Monday thru Friday at www.DailyCatholic.org See why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!" e-mail: DailyCatholic@dailycatholic.org

SIMPLY SHEEN: The definition of dirty politics

      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".

"Politics is what might be called 'deferred repentance' - the keeping clean of the outside of the cup in order to escape the necessity of cleaning the inside."

     This is what Our Lord asked of all His children in Message #406 conveyed to the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart in mid-September 1993. Jesus asks His flock to return to Him, the Good Shepherd and place themselves in His Merciful and Loving arms. Only there will we find true refuge if we give Him all reverence. His Blessed Mother Mary prefaces her Divine Son's words in Message #405 two days earlier when she asks all His lambs to drink from the Chalice of Divine Mercy which flows freely for all if we but heed His Commandments and adhere to the Divine Will. She weeps for the many who turn their backs on Him and pleads for them to return in the manner of the prodigal son before it is too late. For these two Messages, click on "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..."

Messages Four Hundred-five and Four Hundred-six

      Beloved Hidden Flower, I bless you! How I long for all of my children to hear and truly live my messages.

      Do you, my little ones, still not understand that it is God's Mercy which permits me, His Mother, to come among you? Do you not wish His Mercy? If you reject His Merciful Love by remaining of hardened heart, you shall feel the full weight of Divine Justice.

      O! How cold are the hearts upon which I shed holy tears.

      My Divine Son's Church has become a nest of faithless administrators who fear to offend the world, but care naught that they offend God. Therefore know that in these days when I continue to urge you to pray from the heart, I also urge you to be of great courage. In courage is wisdom. In wisdom you will speak little, pray much, knowing it is God Who accomplishes all in His time.

      Little children, I solemnly tell you that God has given to the world the sign of His Divine Mercy - the Sacred Blood and Water from His Heart which flowed from His side on Calvary. I solemnly tell you this sign shall soon be revealed to all the world. Through this miraculous sign my Divine Son shall work many miracles. Souls shall be converted, bodies and minds made whole by the Precious Blood. The Chalice of Divine Mercy has been given as a sign. God wills for all the world to drink from the Chalice of Divine Mercy.

      Woe, triple woe to all who reject, deny this miraculous sign, for the Justice shall then truly come as a thief in the night.

      Wait and pray. Be of great faith. Believe with all your heart. I, your Mother, beseech you, pray! Pray! Pray!

      I love and bless you. Thank you for responding to my Call!

      Beloved Hidden Flower of My Mother's Immaculate Heart, I love you. I love all of My children, My little lambs. On this day, I wish to call everyone back to Me, their Lord and Savior, for I solemnly say to all: The Hour of Great Justice comes! No, you do not know the day nor the hour. Only the Father knows. Yet you are anxious and filled with fears, and by your fear you draw farther from Me, your secure Refuge.

      This day is My day. Come then as little lambs and place your hearts, souls and wills upon the altar. Unite with the Eternal Sacrifice of My Sacred Passion. Be a people of great faith. Have absolute confidence in God, and seek to love as I love. Then, My little ones, it is I Who dwell in you and you are transformed. You grow in holiness and unto you is given all that you need.

      Come, adore and worship your God and Savior. Give unto Me all reverence, and in return My Love and Mercy shall overflow in your life and through you to all the world.

      I, your Lord and Savior, the Only-Begotten Son of God, await you with open arms. Will you leave My arms empty? My Sacred Heart wounded and sorrowful?

      Love Me. I am your God. I shall soon reclaim all creation. Heed My Words. Be a holy people. Believe and do not doubt.

      I give to each of you My Peace. I bless you. I solemnly tell you that you should rejoice and be filled with gladness, and seek My Coming.

      Pray! I am with you always. I am your Jesus, the Savior of the world.

     Today is the First Tuesday of Lent plus the optional Feast of Saint Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr. Tomorrow is the First Wednesday of Lent. For the readings, liturgies, meditations and vignette on St. Polycarp, click on DAILY LITURGY.

Tuesday February 23:
Lenten Weekday and
Feast of Saint Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr

Purple or violet vestments

First Reading: Isaiah 55: 10-11
Psalms: Psalm 34: 4-7, 16-19
Gospel Reading: Matthew 6: 7-15

     Consecrated bishop of Smyrna by Saint John the Apostle, the holy Saint Polycarp staunchly defended the faith in the face of heresy, particularly Valentinianism and Marcionism. Born around 69 A.D. he dedicated his life to upholding the new Christian faith and preaching everywhere he went. Towards the end of his life when he was in his eighties, he traveled to Rome during the papacy of Pope Anicetus, the eleventh in the line of Peter. There Pope and bishop discussed a mutual date for Easter but could not come to an agreement and parted ways deciding each should celebrate it the way they had been doing it. Before he left Rome Polycarp was captured by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and thrown into prison. Refusing to sacrifice to the gods, acknowledge the divinity of Aurelius and reject his faith, Polycarp was ordered to be burned at the stake. But as they flames seared up and around him, they miraculously did not touch him. Furious, the Emperor ordered the soldiers to spear him to death. There in Rome on February 23, he gave up the ghost. Historians gage his death anywhere between 155 and 165, because of his association with Anicetus who was pontiff during those years. Many regard Polycarp as the chief link between the apostolic age, when he knew some of the apostles such as John, to the age of the great Christian Writers in Roman Asia which evolved late in the second century. They consider his Martyrium Polycarpi the first and oldest authentic example of the Acts of the Martyrs.

Wednesday February 24:
Lenten Weekday

Purple or violet vestments

First Reading: Jonah 3: 1-10
Psalms: Psalm 51: 3-4, 12-13, 18-19
Gospel Reading: Luke 11: 29-32

Events Today in Church History

      Through an interesting coincidence today we not only feature Pope Eugene IV, 207th successor of Peter, in our 94th installment of THE HISTORY OF THE MASS AND HOLY MOTHER CHURCH but today is the 552nd anniversary of the death of Pope Eugene IV. For other pertinent events that are memorable in Church history today, click on MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES

Historical Events in Church Annals for February 23:

• 156 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr. See DAILY LITURGY.

• 303 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Serenus, hermit from Yugoslavia who is known as the "Gardener" for his carden of fruits, flowers and herbs on which he lived and preached to others how a garden is like life and they we must cultivate virtue and weed out vice. He was beheaded during the persecution of the Roman emperor Maximium in Sirmium, Yugoslavia which today is just west of Romania.

• 867 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Lazarus, a Constantinople monk who was an artisan and restored the sacred images destroyed by iconoclasts during the reign of Theophilus who was incensed that he could restore these icons so quickly. Even though the emperor tried to torture him, he was able to evade further persecution and became an ambassador to Rome.

• 1011 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Willigis, Archbishop of Mainz and Imperial Chancellor to the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II. Acting for the Pope, Willigis also crowned Otto's son Otto III after the death of the former. When Otto III died at an early age in 1002, despite rival factions and discord, Willigis was able to crown Saint Henry II along with his wife Saint Cunegund. Willigis is the patron saint of wheelmakers and carriage horsemen.

• 1417 A.D.
  
• Birth of Pietro Barbo in Venice, Italy. After becoming a cardinal-deacon at the unusually young age of 23, he would go on to be elected the 211th successor of Peter on August 30, 1464 at 47 years-old, taking the name Pope Paul II. After a seven year pontificate he would die on July 26, 1471 from a stroke.

• 1447 A.D.
  
• Death of Pope Eugene IV, 207th successor of Peter. For more on him, see today's feature installment on Pope Eugene IV: Taking on the Council in a struggle to the end.

Good News! The Church is growing! Now at One Billion and counting!

      Despite persecutions and increased martyrdoms througout the world of priests and religious over the past several years, latest figures just released see the same kind of phenomena exhibited by the Church in the early years of the martyrs: The Church is growing, having just surpassed one billion Catholics worldwide and reports show vocations are increasing ever so slightly. For more, click on One billion served

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- The number of baptized Catholics in the world has surpassed 1 billion, according to the latest edition of the Annuario Pontificio.

      The Annuario for 1999 was formally unveiled in Rome this weekend. The volume's summary of statistics shows a grand total of just over 1 billion baptized Catholics alive on December 31, 1997.

      Of these Catholics, nearly half-- 49.3 percent-- live on the American continents. Europe accounts for 28 percent of the world's Catholics, Africa for 11 percent, Asia 10 percent, and Oceania less than 1 percent. The American continent is the only one where Catholics form a majority of the population, at 63 percent. In Europe, Catholics are only 41 percent; in Oceania 28 percent; in Africa 15 percent; and in Asia only 3 percent.

      The Annuario includes statistics on the number of bishops, priests, deacons, religious, and missionaries throughout the world, as well as statistics on baptisms, marriages, funerals, and ordinations. The figures show a slight increase over the previous year (1996) in the number of priestly ordinations, although deaths have left the total number of active priests essentially unchanged. The number of men and women religious declined slightly in 1997.

Pope preaches penance and preparation for Lent in his Sunday Angelus

      In his last public appearance before beginning the annual Lenten Retreat at the Vatican, the Holy Father reiterated his plea for worldwide cooperation in easing the debts of Third-World countries and reminding all of the message of Penance in this final year before Jubilee 2000, especially during Lent so that all can better prepare spiritually for the new millennium. For more, click on Sunday Angelus.

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- In his message for the 85th annual World Day for Migrants, Pope John Paul II has renewed his pleas for a reduction in the debt of the world's poorest countries.

      The Pope laments that "disequilibrium" between rich and poor countries could become irreversible, "with tragic consequences for all of humanity." Such a lack of equilibrium, he says, is incompatible with the fundamental theme of his message regarding migrants: the need for Christians to "welcome the stranger."

