26 Jan 2010, 3:10 am

We believe that the host and wine when consecrated at Mass only appear to be bread and wine. In reality they are the Body and Blood of Jesus. Sometimes other Christians think Catholics are being cannibalistic in saying we "eat the Body and Blood of Jesus." We are in fact not, though we read in John's Gospel, Chapter 6, that Jesus himself said exactly that: "Whoever eats my body and drinks my blood has eternal life" (Jn 6:54). What we are receiving within our bodies is the resurrected and glorified Jesus who is with the Father and the Spirit in heaven. But since the triune God is everywhere, we are always in the presence of Jesus and the Trinity.

In receiving the Eucharist, we are not receiving pieces of Jesus (a hand or foot, for example) but the whole Jesus which is, of course, a mystery for us. It is really the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus, and always in the resurrected and glorified state. But that is why when the congregation all receives the Eucharist, every person is brother and sister to each other. They are for that moment and in a very special way the Body of Christ. How can there be a more dramatic demonstration than that?


Jesus in the Tabernacle: The Real Presence

Because of our belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, we know when we enter any Catholic Church, we have the Blessed Sacrament in our tabernacles. The little red or white sanctuary lamp signifies the presence of our Divine Lord and Savior. What a marvelous thing that you and I can come and sit and actually be in his presence!

I remember the story about an old man, a wanderer who came to a downtown church frequently and sat for a good long while in the front pew. After spotting him a number of times, the church sacristan, who would dust the sanctuary each day, couldn't contain herself anymore. She approached the man, curious as to what he prayed about. His response was beautiful. "Oh," he said, I don't say anything. I'm not even sure I'm praying. I just sit here and look at Jesus and Jesus looks back at me." Yes, this man was indeed praying in quiet and silence.

Eucharist Makes Us Together the Body of Christ

As wonderful as that is, to have Jesus right before our eyes, it cannot compare to what Jesus gave us in the Eucharist. We don't just sit with him. We don't just look at him, as great as that grace is. We take him into ourselves.

Some people think that Jesus just sits inside us until the species of bread and wine dissolve in our stomachs, then Jesus is no longer present within us. But what actually happens in those few minutes of his Real Presence with us is something almost beyond belief—except it is not.

First of all, it is a most intimate union we have at that moment at Communion time. Actually it is even more intimate than the marriage embrace. A husband and wife love each other; a mother lovingly embraces her infant. Have you ever heard the expression at a moment like that, "I love you so much I could eat you." We know what a person means. "I want to get as close possible to you as I can." And we know when we eat food, we absorb the nutrients and they foster our life. But in human relationship we embrace one another lovingly; that is as close as we can get with another.

But who is Jesus? He is the Word of God, the Son of God made flesh, now resurrected and glorified in heaven and everywhere. It is God that we receive. But we must never think that Jesus lies dormant within us. The relationship we have with him, and he with us, is a dynamic, most powerful one. We may be at rest with Jesus within us. But he is not at rest.

In fact, Jesus fills our whole person—body, soul, mind and will—with his divine presence. Who is this Jesus? The same Jesus who preached and taught, who drove out demons, who healed lepers and the lame and the sick, who raised the dead to life, who gathered sinners around him and forgave them with joy and happiness in his heart. It is the very same Jesus who died for you and me that we might live forever.

The Power of The Eucharist Within Us

I was diagnosed with cancer of the prostate several years ago and had seven weeks of radiation treatment. As we know, radiation is powerful, and too much of it can cause death. But when applied properly, it does what is supposed to do. It rids the body of cancer and restores health.

The "graced-radiation" we receive when Jesus comes into us in Eucharist fills our whole body with his presence, his grace, his goodness. What a perfect moment to ask for healing, for help, for forgiveness, for strength.

Even as I write this, I stand back in awe to think of how blessed we are who believe in Jesus' clear and deliberate words to us: "This is my body, this is my blood." No matter how hard people try to explain this away by saying Jesus didn't mean what he said, we know for a fact that he did! And we have two thousand years of history and tradition that says Jesus spoke the truth.

When we receive Eucharist and say quietly, "Amen," the word means, "I believe." When people in the RCIA program each year come to the moment when they receive their first holy Communion, at the Holy Saturday Vigil, their eyes are often filled with tears of joy. We, too, know the same love. If we watch them, our eyes will also tear up.

