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August 21, 2006 — Vol. 5, No. 8
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The Disciples
of the Lord Jesus Christ, above, of Prayer
Town, TX, were one of the three communities
recently approved as new IRL Affiliates. The other
new Affiliates are the Carmelite
Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus, North
Province based in East Chicago, IN, and the St.
Joseph's Province of the Discalced Carmelite
Friars who serve in California and
Arizona.
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Is God Calling
You or Someone You Know?
Upcoming Vocation
Retreats
Click
for more info
School
Sisters of Christ the King
Lincoln,
NE
Oct. 13-15, 2006 — Single
women, including high school seniors, age
18-35
Sisters of St.
Francis of Perpetual Adoration Mishawaka, IN
Oct 14-15, 2006 — Young ladies of
high school age.
Nov 10-12, 2006 — Young
Adult; single women, 18-40
Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy
Eucharist
Independence, MO
October 20-21, 2006
– Juniors and Seniors in high school
October
27-28, 2006 – College age single women, age
18-40 | | |
Read this on the IRL website. Click here.
CONTENTS:
- Benedict XVI Appoints Conventual Franciscan
Secretary for Congregation for Religious
- Augustinians Open House of Discernment for
Hispanic Aspirants
- Church Official: Nun's Beatification Will
Help Hungarian Church Image
- Video, DVD Promote Priesthood, Religious Life
- Pope Commends Terrorists to Cloister's
Prayers
- European Gathering Examines Key Element to
Vocations Ministry
- Newspaper Survey Says Budding Vocations Need
Support
- Miles Jesu to Host Annual “Path to Rome”
Conference Featuring Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” from “Roe v.
Wade”
- Special Mass and Reception to Commemorate the
70th Anniversary of Father Hardon's Entrance into the Society of
Jesus
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Benedict XVI Appoints Conventual Franciscan
Secretary for Congregation for Religious
The Holy Father has named a new secretary for the
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of
Apostolic Life. Father Gianfranco Agostino Gardin, former minister
general of the Conventual Franciscans, will replace Passionist
Archbishop Piergiorgio Silvano Nesti, 75, who resigned for reasons
of age.
Father Gardin will be raised to the dignity of
archbishop for the Titular See of Cissa. He has born in Treviso,
Italy, on March 15, 1944 and entered the Order of Friars Minor
Conventual and made his perpetual vows in Padua in 1965. Five years
later he was ordained a priest and did his studies in the field of
moral theology.
From 1973 to 1988 Father Gardin was vice
rector of the order's theological seminary in Padua, and later
professor of his specialty at the Saint Anthony Doctor Institute of
Padua. From 1978 to 1988, he edited Saint Anthony's Messenger, and
in 2005 became its director general. From 1980 to 1988, he founded
and directed the theological review To Believe Today.
He was
provincial minister of his religious province of Padua from 1985 to
1995; and minister general from 1995 to 2001. In 1999 the Union of
Superiors General elected him a member of the synod of bishops for
Europe and, in 2000, president of the Union.
The dicastery
he will head is concerned with all that refers to institutes of
consecrated life (men's and women's religious orders and
congregations, secular institutes) and societies of apostolic life,
in matters of rules, discipline, studies, property, rights and
privileges. It is also concerned with eremitical life, consecrated
virgins and their corresponding associations and new forms of
consecrated life.
The competence of the Congregation for
Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
extends to all aspects of consecrated life: Christian, religious and
clerical life. It is of a personal character, so it does not have
territorial limits (although certain questions of its members are
referred to the competence of other congregations).
