Thursday, August 25, 2011

Peru-Iquitos:El Huambrillo home for disadvantaged children needs help

Jadwiga Domka arrived in Iquitos, Peru from Poland as a volunteer and is now co-ordinator of El Huambrillo, a home for disadvantaged children, all of whom have been abandoned. At present the home cares for 22 children aged between 2 and 17 years, but if it were capable, could care for many, many more.
The children at El Huambrillo represent a small number of the hundreds of young people in need in Iquitos. Due to great poverty and to the drug and alcohol related problems of the community, there are a great number of disintegrated families with children suffering physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Some children have been abandoned and try to fend for themselves on the streets. Others are sent out by parents each day to beg from passers by. Such children are welcomed at El Huambrillo and sometimes children are referred to the home by courts or the police. Sometimes social workers or neighbours bring them.
Jadwiga runs the home virtually on her own, with only the assistance of a part time cook. This is an amazing commitment. The children love her and there is a great spirit in the group. El Huambrillo is a very happy place. The children, despite their backgrounds, are full of laughter and fun and games. They obviously love and respect Jadwiga and regard her as their mother in the El Huambrillo family... Continue reading at Catholic Mission


Peru - Catholic Mission: Do Something Beautiful for God


Inspiring stories of Catholic missionaries Father John Andersen, Father Raymundo Portelli and Polish lay missionary Gabriela Filonowicz who work in Iquitos Peru helping the poor and spreading the word of God. Funds are in short supply. Visit Catholic Mission for more details.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Medjugorje Must Be Recognised-Bishop Henry Kennedy

Translation of an interview with  Australian  Bishop Henry Kennedy in Medjugorje, August 1995
His Lordship, Bishop Kennedy, has visited Medjugorje three times already from far-away Australia, to be present at celebrations on the occasion of the anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He drew a lot of curious glances because of his attire, since he was the only one walking around in full regalia.

Your Lordship, when did you first learn of the events in Medjugorje, and what were your emotions when you visited this holy place for the first time?

I got to know about the events in Medjugorje only recently. As we all know, Gospa appeared already in 1981 to the children. However, I did not know anything about until 1985. Ever since I have compiled information, but the idea of myself going on a pilgrimage to this place would not have entered my head just then. After all, Australia is quite a big distance away from Medjugorje, and I am not a spring chicken either anymore. I thought at the time that Lourdes would be, and remain, the only shrine I ever visited. And now I am here, and I am very happy about it, because Medjugorje is an experience of a special kind. The resolve in my heart to go there on a pilgrimage began to mature in 1990, and in 1993 I first set foot onto this holy ground. In 1994 I visited a second time and now, in 1995, you find me here again, and I trust I will be able to travel over here next year also... I feel marvellous here in Medjugorje, simply fantastic, and I notice with every visit an increase in these high feelings of mine. I have never been in any doubt about Lourdes, and by the same token I am absolutely sure that the Gospa is present here. It will be
nearly impossible to find another place on earth where such peace like here pervades!
(Continue reading HERE )

Abortion Survivor Sarah Smith tells her story

Name : SARAH SMITH
Survived abortion : NOVEMBER 1970
Place : CALIFORNIA, USA
Injuries : BILATERAL, CONGENITAL DISLOCATED HIPS AND MANY OTHER PHYSICAL HANDICAPS

SARAH'S STORY
"In 1970, my mother decided to have an abortion. At the time, she was pregnant with twins, but nobody knew this, not even her doctor. My tiny brother and I were both there growing in her womb, until that dreadful day. Before the abortion, we were both alive. Moments later, I was alone.

It's frightening to think I was almost aborted when my mom had a D&C abortion. Somehow, miraculously, I survived! My twin brother wasn't so lucky. Andrew was aborted and we lost him forever."

Several weeks later, my mother was shocked to feel me kicking in her womb. She already had five children and she knew what it felt like when a baby kicked in the womb. She instantly knew that somehow she was still pregnant. She went back to the doctor and told him she was still pregnant...that she had made a big mistake and that she wanted to keep this baby. (Continue reading at Truth TV)


Monday, August 22, 2011

World Youth Day Pilgrims come under attack from Leftists in Madrid (August 2011)

World Youth Day pilgrims were ridiculed, spat upon, intimidated and attacked in Madrid during the festivities this year. The leftists got particularly angry when the children started praying a Rosary.
The festivities were attended by 1.5 million pilgrims. Elements in the secular media sought to give the  impression that the number of leftists was greater than the number of pilgrims and that there was a mass outbreak of protests against the pilgrims. Here is a young person’s account of harassment and violence at WYD. This of course did not appear in most media organs as it would show the leftists in a bad light.
 The report below comes  from  Fr.Z’s Blog via Free Republic:
In Madrid during WYD the were no lack of twisted, benighted wing-nut protesters harrassing the pilgrims and young people.

One of the readers here has a daughter who was in the midst of the unrest the protesters caused. She wrote to me about her daughter’s description of what happened. I asked her permission, and through her her daughter’s to post the young lady’s account here, which I believe was posted on her Facebook page. I am anonymizing it for now.

The the reader and/or her daughter want to identified, they can chime in.

You might remember the photo I posted of the protests. The girl who wrote what follows was in one of the photos.


With some editing and my emphases:
We had been wandering Madrid all day, chillin

The boys were wearing their kilts so we got stopped for photos many times

One guy who stopped us said there was an anti Catholic protest in Sol so we went to check it out

There was this HUGE crowd of people so Seamus & Louise didn´t want to come check it out with us, they sat at a corner

We went in and people were shouting filthy slurs and cursing the Pope and it was awful

So we knelt down and prayed a Rosary for them in the crowd and got surrounded by angry protesters, shouting and threatening and spitting and filming us and mocking us and trying to burn our flags.

A gay couple came and made out in front of us but whatever

Anyway, Dominic made us stand up because he felt threatened so we finished our Rosary standing but on the last decade, a fight broke out right next to us between the Catholics who had been standing behind us and and the protesters so some of the other Catholics lead us out of the crowd.

We went back and dropped our bags with Louise and this time Mim stayed back so it was just Me & Dominic & Greg & Billy who went back and prayed a second rosary on the side of the crowd and we got more of the same, people getting up in our faces screaming

We were met with a couple more of Juventutem but they left after we finished our second Rosary before one had an emotional breakdown.

Everyone left but the group I just mentioned above and we chanted BENEDICTO, BENEDICTO and VIVA PAPA and waved our Papal flag and so on up against the police line

Lots of people yelled at us still

Then, the police line broke and they charged at us and we had to run for our lives a little more urgently than after our Rosary

Then the riot police came out and beat the ___ out of the protesters

At least one guy lost a WYD pilgrim from his group in the crowd and a lot of medics showed up… A lot of people got lost & hurt
The cops wouldnt let us take the metro there so we went off to find a pub
That´s BASICALLY what happened
Expect more of this in the future, dear readers.

This is the cloaca secularism and even the liberal Catholic agenda brings us, allied as it is with secularism, because it undermines Christian values and therefore respect for human freedom and dignity.
Start think about this sort of thing every day.
Start getting used to the idea.


Pope Benedict XVI: Text of Homily at Final Mass World Youth Day 2011 Madrid

At the final Mass closing World Youth Day Aug 21 in Madrid, the Pope challenged some 1.4 million gathered Catholic pilgrims to take their faith, make it grow and share it with the world, reports the Catholic News Service. The Mass was held at Cuatro Vientos military air base

Homily

Dear Young People,
In this celebration of the Eucharist we have reached the high point of this World Youth Day. Seeing you here, gathered in such great numbers from all parts of the world, fills my heart with joy. I think of the special love with which Jesus is looking upon you. Yes, the Lord loves you and calls you his friends (cf. Jn 15:15). He goes out to meet you and he wants to accompany you on your journey, to open the door to a life of fulfilment and to give you a share in his own closeness to the Father. For our part, we have come to know the immensity of his love and we want to respond generously to his love by sharing with others the joy we have received. Certainly, there are many people today who feel attracted by the figure of Christ and want to know him better. They realize that he is the answer to so many of our deepest concerns. But who is he really? How can someone who lived on this earth so long ago have anything in common with me today?

