Bible Lights Promotion

BIBLE LIGHTS PROMOTIONS

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Update February 24, 2013 - BIBLE LIGHTS PROMOTIONS

Posted by Herbert Curia - Promoter at Saturday, February 23, 2013 0 comments

BIBLE LIGHTS PROMOTIONS
EDUCATIONS AND PROMOTIONS AND COMMENTARY
AND CRITICISM

Update February 24, 2013

"LIFE"

"RESPECT OF LIFE", THE RIGHT TO LIFE IN OUR RIGHTS PRACTICE THIS GIFT OF GOD TO US...GOD SAYS TO US TO VALUE LIFE ON HAVING FAITH IN HIM FIRST...

IN OUR MODERN AGE PEOPLE ARE GOING BACK TO AGE OF NEVER VALUE LIFE OF OTHERS NEITHER THEMSELVES...... THE RH BILL OR CONTRACEPTIVES BILL CONTROLLING POPULATIONS BY KILLING AND STOPPING OVULATIONS OR MAKING BABIES... THERE IS EUTHANISIA AND OTHERS ETC ETC...

THERE ARE MANY UN-RELIGIOUS GROUP PRETENDING TO BE PROGRESSIVE BUT NOT CARING LIFE, THEY ARE NOT ORIENTED AND BELIEVE IN GOD OR SUPREME BEING OR METAPHYSICAL THOUGHTS GOODNESS IN LIFE CARING......

THERE MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE FORGET GOD AND THEIR RELIGION IN FACING FUTURE AND BEING WEAK IN MATERIAL THINGS..."ALWAYS MAN AND MIND OVER MATTER"....IN PHYSICAL AND LOGICAL MEANS LET YOU MOVE THINGS NOT THE THINGS MOVE YOU... " IN OUR SOCIETY NOW IN CAPITALISM ANG MGA BAGAY O PERA O WEALTH ANG NAGPAPAGALAW SA TAO AT HINDI NA TAO ANG NAGPAPAGALAW SA BAGAY. AND THINGS IS BEING VALUED THAN LIFE...

KEEP FAITH AND RESPECT LIFE IN GOD BELIEF AND RESPECTING HUMAN RIGHTS OF EVERYONE...

GOD GAVE US EARTH TO SUBDUE IT NOT THE EARTH SUBDUE US...IN TEN COMMANDMENTS GOD GIVE VALUE IN THINGS COMMANDING "DO NOT ROB YOUR NEIGHBOR OR OTHERS" AND GOD VALUE LIFE RULING "THOU SHALL NOT KILL"....IN THIS COMMANDMENTS MEANING LIFE IS MORE THAN THINGS....IN THIS MODERN AGE HOW DO YOU DIFFERENTIATE THIS COMMANDMENTS?...

USE WEALTH IN GOODNESS, UNITY TO GOD AND FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE AS GOD SAYS IN THE BIBLE DO NOT USE WEALTH IN KILLING PEOPLE AS WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR MODERN SOCIETY NOW...AND REMEMBER DURING JESUS CHRIST TIME THE HIGHER PRIEST USE MONEY TO KILL JESUS CHRIST, THEY TEMPTED JUDAS BY MONEY AND JUDAS WAS BEING CONTROL BY MONEY TO TRAITOR JESUS....

KEEP READING THE BIBLE AND HEAR THE WHO TEACHES THE BIBLE AND PROMOTING, IT WILL HELP YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE TO GOD BE LIGHTED IN GOODNESS....

GOD AND JESUS AND MOTHER MARY LIGHTS AND MIRACLES LIGHTS AND BLESS US ALL....

BIBLE LIGHTS PROMOTIONS
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Dioceses step up catechesis to counter more ‘death bills’ in House

Posted by Herbert Curia - Promoter at Saturday, February 23, 2013 0 comments

From the Website of CBCP
links: http://www.cbcpnews.com/cbcpnews/?p=14199

Dioceses step up catechesis to counter more ‘death bills’ in House

Filed under: Headlines |

ANTIPOLO City, Feb. 22, 2013—With the newly-minted RH Law now in effect, the dioceses are getting ready to dig in their heels to oppose more death bills pending for the 16^th Congress, such as divorce, same sex marriage and euthanasia.

“Essentially, the response is to step up on evangelization, formation. The catechetical effort should be more comprehensive and intensive,” said CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (ECFL) executive secretary Fr. Melvin Castro in Filipino.

