Catholic New Media

URBI ET ORBI MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI (Easter 2012)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and throughout the world! “Surrexit Christus, spes mea” – “Christ, my hope, has risen” (Easter Sequence). May the jubilant voice of the Church reach all of you with the words which the ancient hymn puts on the lips of Mary Magdalene, the first to encounter the risen Jesus on Easter morning. She ran to the other disciples and breathlessly announced: “I have seen the Lord!” (Jn 20:18). We too, who have journeyed through the desert of Lent and the sorrowful days of the Passion, today raise the cry of victory: “He has risen! He has truly risen!” Every Christian relives the experience of Mary Magdalene. It involves an encounter which changes our lives: the encounter with a unique Man who lets us experience all God’s goodness and truth, who frees us from evil not in a superficial and fleeting way, but sets us free radically, heals us completely and restores our dignity. This is why Mary Magdalene calls Jesus “my hope”: he was the one who allowed her to be reborn, who gave her a new future, a life of goodness and freedom from evil. “Christ my hope” means that all my yearnings for goodness find in him a real possibility of fulfilment: with him I can hope for a life that is good, full and eternal, for God himself has drawn near to us, even sharing our humanity. But Mary Magdalene, like the other disciples, was to see Jesus rejected by the leaders of the people, arrested, scourged, condemned to death and crucified. It must have been unbearable to see Goodness in person subjected to human malice, truth derided by falsehood, mercy abused by vengeance. With Jesus’ death, the hope of all those who had put their trust in him seemed doomed. But that faith never completely failed: especially in the heart of the Virgin Mary, Jesus’ Mother, its flame burned even in the dark of night. In this world, hope can not avoid confronting the harshness of evil. It is not thwarted by the wall of death alone, but even more by the barbs of envy and pride, falsehood and violence. Jesus passed through this mortal mesh in order to open a path to the kingdom of life. For a moment Jesus seemed vanquished: darkness had invaded the land, the silence of God was complete, hope a seemingly empty word. And lo, on the dawn of the day after the Sabbath, the tomb is found empty. Jesus then shows himself to Mary Magdalene, to the other women, to his disciples. Faith is born anew, more alive and strong than ever, now invincible since it is based on a decisive experience: “Death with life contended: combat strangely ended! Life’s own champion, slain, now lives to reign”. The signs of the resurrection testify to the victory of life over death, love over hatred, mercy over vengeance: “The tomb the living did enclose, I saw Christ’s glory as he rose! The angels there attesting, shroud with grave-clothes resting”. Dear brothers and sisters! If Jesus is risen, then – and only then – has something truly new happened, something that changes the state of humanity and the world. Then he, Jesus, is someone in whom we can put absolute trust; we can put our trust not only in his message but in Jesus himself, for the Risen One does not belong to the past, but is present today, alive. Christ is hope and comfort in a particular way for those Christian communities suffering most for their faith on account of discrimination and persecution. And he is present as a force of hope through his Church, which is close to all human situations of suffering and injustice. May the risen Christ grant hope to the Middle East and enable all the ethnic, cultural and religious groups in that region to work together to advance the common good and respect for human rights. Particularly in Syria, may there be an end to bloodshed and an immediate commitment to the path of respect, dialogue and reconciliation, as called for by the international community. May the many refugees from that country who are in need of humanitarian assistance find the acceptance and solidarity capable of relieving their dreadful sufferings. May the paschal victory encourage the Iraqi people to spare no effort in pursuing the path of stability and development. In the Holy Land, may Israelis and Palestinians courageously take up anew the peace process. May the Lord, the victor over evil and death, sustain the Christian communities of the African continent; may he grant them hope in facing their difficulties, and make them peacemakers and agents of development in the societies to which they belong. May the risen Jesus comfort the suffering populations of the Horn of Africa and favour their reconciliation; may he help the Great Lakes Region, Sudan and South Sudan, and grant their inhabitants the power of forgiveness. In Mali, now experiencing delicate political developments, may the glorious Christ grant peace and stability. To Nigeria, which in recent times has experienced savage terrorist attacks, may the joy of Easter grant the strength needed to take up anew the building of a society which is peaceful and respectful of the religious freedom of all its citizens. Happy Easter to all!

Single Catholics don’t walk Lent alone

ATLANTA, GA (March 1, 2012) – More than just preparation for Holy Week and Easter Sunday, the 40 days of Lent also recall the period Jesus spent in the desert – alone and tempted by Satan – before He suffered, died and rose from the dead. For various reasons, Catholics of all ages find themselves now making their own Lenten journey alone. They are widows/widowers, or divorced, or maybe they never married. The popular website CatholicMatch.com has published a Lenten guide that will enrich the season for anyone. The Catholic Playbook: Lenten Reflections for Singles is available now from Amazon.com and from Catholic Word. It includes 40 reflections for Lent written by single Catholics, and each concludes with a prayer written by Fr. Gary Caster, a college chaplain who contributes to EWTN and Magnificat. In one of those prayers, Fr. Caster writes, “Teach me your desert wisdom so that I can move through these 40 days more closely united to You and Your Father’s will.” All of the prayers provide meaningful insights into the reflections they accompany. “This Lent, I encourage you who are single to focus on the stunning fact that the yearning you feel in your heart to find a human spouse is precisely the yearning which the Lord feels for you,” writes Most Rev. Kevin Rhoades, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fort-Wayne-South Bend in Indiana. “Lent is an ideal time for single Catholics to focus on growing closer to Christ,” said author/speaker Mary Beth Bonacci, “and this collection of meditations focused on our single state of life is an ideal way to do that.” The Catholic Playbook is edited by CatholicMatch.com Editorial Director Christina Ries. In addition to Bishop Rhoades’ foreword, the reflections by single Catholics and Fr. Caster’s prayers, it also includes an epilogue by Theresa Notare of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for the Laity, Marriage, Family Life & Youth. “We used the concept of a ‘playbook’ because we wanted this book to be quick, practical and relevant to your life,” said Ries. “This book is a road map for Catholic singles to use in experiencing the most powerful Lenten journey ever.” She added that this is the inaugural edition of a series of Catholic Playbooks. “Our next one will focus on healing from divorce,” she explained. “We are making it super practical. It will deal with problems Catholic face, and offer solutions to those problems. Our goal is to finely tune all of the Catholic Playbooks to address issues that single Catholics wrestle with.” After the playbook on healing from divorce, Ries says other volumes in the series will focus on online dating for Catholics; discerning a vocation; dating and relationships; and being a single parent.

Fr. Malachi Martin: Possession and Exorcism are Real

Ted Adamson, author of the newly released addiction memoir "Up From Down" (Westbow Press), says possession and exorcism are real. "Part of the reason I wrote this book was to help people wake up to what we are dealing with," said Adamson, a member of AA and NA for 35 years. The book contains a never before released letter from Father Malachi Martin, a Catholic exorcist and advisor to three Popes. In the letter Father Martin says, "Possession can occur as a result of alcoholism and drug addiction. It opens a doorway to the soul." Link: www.upfromdown.info/evil.htm "It's about time we as a society acknowledge the existence of evil," said Adamson. The book contains an awakening where Adamson realizes he had become possessed. "You don't necessarily need an exorcist to get rid of a demon, although there are cases where they can be helpful," says Adamson. "God can and does extend grace thru prayer and meditation. That is what my book is all about. And something that most of the drug and alcohol counselors don't even understand." Adamson suffered from a 14 year addiction to drugs and has been clean for 35 years. "This (Up From Down) is a transparent revelation of the jail and rehab and court system abuses as well and an examination of all the aspects of treatment for addiction. And this information is worth knowing and certainly worth reading about in the words of Ted Adamson"-- Grady Harp, top 10 reviewer at Amazon.com Up From Down is available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and most major outlets. Also from the author's website:www.upfromdown.info This book will appeal to anyone with an addict or alcoholic in their family who are looking for real answers and not the usual pablum. Ted Adamson is available for print or radio interviews.

More books on this topic.

This treasury of prayers, now released on Kindle, will help you go to the Lord with courage and pray to receive God's grace.

Sometimes, the Pope said of prayers and devotions, one goes to the Lord "to ask something for someone;" one asks for a favor and then goes away. "But that," he warned, "is not prayer," because if "you want the Lord to bestow a grace, you have to go with courage and do what Abraham did, with that sort of tenacity."

This comprehensive treasury of Catholic prayer includes everyday prayers, devotionals, how to pray the rosary, litanies, the Stations of the Cross, Eucharistic prayers, prayers to prepare for confession, prayers to the saints, Marian prayers, family prayers, and more.

Must-Have Apps for Catholics

Read books. Watch a movie. Play games. Compose music. What you can do with your iPad is almost limitless. According to the iPad’s official page, there are now more 65,000 apps for the 9.7-inch iOS device. As if that’s not enough, developers from all over the world submit more apps every single day. The more apps I install on my iPad, the more I am convinced that there is indeed an app for almost anything. More from Fr. Stephen.

More Great Apps

Divine Office - Audio Prayer - Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church: Described as "an audio and text version of the official set of daily prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church (Breviary). It wirelessly downloads several days of prayers at a time, without the need for iTunes synchronization or access to a computer."

iMissal Catholic Bible App (approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB): iMissal offers a full liturgical calendar, daily Mass readings, the Order of the Mass, Mass videos from CatholicTV.com, unique Bible verses for every day of the year . . . and more.

Prayer 2000+ Catholic Prayers by DivineOffice.org: 2000+ Catholic prayers in English, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, French. Multilanguage Christian Prayers database. The ultimate reference to Catholic Prayers for your iPhone and iPod Touch!

iRosary This app makes it easier to find that difficult time to pray during your busy day.

Short Prayers - Helping you pray throughout the day with these short prayers.

Even More Great Apps

The most popular and most comprehensive free Catholic App . Daily Mass Readings (with Saint of the Day and Reflections). Liturgy of Hours, New American Bible, interactive Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Latin Rosary, Stations of the Cross, searchable prayers and latin prayers with English translation.