Called to Be a Blessing

“As Christians and Jews, following the example of the faith of Abraham, we are called to be a blessing to the world. This is the common task awaiting us. It is therefore necessary for us, Christians and Jews, to first be a blessing to one another.”
- John Paul II on the 50th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising

See A Blessing to One Another -  Pope John Paul II & the Jewish People

Karol: The Pope, The Man

This Saturday, EWTN presents a Lenten doubleheader! First, if you loved Pope John Paul II, don’t miss EWTN’s movie presentation: “Karol: The Pope, The Man,” which airs at 8 p.m. ET, March 6 (Part 1) and 8 p.m. ET March 13 (Part 2). The drama follows the late Pope’s life from the time of his election as Pope through his final days and reveals his amazing courage and commitment to Christ, the Church and his fellow man against the backdrop of a world in crisis. Then, stay tuned for “A Lenten Retreat” with Fr. John Corapi, SOLT, at 10 p.m. ET, Sat. (Encores at 1 a.m. ET, Sun. and 1 p.m. ET, Mon.). This is one of the most moving presentations ever given by a preacher known for his powerful presentations. Episodes include: 1. Father’s personal testimony and conversion story; 2. Repent & Believe in the Gospel; 3. For the Least of My Brethren; and 4. If God is Good, Why is There Evil, Pain, and Suffering.

An Apology to a Jewish Friend

Today I corresponded over the internet with a new friend in a group of Protestant women. We shared our Christian journeys. In describing her childhood, my new friend said that she was born and raised in a reform Jewish home. She and her family lived in a Roman Catholic neighborhood where the Jewish community was called “Christ Killers." She described the hatred each side had for the other and her misinformation about the Christian faith, particularly Catholicism.

Through the years, God touched her life in profound ways and brought many people into her life. By 1974, she was living in a different part of the country from her childhood. She says the whole town prayed for her that year, and she became a Christian in a Protestant church. Needless to say, she seems to have deep wounds from her childhood persecutions by Catholics. So I wrote the following letter to her today to apologize and ask for her forgiveness. Please pray for her and all others that we as Catholics have offended or wounded in any way.

Dear Beth:

I personally want to apologize to you for the persecution you, your family and friends suffered from Catholics when you were growing up as a young Jewish girl. This persecution came from those who were Catholic in name only and who were ignorant of their faith and the love of God. They were not living the greatest commandment which Jesus gave to the scribes in Mark 12: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." Yes, as you said, they were merely pew-warmers.

The tragedy is the Catholic and Jewish people have suffered the most of all in being persecuted for their faith. There are evil people in all faiths which flow from the Judeo-Christian heritage - Protestant, Catholic and Jew. Each group has had those people who are guilty of persecuting the others. We all share this common shame and sin of our group.

I came into the Catholic Church during the era of John Paul II. Perhaps no other Pope had greater love for the Jewish people than he. It was a personal thing for him as he grew up having Jewish friends and suffered with them during the German occupation of Poland. He watched his friends sent off to the death camps. For those who survived, his deep friendship with them continued his whole life. It was not unusal for his Jewish friends to visit and eat with him at his modest Vatican apartment.

An entire book could be written on John Paull II and his Jewish friendships and his acts of reconciliation towards his elder brothers. When he went to the Holy Land in 2000, this is the prayer he placed in the Western Wall: "God of our fathers, you chose Abraham and his descendants to bring your name to the nations. We are deeply saddened by the behavior of those who, in the course of history, have caused these children of yours to suffer."

He said that the Jewish and Christian peoples are called to be a blessing to each other and to the world. When he died in 2005, he mentioned only two living people in his testament, his longtime secretary and the Rabbi of Rome.

I guess I say all these things about John Paull II to let you know that you and all Jewish people were loved by him. I pray that the Holy Spirit go back in time, to you and your family, back to those ugly events, and bring healing. God's Spirit is not so small that he cannot do this. We are One Body in Christ. Beth, please forgive us.

