Lent: A Time for Feast or Fasting? You Decide! At the Ash Wednesday Mass celebrated in the IRL chapel, Fr. Michael Alcantara shared this following meditation during his homily. This beautiful prayer summarizes well the many themes of Lent, and illustrates that it is more than a time of fasting, but also a time of feasting. May the Lord abundantly bless you and your loved ones this Lenten season! A Lenten Prayer: How to Fast Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ dwelling
within them. so we can be gift to others in carrying out your work. Amen. Retired Sacred Heart Brother Makes Religion Resources Available On-Line to Teachers Last year Sacred Heart Brother Malcolm Melcher, a retired high school religion teacher, began making his old tests and answers available for free to religion teachers on his Web site to help them with their classes, and now he has added more material. Initially, the site included more than 600 questions in a multiple-choice and free-response format. Now it offers more than 900 questions and answers in a quiz format on the site: www.boshf.org/biblebank. Brother Melcher, who taught religion for more that 30 years, said the collection was an "Internet project" he wanted to make available for religion teachers "who do not have the luxury of time and energy" to acquire a bank of questions of this magnitude. All questions have been student-tested and when necessary have been rewritten to improve their clarity, he said. The material can be used for exams, quizzes and extra drill work, he added.German Cardinal Reflects on Carmelite Sister Lucia's Death Speaking on Vatican Radio about the first anniversary of the death of Sister Lucia, Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne, said the last surviving witness of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima was a nun “filled with common sense and trust in God.” Sister Lucia died one year ago at the Carmelite Monastery of Coimbra. Francisco and Jacinta Marto, the other two children who witnessed the apparitions, were beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2000. Cardinal Meisner, who was a personal acquaintance of Sister Lucia, shared his memories of the late nun with Vatican Radio. He remembered her as “a very sober religious; she was the treasurer of the monastery. She was a sister full of good humor, common sense and great trust in God,” he said. Recalling his last visit with her three years ago in Fatima, the cardinal said he brought her a white cassock as a gift from Pope John Paul II “As I gave it to her,” he said, “she took it into her hands and said, ‘It would have been even better if the Pope came with it'.” Sister Lucia died in 2005 at the age of 97. The Church celebrates the feast of Francisco and Jacinta Marto on February 20. Recently the body of Sister Lucia was transferred to the Basilica at Fatima. Vatican Says Number Of Priests Increases, But Varies By Continent The number of priests and seminarians in the world continues to increase, but the situation varies widely from continent to continent, the Vatican said. The most positive signs come from Asia and Africa, while Europe has shown a marked decline in priestly vocations, according to a Feb. 18 statement from the Vatican press office. The statistics were released in connection with the presentation of the 2006 edition of the Vatican yearbook, known as the Annuario Pontificio , which catalogs the church's pastoral presence diocese-by-diocese. Pope Benedict XVI met with editors of the volume and praised them for their work. It was the first edition of the yearbook issued under his pontificate. In its statement, the press office referred to data on church population, priests and seminarians through 2004, the last year for which statistics are available. It said the number of priests in the world was 405,891 at the end of 2004, an increase of 441 from 2003. About two-thirds were diocesan priests and one-third members of religious orders.More Than 100,000 Gather at Fatima To Watch Reburial of Carmelite Sister Lucia Despite a persistent rain, more than 100,000 people gathered at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima to pray and witness the reburial of Carmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos, the last of three Fatima visionaries. Sister Lucia died Feb. 13, 2005, in her cloistered convent in Coimbra, Portugal, at the age of 97. She had been buried temporarily at the Carmelite convent while preparations were made for final burial alongside her two cousins, Blesseds Francisco and Jacinta Marto, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. On May 13, 1917 -- when Lucia was 10 years old, Francisco was 9 and Jacinta was 7 -- the children claimed to have seen the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima, near their home. The apparitions continued once a month until October 1917 and later were declared worthy of belief by the Catholic Church. In 2000 Pope John Paul II beatified Sister Lucia's cousins, who died as children.Belgian Nun Discusses Plight Of Child Domestic Workers In India They are called domestic workers, but many of them are better described as slaves. They are children who work in private households, they do arduous labor from before dawn until after dark, and they are vulnerable to abuse -- physical, emotional, sexual. Sister Jeanne Devos, a Belgian member of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who has served in India for more than 40 years, has devoted herself to helping them and also women who are domestic workers. In 1985 she founded the National Domestic Workers Movement, based in Mumbai, to call attention to the appalling circumstances in which they are trapped and to work for change. A key part of her mission is to fight trafficking, the abduction or "buying" of children for domestic work. Sister Jeanne said trafficking agents often make false promises to poor families that a child sent into domestic work will receive care and education. Parents learn nothing of the actual conditions the children endure, and in reality, most child domestic workers are not sent to school.Boston's New Cardinal: A Capuchin Friar Called In As Troubleshooter When Archbishop -- now Cardinal-designate -- Sean P. O'Malley flew in to Boston less than three years ago on his first visit to his new archdiocese, he wore the standard brown habit and sandals of his religious order, the Capuchin Franciscans. The archdiocese was in financial and administrative disarray after 18 months at the epicenter of the national clergy sex abuse scandal. It faced a loss of confidence in its leadership, sharp declines in revenue and hundreds of sex abuse lawsuits. Cardinal-designate O'Malley, 61, and 14 other archbishops whom Pope Benedict XVI named cardinals Feb. 22 will be inducted into the College of Cardinals at a consistory in the Vatican March 24. Less than a year after his installation in Boston July 31, 2003, the new cardinal-designate reached a widely hailed $85 million settlement with more than 500 clergy sex abuse victims and sold off 43 acres of archdiocesan property, including the large mansion known as the cardinal's residence, to pay off the settlement. His success in that area has been tempered by ongoing conflicts over his decision in 2004 to close one-sixth of the archdiocese's parishes.Doctrinal Head: Openly Gay Priests Make It Tough To Represent Christ Cardinal-designate William J. Levada said a priest who publicly announces he is homosexual makes it difficult for people to see the priest as representing Christ, the bridegroom of his bride, the church. A public declaration of homosexuality places a priest "at odds with the spousal character of love as revealed by God and imaged in humanity," said the U.S. cardinal-designate, who is prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Cardinal-designate Levada made his remarks during a Feb. 26 homily as he presided over a Mass for the installation of the new rector of Rome's Pontifical North American College, Msgr. James F. Checchio. In his homily, Cardinal-designate Levada reflected on the challenges priests face today and on the Sunday Scripture readings, which described God's love for his people as the love of a husband for a wife and described Jesus as the bridegroom of the Church. Mother Mary Francis, P.C.C., Passes to Eternal Reward In 2002, Mother Mary Francis, P.C.C., was given the IRL's Pro Fidelitate et Virtute Award, in recognition of her contributions to the consecrated life by her books, poetry and the inspiring example of her life of contemplative prayer. During her forty-plus years as abbess of the Roswell monastery, six Poor Clare foundations were made from it. This faithful bride of Christ was called to her eternal reward on February 11, just three days before what would have been Mother's 84th birthday.Bro. James Curran, l.b.s.f., To Receive Pro Fidelitate et Virtute Award at IRL Banquet April 22 Bro. James Curran, l.b.s.f., will receive the Pro Fidelitate et Virtute Award at this year's IRL National Meeting Banquet. Brother James is selected as this year's awardee in recognition of his fine example in faithfully living out his vocation to the religious brotherhood, and for his multifacted contributions to the mission of the IRL since its early years. As a young man, Bro. James pursued a career as a professional opera singer. After a spiritual experience while performing in the White House for an audience that included President Lyndon Johnson, Brother was led to commit himself to a Franciscan vocation and work with the modern "lepers" of society. The Lord eventually inspired him to found a religious community, the Little Brothers of St. Francis , a contemplative community living in the inner city who witness God's love to the poor, homeless and unwanted.All are invited to attend—bishops, priests, religious and laity. Young people, ages 13-30, are invited to attend Saturday's general session free of charge, if they are pre-registered. Read more and sign up at National Meeting webpage or call the IRL Office at 773-267-1195. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Return to top Visit IRL's Catalog of Books, Videos & Audios at http://www.religiouslife.com/catalog
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