To kick off this effort, the 4^th ECFL National Conference this February 25-28 will focus on the legal implications of R.A. 10354 or the RH Law; the Church’s teachings on marriage and homosexuality; as well as a framework on how Catholics should be involved in political life.
According to Fr. Castro, the passage of the RH Law, despite being truly regrettable, is galvanizing Catholics to stand against the other so-called death bills being proposed in Congress.

More ‘death bills’

House Bill 1799 or the divorce bill, authored by Gabriela Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan proposes to legalize divorce in the country, amending the Family Code.

Another one of the ‘death bills’, SBN 3156 or the ‘end of life care’ bill, authored by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, notably proposes that patients should be allowed to stop eating and drinking when they are “too sick.”

The conference will feature Bp. Teodoro Bacani who will talk about how Catholics should participate in political life; Fr. Roque Villanueva will focus on what the passage of the RH Law really means; Abp. Oscar Cruz will discuss marriage, divorce and annulment; Rep. Milagros Magsaysay will share insights on the legislative process of R.A. 10354; Prof. Rosa Linda Valenzona will present what the Church teaches about homosexuality and gender issues; and lastly, a testimony of conversion will be given by Rolando de los Reyes.

It is also the first time the ECFL national conference is open to lay groups involved in family apostolate and not just diocesan family and life directors.

More than a hundred diocesan family and life directors all over the country will be attending the conference, which will be held at the St. Michael retreat house in Antipolo City. [Nirva’ana Ella Delacruz]

CBCP Website

links:

http://www.cbcpnews.com/cbcpnews/?p=14199

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http://www.news.va/en/news/faith-and-science-in-the-defence-of-human-life

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Faith and science in the defence of human life

Posted by Herbert Curia - Promoter at Saturday, February 23, 2013 0 comments

From the Website of Vatican Pope Website
links: http://www.news.va/en/news/faith-and-science-in-the-defence-of-human-life

Faith and science in the defence of human life

2013-02-21 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) “The Pontifical Academy for Life is a scientific research institution for the Holy See and for Catholic institutions”, says Fr. Scott Borgman, the coordinating secretary for the Academy.
On the eve of its 19^th General Assembly on “Faith and Human Life”, he dropped by Vatican Radio to tell Emer McCarthy about the issues on the agenda for participants over the next three days and the challenges that lie ahead. Listen:

The first myth he debunked is that the Academy is populated by priests and Vatican officials, stressing the scientific and academic expertise that it enlists to study the hot topic issues of today, such as the right to life, the issue of gender and defence of marriage and the family, to name a few.

“We actually have very few priests or clergy as members. These are mostly lay people who are active and working in different hospitals and organisms throughout the world. So as we come together each year we have about 120 members who fly in to Rome to look at the main topic for the year”.

This year in the context of Faith and Human Life, he revealed that participants will be focusing on what the Church and Sacred Scripture teach us about the origins of life within the family founded on marriage between a man and a women:

“For example the Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, His Excellency Müller will be speaking about Human Life in the Magisterium. These are the principals at the very core of bio-medical issues, that is the respect of every human life as a person and the other one would be the authentic context of the origin of human life in marriage and the family which is a topic that has been quite discussed in recent days”.

But he adds, they will also explore the topic from a scientific point of view:

“There will also be Dr. Richard Doerflinger, who will be discussing how faith and science can defend human life in the 21^st century. He will be talking about science and religion as progressing together in the rise and development of modern science and society”.

Fr. Borgman points out that the Academy is a space for exploration and reflection on these issues of immense importance in today’s world and a tool for not only the Vatican but also local Churches.

“We receive requests from the Holy See, from some bishops and local Catholic institutions to study the issues that will be the hot topics in the next three four years. I’m thinking for example last year we studied the problem of infertility. Another thing that we studied last year is umbilical cords. There’s this freezing of umbilical cords thinking that some day down the line we may be to use those for the benefit of the individual and after extensive studies on this issue it would seem that freezing is not an exact science. I’m not an expert in any of these areas, I am just repeating what I have heard, but it would seem that the possibility of using those umbilical cords immediately for someone who needed them would be much higher. So the idea would not to be turned in on ourselves, to use them for ourselves but to make them available for science”.

Vatican Website

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ANGELUS 2013-02-17

Posted by Herbert Curia - Promoter at Saturday, February 23, 2013 0 comments

Bible Lights Promotions Lights of

God and Jesus in

the World

Mother Mary Lights the

World in Peace
and Love

From Vatican

POPE Benedict XVI:

ANGELUS 2013-02-17

Vatican Website

Vatican Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

God and Jesus and Mother Mary Lights

Bless Us All

Salita ng Diyos, Salita ng Buhay (21 February 2013) @ TV Maria

Posted by Herbert Curia - Promoter at Saturday, February 23, 2013 0 comments

Bible Lights Promotions

Lights of God and Jesus in

the World

Mother Mary Lights the

World in Peace

and Love

TV MARIA
CBCP NEW CATHOLIC CHANNEL

Salita ng Diyos, Salita ng Buhay (21 February 2013) @ TV Maria

CBCP AND TV MARIA Website

Http://www.tvmaria.net

TV Maria - facebook

CBCP Online | Official Website of the CBCP

TV MARIA Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/user/tvmariaphils

God and Jesus and Mother Mary Lights

Bless Us All

Friday, February 15, 2013

SUNDAY BIBLE VERSES PROMOTIONS - Update February 17, 2013

Posted by Herbert Curia - Promoter at Friday, February 15, 2013 0 comments

THE BIBLE VERSES
SUNDAY BIBLE VERSES PROMOTIONS

THE BIBLE VERSES

THE SUNDAY BIBLE LIGHTS PROMOTIONS

BIBLE VERSES READINGS PROMOTIONS

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ALWAYS VISIT HERE FOR WEEKLY

BIBLE VERSES AND PROMOTIONS

THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN
LUKE 21:25-28
THE CRUCIFIXION
LUKE 23:33-42
THE ASCENSION
LUKE 24:50-53

Luke
Chapter 21

25: "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
26: People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens ⁸ will be shaken.
27: And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28: But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand."

Luke
Chapter 23

26: ⁴ As they led him away they took hold of a certain Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country; and after laying the cross on him, they made him carry it behind Jesus.
27: A large crowd of people followed Jesus, including many women who mourned and lamented him.
28: Jesus turned to them and said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep instead for yourselves and for your children,
29: for indeed, the days are coming when people will say, 'Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.'
30: At that time people will say to the mountains, 'Fall upon us!' and to the hills, 'Cover us!'
31: for if these things are done when the wood is green what will happen when it is dry?"
32: Now two others, both criminals, were led away with him to be executed.
33: When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left.
34: [Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."] ⁵ They divided his garments by casting lots.
35: The people stood by and watched; the rulers, meanwhile, sneered at him and said, "He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Messiah of God."
36: Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine
37: they called out, "If you are King of the Jews, save yourself."
38: Above him there was an inscription that read, "This is the King of the Jews."
39: ⁶ Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us."
40: The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation?
41: And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal."
42: Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

Luke
Chapter 24

50: ¹³ Then he led them (out) as far as Bethany, raised his hands, and blessed them.
51: As he blessed them he parted from them and was taken up to heaven.
52: They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
53: and they were continually in the temple praising God. ¹⁴

THE BIBLE VERSES SOURCES

ENGLISH AND TAGALOG VERSION

http://www.catechism.org/nab/bible/index.shtml

http://angbiblia.net/

LINKS:

ENGLISH

http://www.catechism.org/nab/bible/luke/luke21.htm

http://www.catechism.org/nab/bible/luke/luke23.htm

http://www.catechism.org/nab/bible/luke/luke24.htm

TAGALOG VERSION

http://angbiblia.net/lucas21.aspx

http://angbiblia.net/lucas23.aspx

http://angbiblia.net/lucas24.aspx

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BIBLE LIGHTS PROMOTIONS

Update February 17, 2013 - BIBLE LIGHTS PROMOTIONS

Posted by Herbert Curia - Promoter at Friday, February 15, 2013 0 comments

BIBLE LIGHTS PROMOTIONS
EDUCATIONS AND PROMOTIONS AND COMMENTARY
AND CRITICISM

Update February 17, 2013
LENTEN SEASON
ASH WEDNESDAY

LENTEN SEASON, A TIME TO REMEMBER JESUS CHRIST AND GOD LOVE TO US... GOD AND JESUS CHRIST SACRIFICE FOR HIS CREATION TO BE SAVED AND WORTHY FOR HIS KINGDOM IN HEAVEN...

THE ASH WEDNESDAY WE CELEBRATE, BY THE CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN LAST DAY. AS PART OF OUR CHRISTIAN BELIEF WE CELEBRATE ASH WEDNESDAY AS CREATIONS OF GOD....

LET US ALL UNITE IN THIS LENTEN SEASON AND PRAY AND CELEBRATE ON SAVING OF OUR SINS BY JESUS CHRIST AND PRAY TO GOD THRU JESUS TO CONTINUE LOVE US AND GUIDE US IN OUR LIFE THRU THE BIBLE AND HIS SPIRITS TO US AND ALMIGHTY POWER AND MIRACLES TO US......LET US ALL HEARTEDLY THANKS TO JESUS AND GOD FOR ALWAYS BE THERE EVEN SACRIFICE TO LOVE US...

GOD MADE JESUS TO BECOME A MAN FOR WHICH WE DON'T SAY ANY ABOUT OUR BEING MANHOOD AND AS CREATED MAN AND NOT INVINCIBLE OR IMMORTAL. IMMORTALITY IS IN OUR FAITH TO GOD THRU JESUS CHRIST, THE BIBLE SAYS YOU WILL NEVER DIE IF YOU BELIEVE IN GOD THRU JESUS CHRIST...............JESUS CHRIST IS THE EXAMPLE OF IMMORTALITY THAT WE WILL ROSE AGAIN IF WE REACH OUR MANHOOD TIME AND IF THE JUDGEMENT DAY COME WE WILL NOT DIE IF WE BELIEVE IN GOD THRU JESUS CHRIST AND IF WE ARE WORTHY AND SAVED FOR HE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN...

BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST HE IS OUR SAVIOR AND HE IS THE WAY TO GOD.... BELIEVE IN JESUS FIRST IN BELIEVING TO GOD.... WE HOPE THE LENTEN SEASON MAKES EVERYONE REMEMBER JESUS CHRIST TIME AND HIS TEACHING TO US AND THE LIVING BIBLE AND GOD....

PRAY AND THANKS JESUS AND GOD FOR LOVE TO US....THAT IS THE GREATEST LOVE GOD GIVEN TO US....

GOD AND JESUS AND MOTHER MARY LIGHTS LIGHTS AND MIRACLES BLESS US ALL..

BIBLE LIGHTS PROMOTIONS
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Cardinal: Lent is time to help others

Posted by Herbert Curia - Promoter at Friday, February 15, 2013 0 comments

From the Website of CBCP Online
links: http://www.cbcpnews.com/cbcpnews/?p=13569

Cardinal: Lent is time to help others

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle exhorts the faithful to spend the Lenten season meaningfully by reaching out to people in need. (Photo by Noli Yamsuan)

MANILA, Feb. 14, 2013— In his Lenten message, the head of Manila’s Roman Catholic Church called on the faithful to help other people, especially the needy.

In a pastoral letter for Alay Kapwa 2013, Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said that Lent is a liturgical period of charity and solidarity.

“The Year of Faith invites us to listen to the deep cries and aspirations of the people and societies of our time so that we can proclaim Jesus Christ to them with new methods, new expressions, and new fervor,” Tagle said.

In line with this, the Manila archdiocese will hold a second offertory collection during Sunday Masses for an emergency and relief funds during disasters and other crises affecting the country.

The fund is specifically intended for the archdiocese’s Alay Kapwa program and its social services and programs for the poor.

It will also be held in the archdiocese’s suffragans dioceses— Antipolo, Cubao, Imus, Kalookan, Malolos, Novaliches, Parañaque, Pasig, San Pablo, and the apostolic vicariates of Puerto Princesa and Taytay in Palawan.

“As we have done in the past few years… we will again implement a special second collection for six Sundays, from February 17 to March 24, 201,” Tagle said.

The fund gathered during these six Sundays, he said, will again be used as emergency funds for calamities both natural and manmade all over the country like what happened in the recent calamities.

Alay Kapwa is the Lenten evangelization-action program since 1975 to raise social consciousness about the plight of the poor.

It is also the time of the year designated to raise funds for the social services and programs of the Church for the poor, specifically for its disaster risk reduction and management program.

With the P7 million funds raised in last year’s Alay Kapwa, the Church was quick to respond to help the victims of recent calamities for a total assistance of P14.4 million in cash and in kind.

Caritas Manila also assisted four dioceses affected by Typhoon Pablo in-cash and in-kind totalling P8 million. (CBCPNews)

CBCP Website

links:

http://www.cbcpnews.com/cbcpnews/?p=13569

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links:

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-on-ash-wednesday-it-is-never-too-late-to-retu

http://www.news.va/en/news/the-future-is-gods-3

BIBLE LIGHTS PROMOTIONS

Pope on Ash Wednesday: It is never too late to return to God

Posted by Herbert Curia - Promoter at Friday, February 15, 2013 0 comments

From the Website of Vatican
links: http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-on-ash-wednesday-it-is-never-too-late-to-retu

Pope on Ash Wednesday: It is never too late to return to God

2013-02-14 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Benedict XVI has given the last public homily of his pontificate in a moving Ash Wednesday ceremony, in St Peter’s basilica. His message to those gathered for the liturgy and following through global media, was that it is never to late to return to God and that faith is necessarily ecclesial.

The Ash Wednesday ceremony was moved from its traditional location in the basilica of St Sabina on the Aventine hill to accommodate the large numbers of priests, religious and lay people who wanted to participate in Pope Benedict’s last public liturgy.

The Pope began by thanking them – and particularly the faithful from the diocese of Rome – for their support and prayers during his ministry. He then went on to reflect on the first reading from the Prophet Joel Chapter 2, where the Lord says “Return to me with all your heart”.

Pope Benedict spoke of the importance of witnessing to the faith and Christian life on an individual and community level. This witness, he said, reveals the face of the Church and how this face is, at times, disfigured by the sins of disunity and division in the Body of Christ.

The community dimension is an essential element in faith and Christian life. Christ came "to gather the children of God who are scattered into one" (Jn 11:52). The "we" of the Church is the community in which Jesus brings us together (cf. Jn 12:32), faith is necessarily ecclesial. And it is important to remember and to live this during Lent: each person must be aware that the penitential journey cannot be faced alone, but together with many brothers and sisters in the Church.

The Pope concluded “Living Lent in a more intense and evident ecclesial communion, overcoming individualism and rivalry is a humble and precious sign for those who have distanced themselves from the faith or who are indifferent”.

Following communion as the liturgy drew to an end, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State addressed Pope Benedict on behalf of all those gathered. He described a “veil of sadness” over the hearts of those gathered around the Pope, at his pending resignation.

“In recent years, your teaching has been an open window on the Church and the world, that has made the rays of truth and love of God to shine through, to give light and warmth to our journey, even and especially at times when the clouds gather in the sky”.

Cardinal Bertone concluded: “we want to say to you from the depths of our hearts, with great affection, emotion and admiration: thanks for giving us the shining example of simple and humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord--a worker, however, who was able at all time to realize what is more important: to bring God to men and to lead people to God”.

Below a Vatican Radio translation of the Holy Father’s Ash Wednesday homily [original text Italian]
Venerable Brothers,

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Today, Ash Wednesday, we begin a new Lenten journey, a journey that extends over forty days and leads us towards the joy of Easter, to victory of Life over death. Following the ancient Roman tradition of Lenten stations, we are gathered for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The tradition says that the first statio took place in the Basilica of Saint Sabina on the Aventine Hill. Circumstances suggested we gather in St. Peter's Basilica. Tonight there are many of us gathered around the tomb of the Apostle Peter, to also ask him to pray for the path of the Church going forward at this particular moment in time, to renew our faith in the Supreme Pastor, Christ the Lord. For me it is also a good opportunity to thank everyone, especially the faithful of the Diocese of Rome, as I prepare to conclude the Petrine ministry, and I ask you for a special remembrance in your prayer.

The readings that have just been proclaimed offer us ideas which, by the grace of God, we are called to transform into a concrete attitude and behaviour during Lent. First of all the Church proposes the powerful appeal which the prophet Joel addresses to the people of Israel, "Thus says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning" (2.12). Please note the phrase "with all your heart," which means from the very core of our thoughts and feelings, from the roots of our decisions, choices and actions, with a gesture of total and radical freedom. But is this return to God possible? Yes, because there is a force that does not reside in our hearts, but that emanates from the heart of God and the power of His mercy. The prophet says: "return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting in punishment" (v. 13). It is possible to return to the Lord, it is a 'grace', because it is the work of God and the fruit of faith that we entrust to His mercy. But this return to God becomes a reality in our lives only when the grace of God penetrates and moves our innermost core, gifting us the power that "rends the heart". Once again the prophet proclaims these words from God: "Rend your hearts and not your garments" (v. 13). Today, in fact, many are ready to "rend their garments" over scandals and injustices – which are of course caused by others - but few seem willing to act according to their own "heart", their own conscience and their own intentions, by allowing the Lord transform, renew and convert them.

This "return to me with all your heart," then, is a reminder that not only involves the individual but the entire community. Again we heard in the first reading: "Blow the horn in Zion! Proclaim a fast, call an assembly! Gather the people, sanctify the congregation; Assemble the elderly; gather the children, even infants nursing at the breast; Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her bridal tent (vv.15-16). The community dimension is an essential element in faith and Christian life. Christ came "to gather the children of God who are scattered into one" (Jn 11:52). The "we" of the Church is the community in which Jesus brings us together (cf. Jn 12:32), faith is necessarily ecclesial. And it is important to remember and to live this during Lent: each person must be aware that the penitential journey cannot be faced alone, but together with many brothers and sisters in the Church.

Finally, the prophet focuses on the prayers of priests, who, with tears in their eyes, turn to God, saying: " Between the porch and the altar let the priests weep, let the ministers of the LORD weep and say: “Spare your people, Lord! Do not let your heritage become a disgrace, a byword among the nations! Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’"(V.17). This prayer leads us to reflect on the importance of witnessing to faith and Christian life, for each of us and our community, so that we can reveal the face of the Church and how this face is, at times, disfigured. I am thinking in particular of the sins against the unity of the Church, of the divisions in the body of the Church. Living Lent in a more intense and evident ecclesial communion, overcoming individualism and rivalry is a humble and precious sign for those who have distanced themselves from the faith or who are indifferent.

"Well, now is the favourable time, this is the day of salvation" (2 Cor 6:2). The words of the Apostle Paul to the Christians of Corinth resonate for us with an urgency that does not permit absences or inertia. The term "now" is repeated and can not be missed, it is offered to us as a unique opportunity. And the Apostle's gaze focuses on sharing with which Christ chose to characterize his life, taking on everything human to the point of taking on all of man’s sins. The words of St. Paul are very strong: "God made him sin for our sake." Jesus, the innocent, the Holy One, "He who knew no sin" (2 Cor 5:21), bears the burden of sin sharing the outcome of death, and death of the Cross with humanity. The reconciliation we are offered came at a very high price, that of the Cross raised on Golgotha, on which the Son of God made man was hung. In this, in God’s immersion in human suffering and the abyss of evil, is the root of our justification. The "return to God with all your heart" in our Lenten journey passes through the Cross, in following Christ on the road to Calvary, to the total gift of self. It is a journey on which each and every day we learn to leave behind our selfishness and our being closed in on ourselves, to make room for God who opens and transforms our hearts. And as St. Paul reminds us, the proclamation of the Cross resonates within us thanks to the preaching of the Word, of which the Apostle himself is an ambassador. It is a call to us so that this Lenten journey be characterized by a more careful and assiduous listening to the Word of God, the light that illuminates our steps.

In the Gospel passage according of Matthew, to whom belongs to the so-called Sermon on the Mount, Jesus refers to three fundamental practices required by the Mosaic Law: almsgiving, prayer and fasting. These are also traditional indications on the Lenten journey to respond to the invitation to «return to God with all your heart." But he points out that both the quality and the truth of our relationship with God is what qualifies the authenticity of every religious act. For this reason he denounces religious hypocrisy, a behaviour that seeks applause and approval. The true disciple does not serve himself or the "public", but his Lord, in simplicity and generosity: "And your Father who sees everything in secret will reward you" (Mt 6,4.6.18). Our fitness will always be more effective the less we seek our own glory and the more we are aware that the reward of the righteous is God Himself, to be united to Him, here, on a journey of faith, and at the end of life, in the peace light of coming face to face with Him forever (cf. 1 Cor 13:12).

Dear brothers and sisters, we begin our Lenten journey with trust and joy. May the invitation to conversion , to "return to God with all our heart", resonate strongly in us, accepting His grace that makes us new men and women, with the surprising news that is participating in the very life of Jesus. May none of us, therefore, be deaf to this appeal, also addressed in the austere rite, so simple and yet so beautiful, of the imposition of ashes, which we will shortly carry out. May the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church and model of every true disciple of the Lord accompany us in this time. Amen!