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendant, heirs according to the promise." Galatian 3:28-29.

Believe me, all my sisters who are reading this, Catholic or Protestant, we are more alike than we are different. We all belong to Christ.

Love & Prayers,
Ouida

Excerpts from Evangelium Vitae

National Catholic Reporter, April 7, 1995 by Pope John Paul II

The following are encyclical excerpts:

* On the new "culture of death": "This culture is actively fostered by powerful cultural, economic and political currents which encourage an idea of society excessively concerned with efficiency. Looking at the situation from this point of view, it is possible to speak in a certain sense of a war of the powerful against the weak. ... A person who, because of illness, handicap or, more simply, just by existing, compromises the well-being or lifestyle of those who are more favored tends to be looked upon as an enemy to be resisted or eliminated. In this way, a kind of `cospiracy against life' is unleashed."

* On artificial contraception and abortion: "The close connection which exists, in mentality, between the practice of contraception and that of abortion is becoming increasingly obvious. It is being demonstrated in an alarming way by the development of chemical products, intrauterine devices and vaccines which, distributed with the same ease as contraceptives, really act as abortifacients in the very early stages of the development of the life of the new human being."

* On abortion: "Procured abortion is the deliberate and direct killing, by whatever means it is carried out, of a human being in the initial phase of his or her existence, extending from conception to birth."

* On abortion's social context: "It is a most serious wound inflicted on society and its culture by the very people who ought to be society's promoters and defenders. ... We are facing what can be called a `structure of sin' which opposes human life not yet born."

* On the distinct human personhood of the fetus: "Modern genetic science offers clear confirmation. ... Furthermore, what is at stake is so important that, from the standpoint of moral obligation, the mere probability that a human person is involved would suffice to justify an absolutely clear prohibition of any intervention aimed at killing a human embryo. ... Human life is sacred and inviolable at every moment of existence, including the initial phase which precedes birth."

* Church teaching on abortion following a worldwide consultation with bishops: "By the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his successors, in communion with the bishops -- who on various occasions have condemned abortion and who in the aforementioned consultation, albeit dispersed throughout the world, have shown unanimous agreement concerning this doctrine -- I declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being."

* Church teaching on murder: "By the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his successors, and in communion with the bishops of the Catholic church, I confirm that the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being is always gravely immoral."

* On infanticide: "Following this same logic (of eugenic abortion), the point has been reached where the most basic care, even nourishment, is denied to babies born with serious handicaps or illnesses. The contemporary scene, moreover, is becoming even more alarming by reason of proposals, advanced here and there, to justify even infanticide, following the same arguments used to justify the right to abortion."

* On euthanasia: "Threats which are no less serious hang over the incurably ill and the dying. In a social and cultural context which makes it more difficult to face and accept suffering, the temptation becomes all the greater to resolve the problem of suffering by eliminating it at the root, by hastening death. ... We see a tragic expression of this in the spread of euthanasia -- disguised and surreptitious or practiced openly and even legally."

* On capital punishment: "On this matter there is a growing tendency, both in the church and in civil society, to demand that it be applied in a very limited way or even that it be abolished completely. ... As a result of steady improvements in the penal system, such cases (where the death penalty is absolutely necessary) are very rare, if not practically nonexistent."

* On population control: "The pharaoh of old, haunted by the presence and increase of the children of Israel, submitted them to every kind of oppression and ordered that every male child born of the Hebrew women was to be killed. Today not a few of the powerful of the earth act in the same way. They too are haunted by the current demographic growth and fear that the most prolific and poorest peoples represent a threat for the well-being and peace of their own countries. ... Even the economic help which they would be ready to give is unjustly made conditional on the acceptance of an anti-birth policy."

