Year of Mercy Logo

POPE Francis announced a Year of Mercy back in Lent, and sisnce then there has been much work in the back ground preparing for this jubilee year. The Year of Mercy will begin on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, and conclude with the feast of Christ the King in November 2016.

The logo and the motto together provide a fitting summary of what the Jubilee Year is all about. The motto Merciful Like the Father(taken from the Gospel of Luke, 6:36) serves as an invitation to follow the merciful example of the Father who asks us not to judge or condemn but to forgive and to give love and forgiveness without measure (cfr. Lk 6:37-38). The logo – the work of Jesuit Father Marko I. Rupnik – presents a small summa theologiae of the theme of mercy. In fact, it represents an image quite important to the early Church: that of the Son having taken upon his shoulders the lost soul demonstrating that it is the love of Christ that brings to completion the mystery of his incarnation culminating in redemption. The logo has been designed in such a way so as to express the profound way in which the Good Shepherd touches the flesh of humanity and does so with a love with the power to change one’s life. One particular feature worthy of note is that while the Good Shepherd, in his great mercy, takes humanity upon himself, his eyes are merged with those of man. Christ sees with the eyes of Adam, and Adam with the eyes of Christ. Every person discovers in Christ, the new Adam, one’s own humanity and the future that lies ahead, contemplating, in his gaze, the love of the Father.

The scene is captured within the so called mandorla (the shape of an almond), a figure quite important in early and medieval iconography, for it calls to mind the two natures of Christ, divine and human. The three concentric ovals, with colors progressively lighter as we move outward, suggest the movement of Christ who carries humanity out of the night of sin and death. Conversely, the depth of the darker color suggests the impenetrability of the love of the Father who forgives all.

Peace

Feast of St. Martha

Today marks the 115th Anniversary of the Founding of the Sisters of St. Martha, these women of hospitality continue to be a ‪#‎pocketofhope‬ in our world! Happy Feast of ‪#‎SaintMartha‬

Peace

Catholic Missionaries

There are a number of great organizations doing terrific work in our world - endeavouring to encourage young people to be open to a life of faith - and the reality of the love of God.  One of those groups that I have become aware of in the last year or so is Catholic Austria, because one of our Parishioners - Josef Schweighofer - has been involde there for the last year.

Mission Statement 

As baptized and confirmed Catholics, we help to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission by inviting university students into a personal relationship with Him and His Church, by sharing our faith experiences with them, and by encouraging and challenging them to do the same with others.

CATHOLIC 

Inspired by the American organization FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students, www.focus.org), we work for two years after completing our studies to share the Gospel with university students. We come from different educational backgrounds and during our time of service we live in a students’ dormitory of the Akademikerhilfe organization (www.akademikerhilfe.at)  CATHOLIC was founded in 2012 by Dr. Richard Pichler and is accompanied by Jesuits.

Mission Partners 

As missionaries, we serve full-time on campus for two years after completing our studies. We use our time exclusively to share the beauty of the Gospel with students and to encourage them to follow Jesus and in turn share His message with others. We are looking for mission partners that believe in our project, share our vision, and therefore are willing to support us and to make our work possible.

Being a mission partner means:

• Supporting us by making a financial contribution
• Praying for us and the students we work with

Josef will be speaking at each Mass this Sunday - sharing his testimony - and looking for Mission Partners from Holy Family.

Contact Information
Josef Schweighofer CATHOLIC Austria 
Elisabethstrasse 93/01/127 8010 Graz, Austria 
Email: josef.schweighofer@catholic.at 
Web: www.catholic.at

Where are you headed?

Here is a neat 4 minute video which asks the question: "Where are we headed?"

Peace

What Baggage are you carrying?

"Jesus ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; 
no bread, no bag, no money in their belts..." Mark 6:7

I remember in my first year of priesthood, my Pastor - Fr. Vid - was going to visit his mother, who lived in Australia.  He was going to be gone for 3 weeks - and I was going to be in charge!
I remember very little from that time - except his luggage for the trip! It was a small - old fashioned - carry-on sized bag.  Three weeks, halfway around the world - and that was it! I need more than that to go for 3 days away!

"New evangelization" still a Buzz Phrase. From John Paul II to Benedict XVI to Pope Francis. Each speak of the need for a New Evangelization! What might it consist of? What might be new about it?   What has to change? What was really the intent of Jesus
when He sent His disciples to continue Evangelizing?

In the Gospel today it is clear: Jesus is source, the inspiration
& the model for His followers' evangelizing action. They act by His authority. Not on their own behalf. They are "sent" by Jesus. 

The only way to have a "new evangelization" is to purify and strengthen our relationship with Jesus. There can be no new evangelization without new evangelists, and there will be no new evangelists if there isn't a more vivid, lucid & passionate contact with Jesus. Without this relationship with J, we will do everything 
but introduce His Spirit into the world.

On sending them, Jesus gives them His "authority", not power to control, rule, or dominate others, but His strength to "cast out unclean spirits" - freeing people from what enslaves, oppresses, 
and dehumanizes individuals and society.

Jesus sends them with what is necessary for the Journey: walking stick, sandals, one tunic. And I think of Fr. Vid's bag & My bags.
Jesus wanted the Apostles,  wants US to be free – without any attachments, trusting in the force of the Gospel. To be nimble in the New Evangelization!

May this encounter - in word and in sacrament - the result of our Praise of God be for each of us a more vivid, lucid & passionate contact with Christ!

Peace

Holydays & Prayer

Our first week of Holydays for Summer 2015 concludes today.  A wonderful week - whose theme was Mad Science - and included not only many "Science Experiments" throughout the week, but also a science demonstration for all the campers in the Gym of Holy Family School! Some really neat Chemical reactions were demonstrated - including water changing colour, foam growing out of a glove and a "snake of bubbles flowing out of a glass beaker!

All very neat stuff.

The following prayer is for the visit of Pope Francis to the Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in September:

Heavenly Father, we entrust to your loving care

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, who, in your Providence,

Leads and guides the Church throughout the world.

As we prepare fox his pastoral journey to the United States,

Fill us, Lord, with the joy of the Gospel.

Give us the grace to respond to the Holy Father’s call

To encounter Christ and to become missionary disciples

Who bear witness to His truth and love.

Send your Holy Spirit upon us, that we may walk with others,

Especially the poor and the vulnerable,

And bring them to the healing touch of your Son, Jesus,

In your kindness, Lord, give success to the World Meeting of Families

So that, under the leadership of Pope Francis,

Marriage and family life might be strengthened in every Land and culture

Look with love upon our nation.

Ensure that the Holy Father’s presence and words

Inspire us to protect the unborn, the ill and all those who are vulnerable;

To defend our first and most cherished freedom, religious liberty;

To welcome the stranger; and to serve the poor.

May this visit of Pope Francis confirm in our hearts

The Gospel principles of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord.