Friday, November 4th 2022 Established 1905 222 South & Wellington Streets, Georgetown, Guyana Year 117, No. 43
American and Caribbean church
Pope Francis poses for a photo with leaders of the Latin American bishops' council, or CELAM, in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Oct. 31, 2022. From the left they include: Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera López
of Monterrey, Mexico; Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes Solórzano of Managua, Nicaragua; Archbishop Héctor Cabrejos Vidarte of Trujillo, Peru; Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer of São Paulo; Archbishop Jorge Eduardo Lozano of San Juan de
Editorial: Serve like the saints — and with them - p2 Showing love, mercy are key to entering heaven, pope says on All Souls’ Day - p2 Brazilian bishops congratulate Lula, note much work ahead - p3 South Korean church leaders want inquiry after crowd crush, offer prayers - p3 A Christian Perspective on Social Issues - p4 Sunday Scripture - p5 Commission starts planning global report on child protection efforts - p6 Gospel Reflection - p6 Pope’s November prayer intention - p7 Service at Home for those unable to attend Mass - p8 Children’s Page - p9 Parishes are essential places for growing in faith, community - p10 Church leaders welcome Document for Continental Stage of Synod - p12 Saint of the Week - p12
Cuyo, Argentina; Father Pedro Manuel Brassesco; and Oscar Elizalde, director of CELAM's communications center. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) [Please see article on page 11]
Bishop’s Engagements Sunday, November 6th 08:00 hrs – Mass at Sacred Heart, Main Street 11:00 hrs – Meet Confirmation Candidates, Our Lady of the Assumption, Hague Tuesday, Nov 8th 17:00 hrs – Attend Holy Rosary Parish Council meeting Thursday, Nov 10th 17:30 hrs – Attend St. Teresa Parish Council meeting Sunday, Nov 13th 08:00 hrs – Mass at Sacred Heart, Main Street
St. Joseph, Husband of Mary church, Little Diamond, EBD, on Tuesday, November 1, 2022 celebrated the Feast of All Saints
with the help of the children of the parish, portrayed dressed as various saints in the photo above.
(photo: St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Roman Catholic Church Facebook page) ❖
Francis Alleyne OSB
222 South & Wellington Streets, Georgetown, Guyana Telephone: 226-2192 email: catholicstandardgy@gmail.com https://issuu.com/catholicstandard
CATHOLIC STANDARD Friday, November 4th 2022
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Safeguarding the message
EDITORIAL
Dear Editor, The Church has been attached from the beginning to the preservation of the apostolic faith in its purity, and how much it detested any misapplication, impoverishment, or distortion of revelation. The Church has to guard on earth a message which is not on this earth. It may not shirk this responsibility, even if it wished to. It may not adulterate the truth which is from
God. Any compromise would do harm to believers and non-believers alike and deprive them of light. The Church is concerned with the relationship between oneself and God. Hence the laws of the Church are of a different order than those of the State. The laws of the state are concerned with public order and do not claim to have to do with conscience. This does not mean that they cannot bind in conscience. The laws of the Church however, claim to bind in conscience, because they are supported by conscience. There is no outward compulsion but an inward call. God has intervened very specially with man and gave us the ten
commandments through Moses. In ten sayings, which can be counted on the fingers of two hands, the whole conscience of mankind is contained at once. The Church also teaches that each man and woman must be guided by the profound law of his or her conscience. When people are bewildered, they need leadership and in the absence of genuine leadership they will listen to anyone who steps up to the microphone. People are desperate for authentic leadership. They are lost and lonely, like sheep without a shepherd. Leon Jeetlall
Serve like the saints Showing love, mercy are key to enter— and with them
ing heaven, pope says on All Souls’ Day
By Deacon Gordon Bird, The Catholic Spirit We go to the saints like we do our friends and family, so we do not have to be loners when it comes to living the faith as God calls us — to teach, provide, protect and lead. Those holy men and women whom we celebrated on the first of November — the solemnity of All Saints —compel us to emulate their example, giving us ways and means to answer the call to serve others diligently and prayerfully. The saints we celebrate reflect our monthly petition and prayer: to transform people to offer their lives in service to others — as the saints did as living sacrifices filled with the abundance of Christ’s love. We do this for justice, with mercy, in forgiveness and for peace. We are called to live sacramental lives of prayer, mercy, forgiveness, service and love, as the saints so justly lived with their time, talent and treasure. Like the saints, we are called to protect the helpless, care for the sick, feed the hungry, support the homeless and lead those who have fallen astray back to the faith. So many times, within the sphere of influence in which God placed them, the saints needed remarkable physical, intellectual and spiritual abilities. They responded by sacrificially living out their lives with unending acts of corporal and spiritual mercy. Christians must love and serve one another. As Catholics, we do not choose to go it alone in acts of service because we value being in relationship — which entails both communication and presence. As in the presence of the holy Eucharist, surrounded by the saints and angels and in communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ. As an invocation of the penitential act tells us: “Lord Jesus, you come to us in word and sacrament to strengthen us in holiness.” And, he provides us with the Church Triumphant — the communion of saints in heaven above — for that reason as well. Because they are friends and family. Their prayers and actions are immensely powerful. With so much spiritual and physical combat going on throughout the world today, we certainly need to learn and receive help from the saints. The saints who are alive and well hear our prayers— “He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” (Mk 12:27). As Catholic Watchmen, we serve as a witness to family and community — a weekly discipline — and (please turn to p3)
Pope Francis celebrates Mass on All Souls' Day for bishops and cardinals who died in 2022, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Nov. 2, 2022. (CNS photo/Guglielmo Mangiapane, Reuters) VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As Christians await their death and the final judgment of God, the Gospel tells them what they must do to be welcomed into heaven: love others because God is love, Pope Francis said. In life “we are in the waiting room of the world,” hoping to hear Jesus say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father,” the pope said during a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls. Pope Francis celebrated the Mass with special prayers for the nine cardinals and 148 archbishops and bishops from around the world who died between Oct. 30, 2021, and Oct. 17 this year, including 14 bishops from the United States and four from Canada.
After the Mass, the pope visited the Vatican’s Teutonic Cemetery, a medieval cemetery now reserved mainly for German-speaking priests and members of religious orders. The Gospel reading at the Mass was St. Matthew’s description of the last judgment when those who fed the hungry, welcomed the stranger and visited the prisoner are welcomed into God’s kingdom, and those who neglected to care for others are sent into “the eternal fire.” While praying for those who have died, he said, the feast day also is a call to “nurture our expectation of heaven” and question whether one’s strongest desires are for union with God or for earthly status and pleasures that will pass away.
“The best careers, the greatest achievements, the most prestigious titles and accolades, the accumulated riches and earthly gains — all will vanish in a moment,” the pope said. But the Gospel of Matthew makes clear what will last, he said: love and care for others, especially the poor and those usually discarded by society. And, he said, the Gospel also explains that God’s final judgment is not like a civil court where the judge or jury sifts through every piece of evidence and weighs them all carefully. In the divine tribunal, the only thing that counts “is mercy toward the poor and discarded: ‘Whatever you did for one of (please turn to page 7)
CATHOLIC STANDARD Friday, November 4th 2022
Brazilian bishops congratulate
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva gestures at an election night gathering as he was proclaimed the winner in the Brazilian presidential election runoff, in São Paulo Oct. 30, 2022. (CNS photo/Amanda Perobelli, Reuters) SÃO PAULO (CNS) - The Brazilian They also called for peace and unity bishops' conference congratulated among Brazilians. In Oct. 30 elecLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva for winning tions, da Silva defeated the incumthe nation's presidential election but bent, Jair Bolsonaro, by a margin of noted there was still much work less than 1%, in the closest election ahead. since the end of military rule in 1985. "The exercise of citizenship does not "May everyone walk together to end with the end of the electoral build better politics, ones that will be process," said the statement signed at the service of the common good, by officers of the conference. as defined by our beloved Pope Francis," the bishops said in their message.
Many Catholics who work with the poor, Indigenous and landless peasants are now hopeful with the return of the former president. "Lula's victory rekindles the hope of (the return of) respect for Indigenous minorities and traditional communities, as well as for the forest and nature in the Amazon, in the resumption of the state's role in controlling deforestation, land grabbing, violence and the looting of natural resources at the expense of the poorest and most vulnerable," Josep Iborra Plans, a former priest now working with the church's Pastoral Land Commission, told Catholic News Service. Lula, who served as president from 2003 to 2010, said one of his first actions as president would be to try to remove Brazil from the United Nations' Hunger Map. The country was removed from the map in 2014 due mainly to food security action plans implemented during Lula's first two terms in office. However, the country was added again in 2018. A study on food insecurity, conducted by international aid organizations, showed that 33.1 million Brazilians have nothing to eat and another 125.2 million Brazilians have experienced some degree of food insecurity in the past year.❖
inquiry after crowd crush, offer prayers
A woman cries at an Oct. 31, 2022, group memorial for the victims of an Oct. 29 crowd crush that killed more than 150 people during a Halloween festival in Seoul, South Korea. (CNS photo/Heo Ran, Reuters) SEOUL, South Korea (CNS) — Catholic bishops in South Korea expressed sorrow and offered prayers after more than 150 people died in a stampede during Halloween celebrations in Seoul. They also called for a detailed investigation to identify the cause of the incident. Officials are concerned that the death toll could rise because at least 33 people remain in critical condition, reported ucanews.com.
The tragedy occurred in Seoul Oct. 29, when around 100,000 people — mostly in their teens and 20s, wearing Halloween costumes — poured into its narrow, winding streets for partying. “We entrust to God’s mercy the victims who unfortunately lost their lives in the tragedy,” the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea said in a statement. “In addition, we offer our deepest condolences to the bereaved
families, and we also pray for the speedy recovery and peace of the wounded,” said the statement. “For the peace and safety of the people, the relevant authorities must thoroughly examine the cause and process of this tragedy and ensure that irresponsibility and oblivion are not repeated,” the statement said. Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick Chung of Seoul also expressed his condolences and prayed for the victims and their family members. He also prayed for the “authorities involved in the accident and all those who are working on rescue operations at the scene.” The prelate expressed hope that “such a tragedy will not be repeated anymore.” After reciting the Angelus Oct. 30, Pope Francis told people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, “Let us pray to the risen Lord also for those — especially the young — who died in Seoul, as a tragic consequence of a sudden crowd surge.” The Halloween-related tragedy sparked nationwide public shock and anger in a country known for its crowd management, reported ucanews.com. (please turn to page 4)
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Formation Programme All interested persons are invited to participate in the Lay Ministers’ Formation Programme, especially new or potential Lay Ministers (Catechists, Altar Servers, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Lectors, Choir members or anyone involved in lay ministry) . The Programme is held via Zoom on Saturdays from 2:45 pm - 4:45 pm
Meeting ID: 815 5614 2686 Passcode: 445718 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81556142686? pwd=c1l5bDVTQU8vbEJnQ1QxNTVZZGRxQT09
Segment 1: 03 Sep to 26 Nov 2022 Segment 2: 04 Feb to 01 April 2023 Segment 3: 22 April to 17 June 2023
EDITORIAL (From page 2) we understand that includes calling on the intercession of our favorite saints. We call on Apostles, martyrs, pastors, preachers, doctors of the Church — all holy men and women who teach us best by how they lived and fought in their evangelization efforts, disciple-making apostolates and loving service to others, even as they struggled and triumphed through trials and tribulations. Call on your favorite saints to help you love and serve God better. Strive to offer your life to others as self-gift — starting with your family. With the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph at the domestic helm, I have many “go to” saints, depending on the situation, to strengthen me in holiness: Padre Pio (“pray, hope and don’t worry”); Thomas Aquinas (“study well”); Francis de Sales (“write/evangelize courageously”); Anthony (“lost things”); Isidore (“success for farmers”); Agnes (“purity of body, soul, heart”); John Vianney (“good confession”); John Paul II (“vibrant, joyful soul and intellect”); Mother Teresa (“love and charity”) — to name just a few. I’ve heard that a saint was simply “a sinner who loves God more than his or her sin.” Perhaps. For sure the saints knew that spiritual and physical warfare are concurrent in the world, yet Christ actively taught and healed through them as they served others. Jesus was their perfect model of sacrifice. Surviving and thriving in the world to serve others, to experience the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, required their relentless daily conviction to an active prayer life. St. Teresa of Kolkata knew all about prayer, and how it supplies the wherewithal to give hope and love unceasingly while serving others. The great saint who founded the Missionaries of Charity — serving the poorest of the poor — once commented on the impact that a prayer life can have on charitable works, saying “I used to believe prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us, and we change things.” The Catholic Spirit is the official publication of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, USA.❖
CATHOLIC STANDARD Friday, November 4th 2022
A Christian Perspective on Social Issues Guyana's unmentionables where are our voices? By GHK Lall
(Part 2)
Our voices ought to be the leading voices in the call and cry for justice. In case a refresher is needed, it means equity, and a revulsion at those practices that collide with what Jesus taught, with what he commanded that we hold close to our hearts. Jesus extracted us from the depths of darkness. So why are we, the Catholics in this country, languishing at the back of the line, when it comes to taking a stand for the forgotten and the downtrodden, the afflicted and the bedeviled? Where is our bright light amidst all this national revelry? Have we become like the Corinthians of old too caught in the ways of the world, and lost to the call of Jesus, and the power of his call? We cannot and must not get so close to this group or that group (and their chiefs) that the intensity of our Christian identity has faded to a sickly shadow? That is, too subsumed to the wishes and visions of hard men, that Jesus and his Father become secondary in our lives? And, by extension, the people that Jesus treasured? He himself told us that when one hurts, he hurts. There are a whole lot of wounded people in Guyana, which is because they are without. If all they are good for from us in a little lip service here and there, then I will assert that there is little separating us from that fine fellow gorging himself while Lazarus lingered in his countless agonies at the bottom of the bottom. Come to think of it, among all this noise and clamor, I pull up the blinds and question whether there is anything of substance differentiating us from the Pharisees and scribes of Je-
sus’ s age. Now that is ticklish one, but one that does not require too much examination, so obvious are our thin and transparently shallow selves, and emptier words. They knew everything about the law, and there are plenty among us who know all that there is to know about what scripture says. The issue is what happens after all of that studying and absorbing and learning, how much of a difference it makes; and how much of a difference we, the followers of Jesus, are making in the lives of others. Proclaiming and pretending and playing games with words have all risen to a strange state of virtue in today’s environment. The people leading the way in the secular world have become especially skilled in these ways that result in the blind leading the blind, and the cruel saying that they are taking care of the helpless. There is a big hole in those postures that we now love so much that there is refining of them to get better. Meanwhile, those who are short of a meal (or several) are still out there, and they are not riding any GDP or prosperity wave. We can offer to be their friends by becoming advocates for them, but please let us not even think about trying to fool them. Even the unlearned in our midst are not that limited. They may be poor in material things, and made poorer by the viciousness of their fellow man, but they are not poor in native wisdoms, or the peculiar brilliance that sparkles from a deep, abiding spirituality. To be clear, I would the last one to dispute the mathematics of our endowments. I cannot and will not argue with prospects of prosperity, or harbor ill-will against those already reaping great prosperity at this early stage. But I must be honest and courageous enough to point to those Guyanese-all those limping, hurting brothers and sisters left out and left to their own devices-and say that as we gloat about glittering numbers, let us not ignore them. Those without must not be left to become a bloodless, inhuman official statistic. The have nots, those counted out, the one or the other that the Samaritan traveler would have come to full stop, and extend a long, helping hand. It is that
hand that comes when needed the most. From that same shining scriptural passage, I should be able to detect frauds and uncaring from the emptiness of their character, the hypocritical souls that they own. Which one of us cannot discern a pathological liar, a sinister citizen pretending at being best friend, even brethren? The pudding tastes the sweetest when it is made of genuine stuff. We have come a long way as a country, at least in the economics of global standing. The concern is how many have come along with us in this rising from the back of beyond into something that the world envies, and rushes towards.❖
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Prayer for our Priests
leaders want inquiry (From Page 3) “I am devastated by what happened, they were just trying to have a good time,” Hwang Gyu-hyeon, 19, told Agence France-Presse Oct.31. She wept and struggled to speak clearly as she explained how the deaths of so many people her age had affected her. “I pray for the victims. I can’t believe this accident happened despite the signs that were clear beforehand. Nothing was done to prepare for this crowd,” she said. The government defended its policing plan of deploying 137 officers at the venue. “(The crush) was not a problem that could be solved by deploying police or firefighters in advance,” Interior Minister Lee Sang-min told a briefing. President Yoon Suk-yeol visited the location of the tragedy Oct. 31 and declared national mourning until Nov. 5. Entertainment events and concerts have been canceled and flags nationwide are flying at halfstaff. The Halloween party was the first to be organized after the nation lifted its COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and allowed public gatherings without masks.❖
Gracious and loving God, we thank your for the gift of our priests. Through them, we experience your presence in the sacraments. Help our priests to be strong in their vocation. Set their souls on fire with love for your people. Grant them the wisdom, understanding, and strength they need to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Inspire them with the vision of your Kingdom. Give them the words they need to spread the Gospel. Allow them to experience joy in their ministry. Help them to become instruments of your divine grace. We ask this through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns as our Eternal Priest. Amen
Counselling Services at Brickdam Presbytery Carmelite Sisters are available for counselling on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:00am to 12 noon and 1:00pm to 2:00 pm, at the Cathedral Presbytery. They are also available by appointment. Persons are encouraged to avail themselves of these services. Kindly contact the Cathedral parish office on tel. no. 226-4631 for details.