24 Jan 2010, 7:19 am

Prayer for a Priest
Written by John Joseph, Cardinal Carberry (+1998), Archbishop of St. Louis 1968-1979.


O Jesus, our great High Priest, Hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priest, Father [N]. Give him a deep faith a bright and firm hope and a burning love which will ever increase in the course of his priestly life.

In his loneliness, comfort him In his sorrows, strengthen him In his frustrations, point out to him that it is through suffering that the soul is purified, and show him that he is needed by the Church, he is needed by souls, he is needed for the work of redemption.

O loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests, take to your heart your son who is close to you because of his priestly ordination, and because of the power which he has received to carry on the work of Christ in a world which needs him so much.

Be his comfort, be his joy, be his strength, and especially help him to live and to defend the ideals of consecrated celibacy. Amen.

21 Jan 2010, 6:58 am

Saint John Bosco (16 August 1815 – 31 January 1888), born Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco, also called Don Bosco, was an Italian Catholic priest and educator, who put into practice the convictions of his religion, dedicating his life to the upliftment and education of poor youngsters, and employing teaching methods based on love rather than punishment. He placed his works under the protection of Francis de Sales; the chief organization he founded was therefore known as the Society of St Francis de Sales, or, popularly, as the Salesian Society or the Salesians of Don Bosco. He also founded, together with Maria Domenica Mazzarello, the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, a religious congregation of nuns dedicated to the care and education of poor girls, and popularly known as Salesian Sisters.Don Bosco succeeded in establishing a network of organizations and centers to carry on his work. In recognition of his work with disadvantaged youth, he was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1934.



Contents1 Early life 2 The Preventive System 3 Death and canonization 4 Further reading 5 References 6 Sources and Studies 7 External links




Early lifeJohn Bosco was born in Becchi, Piedmont. His father died two years later and Giovanni, together with his two brothers Antonio and Giuseppe, was brought up by his mother. She was to support him in his work until her death in 1856.When he was younger, he would put on shows of his skills as a juggler, magician and acrobat. The price of admission to these shows was a prayer that was never enforced, but always asked. Early in his childhood he had a vision or dream in which he learned what his life would be dedicated to and in the dream he heard a voice which said, "Not with blows, but with charity and gentleness must you draw these friends to the path of virtue." It was this statement which was instilled in oratory and preventive system he was yet to found. Don Bosco began as the chaplain of the Rifugio ("Refuge"), a girls' boarding school founded in Turin by the Marchioness Giulia di Barolo, but he had many ministries on the side such as visiting prisoners, teaching catechism and helping out at country parishes.A growing group of boys would come to the Rifugio on Sundays and feast days to play and learn their catechism. They were too old to join the younger children in regular catechism classes in the parishes, which mostly chased them away. This was the beginning of the "Oratory of St. Francis de Sales." Don Bosco and his oratory wandered around town for a few years and were turned out of several places in succession. Finally, he was able to rent a shed from a Mr. Pinardi. His mother moved in with him. The oratory had a home, then, in 1846, in the new Valdocco neighborhood on the north end of town. The next year, he and "Mamma Margherita" began taking in orphans.Even before this, however, Don Bosco had the help of several friends at the oratory. There were zealous priests like Don Cafasso and Don Borel, some older boys like Giuseppe Buzzetti, Michael Rua, Giovanni Cagliero and Carlo Gastini as well as Don Bosco's own mother.One friend was Justice Minister Urbano Rattazzi, who despite being anticlerical, nevertheless recognized the value of Don Bosco's work. While Rattazzi was pushing a bill through the Sardinian legislature to suppress religious orders, he advised Don Bosco on how to get around the law and found a religious order to keep the oratory going after its founder's death. Bosco had been thinking about that problem, too, and had been slowly organizing his helpers into a loose "Congregation of St. Francis de Sales." He was also training select older boys for the priesthood on the side. Another supporter of the religious order's idea was the reigning Pope, Blessed Pius IX.

In 1854, when the Kingdom of Sardinia was about to pass a law suppressing monastic orders and confiscating ecclesiastical properties, Bosco reported a series of dreams about "great funerals at court," referring to members of the Savoy court or of politicians. In November 1854, he sent a letter to King Victor Emmanuel II, admonishing him to oppose the confiscation of church property and suppression of the orders, but the King did nothing. His activity, which had been described by Italian historian Erberto Petoia as having "manifest blackmailing intentions", ended only after the intervention of Prime Minister Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour. Despite such criticisms, the King's family suffered a surprising number of deaths in a short period. From January to May 1855, the King's mother (age 55), wife (33), newborn son and his only brother (33) all died.

In 1859, Bosco selected the experienced priest Don Alasonatti, 15 seminarians and one high school boy and formed them into the "Society of St. Francis de Sales." This was the nucleus of the Salesians, the religious order that would carry on his work. When the group had their next meeting, they voted on the admission of Joseph Rossi as a lay member, the first Salesian brother. The Salesian Congregation was divided into priests, seminarians and "coadjutors" (the lay brothers).Next, he worked with Don Pestarino, Mary Mazzarello and a group of girls in the hill town of Mornese. In 1871, he founded a group of religious sisters to do for girls what the Salesians were doing for boys. They were called the "Daughters of Mary Help of Christians." In 1874, he founded yet another group, the "Salesian Cooperators." These were mostly lay people who would work for young people like the Daughters and the Salesians, but would not join a religious order.

The story of the departure of the first Salesians for America in 1875 is based on the missionary ideal of Don Bosco. After his ordination, he would have become a missionary had not his director, Joseph Cafasso, opposed the idea. He eagerly read the Italian edition of the Annals of the Propagation of the Faith and used this magazine to illustrate his Cattolico provveduto (1853) and his Month of May booklets (1858).When John Bosco founded the Salesian Society, the thought of the missions still obsessed him, though he completely lacked the financial means at that time. One night, he dreamt again. Being on a vast plain, inhabited by primitive peoples, who spent their time hunting or fighting among themselves or against soldiers in European uniforms. Along came a band of missionaries, but they were all horribly massacred. A second group appeared, which Don Bosco at once recognized as Salesians. Astonished, he witnessed an unexpected change when the fierce savages laid down their arms and listened to the missionaries. The dream made a great impression on Don Bosco, because he tried hard to identify the men and the country of the dream.For three years, Bosco searched among documents, trying to get information about different countries, thus identifying the country from his dream. One day, a request came from Argentina, which turned him towards the Indians of Patagonia. To his surprise, a study of the people there convinced him that the country and its inhabitants were the ones he had seen in his dream.He regarded it as a sign of providence and started preparing a missionary there. Adopting a way of evangelization that would not expose his missionaries suddenly to wild, uncivilized tribes, he proposed to set up bases in safe locations where their missionary efforts were to be launched.The above request from Argentina came about as follows: Towards the end of 1874, John Bosco received letters from that country requesting that he accept an Italian parish in Buenos Aires and a school for boys at San Nicolas de los Arroyos. Gazzolo, the Argentine Consul at Savona, had sent the request, for he had taken a great interest in the Salesian work in Liguria and hoped to obtain the Salesians' help for the benefit of his country. Negotiations started after Archbishop Aneiros of Buenos Aires had indicated that he would be glad to receive the Salesians. They were successful mainly because of the good offices of the priest of San Nicolas, Pedro Ceccarelli, a friend of Gazzolo, who was in touch with and had the confidence of Don Bosco.

In a ceremony held on January 29, 1875, Don Bosco was able to convey the great news to the oratory in the presence of Gazzolo. On February 5, he announced the fact in a circular letter to all Salesians asking volunteers to apply in writing. He proposed that the first missionary departure start in October. Practically all the Salesians volunteered for the missions.



By this time Italy was united under Piedmontese leadership. The poorly-governed Papal States were merged into the new kingdom. It was generally thought that Don Bosco supported the Pope.



The Preventive System

Don Bosco's capability to attract numerous boys and adult helpers was connected to his "Preventive System of Education." He believed education to be a "matter of the heart" and said that the boys must not only be loved, but know that they are loved. He also pointed to three components of the Preventive System: reason, religion and kindness. Music and games also went into the mix.Don Bosco gained a reputation early on of being a saint and miracle worker. For this reason, Rua, Buzzetti, Cagliero and several others began to keep chronicles of his sayings and doings. Preserved in the Salesian archives, these remain resources for studying his life. Later on, the Salesian Don Lemoyne collected and combined them into 77 scrapbooks with oral testimonies and Don Bosco's own Memoirs of the Oratory. His aim was to write a detailed biography. This project eventually became a nineteen-volume affair, carried out by him and two other authors. These are the Biographical Memoirs. It is clearly not the work of professional historians, but a somewhat uneven compilation of those chronicles that preserve the memories of teenage boys and young men under the spell of a remarkable and beloved father figure.

Death and canonizationDon Bosco died on January 31, 1888. His funeral was attended by thousands and very soon after there were popular demands to have him canonized. Accordingly, the Archdiocese of Turin began to investigate and witnesses were called to determine if his holiness were worthy of a declared Saint. As expected, the Salesians, Daughters and Cooperators gave fulsome testimonies. But many remembered Don Bosco's controversies in the 1870s with Archbishop Gastaldi and some others high in the Church hierarchy thought him a loose cannon and a wheeler-dealer. In the canonization process, testimony was heard about how he went around Gastaldi to get some of his men ordained and about their lack of academic preparation and ecclesiastical decorum. Political cartoons from the 1860s and later showed him shaking money from the pockets of old ladies or going off to America for the same purpose. These cartoons were not forgotten. Opponents of Don Bosco, including some cardinals, were in a position to block his canonization and many Salesians feared around 1925 that they would succeed.However, Pope Pius XI had known Don Bosco and pushed the cause forward. Bosco was declared Blessed in 1929 and canonized on Easter Sunday of 1934, when he was given the title of "Father and Teacher of Youth." While Bosco had been popularly known as the patron saint of illusionists, on January 30, 2002, Fr. Silvio Mantelli, SDB, petitioned Pope John Paul II to formally acclaim St John Bosco the Patron of Stage Magicians. Catholic stage magicians who practice Gospel Magic venerate Don Bosco by offering free magic shows to underprivileged children on his feast day.Don Bosco's work was carried on by his early pupil and constant companion, Don Michael Rua, who was appointed Rector Major of the Salesian Society by Pope Leo XIII in 1888. Salesians of Don Bosco have started many schools and colleges around the world.

Collected by Rajan

10 Jan 2010, 2:03 am

A sermon by St Gregory Nazianzen, The Baptism of Christ


Christ is bathed in light; let us also be bathed in light. Christ is baptised; let us also go down with him, and rise with him.

John is baptising when Jesus draws near. Perhaps he comes to sanctify his baptiser; certainly he comes to bury sinful humanity in the waters. He comes to sanctify the Jordan for our sake and in readiness for us; he who is spirit and flesh comes to begin a new creation through the Spirit and water.

The Baptist protests; Jesus insists. Then John says: I ought to be baptised by you. He is the lamp in the presence of the sun, the voice in the presence of the Word, the friend in the presence of the Bridegroom, the greatest of all born of woman in the presence of the firstborn of all creation, the one who leapt in his mother's womb in the presence of him who was adored in the womb, the forerunner and future forerunner in the presence of him who has already come and is to come again. I ought to be baptised by you: we should also add, "and for you," for John is to be baptised in blood, washed clean like Peter, not only by the washing of his feet.

Jesus rises from the waters; the world rises with him. The heavens, like Paradise with its flaming sword, closed by Adam for himself and his descendants, are rent open. The Spirit comes to him as to an equal, bearing witness to his Godhead. A voice bears witness to him from heaven, his place of origin. The Spirit descends in bodily form like the dove that so long ago announced the ending of the flood and so gives honour to the body that is one with God.

Today let us do honour to Christ's baptism and celebrate this feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and salvation of men, for whom his every word and every revelation exist. He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of him who is the light of heaven. You are to enjoy more and more the pure and dazzling light of the Trinity, as now you have received – though not in its fullness – a ray of its splendour, proceeding from the one God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
Collected by Rajan from Deacon Keith Fournier

01 Jan 2010, 6:13 am

Dear friend,
Wish you a happy and Prosperous Year 2010
Rajan