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These are just items about issues that my friends & I think are worth logging.

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Serving the poor is to be preferred above all things

A writing of St Vincent de Paul

Even though the poor are often rough and unrefined, we must not judge them from external appearances nor from the mental gifts they seem to have received. On the contrary, if you consider the poor in the light of faith, then you will observe that they are taking the place of the Son of God who chose to be poor.Although in his passion he almost lost the appearance of a man and was considered a fool by the Gentiles and a stumbling block by the Jews, he showed them that his mission was to preach to the poor: He sent me to preach the good news to the poor. We also ought to have this same spirit and imitate Christ’s actions, that is, we must take care of the poor, console them, help them, support their cause.Since Christ willed to be born poor, he chose for himself disciples who were poor. He made himself the servant of the poor and shared their poverty. He went so far as to say that he would consider every deed which either helps or harms the poor as done for or against himself. Since God surely loves the poor, he also loves those who love the poor. For when one person holds another dear, he also includes in his affection anyone who loves or serves the one he loves. That is why we hope that God will love us for the sake of the poor. So when we visit the poor and needy, we try to understand the poor and weak. We sympathise with them so fully that we can echo Paul’s words: I have become all things to all men. Therefore, we must try to be stirred by our neighbours’ worries and distress. We must beg God to pour into our hearts sentiments of pity and compassion and to fill them again and again with these dispositions.It is our duty to prefer the service of the poor to everything else and to offer such service as quickly as possible. If a needy person requires medicine or other help during prayer time, do whatever has to be done with peace of mind. Offer the deed to God as your prayer. Do not become upset or feel guilty because you interrupted your prayer to serve the poor. God is not neglected if you leave him for such service. One of God’s works is merely interrupted so that another can be carried out. So when you leave prayer to serve some poor person, remember that this very service is performed for God. Charity is certainly greater than any rule. Moreover, all rules must lead to charity. Since she is a noble mistress, we must do whatever she commands. With renewed devotion, then, we must serve the poor, especially outcasts and beggars. They have been given to us as our masters and patrons.

© Copyright 1996-2004 Universalis Publishing Ltd

The word "angel" denotes a function rather than a nature

A sermon of Pope St Gregory the Great

You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels. And so it was that not merely an angel but the archangel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary. It was only fitting that the highest angel should come to announce the greatest of all messages.Some angels are given proper names to denote the service they are empowered to perform. In that holy city, where perfect knowledge flows from the vision of almighty God, those who have no names may easily be known. But personal names are assigned to some, not because they could not be known without them, but rather to denote their ministry when they came among us. Thus, Michael means “Who is like God”; Gabriel is “The Strength of God”; and Raphael is “God’s Remedy”.Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power. So also our ancient foe desired in his pride to be like God, saying: I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven; I will be like the Most High. He will be allowed to remain in power until the end of the world when he will be destroyed in the final punishment. Then, he will fight with the archangel Michael, as we are told by John: A battle was fought with Michael the archangel.So too Gabriel, who is called God’s strength, was sent to Mary. He came to announce the One who appeared as a humble man to quell the cosmic powers. Thus God’s strength announced the coming of the Lord of the heavenly powers, mighty in battle. Raphael means, as I have said, God’s remedy, for when he touched Tobit’s eyes in order to cure him, he banished the darkness of his blindness. Thus, since he is to heal, he is rightly called God’s remedy.

© Copyright 1996-2004 Universalis Publishing Ltd


Pope donates $100,000 toward relief efforts in flood-stricken Haiti
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II dedicated $100,000 to fund relief efforts in flood-stricken Haiti. Through the Vatican's charity arm, "Cor Unum," the pope earmarked the money to help Caritas Haiti purchase drinking water, food and medicine after the string of powerful tropical storms and hurricanes that recently hit the Caribbean. The pope's gift was announced by the Vatican Sept. 27 after Caritas Internationalis launched a major appeal for funding relief efforts in Haiti. Caritas is seeking $900,000 in funding and donations to provide supplies to tens of thousands of people left homeless by Tropical Storm Jeanne. Mudslides triggered by heavy flooding killed more than 1,600 people and injured 100,000 more in Haiti after the storm hit the island in mid-September. At least another 1,000 people are reportedly still missing and feared dead. "The hardest-hit region is the city of Gonaives and the surrounding area. ... The damage was catastrophic for residents, all of whose homes and buildings were flooded, some beyond repair," the Caritas appeal said. The U.N. World Food Program estimated some 175,000 people in Haiti have been left without food, water and electricity. Caritas said the emergency funding would supply kitchen utensils, sleeping bags, tents, medicine, chlorine and clean drinking water to 2,000 families in three different parts of Haiti. A Caritas emergency response team also has been dispatched to help local Caritas officials assess further needs.Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' international relief and development agency, has provided $500,000 to purchase food and health and hygiene supplies, said Sheyla Biamby, CRS spokeswoman in Haiti.Biamby told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview that security was a major issue in Gonaives, with aid trucks being looted before reaching the poor.Water and hunger also were issues as a result of the lack of security and poor condition of the roads. Most of Gonaives remained under three feet of water, she said Sept. 27.About 1,000 Haitians fled to the cathedral in Gonaives, 400 to the home of Bishop Yves-Marie Pean of Gonaives and another 300 to the Caritas compound in Dolan, outside Gonaives, she said.Though not as powerful as other hurricanes and tropical storms this year, Jeanne has been the deadliest and is considered to be the worst tropical storm to have swept across the Caribbean in more than a decade. Haiti has been especially hard hit this year; in May, floods killed more than 1,000 people and destroyed many towns and villages. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere; 80 percent of the nation's people live below the poverty line. Recent hurricanes and tropical storms caused extensive property damage in the United States, but without the loss of life caused in Haiti, noted the head of the U.S. bishops' international policy committee. "Hurricane Ivan did great damage in my Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, as in other parts of this country, but nothing can compare to the devastation and loss of life suffered by the people of Gonaives," Florida Bishop John H. Ricard said in a letter to Archbishop Hubert Constant of Cap Haitien, president of the Haitian bishops' conference. Bishop Ricard noted that while aid agencies such as Caritas and the U.S. bishops' Catholic Relief Services have moved quickly in responding to the Haitian disaster, more aid was needed. The bishop said it was essential "that neighboring countries, and especially the United States, urgently provide the financial and material resources required at this time." "We call on our government to go well beyond the limited aid thus far announced," he said. - - -Contributing to this story was Stephen Steele in Washington.END

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0405279.htm

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250
Vatican official tells U.N. war in Iraq did not make world safer
By John Thavis
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Addressing the United Nations, a leading Vatican official said the war in Iraq did not make the world safer and that defeating terrorism will require multilateral cooperation that goes beyond short-term military operations. Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, the Vatican's top foreign affairs official, made the remarks Sept. 29 in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly. The text was released at the Vatican Sept. 30. Archbishop Lajolo offered a far-ranging review of Vatican positions on peace and justice issues, saying global poverty must be the No. 1 priority for the United Nations and for all international agencies. "The urgency of the situation cannot tolerate delay," he said. He noted that hundreds of millions of people are living below the threshold of what is necessary, and tens of millions of children are undernourished. Turning to Iraq, Archbishop Lajolo said the Vatican's opposition to military action in Iraq in 2002-2003 was well known. "Everyone can see that it did not lead to a safer world either inside or outside Iraq," he said. Under the present circumstance, he added, the Vatican believes it is imperative to support the provisional Iraqi government as it tries to bring the country to normality and establish a political system that is "substantially democratic and in harmony with the values of its historic traditions." He called terrorism an "aberrant phenomenon, utterly unworthy of man" that today threatens all countries. While every nation has the right to protect its citizens, he said, "it seems obvious that terrorism can only be effectively challenged through a concerted multilateral approach ... and not through the politics of unilateralism." "No one is in any doubt that the fight against terrorism means, first and foremost, neutralizing its active breeding grounds. But the underlying causes are many and complex: political, social, cultural, religious," he said. For that reason, he said, even more important is long-term action directed at terrorism's roots and designed to stop it from spreading. Archbishop Lajolo addressed several other major international issues: -- On disarmament, he called for severe and effective international controls on the production and sales of conventional weapons. He praised U.N. efforts to date, but said "huge economic interests" remain as obstacles. Weapons of mass destruction and their possible use represent a separate problem, the archbishop said. But he reminded the assembly that conventional weapons are being used in "numerous armed conflicts that stain the world in blood" and in terrorism. -- The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, he said, will require not only justice but also mutual forgiveness, which requires greater courage than the use of weapons. He called on a return to the "road map" peace plan, which has been formally accepted by both parties. -- African conflicts in Sudan, Somalia, the Great Lakes region, Ivory Coast and elsewhere call for greater international attention and authoritative intervention by the African Union, he said. -- The right to life has special application in the human cloning issue, Archbishop Lajolo said. The United Nations is scheduled to debate it this fall. The archbishop reiterated the Vatican's call for a comprehensive ban on human cloning; he said the Vatican supports procurement of adult stem cells as opposed to cells taken from human embryos. Archbishop Lajolo also raised the question of U.N. internal reform aimed at increasing its peacekeeping effectiveness around the world. In general, he said, the United Nations needs more room to operate before conflicts begin. He suggested that the United Nations be given "special prerogatives to facilitate action to prevent conflicts at times of international crisis, and also, when absolutely necessary, 'humanitarian intervention,' that is, action aimed at disarming the aggressor." Quoting Pope John Paul II, the archbishop said U.N. effectiveness will also depend on whether it can rise from "the cold status of an administrative institution" to the status of "a moral center" where all the nations of the world feel at home. END

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0405361.htm

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250


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