May 2012

Vocations e-newsletter

SAY YES TO JESUS

TITANIC’S CATHOLIC PRIESTS

EJJA WARAJJA VIDEO ON YOUTUBE

E - spark 45

E-Spark hija newsletter elettronika mahruga mic-Centru tal-Vokazzjonijiet tas-Seminarju, tal-Virtu,Rabat .

Tel: 21450354 - www.vokazzjoni.com

"Dear young people, let me now ask you as question: 'What will you leave to the next generation?'

In so many of our societies, side by side with material prosperity, a spiritual desert is spreading: an interior emptiness, an unnamed fear, a quiet sense of despair. The Church needs renewal! She needs your faith, your ideal-ism, and your generosity, so that she can always be young in the Spirit!

I address this plea in a special way to those of you whom the Lord is calling to the priesthood and the consecrated life: do not be afraid to say ‘yes’ to Jesus; to find your joy in doing his will, giving yourself completely to the pursuit of holiness, and using all your talents in the service of others..."

Pope Benedict XVI

Qatt ħsibt xi jkun għaddej minn ġo qalb u moħħ dawk iż-żgħażagħ li, fis-skiet imma qisu f'eternità, jkunu qed jippreparaw biex jibdew is-seminarju? Fil-ħidma tiegħi spiss niltaqa' ma' żgħażagħ kuraġġużi u determinati li, avolja jkollhom ħajja ċerta u futur sabiħ, ikunu lesti jabbandunaw kollox għal Ġesù meta jindunaw li Hu qed jitlob minnhom li jgħaddu minn triq oħra... Dawn huma esperjenzi minn e-mails li rċevejt dan l-aħħar...

Father, iktar ma jgħaddi ż-żmien iktar qed isiru parti minni dawn il-live-ins... Meta jasal ieħor, dak li nibda nħoss f'qalbi jien stess ma nistax nispjegah. Inħossni qiegħed f'mixja, għalkemm aħna lkoll qegħdin f'mixja. Imma din it-triq aktar ma timxi fiha aktar qed tidjieq. Bħalma qalilna Hu: "qis li tgħaddu mill-bieb id-dejjaq!" Din il-ħaġa vera sammritli ħsiebi u qalbi. Għad baqa' ftit ieħor imma jekk din hi verament ir-rieda ta' Alla... l-importanti li ssir fija r-rieda ta' Alla... Qisu minn kull live-in toħroġ dik ix-xi ħaġa li wieħed ikun jista' jġorrha miegħu d-dar. Żommuna f'talbkom ħalli naslu biex niskopru dak li jrid minna s-sid tagħna li hu Kristu.

Emminni Father, ma nistax nemmen minn xhiex qed ngħaddi bħalissa... Aktar ma jgħaddi ż-żmien aktar qed nissoda! Qed nissorprendi lili nnifsi b'dak li qed jiġri. Temmen li sieħbi li ilu ma jmur qrar mill-griżma - u ovvjament l-anqas quddies - ġie miegħi quddies is-Sibt?! U wkoll qalli: "Inżommuha din ta!" Ma rridx nemmen! Issa jrid imur iqerr ukoll! Aktar ma jgħaddi ż-żmien aktar qed ninduna kemm Alla hu umli. Biex ikellem lil sħabi kellu jinqeda bija?! Kellu jinqeda b'wieħed agħar minnhom?! Sorpriż għall-aħħar... il-bidla li qed nara anke fi sħabi... qed jirriflettu aktar fuq ħajjithom! Ħsibtu ħa jkun żmien ta' diffikultà imma nixtiequ ma jispiċċa qatt. Dawn ix-xhur ta' stennija huma training tajjeb għalija. Persważ li jekk Alla jtini l-grazzja li nordna, ma nara xejn u lil ħadd żejjed! Kemm jista' jkun qed nipprepara ruħi għall-ġurnata li nibda s-Seminarju. Irrid inkun ippreparat biex inwassal il-kelma ta' Dak li ma jinstemax, il-maħnuq mis-soċjetà. Leħen Ġesù hu b'saħħtu daqs kemm nagħmilhulu jien. Mela wara grazzja hekk kbira, nista' għallinqas inkun naqra reċiproku u nagħmel l-effort kollu tiegħi! Qed nemmen fil-ferħ li titlob għal ħaddieħor... Nitlob li oħrajn isibu l-ferħ li Hu wera lili.

