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Saturday 31 December 2016

Happy New Year. Welcome to 2017!


THE ANDERSON PLATOON





Joseph B. Anderson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joseph B. Anderson, Jr. (born 1943) is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of TAG Holdings, LLC.[1]

Contents

Early years

Anderson was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1943. He attended the United States Military Academy and graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Math and Engineering.

Military service

After graduation from West Point, Anderson served in the U.S. Army. During the Vietnam War he served two tours with the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in South Vietnam. In addition to his service in Vietnam, Anderson was an instructor at West Point, and served with the 82nd Airborne Division. Anderson resigned from the Army after 13 years, at the rank of major.

The Anderson Platoon

During September and October 1966 a French film crew joined the then Lt. Anderson's platoon in Vietnam. The footage they recorded became a documentary titled The Anderson Platoon (La Section Anderson), directed by Pierre Schoendoerffer. The documentary has been shown in more than 20 countries and has won several prizes including the Oscar of the Academy Awards and an Emmy for the "Best Documentary Film of 1967."
The original documentary was released in 1967 and a re-edited version was released in 1987. A sequel, titled Reminiscences (RĂ©miniscences) was released in 1989. "Reminiscences" follows up with the surviving members of the Anderson platoon twenty years after their tour in Vietnam.

Business career

After leaving the military, Anderson began a business career with General Motors. After 13 years with GM, he left the firm to become the president and chief executive officer of Composite Energy Management Systems, Incorporated (CEMSI). He worked with CEMSI until 1994 when he acquired a controlling interest in Chivas Products Limited, which became Chivas Industries, LLC, in 1997. He stayed with Chivas Industries as chairman of the board and chief executive officer until 2002, when he sold his interest in the firm.
He is currently the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of TAG Holdings, LLC. In 2008 TAG Holdings and its diverse group of companies had revenues of $743 million.

References


  1. "Joseph B. Anderson investor bio". ArvinMeritor, Inc. Retrieved 2010-07-26.

External links




  




When the Bough Breaks Official Trailer #1 (2016) - Morris Chestnut, Regi...

We need to understand why we have rules that govern human and social interaction. Without rules, man sees only force meeting force and strength resisting strength.  Men would be in a constant state of war; civil war and strife. It would only be the war of the biggest but more importantly a war of the wealthiest since wealth can afford to buy more bullets.  But, if it is not about bullets then it is only muscle vs. muscle. In either case, there is no peace. Thomas Hobbes alluded to this most amazing realization when Europe but certainly England in his experience suffered tremendous pains in civil war as occasioned by the technological tower of Babel that presented itself in the personal power afforded by the personal armory of a musket.  The magna carta is evidence of essentially the  same rationale on peace and no voluminous treaty by another son of Israel should have been necessary but Hobbes was called upon to right again; not that anyone would seek to run him right through with a sword if it was not an assize time but because someone may think of blowing him away with a musket.   It would only take one bullet or one musket fire.  The reason why have rules is to save us from our less human selves.  This could be seen most often possibly in the Troglodyte brain that does not want to understand anything but it could also be the phenomena of the mob as the majority of the graduating class that aims to leave High School half-disabled with a D average and who does not endeavor to leave free schooling with as much education as possible; that they might have a choice on what to do with their energies and free choices after High School. Ask Sonny; the mob boss who coached a few black kids in English football.  He said get two educations.  Now, if Bill Gates was trading with IBM without a university education and you aspired to be the best you can be anywhere, including in the army(right?), how much free education do you think you should take if you were told to believe in yourself in grade 8 and that, as you were told,  you should see that you can do anything if you put your mind to it?

By Warren Augustine Lyon.

A lot of Haitians and other West Indians have attended the internal Colleges of the University of London over the years. Some have graduated. Warren Augustine Lyon is one such individual who attended at London for the three years and who also graduated from SOAS as an Honors graduate with a High 2:1.



So, you need to know that believing in Messianic Judaism is to be a follower of the way. You are certainly a Jew who accepts Christ as the Messiah. You also accept that the "second coming" is not required to die for the sins of the world. Read Hebrews 9.

So, you need to know that believing in Messianic Judaism is to be a follower of the way. You are certainly a Jew who accepts Christ as the Messiah. You also accept that the "second coming" is not required to die for the sins of the world.  Read Hebrews 9.   Christ's work is final. You do not accept His blood as final and then trample on His blood, seeking another sacrifice.   All this would mean is that you are resigning your salvation as based on Christ's sacrifice and also the peace of that salvation. Have you maimed your children? Have you taken an unusual divorce? Did you wrongfully accuse someone, hoping to steal their home before you could cajole the victim of the wrongful accusation to put your name on the property? Is there legislation that would have made you an immediate recipient of the home if you were the victim's wife but you did not speak to anyone who would assist your genuine intention to kill someone for their home?   Maybe society is "Jesus" and you are killing the Brit Milah as you deny Christ's sacrifice that is the peace that laid the foundation for 100's and thousands of years of commodious living. You should not worry about falling or worry  about sin since everybody sins but you must forgive yourself and not allow anyone to torment you about a fall.  Adam fell but he also got back up and the Lord gave him Seth.  Know your claim of faith is genuine and as it is genuine, you will not argue with yourself or your conscience that tells you something is no good for you. It could be that your conscience is telling you the consumption of nuclear water is bad for you. They sell it in some shops as it may help to kill unusual diseases. But, it will also take your hair usually and your teeth but you may live. You could argue with yourself and suffer the accordant lack of peace and it shows when you are arguing with yourself.  turn that youtube video off.  Are you Messianic or Catholic?  You will not die of boredom if you do turn off the video but presumably as a Catholic, you could acknowledge the video as a sin then deny your conscience as God given  that it is a sin and then do whatever it is anyway.    But, wouldn't that be rebellion against God in denying your conscience     to have a sin; that you may have a sin? Do you throw up?  Do you have bumps on your back?  Do you have metal in your head where you shot yourself  in being told to keep the sin?  But, it is obvious that if you do, you do not love yourself and you will probably feel like it; as if you are in a continual struggle. It could be that you argue with yourself or the Holy Ghost about that nuclear water or a tv show that for some reason, who know why, is no good for you. So, why argue? There is another tv program that you will certainly enjoy and with which "yourself", your mind, your conscience and the Holy Ghost has peace. Thank you! Enjoy the program!




Thursday 29 December 2016

Kingdom Of Heaven 2005 full movie with Subtitle Indonesia (Extended ver...

King Baldwin vs Saladin As a European, what were you going to tell the Saladin; son of Abraham? Save a life and then talk about it. But, you must kill the enemy of the Brit MIlah who is an enemy of Abraham and all of his children. Abraham's legacy is peace as seen in the Magna Carta.

The best way to kill off a faithful native creole people with Cree, Iroquois and Navajo dna but who may look White

The best way to kill off a faithful native creole people with Cree, Iroquois and Navajo dna but who may look White like Jane Mansfield and  Kirk Douglass is to give them a new God. Give them a sin. Tell them who is sending it so that we might be equal. We really don't need you to drive the vehicle. You are just flesh. We don't need you to work so find an easier way to make money. Do something. The machines do the work and you still haven't followed FDR's second bill of rights or the European socio-economic policy with sufficient social welfare netting for all in light of fully mechanized labor. So, I will see what God you really serve almost ten years after the end of World War 2; not the God of grace but you seem to need to prove something about how good you are; that you should be needed to do something. Well. buy a driverless vehicle in 2018 that drives you across the country while you are asleep and then it crashes  so you end up  as an android so that you can show the world how good you are but it's not really you any longer.   We will make you a toy and play thing for a play boy and turn your families into disintegrating nuclear families. Every magazine with rather unusual content must have a greater social or socio-economic intention although we take little pains in asking why we tolerate it.





Arctic Challenge | 2017 Tacoma TRD Pro | Toyota

Sense8 — Sun Bak Fight Scene (Call me bitch one more time and I'll kill ...

Spectre - Train Fight Scene (7/10) | Movieclips. There is war in the Brit Milah. We need to fight for the Brit Milah. It only takes one bullet. We know the peace we need; one bullet.

The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) || Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce

So, we need a war within the Brit Milah against those within it who bring subterfuge within the Brit Milah and it's established peace for which men have already fought and died. This war is legislative enforcement of the Queen's and the people's peace but the people first as the legislation says they choose their government. We know what the legislation says and what we require for peace. But, there are those who wish to hamper the peace and the very courts established to be a bulwark for the enforcement of the peace. Peace is what we have now and who should want to hinder it only to seek imminent attention? The Romans and the Germanic now fight together against nothing other than those who fight against the Brit Milah; that is the trogolodyte children of a Grendel. Their intentions in spite of any immaculate school association is evident. It is to fight the Brit Milah. Their intention is the spectre of socio-economic deceit as against the Brit Milah.


A Simpler Way: Crisis as Opportunity (2016) - Free Full Documentary


Wednesday 28 December 2016

Farewell! So long!





The force is my ally. The force is with you. But do you know when it leaves you or when it is strong in you? There is a lot to learn. Listen.


So, these White people who show up from Antarctica, they seem to have some French extract and you always seem to encourage those "Antarcticans" who work against the country  or  who work against those students who studied both English and French. Antarctica is not that far from the French speaking West Indies if you are sailing from Europe.  Is it because Antarctica is considered to be 99.9% Catholic? Well, working against the country and its graduating students is not synonymous with being Catholic regardless of the school attended by the country's graduating students.  That is just not Catholic.  It is not West Indian. It's just not human but it could be troglodyte.  About Troglodytes, the history of the people who visited the new world demonstrates that when the Africans ran away from the Spanish in Haiti or other places in the West Indies, they encountered some very tiny people who lived in caves.  They stayed with them and lived with them.  The Arawaks who were a more muscular people seem to have been killed off by the European who also ate them hoping to pass the dna on in their own gene pool. But, why not just use their seed? It seems they preferred to eat them so that they might be equal!  This is just not on! It's not on! It's rather evil actually! Do you have a mobile phone with a camera?  Do you have internet?  Take a picture and be equal. You may be able to speak a language but the emotion is not human The behavior is not absolutely human but seems to reverberate around gutteral and negative emotions like jealousy, resentment and hatred and it can't be that you say the person seems to have a mother as you may have a grandmother
or an aunt who is the light of the world and would rather take off her own arm than see anyone of her people mistreated or the family's prayerful hopes brought to disappointment. At best, the humanity is fragile and can be reversed with the wrong media input of violence and any other gratuitous content where you would be jealous of your own ommon sense in another human being although you deided to deny Common sense believing a vain promise for power from a shadow that you never met fae to fae and you say you heard it in your emotions that if you threw out your wife's job offer or your own mother's offer in addition to your assoiation, you would get to be the president of ZIMIMERICA. I LEFT A FEW GAPS SO YOU CAN FEEL COMFORTABLE PLAGIARSING FOR THE ATtENTION.








Tuesday 27 December 2016

So, we need a system of education that will ensure that students by grade 8 will believe in perpetuity that anyone of their fellow graduating students is an astronaut or may be an astronaut. A monkey can do it!

So, we need a system of education that will ensure that students by grade 8 will believe in perpetuity that anyone of their fellow graduating students is an astronaut or may be an astronaut. It would not be a surprise to hear that this is their vocation regardless of race, color or creed and this is without any further training other than grade 8 tutelage whenever you may run into them during your adult life. I think they sent a monkey into space once. So, a grade 8 student, in spite of the fact that his general identity and emotions are still quite amorphous, can demonstrate the discipline necessary if a monkey can do it. Obey!  Certainly; but you also need to know the difference between right and wrong when someone asks you cut off your hand or to kill your own children.  What's in that cup of coffee now that you have become so pliable?



Small fact of the day: Did you know Africa is in Egypt or should we say Egypt is in Africa?
So, if society is to follow a musical Key, a major key in a harmony is preferred; something positive that is as consistent and reminiscent of Pope John Paul in addition to the reigning Pope's prevailing guidance and most hallowed wisdom in what is best for the people positively

Honor the people with your forgiveness. They pay you to wear the Emperor's new clothes.

So we honor Louis the 16th who may have followed the people as we are told but it seems the policy was to crush the people like bread. Royalty in France for French speaking people was not a problem per se. But, it was a problem when the socio-economic policy amounts to nothing other than telling the world for almost 400 years that you were a victim of a situation in which you had no control, even it was a brief moment, of what happened to you and how "people" could just move your arms and your legs as they wanted. You would resent anything called "people". But, you need them to pay you so that you can wear the Emperor's new clothes. Do you understand? But, the people tell what they reasonably need and what they want or else, you better get new people since the people got rid of you! The Troglodyte people can take it from here. Northern Ireland is a member of the EU in great wisdom and common sense. They give themselves $30,000.00 euros per year.
The phenomena of human redundancy is commensurate to and increases in proportion to the number of driverless vehicles purchased. To the human being, it is the physical and emotional experience of displacement or of being occupied in your humble and commodious abode by a cockroach or some other miserable insectuous pest.  It is to practice and prepare for the absence of the human being in the endeavors of regular daily living experience. It is a moniker of socio-economic illiteracy as if you could encourage anyone to enjoy a playerless Xbox. The only benefit is for the lazy or the sleepy. Then again, who has voted for it and is it that every vehicle is to be equipped with driverless technology? Is this the minority report?





I told Joy "Damnedthem" in 1999 that I am not interested in being a politician.   So, I worked accordingly for what I believe.  Now, if everybody was a full time pastor, how many churches would you have? Every Sunday School graduate has a calling to be a Pastor but it seems the Lord called people with various professions and He also had His own as a carpenter.   How many courses in Christian History have you taken? How many hours have you spent in ministry and tutelage after graduating from Political Science and History.


Guion "Guy" Bluford tribute video

Guy Bluford Remembered as the First African American Astronaut

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs In English 1937 Disney

The beauty Queen with the intention of the Queen of the Damned who only thinks about competition whether she is young or old is today's public enemy number one.



We believe what we believe because it is not as if your soul, when your body is dead, will be able to perceive the pain of flames on the bottom of your foot.

We believe what we believe because it is not as if your soul, when your body is dead, will be able to perceive the pain of flames on the bottom of your foot.  Your body is dead.  What can your soul perceive>  If it is perceiving anything, then it is a perception of a continual night mare or the perception of the continual heavenly bliss.  You may believe in your perception that your wife and children that survive you are doing well and are not suffering in physical harm or any harm of any kind.    The only true physical perception of suffering is on earth where you feel pain and comfort, warmth or its absence and that is why we believe what we believe to avoid human suffering; that there can be hot and cold water for everyone, that we should treat our neighbor with dignity as we wish to be treated or we treat our fellow motorist as we wish to be treated.  The absence of this belief is the suffering and conflict.  This is why people refer to hell on earth or that war is hell.  It is simply because the Lord in which you believe has no other place in this universe for you to enjoy oxygen. This is why you bless your children. This is why I bless my children.   Even if there is another place, you will never find it to enjoy it on mass if you kill the only planet where this human creation can find enough peace; the peace that is achieved in  mutual cooperation to contemplate overcoming the impediment of gravity or efficient, sustainable propulsion since fuel is very heavy. The Galileo probe is evident of what we can do and we also have sufficient oxygen with air filtration. We have space stations of varying size and sophistication.  This planet needs rules for commodious living that approximate the dynamics of safety for traffic on the road and safety on a space station. The rules are not designed for personal power or aggrandizement as if only orphans have the right to do whatever they want. But, rules that remind us of the fact that we are all children of God. What inspired the tenets in the Magna Carta? Why did any King decide to write it? Why did Jesus not only claim his own position as a son of God and then also invite others to join him in accept this identity?  See Psalms 82.   It is also the quiet message of Abraham as a caretaker and steward of the people's  trust. He petitioned the Dios to save Lot when he was threatened in Gomorrah.   The human being and the consumer is the final denominator.    We believe in a King of Peace because it i what you need where your entire being, physical and spiritual, in his mercy creative mercy can enjoy perceive it and enjoy it.There is not a lot of point in believing in God for the day you may die.  Your body is dead but certainly if you do believe the right thing, you will have blissful dreams in the end of your consciousness forever.  Are you having arguments about spiritual authority in a million denominations for the day you may die? Are you trying to assimilate people to your denomination? Are you saving a life? why don't you save a life so that they will be...hmm....eternally grateful?

Thank you!







Monday 26 December 2016

IT'S JAPANESE COMMERCIAL TIME!! | VOL. 150

Skyfall - Patrice Fight Scene (HD) Clip. Who are you working for?

Skyfall - Patrice Fight Scene (HD) Clip


Barclays Premier League : Liverpool Vs Everton | December 20, 2016. Have a Happy New Year and tell the Mayor and his husband Jim, I am not a DJ! Ah Hah! But, I am not. I am a poet.

Herod may have been the only one willing to claim that to be the king of Israel. But, it does not mean much if he was not serving the purposes of Israel.

Herod may have been the only one willing to claim that to be the king of Israel.  But, it does not mean much if he was not serving the purposes of Israel.  Herod, however, may have been a distant cousin after 800 years of occupations and exiles with Babylonians and Assyrians in addition to all of the concubinage. But, what does it really mean in light of an Amnon and a Absalom, a Saul and other collateral damage in keeping a light burning and the salt salving in the promised land?   Hmmm?

Aliens (1986) Film Hd - James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver

The Contract (complete movie)

[DENZEL WASHINGTON] For Queen And Country Full Length - Dorian Healy, Se...

Aaron...


Top 10 best Cities in Africa 2016 HD

Now back to our regular programming. Gosh ...that was close!




Top 10 Futuristic Weapons Already Being Used

Lockheed AC-130 Gunship firing.

OLIVER TWIST by Charles Dickens - FULL AudioBook | Greatest Audio Books ...

201 Shaving Muggs Popeye The Sailor cartoon

Mass for Sunday, December 25, 2016

Sunday 25 December 2016




It keeps happening....

There was Cain and Abel.   There was Potiphar with Joseph. There was Saul. There was Mephibosheth and there was Judas.  As it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end but if there was too much peace you might forget the beginning so how do you keep your people talking about the truth of the word and of the character that is willing to believe in saving a life; a Abraham or a good Samaritan or maybe a very tearful and Joseph?  In the truth of human character in the beginning or in the current day or in the end, the tension remains so that the gospel will ooze out of your living experience right in front of you that there are some people who will pass on the right side of 1940's Disney morality and there are some people who will fail.  Are you a friend?  Are you an enemy? Are you a playa hata, Tutsi, Hutu , Baptist, Seventh Day Adventist or Jehovah's witness  working in the name of Jesus?  No you didn't?  Well, in fact I certainly did so that I may obtain your fulsome attention.  I say fulsome in the sense that your generous attention is beckoned at this special Mass; this being Christ's Mass. So, who are you really working for?      There is good and bad in everyone most absolutely and the 400 years of incubation in Egypt confirmed that 40 years in the wilderness was not enough to sanitize the seed of God's intention for a witness to His presence among men after what Jacob's mother achieved in addition to unusual behavior of the 12 sons.  The coils of our dna have been set to test us as the parable of the four seeds demonstrates; as the three temptations of Christ demonstrate. There could be some Amalekite swimming around inside of you and your emotions.  Are you the enemy of that person who is about to approach his final chemistry High School or exam or are you going to call them four times a night for the next two weeks and start an argument to seek attention or drop by the night before to talk about your crisis with your girlfriend.     There seems to be a recurring pattern that involves 400 years in this continual tension as it pops up on Scholarship notification day a million times a year in some countries; that someone sets out to kill a precious life.  But, I don't know if you understand what I am trying to say to you.Maybe the woman in Proverbs 2.5.6, 7, 9 and 10 is certainly an amalgamation of the experiences confirmed by the witnesses and children of Israel; that you are born not of water and flesh but of a spirit that knows there is a right answer that ends up Thomas Hobbes' book with passionate ENGLISH discourse since there may have been too much snuff(cocaine) in most people's blood streams to memorize it in Latin. It could not be the flesh or else Saul would not have lost his mind for as trinket on his head. It could not be flesh or Judas would have said his thanks as in Je Suis Reconnaissant!   It is God's story and you can choose at any moment to cross from killing a life to saving a life. Abraham begged for Lot and Yeshua or Jesus reminded you that there is no law against saving a life in all the saints and the angels and the Cherubim; that there are sins of commission and of omission.   Won't you come?  I know you will. Otherwise, you have chosen the way of pain and hurt evidently.  It just does not work any more as oxygen is very very precious.    Judas was a son of Israel from a tribe of Israel. What grudge would he hold against anybody who would sing the psalms and confirm the  law and the prophets in saying "..It is written"? It seems Judas was born of blood, water and flesh but not of spirit Peter was tested and finally came through like a good Frodo or Hobbit but there is obviously collateral damage during  your soul searching and hesitation since the power of God abhors hesitation and the vacuum that it has created.  So, say welcome when they show up as you need someone to tell you what to do since you do not not know who you are any longer and are incapable of leading. Is this exile leading to occupation or should we say occupation leading to free and volitional exile.  Thank you for your recitations of the Brit Milah and of the Nativity Scene dans Englais!  You are well able to repossess the land in any version of your soul and identity that you choose.  Sze! Sze!  Salaam. How do you say it in...so many languages on the Midland Bank PLC signs around Norwich.  Anyway, you can see that with too much peace and too many long roads with too many coffee shops and 1 euro prawn and bacon sandwiches at the 24 hours Tescos you might forget the role you play in being at peace. But, don't change the sandwiches or the roads, the answer is to be thankful for what you have and to enforce the legislation of peace. Jesus is everywhere. Jesus loves you. He wants you to have an abundant peace. There is enough to go around in the fifth element in understanding that energy is not lost but blocked in the immediate multiplication of transactions as you give to the peace or give to great I AM your trust  and distribute it...then you will, some how, certainly have more and more and more; $40,000.00 per citizen in the phenomena of fully mechanized labor and if you get a job with a private employer or public service, they make up the difference with an extra $30-70,000.00 so you can live life with more energy output; a v8 instead of the 2.2  4 cylinder turbo with "Sat. Nav."     It's not a new idea but some people born with cockroach ester in the third trimester want to feel people beneath them so that they might finally feel equal. Maybe you had to much Kindler surprise!  The world is not enough.  You need the Brit Milah!  It will be 2 years at this rate before we have to watch another charade of minions. He seems to think he was born in the Macklin Islands maybe and is Hungarian but what does it matter when the answer to the rubic cube is evident in light of fully mechanized labor?




Babel to the Nth degree or we use media to educate and edify communally and quite intelligently.

Christ Mass.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.


Saturday 24 December 2016

Riseborough is a new trademark for Elizabeth.

So, as Puritan believers who seek to believe in this story of Christ as if they were the first believers, you are well able to repossess the land.

So, as Puritan believers who seek to believe in this story of Christ as if they were the first believers, you are well able to repossess the land.  You have been occupied by a manipulation of guilt and your tendency toward a sensitive conscience you play thing...shoooo!   There is no particular church or denomination that has any special right or place in history to propagate the gospel. 400 years demonstrates a lot of time in history.  That is certainly just about twice the age of United States of America. Rome and Constantine did not adopt Christianity or "the way" only to propagate the gospel as history indicates.   I believe propagating the gospel  is the only reason but some people seem to believe it was to quell the authority of this growing belief among the peoples in the empire that any person would be willing to die for Christ more so than to die for their emperor on the coin. So, the Roman empire is dead and the Catholic Church thanks the German called Martin Luther who decided to nail several principles to a door and took off with the word of God to feed the people with the truth of the gospel; seeding Protestantism.  How old is Protestantism?  He who has the guilty conscience looses in a battle over spiritual authority and if you have a sin and confess it, you will not be socially or morally guilty so to speak but in the sin you have, you may carry a greater burden or tendency toward shame in the presence of others who renounced and disowned a sin instead of living with it  as one would live with a rat in gnawing at their crotch.  So, then while you have your rat gnawing in you and the weak strain the black plague burning and making your community infertile, you feel authority and acceptance until you come into proximity with  another culture that is less tolerant and would rather kill the adulterers and leave them at the front of the city gate; you know like in the old days in Europe!  Remember?  But, then you met these apostatizers. Who are they/ Who are they working for? What is their intention? Are they trying to infiltrate the solemnity of the covenant and suggest there was no covenant between the husband and wife; as if they never consummated? That is an adulterous intention and if so is it to say Joseph was an adulterer which is the only corollary unless Joseph was also a perpetual celibate after the birth of baby Jesus.  But, what can you say after 400 years and why did people start saying it for the first time, this notion of the perpetual virgin, 400 years after Christ's birth once the Romans decided to get their hands on the story of Christ and water down the temperament a little in the doctrine.   There are some writing on these issues that fueled the Puritan identity as seen in libraries in Riseborough North Yorkshire  that rested within the bosom of Catholicism as written by Anglo Monks but not in the intention to depart from the mother church; before Henry the 8th of course and his Anglo Catholicism that allowed divorce. Who would want to allow divorce when Malachi 2 says God hates it and the Catholics in Rome confirmed the word. They did not confer consent.

Now, if you are going to propagate the gospel then propagate the gospel but if it is that you wish to engage in social engineering so that you will see your authority, then what authority in whose name or purpose do you wish to see the said authority?  The gospel has a certain authority and purpose of its own that says love your neighbor. Help those who have been mistreated and spitefully used.

So, when you are notified of circumstances, you bring your great communal resources to bear upon the situation and as such, you had an opportunity to see your authority; not just in fishing black refugees out of the Mediterranean sea but if those are the only people you lead the community to help, then we see who you are and the beginnings from which you came in your authority.  The only issue is what does a third or fourth generation refugee do to assist himself in being established in his new homeland or how does he help his neighbor or is it that he is afraid another individual that he could help might be him and sit in his seat for which he worked soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hard that he might turn a blind eye in the obviousness of the answer when the abused and used knock on his great and hallowed door?


Friday 23 December 2016


Did you know the University of London is funded by Catholics?


If you have any questions about this television, please contact Warren Augustine Lyon, LL.B(Hons),  U of Lon.  

Pope’s Christmas Greetings to Roman Curia: 12 Steps to Reform



Posted by ZENIT Staff on 22 December, 2016
captura-de-pantalla-2016-12-12-a-las-18-27-46-740x466
Here is a Vatican translation of the annual Christmas greetings the Pope offers to the Roman Curia.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I would like to begin this meeting of ours by offering cordial good wishes to all of you, superiors and officials, papal representatives and staff of the Nunciatures worldwide, all those working in the Roman Curia and to your families. Best wishes for a holy and serene Christmas and a happy New Year 2017!
Saint Augustine, contemplating the face of the Baby Jesus, exclaimed: “immense in the form of God, tiny in the form of a slave”. To describe the mystery of the Incarnation, Saint Macarius, the fourth-century monk and disciple of Saint Anthony Abbot, used the Greek verb “smikryno”, to become small, to reduce to the bare minimum. He says: “Listen attentively: the infinite, unapproachable and uncreated God, in his immense and ineffable goodness has taken a body, and, I dare say, infinitely diminished his glory”.
Christmas is thus the feast of the loving humility of God, of the God who upsets our logical expectations, the established order, the order of the dialectician and the mathematician. In this upset lies all the richness of God’s own thinking, which overturns our limited human ways of thinking (cf. Is 55: 8-9). As Romano Guardini said: “What an overturning of all our familiar values – not only human values but also divine values! Truly this God upsets everything that we claim to build up on our own”. At Christmas, we are called to say “yes” with our faith, not to the Master of the universe, and not even to the most noble of ideas, but precisely to this God who is the humble lover.
Blessed Paul VI, on Christmas of 1971, said: “God could have come wrapped in glory, splendour, light and power, to instill fear, to make us rub our eyes in amazement. But instead he came as the smallest, the frailest and weakest of beings. Why? So that no one would be ashamed to approach him, so that no one would be afraid, so that all would be close to him and draw near him, so that there would be no distance between us and him. God made the effort to plunge, to dive deep within us, so that each of us, each of you, could speak intimately with him, trust him, draw near him and realize that he thinks of you and loves you… He loves you! Think about what this means! If you understand this, if you remember what I am saying, you will have understood the whole of Christianity”.
God chose to be born a tiny child because he wanted to be loved. Here we see, as it were, how the logic of Christmas is the overturning of worldly logic, of the mentality of power and might, the thinking of the Pharisees and those who see things only in terms of causality or determinism.
In this gentle yet overpowering light of the divine countenance of the Christ Child, I have chosen as the theme of this, our yearly meeting, the reform of the Roman Curia. It seemed to me right and fitting to share with you the framework of the reform, to point out its guiding principles, the steps taken so far, but above all the logic behind every step already taken and what is yet to come.
Here I spontaneously think of the ancient adage that describes the process of the Spiritual Exercises in the Ignatian method: deformata reformare, reformata conformare, conformata confirmare et confirmata transformare.
There can be no doubt that, for the Curia, the word reform is to be understood in two ways. First of all, it has to make the Curia con-form “to the Good News which must be proclaimed joyously and courageously to all, especially to the poor, the least and the outcast”. To make it con-form “to the signs of our time and to all its human achievements”, so as “better to meet the demands of the men and women whom we are called to serve”. At the same time, this means con-forming the Curia ever more fully to its purpose, which is that of cooperating in the ministry of the Successor of Peter (cum ipso consociatam operam prosequuntur, as the Motu Proprio Humanam Progressionem puts it), and supporting the Roman Pontiff in the exercise of his singular, ordinary, full, supreme, immediate and universal power.
Consequently, the reform of the Roman Curia must be guided by ecclesiology and directed in bonum et in servitium, as is the service of the Bishop of Rome. This finds eloquent expression in the words of Pope Saint Gregory the Great, quoted in the third chapter of the Constitution Pastor Aeternus of the First Vatican Council: “My honour is that of the universal Church. My honour is the solid strength of my brothers. I feel truly honoured when none of them is denied his due honour”.
Since the Curia is not an immobile bureaucratic apparatus, reform is first and foremost a sign of life, of a Church that advances on her pilgrim way, of a Church that is living and for this reason semper reformanda, in need of reform because she is alive.
Here it must clearly be said that reform is not an end unto itself, but rather a process of growth and above all of conversion.
Consequently, the aim of reform is not aesthetic, an effort to improve the looks of the Curia, nor can it be understood as a sort of facelift, using make-up and cosmetics to embellish its aging body, nor even as an operation of plastic surgery to take away its wrinkles.
Dear brothers and sisters, it isn’t wrinkles we need to worry about in the Church, but blemishes!
Seen in this light, we need to realize that the reform will be effective only if it is carried out with men and women who are renewed and not simply new. We cannot be content simply with changing personnel, but need to encourage spiritual, human and professional renewal among the members of the Curia. The reform of the Curia is in no way implemented with a change of persons – something that certainly is happening and will continue to happen – but with a conversion in persons. Permanent formation is not enough; what we need also and above all is permanent conversion and purification. Without a change of mentality, efforts at practical improvement will be in vain.
That is why, in our last two meetings at Christmas, I discussed certain “diseases”, drawing on the teaching of the Desert Fathers (2014), and compiled, on the basis of the word “mercy”, a catalogue of virtues necessary for curial officials and all those who wish their consecration or service to the Church to become more fruitful (2015). The underlying reason is that, as in the case of the Church overall, the semper reformanda must also become, in the case of the Curia, a permanent personal and structural process of conversion.
It was necessary to speak of disease and cures because every surgical operation, if it is to be successful, must be preceded by detailed diagnosis and careful analysis, and needs to be accompanied and followed up by precise prescriptions.
In this process, it is normal, and indeed healthy, to encounter difficulties, which in the case of the reform, might present themselves as different types of resistance. There can be cases of open resistance, often born of goodwill and sincere dialogue, and cases of hidden resistance, born of fearful or hardened hearts content with the empty rhetoric of “spiritual window-dressing” typical of those who say they are ready for change, yet want everything to remain as it was before. There are also cases of  malicious resistance, which spring up in misguided minds and come to the fore when the devil inspires ill intentions (often cloaked in sheep’s clothing). This last kind of resistance hides behind words of self-justification and often accusation; it takes refuge in traditions, appearances, formalities, in the familiar, or else in a desire to make everything personal, failing to distinguish between the act, the actor, and the action.
The absence of reaction is a sign of death! Consequently, the good cases of resistance – and even those not quite so good – are necessary and merit being listened to, welcomed and their expression encouraged, because this is a sign that the body is living.
All this is to say that the reform of the Curia is a delicate process that has to take place in fidelity to essentials, with constant discernment, evangelical courage and ecclesial wisdom, careful listening, persevering action, positive silence and firm decisions. It requires much prayer, much prayer, profound humility, farsightedness, concrete steps forward and – whenever necessary – even with steps backward, with determination, vitality, responsible exercise of power, unconditioned obedience, but above all by abandonment to the sure guidance of the Holy Spirit and trust in his necessary support. And, for this reason, prayer, prayer and prayer.
SOME GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF THE REFORM
These are principally twelve: individualism; pastoral concern; missionary spirit; clear organization; improved functioning; modernization; sobriety; subsidiarity; synodality; catholicity; professionalism and gradualism.
1. Individual responsibility (personal conversion)
Once again I reaffirm the importance of individual conversion, without which all structural change would prove useless. The true soul of the reform are the men and women who are part of it and make it possible. Indeed, personal conversion supports and reinforces communal conversion.
There is a powerful interplay between personal and communal attitudes. A single person can bring great good to the entire body, but also bring great harm and lead to sickness. A healthy body is one that can recover, accept, reinforce, care for and sanctify its members.
2. Pastoral concern (pastoral conversion)
