United in the Holy Spirit

When the work which the Father gave the Son to do on earth was accomplished, the Holy Spirit was sent on the day of Pentecost in order that He might continually sanctify the Church, and thus, all those who believe would have access through Christ in one Spirit to the Father….

It is not only through the sacraments and the ministries of the Church that the Holy Spirit sanctifies and leads the people of God and enriches it with virtues, but, "allotting his gifts to everyone according as He wills, He distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank. By these gifts He makes them fit and ready to undertake the various tasks and offices which contribute toward the renewal and building up of the Church, according to the words of the Apostle: "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for profit". These charisms, whether they be the more outstanding or the more simple and widely diffused, are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation for they are perfectly suited to and useful for the needs of the Church….

Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium

Pope Paul VI, 1964

For the complete text, please visit:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html

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The moral life of Christians is sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit…

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David. They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.

Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.

The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: "charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity."

Catechism of the Catholic Church, No.1830-1832

For the complete text, please visit:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P67.HTM

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God of mercy,

unite your Church in the Holy Spirit
that we may serve you with all our hearts
and work together with unselfish love.

Liturgy of the Hours

Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

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The Ascension of the Lord

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI dedicated remarks before praying the Regina Coeli on 20 May to the Ascension of the Lord, which he explained "marks the fulfillment of the salvation which began with the Incarnation. Having instructed His disciples for the last time, Jesus ascended into heaven. Nevertheless, He 'did not separate Himself from our condition' because, in His humanity, he drew mankind into intimacy with the Father and thus revealed the final destination of our earthly pilgrimage. Just as, for us, He descended from heaven and suffered death on the cross, so too, for us, He arose and returned to God, Who is thus no longer distant, but is 'our God', 'our Father'. The Ascension is the last act of our liberation from the yoke of sin….  When the disciples saw the Master arise from the earth and ascend towards heaven, they were not discouraged but experienced great joy and felt impelled to proclaim Christ's victory over death".

"The Ascension", the Holy Father concluded, "tells us that in Christ our humanity is raised to the heights of God and so, each time we pray, earth unites with heaven".

For more information please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/the-ascension-the-last-act-of-liberation-from-the

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Saint Paul's Expression of Prayer

After having examined prayer in the Acts of the Apostles, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI announced that he will dedicate his next series of catechesis to prayer in the Letters of St. Paul, which always begin and end with an expression of prayer and which have given us a rich range of forms of prayer.

In today's General Audience, celebrated in St. Peter's Square before more than 11,000 people, the Pope explained that the Apostle to the Gentiles wants us to understand that prayer "should not be seen as a simple good deed made to God, an action of our own. It is above all a gift, fruit of the living [and] revitalizing presence of the Father and of Jesus Christ in us"....

"Many times", the Pope said, "we ask God to deliver us from physical and spiritual evil ... however, we often have the impression that He doesn't hear us and we run the risk of becoming discouraged and of not persevering. In reality, there is no human cry that God does not hear. ... God the Father's answer to His son was not the immediate freedom from suffering, from the cross, or from death: through the cross and His death, God answered with the Resurrection".

The apostle, Paul, the Holy Father concluded, teaches us that when we pray "we have to open ourselves to the presence and the action of the Holy Spirit ... in order to turn ourselves to God with our whole heart and our whole being. Christ's Spirit becomes the strength of our 'weak' prayer, the light of our 'dim' prayer, ... teaching us to live while facing the trials of existence, in the certainty that we are not alone, opening ourselves to the horizons of humanity and the creation that 'is groaning in labour pains'".

For more information, please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/prayer-in-the-letters-of-st-paul

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Invoke God's Consolation Through Mary

"As Mother of the Church, Our Lady always wants to comfort her children at the time of their greatest difficulty and suffering", said the Pope on 13 May before praying the Regina Coeli with thousands of faithful who had attended his Mass at the "Il Prato" park in the Italian city of Arezzo.

“So, today too, we commit to her intercession, all the people and families of your community which find themselves in situations of serious need.”

"Through Mary, we invoke moral consolation from God…."

For more information, please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/full-text-popes-regina-coeli-remarks-in-arezzo

http://www.news.va/en/news/regina-coeli-resist-the-temptation-to-become-disco

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… The Church sees the Blessed Mother of God in the saving mystery of Christ and in her own mystery. She sees Mary deeply rooted in humanity's history, in man's eternal vocation according to the providential plan which God has made for him from eternity She sees Mary maternally present and sharing in the many complicated problems which today beset the lives of individuals, families and nations; she sees her helping the Christian people in the constant struggle between good and evil, to ensure that it "does not fall," or, if it has fallen, that it "rises again."

Redemptoris Mater, Encyclical of His Holiness Pope John Paul II, 1987

For the complete text, please visit:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031987_redemptoris-mater_en.html

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Update from the Women’s Section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity:

May the Month of Mary

It is the month of May, the month of Our Lady. This is the month when nature is flowering and life is reborn. All around us we breathe the perfume of the resurrection, of hope and of eternity. To spread Marian devotion in the month of May is a way to awaken Christian life in the hearts of the faithful. It asks us to grow and flourish spiritually under the gaze of Our Lady… The tradition of celebrating the month of Mary was to be found in the colleges of the religious and in private homes until the end of the 1600s. Then it spread to parish life, and by 1800 it had become a practice in the whole Church.