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November Monthly Intention: For children who suffer We pray for children who are suffering, especially those who are homeless, orphans and victims of war; may they be guaranteed access to education and the opportunity to experience family affection.❖
CATHOLIC STANDARD Friday, November 4th 2022
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FIRST READING: 2 Maccabees 7:1 -2. 9-14 The King of the world will raise us up to live again for ever. There were seven brothers who were arrested with their mother. The king tried to force them to taste pig’s flesh, which the Law forbids, by torturing them with whips and scourges. One of them, acting as spokesman for the others, said, ‘What are you trying to find out from us? We are prepared to die rather than break the laws of our ancestors.’ With his last breath he exclaimed, ‘Inhuman fiend, you may discharge us from this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up, since it is for his laws that we die, to live again for ever’. After him, they amused themselves with the third, who on being asked for his tongue promptly thrust it out and boldly held out his hands, with these honourable words, ‘it was heaven that gave me these limbs; for the sake of his laws I disdain them; from him I hope to receive them again’. The king and his attendants were astounded at the young man’s courage and his utter indifference to suffering. When this one was dead they subjected the fourth to the same savage torture. When he neared his end he cried, ‘Ours is the better choice, to meet death at men’s hands, yet relying on God’s promise that we shall be raised up by him; whereas for you there can be no resurrection, no new life’. Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 16 Response: I shall be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory, O Lord. 1. Lord, hear a cause that is just, pay heed to my cry. Turn your ear to my prayer: no deceit is on my lips. Response 2. I kept my feet firmly in your paths; there was no faltering in my steps. I am here and I call, you will hear me, O God. Turn your ear to me; hear my words. Response 3. Guard me as the apple of your eye. Hide me in the shadow of your wings. As for me, in my justice I shall see your face and be filled, when I awake, with the sight of your glory. Response Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians: 2:16–35 May the Lord strengthen you in everything good that you do or say.
The last verse of today’s Gospel Reading from St. Luke declares, “…and he is not God of the dead, but of the living.” This concept of the “living
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who has given us his love and, through his grace, such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope, comfort you and strengthen you in everything good that you do or say. Finally, brothers, pray for us; pray that the Lord’s message may spread quickly, and be received with honour as it was among you; and pray that we may be preserved from the interference of bigoted and evil people, for faith is not given to everyone. But the Lord is faithful, and he will give you strength and guard you from the evil one, and we, in the Lord, have every confidence that you are doing and will go on doing all that we tell you. May the Lord turn your hearts towards the love of God and the fortitude of Christ. GOSPEL: Luke 20: 27-38 He is God, not of the dead, but of the living. Some Sadducees - those who say that there is no resurrection - approached Jesus and they put this
God” is used by the Lord to emphasize the power and assurance of the Resurrection. This explanation provided by Jesus to the Sadducees appears in all three synoptic Gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The term “living God” occurs several times in Holy Scripture. In Psalm 84, for example, the psalmist sings “My heart and flesh cry out for the living God,” and later in that same psalm we hear, “O lord of hosts bless the man who trusts in you.” How
question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, that if a man’s married brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers. The first, having married a wife, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven, they died leaving no children. Finally the woman herself died. Now, at the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife since she had been married to all seven?’ Jesus replied, ‘The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels, and being children of the resurrection they are sons of God. And Moses himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive.’❖
often do we see the phrase “In God we trust?” — more often than we probably take note. Yet that is the exact message of Jesus to us in this Gospel. Another phrase which may ring familiarly to us is, “Our hope is in the Lord.” Trust and the hope which results from that trust are at the heart of lives of stewardship. It is the “living God,” His covenant with us and His promise to us of everlasting life which allows us to
trust Him and to have that hope which strengthens that trust. Having hope in the Lord is what can give our lives meaning. At a World Youth Day in 2002 St. Pope John Paul II opened his message to the young people gathered by saying, “Trust Christ because Christ trusts you.” Our trust in the Lord provides us hope. His trust in us fortifies us to be good stewards.. ❖ [www.catholicsteward.com/blog/ ]
CATHOLIC STANDARD Friday, November 4th 2022
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Gospel Commission starts planning global Reflection
Belief in an afterlife is an important part of the Christian faith. The question though is this: how seriously do we take this belief and what part does it play in our lives? Of course we say we believe in it for we end the Creed every Sunday with the words: “I believe in the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting.” But for many of us these are just words to be said at a certain time during the Mass. The test, however, is how much are we prepared to let those words shape the way we behave. If we reflect a bit on this we will see that life would be like a road to nowhere if there were nothing to come after this life on earth. Shouldn’t our belief, then, in an afterlife spur us to live a better and more worthwhile life now? Shouldn’t it rescue us from a life of meaninglessness and shallowness focussed only on selfish pleasure?
Belief in the resurrection is not just a form of escapism from a world filled with many serious problems such as the possibility of total destruction from a nuclear war, pollution of the land and sea, the misuse and overuse of the resources of the earth and so on. Life today is so difficult that it would be better to concentrate on the world to come. I can therefore close my eyes to the misery of this world, acting as if it were not there, and focus only on a resurrection to come. On the other hand, if a person believes that everything ends with his or her death and that there is no such thing as a personal afterlife, then the suffering and distress of the world would not really matter. It would be no use trying to change the situation. But while the Christian faith rests on the resurrection of Jesus and the promise of an everlasting life with him and the Father, we just cannot turn our backs on the misery of the world. Jesus didn’t do it and so can’t we. ❖ [From: Journeying with the Word of God, The Religious Education Department, Diocese of Georgetown, Guyana ]
