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THURSDAY March 30, 2000 vol. 11, no. 64 SECTION TWOSee why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
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We continue today, thanks to ZENIT News Organization, the spiritual exercises that Retreat Master Archbishop Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan preached to the Holy Father and Curia the week just before the Pope's "Jubilee Journey" to the Holy Land. Because of the wonders of the internet, all readers can now share in the inspiration that touched the Vicar of Christ and give all readers the opportunity to make a Lenten On-Line Retreat, so to speak, by contemplating on what the Archbishop presents, then going in silent prayer and meditation as John Paul II and his staff did to gain a greater peace and spirituality. The ideal way is to be able to go before the Blessed Sacrament and attend Daily Mass, but if this is not possible, then quiet time with Our Lord in meditation and prayer is the best scenario. For today's Second Spiritual Exercise, God is our only certainty , click on LENTEN ON-LINE RETREAT
Today's Introduction: On the second day of the spiritual exercises for John Paul II and his collaborators in the Roman Curia, the meditations focused on "Hope in God." In a world of living contradiction between progress and barbarism, Vietnamese Archbishop François Xavier Nguyên Van Thuân, the preacher, emphasized that life can only find real meaning and hope in God.
"This light gave me new strength, which has completely changed my way of thinking, and it has helped me overcome moments that physically seemed unbearable. Since that time, a new peace filled my heart and stayed with me during 13 years of imprisonment. I felt human weakness, but I would renew my decision in face of difficult situations, and I never lacked peace. To choose God, and not God's works. This is the foundation of Christian life, at all times," Archbishop Nguyën Van Thuän explained.
Thus, the preacher continued to say, "I understand that, at all times, my life is a series of decisions between God and the works of God. An always new decision that becomes a conversion. The temptation of the people of God always consisted in not fully trusting God, in trying to find support and security in another place. This is the experience suffered by figures as glorious as Moses, David, Solomon...".
The Bible does not mince matters. According to Archbishop Nguyën Van Thuän, "this was the experience of the Patriarchs, Prophets, and first Christians, referred to in chapter 11 of the Letter to the Hebrews, in which the expression 'by faith' appears 18 times and the expression 'with faith' once." This is also the key to reading the lives of so many men and women who over 2000 years of Christianity, have given their life even to the point of martyrdom. Among all these examples, the Archbishop highlighted Mary, the woman "who chose God, forgetting her plans, without fully understanding the mystery that was taking place in her body and her destiny."
Special Prayer for Thursday in the Third Week of Lent
Today we continue with our new series in the search to uncover the wonderful treasures of the Church contained in the great Deposit of Faith. Today we present, appropriately in following up the Holy Father's "Jubilee Journey" last week, the second part of the catechesis on Christ the God-Man as explained in My Catholic Faith for it was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies that God would become Man in order to redeem all mankind from the limbo man was placed after the sin of Adam. For the 142nd installment, see APPRECIATING THE PRECIOUS GIFT OF OUR FAITH
The God-Man part two
The birth of Jesus Christ is a fact of history. He was born of Mary, who was espoused to a carpenter named Joseph, who lived in Nazareth of Galilee. The archangel Gabriel said to Mary, "The Holy One to be born shall be called the Son of God."
Jesus Christ is true man, because He has a body and soul like ours. He derived His human nature from His mother. History tells us of Jesus Christ, Who preached in and about Jerusalem over two thousand years ago. Many records tell of His appearance, of His words, of His actions, of His teachings. Nobody doubted that Jesus Christ was a Man, for He could be seen and touched like other men. He lived and died just as men of all times live and die. His Holiness John Paul II, Christ's Vicar on earth, experienced this last week during his historic "Jubilee Journey" in his Papal Pilgrimage through the Holy Land retracing the footsteps of the Savior and shared with all via live coverage on EWTN and news coverage in the DailyCATHOLIC which can be reviewed by going to A review of the Pope's "Jubilee Journey" to the Holy Land.
We can prove that the religion God has revealed through Christ is worthy of belief, because Jesus Christ, announcing Himself as the true Son of God, whose coming was foretold by the prophets, preached doctrines which He said all must believe. If Christ is God, then the religion He established is true, and the Church He founded is the true Church. We can believe everythng He says, even without understanding it, because God cannot err.
If Jesus Christ were not God, then Christianity would be a farce, and the sooner it were done away with the better. If Christ were not God, then He were an impostor who, by claiming divinity, has led billions into error for 2,000 years. We know that is not possible for He truly is the Son of God.
Christ worked wonderful miracles, which showed that the God of truth approved His teachings. Christ worked so many miracles publicly that all flocked to Him to be cured. "But when John had heard in prison of the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples to say to Him, 'Art Thou He Who is to come, or shall we look for another?' And Jesus answering said to them, 'Go and report to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, the poor have the gospel preached to them' " (Matthew 11:2-5).
Tomorrow: Our Lord Jesus Christ part one
On this day 809 years ago in 1191 the 175th successor of Peter was chosen. He was Pope Celestine III, the oldest Pope to ever be elected for he was 85 when chosen. Though many expected him to live only a few years, he surprised everyone and lived until he was 92. During his seven-year pontificate he was successful in assuring pilgrims in the Holy Land would have the protection of the Order of Teutonic Knights as a result of the Third Crusade during Celestine's papacy. For other time capsule events that happened in Church history on this date, see MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES
1282 A.D.
Start of the notorious Sicilian Vespers in Palermo in which over 8,000 Frenchmen were slaughtered.
1492 A.D.
Jews were exiled from Spain at the order of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, enforced by the Court of Inquisitions because of Jewish meddling in state affairs and insurrection against the Spanish Catholics.
1533 A.D.
King Henry VIII divorces Catherine of Aragon forcing the Church's hand with excommunication by Pope Clement VII four months later.
Historical Events in Church Annals for March 30:
1191 A.D.
Cardinal Giacinto Boboni of the aristocratic Orsini family in Rome becomes Pope Celestine III and the 175th successor of Peter. He was one of the oldest to become Pope, being 85 years-old at the time of his election. He would die seven years later on January 8, 1198. During his seven year papacy he would sustain the indissolubility of marriage and give official approval to the Order of Teutonic Knights whose principal duty was to defend the pilgrims in the Holy Land.
Today and tomorrow we observe the Lenten liturgy with tomorrow being a day of abstinence. For the readings, liturgies, and meditations, see DAILY LITURGY.
"Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and house will fall upon house. If then, satan also is divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? Because you say that I cast out devils by Beelzebub. Now, if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you."
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminary did so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".
"Having lost his inward unity, man is more and more compelled to seek the unity outside himself in the unity of organization. Disclaiming all responsibility, he surrenders it more and more to the State. The sheep that will not obey the shepherd must be received by a dog barking at their heels. The citizen who will not obey the moral laws of God, must be organized by a dictator snapping at their souls."
NOTE: We respectfully recognize and accept the final authority regarding apparitions, locutions and prophecies presently being reported around the world rests with the Holy See of Rome and the Magisterium of Holy Mother Church to whose judjment we humbly and obediently submit.
"Dear children! Pray and make good use of this time, because this is a time of grace. I am with you and I intercede for each one of you before God, for your heart to open to God and to God's love. Little children, pray without ceasing, until prayer becomes a joy for you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
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