Last year, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about this tradition: “we feel in communion with every community, even with the smallest, in which the tradition of dedicating the month of May to Marian devotion is kept alive. This finds expression in very many signs: shrines, churches, works of art, and especially in the prayer of the Holy Rosary, through which the People of God give thanks for the gifts they continually receive from the Lord, through the intercession of Mary Most Holy, and entreat him for their many needs…."

May we never lose our devotion to Mary, a woman of strength who sustains our faith; a woman who is closely united to God and God’s work; a woman who grew in wisdom through suffering, living and sharing; a woman who communicates with words and with silence; a woman with roots planted deep and with wide horizons; a woman who generates abundant life.

Nuria Calduch-Benages, MN

For the complete text and other new articles of interest, please visit:

http://www.laici.va/content/laici/en/sezioni/donna/tema-del-mese.html

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Supported by Prayers at Moments of Great Difficulty

"From the first moment of my election as Successor of St. Peter I have always felt supported by the prayers of the Church, by your prayers, especially at moments of greatest difficultly, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart", said His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI today during his General Audience.

As part of a series of catecheses dedicated to the early Church, this morning our Holy Father focused his remarks on the last episode of St. Peter's life recounted in the Acts of the Apostles, when he was imprisoned by Herod Agrippa then freed by an angel of the Lord….  While the Apostle was in prison, the Church prayed for him constantly. Thus, the Holy Father explained, "the power of the Church’s incessant prayer rose up to God; the Lord listened and sent His angel to ensure the Apostle was freed by an inconceivable and unexpected act of liberation".

The Pope then considered Peter's actions while in prison, and the fact that he was sleeping which the angel came. "In such a critical and dangerous situation, this may seem strange, but it actually denotes tranquility and trust", he said. "Peter trusted in God, he knew he was surrounded by the solidarity and support of his followers and so abandoned himself entirely into the hands of the Lord. This is how our prayer must be: assiduous, united with others, an expression of complete trust in God Who knows us in our most intimate selves and looks after us"….

The liberation of St. Peter, the Holy Father concluded, "tells us that the Church, and each one of us, must suffer difficulties, but the incessant vigilance of prayer supports us. ... With constant and trusting prayer the Lord frees us from our chains and guides us. ... He gives us serenity of heart to face the difficulties of life, even rejection, opposition and persecution. ... The Apostle Peter, though in chains, was calm and certain that he was not alone: the community was praying for him, the Lord was close. He knew that 'the power of Christ is fully expressed in weakness'".

For more information, please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/benedict-xvi-at-moments-of-difficult-i-have-felt-t

http://www.news.va/en/news/peter-trusts-god

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Our Lady of Guadalupe, mystical rose, make intercession for Holy Church, protect the Sovereign Pontiff, help all those who invoke thee in their necessities, and since thou art the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from thy most holy Son the grace of keeping our faith, sweet hope in the midst of the bitterness of life, burning charity and the precious gift of final perseverance.

(from Our Lady of Guadalupe Novena and Prayers, William J. Hirten)

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Even in the midst of suffering, we must pray without ceasing, united with others in faith, expressing total trust in God Who knows us, loves us, and wants us to experience His profound peace.   

Thank you for your union of prayers which are deeply felt and greatly appreciated.  You are an angel sent by God to help encourage abandonment into His hands:  day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute.  Your prayerful support offers freedom, just as the angel of the Lord freed St. Peter.  Deo gratias. Thanks be to God for the gift of serenity which defies description but which is a tangible expression of His great power and love. 

Be assured of my prayers for you and your intentions.

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An Abundant Spiritual Harvest

On the fifth Sunday of Easter, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI appeared at the window of his private study overlooking Saint Peter's Square, to pray the Regina Coeli with faithful gathered below.

Commenting on the day's Gospel in which Jesus tells His disciples "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower", the Holy Father explained that "the true vineyard is God and the true vine is Jesus, Who with His sacrifice of love gave us salvation and opened the way for us to become part of that vineyard. And just as Christ abides in the love of God the Father, so the disciples, pruned by the Master's word, united themselves profoundly to Him, becoming fruitful branches which produced abundant fruit"….

"Each of us", Pope Benedict continued, "is like a branch which lives only if it grows every day through prayer and participation in the Sacraments, through charity and union with the Lord. Those who love Christ, the true vine, produce fruits of faith for an abundant spiritual harvest".

For more information, please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/regina-coeli-christ-is-the-vine-we-are-the-branche

http://www.news.va/en/news/goodness-comes-from-god-but-is-realised-thanks-to-

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From the Homily of His Excellency William Shomali, Auxilliary Bishop of Jerusalem:

“…The vine in the Old Testament symbolized Israel. When Israel obeyed the commandments of the Lord, it was a fruitful vine. When Israel disobeyed his commandments, it became a sterile vine. In the context of today’s Gospel, the Vine is Jesus Christ. We are honored to be His branches.

