Marry Them Young to Avoid Rape: Village Councils

Marry Them Young to Avoid Rape: Village Councils

we need to respond to situations such as this!!! as educators and youth works.....

Mary: Revealed in the Beatitudes

We have been hearing a lot about the virtues and titles of Mary, but we have beatitudes too, depicting Mary’s virtue in each of them.

            In the first place we have Mary’s song of praise, the ‘Magnificat’. The song portrays Mary, the humble servant in whom the Lord has done great things and who stands out among the poor and humble of God. Her emptiness, her total openness and availability made blessed and full of grace.

            Mary, the mother of sorrows experienced the sword that pierced her heart when she from the moment of her birth to Jesus right up to the crucifixion and death of her son on the cross.

            After her visit to the holy city of Jerusalem she experienced a mother in search of her lost child. When Mary found the child Jesus in the temple after three days of pain and worry, she in her meekness remained open to Jesus’ words and quietly pondered on them.

            Mary lived according to God’s plan and will from the moment of her ‘Fiat’ till her departure from this world. Sometimes God’s plans were incomprehensible but she lived the pilgrimage of faith with the only desire of being able to carry out God’s will in her life. She was hungering and thirsting to do God’s will.

            Acknowledging Mary as the mother of Mercy has been an ancient tradition in the Church. St. Bernard concludes a prayer to Mary saying “In you is mercy; in you is pity, in you is united whatever goodness there is in every creature.”

            Mary is the purest, the holiest, and the immaculate one. Mary expresses the dignity of the human vocation that God intended for all creation. What Adam and Eve could have achieved was achieved in fullness by mother Mary through her glory and purity of mind and heart.

            Mary is the mediatrix and queen of peace. At the wedding fest in Cana, there was possibility of a great shame and confusion to befall the bridegroom’s party. Mary sensed the situation and came to bring peace and joyful celebration among the panicked people by informing Jesus about the plight of the host. She sets right every difficulty and brings peace to our daily lives. She becomes the queen of peace and a comforter of the afflicted.

Mary herself feels blessed. She is filled with joy and flooded with love. In the ‘Magnificat’ she sings: “Henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.”

            My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, today it is an invitation for each one of us to imitate and imbibe the principles of the Beatitudes. Each moment, each day, each person we meet, each situation we go through is a time for us to live out the Beatitudes like Mary. May God give us the strength in our effort to life out the Beatitudes and may Mary pray for us to live life according to God’s will. 

Holy Rosary

3 Things in Life

Three things in life that, once gone, never come back - 

Time
Words
Opportunity

Three things in life that may never be lost -
Peace
Hope
Honesty

Three things in life that are most valuable -
Love
Self-confidence
Friends

Three things in life that are never certain -
Dreams
Success
Fortune

Three things that make a man/woman -
Hard work
Sincerity
Commitment

Three things in life that can destroy a man/woman -
Alcohol
Pride
Anger

One thing that is truly constant -
God

I ask God to bless you, as I pray for you today;
to guide you and protect you, as you go along your way.
His love is always with you, His promises are true.
And when you give Him all your cares, you know He'll see you through.

The U in JesUs

Before U were thought of or time had begun, God stuck U in the 

 name of His Son.

And each time U pray, you'll see it's true, You can't spell out JesUs

and not include U.

You're a pretty big part of His wonderful name, For U, He was born;that's why He came.

And His great love for U is the reason He died. It even takes U to

spell crUcified.

Isn't it thrilling and splendidly grand He rose from the dead, with U

in His plan?

The stones split away, the gold trUmpet blew, and this word

resUrrection is spelled with a U.

When JesUs left earth at His upward ascension, He felt there was one

thing He just had to mention.

"Go into the world and tell them it's true That I love them all - Just

like I love U."

So many great people are spelled with a U, Don't they have a right to

know JesUs too?

It all depends now on what U will do,He'd like them to know, But it

all starts with U.

Don Bosco said about Sodalities:

“They are the keys to piety, safeguards of morals, sustainers of religious and ecclesiastical vocations."

Chat with God

God: Hello. Did you call me?                                                 

Me: Called you? No… who is this?                                            

God: This is GOD. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will chat.            

Me: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am in the midst of something..                                                         

God: What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.                                

                                                            

Me: Don't know. But I can’t find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.                                                   

God: Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it. 

Called to Radiate the Word of Truth

Popes Message for the World Mission Day

Pope Benedict XVI, on January 6th, on the solemnity of the feast of the Epiphany, announced the theme for this year’s World Mission Day as ‘Called to Radiate the Word of Truth.’ He said, “This year the celebration of World Mission Day has a very special meaning. The 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council and of the opening of the Year of Faith and of the Synod of Bishops on the theme of the New Evangelization contribute to reaffirming the Church's desire to engage with greater courage and zeal in the missio ad gentes so that the Gospel may reach the very ends of the earth.” Taking inspiration from the Holy Father’s message, here are some of the important aspects to live this theme in our day to day life. 

