When the earth shook in Peru on August 15th, Isabel Gameros first gathered together the 11 members of her family. Then she went to help her neighbors. That evening she decided to say the rosary in the middle of the rubble, “Because God knows what is best”.
I’m fine. Not a single brick fell on my head, because my house was made of adobe,” was the innocent comment of seven-year-old Rodrigo, one of Isabel’s 13 children. Her husband passed away six months before the earthquake, and she has been supporting her family with strength and courage. Isabel is also one of the rural development workers trained by the Condoray Center for the Professional Formation of Women.
“Thanks to God and to St. Josemaría we are alive and were able to get out of our house in time. We asked for help with great faith, and my daughter Diana, who was in the most dangerous area, managed to escape. Little by little the eleven children who live with me came out safe and unharmed. Little Benjamin was playing with his friend Nachito and came running to my side,” she added.
The Condoray Center is presently caring for 890 families who have suffered great losses from the earthquake.Those who want to help this crusade of solidarity can obtain information on Condoray's website (below).The force of the earthquake caused a large part of their house to collapse and the rest was so damaged that it had to be leveled. Today, in what had been the front of the house, a large piece of blue plastic protects the property. “We have only a little space, but we have our lives and none of my children was hurt. We have a lot of reasons to thank God.”
“That night,” Isabel recalls, “we stayed in the street with our neighbors saying the Rosary to our Lady of Fair Love, who is the Patroness of Cañete. We were very much united and convinced of her maternal affection. It is one of the great gifts that St. Josemaría gave us, and we are sure that she protected this blessed valley. For a number of days strong tremors followed one after another. The city was filled with dirt, houses had to be demolished, and many people were left without a home. It was a moment to give consolation, hope, and a little joy to the others.”
Isabel’s “army” was unmistakable: a cheerful group, with protective masks, shovels and wheelbarrows, from sunrise to sunset clearing the piles of rubble from their destroyed house. “People ask us, ‘What are you going to do? Why are you so calm?’ We answer that God knows best and he will not abandon us,” says Odalis, one of Isabel’s older daughters.
Hopes and Dreams
Odalis owns a small cart and she earns her living selling sandwiches and drinks to the truckers who pass by on the nearby Southern Panamerican Highway. She had been dreaming of selling fruit juice in her own home to help her family, but for now that project will have to wait.
Working together, Isabel’s family are carrying out the household tasks and each has a job in accordance with his or her age. They get together in the evenings and tell about the little happenings at school or among their playmates.
Isabel continues: “My family is simple. We have very little money, but we are very united, today more than ever. I have older children who are now working and contributing to the education of the younger ones. My husband José was a bricklayer and died last February. That left a very big emptiness in our home.”
In the Hands of God
“St. Josemaría taught me to be always cheerful, to find God in all circumstances, offering him not only the good things but also those things that can suddenly be a problem for me. Today, in these difficult moments, we love his holy will and put ourselves into his hands.”
“To live for others is what Christian solidarity demands of us. No one can be dispensed from this duty, not even the poorest. We should share the little that we have with others. I know of the case of a young woman from Mala, the daughter of very poor peasants, who sent a couple of pounds of potatoes for those who had lost everything, even though she herself needed that food. I have also been moved by the gestures of so many people who have come to the door with a bag of groceries us even though they hardly know us. Even a truck that was going by stopped to give us some blankets. Since we are a big family with a lot of children. . . .”
Serving the Villages as a Rural Development Worker
In addition to caring for her large family, Isabel is a rural development worker for Condoray, a corporate work of Opus Dei whose principal mission is the human, social, and spiritual development of the village women in the Valley of Cañete.
“At Condoray I discovered that I could help other women to improve, and at the age of 19 I became one of the rural development workers. What I learn, I transmit to the villages: I speak to each woman and teach them to love work, to be generous, cheerful, to overcome difficulties. In life there are many difficult circumstances and we can’t let ourselves be crushed by them.
A rural development worker is a person who seeks to help other women develop, trying to help them advance, acquire better habits, more education. “We help the people to solve their problems and take a step forward.” After the earthquake she went to visit families and keep them company, to help them organize themselves, and she helped as Condoray aided almost 800 people who suffered losses from the earthquake.
As the mother of a Christian family and a rural development worker, Isabel sums up her perspective on life: “During all of these years the example of St. Josemaría has been the guide for my home and my work. I have learned that one can sanctify everyday things and that with our ordinary life we should write a beautiful story of love for God.
Condoray Center for the Professional Formation of Women
The Condoray Center for the Professional Formation of Women is helping 890 families which have suffered from the earthquake. Anyone who wishes to help in this crusade of solidarity can obtain information at www.condoray.edu.pe/ayuda/ini.htm.
Source: Opus Dei
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Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Cheerful, even in the Rubble
Spain's new Citizenship Course has some seeing red
Among other things, the Citizenship class recommends girls lose their virginity before marriage, say critics. According to Libertad Digital, a popular conservative Spanish electronic news site, the Socialist’s argue that such behavior is needed to ensure girls “won’t be servants to unlimited prejudices and macho customs.”