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — With a renewed membership, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors met at the Vatican in late October and laid the groundwork for devising an annual report on child protection efforts by the Catholic Church globally. Oblate Father Andrew Small, commission secretary, told reporters Oct. 28 that members also looked at the commission’s new relationship to the disciplinary section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and continued their efforts to promote greater transparency and fuller reporting to victims about the outcome of their cases. “In our engagement with victim survivors, the acknowledgement of the wrong that was done to them is primary, being listened to, being believed,” Father Small said. “There’s nothing that takes the place of being believed and heard.” But, he said, “seeing the wrongdoer continue to flourish at times or to appear without sanction is also very painful,” so victims are understandably confused or upset when they are not informed about actions taken by the church against an accused offender. Because the commission is not involved in individual investigations and disciplinary procedures, Father Small said he could not comment on the case of Bishop Michel Santier of Créteil, France. When the Vatican announced in 2021 that the bishop was retiring, the bishop had said it was for health reasons. No one contradicted him publicly until mid-October when the Diocese of Créteil confirmed he had been credibly accused of sexual misconduct and disciplined by the Vatican. The Vatican still needs to find a way to be more open while respecting local laws that protect the reputation of someone who is not guilty of a civil crime but may have violated church law, Father Small said. If the church cannot figure that out, he said, not only will it be bad for the institutional church, “but it will be continually painful for the victims, who are the source and summit of the commission’s focus.” When Pope Francis reorganized the Roman Curia, he linked the commission to the disciplinary section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Father Small, writing in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, said the move ensures the commission “would maintain its independence as an advisory body to the pope, with access to the bodies that exercise leadership within the church and with the mandate to oversee the adequacy of the church’s policies and procedures in the area of abuse prevention and safeguarding.” So, Father Small wrote, the commission “will continue to be led by a president delegate, appointed by the pope
Oblate Father Andrew Small, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, speaks to reporters in the Vatican press office Oct. 28, 2022, about the commission's fall meeting. (CNS photo/Cindy Wooden) and reporting directly to the pontiff. And decisions regarding the personnel, the members of the commission, as well as the proposals it produces, will remain independent of the dicastery. Pope Francis has been very clear that the independent voices of the members of the commission and those it serves should not be compromised.” U.S. Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston has been president of the commission since its establishment in 2014. During the commission’s meeting Oct. 27-29, it also announced the launch of a fund to help finance the establishment of “suitable centers where individuals who have experienced abuse, and their family members, can find acceptance and an attentive hearing, and be accompanied in a process of healing and justice, as indicated in the motu proprio ‘Vos Estis Lux Mundi.'” Father Small told reporters that he believed 70 to 80 of the 114 bishops’ conferences in the world do not have stable, publicly accessible reporting mechanisms called for in Vos Estis, mainly because they do not have the resources. But with major funding from the Italian bishops’ conference and contributions from others, those listening and reporting posts will be established. As for the annual report on the church’s child protection efforts worldwide, a report the pope asked the commission in April to develop, Father
Small said commission members outlined a design for the report. The first section, he said, would summarize reports bishops give to the commission while making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican regarding their guidelines and implementation of Vos Estis. For the second section, commission members will divide into teams to look at the church in specific geographical areas, focusing on giving a broader overview of child protection efforts in Africa, in Asia and Oceania, in Europe and in the Americas. A third section will look at how dicasteries of the Roman Curia are including safeguarding in their activities; for example, how the Dicastery for Clergy promotes safeguarding awareness in seminaries, he said. The final section will look at broader church efforts to protect children in the world by, for example, rescuing child soldiers, protecting migrant and refugee children, ensuring their safety in orphanages and foster care homes. While Father Small said the commission should have something to give the pope in 2023, he does not expect to collect enough “actionable data” to begin doing a full annual report until 2024.❖
CATHOLIC STANDARD Friday, November 4th 2022
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Pope’s November prayer intention
Journeying with 'For children who suffer' the Word of God
MAKING THE WORD OF GOD YOUR OWN Step 1: Look at today’s Readings prayerfully. (Vatican News) -“An abandoned child is our fault,” says Pope Francis in the video prepared by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network announcing his prayer intention for November. In the video, Pope Francis calls on Catholics to pray for children who are suffering due to rejection, indigence, poverty, and conflict around the world. “There are still millions of boys and girls who suffer and live in conditions very similar to slavery,” the Pope said, emphasizing that these children are not “numbers” but “human beings with names and an identity that God has given them.” Every marginalized child living without schooling, without a family, without health care, the Pope continued, is “a cry;” a cry
“that rises up to God and shames the system that we adults have built.”
Every child has the right to access basic needs The Pope continued by saying every child should have the right to access basic services and be able to feel the warmth and love of a family: “We can no longer allow them to feel alone and abandoned — they are entitled to an education and to feel the love of a family so they know that God does not forget them.”
One billion children living in poverty According to UNICEF, one billion children currently live in “multidimensional poverty” — that is without basic access to education, health care, shelter,
food, sanitation, or water; the agency also estimates that 153 million children are orphans. Fr. Frédéric Fornos, S.J., International Director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, provided his thoughts on the November prayer intention, saying that this month, Pope Francis “opens our eyes, ears, and hearts to millions of forgotten children who suffer in silence on the streets and in hidden labour, victims of violence and war, migrants and refugees. In the face of indifference and impotence, we must pray.” It is our responsibility, the Pope concluded in the video, that no child feels left alone or abandoned — “they are entitled to an education and to feel the love of a family so they know that God does not forget them.”❖
Love, mercy are key to entering heaven, pope says on All Souls’ Day (From page 2) these least brothers of mine, you did for me,'” the pope said. “The Most High is in the least, he who inhabits the heavens dwells among the most insignificant to the world.” Jesus’ measure is “a love beyond our measures, and his standard of judgment is gratuitousness,” he said. “So, to prepare ourselves, we know what to do: love those who are on his priority list, those who can give us nothing back, those who do not attract us” and do so without expecting repayment. Too often, Pope Francis said, instead of living the Gospel, people try to water down the words of Jesus.
“Let’s face it, we have gotten pretty good at compromising with the Gospel,” saying, “‘Feeding the hungry yes, but the issue of hunger is complex, and I certainly can’t solve it!'” or “‘Welcoming migrants yes, but it is a complicated issue, it concerns politics,'” the pope said. With little objections “we make life a compromise with the Gospel.” “From simple disciples of the Master, we become teachers of complexity, who argue a lot and do little, who seek answers more in front of the computer than in front of the crucifix, on the internet rather than in the eyes of our brothers and sisters,” he said. Believers become experts
“who comment, debate and expound theories, but do not know even one poor person by name, have not visited a sick person for months, have never fed or clothed someone (and) have never befriended someone in need.” The Gospel teaches people how to live while awaiting death and God’s judgment — “loving because he is love,” Pope Francis said. God “waits for us among the poor and wounded of the world. And he is waiting to be caressed not with words but with deeds.” ❖
1st Reading: We read the story of a mother and her seven sons who drew their strength and hope during their ordeal from their faith in the resurrection of the just. 2nd Reading: Paul prays for the Thessalonians that God may comfort and strengthen them so that they may remain committed to spreading God’s Word. Gospel: Jesus is challenged about faith in the resurrection of the body. The question was not asked for knowledge but to ridicule the idea of the resurrection.
