Tag: Christianity

Although we know little about the early life of St. Rupert, he is believed to have been born in Gaul territory, in modern-day France, around the year 660. Some records indicate that he may have been a member of the Merovignian royal line, although he lived with great asceticism, giving much to the poor and spending most of his time in fasting and prayer.

Eventually, Rupert was consecrated as Bishop of Worms in what is now Germany, where he served as a wise and devout leader. However, the largely pagan population eventually beat him, and drove him out of the city.

Rupert then made a pilgrimage to Rome, where he received the answer to his prayer sin the form of Duke Theodo of Bavaria. Bavaria at the time was not completely pagan, but had not yet fully embraced Christianity. Although many missionaries had evangelized there, the local religion tended to merge pagan aspects with Christian, creating a heretical mixed faith. The duke asked Rupert to restore and correct the faith throughout the land, and Rupert came to Regensburg to help.

Throughout his extensive mission in Bavaria, Rupert brought a group of priests and began working to convert the local people. His work brought about many conversions and many miracles, including healings. He and his priests built a great church in Salzburg, which they placed under the patronage of St. Peter. They also built a monastery in the Order of St. Benedict, and Rupert’s niece became abbess at a Benedictine convent they built nearby.

Rupert served as both Bishop of Salzburg and abbot of the monastery, and this pairing of the two roles was continued on by his successor until the late 10th century.

St. Rupert died after celebrating Mass on Easter Sunday, March 27, 718. There are many churches and monasteries named after him, including Salzburg’s Cathedral of St. Rupert, and the Church of St. Rupert, which is believed to be the oldest surviving church in Vienna.

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Bucharest, March 27, 2024

Photo: basilica.ro     

Plans for an Orthodox chapel in the Romanian Parliament have long been underway, and on March 25, the feast of the Annunciation, the prayer space was formally opened.

His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania consecrated the new Chapel of St. Andrew the First-Called on Monday evening, reports the Basilica News Agency.

The Patriarch noted that in the history of the Romanian people, the National Council and then the Chamber of Deputies were located next to the Metropolitan (now Patriarchal) Cathedral, and now the Parliament is located near the National Cathedral that is dedicated to both the Ascension of Christ and St. Andrew the Apostle, the Protector of Romania.

Thus, the Patriarch proposed that the new chapel be dedicated to St. Andrew, whose feast the Parliament also established as a state holiday in 2012.

The consecration of the chapel in the Parliament has a special spiritual significance, the Patriarch said: “It highlights the connection between prayer and communion, between worship and culture, including political culture, between activity and institutional community, between individual freedom and social responsibility.”

“In an increasingly secularized world, a consecrated liturgical space that invites prayer helps us to rediscover the truth that man is called to sanctification in the relationship of communion with the holy God and to humble service towards people because individual prayer and community is a source of peace, joy and hope,” the Romanian primate continued.

The Patriarch also donated a number of liturgical books for the chapel, including the Bible, the Psalter, the Book of Hours, the Triodion, and prayer books for those praying in the chapel.

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Students at Junipero Serra High School in Gardena held a viewing party on March 21 to watch another of their experiments launched to the International Space Station.

On Aug. 1, 2023, Serra High students Isaiah Dunn, Christopher Holbert, Travis Leonard, Anderson Pecot, and Henry Toler saw their first experiment — attempting to get a seed to germinate and grow in space — launched on a SpaceX rocket as part of NASA’s International Space Station Program.

This year’s project involved the same five students plus newcomers Keith Davie, Jonathan Cruz, and Sasha Leverett and incorporated 3D printing in microgravity. The experiment will be studied at the International Space Station for a month before being returned to students for further analysis. Kenneth Irvine, science teacher and Science Department chair at Serra, worked closely with the students to get the project up and running.

After watching their experiment head to space in a successful launch, everyone was just relieved that everything went off without a hitch.

“It’s one thing to look at a feat of engineering and go, ‘Wow, that’s really cool,’ ” Irvine said. “It’s another thing when our students have been engineering something, they know how complicated it is.”

At the launch event, Serra High’s space team was honored by LA County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell’s office, and the students will also be honored by the California State Assembly in Sacramento on April 22.

Work for this year’s project began with brainstorming ideas in August, then having a prototype built in mid-December, to having a final unit ready in the first week of February.

Students finally came up with the idea to study the effect of 3D printing in microgravity after noticing that research into that specific subject had not been studied too heavily, Irvine said.