By Robert Duncan
The Spanish government says its new Education Law will promote plurality in a modern, democratic state. The law’s critics claim it is a tool for the Socialist government to indoctrinate students.
Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela of Madrid has said the course “clashes with the fundamental principles of the Constitution and with the right of parents to choose their children's moral instruction."
At the heart of the controversy is an obligatory Citizenship class (Educacíon para la Ciudadanía) taught over four years, beginning with 11-year old students. The course is being introduced this September in seven provinces, with a full rollout in the nation’s 17 provinces next year. The Church says the course teaches a vision of man that is not Christian. Among other things, the Citizenship class recommends girls lose their virginity before marriage, say critics. According to Libertad Digital, a popular conservative Spanish electronic news site, the Socialist’s argue that such behavior is needed to ensure girls “won’t be servants to unlimited prejudices and macho customs.”
Fernando Larrain Bustamante of the pro-family organization SOS Familia said that educational material used in the course infringes upon the rights of parents to educate their children in questions relating to religion and morality. The course “supports abortion, premarital sex and the classic theory of class warfare. The material isn’t neutral,” said Larrain.
Other critics point out that the course teaches that there are 30 types of family units, and that the definitions of male and female are antiquated and should be replaced by the terms of gender – identified as being of seven varieties that can be freely chosen by individuals.
The course teaches that “if you don’t like one gender then you can just change for another one, just like you change clothes,” said Antonio Del Moral, a state prosecutor and critic of the course.
The Spanish Forum for the Family (Foro Español de la Familia) wants Spain’s courts to intervene and is encouraging parents to be conscientious objectors in clear defiance of the Socialist government’s stance that such status cannot be claimed. “We don’t have all the numbers, but we do know that there are around 15,000 people” who have claimed conscientious objector status, said Benigno Blanco, president of the Spanish Family Forum (Foro Español de la Familia), the same group that organized millions to protest the Socialist government’s same-sex marriage legislation in 2005.
While the government went ahead with that legislation, Blanco is optimistic in this case as he foresees a favorable court ruling. “All conscientious objection cases eventually end up in court,” with a favorable ruling, “as it is a right guaranteed by the nation’s constitution,” Blanco said.
There is another way the case could end up before the courts – testing regional versus national powers. Some regional governments ruled by the Partido Popular – such as Madrid – have said they will ignore the Socialist government and allow parents to claim conscientious objector status. In the case of Madrid, the regional government said it would accept voluntary social work as an alternative to the Citizenship course in 2008.
For its part, SOS Familia has launched a letter-writing campaign that seeks to convince the government to hold off the full application of the Education Law until 2008 – after the upcoming general elections. As Larrain explained, “We don’t think that it makes much sense to implement a new education law just months before the general elections when the opposition party has said that if they come to power they will abolish the law.” Since the launch of its campaign one month ago Larrain says on average around 2,000 letters each day are being sent to the Prime Minister’s office.
In another case, Carlos Seco Gordillo, a conscientious objector and attorney in the southern province of Andalusia, presented mid-August a petition to the regional court opposing the government’s plan in “defense of the moral liberty of our children.” Seco’s petition has since been mirrored by other concerned parents.
According to Antonio Santos, president of the Family Studies Institute (IDEFA), the Citizenship course is “an unnecessary invasion on the part of the government that encroaches on the rights and primary duties of parents in the education of their children. By imposing one, unique school of thought in the classroom, and the difficulties with which parents can express their constitutional right to be conscientious objectors, these are yet further examples of this government’s lack of democratic criteria.”
None of the pro-family organizations have received a response from the Socialist government. However, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero insisted recently his administration’s “firm intention” to implement the Education Law ahead of elections. "No faith is above the law. Faith cannot be imposed,” Zapatero argued. “Spain is a nonconfessional state, and its principles of laicism guarantee pluralism.”
In response, Bishop Ricardo Blazquez Perez of Bilbao, and president of the Spanish bishops' conference, said “Faith is not imposed, but rather it is proposed …The State is nonconfessional so that believers and non-believers, of one faith and others, can develop the religious liberty for which we have a right.”
Archbishop Antonio Cañizares of Toledo, vice-president of the Spanish Bishops Conference, noted that “laicism also cannot be above the law,” but this isn’t the case in Spain “where laicism is being consecrated as the official religion.”
In that vein, the Spanish Catholic Church issued a statement that said the Citizenship course "implies a serious wound to the original and inalienable right of parents and schools, in collaboration with them, to choose the moral formation that they want for their children. This is a right recognized by the Spanish Constitution (article 27.3). The government cannot supplant the society as an educator of the moral conscience."
Elsewhere the statement noted that if schools lose their ideological neutrality it “will impose on whoever has chosen the Catholic religion and morality another moral formation that hasn't been chosen by them."
