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     This weekend we celebrate the glorious feasts of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday, the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Saturday, and Father's Day on Sunday, the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time. For this weekend's liturgy, meditations, readings and vignettes on the feasts, click on LITURGY FOR THIS WEEKEND

FRIDAY June 19:
FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

White vestments

First Reading: Ezekiel 34: 11-16
Psalms: Psalm 23: 1-6
Second Reading: Romans 5: 5-11
Gospel Reading: Luke 15: 3-7

      This special feast set aside to honor the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is a tribute to the devotion to the Sacred Heart which illustrates Christ's love, divine and human for all his children symbolized in His Own physical Heart. It is also a symbol of His Divine Triune Love where Jesus shares with the Father, Holy Spirit and through the Son, with mankind, manifesting this love so that He became man, subjecting Himself to the weakness of man so that we could have life and have it more abundantly (cf. John 10:10) for Colossians 2: 9 sums it up, "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in Him Who is the Head of every Principality and Power you have received of that fullness." Devotion to His Sacred Heart can be traced to many mystics over the years beginning with Saint Bernard of Clairvaux in the 12th Century then Saints Bonaventure and Gertrude in the 13th Century, followed by Saint Frances of Rome in the 15th Century and Saint Francis de Sales, Saint John Eudes and Saint Margaret Mary Alocoque in the 17th Century. It was the latter who received apparitions and locutions while in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament that gave the greatest impetus to this devotion and passed down the Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart. This led to the establishment of the Nine First Friday devotion which promises final penitence to those who receive Holy Communion on the first Friday of nine consecutive months.

SATURDAY June 20: Eleventh Saturday in Ordinary Time and
FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

White vestments or green vestments

First Reading: 2 Chronicles 24: 17-25
Psalms: Psalm 89: 4-5, 29-34
Gospel Reading: Matthew 6: 24-34

      This feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was established by Pope Pius XII on December 8, 1945 and assigned to August 22. However, in more recent times it was moved to immediately follow the Feast of the Sacred Heart in concordance with the fact that wherever Jesus is, there is His Mother and wherever the Blessed Virgin Mary is, there also is her Divine Son. Devotion to the Immaculate Heart dates back to Saint John Eudes in the 17th Century who is known as the apostle of the devotion to the Two Hearts. He petitioned the Popes often during his life to institute special feasts honoring the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts. At each time he met with resistance, but Our Lady had other plans and promoted this devotion to her Immaculate Heart at Fatima when she said, "In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph." Just as the Feast of the Sacred Heart is always celebrated on Friday to commemorate the First Fridays, so also the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is always celebrated on the Saturday immediate following to commemorate the First Saturday Devotion begun after the Fatima apparitions when Our Lady promised her intercession at the hour of a person's death if they received Holy Communion of the First Saturday of five consecutive months and promise to offer reparation to her Divine Son through her Immaculate Heart. This feast also helped establish Saturday as special to Our Lady with the Church establishing optional memorials to the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday during Ordinary Time.

SUNDAY June 21:
TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Green vestments

First Reading: Zechariah 12: 10-11
Psalms: Psalm 63: 2-7, 8-9
Second Reading: Galatians 3: 26-29
Gospel Reading: Luke 9: 18-24

Monday June 22: Twelfth Monday in Ordinary Time and
Feast of Saint Paulinus of Nola, Bishop and Feast of Saints John Fisher, Bishop and Saint Thomas More, martyrs

Green vestments or green vestments or red vestments

First Reading: 2 Kings 17: 5-8, 13-15, 18
Psalms: Psalm 60: 3-5, 7, 12-13
Gospel Reading: Matthew 7: 1-5

      One of the lesser known saints, Saint Paulinus of Nola shares this day with two other saints below: Saint John Fisher and the more well-known Saint Thomas More. Paulinus was a bishop born in 353 in Bordeaux, France. His life took him into politics where he became governor of Campania, Italy after extensive travels throughout France, Spain and Italy. In 381 he met and married a Spanish sweetheart Theresia. Together they vowed to live a strict evangelical life with their tutors being Saint Ambrose and Saint Martin of Tours. Because of their influence, Paulinus was baptized in 389 and moved to Spain. After the death of his first child Celsus, Paulinus decided to forsake all his worldly possessions for a monastic life. However, urged on by the people and receiving a special dispensation from Rome, he was ordained a priest in 394 in Barcelona, Spain. Shortly after that he retired to Nola, Italy south of Naples and their founded a small monastery with his wife who also had vowed a life of celibacy. Together they worked, setting up a hospice and caring for the sick and meeting the needs of pilgrims to the shrine of Saint Felix. Because of his work he was appointed Bishop of Nola in 409 and died 22 years later in the same city.

