray that we may be free from the fear of intimidation but most of all against the desire for revenge and violence.`

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God instilled in man the desire for truth. This is why man thirsts for the Truth and despises falsehoods . Truth, like Justice is connected to Love and Love has a Price. Truth always unites people, it moves them. The weight of Truth frightens and unmasks lies; lies of little people, people who are scared. The continuous battle against Truth had gone on for ages, but Truth is immortal, and lies die a quick death. Hence comes the saying as told by Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski: one needs only a few people to tell the Truth. Christ has chosen but a few to declare the Truth.`

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`It seems to me that in the history of the Church, in the history of Christianity, there are many examples showing to what extent you have to defend the Truth. You have to defend it to the end. Jesus Christ sacrificed His life in order to announce his Divine Truth. Likewise, the apostles sacrificed their lives. Therefore the role of the priest is to proclaim the Truth and suffer for the Truth...... If necessary, even to die for the truth. Such examples are plenty in Christianity, and from these examples we should draw conclusions for ourselves.

Amen I Believe

Annunciation of the Lord Parish in Ottawa, Ontario has always been blessed with wonderful priests.

Last week we bid farewell to Father Yves Marchildon C.C. and Father Dennis Hayes C.C.

This past weekend we welcomed our two new priests Father Rob Arsenault C.C. and Father John Likozar C.C. and I know in my soul they will be awesome too. First impressions and all that.

 

 

 Below, Father Rob Arsenault with Pat Maloney

 Father Arsenault says the Amen sometimes when he mentions an Article of our Catholic Faith . I like that. And he invites the congregation to do so too. I REALLY like that. Amen says "so be it" and Creed means "I believe" right?
 Whoever says "I believe" says "I pledge myself to what we believe." taken from the Vatican website at this link on the THE PROFESSION OF FAITH
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s2.htm

I know Catholics who actually voted for Justin Trudeau who as we all know is the most pro abortion Prime Minister in Canadian History. How can this be then? How can someone say they believe in the teachings of the Church and promote the killing of innocent children at the same time. And why would you say Amen to something that you don't believe in? I cannot comprehend this.

Anyways I'm thinking and hoping that maybe eventually in our parish the Amen will take hold: that is "we will pledge ourselves to what we believe"

From EWTN

https://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/prayers/creed2.htm

The Apostles Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen. "The Apostles' Creed is so called because it is rightly considered to be a faithful summary of the apostles' faith. It is the ancient baptismal symbol of the Church of Rome. Its great authority arises from this fact: it is 'the Creed of the Roman Church, the See of Peter, the first of the apostles, to which he brought the common faith." - from the Catechism of the Catholic Church; 194. "This Creed is the spiritual seal, our heart's meditation and an ever-present guardian; it is, unquestionably, the treasure of our soul." - Saint Ambrose.

 

Thinking out loud as we celebrate Canada Day

I love Canada. I think we have one of the most beautiful countries in the world . That being said I
I don't like the direction our leaders are taking us. We all know that abortion is legal in Canada for the full nine months of pregnancy for any reason or no reason. We care more for unhatched bird eggs than pre born babies. What the heck is wrong with us anyways???

When I saw the Irish people gleefully jumping up and down with tears of joy streaming down their faces celebrating their new found right to abortion in Ireland a few weeks ago, it literally made me feel sick. They are turning into us.

What can we do? Well we just  have to keep on doing what we have always done: peacefully tell the truth.  We will continue to be vilified by our mainstream media  and our politicians as being intolerant and hateful. It's depressing actually because it's just the opposite. It's slanderous really.

The Peaceful  March for Life on Parliament Hill attended by about 20, 000 is just one example of the goodness and stamina of the second  most persecuted person in Canada. The Pro lifer. The most persecute person in Canada is the child in the mother's womb.  A handful of shrieking crude abusive protesters that don't even know what it means to be Pro Life, blocked our route for the third year in a row while the police did nothing. I can't imagine any other group of people that would have to change their route in the manner that we were forced to.

I could go on and on but there's no point. We all know of the numerous negative ways that  that the pro life  person has been treated in our country during the past year. There is no question about it; this is persecution. I heard a lawyer say not long ago say that Christianity is the most persecuted Religion in  the entire world and that includes Canada. I believe this to be true

What else can we do?  Pray Pray and  Pray some more! This is a spiritual battle.

As A Catholic I pray the rosary each day for a change in the hearts of our political leaders.

A holy priest once told me that the Rosary is the weapon against Satan

click here for the Joyful Mysteries for Life from USCCB

At one time the Knights of Columbus of our Parish of the Annunciation of the Lord in Ottawa, ON led us in this rosary at least a couple of times during the year. I think we should start praying these prayers again

O Canada We Stand on Guard for Thee