In response to the Church’s reaction, Gregorio Peces-Barba Martínez, a Socialist heavyweight and one of the authors of Spain’s constitution, recently wrote a scathing editorial in the nation’s most widely-read newspaper, the left-leaning El Pais. Peces-Barba warned that if the Church doesn’t stop attacking the education course, "it will be necessary to address the topic of the actions and situation of the Church and establish a new status, that puts them in their place and that respects the autonomy of the civil authority."
The government insists those who oppose the mandatory class are involved in a smear campaign.
Mercedes Cabrera, Minister of Education and Science, has said that the course forms part of a “philosophy” to educate students in the values of a varied, democratic system that is based on tolerance and dialogue. Cabrera said that those who oppose the course are “those who sadly don’t know, or are distorting,” the contents of the course. “They are creating problems where there are none,” according to Cabrera.
Those words, however, don’t faze Blanco. “I’m not a prophet, but I believe we will win this case.”
Article written for National Catholic Register -- Sept. 2007
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Robert Duncan is a journalist and ombudsman for foreign press in Spain. He is an Executive Board Member and Vice-President for the Organización de Periodismo y Comunicación Ibero-Americana, and Vice-President of the energy and telecommunications association, APSCE. He is News Editor for Spero News, and Editor-In-Chief of EnerPub and Santificarnos.
He has also been published in World Catholic News, National Catholic Register, Renew America, Lifesite.net, as well as Capital Hill Coffee House, Common Conservative, The Conservative Voice, Enter Stage Right, News By Us, Conservative Crusader, World Net Daily, Mens News Daily and others. Robert was the bureau chief for an international news agency in Madrid for many years, and was published regularly in Dow Jones Newswires, with articles appearing in The Wall Street Journal.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
A lesson in stewardship
The following article first appeared in Our Sunday Visitor as a reflection on the parable of the Dishonest steward in Luke 16 that criticizes the divorce between God and everyday life.
By Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D.
Our society tolerates religion, as long as it keeps to itself. After all, America is about the separation of Church and state, right? Education, entertainment, employment, politics are supposed to be “religion-free.” The removal of the Ten Commandments from an Alabama courthouse several years ago was just one sign of this misguided divorce between faith and life.
Like it or not, we are subtly influenced by this attitude and often exile God from entire areas of our everyday life. Twenty years ago, a Gallup poll called “Religion in America” demonstrated that 89% of regular churchgoers live their lives exactly in the same way as non-churchgoers–same rate of marital infidelity, cheating on income taxes, etc.
One area we keep God-free is politics. We’ve heard prominent Catholic politicians say they are personally opposed to abortion, but cannot bring their faith into their political decision-making. Another “God-free zone” is the financial arena. It is interesting that Jesus speaks much more in the gospels about money than about sex. And yet should politics or money be mentioned from the pulpit, many become indignant.
If we do hear about money in Church, it is often in the context of stewardship, of the obligation to give of our “time, talent, and treasure.”
In Luke 16, Jesus provides a provocative lesson on stewardship. He presumes we know that a steward is someone entrusted with the administration of his master’s property. What is expected of the steward, anyway? To conserve his master’s property and maintain it, of course. In this story, the master owns an agricultural business. The nature of a business is to turn a profit. The steward’s job, then, was not just to maintain the property, but to grow the business. If you entrust hard-earned money to the stewardship of a stock broker, don’t you expect him to grow that portfolio? Remember the parable of the talents in Matthew 25– the master was very stern with the steward who preserved what he’d been given but failed to make it grow.
The steward in Luke 16 did not increase his master’s property. He squandered it. It is not clear if he did so through dishonest greed or by foolish business decisions. But in any case, he failed. When he was given a termination notice, he suddenly kicked into gear. To ingratiate himself with those who could provide for him after he lost his job, he wrote off part of their debt. Scripture scholars disagree about the meaning of this. Some say he did this dishonestly at the expense of his master. Others say that he was simply giving away his own commission. I think the latter makes more sense, since rather than rebuking him, his master praised him for his prudence.
Prudence means taking initiative to get something done, coming up with a plan, and being willing to sacrifice some present pleasures (his commission on a few deals) to generate long-term benefits.
The moral? How ironic it is that non-spiritual people often take more initiative, exercise more creativity, expend more effort than spiritual people when it comes to getting what they want.
Stewardship means more than just throwing five bucks in the basket and signing up to help with the Lenten fish fry. It means realizing that all we have is entrusted to us by God and that we have an obligation to grow it, making it as fruitful as possible for his glory. The steward asks these questions: How can I free up the most time for the most important things – God, the Church, and family? How can I develop my talents so as to be most effective for God’s glory?
When it comes to money, good stewards ask: how can I make better use of the money I already have to further God’s work? But another question often needs also to be asked: how can I generate more income so as to give more? Churches need to do this. We call that fund-raising. Christian individuals and families need to do this too. We call this employment, business opportunity, and investment. Making smart and profitable decisions in this regard is a spiritual and holy thing to do.