      The Pope's message, published on February 20, alludes to the Church herself as a sort of migrant-- a pilgrim on earth. Thus, he says, "the Church by her nature is in solidarity with the world of migrants." Like the world's migrants, Christians-- sons of Abraham-- are strangers on their way to the Promised Land, he says. He expresses the hope that "this perspective will help Christians to abandon all nationalist logic and ideological schemes."

      On the first Sunday of Lent, the Pope encouraged the faithful to use the season as preparation for Easter and for the Jubilee.

      Speaking at his regular Angelus audience-- after making his 281st visit to a parish in the Rome diocese-- the Holy Father stressed the value of spiritual preparation for the celebration of the 2000th anniversary of Jesus' birth. "It is important to step back from the indifference and the distractions of the world, and listen to the voice of God, which can be heard through the Church and, in the first place, in the conscience of every man."

      On Sunday evening, February 21, the Pope and most of the leaders of the Roman Curia began their annual Lenten Retreat. The retreat will continue through February 27. During that time, most offices at the Vatican will be working on a sharply reduced schedule, if not completely closed.

Read all about it! Freedom of the Press at stake with suppression of Catholic newspaper promotion in Ireland

      Evidently the heat got to the secular media in Ireland this past week when they canceled ads promoting Ireland's leading Catholic newspaper - the Irish Catholic because the promotion told it like it is, criticizing the secular media for fostering a menu of sensationalism and sex and offering an alternative of family values with solid Catholic ethics and morals. Because of undue pressure at having to face their own consciences, radio stations have canceled the ads thinking they'll avoid the controversy, but the Catholic editors have filed a protest, claiming that those who have banned their ads promoting good taste, have violated the rights of the religious press. Stay tuned. For more, click on Banned in Ireland.

      DUBLIN (CWNews.com) - A commercial for Ireland's biggest-selling Catholic newspaper has been banned from the airwaves.

      The advertisement promotes The Irish Catholic as a lively and provocative family newspaper for those who "expect more from a family newspaper than a diet of sex and sensationalism." But broadcasting authorities pulled the plug on the commercial before it began its six-week run on local radio stations in Counties Waterford and Donegal.

      It was in breach of legislation prohibiting ads "directed towards any religious or political end," said the Irish Radio and Television Commission. Established 111 years ago, the Irish Catholic has a circulation of 27,000. Its latest edition condemns the ban as "an issue of press freedom, specifically the freedom of the religious press."

Pro-Family campaign pledges to take back America for God and family!

      Speaking of family values in Ireland, across the pond in America a pro-family group is mounting a campaign to convince more to get active in local level government and civic policies in order to effect a change of attitude in morals and ethics that they hope will filter all the way to Congress and eventually the White House. Good citizenship is the theme and family values is at the core of the campaign. Some would call it politics, but when souls are at stake regarding morals and ethics, then it ceases to be politics and becomes a question of spiritual survival. For more, click on Taking back America.

      WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - The pro-family Family Research Council on Monday unveiled a new advertising campaign urging citizens to become more involved in public policy and government as a way to make a better America for their families.

      "The liberal establishment has every reason to sit up and take notice. Regardless of the Senate vote on impeachment, cultural indicators show Americans' attitudes and actions shifting towards traditional morality," FRC's National Advocate Janet Parshall said in introducing the nine radio public service announcements. "The public momentum is going in the right direction. This should only energize the pro-family movement. One message I have: Never give up! Especially not now."

      The Good Citizen Project is designed to make the listener realize that, as an individual, their participation in civic life can make a difference. FRC vice president Chuck Donovan said pro-family citizens have already made an impact on public policy, citing recent restrictions on pornography on the Internet, the education of the public on partial-birth abortions, tax changes in favor of married taxpayers, and proposed or approved laws banning same-sex marriages.

For more headlines and articles, we suggest you go to the Catholic World News site at the CWN home page and Church News at Noticias Eclesiales. Both CWN and NE are not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC but provides this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.

    Dear children! I again invite you to prayer. You have no excuse to work more because nature still lies in deep sleep. Open yourselves in prayer. Renew prayer in your families. Put Holy Scripture in a visible place in your families, read it, reflect on it and learn how God loves His people. His love shows itself also in present times because He sends me to call you upon the path of salvation. Thank you for having responded to my call.
For more on Medjugorje, click on MEDJUGORJE AND MORE

    Tying in with the pro-family campaign, we present today a site that provides the finest Catholic materials benefiting family life as God intended. It is the Catholic Family Catalog offering a complete selection of religious items, books, tapes, and home schooling materials with the emphasis on the family that prays together, stays together.

Click here to return to SECTION ONE or click here to return to the graphics front page of this issue.

February 23, 1999 volume 10, no. 37   DAILY CATHOLIC