* On anti-life policies on an international level: "We are in fact faced by an objective `conspiracy against life' involving even international institutions, engaged in encouraging and carrying out actual campaigns to make contraception, sterilization and abortion widely available. Nor can it be denied that the mass media are often implicated in this conspiracy, by lending credit to that culture which presents recourse to contraception, sterilization, abortion and even euthanasia as a mark of progress and a victory for freedom."

* On embryo experimentation: "The use of human embryos or fetuses as an object of experimentation constitutes a crime against their dignity as human beings who have a right to the same respect owed to a child once born, just as to every person. ... The killing of innocent human creatures, even if carried out to help others, constitutes an absolutely unacceptable act."

* On the meaning of euthanasia: "Euthanasia in the strict sense is understood to be an action or omission which of itself and by intention causes death, with the purpose of eliminating suffering."

* Church teaching on euthanasia: "Taking into account (various papally taught) distinctions, in harmony with the magisterium of my predecessors and in communion with the bishops of the Catholic church, I confirm that euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God, since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human person."

* On assisted suicide and nonconsensual euthanasia: "Suicide is always as objectionable as murder. ... So-called `assisted suicide'... can never be excused, even if it is requested. ... The choice of euthanasia becomes more serious when it takes the form of a murder committed by others on a person who has in no way requested it and who has never consented to it. The height of arbitrariness and injustice is reached when certain people, such as physicians and legislators, arrogate to themselves the power to decide who ought to live and who ought to die."

* On civil and moral law: "Democracy cannot be idolized to the point of making it a substitute for morality or a panacea for immorality. Fundamentally, democracy is a `system' and as such is a means and not an end. Its `moral' value is not automatic but depends on conformity to the moral law. ... There is a need to recover the basic elements of a vision of the relationship between civil law and moral law, which are put forward by the church but which are also part of the patrimony of the great juridical traditions of humanity."

* Abortion and euthanasia as a violation of human rights: "Laws which legitimize the direct killing of innocent human beings through abortion or euthanasia are in complete opposition to the inviolable right to life proper to every individual; they thus deny the equality of everyone before the law. ... Abortion and euthanasia are thus crimes which no human law can claim to legitimize. ... There is a grave and clear obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection."

* What makes abortion and euthanasia new threats today: "It is not only that in generalized opinion these attacks tend no longer to be considered as `crimes'; paradoxically they assume the nature of `rights,' to the point that the state is called upon to give them legal recognition and to make them available through the free services of health-care personnel."

* What the gospel of life means: "The consequences of this gospel ... can be summed up as follows: Human life, as a gift of God, is sacred and inviolable. For this reason procured abortion and euthanasia are absolutely unacceptable. Not only must human life not be taken, but it must be protected with loving concern. The meaning of life is found in giving and receiving love, and in this light human sexuality and procreation reach their true and full significance.

* On new threats to life: "In addition to the ancient scourges of poverty, hunger, endemic diseases, violence and war, new threats are emerging on an alarmingly vast scale. ... A new cultural climate is developing and taking hold which gives crimes against life a new and -- if possible -- even more sinister character, giving rise to further grave concern: broad sectors of public opinion justify certain crimes against life in the name of the rights of individual freedom.

... Choices once unanimously considered criminal and rejected by the common moral sense are gradually becoming socially acceptable."

COPYRIGHT 1995 National Catholic Reporter
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

Bibliography for: "Excerpts from Evangelium Vitae"
Pope John Paul II "Excerpts from Evangelium Vitae". National Catholic Reporter. FindArticles.com. 28 Jul, 2009. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_n23_v31/ai_16820194/

Barka - Favorite Song of John Paul II

1. Lord, you have come to the lakeshore
looking neither for wealthy nor wise ones.
You only asked me to follow humbly.

Refrain
O Lord, with your eyes you have searched me,
kindly smiling, have spoken my name.
Now my boat's left on the shoreline behind me;
by your side I will seek other seas.

2. You know so well my possessions;
my boat carries no gold and no weapons;
But nets and fishes—my daily labor.

Refrain O Lord, with your eyes you have ...