The
dicastery is also concerned with associations of the faithful
established for the purpose of becoming institutes of consecrated
life or societies of apostolic life and for secular third orders.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++To Top
Augustinians Open House of
Discernment for Hispanic Aspirants
The Augustinians
of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova have opened a house of
discernment for Hispanic men called the Casa Augustin. A new release
from the province said it hopes that Casa Augustin, located in
Lawrence, Mass., will enhance opportunities for Hispanic vocations
and increase vocations to the Augustinian order. The program is
designed specifically for Spanish-speaking aspirants in need of
spiritual, academic and linguistic preparation. Casa Augustin is a
bilingual house so that participants may grasp a better
understanding of the English language without losing their Hispanic
heritage. Augustinian Father Luis Madera, director of Casa Augustin,
was born in Puerto Rico. He made his profession as an Augustinian in
1995 and was ordained in 2000. He was associate pastor at Our Lady
of Good Counsel in Staten Island, N.Y., and returned to Lawrence
last August. The Web site for the house of discernment is www.losagustinos.org.
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Church Official: Nun's
Beatification Will Help Hungarian Church Image
The
beatification of a nun killed for sheltering Jews during World War
II will help the church's image in Hungary and strengthen
Catholic-Jewish ties, said the Hungarian bishops' conference
spokesman. "The communist and liberal image of the church in our
country is that of an institution which uses the resources of the
state to live a good life while doing nothing," said Csongor
Szerdahelyi. "This story firmly shows that the church was and
remains on the side of the poor and helpless. The beatification will
be a very important pastoral event." Sister Sara Salkahazi of the
Sisters of Social Service was shot and thrown in the Danube River in
Budapest Dec. 27, 1944, by agents of Hungary's pro-Nazi Arrow Cross
regime for sheltering Jewish women and children at her convent. Pope
Benedict XVI signed a decree for her beatification April 28;
Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest was to preside at the
beatification ceremony in Hungary Sept. 17.
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Video, DVD Promote
Priesthood, Religious Life
A vocation video and DVD
are now available to assist youth groups, parishes and others
interested in promoting vocations. Titled “You Could Make a
Difference,” the 17-minute audiovisual tool -- available in VHS
video format or DVD format -- is in Spanish and English and helps
parishes and other groups get discussions about vocations started.
The video/DVD features four segments that show how priests and
religious can serve the needs of the church. It highlights the
ministry of a Christian brother who is the administrator of a
Catholic high school in Jersey City, N.J.; a priest who is pastor of
a multicultural urban parish in the Washington Archdiocese; and
women religious serving at a home for troubled young women in
Baltimore and at a medical clinic for the poor in El Paso, Texas. It
was developed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Department
of Communications with funding from the bishops' Catholic
Communication Campaign and their Committee on Vocations.
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Pope Commends Terrorists to
Cloister's Prayers
Benedict XVI has appealed to a
convent of cloistered nuns to pray for the conversion of terrorists.
The Holy Father visited the Carmelites of Quart on Saturday, July
22, 2006. The convent, which was inaugurated by Pope John Paul II in
1989, is located near Les Combes, the Italian Alpine resort where
the Pope is vacationing.
According to Sister Maria, one of
the 10 Carmelites of the community, the Holy Father said, "Pray also
for the terrorists, as they do not know that not only do they harm
their neighbor, but above all they harm themselves." Concerned about
what is happening in the Holy Land, Benedict XVI added: "Now we
experience a worsening of the conflict in Lebanon, but also in many
other parts of the world there are people suffering because of
hunger and violence."
"Contemplative life, rich in charity
opens heaven to humanity, which so needs it, as today in the world
it is as if God did not exist. And where God is not, there is
violence and terrorism," the Pope said.
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European Gathering Examines
Key Element to Vocations Ministry
The European
Vocations Service met from June 29 to July 2 to discuss "When
Christian Communities Become Calling Communities." According to a
communiqué issued by the council of European episcopal conferences,
the service concluded that a common problem exists in vocations
ministry: the proclamation of the Gospel at the heart of a culture
that has become indifferent to Christianity.
To counteract
this difficulty, the service agreed that it is necessary to live
charisms and ministries to the full, and to be sensitive to the fact
that God calls in different ways. The communiqué stated: "Only when
it lives through the abundance of charisms and different ministries
will the Christian community, particularly the parish, help people
recognize and respond to God's different calls."
For this to
occur, Christians need to become adults in the faith, in other
words, responsible for everyone's well-being and ready to give
account of the hope that is in them, the representatives concluded.
Moreover, vocations ministry must also show the various ways
in which God calls. That will enable everyone to give his or her
whole life, often far in excess of what he or she had imagined, the
communiqué explained.
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Newspaper Survey Says
Budding Vocations Need Support
Lack
of support seems to be one of the main reasons why young people do
not answer the call to consecrated life. Recently the Italian
newspaper Avvenire published an article entitled "Young People and
Vocations," based on a survey, conducted by the Italian institute
Eurisko, of one thousand young people between 16 to 29 years of age.
The study showed that 10 youths out of 100 feel at some
point a call to the priesthood or religious life (male and female),
but the majority abandon the idea after a few months. Among the
reasons for so many failed vocations is that 71% of young people
said they had no friends who had the desire to consecrate themselves
to the Lord. Twenty-nine percent felt called after a personal
experience, such as a visit to a monastery, a pilgrimage or a
spiritual retreat.
Avvenire lamented that the data reflected
the fact that abandonment of the call was followed above all by "the
abandonment suffered by young people." Another reason for failed
vocations is that young people feel they must give up too many
things, for example, marriage, to which is added the fear of
loneliness.
The Italian newspaper highlighted young people's
need for someone to support them, as a recent study of the survey
revealed that 70% of the young people interviewed could not mention
a man or a woman who represented a point of intellectual reference.
Thus, the newspaper concluded, "There is a crisis of
vocations also because there is a crisis of credible guides."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++To Top
Miles Jesu to Host Annual “Path to Rome”
Conference Featuring Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” from “Roe v.
Wade”
Everyone is invited to Chicago, October 6-8 and to
hear the testimonies of world-renowned converts and great Catholic
leaders. A magnificent conference for cradle Catholics, converts to
the faith and anyone seeking to know more about the Catholic Church.
the “Path to Rome” conference is sponsored by Miles Jesu
and will be held at the Wyndham O'Hare Hotel in Chicago.
This annual event is the only international conference
of famous converts to the Catholic Church. This year's meeting will
feature Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” from the infamous “Roe v.
Wade” Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in the United
States. Other speakers include John Gummer, MP, Anglican convert,
member of Cabinet for Margaret Thatcher and John Major; Bro. Anthony
Aarons, former Anglican priest from Jamaica; Alex Jones,
ex-Pentecostal pastor, Detroit; and many more inspiring converts.
Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, Prefect of Clergy, Vatican, and Cardinal
Rivera, Archbishop of Mexico City, will also be speaking.
After the weekend conference, a tour of inspiring
Catholic and cultural sites of Chicago and other parts of Illinois
will be available. Weekend prices as low as $79 before Sept. 24. To
register go to www.pathtorome.com or call
toll-free 1-800-654-7945.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++To Top
Special Mass and Reception to Commemorate
the 70th Anniversary of Father Hardon's Entrance into the Society of
Jesus
On Friday September 1, 2006 at 7 p.m. at
Colombiere Jesuit Retirement Center Chapel in Clarkston, Michigan.
Fr. John A Hardon, S.J., helped found the Institute on
Religious Life and taught the Missionaries of Charity for over 20
years, as well as being a consultant for the Catechism of the
Catholic Church. He died on December 30, 2000 in the Hour
of Mercy at 3:23 p.m.
The evening will include Mass at 7 p.m. followed
by a Rosary Procession at 8:15 p.m. to Father's Graveside.
Afterwards a reception will be held in the dining room of Colombiere
Center. Fr. Herbert J Raterman, S.J., will be the Main Celebrant of
the Mass.
There is a $5.00 charge for attendance to
the reception. Please R.S.V.P. by August 22, 2006 for reception
only. Please contact 1-248-548-0204 or
1-586-306-2780 for more information or to R.S.V.P. or send an
e-mail to anthonyb1989@juno.com.
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