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Saturday, 16 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s readings we see how, the righteous ones and the ones sent by the Lord, the prophets, and even our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, received slander, persecution, and were actively rejected by many in the society, not least by those who indeed should have been closer to God than that of the rest of the society.

These people are the Pharisees, the priests and the experts in the Law of God, passed through Moses, they are also expert in the Torah and the writings of the words of the prophets, that it is why they could say that no prophet is ever said to come from Galilee, because basically they really know the prophets, their sayings, and the Law itself. But yet, they have failed to see God, and failed to see His works, when it was already in fact right in front of their eyes.

The reason for their failure to see the good works of the Lord is that they have been blinded, their eyes had been blocked by the very arrogance and pride that clouds their heart and hardened that heart against the love of God. Jealousy became the order of the day, as these priests, instead of being happy and supportive of Christ’s good works, they slandered Him, accused Him of using the devil to perform miracles, and plotted against Him to kill Him. They would eventually succeeded in capturing Him after the Lord’s Last Supper, put Him on trial, and brought Him to Pilate to be condemned to death, death on the cross.

We should not follow their examples, and we too should lower our pride and our selfishness before God. We must put the Lord ahead of men, and put our attention on the Lord ahead of any personal glorification through majesty, wealth, or even simplification, and publicity. Priests and leaders of the Church must strive to remain humble in their ministry.

But remember, very importantly, never dabble in the false sense of humility through excessive display of humility or simplification, especially and certainly, we must never let the Holy Mass be simplified to the point that it loses the sanctity and meaning, as the Holy Sacrifice where Jesus offers us His Most Precious Body and Blood.

Very often people has misunderstood the noble simplicity as mentioned in the Vatican II document, Sacrosanctum Concilium, focusing way too much on the simplicity, that it is no longer noble. There is a need for balance, that the liturgy does not become too flagrant a display of excessive wealth and worldliness, but at the same time also there should be proper decorum and avoidance of insertion of non-liturgical elements into the Mass, and also avoidance of stripping the Mass so much that it ceases to be solemn and devout.

Instead, the way is to live a life of prayer and dedication to God, and strive to put the Lord ahead of ourselves, and to make God the centre of our lives. Through the Mass, the centre of our faith, we can make the Lord indeed as the centre of our life, via the solemn and magnificent liturgy and execution of the Mass, that the Lord is glorified at the Mass.

Remember that the Mass is not about self, and it is not to be centred at the priest-celebrant, but to be centred to the Lord Himself. The vestments, the beautiful adornments, and the solemn atmosphere in the Mass is dedicated entirely to God, that we glorify the Lord, and through these external glorification, we bring mankind closer to God, simply by unearthly experience that all of us can experience in the Mass, through a solemn and devout liturgy of the Mass.

We humble ourselves before the Lord, and focus our attention on the glorious cross of Christ, both for us behind the altar, and for the priest, the altar cross, according to the Benedictine Altar arrangement, that all of us will put our full attention in Christ, and not on men. The cross must be the centre of our focus, our attention, and also be the focus of our hearts, that we continue to keep Christ in all things that we do, so that in whatever good that we do, God will be present, and will justify us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us rediscover our faith, particularly in this Holy Year of Faith, that we can grow much deeper in our understanding of the Mass and its liturgical contents, and learn to place the Lord at the centre of our lives, and grow stronger in our faith and love of God day by day. May we follow in Christ’s footsteps and not be proud, neither be vain, by discarding the darkness and veil of pride that blocks our heart from truly receiving the love and grace of our God. Amen.

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A Timetable of the First Day of Conclave

What will happen today in the first day of the Conclave (Tuesday, 12 March 2013)? All the time noted below are in Rome time (CET, Central European Time, 1 hour ahead of UTC (UTC+1)).

Some event are live from Vatican Player at http://www.vatican.va/video/ and the live recording from Rome Reports : http://www.romereports.com/palio/modules.php?name=Content3&pa=showpage&newlang=english&pid=47#.UT4XGVeJegH

 

1. (Live) Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff / Missa pro Eligendo Pontifice : 10 am. This Mass will officially begin the Conclave and will be offered for prayers for the election of the Pope.

2. Cardinal-electors leave the Domus Sancta Marthae where they stay for the Pauline Chapel : 3.45 pm

3. (Live) Cardinal-electors begin the procession into Sistine Chapel from Pauline Chapel, while singing Veni Creator Spiritus and the Litany of the Saints : 4.30 pm

4. (Live) Oath of secrecy by the Cardinal-electors and the extra omnes order by Monsignor Guido Marini : 4.45 pm, then meditation by Cardinal Prosper Grech of Malta (2nd meditation)

5. Conclave and first ballot : about 5 pm – 7 pm, smoke should appear between 7-8 pm Rome time. If white, means a new Pope has been elected, but this is unlikely to happen. (Smoke and the chimney can be seen live through either Vatican Player or Rome Reports page I mentioned above)

6. Vespers celebrated by the Cardinal-electors : 7.15 pm

7. Cardinal-electors return to Domus Sancta Marthae, their residence during the period of the Conclave : 7.30 pm

 

These are just rough timing, and as this is the first ballot, the Cardinal-electors may still need time, especially the first-timers, in getting used to the rules and proceedings of the Conclave and thus might be delayed slightly.

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12 reasons why Cardinal Angelo Scola may be the next Pope : My chosen Papabile

Cardinal Angelo Scola attends a mass in Duomo Cathedral in Milan

Cardinal Angelo Scola (12 reasons why I think he is the best of all the other Candidates, a frontrunner, and should be elected Pope) :

1. Strong in faith and theology : Yes, an intellectual disciple of Pope Benedict XVI, and is as strong as our Pope Emeritus on theology and his deep knowledge of the faith and the Church

2. Close and capable to work with youths : Yes, will be Pope for the youths indeed, and have been working closely with youths in many occasions, especially in his pastoral ministry in Venice and now Milan.

3. Twitter : Already had, and had actively tweeted in the past! Will be no problem to continue to @Pontifex!

4. Italian and other languages : Yes, and Bishop of Rome definitely must speak fluent Italian! Also fluent in several other languages, including English.

5. Interreligious dialogue : Yes, and knowledgeable about Islam in particular, and have been active in reaching out to Christian minorities in the Middle East and the Muslim world.

6. Tradition : Strong in liturgy and tradition, a tradition-based Pope just like Pope Benedict XVI, we need a strong anchor of faith! A close and personal understanding of the liturgy through its beauty can only serve to strengthen the faith of the faithful and the Church.

angelo-scola
7. Charisma : Yes, strong charisma and outreach, and also has a global persona and able to connect with youths and other sections of the society.

8. Poverty and charity of the Church : Being born into low-middle income family, made him to have a close connection and personal connection to the poor and the less fortunate in the Church and the world.

9. Age : At 71, is at the prime age for Pope. Not too old (Pope Benedict XVI was elected at 78 and yet managed to lead an almost 8 year Pontificate), and therefore he will be expected to lead for 15-20 years, and relatively healthy, which is what the Cardinals seek. Not too young, and very experienced.

10. Experience (Curia) : Significant term as the Rector Magnificus of Pontifical University, and then as the President of the Pontifical Institute of John Paul II for Studies of Marriage and Family.

11. Experience (Pastoral) : Experience as Bishop of Grosetto, and long experience as the Patriarch of Venice, and also a great job as the Archbishop of Milan. Hence, being accorded the extremely rare honour of having headed to of Italy’s and the world’s most influential dioceses.

12. Bioethics and Family : Knowledgeable and had published books in bioethics (and also many other topics, totalling more than 120 volumes in total), and very supportive of marriage and family, and definitely strong in the matter, being the former President in the Pontifical Institute on the Family (see number 10). It is necessary to have a strong leader in the issue at the time when the institution of marriage and the family is under constant and increasingly serious attacks.

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Who to watch for in 2013 papal conclave? Scola, Ouellet, Ravasi, Scherer

Scola, Ouellet, Ravasi, Scherer, who you should watch for in the Conclave.

 

Scola (Cardinal Angelo Scola, Metropolitan Archbishop of Milan)

Italian, so that even though he’s not in Curia, he did have experience in Rome, and he is already close to Rome, both in distance and relations. Also close to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,
and he has also done great job in Venice and then Milan, in which
these two archdioceses alone produced 5 popes in the past century

Only Pope Benedict XV and Pope Pius XII were not from these (excluding Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI)

Venice : Pius X, John XXIII, John Paul I
Milan : Pius XI, Paul VI

Also at the forefront of communication with Islam through the publications Oasis he created to reach out to Christians in the Muslim world, and involved in interreligious dialogues.

Scola is also more charismatic than Ouellet and also active in the media via youtube, twitter, his site.

Scola is also a well-known author in bioethics, and certainly is a trait needed for a Pope that will lead the Church in its constant battle against the improper use of Science. Yes to an ethical science, but no to unbridled and uncontrolled use of science!

If the conclave proceeds smoothly, he should be the one elected Pope, within 2 or 3 days from the start of the conclave.

 

Ouellet (Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops)

In the Roman Curia and in charge of the bishops, but with the problem is that his archdiocesan experience is not that good, and the story has come out that the very church and parish we was born into, was no longer there, which is shameful considering the rate of secularisation in the west. Formerly he was the Metropolitan Archbishop of Quebec in Canada.

But so far he has done quite a good job, and quite in line with Pope Benedict XVI, by appointing bishops who are not only known to be good administrators, but more importantly, bishops who are holy, and are steadfast in their faith, with individuals like Archbishop Chaput of Philadelphia and Cardinal Tagle of Manila as example.

 

Ravasi (Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of Pontifical Council for Culture)

Ravasi is the forefront in how the Church communicates with social issues and the media, and he has been quite active in twitter, more so than Scola, but his administrative skill has been found rather lacking, since he has only five or six years experience as a bishop and never had any experience in handling major archdioceses or dioceses.

At least Cardinal Ravasi will sure make good use of the social media to help evangelise the faith to many, especially youths. But at the moment, we will also need candidate who are more experienced in administration as well, especially considering the troubles that had befallen the Church in recent years due to some inefficiencies in administration.

 

Scherer (Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, Metropolitan Archbishop of Sao Paulo)

Scherer is rather conservative and as a Latin American, this may boost his chances, but he is quite young and he is not familiar with the curia and with still a relatively short experience as a senior prelate, he needs more experience in managing important archdioceses and other administrative matters.

In addition, the status of Brazil as a country, although having the largest Catholic population in the world, but the rapidly declining number of Catholics in the country as a percentage of the population and the rapidly growing secularisation in the country (also affect the rest of Latin America) may also affect his chances.

 

In fact, this time round, just as it was with the election of Pope Benedict XVI, now our Pope Emeritus, we does have a clear leading papabili, and the number of papabili is in fact not as many as the media mentioned it.

It will not be like the election of Pope John XXIII when there is no clear preferred papabili present, which resulted in the election of Cardinal Angelo Roncalli, later Pope John XXIII as the compromise choice.