Int li qed taqra, meta kienet l-aħħar darba li tlabt għal aktar vokazzjonijiet? Nitolbu għal dawn ħutna, u għal oħrajn li qed jindunaw bis-sejħa, sabiex iniżżlu għeruq fil-fond fl-imħabba ta' Alla. U int ukoll, tibżax titlob lil Alla kuljum "Mulej, xi trid minni?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sviw-8I3p7Y

Sacrifice of Titanic's Catholic priests re-called on 100th anniversary

DENVER, COLO., April 17 (CNA/EWTN News) .- Three Catholic priests, including one hailed by Pope Saint Pius X as a martyr for the faith, were among the victims of the Titanic disaster remem-bered during its 100th anniversary on April 14-15. All three of the European-born priests – Father Juozas Montvila of Lithuania, Father Josef Pe-ruschitz, O.S.B. of Bavaria, and English rector Fa-ther Thomas Byles – are said to have declined life-boats in order to offer spiritual aid to travelers who perished in the shipwreck, which claimed 1503 lives. An eyewitness account of the 1912 sinking, pub-lished in the Jesuit journal “America,” described how “all the Catholics on board desired the assis-tance of priests with the greatest fervor.”

The priests led passengers in recitation of the

Rosary, and “aroused those condemned to die to say acts of contrition and prepare themselves to meet the face of God.” According to the eyewit-ness, they were “engaged continuously giving

general absolution to those who were about to die.

Fr. Byles and Fr. Peruschitz had offered Mass on the morning of Sunday, April 14, only hours before the supposedly “unsinkable” ship struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Prior to the crash, both men had preached sermons on humanity's need for the spiritual “lifeboat” offered by Jesus Christ amid the dangers of the world. Born in Yorkshire, England during 1870, Fr. Byles converted to Catholicism from Anglicanism in 1894. He ministered to Catholics on the Titanic while traveling to the U.S. for the wedding of his brother, who had also entered the Church. After Fr. Byles' death in the shipwreck, St. Pius X reportedly described him as a “martyr.” A plaque at his onetime parish recalls his “heroic death in the disaster,” after “earnestly devoting his last moments to the religious consolation of his fellow passengers.”

Fr. Peruschitz was also described by eyewitnesses as declining a place on the lifeboats. The Bavarian priest-monk, born in 1871, was travel-ing on the Titanic to take up his new position as princi-pal of a Benedic-tine high school in Minnesota. His body, like those of the other two priests, was not recovered. A memorial at his onetime monastery in Bavaria reads: “May Joseph Pe-ruschitz rest in peace, who on the ship Titanic pi-ously sacrificed himself.”

The youngest of the three priests, Fr. Juozas Montvila,

was born in 1885. Ordained in 1908, he secretly min-istered to Eastern Catholics in Lithuania, whose faith had been outlawed by authorities of the Russian Em-pire. Under government pressure, Fr. Montvila was forced to leave the country in order to continue his priestly ministry. He boarded the Titanic in Southhampton, England, with the intention of emigrating to the U.S. Reports from the sinking ship recounted how the Byzantine-rite priest “served his calling to the very end.” Since then, there have been efforts toward his canonization.

SACRIFICE OF TITANIC’S CATHOLIC PRIESTS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sviw-8I3p7Y

Published on 26 Apr 2012 by Maltaseminary Priests and seminarians an-swer frequently asked questions by young people when considering priesthood. Qassisin u seminaristi iwiegbu mistoqsijiet li diversi zghazagh isaqsu meta jikkunsidraw il-hajja sacerdotali.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?

_xmM4umAm20

Contact Fr Michael and share your comments, suggestions, ideas or problems

email: dunkilin@catholic.org

Tel : 21450354 /79964557. Vocational Centre Archbishop’s Seminary Tal-Virtu, Rabat

Mulej, Missier ta' Sidna Gesu' Kristu,

li qal li l-hsad huwa kbir izda l-haddiema huma ftit, nitolbok

li tibghat aktar haddiema ghall-hsad tieghek.

Aghmel li z-zghazagh taghna jkunu dejjem iktar generuzi ghas-sejha

tieghek. Imla` 'l genituri bil-fidi, bl-imhabba u bl-ispirtu ta'

sagrificcju, biex joffru lil uliedhom ghas-servizz tieghek u jifirhu

meta xi hadd minnhom jkun imsejjah ghall-hajja kkonsagrata lilek.

B'Ibnek Gesu` Kristu Sidna

Amen