3. You need my hands, full of caring,
through my labors to give others rest,
and constant love that keeps on loving.

Refrain O Lord, with your eyes you have ...

4. You, who have fished other oceans
ever longed-for by souls who are waiting,
my loving friend, as thus you call me.

Refrain O Lord, with your eyes you have ...

The Path of Holiness is Prayer

"The royal and indispensable way to advance on the path of holiness is prayer: being with the Lord, we become friends of the Lord, his attitude gradually becomes our attitude and his heart our heart."

Source: John Paul II

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Today is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas. For audio, click here.

John Paul II’s Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

O Immaculate Virgin, Mother of the true God and Mother of the Church!, who from this place reveal your clemency and your pity to all those who ask for your protection, hear the prayer that we address to you with filial trust, and present it to your Son Jesus, our sole Redeemer.

Mother of Mercy, Teacher of hidden and silent sacrifice, to you, who come to meet us sinners, we dedicate on this day all our being and all our love. We also dedicate to you our life, our work, our joys, our infirmities and our sorrows. Grant peace, justice and prosperity to our peoples; for we entrust to your care all that we have and all that we are, our Lady and Mother. We wish to be entirely yours and to walk with you along the way of complete faithfulness to Jesus Christ in His Church; hold us always with your loving hand.

Virgin of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas, we pray to you for all the Bishops, that they may lead the faithful along paths of intense Christian life, of love and humble service of God and souls. Contemplate this immense harvest, and intercede with the Lord that He may instill a hunger for holiness in the whole people of God, and grant abundant vocations of priests and religious, strong in the faith and zealous dispensers of God’s mysteries.

Grant to our homes the grace of loving and respecting life in its beginnings, with the same love with which you conceived in your womb the life of the Son of God. Blessed Virgin Mary, protect our families, so that they may always be united, and bless the upbringing of our children.

Our hope, look upon us with compassion, teach us to go continually to Jesus and, if we fall, help us to rise again, to return to Him, by means of the confession of our faults and sins in the Sacrament of Penance, which gives peace to the soul.

We beg you to grant us a great love for all the holy Sacraments, which are, as it were, the signs that your Son left us on earth.

Thus, Most Holy Mother, with the peace of God in our conscience, with our hearts free from evil and hatred, we will be able to bring to all true joy and true peace, which come to us from your son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Amen.

His Holiness John Paul II
Mexico, January 1979. Visiting Her Basilica during his first foreign trip as Pope.

Prayer for Asking Graces Through the Intercession of the Servant of God, the Pope John Paul II

O Blessed Trinity

We thank You for having graced the Church
with Pope John Paul II
and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care,
the glory of the cross of Christ,
and the splendor of the Holy Spirit,
to shine through him.
Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy
and in the maternal intercession of Mary,
he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd,
and has shown us that holiness
is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life
and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you.
Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will,
the graces we implore,
hoping that he will soon be numbered
among your saints.
Amen.


With ecclesiastical approval
CARDINAL CAMILLO RUINI
the Holy Father's Vicar General
for the Diocese of Rome

ADD YOUR PRAYER REQUESTS AT COMMENTS

TO PRAY FOR THE INTERCESSION OF POPE JOHN PAUL II !

Prayer for Asking Graces Through the Intercession of the Servant of God, the Pope John Paul II

O Blessed Trinity,

We thank You for having graced the Church
with Pope John Paul II
and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care,
the glory of the cross of Christ,
and the splendor of the Holy Spirit,
to shine through him.
Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy
and in the maternal intercession of Mary,
he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd,
and has shown us that holiness
is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life
and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you.
Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will,
the graces we implore,
hoping that he will soon be numbered
among your saints.
Amen.

With ecclesiastical approval
CARDINAL CAMILLO RUINI
the Holy Father's Vicar General
for the Diocese of Rome

ADD YOUR PRAYER REQUESTS AT COMMENTS
TO PRAY FOR THE INTERCESSION OF POPE JOHN PAUL II !