Step 2: Applying the values of the Readings to your daily life. 1. What do the words “God has no use for dead people; he is God of the living” mean to you? In what way does it present a challenge to you? 2. Consider your feelings towards death. Have those feelings changed as you grow in relationship with the Lord? Why do you think this is so? 3. “Either life on earth is a preparation for something greater and more lasting, or it is meaningless, dark and dreadful.” How does this statement strike you? 4. How would belief in your own resurrection make a difference in your life? Would it be any different if you did not believe in this?
Step 3: Accepting the message of God’s
Word in your life of faith.
The belief in the resurrection should light up our lives with meaning and hope. Instead it is a pale and shadowy thing, difficult to understand and shedding little light on this dark world. Besides, we are often so concerned with this life that we do not really desire or look for the life which is to come. Our hope for a better world does not rest on anything human, but on the word and power of Jesus.
Step 4: Something to think & pray about
1. As Christians, our hope in the resurrection gives us cause to live our lives in a meaningful ways. In what way do you see yourself living meaningfully? 2. Think about three things you believe about life after death. What is the strongest feeling you have as you think about this? 3. Think about what it means to share in Christ’s death and resurrection today? Share on how you have done this lately? 4. Do you feel that belief in the resurrection would help you come to terms with the death of a loved one? 5. Pray that your faith in the resurrection will grow and give meaning to your life. ❖ [From: Journeying with the Word of God, The Religious Education Department, Diocese of Georgetown, Guyana ]
CATHOLIC STANDARD Friday, November 4th 2022
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Service at Home for those unable to attend Mass THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C
PREPARATION: • Comfortable seating, place in a semicircle if possible. • A table with a candle, crucifix or image of Jesus, • Identify family members who will proclaim the Scripture and perhaps give a brief reflection. • Select 2 or 3 hymns that everyone knows LEADER: In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen “In truth I tell you once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I am there among them.” (Mt: 18:19-20) The Candle is now lit
LEADER: Sin impedes our journey to eternal life. The Lord offers us his forgiveness and hope; let us seek his mercy (PAUSE) Lord Jesus, you defeated death by rising to life again. Lord, have mercy. Christ Jesus, firstborn of the dead, you will raise us up to eternal life with you. Christ, have mercy.
Lord Jesus, you want us to be people of the resurrection, who raise up the downcast and downtrodden. Lord, have mercy. LEADER: Have mercy on us, Lord, forgive us and lift us out of our sins. Lead us to the joys of everlasting life. Amen. LEADER: Let us Pray: Lord God of the living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in the resurrection of Christ Jesus you have given us the life which even death cannot destroy. Keep our hope alive that your faithful love will have the final say, and that life will overcome death. Remember your unshakable promise and strengthen us to live in this world as your new creation. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, the Resurrection and the Life. Amen READINGS – 1st Reading is taken from 2 Maccabees 7:1-2,9-14 Responsorial Psalm –17:1,5-6,8,15 2nd Reading is taken from 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5:
GOSPEL Luke 20:27-38 A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Luke Some Sadducees – those who say that there is no resurrection – approached Jesus and they put this question to him, ‘Master, we have it from Moses in writing, that if a man’s married brother dies childless, the man must marry the widow to raise up children for his brother. Well then, there were seven brothers. The first, having married a wife, died childless. The second and then the third married the widow. And the same with all seven: they died leaving no children. Finally the woman herself died. Now, at the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife since she had been married to all seven?’ Jesus replied, ‘The children of this world take wives and husbands, but those who are judged worthy of a place in the other world and in the resurrection from the dead do not marry because they can no longer die, for they are the same as the angels; and being children of the resurrection, they are sons of God. And Moses himself implies that the dead rise again, in the passage about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all men are in fact alive.’ The Gospel of the Lord A Short Reflection can be given or a period of silent reflection PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL LEADER: Our God is a God not of the dead but of the living. We pray to God for everything that makes life valuable and meaningful. Family members are invited to make their petitions. LORD’S PRAYER With trust and hope, we pray to the Father with the words of the Son: Our Father......
LEADER: Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. Though we cannot receive him today let us invite him into our hearts as we pray the Act of Spiritual Communion ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love you above all things, and I desire to receive you into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace you as if you were already there and unite myself wholly to you. Never permit me to be separated from you. Amen LEADER: Let us pray: Lord, shed upon our darkened souls the brilliant light of your wisdom so that we may be enlightened and serve you with renewed purity. Sunrise marks the hour for people to begin their toil, but in our souls, Lord, prepare a dwelling for the day that will never end. Grant that we may come to know the risen life and that nothing may distract us from the delights you offer. Through our unremitting zeal for you, Lord, set upon us the sign of your day that is not measured by the sun. Amen - St. Ephrem BLESSING May the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob bless us. Amen May the Lord Jesus Christ comfort our hearts and strengthen us in every good work and word. Amen May the Holy Spirit guide our hearts towards the love of God and the fortitude of Christ. Amen And may our faithful God bless us; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.❖ [Diocesan Liturgy Commission ]
CATHOLIC STANDARD Friday, November 4th 2022
Dear Girls and Boys, In Jesus' day there were people who liked to argue and discuss difficult questions. One such group was the Sadducees— religious leaders who did not believe in the resurrection. One day a group of Sadducees came to Jesus and asked him a question in an attempt to trick him into agreeing with them that there was no resurrection. They asked him to answer this question: "The law of Moses says that if a man dies, leaving a wife but no children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother's name. Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children. So the second brother married the widow, but he also died. Then the third brother married her. This continued until all seven brothers had married the same woman. Finally, the woman also died. So tell us, whose wife will she be after the resurrection since all seven were married to her!" My, that is a hard question, isn't it? Well, it didn't stump Jesus! Jesus answered, "Marriage is for people here on earth. But in the age to come, those who are raised from the dead will not marry or be married. Not only that, but they will never die again. They will live forever as the children of God." Jesus went on to say, "Even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord 'the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' He is not the God of the dead, he is the God of the living." After Jesus answered them so wisely, no one else dared to ask him any questions. Now, you know that the Bible promises us that if we love Jesus and trust in him, we will live forever in heaven with him. Isn't it sad that some people do not believe there is a resurrection and eternal life in heaven? Dear Father, we are happy today that there is a resurrection and you have promised us eternal life in heaven. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen ❖