But what about Jesus’ warning that you can’t serve both God and Mammon? If financial decisions result in self-indulgence at the expense of honesty and justice (see Amos 8:4ff), then you are serving mammon. If your increased profits finance your family, you parish, Christian education, evangelization, the crisis pregnancy center, or local homeless shelter, chances are you are serving God.
Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D. is director of the Crossroads Initiative, an apostolate of Catholic renewal and evangelization, and owner of www.wellnesspays.net, an international multi-level marketing company offering distinctive wellness and anti-aging products. For more of his articles and resources, visit The Crossroads Initiative.
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Frank talk needed in secularization of Europe
Frank speech by the German ambassador to Dublin tweaked Irish sensibilities. Frankness and dialogue are to commended, though, to states as they foster secularization. The Church though must be free to bear witness to the Truth.
By Martin Barillas
Diplomats, it has been said, are normally chosen for their cleverness with words but what passes for “diplomacy”. This would seem to mean may choose words and phrasings that please listeners and cajole them into accepting the position of his masters in the home country. A diplomat is someone who, unlike a soldier, is prepared to lie rather than die for his country.
In Ireland a kafuffle has emerged over Christian Pauls, ambassador of Germany to Dublin, who tweaked Irish sensibilities in a bluff speech he gave on September 7 to a group of 80 prospective German investors meeting at historic Clontarf Castle. Speaking in unscripted German to his compatriots, the Teuton emissary was interpreted into English for the Irish present as saying that Ireland is a “coarse” place. According to reports in the Irish Times and The Independent, Ambassador Pauls also took the time to criticize the role played by the Catholic Church in Ireland’s history, while also taking a swipe at its traffic circulation laws. He made light of the large size of the bureaucracy in the Irish Republic while saying that plenty of physicians in Germany would be happy to earn the €200,000 per year salary spurned by many of their Irish counterparts.
Present at the speech was Gay Mitchell, Irish representative to the European Parliament and member of the Fine Gael party, criticized the ambassador’s remarks, saying that the diplomat’s remarks were "somewhere between resentment and spite", according to the Irish Times.
Ambassador Pauls later avoided offering an abject apology by offering his regrets over any misunderstanding by blaming a flub by his interpreter. In a statement recorded by the Irish Times, Pauls is said to have denied using the German equivalent of the word “coarse” in describing the land of the Gaels and whether Irish society had become a rougher and less-caring one as a result of economic gains over the last decade. He said that his mistake was to assume that a question-and-answer session would ensue and allow for clarification of his “quite black and white, yes, even provocative” talk. He promised to be less "blunt, loud and fast" in future public utterances. On Irish television, Ambassador Pauls acknowledged how the Irish may feel about how his remarks were broadcast, saying that if he were Irish “I would have said 'he is a complete idiot', which I don't think I am," adding that the affair was a tempest in a teacup.
For his remarks, Ambassador Pauls received a rebuke from the Irish Foreign Ministry, even though he has yet to be tagged as “persona non grata” and therefore unwelcome in the country where he is accredited. The foreign ministry knocked Pauls’ speech as “inaccurate, misinformed and inappropriate”.
It was another foreigner, English-born journalist Kevin Myers, who offered a sarcastic but incisive perspective on the issues raised by Ambassador Pauls. In an open letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Myers noted that when the ambassador had departed from the usual bromides peddled by diplomats in host countries, Pauls had actually been frank. Pauls apparently told his listeners that Ireland’s history is sadder than Poland’s and that Ireland has not learned from Germany’s experience with accepting immigrants. Writing an opinion piece in the Irish Times, Myers said of Pauls, “He merely told the truth. For this is a conceited, ill-run country, with a bloated civil service and a health-care service that makes Zanzibar's look like Zurich's. Moreover, as your man pointed out, we have studiously ignored the consequences of immigration right across Europe: instead we witlessly bleat about ‘the new Irish’, as if calling people what they are not will spare us the problems you know all too well about”. Myers, who in the United States would be considered a libertarian, has been denounced in the past for referring to illegitimate children as “bastards” in print. Some wags in Ireland, with Gaelic wit reminiscent of Swift and Wilde, refer to Myers as “My-arse”.
The Republic of Ireland has been the recipient of growing numbers of immigrants, especially from Eastern Europe but also Africa. However, the single largest group of immigrants comes from the United Kingdom, followed by Poland, Lithuania, Nigeria, Latvia, and the United States. Approximately 10 percent of Ireland’s population is foreign-born. Immigrants to Ireland, much like arrivals in the US or elsewhere in Europe, place demands on institutions such as schools. The birthrate in Ireland appears to be growing, too, perhaps because of the arrival of many foreigners unaccustomed to contraception and the culture of death.
