Catholic News 2
BEIJING (AP) -- China has launched a renewed crackdown on golf, closing 111 courses in an effort to conserve water and land, and telling members of the ruling Communist Party to stay off the links....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's economic plans are nothing if not ambitious: Annual growth of 4 percent - or more. A diminished trade gap. The creation of 25 million jobs over 10 years, including the return of good-paying factory positions....
ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AP) -- Negotiators for the Syrian government and representatives of rebel factions traded accusations of terrorism after their first face-to-face meeting on Monday, as talks in Kazakhstan arranged by Russia and Turkey got off to a rocky start....
ALBANY, Ga. (AP) -- Chuck Stafford was watching the Atlanta Falcons rout the Green Bay Packers for the NFC title when bad weather suddenly began to pound his mobile home in southern Georgia....
HOUSTON (AP) -- The Latest on the medical treatment of former President George H.W. Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush at a Houston hospital (all times local):...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Opening his first official week in office, President Donald Trump warned business leaders Monday that he would impose a "substantial border tax" on companies that move their manufacturing out of the United States, while promising tax advantages to companies that produce products domestically....
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has nominated Msgr. Michael J. Boulette as the new auxiliary bishop of San Antonio, Texas (USA), assigning him the titular see of Geron.He is the founder and director of ‘St. Peter upon the Water’, a center for spiritual direction and formation located in Ingram.Msgr. Boulette was born in Hudson Falls, New York to French Canadian and Italian parents on 4 June 1950. In 1959 his family moved to Fredericksburg, Texas.He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Saint Mary University in 1971 and his Master’s in Psychology from Trinity University in 1972.Joining the seminary for the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Msgr. Boulette studied at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana (1972-1975).He was ordained a priest on 19 March 1976.Msgr. Boulette also received his Doctorate of Ministry from the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1993.In 2005 he was named ‘Chaplain of His Holiness’.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has nominated Msgr. Michael J. Boulette as the new auxiliary bishop of San Antonio, Texas (USA), assigning him the titular see of Geron.
He is the founder and director of ‘St. Peter upon the Water’, a center for spiritual direction and formation located in Ingram.
Msgr. Boulette was born in Hudson Falls, New York to French Canadian and Italian parents on 4 June 1950. In 1959 his family moved to Fredericksburg, Texas.
He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Saint Mary University in 1971 and his Master’s in Psychology from Trinity University in 1972.
Joining the seminary for the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Msgr. Boulette studied at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana (1972-1975).
He was ordained a priest on 19 March 1976.
Msgr. Boulette also received his Doctorate of Ministry from the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1993.
In 2005 he was named ‘Chaplain of His Holiness’.
Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan in Nigeria, Fr. Ibrahim Yakubu, has restated the Church’s position that the crisis in Southern Kaduna is being carried out by Fulani herdsmen who are on a Jihadi mission.Fr. Yakubu said events of the past years were enough confirmation that the herdsmen had an agenda.“First of all, all the villages that have suffered these attacks are villages that are either 100 or 90 per cent Christian”, he told New Telegraph.“Even where you have Muslim settlements, you will discover that their houses are never touched. In most cases, they will appear to have had foreknowledge of the attacks. I am saying this because before any attack occurs, they are seen moving out.“Second, the attackers while carrying out the attacks, would be shouting ‘Mu kashe arna’ (Kill the pagans). This leaves no one in doubt that the attackers are on a mission.“Why didn’t the so-called Jihadists wage war against Chri...
Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan in Nigeria, Fr. Ibrahim Yakubu, has restated the Church’s position that the crisis in Southern Kaduna is being carried out by Fulani herdsmen who are on a Jihadi mission.
Fr. Yakubu said events of the past years were enough confirmation that the herdsmen had an agenda.
“First of all, all the villages that have suffered these attacks are villages that are either 100 or 90 per cent Christian”, he told New Telegraph.
“Even where you have Muslim settlements, you will discover that their houses are never touched. In most cases, they will appear to have had foreknowledge of the attacks. I am saying this because before any attack occurs, they are seen moving out.
“Second, the attackers while carrying out the attacks, would be shouting ‘Mu kashe arna’ (Kill the pagans). This leaves no one in doubt that the attackers are on a mission.
“Why didn’t the so-called Jihadists wage war against Christians in Zaria and other towns in the northern part of the state where they are in the minority?
“The position of the Christians in Zaria and other Muslim-dominated places is very clear to them that they are a minority and respect such position.”
On the statement by Jamaatu Nasril Islam that more Muslims had been killed in the crisis, Fr. Yakubu replied: “I challenge them to come out with their own statistics showing the towns and villages where they were attacked by a number more than the one of the Christians.”
“I do not dispute the fact of their living in Southern Kaduna for more than a century. Things were never that bad, why now?” he queried.