Mindful of the figure of the shepherd (cf. Ez 34:16; Jn 10:1-21) and recognizing that the Curia is a community of service, “it is good for us too, called to be pastors in the Church, to let the face of God the Good Shepherd enlighten us, purify us and transform us, fully renewed, to our mission. That even in our workplaces we may feel, cultivate and practise a sound pastoral sense, especially towards the people whom we meet each day. May no one feel overlooked or mistreated, but may everyone experience, here first of all, the care and concern of the Good Shepherd”. Behind every paper there is a person.
The efforts of all who work in the Curia must be inspired by pastoral concern and a spirituality of service and communion, for this is the antidote to all the venoms of vain ambition and illusory rivalry. Paul VI cautioned that “the Roman Curia should not be a bureaucracy, as some wrongly judge it, pretentious and apathetic, merely legalistic and ritualistic, a training ground of concealed ambitions and veiled antagonisms, as others would have it. Rather, it should be a true community of faith and charity, of prayer and of activity, of brothers and sons of the Pope, who carry out their duties respecting one another’s competence and with a sense of collaboration, in order to serve him as he serves his brothers and sons of the universal Church and of the entire world”.
3. Missionary spirit (Christocentrism)
As the Council taught, it is the chief aim of all forms of service in the Church to bring the Good News to the ends of the earth. For “there are Church structures which can hamper efforts at evangelization, yet even good structures are only helpful when there is a life constantly driving, sustaining and assessing them. Without new life and an authentic evangelical spirit, without the Church’s fidelity to her own calling, any new structure will soon prove ineffective.”
4. Clear organization
On the basis of the principle that all Dicasteries are juridically equal, a clearer organization of the offices of the Roman Curia was needed, in order to bring out the fact that each Dicastery has its own areas of competence. These areas of competence must be respected, but they must also be distributed in a reasonable, efficient and productive way. No Dicastery can therefore appropriate the competence of another Dicastery, in accordance with what is laid down by law. On the other hand, all Dicasteries report directly to the Pope.
5. Improved functioning
The eventual merging of two or more Dicasteries competent in similar or closely connected matters to create a single Dicastery serves on the one hand to give the latter greater importance (even externally). On the other hand, the closeness and interaction of individual bodies within a single Dicastery contributes to improved functioning (as shown by the two recently created Dicasteries).
Improved functioning also demands an ongoing review of roles, the relevance of areas of competence, and the responsibilities of the personnel, and consequently of the process of reassignment, hiring, interruption of work and also promotions.
6. Modernization (updating)
This involves an ability to interpret and attend to “the signs of the times.” In this sense, “We are concerned to make provisions that the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia be suited to the circumstances of our time and adapted to the needs of the universal Church”. Such was the request of the Second Vatican Council: “the departments of the Roman Curia should be reorganized in a manner more appropriate to the needs of our time and of different regions and rites, especially in regard to their number, their titles, their competence, their procedures and how they coordinate their activities”.
7. Sobriety
Here what is called for is a simplification and streamlining of the Curia. This involves the combination or merging of Dicasteries based on their areas of competence; simplification within individual Dicasteries; the eventual suppression of offices no longer responding to contingent needs; the integration into Dicasteries or the reduction of Commissions, Academies, Committees, etc., all in view of the essential sobriety needed for a proper and authentic witness.
8. Subsidiarity
This involves the reordering of areas of competence specific to the various Dicasteries, transferring them if necessary from one Dicastery to another, in order to achieve autonomy, coordination and subsidiarity in areas of competence and effective interaction in service.
Here too, respect must be shown for the principles of subsidiarity and clear organization with regard to relations with the Secretariat of State and, within the latter, among its various areas of competence, so that carrying out its proper duties it will be of direct and immediate assistance to the Pope. This will also improve coordination between the various sectors of the Dicasteries and the Offices of the Curia themselves. The Secretariat of State will be able to carry out its important function precisely in achieving unity, interdependence and coordination between its sections and different sectors.
9. Synodality
The work of the Curia must be synodal, with regular meetings of Heads of the Dicasteries, presided over by the Roman Pontiff; regularly scheduled Audiences of Heads of the Dicasteries with the Pope, and the customary interdicasterial meetings. The reduced number of Dicasteries will allow for more frequent and systematic meetings of individual Prefects with the Pope and productive meetings of Heads of Dicasteries, since this cannot be the case when groups are too large.
Synodality must also be evident in the work of each Dicastery, with particular attention to the Congress and at least a greater frequency of the Ordinary Sessions. Each Dicastery must avoid the fragmentation caused by factors such as the multiplication of specialized sectors, which can tend to become self-absorbed. Their coordination must be the task of the Secretary, or the Undersecretary.
10. Catholicity
Among the Officials, in addition to priests and consecrated persons, the catholicity of the Church must be reflected in the hiring of personnel from throughout the world, of permanent deacons and lay faithful carefully selected on the basis of their unexceptionable spiritual and moral life and their professional competence. It is fitting to provide for the hiring of greater numbers of the lay faithful, especially in those Dicasteries where they can be more competent than clerics or consecrated persons. Also of great importance is an enhanced role for women and lay people in the life of the Church and their integration into roles of leadership in the Dicasteries, with particular attention to multiculturalism.
11. Professionalism
Every Dicastery must adopt a policy of continuing formation for its personnel, to avoid their falling into a rut or becoming stuck in a bureaucratic routine.
Likewise essential is the definitive abolition of the practice of promoveatur ut amoveatur. This is a cancer.
12. Gradualism (discernment)
Gradualism has to do with the necessary discernment entailed by historical processes, the passage of time and stages of development, assessment, correction, experimentation, and approvals ad experimentum. In these cases, it is not a matter of indecision, but of the flexibility needed to be able to achieve a true reform.
STEPS ALREADY TAKEN
I will now mention briefly and concisely some steps already taken to put into practice these guiding principles and the recommendations made by the Cardinals in the plenary meetings before the Conclave, by the COSEA, by the Council of Cardinals (C9), and by the Heads of the Dicasteries and other experts and individuals:
– On 13 April 2013 it was announced that the Council of Cardinals (Consilium Cardinalium Summo Pontifici) – the C8 and, after 1 July 2014, the C9 – was created, primarily to counsel the Pope on the governance of the universal Church and on other related topics, also with the specific task of proposing the revision of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus.
– With the Chirograph of 24 June 2013, the Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Institute for Works of Religion was established, in order to study the legal status of the IOR and to allow for its greater ”harmonization” with “the universal mission of the Apostolic See”. This was “to ensure that economic and financial activities be permeated by Gospel principles” and to achieve a complete and acknowledged transparency in its operation.
– With the Motu Proprio of 11 July 2013, provisions were made to define the jurisdiction of the judicial authorities of Vatican City State in criminal matters.
– With the Chirograph of 18 July 2013, the COSEA (Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Organization of the Economic-Administrative Structure) was instituted and given the task of research, analysis and the gathering of information, in cooperation with the Council of Cardinals for the study of the organizational and economic problems of the Holy See.
– With the Motu Proprio of 8 August 2013, the Holy See’s Financial Security Committee was established for the prevention and countering of money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This was to bring the IOR and the entire Vatican economic system to the regular adoption of, and fully committed and diligent compliance with, all international legal norms on financial transparency.
– With the Motu Proprio of 15 November 2013, the Financial Intelligence Authority (AIF), established by Benedict XVI with his Motu Proprio of 30 December 2010 for the prevention and countering of illegal activities in the area of monetary and financial dealings, was consolidated.
– With the Motu Proprio 24 February 2014 (Fidelis Dispensator et Prudens), the Secretariat for the Economy and the Council for the Economy were established to replace the Council of 15 Cardinals, with the task of harmonizing the policies of control in regard to the economic management of the Holy See and the Vatican City.
– With the same Motu Proprio of 24 February 2014, the Office of General Auditor (URG) was established as a new agency of the Holy See, charged with auditing the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the institutions connected with to the Holy See or associated with it, and the administrations of the Governatorate of Vatican City.
– With the Chirograph of 22 March 2014, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors was established, in order “to promote the protection of the dignity of minors and vulnerable adults, using the forms and methods, consonant with the nature of the Church, which they consider most appropriate”.
– With the Motu Proprio of 8 July 2014, the Ordinary Section of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See was transferred to the Secretariat for the Economy.
– On 22 February 2015, the Statutes of the new economic agencies were approved.
– With the Motu Proprio of 27 June 2015, the Secretariat for Communication was established and charged “to respond to the current context of communication, characterized by the presence and evolution of digital media, and by factors of convergence and interactivity”. The Secretariat was also charged with overall restructuring, through a process of reorganization and merging, of “all the realities which in various ways up to the present have dealt with communications”, so as to “respond ever better to the needs of the mission of the Church”
– On 6 September 2016, the Statutes of the Secretariat for Communication were promulgated; they took effect last October.
With the two Motu Proprios of 15 August 2015, provisions were made for the reform of the canonical process in cases of declaration of marital nullity: Mitis et Misericors Iesus for the Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches, and Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus for the Code of Canon Law.
– With the Motu Proprio of 4 June 2016 (Come una madre amorevole), an effort was made to prevent negligence on the part of bishops in the exercise of their office, especially with regard to cases of the sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults.
– With the Motu Proprio of 4 July 2016 (I beni temporali), following the rule whereby the organs of oversight should be separate from those that being overseen, the respective areas of competence of the Secretariat of the Economy and of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See should be more carefully delineated.
– With the Motu Proprio of 15 August 2016 (Sedula Mater), the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life was established, in the light of the general pastoral purpose of the Petrine ministry: “I hasten to arrange all things necessary in order that the richness of Christ Jesus may be poured forth appropriately and profusely among the faithful”.
– With the Motu Proprio of 17 August 2016 (Humanum progressionem), the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development was established, so that development can take place “by attending to the inestimable goods of justice, peace and the care of creation”. Beginning in January 2017, four Pontifical Councils – Justice and Peace, Cor Unum, the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, and Healthcare Workers – will be merged into this Dicastery. For the time being, I will directly head the section for the pastoral care of migrants in the new Dicastery.
– On 18 October 2016, the Statutes of the Pontifical Academy for Life were approved.
Our meeting today began by speaking of the meaning of Christmas as the overturning of our human criteria, in order to emphasize that the heart and centre of the reform is Christ (Christocentrism).
I would like to conclude simply with a word and a prayer. The word is to reiterate that Christmas is the feast of God’s  loving humility. As the prayer I have chosen the Christmas message of Father Matta el Meskin, a monk of our time, who, addressing the Lord Jesus born in Bethlehem, said: “If for us the experience of (your) infancy is so difficult, it is not so for you, O Son of God. If we stumble along the way that leads to communion with you because of your smallness, you are capable of removing all the obstacles that prevent us from doing this. We know that you will not be at peace until you find us in your likeness and with this (same) smallness. Allow us today, O Son of God, to draw dear to your heart. Grant that we may not consider ourselves great in our experiences. Grant us instead to become small like you, so that we can draw near to you and receive from you abundant humility and meekness. Do not deprive us of your revelation, the epiphany of your infancy in our hearts, so that with it we can heal all our pride and all our arrogance. We greatly need… for you to reveal in us your simplicity, by drawing us, and indeed the Church and the whole world, to yourself. Our world is weary and exhausted, because everyone is vying to see who is the greatest. There is a ruthless competition between governments, churches, peoples, within families, from one parish to another: Who of us is the greatest? The world is festering with painful wounds because of this great illness: Who is the greatest? But today we have found in you, O Son of God, our one medicine. We, and the whole world, will not find salvation or peace unless we go back to encounter you anew in the manger of Bethlehem. Amen.
Thank you, and I wish you a Holy Christmas and a Blessed New Year 2017!
[The Pope added the following extemporaneous remarks]
When, two years ago, I spoke about the illnesses, one of you came to say to me: “Where must I go, to the pharmacy or to confession?” “Well… both!” I replied. And when I greeted Cardinal BrandmĂ¼ller, he looked me in the eye and said: “Acquaviva!” I, at the time, did not understand, but later, thinking about it, I remembered that Acquaviva, the third general of the Society of Jesus, had written a book which we students read in Latin; the spiritual fathers made us read it, and it was entitled: Industriae pro Superioribusejusdem  Societatis ad curandos animae morbos, that is, the illnesses of the soul. Three months ago, a very good edition came out in Italian, done by Father Giuliano Raffo, who died recently, with a good prologue which indicates how to read the book, and also with a good introduction. It is not a critical edition, but it is a really beautiful translation, very well done, and I believe it could be useful. As a Christmas gift, I would like to offer it to each one of you. Thank you.
[Orignal text: Italian]
© Copyright – Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[Extensive footnotes in Italian can be found at the Vatican web site]
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 22 December, 2016
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At 9:08 this morning, Pope Francis was connected by telephone with the TG1-RAII “Unomattina” television program, on the occasion of the 30thanniversary of its transmission.
Here is a translation of the transcription of the words spoken by the Holy Father in the course of the telephone call.
* * *
Master of Ceremonies: Hello, Your Holiness …
Pope Francis: Good morning!
Master of Ceremonies: Good morning, thank you!
Pope Francis: I’ve been told that today is an important date for those of you of “Unomattina”: you are observing 30 years of broadcasting …
Master of Ceremonies: It’s true …
Pope Francis: I wish to congratulate you, the authors of the program, the masters of ceremonies, the journalists, the directors, the technicians, the employees … in sum, all those who cooperate in the realization of this very popular transmission. I know that today the Directors of TG1 and RAI 1 are also present: a greeting goes to them and good work!
Master of Ceremonies: Thank you, Holiness. We — Francesca and I — together with all our journalists, directors, and technicians wish to congratulate you for your Birthday, for your 80 years. And then we prepared a little surprise for you, Holiness. Here it is …
Pope Francis: Let’s see what the little surprise is …  (part of a montage on Pope Francis)
Master of Ceremonies: Holiness, are you still on the telephone with us?
Pope Francis: Yes, yes, and I thank you for the surprise.
Master of Ceremonies: We want to thank you and, given that Christmas is in a few days, we would like to know if …
Master of Ceremonies: … in the meantime we express our Christmas greetings: Happy Christmas, Holiness!
Master of Ceremonies:  … if you would like to leave a message for all those who follow us from their home: among them there are also many elderly and many sick individuals …
Pope Francis: Yes. Yes I wish you a Christian Christmas, as the first was, when God wished to overturn the values of the world, He made Himself small in a stable, with little ones, with the poor, with the marginalized … Littleness. In this world where the god money is so adored, may Christmas help us to look at the littleness of this God who has overturned worldly values. I wish you a Holy and Happy Christmas: a Holy and Happy Christmas. I embrace all of you.
Master of Ceremonies: Thank you, Holiness. Happy Christmas.
Pope Francis: Happy Christmas!
[Original text: Italian]  [Translation by ZENIT]
Posted by Father Ziad Hilal on 22 December, 2016
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ALEPPO, Syria (Dec. 22, 2016)—For the past few days, Aleppo city has been breathing sighs of relief. Since the rebels reached an agreement with the regime forces and its allies to evacuate all civilians and militants from their last stronghold in east Aleppo city, there finally can be some peace.
From the very start of the Syrian civil war, Aleppo has paid the greatest price on the humanitarian, social, economic and environmental level. Many people had to evacuate their houses and shops due to violence. So many lives were lost, leaving countless numbers of widows and orphans. Trees and park benches are chopped by those desperate for heating, given the scarcity of fuel and gas and exorbitant prices. Once a city of five million inhabitants, only 1.5 million people remain.
This particularly cold winter many families are left homeless, finding shelter in the streets, in abandoned factories and construction sites. Humanitarian agencies are not managing to coordinate their activities, which has resulted in chaos. Most of the evacuated children have not been able to go to school for the last three years, which spells disaster for the next generation of adults. Disease is spreading freely among women and children, many of them left without a father who has been evacuated from eastern Aleppo.
No Christian here ever thought of leaving Aleppo were it not for the hell in which people have been living. The humanitarian conditions are horrific. The city has been without electricity for the past six months! Even when the power lines are operating normally, only one or two hours of service at best is provided. Water is cut off routinely and many parts of Aleppo have been without water for 40 days. The old historic churches in the old city area are destroyed beyond repair.
Aleppo was home to 120,000 Christians before the war; now only 30,000 remain. The war, the violence, the horrible humanitarian conditions, and the fear for their lives and the lives of their children forced families to take the tough decision to flee to Lebanon or beyond.
Clergy and men and women religious who have remained are continuing their ministry to those who are still here. Jesuit Relief Services here serves 10,000 hot meals every day to people of all faiths and backgrounds; we also hand-out baskets each day with both food and non-food items. We also provide medical and social services. All the Churches in the city work in harmony to help Christians and Muslims alike.
Despite these harsh conditions, Christmas still comes with its message of hope—hope for peace that has been so elusive for five years. Bells will be ringing in the churches that are still standing, announcing glad tidings: Emmanuel, God is with us. My Christmas Mass homily will have as its theme: “Mercy: the hand that opens the doors so that the spirit of love may come in.”
My reflections will touch upon something few in the West realize: Christians in Aleppo have always played a major part in mediation between warring factions. They need to continue to play that vital role, especially now, when the country has taken a step toward a new chapter of peace and reconstruction. Syrian Christians will follow the lead of Pope Francis, who insists that that there is a three-part solution to the Syrian crisis: forgiveness, dialogue, and reconciliation. Bringing that about is the calling of every Christian in Syria today.
Father Hilal, S.J., is the representative in Syria for the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, ACN has spent approx. $20M in support of the persecuted and suffering Church in the country.
Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy See, providing assistance to the suffering and persecuted Church in more than 140 countries. www.churchinneed.org (USA); www.acnuk.org (UK); www.aidtochurch.org  (AUS); www.acnireland.org (IRL); www.acn-aed-ca.org (CAN) www.acnmalta.org (Malta)
 
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 22 December, 2016
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Pope Francis on Wednesday received in audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorized the promulgation of the following decrees.
Among them is the recognition of the heroic virtue of Isidoro Zorzano Ledesma, who was a classmate of Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei. Zorzano was one of the first members of Opus Dei, and was instrumental in assisting Fr Escriva and others during the Spanish Civil War. He died of cancer at age 40.

MIRACLES, attributed to the intercession of:
Blessed Faustino Miguez, Spanish professed priest of the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools (Escolapios), founder of the Congregation of the Calasanzian Sisters, Daughters of the Divine Shepherdess (1831-1925);
Venerable Servant of God Leopoldina Naudet, Italian founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family (1773-1834);
MARTYRDOM
Servants of God Mateo Casals, professed priest; TeĂ³filo CasajĂºs, professed scholastic; Fernando Saperas, professed religious; and 106 companions of the Congregation of Missionaries Sons of the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary, killed in hatred of the faith during the civil war in Spain between 1936 and 1937;
HEROIC VIRTUES
Servant of God Jean-Baptiste Fouque, French diocesan priest (1851-1926);
Servant of God Lorenzo of the Holy Spirit (né Egidio Marcelli), Italian professed religious of the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (1874-1953);
Servant of God Maria Rafaela del Sagrado CorazĂ³n de JesĂºs (néè Sebastiana LladĂ³ y Sala), Spanish founder of the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (1814-1899);
Servant of God Clelia Merloni, Italian founder of the Institute of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1861-1930);
Servant of God Isidoro Zorzano Ledesma, Spanish layperson of the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and of Opus Dei (1902-1943).
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 22 December, 2016
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Here is a reflection for Christmas by Bishop Michael Smith of Meath, Ireland.
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The Scripture texts that tell the story of the birth of Jesus take us into an unfamiliar divine world, one featuring annunciation by angels, visions of angelic choirs, people breaking out into canticles of joy and so forth.  But along with all this specialness is a lot of ordinariness too.  We are told of a young girl Mary who is, at first, “deeply disturbed” (Lk. 29) by what the angel’s greeting could mean. Nor is the honourable and righteous Joseph without confusion (cf. Mt. 1.20). There are government decrees requiring travel at a most inconvenient time; finding no place to stay when the child is about to be born.
These two threads – the marvelous and the ordinary – are woven together in the Scriptures in a way that is surely intentional on the part of the Evangelists, especially St Luke.  The divine intervention, the fulfillment of the Hebrew promise, comes about in the ordinary dilemmas of life. But it does so in surprising and unexpected ways.  The obstacles and fears – the dropped stitches, so to speak – are eventually picked up and sewn back into a broader divine purpose.
As believers, we all live on a divine promise.  We look for the completion of that promise in the reality of our lives and in the communities to which we belong.  Yet we find a painful gap between what we expect from the promise and the reality that we see. That reality, all too often, is marred by brokenness and pain.  When lives are scarred by sin, when communities are crushed by cruelties and deceit, our faith is challenged to find the harmony between what God has promised and what we see around us.  
Let Mary takes us with her to face this challenge of faith.  She had much to contemplate as she surrendered herself to God’s will.  On two occasions, Luke tells us that even Mary’s faith is shrouded in darkness. The first at the Annunciation; the second when her Son is found in the Temple and His parents “did not understand the meaning of the saying He spoke to them” (Lk. 2:50). 
Yet, as Pope Benedict XVI points out, twice Mary kept these words in her heart (Lk. 2:19, 51). Her twice encountered fears are matched by her twice expression of faith.  Specifically, she “treasured” and “pondered” and “stored up all these things in her heart”. For Mary, despite the sword that would pierce the very heart in which she stored this treasure, she pondered the divine promise and said yes to whatever God would ask of her.  
When Mary and her cousin Elizabeth shared their stories, that was the beginning of the Christian community of faith.  Mary is presented as the model of our faith.  “Blessed is she who believed that the promise made to her by the Lord would be fulfilled” as Elizabeth had said to her (Lk. 1:45).
Every family is urged by Pope Francis to look to the icon of the Holy Family of Nazareth because its daily life had its share of burdens and even darkness. Like the Magi, our families are invited to contemplate the Child and His Mother, to bow down and worship Him (cf. Amoris Laetitia, 30).   
Pope Francis specifically refers to “the treasury of Mary’s heart” (AL 30). In the gap between the divine promise in which we trust and the painful reality in which we sometimes live, all that is stored up in the treasury of Mary’s heart becomes for us the source of our faith.  She gathered this treasure from amidst the marvelous and the ordinary. A child is born for us. He is God-with-us. Dominion is laid on His shoulders. He frees us for our sins and directs us in the path of righteousness that leads to peace. Whether wine flowed at Cana or the blood of Her Son was poured forth on Calvary, Mary was there, her steadfastness and fidelity undimmed. 
As we draw on the treasury of Mary’s heart – filled as it is with the marvelous and the ordinary – we can make our own her song of joy: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God my saviour” (Lk 1:46-47).
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 22 December, 2016
Vatican City
Today, Pope Francis met with Holy See and Vatican City State staff, with their respective relatives, to offer Christmas greetings.
Here is a translation of the Holy Father’s address to those present.
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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We meet again for this beautiful family moment, to exchange Christmas greetings. It is a very pleasing moment for me, because it is the occasion for us to be all together, also with your families, wives and husbands, children, parents, who are often grandparents …
First of all, I want to thank the Lord with you for all His gifts. Because it is true that in these days one thinks of Christmas presents, but in reality He is the one who gives us the true gift, our Father, who gives us Jesus. And, in fact, our gifts, this lovely tradition of exchanging gifts, should express this: a reflection of the unique gift that is His Son made man and born of the Virgin Mary.
And today we want to thank God first of all for the gift of work. Work is most important, be it for the person himself who works, be it for his family. And while we give thanks, we pray for the individuals and families in Italy and in the whole world who do not have work or who, so often, engage in unworthy work, badly paid, harmful to health … We must always thank God for our work. And we must commit ourselves, each one of us with his own responsibility, so that work is fitting, respectful of the person and of the family, is just. And here in the Vatican we have a further reason to do so, we have the Gospel, and we must follow the directives of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Here in the Vatican I do not want jobs that are not in this line: no illegal work, no subterfuges.
Therefore, we thank the Lord for everything. But, on my part, today I wish to thank you for your work. I thank each one of you, each one, for the commitment you put every day in doing your work and in trying to do it well, even when perhaps you do not feel so well, or there are family worries … A lovely thing of the Vatican is that, being a very small reality, one succeeds in seeing it as a whole, with the different mansions that make up the whole, and each one is important. The various sectors of work are close and connected; one knows almost everyone; and one feels the satisfaction of seeing a certain order, that things function, with all the limitations, of course, one can always improve and one must, but it does one good to feel that every sector does its part and the whole functions well to the benefit of all. Here, this is easier, because we are a small reality, but this doesn’t take anything away from one’s personal commitment and merit; therefore, I feel the desire to thank you.
This year we have lived was a special year: there was the Holy Year of Mercy. We also did our Jubilee together, do you remember? The first part here, in this Hall, and then we went in procession to the Holy Door. This year the Lord had His mercy flow over us. And did all this grace end with the conclusion of the Jubilee? No! This grace is within us, because we make it fructify in our every day life, be it in the family, be it at work – everywhere. Christmas reminds us of this: “The grace of God appeared, which brings salvation to all men and teaches us […] to live in this world with sobriety, justice and mercy” (Tt 2:111-12), says the Apostle Saint Paul. The “grace of God” “appeared” in Jesus. He is Love, the love of God incarnate, by the power of the Holy Spirit. And all of us have received this same Spirit in Baptism and in Confirmation; but we must invoke Him every day, reawaken the action of the Spirit in us, “to live in this world” – also in this small world of the Vatican – with sobriety, justice and mercy.”
Dear brothers and sisters, while I thank you, I ask you to take my special greeting  to the children and the elderly of your families. They are so important – and a greeting accompanied by prayer to the sick.
I express this wish for all: that your hearts be full of mercy, full of the grace of the Jubilee that Jesus comes to rekindle in us.
May the Lord bless you and may our Lady protect you.
And, remember to pray for me before the Crib. Thank you.
[Original text: Italian]  [Translation by ZENIT]
Posted by RocĂ­o Lancho GarcĂ­a on 21 December, 2016
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“Madre Esperanza. Los milagros desconocidos del alma gemela del Padre PĂ­o” (Mother Esperanza: The Unknown Miracles of Padre Pio’s Twin Soul) is a book that reflects on the life and work of Mother Esperanza, a Spanish Religious Founder of the Shrine of Merciful Love of Collevalenza — a woman who “read Jacqueline Kennedy’s soul” and who was beatified in 2014.
Jose Maria Zavala, the book’s author, had access to the Congregation’s archives, to the Positio and especially to testimonies and two unpublished diaries of very significant individuals who spoke with Mother Esperanza and whose diaries reveal unknown details of her relationship with Saint John Paul II, Padre Pio and Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer.
The book’s first edition was sold out in 24 hours, the day after Iker Jimenez presented it in the “Fourth Millennium” television program, where the author collaborates.
ZENIT: How did the idea of writing this book come about?
Zavala: Pure Providence. I went with my family to live in Murcia last year, not knowing very well what we had lost there, weighing several work issues. However, at a most unexpected moment, a priest spoke to me for the first time of Mother Esperanza, adding: “You must write her biography to make her known in Spain.” He gave me a folder on her and, as I read it, I was convinced that I had to write that book. Since then, I undertook a trip to Collevalenza and to Rome, where I was able to interview living witnesses who knew Mother Esperanza for many years, and to access the formidable archive of the Shrine of Merciful Love.
ZENIT: How did you undertake the task of documentation?
Zavala: The Positio also had to be managed, namely, Mother Esperanza’s process of canonization, as happened to me at the time with Padre Pio, to write a book which is now in its 16th edition in Spain, and which has been translated in Italy; it was a wonderful experience and an immense privilege. There is a veritable arsenal of documents in the Positio, many of them unpublished, which now come to light in the book, together as well with the unknown diaries of Father Mario Gialletti, Mother Esperanza’s secretary up to the moment of her death, and of Pietro Iacopini, one of her most beloved sons.
ZENIT: In addition to making Mother Esperanza known, what else does this book offer?
Zavala: For instance, the written testimony ex profeso for the book of the parents of Francesco Maria, the boy whose miraculous cure served Pope Francis to authorize the Decree of Beatification of Mother Esperanza in 2014. And many more things: the day in which Mother Esperanza began to vomit blood, soaking four whole towels, knowing that in a few hours Turk Ali Agca would attack John Paul II in Saint Peter’s Square on May 13, 1981. That same dawn, they called the Religious’ personal doctor, Tommasso Baccarelli. As soon as he saw his patient, he decided on an urgent blood transfusion, alleging that otherwise she would die. However, while they were engaged in the pertinent analyses to determine her blood type, Dr. Baccarelli was astonished to see that the level of her red blood cells was completely normal. Yet, Mother Esperanza did not stop vomiting blood, between death rattles, until she learned that John Paul II’s life was out of danger. I was able to do the reconstruction of what happened that day in Mother Esperanza’s cell with the testimonies found in the Positio, among them Sister Amada’s statement, who was at her side at all times and whom I met in person in Collevalenza.
ZENIT: Why is she called “Padre Pio’s twin soul”?
Zavala: Spiritually speaking, they were like two drops of water. They both had Jesus Christ’s stigmata in their hands, feet and side for more than half a century, as well as the gift of bilocation (the possibility of being in two different places at the same time), of introspection of consciences, miraculous cures, prophecy … And,  in Mother Esperanza’s case, she also multiplied food with which she fed more than 3,000 people every day in Rome, during World War II. And as if that were not enough, she also changed water into wine. Padre Pio and Mother Esperanza were also united in the personal persecution they both suffered on the part of the Church herself.
ZENIT: How did the meeting with Jacqueline Kennedy come about?
Zavala: The young widow of the former President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, went to Collevalenza on November 15, 1967. The youngest First Lady in the history of her country, she was then 38 and had almost her whole life before her, after the terrible attack that cost her husband’s life four years earlier, but her soul was battling with intense convulsions.
She was accompanied that day by Antonio Garrigues y Diaz-Canabate, the Spanish Ambassador to the Holy See, of whom evil or perhaps indiscreet tongues attributed at the time a disgraceful romance with the beautiful and elegant North American lady. JFK’s widow met with Mother Esperanza, who, after reading her soul, gave her some advice to come close to God and give meaning to her life of intense suffering.
ZENIT: Why do you think Mother Esperanza’s life and work is little known in Spain?
Zavala: She, in fact, exemplifies very well that no one is a prophet in his land. However, I will tell you that now there are thousands of new people who know her through her book, whose first edition was sold out in 24 hours, after being presented on the “Fourth Millennium” program, directed by Iker Jimenez, with whom I collaborate. That same night I couldn’t get any sleep, answering the hundreds of messages of people who had watched the program and were impacted by the figure of Mother Esperanza.
ZENIT: You have had access to two unpublished diaries of individuals who knew Mother Esperanza and which reveal unknown details on her relationship with Saint John Paul II, Padre Pio and Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer. Can you tell us something about this?
Zavala: We begin, if you agree, with Saint John Paul II. Karol Wojtyla, the then Archbishop of Krakow, visited Mother Esperanza in Collevalenza in 1964, in order to give him the key to unblock Sister Faustina Kowalska’s process of beatification … and she gave it to him! Padre Pio put them in touch.
She and Padre Pio saw one another during a whole year in bilocation in the Holy Office, and they both sent one another souls to be cared for. Saint Josemaria Escriva de Balagueer also had close contact with her in Madrid in 1935. At the time, the Founder of Opus Dei resided in the DYA Academy, which was on the same Ferraz street where Mother Esperanza also lived. Saint Josemaria visited her often in the company of Isidoro Zorzano, one of Opus Dei’s first numeraries [who has just been declared venerable], and tried to console her given the brutal persecution she was then suffering on the part of the Church.
Posted by ZENIT Staff on 21 December, 2016
Holy Shepherd
Pope Francis has named Capuchin Fr. Samuel Oton Sidin as bishop of Sintang, Indonesia.
He was born in 1954 in Pontianak, Indonesia, gave his religious vows in 1982, and was ordained a priest in 1984. He completed his philosophical and theological studies in the interdiocesan major seminary of Pematangsiantar in Medan, Sumatra, and holds a licentiate in spirituality from the Pontifical University Antonianum, Rome.
He has served as parish vicar, deputy master and master of novices, minister of the province of Capuchin Fathers in Pontianak, director of the Rumah Pelangi House and head of planning for forest conservation, and minister of the Capuchin Province of Pontianak. He is currently pastor of the St. Francis of Assisi parish in Tebet, Jakarta.
The Diocese of Sintang has a population of close to 1 million with some 250,000 Catholics. They are served by about 70 priests and the same number of religious.