[ NFC - Sources: http://www.sdc.me.uk , http://www.catholickidsbulletin.com/, http://www.sermons4kids.com , http://www.salfordliturgy.org.uk & https://thekidsbulletin ]
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CATHOLIC STANDARD Friday, November 4th 2022
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Pope: Parishes are essential places for growing in faith, community
Pope Francis shakes hands with a child during an audience at the Vatican with members of the young adult section of Italy's Catholic Action, Oct. 29, 2022. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) VATICAN CITY (CNS) - The COVID-19 pandemic has weakened many parishes, but that community "in the midst of homes, in the midst of people," is still an essential place for nourishing and sharing faith, Pope Francis told Italian young adults. The parish is "the normal environment where we learned to hear the Gospel, to know the Lord Jesus, to
serve with gratuitousness, to pray in community, to share projects and initiatives, to feel part of God's holy people," the pope told leaders of the young adult section of Italian Catholic Action, a parish-based program of faith building and social outreach. Meeting thousands of young adults Oct. 29, Pope Francis said he knows that in most cities and towns the
parish church is not the center of religious and social life like it was when he was growing up, but "for our journey of faith and growth, the parish experience was and is important, irreplaceable." With its mix of members, the pope said, the parish is the place to experience how "in the church we are all brothers and sisters through baptism;
that we are all protagonists and responsible; that we have different gifts that are all for the good of the community; that life is vocation, following Jesus; and that faith is a gift to be given, a gift to witness." Part of that witness, he said, is to show concretely how faith leads to charity and a desire for justice. In the neighborhood, town and region, "our motto is not 'I don't care,' but 'I care!'" the pope said. The "disease of not caring" can be "more dangerous than a cancer," he told the young people. "Human misery is not a fate that befalls some unfortunate people, but almost always the result of injustices that must be eradicated." Pope Francis urged the young people not to be frustrated or put off by the fact that in their parishes "the community dimension is a bit weak," something "which has been aggravated by the pandemic." Learning to see each other as brothers and sisters, he said, does not begin with some parish meeting or activity, but with each person through prayer and, especially, through the Eucharist celebrated and shared in the parish. "Fraternity in the church is founded on Christ, on his presence in us and among us," the pope said. "Thanks to him we welcome each other, bear with each other -- Christian love is built on bearing with each other -and forgive each other."❖
CATHOLIC STANDARD Friday, November 4th 2022
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Catholic leaders want Latin American & Caribbean church that’s synodal
Carla Marquez, 36, who is six months pregnant, burns wood on the street to cook a meal for her husband, Carlos Henrique Mendes, 25, and their daughter, Gabriela, 5, outside their home in São Paulo Sept. 16, 2022. Marquez and her family live in a room paid for by a church and struggle to feed their daughter. Among the challenges identified during the process of the Latin American church's First Ecclesial Assembly were social and economic inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic. (CNS photo/Amanda Perobelli, Reuters)
LIMA, Peru (CNS) — The church in Latin America and the Caribbean is called to be a missionary church that heeds the cry of the poor and excluded; a synodal church where women, young people and laypeople have greater roles; and a church that is evangelized even as it evangelizes, according to the final document of the church’s First Ecclesial Assembly held a year ago in Mexico. The document of reflections and pastoral challenges resulting from the assembly was released by leaders of the Latin American bishops’ council, CELAM, Oct. 31 during a news conference at the Vatican. The conference was livestreamed on various platforms. The publication reflects a desire for a church that “goes out to the periphery … a Samaritan church … a church that builds fraternity, which is grounded in love, in the encounter with those who suffer most,” Archbishop José Luis Azuaje of Maracaibo, Venezuela, president of Caritas in Latin America and the Caribbean, said in a video message at the presentation. The document is the fruit of a monthslong process that included a “listening” period from April to August 2021, during which some 70,000 people throughout the region provided input, followed by the weeklong assembly Nov. 21-28.
That process, which echoed the methodology used for the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon in October 2019, made the ecclesial assembly “a practical laboratory” for the Synod of Bishops on synodality, which began with listening sessions this year, to be followed by meetings in Rome in 2023 and 2024, said Archbishop Miguel Cabrejos of Trujillo, Peru, CELAM president. Published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and German, with a French version also promised, the document is meant not only as a summary, but as a guide for action in the coming years, said Cardinal Leopoldo José Brenes of Managua, Nicaragua, and CELAM’s second vice president. “This isn’t just another document,” he said, adding that the reflections and proposals “are something much more dynamic … which will give a new impetus to our pastoral work.” The document, titled “Toward a Synodal Church Going Forth into the Periphery,” begins by summarizing “signs of the times” in the region, including the COVID-19 pandemic — which meant that only about 100 participants attended the assembly in person, while another 1,104 participated online. These signs of the times, based on input from the listening sessions, include social and economic inequalities exac-
erbated by the pandemic; government corruption and the fragility of the region’s democracies; ravaging of the environment, especially in the Amazon; massive migration; the growth of cities; and an expansion of both Pentecostal churches and secularism. Issues within the church that were mentioned during the listening process and in the assembly included the need to “overcome clericalism,” a call for transparency in handling cases of abuse, better formation for priests and religious, and opportunities for more formation of and participation by laypeople, including women, young people, Indigenous people and those of African descent. Men and women religious in the region “are embracing our identity as disciples and missionaries, and we understand that it is necessary that we be converted,” Sister Liliana Franco Echeverri of the Company of Mary Our Lady, president of the Latin American and Caribbean Conference of Religious, said in a video message. “We all need formation to be better witnesses and to prioritize formation in synodality so as to overcome the many and very diverse forms of clericalism,” she added. “In contexts as complex as those of our world, we are called to be a sign, to be an expression of a way of being and of values that definitely must be countercultural and eloquent.” Participants in the 2021 Ecclesial Assembly also called for a greater role for young people, a plea echoed by Paola Balanza, a Bolivian youth ministry leader, in a video message at the news conference. Young people, with their creativity and enthusiasm, “can make a great contribution to the church. But we need to be in spaces where decisions are made, where we are taken into account, and where our voice is heard,” Balanza said. “It is important that we realize that we are the work of God, we are the holy ground, we not only are the future, we also are the present.” She urged the region’s church leaders not to leave the post-assembly document on the shelf, but to take action to implement it. The document ends with dozens of “lines of action” for addressing the challenges raised in the “signs of the
