DURBIN RESOLUTION: THANKING POPE FRANCIS FOR EFFORTS IN CUBA

WASHINGTON DC - Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D) introduced a Senate resolution thanking Pope Francis for his help in securing the release of prisoner Alan Gross from Cuba.

Durbin, who has been critical of past pontiffs and Catholic theology in general, said: “Pope Francis seems to find new ways every day to make the world a little better,” said Durbin. “Over the past 18 months, that included sensitive negotiations for the release of an American aid worker and helping to mend the relationship between the United States and Cuba. Because of his work my friend Alan Gross is home again with his family.”

First International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking

The First "International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking" will be celebrated in all dioceses and parishes in the world, in the groups and schools on 8 February 2015, the Feast Day of Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese slave, freed, who became a Canossian nun, and was declared a Saint in 2000. The initiative is promoted by the Pontifical Council of Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the International Union of Superiors General (UISG and USG). 

The statement sent to Agenzia Fides highlights that "the primary objective of the International Day is to create greater awareness on this phenomenon and to reflect on the overall situation of violence and injustice that affect so many people, who have no voice, do not count, and are no one: they are simply slaves. Another goal is to attempt to provide solutions to counter this modern form of slavery by taking concrete actions".

The phenomenon concerns the whole world. According to official data roughly 21 million people, often very poor and vulnerable, are victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation, forced labour and begging, illegal organ removal, domestic servitude and forced marriages, illegal adoption and other forms of exploitation.

Each year, around 2.5 million people are victims of trafficking and slavery. On the other hand, for traffickers and pimps, this is one of the most lucrative illegal activities in the world, generating a total of 32 billion dollars a year. It is the third most profitable “business” after drugs and arms trafficking. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 26/11/2014)

Epiphany of the Lord

For Catholics (and a few other Christian traditions), Christmas isn’t over on Christmas day. We continue to celebrate for 12 days after, until the 6th of January, which is the Epiphany of the Lord, the celebration of the visit of the Magi to baby Jesus, as told in Matthew 2:1-12. (In the West, we celebrate on the Sunday between the 2-8th of January, which would of course be today.)

“Epiphany originally celebrated four different events, in the following order of importance: the Baptism of the Lord; Christ’s first miracle, the changing of water into wine at the wedding in Cana; the Nativity of Christ; and the visitation of the Wise Men or Magi. Each of these is a revelation of God to man: At Christ’s Baptism, the Holy Spirit descends and the voice of God the Father is heard, declaring that Jesus is His Son; at the wedding in Cana, the miracle reveals Christ’s divinity; at the Nativity, the angels bear witness to Christ, and the shepherds, representing the people of Israel, bow down before Him; and at the visitation of the Magi, Christ’s divinity is revealed to the Gentiles—the other nations of the earth.”
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“The word epiphany means “manifestation” or “revelation” and is commonly linked in Western Christianity with the visit of the wise men (Magi) to the Christ child. Through the Magi, Christ revealed himself to the gentiles.”
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“On the Feast of the Epiphany [in the West], the priest, wearing white vestments, will bless the Epiphany water, frankincense, gold, and chalk. Chalk is used to write the initials of the three magi over the doors of churches and homes. The letters stand for the initials of the Magi (traditionally named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar), and also the phrase Christus mansionem benedicat, which translates as “may Christ bless the house”.”
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If you check out Wikipedia, you can read some of the more interesting Epiphany customs all over the world, such as in Bulgaria, where a priest throws a wooden cross into a body of water and men race to retrieve it. Because it’s so cold, it’s considered an honorable act – the home of the first to retrieve the cross is said to be blessed with good health.

Happy Twelfth Night!

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Prayer for Coworkers

The well-known Parent's Prayer works quite well when you modify the words to say "coworkers":

Heavenly Father, make me a better coworker.

Teach me to understand my coworkers, listen patiently to what they have to say, and to answer all their questions kindly.

Keep me from interrupting them or contradicting them.

Make me as courteous to them as I would have them be to me.

Forbid that I should ever laugh at their mistakes or resort to shame or ridicule when they displease me.

May I never punish them for my own selfish satisfaction or to show my power.

Let me not tempt my coworkers to lie or steal and guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate by all I say and do that honesty produces happiness.

Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me.

And when I am out of sorts, help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue.

Let me not rob them of the opportunity to make their own decisions.

Bless me with the bigness to grant them all their reasonable requests and the courage to deny them privileges I know will do them harm.

Make me fair and just and kind, worthy to be loved and respected and imitated by my coworkers. Amen.

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