The Gospel we have just heard (cf. Mt 16:13-20) suggests two different ways of knowing Christ. The first is an impersonal knowledge, one based on current opinion. When Jesus asks: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”, the disciples answer: “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets”. In other words, Christ is seen as yet another religious figure, like those who came before him. Then Jesus turns to the disciples and asks them: “But who do you say that I am?” Peter responds with what is the first confession of faith: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God”. Faith is more than just empirical or historical facts; it is an ability to grasp the mystery of Christ’s person in all its depth.

Yet faith is not the result of human effort, of human reasoning, but rather a gift of God: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven”. Faith starts with God, who opens his heart to us and invites us to share in his own divine life. Faith does not simply provide information about who Christ is; rather, it entails a personal relationship with Christ, a surrender of our whole person, with all our understanding, will and feelings, to God’s self-revelation. So Jesus’ question: “But who do you say that I am?”, is ultimately a challenge to the disciples to make a personal decision in his regard. Faith in Christ and discipleship are strictly interconnected.

And, since faith involves following the Master, it must become constantly stronger, deeper and more mature, to the extent that it leads to a closer and more intense relationship with Jesus. Peter and the other disciples also had to grow in this way, until their encounter with the Risen Lord opened their eyes to the fullness of faith.

Dear young people, today Christ is asking you the same question which he asked the Apostles: “Who do you say that I am?” Respond to him with generosity and courage, as befits young hearts like your own. Say to him: “Jesus, I know that you are the Son of God, who have given your life for me. I want to follow you faithfully and to be led by your word. You know me and you love me. I place my trust in you and I put my whole life into your hands. I want you to be the power that strengthens me and the joy which never leaves me”.

Jesus’ responds to Peter’s confession by speaking of the Church: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church”. What do these words mean? Jesus builds the Church on the rock of the faith of Peter, who confesses that Christ is God.

The Church, then, is not simply a human institution, like any other. Rather, she is closely joined to God. Christ himself speaks of her as “his” Church. Christ cannot be separated from the Church any more than the head can be separated from the body (cf. 1 Cor 12:12). The Church does not draw her life from herself, but from the Lord.

Dear young friends, as the Successor of Peter, let me urge you to strengthen this faith which has been handed down to us from the time of the Apostles. Make Christ, the Son of God, the centre of your life. But let me also remind you that following Jesus in faith means walking at his side in the communion of the Church. We cannot follow Jesus on our own. Anyone who would be tempted to do so “on his own”, or to approach the life of faith with that kind of individualism so prevalent today, will risk never truly encountering Jesus, or will end up following a counterfeit Jesus.

Having faith means drawing support from the faith of your brothers and sisters, even as your own faith serves as a support for the faith of others. I ask you, dear friends, to love the Church which brought you to birth in the faith, which helped you to grow in the knowledge of Christ and which led you to discover the beauty of his love. Growing in friendship with Christ necessarily means recognizing the importance of joyful participation in the life of your parishes, communities and movements, as well as the celebration of Sunday Mass, frequent reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation, and the cultivation of personal prayer and meditation on God’s word.

Friendship with Jesus will also lead you to bear witness to the faith wherever you are, even when it meets with rejection or indifference. We cannot encounter Christ and not want to make him known to others. So do not keep Christ to yourselves! Share with others the joy of your faith. The world needs the witness of your faith, it surely needs God. I think that the presence here of so many young people, coming from all over the world, is a wonderful proof of the fruitfulness of Christ’s command to the Church: “Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mk 16:15). You too have been given the extraordinary task of being disciples and missionaries of Christ in other lands and countries filled with young people who are looking for something greater and, because their heart tells them that more authentic values do exist, they do not let themselves be seduced by the empty promises of a lifestyle which has no room for God.