The Irish state is coping with the inroads on its immigrants and babies make on its services, but appears to whine and then blame the Catholic Church for an inability to incorporate many non-Christian or non-Catholics in Catholic schools. The Catholic bishops, for example, had to publicly deny recently that their policy to favor Catholic students applying for admission to Catholic schools is not actually racist. This came after the Equality Authority (how perfectly Orwellian!) of the Irish state claimed that the bishops’ policy may actually break both Irish law and European anti-discrimination law in supposedly denying admission to non-Catholic students. Citing the Equal Status Act, Monsignor Daniel O’Connor of the Catholic Primary Schools Association said that the Act makes specific provisions to allow denominational schools in Ireland to give preference to students on the basis of religion. Therefore, Catholic schools in Ireland operate within the law.
Commentators like Myers are less than frank when it comes to the process of “secularization” going on in Europe. Ireland is now down to two Catholic seminaries, divorce is legal, attendance at Mass is declining, the numbers of Anglicans declines, while 45,000 Irish women have traveled to Great Britain since 1967 to obtain abortions, according to official figures. These are features of Irish society that are reflected in formerly Catholic countries such as Italy and Spain that are now increasingly secularized. Ireland now appears to be only beginning to emulate the Continent in opposing the Catholic Church as has, for example, the Socialist government of Spain as it seeks to dictate the teaching of deviant sexual practices in schools operated by the Church there.
With the concern and frankness of a father, Pope Benedict XVI received the new ambassador of the Irish Republic to the Holy See on September 17. The pope told Ambassador Noel Fahey that "for over 1600 years, Christianity has shaped the cultural, moral and spiritual identity of the Irish people." Remarking that the economic boom that has earned Ireland the sobriquet of “Celtic Tiger” may have been a blessing but "prosperity has undoubtedly brought material comfort to many, but in its wake secularism has also begun to encroach and leave its mark."
Speaking again very pointedly, the pontiff said about relations between the Church and the state that the church "serves all of society by shedding light on the foundation of morality and ethics, and by purifying reason, ensuring that it remains open to the consideration of ultimate truths and draws upon wisdom." The church, said Benedict, does not necessarily threaten the state, but "keeps public debate rational, honest and accountable." Also, while applauding concern for the environment, the pope deplored what he termed “scant attention to the marvel of life in the womb”, an obvious reference to the growing phenomenon of abortion among women from the Emerald Isle even while it remains ostensibly illegal there. Benedict made what seems to be a prognostication for Europe as a whole by saying that if the Church is barred from proclaiming truth in the public square that, "relativism takes its place: instead of being governed by principles, political choices are determined more and more by public opinion, values are overshadowed by procedures and targets, and indeed the very categories of good and evil, and right and wrong, give way to the pragmatic calculation of advantage and disadvantage."
One wonders if observers in Ireland would admit as much frankness from Catholic prelates and other Christian pastors that Kevin Myers welcomes from the bumbling German ambassador. As the so-called “secularization” of Ireland, and Europe, continues so too will the friction between Church and state. Let us hope that the friction produces more light rather than heated exchanges.
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Letter from the Prelate (September 2007)
The Prelate stresses the importance of living in close union with Jesus Christ. The norms of Christian piety practiced by persons close to Opus Dei help them to share in our Lord’s Cross.
My dear children: may Jesus watch over my daughters and sons for me!
The Church, and the Work as a living part of the Church, is called to reflect the light it constantly receives from Christ and to spread it throughout the world. Jesus taught all Christians: You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Mt 5:14-16).
"By listening to Jesus’ words," says Benedict XVI, "we members of the Church cannot but become aware of the total inadequacy of our human condition, marked by sin. The Church is holy, but made up of men and women with their limitations and errors. It is Christ, Christ alone, who in giving us the Holy Spirit is able to transform our misery and constantly renew us. He is the light of the peoples, the lumen gentium, who has chosen to illumine the world through his Church (cf. Lumen gentium, no. 1). ‘How can this come about?’ we also ask ourselves with the words that the Virgin addresses to the Archangel Gabriel. And she herself, the Mother of Christ and of the Church, gives us the answer: with her example of total availability to God’s will-fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum (Lk 1:38)-Mary teaches us to be a ‘manifestation’ of the Lord, opening our hearts to the power of grace and faithfully abiding by the words of her Son, light of the world and the ultimate end of history" (Benedict XVI, Homily, January 6, 2006).
An essential condition for bringing Christ’s teaching and life to others (and in today’s world it is urgent to do so) is that we ourselves strive more diligently to get to know, deal with, and love our Lord better each day. This is the specific goal of the norms of Christian piety, traditional in the Church, that we live in Opus Dei. We have to fulfill them as well as possible, as the result of a choice of love, even though at times our heart is dry or fails to respond.
When a person comes to the Prelature, moved by the desire to know God better, we try to provide an adequate doctrinal, spiritual and apostolic formation, so that Christ’s teachings become, right from the start, not only clarity for his intellect but also light and strength for following in Jesus’ footsteps. We help people to appreciate and to frequent the sacraments (the Eucharist and confession), to pray earnestly, to deal with God as a Father and with our Lady as a mother, to offer their work to God, to be concerned about others’ spiritual and material needs, to draw closer to God those who are closer to them.