“What they’re really trying to study, in short, is how different the properties are of this resin when it’s been cured in microgravity, as opposed to the same conditions on Earth,” Irvine said. “When we get the object back, we’ll be testing the chemical and physical properties to see if one was cured differently than the other.”

He said the ability to use 3D printing in microgravity would be beneficial for agencies to produce things as needed in space rather than delivering them from Earth, noting that it costs up to $20,000 per pound to ship something into orbit.

Last year’s experiment of trying to grow a seed in space was created to try harvesting food, plants and medicine in space, and to design systems for removing carbon dioxide from a sealed environment while contributing oxygen back to the surroundings, which could be helpful in long-term space flight and living situations.

According to the school, Serra is one of only nine high schools in the United States to participate in the space program this year, and is one of the high schools competing in the prestigious XPrize competition.

Irvine said Serra High is partnering with several schools in both the U.S. and internationally to compete in the XPrize competition. The experiment involves carbon capture and storage, which removes carbon dioxide from the air, captures it, then stores it somewhere.

The team is still in the planning stages, but hopes to work on construction over the summer to have a functional prototype by February 2025.

Revelation: Removing the VeilThis revelation was given by God to the Apostle John because we needed to know it.

“>Part 1
If Christ Is With Us, Death Is DefeatedThe book of Revelation teaches us a lot, especially when we begin to carefully delve into its words, when we see how Christ holds the world in His hands and acts with wisdom in all things.”>Part 2
Why Did the Lord Leave Man the Book of Revelation?Only the people of God, the saints, can receive revelations from God, and only they can interpret them, because a revelation, words from God, is given from God, from the Holy Spirit.”>Part 3
For the Time Is at Hand…We have to understand that God acts outside of time, and the events of Revelation don’t relate only to the end times.”>Part 4
Blessed Is He That Readeth…Christ sent the revelation through an angel to His servant the Apostle and Evangelist John, who conveyed the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ about what he saw and heard.”>Part 5

    

What did Christ do for us? We read in verse six: And [He] hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen (Rev. 1:6). He made all of us partakers of His authority—He made us kings. As He is the King, so He has made us kings by grace, inasmuch as we are children of the King of kings. I want to say how deep these things are when a man lives them in God. A man who is close to God, my dears, truly feels like a king—he has no need of anything. At the same time, he may have absolutely nothing.

I remember an encounter during my second trip to the Three Miraculous Events on Mt. AthosTo say that I was dumbstruck is to say nothing. Of course, I looked around, but no one was there.

“>Holy Mountain that made a great impression on me. I went to the Katounakia desert where there was a hermit from Cyprus. He’s still alive, quite old already. There was a veranda in the middle of the cliffs, overlooking the sea. He told me: “I feel like a king here.” And what kind of king was he? He had nothing. His kallyva was so poor! There was nothing in it. His clothes were all torn. He treated me to some fruit and I tried not to look at what I was eating—there were five or six worms in every piece. Extreme poverty. And he tells me he’s a king!

And there are people who have everything but at the same time say they have nothing. They have a house, but they want two, three, four, five, six. They buy more and more and more. And they say: “We can’t stop. We’re not satiated. There’s something missing inside of us, keeping us from feeling complete.” When you have an emptiness in your soul, no matter what you give your soul, nothing will help if God doesn’t dwell in it. Give it money, as much as it wants; give it houses, as many as it wants; offer it palaces—it will still feel empty. But when God is inside you, you can go to the most miserable hovel and you’ll feel like a true king.

And why are we kings? Like a king who reigns and whom everyone obeys, a man who has cast aside his passions is not enslaved to his passions; he is his own king, an autocrat—he keeps himself, reigns over himself. The On the Struggle with the PassionsIn order to overcome all the passions without exception, it is necessary to learn abstinence.

“>passions don’t lead him wherever they want; they don’t pull him off to the right or the left—irritation, sensuality, love of glory, avarice. No. He is his own lord, king, and autocrat who holds himself in check. He’s also free. Who is a free man? He who does whatever he wants? He who lives in a free land? If you’re a slave, then even if you live in a free land, you remain enslaved. And if you’re free, then you’ll be able to liberate an enslaved homeland.

If you’re spiritually free, then even in the midst of slavery, in the midst of a tyrannical regime, even if you’re sent to hard labor, you’ll be free. When your soul is free, then you’re free. And when your soul is subordinated to the passions, nothing will work out. God truly makes us kings. I’ve seen it all happen many times. What does sin turn us into? It makes us like the prodigal son who herded pigs. We become pig herders and feed upon pig food. Sometimes you see people who have left God, who have fallen in love with the vanity of this world. What happens to them! They, in fact, get lost, become slaves to their passions, to their sins; slaves to daily worries and cares. And in the end, they drop this beautiful royal majesty and become pig farmers.

