Mexico

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Wednesday, 21 May 2014 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Christopher Magallanes, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s readings emphasizes on unity, that is the unity of our faith with the Lord, and in keeping a true, orthodox and living faith. Jesus our Lord symbolised this with the likeness and parallel of the vine and its branches. Jesus spoke in this way so that His message can get through to the people, who were mostly farmers and shepherds in that time.

Jesus liked to speak in parables because He used them to help bring across His teachings, and yet some people still did not get it. Jesus as the vine is the source of all life and all things, and we are the branches. All the creations of God are the branches. If we imagine the relationship as that of a plant, God is the Creator of all, and He is like the root.

Yes, God is the root of all things, and just as a plant cannot live and survive without their roots, we cannot survive without God either, for He is the source of our lives. Remember that we were made from dust, from the earth. God breathed life into us, and His Spirit came into us and we received life and therefore we are now counted among the living.

God did these things together as One, the Holy Trinity. The Father created and willed all things into creation, and the Holy Spirit is the source of all life. But without the Son, who is the Word of God, creation would not have taken place. If we remember in the Book of Genesis, God spoke His words and things came to be. As such, it is through the Son, who is Word, that is Christ, that we were all created by the Lord.

Therefore, Christ is the vine through which the Father channels His works, power and authority to us. In this also we can see an important tenet of our faith. We believe that the Father sent the Holy Spirit through His Son, Jesus Christ, just as He said that the Father will send, through Him, the Helper or the Advocate, who is the Holy Spirit to His disciples and therefore to all mankind.

Without this connection to the vine, that is Christ, we are not connected to the Father and therefore do not receive the power and grace of the Holy Spirit. If we are separated from the Lord, we will not be able to survive, and we will eventually perish. He is the One from whom all blessings and graces flow from. We have to keep this connection to the Lord at all times.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to make sure that we keep the unity in the Church, both in love and purpose. All that we do should ultimately be aligned with that of the Lord and His precepts. We should see the example shown in the first reading to be our guide in all things. The disciples in Antioch argued on the need to follow and adhere to the complex set of laws instituted by Moses and which was greatly expanded on by the elders of Israel over many generations.

The Jews who believed in Christ, or the Jewish Christians kept all the observations of the Law as they had done before they believed in Christ. They added to their faith, the belief in Christ as the Lord and Saviour, and therefore, in a way it can be understood why they link salvation of mankind with the Law and precepts of Moses that they had kept and observed so well.

But among the Christians, in the growing faith, there are increasingly more and more those who were not of Jewish origins who followed the Lord and changed their ways to that of the Way of God. There are those who were of Greek and Roman origins, or the Gentiles, according to the Jews, who became the believers of Christ. They genuinely sought the Lord and sought to listen to God’s will, which He had revealed through Jesus, and from Him, to them through the Apostles.

The Jewish laws, if you are not familiar with it, consists of numerous rules and regulations, that apparently total about six hundred and thirteen commandments and rules, which covered very meticulously many aspects of Jewish culture and way of life. These were very distinct and different from the cultures and the habits possessed by the Romans and the Greeks.

As such, if they were to be asked to follow the way of the Jews, it would indeed bring them great troubles and difficulties, having to adjust to the incredibly different way of life, and not to point out that some of the Jewish customs were abhorred and looked down upon by the Greek-Roman civilisation at that time, especially regarding circumcision.

Hence, brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why the Apostles took the fateful decision that is both wise and prudent, that what is important, as Jesus had often mentioned, is not the purity of the exterior, which most of the Jewish laws are dealing on, but instead on the purity of our interior, that is our heart and soul, which is the essence and the heart of the Law, often forgotten by those who were so set on fulfilling the laws and the rigorous enforcement of its regulations, that they forgot the true meaning of the Law.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Christopher Magallanes and his companions, who were martyrs of the faith. He was a priest in Mexico, who was very involved in missionary and evangelising work among the people, and working hard to minister to the people of God and evangelise the Good News to many native and indigenous populations, in many areas of the country. He was also a holy and dedicated parish priest.

St. Christopher Magallanes preached against rebellion and armed insurgency against the military government and dictatorship at the time, as Mexico in the early years of the twentieth century was in great turmoil and conflict between the government and its people, resulting in numerous rebellions and uprisings. However, the government mistakenly accused St. Christopher Magallanes and some other priests and people of God of inciting and supporting the rebellion.