Prayer for Asking Graces Through the Intercession of the Servant of God, the Pope John Paul II

O Blessed Trinity,

We thank You for having graced the Church
with Pope John Paul II
and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care,
the glory of the cross of Christ,
and the splendor of the Holy Spirit,
to shine through him.

Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy
and in the maternal intercession of Mary,
he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd,
and has shown us that holiness
is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life
and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you.
Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will,
the graces we implore,
hoping that he will soon be numbered
among your saints.
Amen.

With ecclesiastical approval
CARDINAL CAMILLO RUINI
the Holy Father's Vicar General

for the Diocese of Rome

ADD YOUR PRAYER REQUESTS AT COMMENTS

TO PRAY FOR THE INTERCESSION OF POPE JOHN PAUL II !

The Spirit of Assisi

On October 27, 1986, the leaders of many churches, church communities, and the heads of the great religions of the world came to Assisi to pray for peace. They came at the invitation of Pope John Paul II in observance of the International Year of Peace. (See The Day Assisi Became the 'Peace Capital' of the World )

"I have chosen this town of Assisi as the place for our Day of Prayer for Peace because of the particular significance of the holy man venerated here - Saint Francis - known and revered by so many throughout the world as a symbol of peace reconciliation and brotherhood. Inspired by his example, his meekness and humility let us dispose our hearts for prayer in true internal silence. Let us make this Day an anticipation of a peaceful world." (Pope John Paul II)

On October 27, 2007, the 21st anniversary of the Day of Prayer for Peace, let us recall the Spirit of Assisi by praying for peace on earth and good will among all peoples.

Almighty God, from whom all thoughts of truth and peace proceed, kindle in the hearts of all men the true love of peace, and guide with Your pure and peaceable wisdom those who make decisions for the nations of the earth; that in tranquility Your kingdom may go forward, till the earth be filled with the knowledge of Your love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order
From Article 19

Mindful that they are bearers of peace
which must be built up unceasingly,
they should seek out ways of unity
and fraternal harmony through dialogue,
trusting in the presence of the divine seed in everyone
and in the transforming power of love and pardon.

Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.

Prayer for Asking Graces Through the Intercession of the Servant of God, the Pope John Paul II

O Blessed Trinity
We thank You for having graced the Church
with Pope John Paul II
and for allowing the tenderness of your Fatherly care,
the glory of the cross of Christ,
and the splendor of the Holy Spirit,
to shine through him.
Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy
and in the maternal intercession of Mary,
he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd,
and has shown us that holiness
is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life
and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you.
Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will,
the graces we implore,
hoping that he will soon be numbered
among your saints.
Amen.

With ecclesiastical approval
CARDINAL CAMILLO RUINI
the Holy Father's Vicar General
for the Diocese of Rome

In the tender compassion of our God

the dawn from on high shall break upon us,

to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the

shadow of death,

and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

(from Canticle of Zachariah)

ADD YOUR PRAYER REQUESTS AT COMMENTS
TO PRAY FOR THE INTERCESSION OF POPE JOHN PAUL II !

Prayer of Pope John Paul II

One of my favorite prayers is by Pope John Paul II. When I read it, I feel very touched and grateful because it seems as if the Holy Father is praying for me. Indeed, he is praying for each of us, even now.

I leave you now with this prayer:
that the Lord Jesus will reveal Himself to each one of you,
that He will give you the strength to go out
and profess that you are Christian,
that He will show you that He alone can fill your hearts.
Accept His freedom and embrace His truth,
and be messengers of the certainty
that you have been truly liberated
through the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
This will be the new experience,
the powerful experience, that will generate,
through you, a more just society and a better world.
God bless you and may the joy of Jesus be always with you!

(John Paul II)

Peace and All Good,

Little Scribe

(Source: Concordia Ministries, Inc.)