times” section. When the CELAM leaders were asked at the news conference about how those actions would be implemented, the response was generally that the specific steps would be up to each bishops’ conference. To some extent, that leaves the Ecclesial Assembly document in the same situation as the document that ended the Fifth General Conference of Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean in Aparecida, Brazil, in 2007. That gathering ended with a call for a “great continental mission” to reach out to Catholics who had left the church and invite others to join. While individual jurisdictions may have made efforts, however, no regionwide plan was ever developed. It was for that reason that when the Latin American bishops proposed a sixth general conference to mark the 15th anniversary of Aparecida, Pope Francis — who as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina led the commission that drafted the Aparecida document — instead asked them to find a way to implement conclusions from Aparecida that remained pending. That request led to the listening process and the Ecclesial Assembly. But although there is not a specific plan, the document does list the action areas for each challenge. The bishops at the news conference also agreed on the need to implement the guidelines from the Ecclesial Assembly, some of which are also serving as input for the synod on synodality. With their skill in using technology for networking, young people can play a key role in continuing the process, said Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer of São Paulo, first vice president of CELAM. During the Ecclesial Assembly, he said, young participants took advantage of social networks to quickly form discussion groups with members from as many as 20 countries. The document is part of a process that began with discernment, continued through the assembly and does not end with publication of the conclusions, Archbishop Cabrejos said. “It’s like a door that opens, but that is not going to close.” Emphasizing the participation of laypeople, including women and young people, he added, “This was the outcome of a dialogue of the people of God.” ❖
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Church leaders welcome Document Saint of the Week
November 11th
Saint Martin of Tours (Vatican News) - The Document for the Continental Stage (DCS) of the 2021-2024 Synod on Synodality is a useful tool to reflect further on the issues emerged from the Diocesan phase, and therefore to discern more deeply what the Holy Spirit is telling the Church at this time, according to Church leaders in various parts of the world. The Working Document presented on October 25 in the Vatican is the result of a group reflection on the syntheses submitted to the Vatican by 112 Bishops’ Conferences and 15 Oriental Catholic Churches of the questions raised during the local and national listening sessions held earlier this year, plus reflections from 17 out of 23 Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, from the men’s and women’s international unions of superiors general, and from Catholic lay associations and movements. Entitled “Enlarge the Space of Your Tent” (Isaiah 54:2), the DCS highlights a wide range of issues emerged during the local sessions, including the desire for greater inclusion expressed by many people who feel unwelcome in the Church, or undervalued: women, young people, people with disabilities, the poor, those who are divorced and civilly remarried, single parents, and LGBTQ people. Most submissions also included a call for greater participation by all Catholics in the liturgy, working to ensure that it is less “concentrated on the celebrant” and reflects more local cultures. Many reports cited “clericalism” as an obstacle to being a “synodal Church”. The abuse crisis was also brought up.
Walking together as Church Bishop Daniel Flores, chairman of the Committee on Doctrine of the US Catholic Bishops’ Conference (USCCB), who has been shepherding the synodal process in the
United States, welcomed the DCS, saying it is “a profound reflection that brings together the hopes and concerns expressed by the geographically diverse communities within the universal Church and that it will be “fundamental" in the ongoing discernment to be carried out in this second stage. For his part, the President of the Canadian Bishop’s Conference (CCCB), and member of the writing team for the Canadian National Synthesis, noted that the Working Document “invites us to continue to meet, discuss and question, in a spiritual and prayerful context, in order to bring our Church to where the Spirit is leading it.”
Canada and U.S. joining together in the Continental stage For the Continental Stage of the Synod, the USCCB the CCCB will be joining in holding ten virtual Continental Assemblies, in late 2022 and early 2023. Representatives from each diocese in the United States and Canada will be attending one of these assemblies to reflect on and discuss the DCS. Discussions will then be brought together in the North American Continental Synthesis and submitted to the Holy See by 31 March 2023. According to Richard Coll, executive director of the USCCB’s Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development, who was appointed in June 2021 to coordinate the effort of the U.S. bishops for the Synod, “The North American Continental Stage will create opportunities to engage the diversity of the People of God in the Church in North America in continued listening and meditation on the content and the reflection questions proposed by the Document for the Continental Stage.”
Discerning what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church today Archbishop Eamon Martin, President of the Irish Bishops’ Conference, has also welcomed the publication of the DCS and encouraged the faithful in Ireland to read it. “Overall, the document gives us a glimpse of what people from around the universal Church are thinking about their participation in the mission of the Church at the beginning of this third millennium,” he said. Archbishop Martin will join the Irish 13-member delegation attending European continental Assembly taking place in Prague, Czech Republic, from 5-12 February 2023. According to the Archbishop of Armagh, the upcoming discussions on the document in the Irish dioceses ahead of that Assembly will help better discern what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church at this time.
A three-stage process Formally opened by Pope Francis on 10 October 2021, the Synod on Synodality - typically a month-long meeting of bishops at the Vatican has been redesigned in this instance as a three-stage process, beginning with local consultations carried out at a national level in dioceses across the world, from October 2021 to April 2022, followed by a continental phase, which will last through March 2023, and finally by the universal phase with the bishops gathering in Rome for the 16th General Synod. The Synod was originally planned for October 2023, but on 16 October, Pope Francis announced that it will be extended for an additional year to allow more time for discernment and a greater understanding of the concept of synodality as a key dimension of Church life.❖
Martin was born in 316 AD in the Roman Empire in what is now Hungary. His father was a senior officer in the Roman army. At the age of ten Martin attended the Christian church against the wishes of his parents, and became a catechumen. He was still an unbaptized catechumen when he was forced to join the Roman army at 15. He found the duty incompatible with the Christian faith he had adopted and became an early conscientious objector. He is best known for using his military sword to cut his cloak in two, to give half to a beggar clad only in rags in the depths of winter. Martin founded a monastery in France under the direction of Saint Hilary. He was later chosen as Bishop of Tours; here he worked hard to visit his flock, and preach against paganism. He died in 397, and was honoured as a saint - one of the first non-martyrs so to be honoured. ❖ [http://www.salfordliturgy.org.uk & https://en.wikipedia.org ]
On the Lighter Side
