DEAR LORD.....

LORD HAVE MERCY

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
That where there is hatred - I may bring love,
That where there is wrong - I may bring the spirit of forgiveness,
That where there is discord - I may bring harmony,
That where there is error - I may bring truth,
That where there is doubt - I may bring faith,
That where there are shadows - I may bring Thy light,
That where there is sadness - I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek to console - than to be consoled,
To understand - than to be loved.
Because
It is by giving that one receives,
It is by self-forgetting that one finds,
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven,
It is by owing that one awakes to the eternal life.
SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI-1182-1226-ASSISI-ITALY

"IF"

If you can keep your head when all about you
demorats are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all demorats doubt you
But make allowance for their dumb doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in demorat lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to demorat hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream- and not make dreams your master,
If you can think- and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by demorat knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings- nor lose the common touch,
If neither demorat foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And- which is more- you'll be a REPUBLICAN
- Rudyard Kipling-

modification  by

COL.WALTER E. KURTZ

Pope says rich nations "plundered" Third World
Wed Apr 4, 2007
 

VATICAN CITY - Rich countries bent on power and profit have mercilessly "plundered and sacked" Africa and other poor regions and exported to them the "cynicism of a world without God," Pope Benedict writes in his first book.The Pope also condemns drug trafficking and sexual tourism, saying they are signs of a world brimming with "people who are empty" yet living among abundant material goods.One section of the book was printed in Wednesday's Corriere Della Sera daily before publication later this month by Italian publisher Rizzoli, which owns the newspaper. A Rizzoli spokeswoman confirmed the authenticity of the excerpts.In the 400-page book, called "Jesus of Nazareth," the Pope offers a modern application of Jesus's parable of the Good Samaritan, who stopped to help a man who had been robbed by thieves when others, including a priest, had not."The current relevance of the parable is obvious," the Pope writes."If we apply it to the dimensions of globalised society today, we see how the populations of Africa have been plundered and sacked and this concerns us intimately," the Pope says in his book, which comes out on April 16, his 80th birthday.He drew a link between the lifestyle of people in the developed world and the dire conditions of people in Africa.

STRIPPED NAKED

"We see how our lifestyle, the history that involved us, has stripped them naked and continues to strip them naked," he writes.The German Pope, who has condemned the effects of colonialism before, said rich countries had also hurt poor countries spiritually by belittling or trying to wipe out their own cultural and spiritual traditions."Instead of giving them God, the God close to us in Christ, and welcoming in their traditions all that is precious and great ... we have brought them the cynicism of a world without God, where only power and profit count...," he writes.The Pope says his comments were valid for other regions apart from Africa.In what could be seen as a strong self-criticism of the Roman Catholic Church, whose missionary activities often went hand-in-glove with colonialism, the Pope writes:"We destroyed (their) moral criteria to the point that corruption and a lust for power devoid of scruples have become obvious."

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE

- Pope Benedict warned Catholic politicians they risked excommunication from the Church and should not receive communion if they support abortion.It was the first time that the Pope, speaking to reporters aboard the plane taking him on a trip to Brazil, dealt in depth with a controversial topic that has come up in many countries, including the United States, Mexico, and Italy.The Pope was asked whether he supported Mexican Church leaders threatening to excommunicate leftist parliamentarians who last month voted to legalize abortion in Mexico City."Yes, this excommunication was not an arbitrary one but is allowed by Canon (church) law which says that the killing of an innocent child is incompatible with receiving communion, which is receiving the body of Christ," he said."They (Mexican Church leaders) did nothing new, surprising or arbitrary. They simply announced publicly what is contained in the law of the Church... which expresses our appreciation for life and that human individuality, human personality is present from the first moment (of life)".Under Church law, someone who knowingly does or backs something which the Church considers a grave sin, such as abortion, inflicts what is known as "automatic excommunication" on themselves.The Pope said parliamentarians who vote in favor of abortion have "doubts about the value of life and the beauty of life and even a doubt about the future"."Selfishness and fear are at the root of (pro-abortion) legislation," he said. "We in the Church have a great struggle to defend life...life is a gift not a threat."

"ALWAYS A GIFT"

 XVI to Chinese Catholics

IN RED COMMUNIST CHINA

27 May 2007

By his “Letter to Bishops, Priests, Consecrated Persons and Lay Faithful of the Catholic Church in the People’s Republic of China”, which bears the date of Pentecost Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI wishes to express his love for and his closeness to the Catholics who live in China. He does so, obviously, as Successor of Peter and Universal Pastor of the Church.From the text two basic thoughts are clear: on the one hand, the Pope’s deep affection for the entire Catholic community in China and, on the other, his passionate fidelity to the great values of the Catholic tradition in the ecclesiological field; hence, a passion for charity and a passion for the truth. The Pope recalls the great ecclesiological principles of the Second Vatican Council and the Catholic tradition, but at the same time takes into consideration particular aspects of the life of the Church in China, setting them in an ample theological perspective.

A. The Church in China in the last fifty years

The Catholic community in China has lived the past fifty years in an intense way, undertaking a difficult and painful journey, which not only has deeply marked it but has also caused it to take on particular characteristics which continue to mark it today.The Catholic community suffered an initial persecution in the 1950s, which witnessed the expulsion of foreign Bishops and missionaries, the imprisonment of almost all Chinese clerics and the leaders of the various lay movements, the closing of churches and the isolation of the faithful. Then, at the end of the 1950s, various state bodies were established, such as the Office for Religious Affairs and the Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics, with the aim of directing and “controlling” all religious activity. In 1958 the first two episcopal ordinations without papal mandate took place, initiating a long series of actions which deeply damaged ecclesial communion.In the decade 1966-1976, the Cultural Revolution, which took place throughout the country, violently affected the Catholic community, striking even those Bishops, priests and lay faithful who had shown themselves more amenable to the new orientations imposed by government authorities.In the 1980s, with the gestures of openness promoted by Deng Xiaoping, there began a period of religious tolerance with some possibility of movement and dialogue, which led to the reopening of churches, seminaries and religious houses, and to a certain revival of community life. The information coming from communities of the Catholic Church in China confirmed that the blood of the martyrs had once again been the seed of new Christians: the faith had remained alive in the communities; the majority of Catholics had given fervent witness of fidelity to Christ and the Church; families had become the key to the transmission of the faith to their members. The new climate, however, provoked different reactions within the Catholic community.In this regard, the Pope notes that some Pastors, “not wishing to be subjected to undue control exercised over the life of the Church, and eager to maintain total fidelity to the Successor of Peter and to Catholic doctrine, have felt themselves constrained to opt for clandestine consecration” to ensure a pastoral service to their own communities (No. 8). In fact, as the Holy Father makes clear, “the clandestine condition is not a normal feature of the Church’s life, and history shows that Pastors and faithful have recourse to it only amid suffering, in the desire to maintain the integrity of their faith and to resist interference from State agencies in matters pertaining intimately to the Church’s life” (ibid.).Others, who were especially concerned with the good of the faithful and with an eye to the future “have consented to receive episcopal ordination without the pontifical mandate, but have subsequently asked to be received into communion with the Successor of Peter and with their other brothers in the episcopate” (ibid.). The Pope, in consideration of the complexity of the situation and being deeply desirous of promoting the re-establishment of full communion, granted many of them “full and legitimate exercise of episcopal jurisdiction”.

Attentively analyzing the situation of the Church in China, Benedict XVI is aware of the fact that the community is suffering internally from a situation of conflict in which both faithful and Pastors are involved. He emphasizes, however, that this painful situation was not brought about by different doctrinal positions but is the result of the “the significant part played by entities that have been imposed as the principal determinants of the life of the Catholic community” (No. 7). These are entities, whose declared purposes – in particular, the aim of implementing the principles of independence, self-government and self-management of the Church – are not reconcilable with Catholic doctrine. This interference has given rise to seriously troubling situations. What is more, Bishops and priests have been subjected to considerable surveillance and coercion in the exercise of their pastoral office.In the 1990s, from many quarters and with increasing frequency, Bishops and priests turned to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Secretariat of State in order to obtain from the Holy See precise instructions as to how they should conduct themselves with regard to some problems of ecclesial life in China. Many asked what attitude should be adopted towards the government and towards state agencies in charge of Church life. Other queries concerned strictly sacramental problems, such as the possibility of concelebrating with Bishops who had been ordained without papal mandate or of receiving the sacraments from priests ordained by these Bishops. Finally, the legitimizing of numerous Bishops who had been illicitly consecrated confused some sectors of the Catholic community.In addition, the law on registering places of worship and the state requirement of a certificate of membership in the Patriotic Association gave rise to fresh tensions and further questions.During these years, Pope John Paul II on several occasions addressed messages and appeals to the Church in China, calling all Catholics to unity and reconciliation. The interventions of the Holy Father were well received, creating a desire for unity, but sadly the tensions with the authorities and within the Catholic community did not diminish.For its part, the Holy See has provided directives regarding the various problems, but the passage of time and the rise of new situations of increasing complexity required a reconsideration of the overall question in order to provide the clearest answer possible to the queries and to issue sure guidance for pastoral activity in years to come.

B. The history of the Papal Letter

The various problems which seem to have most seriously affected the life of the Church in China in recent years were amply and carefully analyzed by a special select Commission made up of some experts on China and members of the Roman Curia who follow the situation of that community. When Pope Benedict XVI decided to call a meeting from 19-20 January 2007 durring which various ecclesiastics, including some from China, took part, the aforementioned Commission worked to produce a document aimed at ensuring broad discussion on the various points, gathering practical recommendations made by the participants and proposing some possible theological and pastoral guidelines for the Catholic community in China. His Holiness, who graciously took part in the final session of the meeting, decided, among other things, to address a Letter to the Bishops, priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful.

C. Content of the Letter        

         “Without claiming to deal with every detail of the complex matters well known to you”, writes Benedict XVI to the Catholics of China, “I wish through this letter to offer some guidelines concerning the life of the Church and the task of evangelization in China, in order to help you discover what the Lord and Master Jesus Christ wants from you” (No. 2). The Pope reiterates some fundamental principles of Catholic ecclesiology in order to clarify the more important problems, aware that the light shed by these principles will provide assistance in dealing with the various questions and the more concrete aspects of the life of the Catholic community.While expressing great joy for the fidelity demonstrated by the faithful in China over the past fifty years, Benedict XVI reaffirms the inestimable value of their sufferings and of the persecution endured for the Gospel, and he directs to all an earnest appeal for unity and reconciliation. Since he is aware of the fact that full reconciliation “cannot be accomplished overnight”, he recalls that this path “of reconciliation is supported by the example and the prayer of so many ‘witnesses of faith’ who have suffered and have forgiven, offering their lives for the future of the Catholic Church in China” (No. 6).In this context, the words of Jesus, “Duc in altum” (Lk 5:4), continue to ring true. This is an expression which invites “us to remember the past with gratitude, to live the present with enthusiasm and to look forward to the future with confidence”. In China, as indeed in the rest of the world, “the Church is called to be a witness of Christ, to look forward with hope, and – in proclaiming the Gospel – to measure up to the new challenges that the Chinese people must face” (No. 3). “In your country too” the Pope states, “the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen will be possible to the extent that, with fidelity to the Gospel, in communion with the Successor of the Apostle Peter and with the universal Church, you are able to put into practice the signs of love and unity” (ibid.).In dealing with some of the more urgent problems which emerge from the queries which have reached the Holy See from Bishops and priests, Benedict XVI offers guidance regarding the recognition of ecclesiastics of the clandestine community by the government authorities (cf. No. 7) and he gives much prominence to the subject of the Chinese Episcopate (cf. No. 8), with particular reference to matters surrounding the appointment of Bishops (cf. No. 9). Of special significance are the pastoral directives which the Holy Father gives to the community, which emphasize in the first place the figure and mission of the Bishop in the diocesan community: “nothing without the Bishop”. In addition, he provides guidance for Eucharistic concelebration and he encourages the creation of diocesan bodies laid down by canonical norms. He does not fail to give directions for the training of priests and family life.As for the relationship of the Catholic community to the State, Benedict XVI in a serene and respectful way recalls Catholic doctrine, formulated anew by the Second Vatican Council. He then expresses the sincere hope that the dialogue between the Holy See and the Chinese government will make progress so as to be able to reach agreement on the appointment of Bishops, obtain the full exercise of the faith by Catholics as a result of respect for genuine religious freedom and arrive at the normalization of relations between the Holy See and the Beijing Government.Finally, the Pope revokes all the earlier and more recent faculties and directives of a pastoral nature which had been granted by the Holy See to the Church in China. The changed circumstances of the overall situation of the Church in China and the greater possibilities of communication now enable Catholics to follow the general canonical norms and, where necessary, to have recourse to the Apostolic See. In any event, the doctrinal principles which inspired the above-mentioned faculties and directives now find fresh application in the directives contained in the present Letter (cf. No. 18).

D. Tone and outlook of the Letter

By Chiang Kai-shek

A radio broadcast, originally entitled “Why I Believe In Jesus,” delivered to Chinese Christian throughout the land on Easter eve, April 16, 1938

One who wishes to succeed in his work, especially one engaged in a  revolutionary task, must be free from superstition and yet he must be a man of faith. Especially today, when the evil passions of men are running riot, do we need a firm faith in the ultimate triumph of right. Our country is now being torn asunder; our fellow countrymen are suffering untold agonies; our men are being massacred, and our women are being ravished. The very existence of our nation is threatened. How can we avert except by faith? Therefore, while we must eradicate all superstitions, we must at the same time cultivate a strong and positive faith. For example, if we believe with all our hearts that the San Min Chu I (Three Principles of the People) are essentially true and just principles, then we shall have the power to put them into effect, and our enemies will never be able to conquer us, no matter how fierce and cruel they may become. Fearlessness and confidence have their roots in an unshakable faith.Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. This evening I have been asked by the National federation of Chinese Christians to speak to my fellow-Christians throughout the country. I propose to follow my talk of last year with a further testimony on the subject, “Why I Believe in Jesus.”To my mind the first reason why we should believe in Jesus is that He was the leaser of a national revolution. At the time of Jesus’ birth the Jewish people were steadily weakening under the heavy oppression of Rome. If we study the history of this period we find that the Jews were treated like slaves and animals at the hands of their enemies. The Romans has power of life and death over them. The Jews had not only failed to resist the aggressors, but they had even lost the will to resist. Then a people’s revolutionist was born in the person of Jesus, who courageously took upon Himself the heavy task of regenerating the nation. With sacrificial determination He set out to save His people, the world, and all mankind. He took His disciples on many itineraries, and by means of His preaching and healing, His Heaven-given wisdom and matchless eloquence, and His three ideals of truth, righteousness, and abundant life, He aroused the nation, led the masses, and prepared the way for a people’s revolution. The second reason why we should believe in Jesus is that He was the leader of a social revolution. The causes of a nation’s weakness are many. One of the most serious is the inability of the people to improve their living and economy and to put them on a rational foundation. Therefore, one engaged in a people’s revolution must begin by ridding society of its darkness and corruption, and then with fresh spirit create a new, expanding, abundant life for all the people, thus setting the nation free. Jesus fully realized that in order to revive His nation and regenerate His people He must launch a social revolution. He sought by the inspiration of His leadership and personality to awaken the perishing masses so that they would give up the ways of darkness, become new citizens, and build the foundations of a new society.In the third place, Jesus was the leader of a religious revolution. Jesus saw that unless there was a radical reform to sweep away the superstitions and corruption in the organized religion of His day, the real spirit of religion could not shine forth. Hence He often denounced those who prayed on the street corners, and strongly opposed the use of religion to exploit the people. All of His acts were designed to lead the Jewish religion from darkness to light, from decay to health, from chaos to order, from corruption to purity, and to lead society from the blackness of night in to the brightness of day. How important and yet how difficult was this task of reforming religion and of cleansing the religious society! Yet Jesus went ahead with utter disregard of personal suffering, in order that He might rescue religion and society from the evils that beset them and awaken the people from their spiritual lethargy.

I call Jesus a great religious revolutionist.I have often sought to study the secret of Jesus’ revolutionary passion. It seems to me that it is found in His spirit of love. With His wonderful love Jesus sought to destroy the evil in the hearts of men, to do away with social injustices, and to enable everyone to enjoy his natural rights as a human being and receive the blessings of liberty, equality, and happiness. He believed that all men are brothers and that they should love one another and help one another in need. He believed in peace and justice between nations. Throughout His life He opposed violence and upheld righteousness. He was full of mercy and continually helped the weak. His great love and spirit of revolutionary self-sacrifice were demonstrated in all His words and deeds. His purpose to save the world and humanity was firm and His faith was immovable. He gave Himself in utter love and sacrifice for others. He was absolutely fearless, and He struggled to the end. When He was nailed to the Cross and made to suffer unspeakable pain, He faced the ordeal with calm and fortitude. His loyalty to His cause and to His sense of duty, and his magnanimity to friends and associates were virtues as precious as they are difficult to attain. See Jesus lifted on the cross; He still looks to Heaven and pleads with God to forgive His enemies for their ignorance. What marvelous Love! Jesus’ revolutionary spirit came from His great love for humanity.If we compare the situation in China during t