I was impressed by the number of times Jesus, in Saint John’s Gospel, describing the relation between the vine and the branches, used the verb “remain”. I counted 11 times. The same verb is mentioned twice in the second reading. This points to the importance of this verb.

The disciples should remain in Jesus as he remains in them.

The branch should remain in the vine. The words of Jesus should remain in the disciples.

The disciples remain in the love of Jesus if they keep his commandments. The fruits of the disciple should remain.

Another expression is also repeated often. “To bear fruits”. It is repeated 6 times:

We can easily note that remaining in Jesus and bearing fruits are related as a cause to its effect. The dictionary defines “To remain” by these verbs: to stay, to stay united, to stay in the same place or in the same status, to continue, to go on being, to continue to exist, to endure, to persist. These synonyms are important. But as the Gospel relates to a supernatural sphere which cannot be described in words, the metaphor of the vine is the best way to make us aware of our wonderful and vital relationship with Jesus.

But how does Jesus remain in us?

There are three ways:

The first way is through his words: Jesus remains in us if we remain in his words: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want” (John 15:7). Jesus and his word are one. When we listen to him, we become one with him. His words are like the vital fluid which proceeds from the vine and nourishes the branches to make them bear fruits. Consequently, let us ask ourselves: Do we read a paragraph of the Bible daily in order to remain in Him and He in us? Do we draw power and consolation from the daily meditation of the Gospel?

The words of Jesus remain in us if we keep His commandments. “Those who keep His commandments remain in Him, and He in them”, says the second reading.

The second way to remain in Him is through love:

Here it is sufficient to quote Jesus himself: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. … My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:9-10.12).

It is relevant to ask ourselves some more questions: Do we love our neighbors, the people we work with? Are we ready to forgive the evil that they did to us? Are we ready, like Saint Paul, to follow Jesus Christ and to break down the dividing wall of enmity? (Eph. 2:14). Do we love for the sake of God and not for personal interest?

To remain in Jesus is to remain in His love and in the love of our brothers and sisters.

The third way we remain in Jesus is through the Eucharist.

The sacrament of the Eucharist illustrates our unity with Him in a better way than the image of the vine and the branches. The image of food is strong. What is a stronger image of unity than eating bread, this bread that becomes part of our body? What is stronger than drinking wine, which becomes part of our blood? How strong is the expression used by Jesus: eat my flesh and drink my blood? It is an impressive image to convey and realize unity between Him and ourselves. This image says more than itself. It produces what it means and means what it produces.

In conclusion, I would like to talk about the fruits that are supposed to be borne by the branches. Which are they?

They are the same fruits mentioned in the letter to Galatians: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galations 5:22). We all long to bear such good fruits in our life.

So, under which condition can the branch bear fruits? It needs only to remain attached to the vine and accept to be pruned and cleaned. What is the condition which makes us bear fruits of love, peace, patience, kindness, generosity etc ….?” It is to remain united to Jesus through hearing his words, through our fidelity to his love, through keeping his commandments, through accepting the difficulties of life through which the Lord prunes and purifies us.

 

For more information, please visit:

http://en.lpj.org/2012/05/07/homily-of-bishop-william-shomali-at-jerusalem-kehilla/

http://en.lpj.org/

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Our Prayer Must Be of Jesus as Lord of Our Daily Life

The prayer of Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was the theme of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI’s catechesis during the General Audience held this morning in Saint Peter’s Square.

According to the narrative of the Acts of the Apostles, Stephen was taken before the Sanhedrin accused of having declared that Jesus would destroy the Temple and change the customs handed down by Moses. In his address before the council Stephen explained that, in saying these things, Jesus had been referring to His body, which was the new temple. In this way, Christ "inaugurated the new worship and, with the offer of Himself on the cross, replaced the ancient sacrifices", our Holy Father said.

Stephen's explanations and his life were interrupted by his stoning, yet "martyrdom was the culmination of his life and message, because he became one with Christ. Thus his meditation upon the action of God in history, on the divine Word which was entirely fulfilled in Jesus, became a form of participation in Christ's prayer on the cross".

The moment of Stephen's martyrdom "again revealed the fruitful relationship between the Word of God and prayer", the Pope said. Yet "where did this first Christian martyr find the strength to face his persecutors and to make the ultimate gift of self? The answer is simple: in his relationship with God, in his communion with Christ, in meditating upon the history of salvation, in witnessing the action of God which reached its apex in Jesus Christ”….

“Our prayer must, then, be contemplation of Jesus sitting at the right hand of God, of Jesus as Lord of our daily life. In Him, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we too can address God ... with the trust and abandonment of children who turn to a Father Who loves them with an infinite love".

For more information please visit:

http://www.news.va/en/news/god-never-tires-of-reaching-out-to-man

http://www.news.va/en/news/st-stephen-meditation-upon-sacred-scripture-in-ord

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