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, Prodigal Son, 1879     

Christ makes us kings. Wherever you are, you always feel this royal dignity—freedom and immediacy without all the pettiness and baseness so characteristic of slaves. God makes us kings and priests. Some women complain that they can’t be priests, but there are few of us priests. But there we will all become priests—including women.

Meaning what? It’s not about holy orders. We’ll become the “royal priesthood,” celebrating the great mystery of our salvation. The rite that Christ celebrated as the High Priest on the Cross to save man is celebrated by every one of us who believes in Christ, who labors in Christ. Everyone celebrates the Sacrament of his salvation, struggles with passions and sins, and offers himself and the whole world, the whole of creation as thanksgiving to God—and through this becomes a priest of God. It is in this sense that the Apostle and Evangelist John speaks about the priesthood here.

And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen (Rev. 1:6). To him belong glory and dominion unto the ages. To Whom? To God the Father, or to Him that loved us, as said above? Either way it doesn’t change the meaning—it could be said about the Father or about Christ. To Him, to God belongs glory and dominion unto the ages of ages, amen. Truly it is so. This is the meaning of the word “amen” in Greek—truly, so be it. Glory belongs to God, because only He is eternal. And only those who are united with God are truly glorified. Other glories, my brothers, are vain and transitory; they all come to an end. Whatever you become in this world, even the greatest king, the hour will come when it all stops. Only the glory of God never ceases. The proof is the saints whom God has glorified. The glory of the saints doesn’t fade away, but continues through the ages.

Whoever wants to be glorified must love the glory of God. And whoever desires human glory, let him know that it will end quickly and often ingloriously. How many kings have we seen, how many autocrats? Where are they all? They’re all gone. Everything is lost. Everything human is vain. Nothing remains. Earth and ashes, earth and dust. In the Book of Needs, in the funeral service, there’s an instruction for the priest: Be careful, priest, that this service be celebrated the same for all—kings, rulers, soldiers, the poor, the small, the great, the rich, the poor—for everyone. Serve the same rite for everyone, without exception. There’s no need to celebrate a special service for important people, or different services for the rich and poor. The words are the same for everyone.

Serve the entire service, which is so beautiful, so optimistic. Why is it optimistic? Because it speaks of the impermanence of things, but also of the eternal glory of God. Everything ends, but everything also begins in the presence of God. When God lays a man to rest, then he is at rest. When God remembers a man, then he exists. Therefore, we say: “May his memory be eternal.” God will remember you eternally. Only God glorifies man. And if God glorifies a man, then he will be glorified forever. Whatever God says has value, my dears—not what people, newspapers, TV, or anyone else says. All that’s a smokescreen. God will have the last word about every man, and it will be an eternal word.

    

If God glorifies us, we’re glorified. If God rejects us, then no human words will be able to help—no matter what people say, no matter what commemorations they arrange for us, no matter what monuments they erect to us. It’s all vanity. To God be the glory, dominion, and power. Where is human strength? No one can do anything. Everything is possible only for God, and His works extend unto the ages.

This verse ends with the words: To Him be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen. We hear them often in church, we often say, “unto the ages of ages.” Do you know how important this expression is? To be honest, I didn’t pay attention to these words, I didn’t feel them. One spiritual brother told me a story about himself. When he was ordained a priest on the Holy Mountain and he was serving his first Liturgy, as he pronounced the words: “Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages,” after the words, “now and ever and unto the ages of ages,” God opened his spiritual eyes and he saw before him the boundlessness of eternity. If we had a telescope with enormous resolution and we could observe the depth of everything in the audience, if we could see the depths of millions of lightyears, elusive measurements!

And just think—God is outside all of this; for Him, these millions of lightyears are nothing, the smallest thing. For us it’s unimaginable, but for God it’s minute. And how important it is to man—created, transitory, poor man. Who are we? Sometimes you’re on an airplane and they announce that you’re at an altitude of 3,000 meters. Or you look at an airplane up in the sky and you think about how there are people inside it. Against the background of the universe, we’re mosquitoes, or even smaller. Who is man? However, man has been given the grace of God, the uncreated energy of the grace of God, and the word of man blessing God reaches the ages; it is infinite. If you ever have the chance to be in peace and quiet, think a little bit about what it means.

How can one word last for all of eternity? But at the same time, the bad words, the empty words, the foul words that we say and hear carry a huge burden. Therefore, Christ told us not to utter idle words—nothing goes unnoticed. Today, scientists say it’s possible to create a device that will hear the voices of people who lived thousands of years ago. Nothing is lost. Every sound could be picked up by such a device.