As a result, St. Christopher Magallanes was martyred with his companions, and they together represented the beginning of difficult times for the Church in Mexico, as anti-clergy and anti-Church opinions and attitudes in the government expanded to reach a boiling point. They were raised to the altar and now venerated as saints for their preaching of the truth of God and dedication to that truth.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we all have to follow in their examples, as they put their trust in God and draw their strength from Him, just like branches that are attached firmly to the stem and to the roots. They also did not discriminate between peoples, and as St. Christopher Magallanes had done, he persevered to bring the Good News and the word of God to the indigenous peoples of Mexico yet untouched by the light of Christ.

Therefore, let us all pray, that we may ever be strong in faith and never be separated from Christ, and may our actions, words and deeds are all according to the Lord and His way, and let us never divide or judge, but instead helping each other to reach closer to God, supporting one another as equal children of God, same before the eyes of the Lord. Amen.

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Thursday, 12 December 2013 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Mass of our Lady)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of our Lady of Guadalupe, to commemorate the apparition of our Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of God, in the land of the New World, in Guadalupe, in the present day Mexico. The Blessed Virgin and her apparition that would come to be known as the Lady of Guadalupe appeared to several people including to a peasant named Juan Diego, whom first promoted the devotion to our Lady in that new land. Many miracles and healing could be attributed to our Lady of Guadalupe, even until today at the site.

The Lady of Guadalupe, was a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her Immaculate Conception, and also identified as the woman of the Book of the Revelation, that is the woman crowned by stars whom the devil in the form of a red dragon, would want to swallow whole. Therefore, our Lady of Guadalupe represented the vision of hope to the world darkened with evil, for it is through this blessed woman, that the hope of this world was to come from, in Jesus.

The devotion to our Lady of Guadalupe is widespread in the New World, even today, and many continued to ask for her intercession and for her guidance towards her beloved Son. Through her, as promised and prophesied by the prophets, the One Saviour, Immanuel, God-is-with-us, was brought into this world, to be its light and guidance, so that all of us will once again live in the light and not in darkness.

In Mary a great strength was present, in her character and in her faith to God. She did not question the will of God but obeyed fully and willingly. Mary accepted her part in the plan of salvation, saying to the Lord, that she is His handmaid and servant, and therefore everything ought to happen as God wills it. It is truly not easy to find a faith such as Mary’s, and we too ought to follow her examples.

For this woman, despite being conceived and born without sin, and remaining pure all of her life, did not boast of her purity and special status before others. Instead, she remained humble, even knowing if she would become the Mother of God Himself, incarnate into flesh through her participation. She was indeed Blessed, as Elizabeth her cousin proclaimed her during the visitation.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the fulfillment of God’s promise to mankind, when they first sinned against Him, that a woman would come to bring forth salvation to mankind, crushing the head of Satan under her feet. Not by her own power and might, but through the Son born from her, Jesus our Messiah, our Lord.

The Lord elevates her to a special position among mankind, not only because of her role as the bearer of the Messiah, but also because of her obedience and her attitude towards the will of God. But she is still human like us and not divine. It is a misconception for many, both outside and even inside the Church, that we worship her as a divine being. Yet, Mary is blessed among women, among all mankind, and she is our role model.

Mary is our role model, the greatest of the saints, and her life examples are exemplary. Her role in the plan of salvation is indeed intended for us to follow and emulate. So today, as we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and as we continue to proceed through the blessed season of Advent, we are reminded of the role that Mary has in the salvation of mankind, with our time now of preparing to celebrate the coming of Christ.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today, let us draw ever closer to the Lord, through the life and example of Mary His mother, who appeared to the people of Mexico in Guadalupe, that all of us will also be able to be like her, following the Lord, committing ourselves to the laws and precepts of the Lord, and be righteous and true in the eyes of God.

May the Lord our God who bless us with Mary His mother, whom He entrusted to us as our mother, continue to bless us, watch over us, and may through her intercession, we will be drawn ever closer to salvation in her Son. Amen.

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Tuesday, 21 May 2013 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Sts. Christopher Magallanes, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs (Scripture Reflection)

Be humble, brethren, and you will be great in God’s eyes. For humility is one of the most difficult virtue to be achieved by us mankind, because of our frailty and susceptibility to the temptations of power, our natural sense of pride, and the sense of arrogance, which prevents us from stooping down and be humble before another person, which in this case, especially is the Lord our God Himself.

Humility is a great virtue, and the Lord is pleased with those who are humble. Even God Himself, in Christ, was truly humble. After all, what kind of humility can be ever greater than the humility that our God Himself had done when He lowered Himself so much to be born as a lowly and mortal man, through the Virgin Mary?

Love one another and do not contend with your brethren for power and personal glory, for what is our glory and achievements compared to the glory of God, that is the real glory? What is our minute achievement compared to the achievements and wonders created by our Lord and God? And with a single sacrifice on the cross, with the outpouring of His Most Precious Blood, He cleansed all creations of all time from their faults and sins, making everything good and worthy again of the Lord.

Do not fear for God is always with us, and He will continue to accompany us, as long as we are willing to hear Him and listen to His words. That is why humility and readiness to submit and listening capacity are important because pride and arrogance often cloud our perceptions and close our hearts from the words of the Lord.

Remember that Satan, the devil himself was born out of pride, out of jealousy of the Lord’s almighty power and authority, wishing to gain such powers for himself and unseating God to be the Lord of all creation. Thus was how Lucifer, the former lightbringer fell, and fell hard he did, from the most beautiful and mighty of all creation, to become the lowest and most despicable of all.

That’s the same with how the Lord will bring down the proud and the haughty ones, bringing them low, and at the same time, lifting up those who are humble and meek, and give them the authority even over those who are filled with their own arrogance and confidence in their own power. This is because they trust in their own power and abilities, and not in the power of the Lord who saves.

Today, we also celebrate the feast day of Saints Christopher Magallanes and his companions, who were martyrs of Mexican persecution of the Catholic Church in the early twentieth century. Mexico became a hotbed of anti-Church sentiments and even the government became very hostile to the Church and particularly to the clergy, resulting in massive persecution of the Church there and the martyrdom of many of the clergy, which includes Saints Christopher Magallanes and his companions.

Saint Christopher Magallanes and his companions resisted the opposition by the Mexican government by opening alternative seminaries when the government closed down a seminary intended for the preparation of new clergy. He preached against rebellion against the government by the faithful, but yet he was falsely accused of plotting in rebellion and was martyred. He remained steadfast and faithful till the end with his companions, who was martyred with him.

Saint Christopher Magallanes might just be a simple country priest in Mexico, but through his courageous actions and his zeal, and through his defense of the faith and the Church till his death, God elevates him to the glory of sainthood, and he is now there in heaven interceding for us before the Lord.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us today strive to be more humble, to humbly submit our sinful selves before the Lord our God, asking Him for forgiveness and clemency. Let us also follow in the footsteps of Sts. Christopher Magallanes and his companions, in their zeal, their humility, and yet courageous defense of the faith, that we too can become brave witnesses of Christ and the Gospels, and will not buckle despite temptations by the devil and the world. May God bless us all in this journey.

Saints Christopher Magallanes and companions, pray for us! Amen.

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Pope Francis to canonise 802 new saints on Sunday, 12 May 2013

http://www.romereports.com/palio/meet-the-soon-to-be-saints-of-the-catholic-church-english-9981.html#.UYurAcrTc78

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Pope Francis will canonise 802 new saints in a canonisation ceremony during the Mass on Sunday, 12 May 2013 at St. Peter’s Square.

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The most notable among the 802 new saints, are 800 among the saints themselves, who are the Martyrs of Otranto, who were martyred in 1480, when the rising Ottoman Empire raided Otranto, a city in Southern Italy, in one of their numerous raids against Christendom and the Lord’s faithful ones.

The 800 martyrs were the captured peoples of Otranto, who refused to abandon their faith and therefore live. They chose death and remain in the Lord instead. For this faith, they were declared martyrs and were beatified by Pope Clement XIV in 1771.

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Today, their relics and remains can be most obviously seen in the Chapel in Otranto are placed in glass display behind the Altar, as seen in the above picture. Led by Antonio Primaldo, the local tailor who led the townspeople in the invasion times, they were martyred by the Ottomans for defending their faith. They will henceforth be known as Saints Antonio Primaldo and Companions after their canonisation.

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The other saint to be canonised with the Martyrs of Otranto is St. Laura Montoya, or also known as St. Laura of St. Catherine of Siena, who was a religious nun from Colombia, who worked hard to evangelise the local native populations, and tried her best to end prejudice and discrimination against the native Indian population. She will be Colombia’s first saint ever.

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And the other saint to be also canonised with them is Mother Lupita, who was a Mexican nun that established a new religious organisation dedicated to the service of the poor and the less fortunate in Mexico, which had to often brave danger in their missions, because of the hostile situation at the time, with Mexico teeming with anti-Church sentiments. She will become the second female saint from Mexico.

The Martyr Saints of Otranto, Saint Laura, and Saint Lupita, pray for us.

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Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez turns 80, ceases to be a Cardinal-elector

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Today, Thursday, 28 March 2013, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez, Cardinal-Priest of Nostra Signora di Guadalupe e S. Filippo Martire, and Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of Guadalajara, Mexico, turns 80, and therefore, according to the rules written in the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis, he loses his right to vote in any future conclave.

http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/data/cardJP2-6.htm#144

May God bless His Eminence Cardinal Sandoval Iniguez, with a blessed old age and health. May he remain strong in the faith and hopefully can perhaps still carry out the mission God had given him.

The College of Cardinals now stands at 206 members in total, with 113 Cardinal-electors and 93 Cardinal non-electors. There are now vacancy of 7 Cardinal-electors as compared to the maximum number of electors allowed in the Conclave of 120, although Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI had sometimes surpassed this limit.

Next Cardinal-elector to age out (80) will be Cardinal Godfried Danneels on 4 June 2013.

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Pope Benedict XVI after retirement : What will he wear and how to address him

http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/Vatican.php?id=7113

Pope Benedict XVI, after his retirement at 8.00 pm on Thursday, 28 February 2013, will be known as the Bishop Emeritus of Rome, and therefore can be addressed as such, as His Holiness Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus, or Roman Pontiff Emeritus.

Pope Benedict XVI will also abandon his red papal shoes and wear a brown shoes given to him at Leon, Mexico, and he will also wear a white cassock as he wear now, but without the shoulder cape or more appropriately known as the pellegrini (not mozzetta as mentioned here, as mozzetta is of a very different type, and red in colour for Popes).

He will also wear the Episcopal ring he had from the time when he was Cardinal Ratzinger (given by Pope Paul VI in 1977), as the Ring of the Fisherman he received in 2005 will be destroyed, similar to what happened when a Pope passed away.

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Pope Benedict XVI to canonise 813 Martyrs of Otranto, and religious Mother Laura and Mother Lupita in October 2013

http://www.romereports.com/palio/pope-will-announce-on-monday-date-for-canonization-for-over-800-saints-english-8965.html#.URYtnKWyCWU

Pope Benedict XVI will canonise the blessed Martyrs of Otranto, 813 of them in total, whose skulls can still be seen in the Cathedral of Otranto behind the main altar. These martyrs lost their lives defending their faith during the Ottoman invasion and raid on southern Italy in 1480, 27 years after the fall of Constantinople.

These 813 brave martyrs chose death rather than turning their back on the Lord, and were massacred by the Ottomans by beheading on the hill after refusing conversion to Islam.

Mother Laura and Mother Lupita are Latin American saints-to-be, with Mother Laura being the very first Colombian saint, and Mother Lupita as the second Mexican saint. Mother Laura and Mother Lupita were noted for founding religious congregations, namely Missionaries of St. Mary Immaculate and St. Catherine of Siena, and Handmaids of Saint Margaret Mary and of the Poor respectively.

(Pope Benedict XVI has canonised 45 Saints to date, and with these new 815 Saints, in October 2013, Pope Benedict XVI will have canonised 860 new Saints of the Church. His predecessor, Pope John Paul II canonised 483 Saints during his Pontificate.)

Let us ask the intercession of these holy peoples, that as they are being recognised finally as saints, due to their merits in life, in defending the Faith, all of us too, can follow in their footsteps, in nurturing our faith and love of God. Amen.

(Update : Since Pope Benedict XVI will retire effective at the end of February 2013, we are waiting for the election and confirmation of the next Bishop of Rome to preside over this canonisation ceremony)

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Happy 80th Anniversary to Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan!

http://www.gcatholic.com/hierarchy/data/cardJP2-9.htm#89

I would like to wish His Eminence, Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers and Bishop Emeritus of Zacatecas (Mexico), a very happy 80th anniversary today (26 January 2013 – present).

May God bless Your Eminence with great health and great strength to continue the ministry that God has given you, Ad multos annos!

Today, the College of Cardinals loses one elector, as Cardinal Barragan is no longer eligible to vote upon turning 80 today. The College stands at 210 members, 118 electors and 92 non-electors.