Mission: a Challenge to the Salesians of South Asia

Today there is an increasing awareness in the Church of the declining interest at the global level to evangelize. In fact the Church acknowledges that missionary activity especially directed to the nations (ad gentes) the proclamation of the Gospel is relevant also for immense section of the non Christian religions. Jesus Christ gave his disciples the mandate to proclaim the gospel and make disciples of all nations (Mt. 28; 18-20). The church is mindful of the Lord’s command to preach the gospel to every creature (Mt;16-15) takes zealous care to foster the mission. The mission of Christ the Redeemer which is entrusted to the church is still far from completion. In fact the number of those who do not know Christ and do not belong to the church is constantly on the increase. Hence an ever greater commitment to evangelization is imperative for all and we ought to reject all excuses which might deflect us from evangelization. 

The Resume of Jesus Christ

Address: Ephesians 1:20

Phone: Romans 10:13

Website: The Bible. Keywords: Christ, Lord, Savior and Jesus

Hello. My name is Jesus -The Christ. Many call me Lord! I've sent you my resume because I'm seeking the top management position in your heart.

Please consider my accomplishments as set forth in my resume.

Qualifications

*I founded the earth and established the heavens, (See Proverbs 3:19)

* I formed man from the dust of the ground, (See Genesis 2:7)

* I breathed into man the breath of life, (See Genesis 2:7)

* I redeemed man from the curse of the law, (See Galatians 3:13)

* The blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant comes upon your life through me, (See Galatians 3:14)

Salesian Presence among Muslims

Abstract of the Paper Presented by Fr. Václav Klement

Introduction

We are meeting to reflect together on the Salesian Presence among the Muslims. The world of globalisation has changed a great deal in these 11 years. Starting from 9.11.2001 – scarcely six months after the previous Seminar in 2001, throughout the whole world relations between Christians and Muslims were subjected to great tensions and challenges. And again after 9.12.2006 – the date of the conference Benedict XVI gave at the University of Regensburg – it is clear that the growth of Islam signifies for the disciples if Jesus Christ one of the ten 'megatrends' which exert a great influence on the future of the Catholic Church.

The First Missionary Dream (1872)

When negotiation started between the Government of Argentina ns a Don Bosco for a Missionary expedition, the meaning of a certain dream, or vision, which he had had years before, began to be clear to the mind of Don Bosco

This is how Don Bosco narrated it: “I Found myself suddenly transported into some wild and unknown region. The whole country around formed an immense, uncultivated plain, whose flatness was unrelieved by wither hill or mountain. I saw there, in that plain, immense crowed of men running hither and thither, men of ferocious aspect and of extraordinary stature, with bronzed, almost black complexions and long stiff hair. Their only garments were animal skins and which they wore hanging from the shoulders, and fro weapons each one carried a rude spear and sling.

Salesians: Missionaries of the Young

God called Don Bosco and gave him a specific mission in life which was to work for the salvation of the young. It was among the young people that Don Bosco developed his style of life his pastoral and pedagogical legacy, his system of education, his spirituality and method of evangelization. Now his sons also follow the same style of life and it is very relevant in today’s mission field. This makes our charism unique giving primary importance to young. 

Don Bosco, the Missionary

The missionary dimension was always an original inspiration of Don Bosco. It can be said that the missionary ideal was almost part of don Bosco’s fundamental make up. Don Bosco had great desire to become a missionary and preach the good news in foreign lands but he realized that divine providence had other plans for him. 

The Missionary Spirit of Don Bosco

Don Bosco was in love with the missions from his early years. In his young age, he felt an interior voice calling him to preach the Gospel in mission lands. But Fr. Cafasso guided him to fulfill God’s plan for another mission. Though Don Bosco never went to the missions, he never abandoned his missionary ideal; rather, he nurtured it in his heart. It was this zeal that inspired him to send his sons as missionaries all over the world. One of his last recommendations was: “Save many souls in the missions.”(Don Bosco nel mondo 157)          

The ideal of the missions was always alive in Don Bosco. In 1861 in the “dream” of the magic lantern the Lord disclosed to him the future of the Salesian Congregation. He showed him “an immense crowd of youth, from different countries, speaking various languages… ‘They are all your sons’.”[VI 897-916].Eleven years later the Lord revealed to him the mission field for his sons: Patagonia. The dream was rich in hope because Don Bosco saw that his sons, with the help of the Blessed Virgin, were reaping abundant fruit where others had failed. (X: 54—55). After this dream “he felt his zeal for the missions burning bright, but he could not understand where the crowd of young people belonged. (X 1267).