God truly makes man a king, a priest, and a child of God. But the devil takes us away to herd pigs and makes us worse than pigs. At least the poor pigs are animals—they’re not responsible for their actions. They’re just animals, created and born to live as pigs. But you and I are humans, and we become worse than pigs, drowning in the quagmire of our sins and passions. It’s all quite unfortunate and regrettable.

Let’s move on to verse seven: Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen (Rev. 1:7). The Apostle says “Behold.” He sees it in front of him and writes it at the same time. It’s said that he didn’t even write it himself, but his disciple Prochorus wrote from his dictation. The Apostle John saw it, retold it, and Prochorus wrote it down. He sees Christ coming among the clouds. This isn’t about natural clouds; the Apostle means here all the Heavenly powers—the Lord coming among the angels, among the saints, among all those who accompany Him. And every eye shall see Him—everyone will see Him; we will all see this coming of Christ. All of us, sinners and righteous alike—will see Christ.

Viktor Vasnetsov, The Dread Judgment, St. Vladimir’s Cathedral in Kiev     

But what will happen? For those who loved Christ, who sought Him and purified themselves, this coming will be a cause of inexpressible joy, a great blessing, the contemplation of God in love. And conversely, those who didn’t love Christ, who didn’t desire or seek Him, will see Him. But the sight of Him will scorch them, will turn into pain, turn into sadness, into opposition, into hell and eternal torment. Everyone will see Christ; all people, including those who crucified Him, who nailed Him to the Cross and pierced His side with a spear. And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. When we see Christ coming with the clouds, then we will all weep: some out of love and joy at the sight of their beloved Lord Jesus Christ, Who comes that we might live with Him forever, and others out of pain and sorrow, because at that moment we’ll understand what we have done, but that nothing can be done to change it. Even so, Amen. Truly it will be so, says the Apostle.

Verse eight: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, Which is, and Which was, and Which is to come, the Almighty (Rev. 1:8). Which is, and Which was, and Which is to come, the Most Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the almighty God. God is the beginning and end of everything. Everything begins and ends in God—holy deeds, good deeds that will remain. And what doesn’t begin in God and doesn’t end in God is lost, it passes away. When a man builds upon a vain and perishable foundation, then everything will be lost, nothing will remain. What you build in God will remain. The Instructions for AlmsgivingCharity is a gift to God.

“>alms you gave, the good deeds you did, the kind words you uttered, the penitent prayer, all the labors for God’s sake—these will remain. What begins and ends in Christ remains. Christ is the beginning and end. And our life, my brothers and sisters, should be like this. Our day, from the moment we open our eyes to the moment we close them, should begin and end with the invocation of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus our life acquires meaning, acquires content, acquires another state. When a man lets Christ into his life, everything changes, everything acquires a taste, everything acquires color, everything is sanctified. Christ brings all this into our lives. But take God out of your life and you’ll see that you find no peace or joy in anything; everything is tasteless. When a man loses his taste sensations, you can give him the best food, the best dessert and he doesn’t taste anything. He has lost his sense of taste. Christ is the Alpha and Omega.

We must remember this and begin our deeds with this thought. Let us not be afraid of good deeds. God is rich; He’s an aristocrat and sovereign, not a poor man like you and I. When God sees you doing good for His sake, He rewards you a thousandfold, both now and in the future. We always see it. God may delay, but He never leaves us without recompense. God comes and rewards the good deeds that will remain in eternity. Sometimes we see how a man leaves this world, and we think: What did he take with him in the end? Condemnation, indignation towards his neighbor? The pain he caused people with his injustice and cruelty? His tactlessness and insolence? His greed and voracity?

What does a man take with him? He will take his good and kind deeds; and if he has good holy deeds now and again, deeds of love, they will accompany him together with the prayers of those whom he has treated kindly. The rest will become a heavy chain for his soul; it can’t go with him, but will, conversely, drag him down.

Let’s stop here on verse eight. I’ll try to go through the text quicker; I won’t stop as long as before, so we can take a panoramic look at this most beautiful icon that the Revelation of the Apostle and Evangelist John paints for us. It’s a very beautiful book—the most beautiful! Blessed are those who read and hear the words of this prophecy. And it will be wonderful to see before you what the Apostle John saw.

To be continued…

The mission of sanctifying the world and serving others in a priestly way is “not only for those who are ordained,” said Archbishop José H. Gomez at the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ annual Chrism Mass March 25.

“As the Lord’s ‘priests,’ we share in his mission of sanctifying this world, of making this world God’s kingdom — a world of truth, beauty, and goodness; a world of holiness, justice, and mercy,” Archbishop Gomez said in homily.

“This is what the name ‘Christian’ means. It means that we are the Lord’s ‘anointed ones.’ ”

More than 3,000 people — among them some 450 priests serving in the archdiocese — filled the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels for the Monday evening liturgy, where the oils to be used for the sacraments of baptisms, confirmation, ordinations and anointing of the sick throughout the year were blessed and later distributed to parishes.

After the homily, several young men and women, many of them students from local Catholic high schools, carried the jars of oil up the cathedral’s center aisle and placed them on tables near the altar to be blessed by Archbishop Gomez.

The Mass was also an opportunity for the priests in attendance to renew the priestly promises made at their ordination. Addressing them in his homily, Archbishop Gomez stressed the importance of serving as “instruments” of God’s love and the call to “to continue his presence on earth, to continue his saving works.”

“We know that apart from Jesus we can do nothing,” said the archbishop. “But we know, too, that with him, all things are possible! Bread and wine can be made his Body and Blood. Sinners can be made holy. The world can be reconciled to God.”

Father Diego Cabrera, S.S.C., pastor of St. Hilary Church in Pico Rivera, said he looks forward to the renewal of his priestly vows at the Mass every year.

“It’s the same as people renewing their baptismal promises,” Cabrera said. “We also promise to be faithful to God, to the Church, and to our communities, every year. That’s why it’s important. We remain in communion with all the faithful, from top to bottom.”

Father Jorge Lopez, a chaplain at Thomas Aquinas College, believes the Mass brings unity among the priests “especially in a place like the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, where there are people from different parts of the world, different cultures, different places, different conditions.”

“I think that’s important,” he said.

Six priests in the archdiocese were also recognized during the Mass for their “golden jubilees” marking 50 years in the priesthood: Father Joseph Brennan, Father Dionisio Cachero, Father John Keese, Father Michael Reardon, Msgr. Joseph Greeley, and Msgr. Timothy Dyer. Not in attendance but also celebrating 50 years were Father Joseph Fox, O.P., Father Robert Hodges, and Msgr. Michael Jennett.

The Mass concluded with a final prayer asking for priestly vocations.

For friends Christine Fontana and Kris Holubets, parishioners at St. Lawrence Martyr Church in Redondo Beach, it was their first time experiencing the Chrism Mass at the cathedral.

“Just to hear the vows and the sacrifice that they make,” Holubets said.

“It’s the beauty of it, seeing the priests all together,” Fontana said.

Even with multiple lawsuits pending that create an uncertain future, St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Catholic School in Oklahoma – the nation’s first state-funded religious school – has begun accepting applications for K-12 education set to begin this August.

As of March 25, 120 students have applied for the school, and 50 other families have expressed interest. The school, created by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma and the Diocese of Tulsa, has previously said it plans to have an initial enrollment of 500 students.

Bishop David Konderla of Tulsa announced that applications opened in a March 5 letter that was published on March 18, in which he highlighted that the school will help the Oklahoma dioceses reach families “in all corners of our state.” He also acknowledged the legal challenges that exist.

“St. Isidore will be a tremendous blessing to those in Oklahoma who would otherwise not have access to a Catholic education,” Konderla wrote. “Legal challenges still exist, but we remain strong in our pursuit of this worthy endeavor. We ask for your prayers and will continue to pray for you and your parishes.”

St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School is a virtual, K-12 Catholic school in Oklahoma, that is tuition-free and funded by the state as a charter school. The application is open to any student eligible for kindergarten to grade twelve – Catholic or otherwise – living in the state of Oklahoma.

Controversy has surrounded the school since its inception, on the grounds that it is a religious institution that is funded by the state. The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved a contract with the school on Oct. 9, 2023, making it the nation’s first state-funded religious school. 11 days later, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond sued the board for its decision.

In a statement on the day the lawsuit was filed, Drummond said the board members “violated the religious liberty of every Oklahoman by forcing us to fund the teachings of a specific religious sect with our tax dollars.” He also said he is prepared to litigate the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court if he has to.

“There is no religious freedom in compelling Oklahomans to fund religions that may violate their own deeply held beliefs,” Gentner argued.  “The framers of the U.S. Constitution and those who drafted Oklahoma’s Constitution clearly understood how best to protect religious freedom: by preventing the State from sponsoring any religion at all.”

Not much has happened in the case since, but the Oklahoma Supreme Court announced in February that it set Tuesday, April 2, to hear oral arguments from both sides. A spokesperson for Gentner declined a Crux request for comment on the school accepting applications, citing the ongoing litigation.

The school faces a second lawsuit filed last July by Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, the ACLU, the Education Law Center, Freedom from Religion Foundation, and others. That case got a new judge assigned to it last month. No hearing dates have been set.

Asked by Crux what, if any, contingency plans are in place for enrolled students if the school loses either of the lawsuits John Helsley, the director of communications for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City who is listed as the school’s media contact, declined to comment citing the ongoing litigation. School officials did not reply to a Crux request for comment on the same information.

Both parties also declined a Crux request to comment on the school’s staffing numbers. Listed on the school’s website are a principal, assistant principal, director of Catholic education, and a director of special education. The school is hiring “Teachers: all grade levels K-12 and subject areas,” according to the website.

In the letter, Konderla also gives more insight into the school’s model.

Konderla said that the school will have a faith formation and sacramental life program intended to support both the domestic church and the local parish community. He said once the geographic information of the students is known, the school will seek out partner parishes willing to serve as hubs for occasional gatherings of local students. These are spaces where students, parents and educators can gather for Mass, confession, academic electives, tutoring and extracurricular activities once or twice a month, he said.

In general, Konderla said that the catechetical formation and sacramental life of the Catholic students will include online prayer services, scripture study, the Rosary, theology classes, study of the saints, virtue development, and service to a family and community – all of which non-Catholic students can participate.

Konderla said that the school will have two all-school Masses each year – one in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and one in the Diocese of Tulsa, Konderla said. All other Masses will be served through a family’s local parish or parishes willing to serve as hub locations.

As for the curriculum, Konderla said the school will follow a Catholic liberal education, and all curriculum resources will be chosen in all subjects “to enlighten and strengthen the intellectual capacity of children to seek truth through faith and reason.” He added that for learning the school will utilize Google Chromebooks and hands-on materials.

“For our Catholic families, this is a tremendous pastoral opportunity to assist in passing on the Catholic faith to their children,” Konderla said. “For all students, it is an opportunity to be formed in what is true, good, and beautiful.”

Prokuplje, Toplica District, Serbia, March 26, 2024

Photo: spc.rs     

On March 24, 1999, NATO began its aerial bombing campaign against Yugoslavia, which continued until June 10, 1999.

The campaign killed more than 1,500 people and destroyed or damaged hospitals, industrial plants, schools, cultural and religious monuments, private businesses, and more.

This past Sunday, March 24, His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Church prayerfully commemorated the 25th anniversary of the tragedy with a memorial service at the Toplica Hero’s Square in the city of Prokuplje in southern Serbia, reports the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Despite the terrible violence that was carried out 25 years ago, the Patriarch preached of love and forgiveness:

We gather to pray to God, who is Love and resides in love, to affirm our unwavering commitment to choose love over hate, peace over war, justice over tyranny, truth over falsehood, and the innocent over the guilty…

I am happy as a man, joyful as an Orthodox Serb, and blessed as a priest because no ultimatum has swayed my people from abandoning love, God, and neighbor. Even if the cost of such commitment is high, it simultaneously secures our survival and continuity, not only on geographical maps but also in eternity, in the Kingdom to which St. Sava guided us, and which was embraced by the noble prince and immortal knight Lazar.

All those who suffered in the NATO bomb stand with the innocent victim Abel, while the bombers stand with the fratricide Cain, the Patriarch said.

“The innocent blood shed across the land God gave us became the pledge of our hope and the seed of salvation… But with faith in Christ risen from the dead and the only Lord of love, we confess that nothing will be able to separate us from His love,” the Serbian primate continued.

“Our guides and measures are the holy martyrs,” His Holiness preached.

“Summarizing the reason for tonight’s prayerful remembrance, let us remember the past, live in the present given to us, and resolutely look ahead and move towards the future with hope as our guide, because according to Holy Scripture: Hope maketh not ashamed (Rom. 5:5).

Christians must not return persecution and slander with persecution and slander, but must bear witness to the truth, the Serbian primate encouraged. “Remembering our suffering, the prayerful remembrance of the innocent victims of the NATO bombing is not borne of malice, and with God’s help, it will not turn into vindictiveness,” Pat. Porfirije said. “Remembering our suffering, and our prayer for the innocent victims, is a testament to truth, justice, love, and peace, an effort to manifest the fullness of life in every good deed and virtue,” he added.

And the Patriarch concluded by quoting a prayer of his predecessor, Patriarch Pavle of blessed memory:

Lord Jesus Christ, our God, receive our earnest supplication and forgive us our trespasses. Remember our enemies who hate and oppress us, and do not repay them according to their deeds, but guide them with Thy great mercy, so they too may understand that evil cannot bring forth good. Deliver Thy holy Church and Thy faithful from all evil with Thine almighty hand. Help us, Lord, Thou Who for the salvation of all didst endure the cross and death, to replace hatred with love, unrest with peace, sorrow with joy, across the world and among us, that we might lead a quiet and peaceful life as Thy people, brothers and sisters with each other and among each other. Amen.

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The Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Apostleship of the Sea is normally a “friendly face” for international seafarers visiting the port.

That role is about to expand, according to its director, Andy Middleton, after a containership was involved in the catastrophic collapse of one of Baltimore’s major thoroughfares.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed about 1:30 a.m. March 26 after a 900-foot container ship collided with one of its major support pilings. According to state and U.S. Coast Guard officials, a search-and-rescue mission was underway for an unknown number of survivors.

Middleton said the Apostleship of the Sea, based at St. Rita Parish in Dundalk, had ministered to members of the crew March 24 and 25, delivering Easter boxes to the group aboard Dali, which was berthed at Seagirt Marine terminal.

Middleton said he had been in touch with a member of the crew just hours after the collision and that all of them were safe and uninjured. The organization, begun by the archdiocese in 2003 to serve visiting crews, plans to assist the sailors once bridge debris is removed from the ship and it settles in a berth.

Meanwhile, Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori said he was saddened and asked for prayers for all involved.

“I am saddened, as you are, to learn of the tragic incident overnight that led to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Baltimore Harbor,” Archbishop Lori said. “Pray with me for all involved, especially the victims traveling over the span at the time of impact, the construction crews on site and all of the first responders acting with urgency to rescue survivors. Let us join in prayer asking the Lord to grant consolation and strength as we cope with this terrible tragedy.”

According to state officials, two people were rescued from the water after the complete collapse of the structure. One was transported to a hospital and the other refused treatment. AP reported that by late morning six people remained unaccounted, and all are believed to have been working on the bridge at the time repairing potholes.

The bridge, named for the writer of the national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner,” is part of I-695 Baltimore Beltway, spanning the Patapsco River connecting parts of Baltimore City and Baltimore County. It serves thousands of truckers and automobile commuters each day and is the entry point for the Baltimore harbor’s ship traffic — one of the busiest ports on the East Coast.

Baltimore City Major Brandon Scott asked for prayers for the victims and first responders. “This is first and foremost an unthinkable tragedy,” Scott said. “We have to pray for all involved and especially our first responders.”

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, a Catholic who grew up in the neighborhood adjacent to the bridge, said: “We have a long road ahead. Right now, we are focused on the search and rescue.”

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore declared a state of emergency. According to AP, Moore said the cargo ship “reported losing power just before it crashed and caused the bridge to collapse” and that a mayday call from the ship allowed officials to limit traffic on the bridge before the crash.

The Apostleship of Sea was ready to assist anywhere needed, particularly to fulfill its mission of serving seafarers.

Middleton said the ship, flagged out of Singapore, with mostly a crew from India, was headed on a 28-day trip to Sri Lanka. He said it was taking an extended route because the ship was avoiding the unrest in the Middle East. His group helped several members of the crew shop for supplies, and it also provided a place for them to relax.

Middleton, 50, has served as director of the Apostleship of the Sea since 2019 when its founding director, the late Msgr. John Louis FitzGerald, retired. The parishioner of Holy Rosary in Baltimore’s Fells Point neighborhood started with the group as a volunteer in 2009.

Center volunteers, many of whom are Knights of Columbus, visit merchant ships at the Port of Baltimore Monday through Saturday, dropping off rosaries, scapulars and prayer cards, along with secular magazines and books.

“We try to provide any service the crew might need while they are in port,” Middleton told the Catholic Review, Baltimore’s archdiocesan news outlet. “We take them to Mass, take them shopping, provide a place for them to relax. We’re that friendly face they see when they come to the Port of Baltimore. We do everything from provide Catholic religious services to transportation for shopping.”

Middleton said he reached out to his contact on the ship shortly after the collision, who assured them that the crew was all safe and didn’t need anything at the moment.

“They were pretty well stocked because they were prepared for a long trip,” he said. “When they do make it back to a berth, we will be ready to assist them in any way we can.”

He also said they planned to minister to the crews of the seven ships currently in the port that might be marooned there for quite a while.