(Wale Odunsi, The Daily Post, Nigeria)
(Vatican Radio) The great wonders of the priesthood of Christ, who offered Himself, once for all, for the forgiveness of sins; and who now intercedes for us before the Father; and who will return to bring us with Him: those are the three stages of the priesthood of Christ highlighted by Pope Francis during his homily at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. The Pope also warned of the “unforgivable blasphemy”: blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.The priesthood of Christ was at the centre of the Pope’s homily on Monday. His reflection was taken from the day’s first Reading, from the Letter of Hebrews, which speaks about Christ as the Mediator of the Covenant God has made with human beings. Jesus is the High Priest, and the priesthood of Christ is the great wonder, the greatest wonder, which makes us sing a new song to the Lord, as the Responsorial Psalm says.The three stages of the priesthood of Christ: He offers Himself; He intercedes for us; He will retu...
(Vatican Radio) The great wonders of the priesthood of Christ, who offered Himself, once for all, for the forgiveness of sins; and who now intercedes for us before the Father; and who will return to bring us with Him: those are the three stages of the priesthood of Christ highlighted by Pope Francis during his homily at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. The Pope also warned of the “unforgivable blasphemy”: blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
The priesthood of Christ was at the centre of the Pope’s homily on Monday. His reflection was taken from the day’s first Reading, from the Letter of Hebrews, which speaks about Christ as the Mediator of the Covenant God has made with human beings. Jesus is the High Priest, and the priesthood of Christ is the great wonder, the greatest wonder, which makes us sing a new song to the Lord, as the Responsorial Psalm says.
The three stages of the priesthood of Christ: He offers Himself; He intercedes for us; He will return to bring us to the Father
The priesthood of Christ takes place in three stages, the Pope said. The first is the redemption: while the priests of the Old Covenant had to offer sacrifices every year, “Christ offered Himself, once for all, for the forgiveness of sins.” With this marvel, “He has brought us to the Father… He has re-created the harmony of creation,” the Pope noted. The second wonder is what the Lord is doing now – that is, praying for us. “While we pray here, He is praying for us” “for each one of us,” Pope Francis emphasized: “now, living, before the Father, He intercedes,” so that the faith might not falter. How often, in fact, are priests asked to pray, the Pope said, because “we know that the prayer of the priest has a certain force, especially in the sacrifice of the Mass.” The third wonder will be when Christ returns; but this third time will not be in relation to sin, but rather, it will be “to establish the definitive Kingdom,” when He will bring all of us to the Father:
“There is this great wonder, this priesthood of Jesus in three stages – that in which He pardons sins, once for all; that in which He intercedes now for us; and that which will occur when He returns. But there is also the contrary: the ‘unforgivable blasphemy.’ It’s hard to hear Jesus saying these things, but He says it, and if He says it, it is true. ‘Amen I say to you, all will be forgiven the children of men’ – and we know that the Lord forgives everything if we open our hearts a bit. Everything! The sins and even the blasphemies they speak – even blasphemies will be pardoned! – but the one who will have blasphemed the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in eternity.”
“The unforgivable blasphemy”: blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, will not allow itself to be forgiven
To explain this, the Pope referred to the great priestly anointing of Jesus, which the Holy Spirit accomplished in the womb of Mary; as priests, in the ceremony of ordination, are anointed with oil:
“Even Jesus as the High Priest received this anointing. And what was the first anointing? The flesh of Mary with the work of the Holy Spirit. And he who blasphemes about this, blasphemes about the foundation of the love of God, which is the redemption, the re-creation; blasphemy about the priesthood of Christ. ‘But the Lord does not forgive that wickedness?’ [you might ask]. ‘No! The Lord forgives everything!’ But one who says these things is closed to forgiveness. He doesn’t want to be forgiven! He doesn’t allow himself to be forgiven! This is the ugliness of the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: It does not allow itself to be forgiven, because it denies the priestly anointing of Jesus, accomplished by the Spirit.”
Do not close your heart before the wonders of the priesthood of Christ
In conclusion, the Pope returned to the great wonders of the priesthood of Christ, and also to the “unforgivable blasphemy” – unforgivable “not because the Lord does not want to forgive everything, but because this [person] is so closed that he does not allow himself to be forgiven: the blasphemy against this wonder of Jesus”:
Today it would be good for us, during the Mass, to consider that here on the altar the living memorial is made – because He will be present here – of the first priesthood of Jesus, when He offers His life for us. There is also the living memorial of the second priesthood, because He will pray here. But also, in this Mass – we will say it after the Our Father – there is that third priesthood of Jesus, when He will return, and [that is] our hope of glory. In this Mass, let us think about these beautiful things. And let us ask for grace from the Lord that our hearts might never be closed – might never be closed! – to this wonder, to this great, freely-given wonder.”