      Both saints were beheaded by the rebellious king of England Henry VIII because they refused to disobey Rome. For their obedience to God and not man they were welcomed into the Heavenly realm in 1535.

      Saint John Fisher, born in Yorkshire, England in 1469, became a priest at the age of 25 after graduating cum laude from Cambridge University. His claim to fame was his brilliant defense of the Faith against the attacks of Martin Luther. Because of his expertise in both theology and the humanistic arts, he was appointed Chancellor at Cambridge in 1504 and later became the Bishop of Rochester. Soon after he was summoned by Queen Elizabeth of York, mother of Henry VIII, to minister to the royals where he emphasized a monastic austerity in their prayer life and an insistence on the Liturgy of the Hours by all. Though he was beloved by Elizabeth, he was resented by Henry who had succumbed to the world, the flesh and the devil. When Bishop Fisher officially proclaimed Henry's first marriage valid after Henry tried to annull it, the good bishop was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1533. Given another chance by Henry to refute what he had proclaimed and to take an oath of loyalty to the King of England over the Pope of Rome, Fisher who had been appointed a Cardinal while in prison by Pope Paul III refused, condemning the king's marriage to Anne Boleyn. For this he was beheaded, receiving his crown of martyrdom.

      While John Fisher was a Cambridge grad, Saint Thomas More was an Oxford man, having studied law. Born in 1477 in London, Thomas was married twice. With his first wife he had four children. After she died, he remarried for the welfare of his children. After John Fisher had been imprisoned, Henry VIII appointed Thomas the new Chancellor, a position at that time which was second only to the king. He succeeded Cardinal Wolsey. The ribald king had thought that by placing a layman in this position he could further distance himself from Rome and better control the Church of England. But Thomas More was a holy man who owed his allegiance to the King of Kings before the king of England. More than a few times when summoned by Henry while Thomas was attending Holy Mass, Thomas replied by messenger: "As soon as my audience with the King of Heaven is ended, I will at once obey the desire of my earthly king." This did not sit well with Henry who was determined to have his own way. When Henry proclaimed himself head of the Church of England, Thomas, who also was opposed to the king's divorce, abstained from taking the oath and resigned as Chancellor, refusing to recognize Henry's spiritual supremacy before God. Like John Fisher's fate, Henry retaliated vehemently and had Thomas imprisoned in the same Tower of London where he too was beheaded shortly after St. John Fisher in 1535, joining the ranks of martyrdom for the One, True Faith.

Week leading up to Father's Day, Pope emphasizes family life and religious life to Bishops

     Speaking to European groups representing family interests, and later to a group of United States Bishops on their ad limina visit, the Holy Father stressed the value of family life and its values within the framework of the Sacrament of Matrimony and the importance of elevating it and religious life to the plateaus they richly deserve as vocations blessed by God. Both, the Pope emphasized, add to the richness of the Church and especially religious life in the ecclesial life of Holy Mother Church. For more, click on Family and Religious Life

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- The growth of secularization and hedonism have obscured some fundamental truths about the family, Pope John Paul II has said.

      In a message delivered at a meeting of family-life movements from around Europe, organized by the Pontifical Council for the Family, the Holy Father called for "constant and courageous" Christian witness to advance the cause of "human life in its natural habitat-- the family founded upon marriage." The papal message was addressed to Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, the president of the Council.

      The Pope's message also called upon all pastors to show "constant and attentive solicitude" for the concerns of family life. The Pope declared, "The entire Christian community is called to defend and promote these fundamental human and evangelical principles."

      The Holy Father also emphasized religious life in speaking to a group of American bishops who were making their ad limina visit. Pope John Paul II called for a renewal of consecrated life, and urged the bishops to make sure that the seminary formation of diocesan priests gave them a keen understanding of the importance of consecrated religious life.

      In a meeting with bishops from the Midwestern United States, the Pope said that the public witness of religious men and women should be a constant reminder of the spirit of the Beatitudes. Just as last week he had emphasized the role of the laity in a talk with another group of American bishops, on this occasion the Pope explained how the religious life is an essential component of the ecclesial community.

      "As bishops, you have the duty to safeguard and proclaim the principles of religious life," the Pope said. He argued that a proper appreciation for those principles will enrich the entire Church, and challenge the secular society.

Stubborn Dems sandbagging Pro-life efforts in Congress

     Rather than passing a bill that would protect teens from being whisked across state lines for abortions, Democrats slung mud at Republicans for killing the Tobacco bill and stubbornly held out, tacking on amendment after amendment that could kill this bill which is in line with politicians who haven't got a clue what they're really doing or why the people voted for them. For more, click on Democrats

      WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - House Democrats on Wednesday successfully stalled action on a bill designed to protect teens from being taken across state lines for abortions to avoid state parental notification laws.