Athens, March 26, 2024

Photo: vimaorthodoxias.gr     

A long-standing tradition was broken yesterday, as the Archbishop of Athens celebrated the Sunday of Orthodoxy not in his metropolitan cathedral in the Greek capital, in the presence of the president and other high-ranking politicians, but in a nearby monastery, without any formal protocol.

According to Vima Orthodoxias, this is the first time the feast was celebrated without the presence of the president in 161 years.

The amended celebration of the Triumph of Orthodoxy was decided upon at a recent session of the Greek Holy Synod. Though the Synod did not explicitly state as much, this decision was widely understood as the Church’s response to the state’s Greece becomes first Orthodox country to legalize gay marriageGreek Parliament voted late last night, despite the fierce and persistent resistance from the Church and society, to legalize gay marriage and adoption by gay couples.

“>legalization of gay marriage in mid-February.

In the end, only Vasilis Stigkas, founder and president of the right-wing Spartans political party, was present at Archbishop Ieronymos’ celebration of the feast at the Petraki Monastery of the Bodiless Powers.

The Creed is traditionally read by the Archbishop and Greek president together on this day, though this year it was read by the Archbishop alone.

Abp. Ieronymos and other hierarchs also did not attend the annual dinner held at the Presidential Palace.

At the same time, the President Katerina Sakellaropoulou was present in the Metropolitan cathedral yesterday for the doxology in honor of the feast of the Annunciation and the 1821 Greek revolution.

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Ahead of Good Friday, a Chicago parish unveiled a statue of Jesus Christ commemorating that city’s victims of gun violence.

Some 60 people gathered March 25 outside of St. Sabina Catholic Church for a first look at “Thou Shalt Not Kill,” a life-sized sculpture by Canadian-based artist Timothy P. Schmalz.

Cast in bronze, the work depicts Christ weeping into his pierced hands over a slain, prostrate figure whose back is riddled with three bullet holes.

The sculpture, which the artist donated to the parish, was installed in partnership with Purpose Over Pain, a local support group for parents who have lost children to gun violence.

A “huge turnout” of bereaved parents were on hand as the piece was installed in front of a memorial wall featuring photos of “all these young people who have lost their lives” to gun violence over the past several years, St. Sabina pastor Father Michael Pfleger told OSV News.

“This statue is so strong,” he said. “When we unveiled it, a whole bunch of the mothers just started crying, because all they could picture was their child laying there.”

The timing of the debut was intentional, he said.

“We wanted to do this during Holy Week when we remember … the murder of Jesus,” said Father Pfleger. “He didn’t (just) die. He was killed.”

The statue’s impact is intensified by the memorial wall, where “children and parents come by … all the time and look and … and say a prayer,” said Father Pfleger.

“We keep changing the pictures, because we have about another 70 or 80 that we can’t even put up” due to lack of room on the wall, said Father Pfleger. “We switch them in and out. We’ll be (putting in) new ones in May for Mother’s Day.”

The wall and statue are intended to “remind you that all those people whose pictures are up on that board — they didn’t just die; they were murdered, they were killed,” Father Pfleger said.

According to a 2023 year-end analysis from the University of Chicago Crime Lab, homicides in the city decreased 12%, with shootings down 14% — but the report notes there is “still much work to do ahead.”

Despite an overall downturn, the homicide rate is still 20 times higher for Black residents than white residents, and particularly concentrated in certain neighborhoods, which are still racially segregated, the crime lab found.

In addition, the age of homicide victims in the city has been rising, said the report — declining among persons between the ages of 20 and 29, but jumping from 41% to 53% since 2019 among victims over age 30.

Father Pfleger said that community and law enforcement efforts have helped counter the violence — but ultimately, “saying (statistics) are down doesn’t mean anything to the mother who lost their child yesterday,” he said.

“A week ago, I had a funeral of a 19-year-old killed not too far from here,” he said. “Tomorrow, there’s a funeral of a kid that graduated from our school in 2022. A 15-year-old who got shot and killed last week … her and her brother together.

“So the murder and the violence continue,” he said. “And we never want it to become normalized. We want to continue to expose it … until we as a society, you know, turn away from this gun madness and at the same time decide that we’re not going to become comfortable with violence.”

The newly installed statue now joins the memorial wall in that mission, he said.

“My prayer and my hope is that when people see it, they’ll do something,” Father Pfleger said. “If seeing this does not convict you in some way, then you’re already dead. Because you can’t look at it and not be touched by the horrible sight of a young person laying on the ground with bullets in his back.”