Below the full text of Cardinal Bertone’s address to Pope Benedict:
Most Holy Father,

With feelings of great emotion and profound respect not only the Church, but the whole world, heard the news of your decision to renounce the ministry of the Bishop of Rome, Successor of the Apostle Peter.
We would not be honest, Your Holiness, if we did not say that this evening there's a veil of sadness over our hearts. In recent years, your teaching has been an open window on the Church and the world, that has made the rays of truth and love of God to shine through, to give light and warmth to our journey, even and especially at times when the clouds gather in the sky.

All of us have understood that it is the deep love that Your Holiness has for God and for the Church that has moved you to this act, revealing that purity of mind, that strong, and your strong and demanding faith, the strength of humility and meekness, along with great courage which has marked every step of your life and your ministry, and that can only come from being with God, from standing in the light of the word of God, from continually going up the mountain for to be together with Him before coming back down into the City of men.
Holy Father, a few days ago with the seminarians of your diocese of Rome, you said that as Christians we know that the future is ours, the future belongs to God, and that the tree of the Church grows ever anew. The Church is always renewed, always reborn. To serve the Church in the firm knowledge that it is not ours, but God's, that it does not fall to us to build it, but to Him; to be able to say with complete sincerity: " We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do"(Luke 17:10), trusting completely in the Lord is a great lesson that you, even with this painful decision, give not only to us, the Pastors of the Church, but to the entire People of God.

The Eucharist is a thanksgiving to God. Tonight, we want to give thanks to the Lord for the journey that the whole Church has undertaken under the guidance of Your Holiness and we want to say to you from the depths of our hearts, with great affection, emotion and admiration: thanks for giving us the shining example of simple and humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord--a worker, however, who was able at all time to realize what is more important: to bring God to men and to lead people to God

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The future is God’s

2013-02-16 L’Osservatore Romano
An unprecedented event, the news of which is still ringing around the world: Benedict XVI has renounced the Papacy. The Pontiff himself made the announcement with simplicity and solemnity before a group of cardinals: from the evening of 28 February the Episcopal See of Rome will be vacant and immediately thereupon a conclave will be convened to elect the Successor of the Apostle Peter. This was specified in the brief text which the Pope had composed in Latin and read at the Consistory.

The Pontiff made his decision months ago, after his Journey to Mexico and Cuba and its confidentiality was absolute, after “having repeatedly examined” his conscience “before God” (conscientia mea iterum atque iterum coram Deo explorata), due to his advanced age. Benedict XVI explained, with the kind of clarity that he is known for, that his strength is “no longer suited to an adequate exercise” of the immense task of one chosen to “govern the barque of St Peter and proclaim the Gospel”.

For that reason, and for that reason alone, the Roman Pontiff, “well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom” (bene conscius ponderis huius actus plena libertate) renounces the ministry of Bishop of Rome which was entrusted to him on 19 April 2005. And the words that Benedict XVI chose indicate in a transparent way his respect for the conditions prescribed by Canon Law for the resignation from a post that is entirely unique in the world because of it weight and spiritual importance.

It is well known that Cardinal Ratzinger in no way sought his election to the Pontificate, one of the quickest in history, and that he accepted it with the simplicity of one who really does entrust his life to God. That is why Benedict XVI never felt alone, in an authentic and daily relationship with the One who lovingly governs the life of every human being, and in the reality of the Communion of Saints, sustained by the love and the work (amore et labore) of his co-workers, and nourished by prayer and by the love of so many people, believers and non-believers alike.

It is in this light that we must also interpret his renunciation of the pontificate, free and above all trusting in the providence of God. Benedict XVI knows well that the papal service, “due to its essential spiritual nature”, is also carried out “with prayer and suffering”, but he underlined that “in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith”, to be Pope “both strength of mind and body are necessary”, strength that in him is naturally deteriorating.

In the words with which he addressed the cardinals, who were at first astonished and then deeply moved, and with his decision, which is without a comparable historical precedent, Benedict XVI shows a lucidity and a humility that is first of all, as he once explained, adherence to reality, to the earth (humus). So, feeling no longer able to “adequately fulfill” the ministry entrusted to him, he has announced his renunciation. And he did so with a humanly and spiritually exemplary decision, in the full maturity of a pontificate that, from the outset and for the duration of almost 8 years, day by day, he has never ceased to amaze us and he will leave an indelible mark on history. Such is the history that the Pope interprets with confidence in signs of the future that is God’s.

Vatican Website

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