Let us struggle to improve each day in our personal conversation with God our Father, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit, with our Lady. We who are nourished with the spirit of Opus Dei strive to give our life of piety a special tone, which many other people also make their own: the sense of divine filiation. We strive to imitate Christ with special attention to his years of ordinary life and work in Nazareth. We foster devotion to the Holy Spirit, intimate guest of the soul, who encourages us to identify ourselves with Christ and to love God the Father. We venerate our Lady as Mother of God and our mother, with the piety of small children who hope for everything from her maternal goodness. We strive for a personal relationship with the guardian angels, whom we consider our allies in all our apostolic tasks. And we go with complete confidence to St. Josemaría, our beloved Father, in whom we see perfectly realized the spirit that God wanted for Opus Dei.
In addition, we have to always strive to serve the Church in deed and in truth (1 Jn 3:18),not only in words. Let us pray and get others to pray for the Pope and his intentions, "pulling the cart" in the direction indicated by the Holy Father and, in each place, by the bishops in communion with the Roman Pontiff. By carrying out faithfully the mission proper to Opus Dei, we will collaborate in a very direct way in the great mission that the Master has entrusted to the Church, so that God’s will may be fulfilled: that all men be saved and brought to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4).
We have to give a clear apostolic meaning to everything we do, in the most varied situations and moments. Thus everyone, including those who by way of exception are not in a position to take care of a direct personal apostolate, will carry out a very fruitful work. But this path requires-and I repeat this on purpose-that we put great care into our dealing with God in our practices of Christian piety; that we strive to finish our work well, offering it to God each day in the Holy Mass; that we give importance to small mortifications, which he hopes to see in our conduct with a steady rhythm, "like the beating of our heart" (St. Josemaría, The Forge, no. 518).
Union with Christ on the Cross is indispensable in order to carry out this apostolic program faithfully and with optimism. One cannot follow Jesus without denying oneself (cf. Lk 9:23), without cultivating a spirit of mortification, without the habitual component of specific deeds of penance. The Holy Father pointed this out, some months ago, when he announced a year dedicated to St. Paul on the bimillennium of his birth. He stressed that the apostolic fruit of the Apostle to the Gentiles could not "be attributed to brilliant rhetoric or refined apologetic and missionary strategies. The success of his apostolate depended above all on his personal involvement in proclaiming the Gospel with total dedication to Christ; a dedication that feared neither risk, difficulty nor persecution. ‘Neither death, nor life,’ he wrote to the Romans, ‘nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Rom 8:38-39).
"From this we can draw a particularly important lesson for every Christian. The Church’s action is credible and effective only to the extent to which those who belong to her are prepared to pay in person for their fidelity to Christ in every circumstance. When this readiness is lacking, the crucial argument of truth on which the Church herself depends is also absent" (Benedict XVI, Homily at the Basilica of St. Paul outside the walls, June 28, 2007).
These considerations will help us to prepare for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the 14th of this month. St. Josemaría held up for us the great goal of placing the Cross of Christ at the summit of all human activities-with our sanctified and sanctifying work-so that Jesus might draw all men to himself (cf. Jn12:32). Let us realize well the urgency of this task: "How many people also in our time are in search of God, in search of Jesus and of his Church, in search of divine mercy, and are waiting for a ‘sign’ that will touch their minds and their hearts! Today, as then, the Evangelist reminds us that the only ‘sign’ is Jesus raised on the Cross: Jesus who died and rose is the absolutely sufficient sign. Through him we can understand the truth about life and obtain salvation. This is the principal proclamation of the Church, which remains unchanged down the ages. The Christian faith, therefore, is not an ideology but a personal encounter with the Crucified and Risen Christ. From this experience, both individual and communitarian, flows a new way of thinking and acting: an existence marked by love is born, as the saints testify" (Benedict XVI, Homily, March 26, 2006).
An important part of "showing" Christ to others in our life can be summed up (and let’s not take this as obvious) in the joyful, habitual practice of mortification and penance: voluntarily renouncing comforts and pleasures which, without being bad in themselves, could cool down or hinder our union with God. The temperate use of material goods, without letting oneself be entangled in their coils, holds a fundamental importance for our union with Christ and our apostolate.
Many years ago now, our Founder wrote that "people expect from us, God’s children in his Work, the bonus odor Christi which, supported by our temperance, enkindles them and draws them forward" (St. Josemaría, Instruction, May-1935/ September 14, 1950, no. 65).In contrast, if we do not reject the contagion of worldly goods, if we think it is impossible to carry with us the demanding environment of Christ, if we don’t know how to go against the current, we will not be able to help others find the great happiness of friendship with Jesus. A worldly environment, unfortunately, is found in most places. We have to invite the others, first by our own example, to breathe the clean air of God’s nearness. And to attain this, temperance of the heart and the senses is indispensable: Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God (Mt 5:8).We need to be convinced that only thus can we love this world of ours passionately.
