Man's Call To Salvation

Ascension - Jesus' "going up" into heaven by His own power, in the presence of the Apostles, the Blessed Mother and His disciples, forty days after His Resurrection.
Pentecost - originally, the celebration of thanksgiving for the harvest and the end of Passover time. Now, it commemorates the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, marking the beginning of the active apostolic work. Hailed as the birthday of the Church, it is celebrated 50 days after Easter or ten days after the Feast of the Ascension.
gift of tongues - the miraculous gift to speak one language and be heard and understood by many individuals who ordinarily speak and understand a different language.
evangelization - making the message and mission of Christ known to the world.Originally, it meant preaching the Gospel to those who had never heard of Jesus or His Teachings. Following Vatican II, however, the world means "the whole Mission of the Church and the activities of the apostolate through which She announces, implants and brings to maturity the Kingdom of God."
missionary activities - work engaged in, to give witness to Jesus and His teaching. This is expressed through proclaiming the good news, service and acquiring a sense of community.

Do you remember the story of the father who wanted to leave his two sons a good legacy? These two sons seemed to have endless needs and the father knew that inherited material wealth could soon be frittered away if his sons were not imbued with industry, patience, and perseverance.

So, shortly before his death, he called his two sons and told them to make good use of the bag of treasure he had buried in their fields.

The two sons lost no time in looking for the bag of treasure. To make their search systematic, they divided the field into portions and dug up one portion first. Finding no treasure here, they went on to the next. Meanwhile, they decided to make use of the turned-up soil in the first portion by planting some crops on it. Portion after portion was dug up and planted with crops but no treasure could be found. Finally, when they had dug up the last portion, they sat down to rest saw that the crops they had planted on the dug-up soil were growing very well and were, in fact, ready for harvest. They harvested the crops and sold them at a good Profit.

"This must have been the treasure that our wise father meant us to discover," marveled the two brothers.

Saint Anthony was born in Sallent, Spain in 1807. He worked as a missionary in Catalonia and the Canary Islands for ten years. In 1848, he founded the Congregation of Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Claretians). In that same year, he was consecrated Bishop of Santiago in Cuba. There he established the Teaching Sisters of Mary Immaculate.

At the request of Pope Pius XI, he returned to Spain and devoted himself to missionary work by preaching and publishing. He established a museum, library, schools and a laboratory. He also spread devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Immaculate Heart of Mary through his preachings and writings.

Anthony died in a Cistercian monastery in France on October 24, 1870. He was canonized by Pope Pius X!! in 1950.

The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is a wonderful encounter with God's healing touch and is a union with Jesus' passion, death, and Resurrection. It is a reminder for the Church to care for the aged and the sick.

Marriage- a sacrament in which the love relationship of baptized man and woman is made a part of the new covenant and is directed toward the fulfillment of Jesus' mission; a public statement of a man and woman that they have entered a relationship of deep and lasting love in which they hope to foster their own personal fulfillment and bring up new life to responsible adulthood.
Matrimony- another word for marriage.
Divorce- the dissolution of a marriage. In the New Testament, Christ condemned divorce most decisively (Mk. 10:2-12).
Dispensation- the relaxation of the obligation of a law because of special circumstances of a case. This can be granted by proper and competent authority.
Impediment of marriage- an external fact or circumstances that forbids marriage, sacramental or legal, and makes it invalid or unlawful.

"Facing the Concerns of Today and the Challenges of the Future"

The Tertio Millennio Adveniente (TMA) is a program launched by Pope John Paul II to celebrate 2000 years of Christianity. Consisting of a three-year Jubilee which starts in 1997 until 1999 towards the Great Jubilee 2000, its primary objective is the strengthening of faith and of the witness of Christians. For Great Jubilee 2000, the Holy Father has worked out a program of preparation which he calls the "new Advent." He asks us, the faith ful, to spend the new Advent in intense prayer and in solidarity with our neighbor, especially the needy.

In response to the call of his Holiness, a Philippine program has been drawn up. Called A Filipino Vision for the Third Milleneum, the program joins the TMA themes of the Holy Father with some acts and decrees of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) to make the observance of TMA relevant to our own national needs

As Sister Teresa (later Mother Teresa) wended her way to the train station that would take her to the retreat house in Darjeeling, India, she walked past thousands of outcasts preparing to spend the night on the stairways, hallways and streets of Calcutta. These Indian outcasts were scattered throughout the city in a repulsive atmosphere generated by dampness, buzzing flies, garbage, vermin, and body waste.

Sister Teresa slept very little during the overnight journey. Pictures of the poor and the suffering kept running through her mind. She was so greatly disturbed by what she had seen that there and then, she resolved to leave the Convent and devote herself exclusively to the poor. That was in September 10, 1946.

After receiving of the Archbishop and her religious superior, Sister Teresa studied basic health care. After three months, she returned to Calcutta where she immediatly went to work with soap and water washing one hut after another and feeding and caring for the children in each household. As she moved throught the streets, countless people cried out to her, asking for food.

The example of Sister Teresa attracted other young women who were also concerned for the poor. With their assistance and the financial support of many generous citizens, Mother Teresa founded schools, orphanages, a center for lepers, medical dispensaries and many other institutions for the poor.

As a child, Sofronio Roxas was inquisitive and intelligent but he had no chance to finish schooling. Despite his lack formal education, he was so keen in his observation and his sense of justice that he always stood for what he considered right. His spiritually was so deep, he consented to be the Social Action Coordinator for Kidapawan Diocese. His work sought to renew the Church's concrete responses to the need of the people. He worked to uplift the living conditions of the people and build Basic Christian Communities. Steeped in the traditional Philippine values of respect for authority, respect for property and for the rights of others, he tried to live out his convictions in the service of others.

Suspected to be an NPA member, he was placed under surveillance and harassed. Although he knew that his life was in danger, he was firm and ready to seek justice for the people in his community. But he was convinced in loving confrontation.

Through his statement, Jesus offers valuable guidance on how we can have full participation in the Christian life. Jesus tells the young man that he should love his neighbor as he loves himself. Thus, Jesus identifies love for all people as an important aspect of Christian living.

Jesus also invites the young man to experience voluntary, material poverty by selling all his property. This is not an invitation to reject material goods but an encouragement to think of material things as having very little importance when seen in the light of eternal light of eternal life.

Jesus concludes by urging the young man to follow him, that is, to join him in offering worship to the Father, in carrying on his mission, and in receiving a share of God's life.

All Christians are asked to imitate Jesus so that they can achieve total union with God.

Bend or Bump

A British pastor mentioned seeing this warning over an unusually low doorway of a church:

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The height of this door is somewhat less than the average height of the human person; if, therefore, you are up to average or above the height, be especially careful how you approach and pass through, lest an accident ensue.
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Beneath the warning, someone had placed a summary: BEND OR BUMP!

Selfish pride hurt us and prevents us from enjoying the blessing of God. The Apostle Peter urged, "Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time (1 Pet 5:6)." God rewards humility and judges pride.

As you go through life, bend and you'll avoid a bump.

A holy fear came over them all and they praised God saying," A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited His people."

And throughout Judea and the surrounding lands, people talked about Jesus' deeds. The disciples of John gave Him all this news.

So John called two of the disciples and sent them to the Lord with this message: "Are you the one we are expecting, or should we wait for another?"

These men came to Jesus and said, "John the Baptist sent us to ask you: Are you the one we expect or should we wait for another?"

At that time, Jesus was healing many people of their sicknesses or diseases, and freeing them from evil spirits. He was also giving sight to the blind. He answered the messegers, "Go back and tell John what you saw and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life and the poor are given the Good News. Now, listen: Fortunate are those who encounter Me and find no stumbling block in Me."

This is the Sacrament that makes people of God His co-creators or nurturers of life. This sacrament, "the marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of their being of the spouses and to the procreation and upbringing of children, has, between the baptized, been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament."

This sacrament also reveals God's fidelity to His covenant of love, for, in marriage, there are two essential properties, distinctively made firm and strong, namely: unity and indissolubility.

In order to shepherds the People of God and to increase its number without cease, Christ the Lord set up in His Church a variety of offices which aim at the good of the whole body. The holders of office who are invested with a sacred power, are, in fact, dedicated to promoting the interests of their brethren.

Born' of a wealthy family in northern Italy In 1538, Charles had opened his heart on the service of the Lord in his youthful years, so that at the tender age of twenty-two he was summoned to Rome by Pope Pius IV who made him a Cardinal, and soon after, Archbishop of Milan.

Among Charles' blessings were being a good teacher and writer. He established schools for the poor,seminaries for the clerics, and trained priests of the oblates community to holiness of life.

His great concern for the poor and the sick made him build hospitals where he personally ministered to them. During a great plague he faithfully attended to the sick and the dying. He was said to have tried feeding some 60,000 poor people every day.

Charles also did penance. He was often seen taking part in public processions with a rope around his neck as a gesture of penance. He deprived himself of all earthly belongings and wore an old patched cloak.

In the year 1584, Charles died at the age of 46 and was canonized a saint in 1610. St. Charles Borromeo is a model of Christian virtue and concern for others.

St. Ignatius was born in 1491 of a noble family, in the castle of Loyola in Guipuscoa, Spain. He entered the army and distinguished himself by his bravery. His personal conversion started when he lay ill in a castle after the siege of Pamplona where he got seriously wounded. While recuperating in bed, he read Flowers of the Saints and The Life of Christ. The reading of these two books created in him the desire to follow the footsteps of the saints and become a knight of Christ. When he got fully recovered, he went to confession and for almost a year, he lived in a cave on the banks of a river. His renewed life consisted of fasting, praying, and taking care of the poor and the sick.

Finally, he entered a school in Barcelona, Spain. He continued serving the Lord after being ordained a priest when he founded the Society of Jesus in Paris. Teaching in schools, preaching, conducting retreats, and doing missionary work made up the bulk of involvement he and the priests in his congregation became devoted to. Many of his men trained to be missionaries, some even teaching the Indians in America.

Ignatius directed the work of the Society for fifteen years. He died at the age of sixty-five. The priests who belong to the religious order of the Society of Jesus are called Jesuits.