      House Judiciary Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Illinois, delayed a final committee vote on the bill until next week after Democrats offered numerous amendments, slowing down the process. Supporters of the bill say it will protect thousands of young girls who are taken from their families every year for abortions in other states without regard to their legal protections. They also say the bill will protect parents' rights over how they choose to raise their children.

      Critics of the measure say it could make grandmothers or ministers subject to criminal penalties, but pro-lifers contend that only parents should have the right to make those decisions, if their state has given them the legal protections to do so. The National Right to Life Committee said that under the bill, named the Child Custody Protection Act, "Congress would take a clear stand against a bizarre notion that the US Constitution confers a 'right' upon strangers to take one's minor daughter across state lines for a state abortion."

Retired Saint Louis Cardinal passes away at 93.

     He had hoped to be able to join Archbishop Justin Rigali in welcoming Pope John Paul II when he visits St. Louis next January, but God had other ideas for Cardinal John Carberry who retired as head of the St. Louis archdiocese in 1979. He was succeeded by Archbishop John May who died in 1992 and replaced by the Holy Father's personal choice of Archbishop Rigali who many feel will be the next American Cardinal chosen. For more, click on Death of St. Louis Cardinal.

      KIRKWOOD, Missouri (CWNews.com) - Retired Cardinal John Carberry of St. Louis died on Wednesday at age 93 of natural causes.

      The cardinal was archbishop of St. Louis from 1968 until 1979 and remained active in Church affairs until he suffered a stroke in 1988. He was elevated to the office of cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1969. He was a native of Brooklyn, New York and was ordained a priest in 1929.

      Cardinal Carberry resigned as archbishop of St. Louis in 1979 after reaching the mandatory retirement age. At the time, he said he was somewhat surprised that Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation, he added that he was open to God's will and happy with the decision.

      The Pope called him an "exemplary pastor of the Church." In a telegram of condolence addressed to the Archbishop Justin Rigali of St. Louis, the Pope praised the late prelate's "pastoral and doctrinal" zeal, and in particular his "exceptional devotion to the Virgin Mary." He said the cardinal's personal example should be a source of inspiration to the people he served.

      Cardinal Carberry was born in Brooklyn in 1904, and ordained to the priesthood in 1929. He was appointed as coadjutor bishop of Lafayette, Indiana, in 1956, and one year later became the bishop of that diocese. In 1965 he was appointed bishop of Columbus, Ohio, and in 1968 he became archbishop of St. Louis. He was raised to the college of cardinals by Pope Paul VI in 1969. Pope John Paul II accepted his resignation in 1979.

      With the death of Cardinal Carberry, the college of cardinals now includes 159 members, of whom 41 are above the age of 80 and therefore ineligible to vote in a papal conclave.

Plot thickens in apprehension of Cardinal's murderer in Guatamala

     Having just released one suspect for lack of evidence, and holding another, authorities discovered a dead body who could be one of those involved in the murder of Auxiliary Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera on April 26th this year. The manner in which he was killed gives police officials a clue as to the degree of the dead man's involvement in the murder which many believe was government related because of the bishop's strong stance on human rights and criticism of the current regime. For more, click on Guatamala intrigue.

      GUATEMALA CITY (CWNews.com) - Guatemalan officials said on Wednesday that an unidentified body discovered last month may be that of another suspect in the death of Auxiliary Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera in April.

      Bishop Gerardi was murdered just two days after releasing a report blaming the army for the majority of the murders during the country's 36-year civil war. Prosecutors said they think the mutilated body found May 30 is linked to the bishop's case because of the way in which the unidentified man was killed, the newspaper Prensa Libre reported. Prosecutors did not elaborate on how the man died.

      One suspect in the murder is already in custody. Carlos Enrique Vielman, 24, was arrested in April but has not been formally charged.

      This came a day after a suspect in the murder of a Guatemalan bishop was cleared of involvement by prosecutors on Tuesday, but another suspect remained in custody.

      Attorney General Otto Ardon Medina said there was no evidence indicating Ivan Alexander Hernandez was involved in the April 26 killing of Auxiliary Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera. The bishop was murdered in his home two days after releasing a report criticizing both sides in the country's 36-year civil war for numerous human rights atrocities.

      Hernandez, 25, was arrested June 5 during an alleged drug deal and was still being held Tuesday on possible drug possession charges. He had been linked to the 1994 killing of Father Belga Alfonso Stessel, but was never charged. A first suspect, Carlos Enrique Vielman, 24, was arrested in April in connection with the bishop's death but still has not been formally charged. Human rights groups say the arrests are an attempt to shield the real murderers who are either government soldiers or former rebels.

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June 19-21, 1998 volume 9, no. 119   DAILY CATHOLIC