What a great responsibility Christians have! Let us meditate once more on those words that St. Josemaría wrote in The Way:"Many great things depend-don’t forget it-on whether you and I live our lives as God wants" (St. Josemaría, The Way, no. 755).
Continue praying for the Holy Father and his intentions. Ask our Lord to make his service to the Church very fruitful: that all Catholics-shepherds and faithful-take his teachings to heart and put them into practice. And unite yourselves to my intentions as well: forgive me for insisting so much, but I really need you, each and every one of you. As our Father used to say: "Everything is done, and everything remains to be done." Therefore I ask for your whole-hearted assistance, so that I don’t hold back the apostolic challenge of announcing to all mankind that Christ is calling each and every person.
With all my affection, I bless you,
Your Father
+ Javier
Pamplona, September 1, 2007
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A sense of connection with a Personal God
Stephen Tsang, from Hong Kong, converted to Catholicism while living as a student at Netherhall residence in London.
Many conversion stories, especially those found in fiction, are preceded by disillusionment, loneliness or even psychological breakdown.
The protagonists who eventually found God after such emotional roller coaster often find themselves opting for other answers when another life changing experience comes along. My story was simple, in a quiet way paving the way for me to receive a vocation to seek sanctity in the ordinary things of life.
My calm and protected childhood had hardly any notion of God or religion. A few years in a Catholic school in Hong Kong didn’t even lead me to set foot in the school chapel. Three years in a Church of England boarding school didn’t make much impact either. I realised that very few around me had any faith at all. A last minute decision saw me going to London for University. I visited Netherhall House during my first year in an architectural school. It never crossed my mind that I would stay there as I was looking forward to having my own place, a small flat my parents suggested purchasing. The solicitor had difficulties with the deeds of the new property and the completion of the purchase was not forthcoming when term began. Needing accommodation urgently, Netherhall House became the obvious choice. I thought it would only be a very brief stay. There were students of different faiths, I soon met a number of Catholics and was intrigued by the naturalness of their faith.
I was also drawn to the large chapel in the residence; architecturally it is the biggest room with the best finishes. Before long I was spending brief moments in it and quite happy that no one ever questioned my being there. One of the residents introduced me to the concept of mental prayer. There was immediately a sense of connection with a Personal God; this distinctive character still holds me now 27 years after the event. Soon I was joining in with the morning prayer session. I often used the little book ‘The Way’ by St. Josemaria, no cultural barrier ever seemed an issue at all. Then attending daily Mass was a natural progression, the desire to be more united and identified with this Personal Redeemer grew.
I was happy that all through this period no one ever ‘pushed’ me to embrace the Faith, perhaps they were expecting me to take a long time. I was in Leeds during the Christmas holidays, prayer and daily attendance at Mass continued despite heavy snow falls. My sister hired a car to take me a few times, she was also in a Catholic Missionary school but had a different experience. It became clear to me that I had received this gift of Faith. Upon returning to Netherhall I expressed my readiness for Baptism and was presently surprised to be asked to wait a little longer. Certain critics have at times hinted that the people of Opus Dei were only interested in the elite and often would use coercion to achieve their aims; these were not my experience.
One of the great attractions of the Catholic Faith is the devotion to our Lady. My previous studies of Renaissance art suddenly made full sense as the manifestation of a living faith. Other than the various devotions practiced in the residence I loved the idea of visiting ‘the Poor of Our Lady’. Even in the affluent area of Hampstead there are many who suffered loneliness and ill health. The family atmosphere was another great help in understanding Catholic culture. It was 2nd of February that I was baptised into the Catholic Church; the residents put on a great show of celebration afterwards. My parents were apprehensive to start with, but seeing no adverse effect developing, they became strong defenders of my choice in front of the questioning of other relatives.
The solicitor eventually got his work done and the contract was completed. Before my departure from Netherhall House I felt a clear calling from our Lord that I can dedicate my whole life to His service without leaving my chosen profession. It was during the Rosary one evening, hardly a month after my baptism. Perhaps I knew little Catholic doctrine at that time but I was sure about the calling, and have never looked back on my decision. I was going out with a girl who was in school with me and we did paintings together, but there was no commitment. Naturally, giving myself to God meant for me a total dedication of all that I was and would be at that time. My non-Christian parents understood this too, although their Chinese culture would have preferred otherwise.
The doctrine of seeking holiness in everyday life is now common language and part of the everyday teaching in the Church. There are so many practical application in one’s daily life that everyday becomes an adventure. Working as an architect provides many opportunities of realising this: finishing everything to the last detail, serving the individual needs of every client, finding the unique solution for each project, creating the right designs to bring order to family life etc. I will never forget that St. Josemaria said: ‘When our Lord sees that the altar and fittings are well cared for, He looks upon those responsible with special love and overlooks their other defects.’ The human and the divine intermingle in ordinary everyday life, those who neglect the humdrum material details may not be able to find God elsewhere.
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Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Mother Teresa: Exemplary charity
Spero News Religion editor Martin Barillas conducted an exclusive interview with US Catholic Relief Services director for overseas operations, Sean Callahan. The publication of Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light, compiled by the postulator for her sainthood – Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk, has sparked widespread comment and even criticism of the Albanian-born nun who inspired millions with her charitable work that started in the slums of Calcutta and was spread to countries around the world. In the book, a compendium of letters, Blessed Mother Teresa expresses deep longing for God while struggling with the feeling of the absence of God that has been compared to “dark night of the soul” testified in the writings of St. John of the Cross.
Here, Sean Callahan recounts something of his personal acquaintance with Mother Teresa and her work with the Missionaries of Charity – the order that she started to respond to the mandate to Christians to feed the poor and clothe the naked.
Given that Mother Teresa reveals a kind of spiritual darkness in the forthcoming book based on her letters to her spiritual directors, can you provide any insight into her spiritual life? Did you have any inkling as to her abandonment by God?
As someone who worked alongside Mother Teresa as Country Representative for Catholic Relief Services in India during the mid-90’s, I can tell you Mother’s faith was visible everyday in the service she provided to those in need.
I remember a day when I was assisting at the Center for the Dying, one of more than a dozen houses run by the Missionaries of Charity in greater Calcutta. Here, you help patients by feeding them, bathing them, and tending to their wounds. One of the gentlemen I was taking care of on this day was in bad condition. At one point I came back to his bed, and he wasn’t moving. I went to one of the sisters and asked, ‘What do we do?’
Mother was there at the time visiting the center. She came over to me and asked, ‘How are things going?’ I said, ‘Well not too well today, actually. I just lost this gentleman right here.’ And she replied, ‘No you were lucky. You were with him when he went to God. You were with him at a time in his life when he was suffering. You were there and helped him go to God.’
How does the example of Mother Teresa inspire the work of CRS today?
Read More......
Mother of girl who underwent pre-natal surgery hopes her case will lead to fewer abortions
The girl’s mother knows her case is “very important” for families with similar problems and could help other children to have a chance to live. “May parents never chose to abort,” she said, noting that her husband never considered making such a choice.
Doctors say little Maria is in “very good” condition and showing no signs of paralysis.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Daily Estimate Headlines
Following are some of the headlines appearing now at our sister-site Daily Estimate. Please be sure to check out the site and spread the word ...
Rafsanjani victory changes power balance
Iran's powerful hard-line axis is running into serious obstacles - not the least of which may be the election of moderate conservative Hashemi Rafsanjani to head Iran's most venerated political body, the Assembly of Experts.
by Kamal Nazir Yasin
Myanmar: Crushing dissent
The Myanmar military appears to have ridden out the most serious waves of public dissent in recent years, re-imposing authority ahead of proposed democratization moves castigated as a sham.
by ISA
Russia: Presidential succession looms
December's Duma elections will be merely the opening act for the main bit of political theater looming in the spring.
by Robert Coalson
Israel's Syria sortie ill-advised
While Israel could hope for limited intelligence gains from an apparent over-flight of Syrian territory, the sortie's overall impact is harmful to the frozen peace process.
by Dr Dominic Moran
India at 60: More growing pains
After six decades of independence, India is still experiencing growing pains as it strives to put internal strife in check.
by Animesh Roul
Opening address at OPEC meeting
Indeed, we shall carefully review the market outlook at today’s meeting, especially for the coming months, as the Northern Hemisphere winter approaches.
by HE Mohamed Bin Dhaen Al Hamli
Keeping an eye on everything
From OPEC’s viewpoint, the Organization’s commitment to ensuring order and stability in the international oil market, with secure supply, reasonable prices and fair returns to investors, is unequivocal
by OPEC
Swiss elections and the 'foreign' concept
With October elections around the corner, Switzerland cannot escape the "foreign" element despite its isolationist tendencies and neutrality policy, as parties use foreign issues to win political capital.
by Joseph de Weck
EU neighborhood policy: Economics, not membership
The message from Brussels at a meeting with the members of its European Neighborhood Policy is clear: economic cooperation - yes; membership - no.
by Ahto Lobjakas
Headscarves provoke controversy in Azerbaijan
Religious young women risk problems if they choose to wear Islamic clothing.
by Nigar Musayeva
Supercomputing in China
IBM-made supercomputer bought by China for weather forecasting at the 2008 Olympics unlikely to be used for military purposes after games.
by Luke K Handley
Morocco: Democracy, islam, monarchy
Democracy's role in ensuring freedoms in Morocco is limited as power still rests with the monarchy, and the rise of Islam and low voter turnout for Friday's polls shows increasing disillusionment.
by Adam Wolfe
Iran shake-up may reveal inner workings
Iranian president Mahmood Ahmdinejad sack