Dear young people, I pray for you with heartfelt affection. I commend all of you to the Virgin Mary and I ask her to accompany you always by her maternal intercession and to teach you how to remain faithful to God’s word. I ask you to pray for the Pope, so that, as the Successor of Peter, he may always confirm his brothers and sisters in the faith. May all of us in the Church, pastors and faithful alike, draw closer to the Lord each day. May we grow in holiness of life and be effective witnesses to the truth that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God, the Saviour of all mankind and the living source of our hope. Amen.

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Ireland- Waterford Hurling-How to win an All Ireland

The following comments are not meant to be critical of any Waterford Minor or Senior player. I just hope they may spark a discussion which may help the country get over the remaining hurdles.

The Dublin minors  last Sunday though very skilful were physically stronger. They were built like tanks. The Waterford minor team has some brilliant hurlers. However at senior intercounty level players will need to bulk up.

Looking at Waterford inter county hurling teams in general there has been a major problem with defensive play for many years. Waterford defenders tend to do too much ball watching whilst ignoring the positioning of their immediate opponents. In the Munster Senior Hurling final Tipperary forwards were allowed walk through the Waterford backline. Waterford backs at minor and senior though skilful tend not to use the shoulder. Now contrast this with Kilkenny, Tipperary and Dublin. Forwards running at the defence should be upended by a fair shoulder charge. Sacrifice a yellow card but lay down a marker at the start of the game-"Thou shalt not pass".

Waterford backs need to become a little more physical but within the rules. Skill on its own is not sufficient. In training more emphasis is required on blocking and hooking.

The mighty Tipperary team of the 50s/60s had a famous full backline of John Doyle, Mick Maher and Kieran Carey. It was known as Hell's Kitchen. It was an apt name. They were there to stop you scoring. They used their physical power. Now of course the great Waterford 1959 team destroyed that defence by scoring 9-3 against it in the Munster Championship. It used skill and SPEED and DIRECT hurling. That particular team also used ground hurling to great advantage.

Waterford teams need to play more direct hurling. What has become of ground hurling at inter county level? It seems to have died out in Munster.  Also speed of striking of many Waterford players tends to be a little slow. It think that can be ironed out as follows:

Players should do some work in ball alleys. A mentor should count the number of strokes made by the player in one minute. The player should progressively increase the number of strokes per minute over the next few days and weeks. This can be done striking from the left and right hand sides. Overhead striking can also be practiced in a ball alley.

I think Waterford intercounty forwards at all levels can improve in the following facets of the game:

They need to be more proactive: By this I mean that they must be in motion (rather than being static) and prepared to take a pass from a forward who is being tackled. Just look at Lar Corbett. He appears to be in perpetual motion and always alert to the breaking ball. The ground shot on the edge of the square is the bête noire of any goalkeeper. Waterford needs to use more of that.

The tactics used by the Dublin Seniors and also by Kilkenny -whereby they pack the centre of the defence- can be counteracted by driving the ball to the wings and stretching the defence. Using this approach Waterford can counteract ruck and maul hurling.

The function of a forward is to score and make scores. In addition half forwards need to blunt the opposing half backline and prevent it becoming a launch pad for attacks. Forwards need to keep backs guessing. Pick the ball on some occasions but strike on the ground at other times. Alert half forwards move TO the ball. They do not wait for it to come to them. Half forwards must vary tactics sometimes delivering ground ball to the full forward line and on other occasions picking the ball and shooting for scores.

Too much picking of the ball in the vicinity of the goalmouth slows down play and favours the backs.

In short Waterford forwards in general -in my view- need to use much more VARIETY in their hurling and need to be more alert to the half chance. Moves need to be executed at speed.

In addition it is necessary for forwards to practice shooting for points from all angles and distances at SPEED. More emphasis should be placed on this in training. This will increase accuracy.










Friday, August 19, 2011

Medjugorje Miracle Healing:Testimony of Nicola Pacini


Thirteen year old Nicola Pacini, who lived with his family near Florence, Italy, had been confined to a wheelchair for five years with muscular dystrophy when his parents decided to take him to visit the local where Virgin Mary had appeared at small village Medjugorje in December 1991.

In spite of the popularity of Medjugorje as a healing shrine, Nicola did not want to go; he told his parents that he would rather have them save the money that such a trip would cost.
Nicola thought that it would be useless to go and that the pilgrimage would only bring all three of them additional heartache and disappointment.

Nicola argued that he was but one of millions of handicapped people in the world, and he would be but one of thousands of pilgrims who would be crowding around the statue of Mother Mary at Medjugorje praying for a healing. Why would the Queen of Heaven choose him before all the others?

But at last, after much discussion and prayer, Nicola agreed to accompany his parents to the holy place where Mother Mary had appeared wearing a crown of twelve stars.

The bus trip was exhausting, but when the Pacini family arrived at the shrine on December 8, Nicola´s mother wasted no time in pushing his wheelchair directly in front of Mary´s life-size statue. Perhaps more to please his parents than to get a miracle, Nicola began to pray.

Then, to his astonishment and his parent´s great joy, he felt his  right hand slowly open.

Encouraged by such a marvelous sign of divine energy, Nicola was eager to return to the shrine the next morning. In his prayers, however, he asked that his healing not be done for his sake alone, but also for that of his parent´s. And them, Nicola simply felt like getting up and walking-for the first time in five years.

It was the strangest feeling, Nicola, said later. It was as if something were moving inside of him, and he had an overwhelming urge to get up and walk. An irresistible force seemed to be lifting him up from the wheelchair.

Although he thought that it was impossible, he found himself standing upright and walking!

After he had taken the first few steps, he called out to his mother and heard her cry of joy,as a miracle had occurred. Mrs.Pacini instinctively rushed to her son´s side to help him, but Nicola asked her to leave him alone. He knew that he could walk  on his own.

The Pacini family will always remember how the hundreds of pilgrims who were gathered around the shrine burst into appalause when Nicola kept walking.

The boy´s mind was filled with the wonder of it all. Mother Mary had heard his prayers and those of his parents.

When the Pacinis returned to Florence, Dr. Rosella Mengonzi, their physician, was shocked when she saw Nicola standing and walking. Dr.Mengonzi had been certain that Nicola would be forced to spend his life in a wheelchair. After a thorough examination, Dr. Mengonzi told journalist Silvio Piersanti that somehow Nicola Pacini had completely recovered from a incurable disease in a manner that shw could not medically explain. A healing miracle had been performed.
From book : Miracles of healing: inspirational stories of amazing recovery
(Brad Steiger and Sherry Hansen Steiger)
.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Wisconsin Shrine:'It's like heaven touching earth'

Devout Catholics across the state are making pilgrimages to a sacred shrine in Wisconsin.
Cornfields and towering grain silos line the Minnesota Catholics' approach to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. The smell of manure wafts from nearby dairy farms.
But the parking lot where the motor coach stops is newly graveled, and plans to expand beyond the shrine's small brick church and gift shop are in progress. Because like this group from Hastings, pilgrims are coming.
It's here at this modest shrine in the heart of Wisconsin farm country, where Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared more than 150 years ago....  Continue reading here

Madrid: World Youth Day: Opening Mass on August 16, 2011


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Medjugorje: Memorable Sermon at Youthfest Mass August 2, 2011 (English Interpreter)

In this very beautiful sermon the priest emphasises the necessity to trust God at all times just as the Blessed Virgin did while on earth. We need to be able to say every day: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done on to me according to thy word." Get to know God in the Bible, in the Catholic Catechism,in Confession and in the Blessed Eucharist. Ask Mary to intercede with Jesus for you.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Hysterical Article by Michelle Goldberg in the Daily Beast on Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry

In a silly and hysterical  article titled A Christian Plot for Domination?
Michelle Goldberg states that:
Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry aren't just devout—both have deep ties to a fringe fundamentalist movement known as Dominionism, which says Christians should rule the world.....
This is an attempt to paint Republicans as extremists unworthy of election to the presidency of the US. It is a hysterical effort to to halt the rise of Perry and Bachmann. Now of course the same was said about Ronald Reagan. It is an attempt to frighten off independent voters. It is a red herring. The US economy is tanking with a national debt of 16 TRILLION DOLLARS and an unemployment rate of 9.2%. So the Democrats cannot fight on this issue. Instead it is much better to whip up anti Christian hysteria to galvanise the secularist and leftist vote behind Obama. This article is secularist claptrap at its best.

It is an attempt to paint Bachmann and Perry as scary and dangerous. It is a liberal hit piece. It is motivated by a DISTASTE for Christianity. It is written by a secular humanist. It is a DANGEROUS article designed to mislead the ignorant.

The article is titled "A Christian Plot for Domination". There is a subtext here. Goldberg is endeavouring to convey the impression that Christianity is something alien and that Perry and Bachmann are part of some plot to enslave non Christians. It is pure balderdash.

Michele Bachmann and her husband have five children. Bachmann said at a 2011 town hall meeting that she suffered a miscarriage after the birth of their second child. This shaped her pro-life views.  Bachmann and her husband have also provided foster care for 23 other children. She is a true Christian. Nothing scary there Ms Goldberg. No fear that Ms Goldberg would mention that though.

Actually Michelle Goldbeg's attitute is scary. She is subtly whipping up anti Christian hysteria.
Is it now a crime Miss Goldberg to be a Christian or to profess belief in Christianity in America? Perhaps Ms Goldberg would prefer to see Christianity outlawed as would many secular liberals.
It is particularly interesting to notice how much of the anti Christian bile emanates from a SMALL Jewish element in America.  Christians are no threat to the US. There is no Christian terror group putting American security at risk. Christians seek to defend the right to life of the unborn. Of couse to the defend the right to life of the unborn is a crime in the eyes of many secular humanists. Where does Ms. Goldberg stand on this?

Perhaps Ms Goldberg should consider the following:
The Rome  Empire fell because of corruption and moral degradation. It was a Pagan society not a Christian society. Infanticide was rampant and soon reduced the number of soldiers available to defend the empire. Roman society went soft. Sexual diseases were widespread and killed many. Now in America we have abortion where the unborn baby is killed in its mother’s womb. American society mirrors that of ancient Rome. The US is in decline and is heading for bankruptcy just like the Roman Empire. It is increasingly Pagan. Everything immoral has been legalised. America is a sick society. It is gone soft.

The moral of the story Ms Goldberg: America needs to return to its Christian roots if it is not to go the way of the Roman Empire
The anti Christian article may be accessed at A Christian Plot for Domination
























Saturday, August 13, 2011

Medjugorje Song: Sweet Queen of Peace sung by Daniel O Donnell



Some Medjugorje photos with a beautiful song by Daniel O Donnell called "Sweet Queen of Peace" taken from his album "At the end of the day"

Sunday, August 7, 2011

2011 Medjugorje Youthfest Orchestra and Choir performing Ave Maria Grazia Plena


Medjugorje Youthfest Orchestra and Choir performing "Ave Maria Graziy Plena" at the International Youth Festival in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

2011 Medjugorje Youthfest Orchestra and Choir performing Gloria


Medjugorje Youthfest Orchestra and Choir performing "Gloria" at the International Youth Festival in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Medjugorje Apparition to Mirjana on August 2, 2011


On August 2, 2011, Our Lady appeared to the visionary Mirjana Soldo at the Blue Cross. Thousands of people came to be present at the apparition, many of them young people who were in Medjugorje for the Youth Festival.

Message to Mirjana

"Dear children; Today I call you to be born anew in prayer and through the Holy Spirit, to become a new people with my Son; a people who knows that if they have lost God, they have lost themselves; a people who knows that, with God, despite all sufferings and trials, they are secure and saved. I call you to gather into God's family and to be strengthened with the Father's strength. As individuals, my children, you cannot stop the evil that wants to begin to rule in this world and to destroy it. But, according to God's will, all together, with my Son, you can change everything and heal the world. I call you to pray with all your heart for your shepherds, because my Son chose them. Thank you."

Monday, August 1, 2011

Youthfest 2011: Medjugorje Youthfest Orchestra and Choir - Receive the power


Medjugorje Youthfest Orchestra and Choir performing "Receive the power" (by Guy Sebastian and Gary Pinto) at the International Youth Festival in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina.