The U Matuna Si Yu’os is published every week by the Archdiocese of Agaña, Guam. Our mission is to print and distribute a true report of the Roman Catholic Church’s ministry of changing lives though the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2012 VOL. 66, NO. 05 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time umatuna.org Pope Benedict issued a solemn warning about the erosion of reli- gious freedom in the United States, in a January 19 address to visiting American bishops. The Holy Father told the Ameri- can prelates, who were making their ad limina visits, that “it is imperative that the entire Catho- lic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres.” He added: “The seriousness of these threats needs to be clearly appreci- ated at every level of ecclesial life.” He said: “At the heart of every culture, whether perceived or not, is a consensus about the nature of reality and the moral good, and thus about the conditions for hu- man flourishing. In America, that consensus, as enshrined in your nation’s founding documents, was grounded in a world view shaped not only by faith but a commitment to certain ethical principles deriv- ing from nature and nature’s God. Today that consensus has eroded significantly.” Pope Benedict urged the Ameri- can bishops to take every opportu- nity to defend religious freedom and to promote moral reasoning based on the natural law. He reminded them that the natural-law tradition does not impose restrictions on true human freedom. That tradition, he said, should be properly understood as “a ‘language’ which enables us to understand ourselves and the truth of our being, and so to shape a more just and humane world.” The Pope said that he was dis- mayed by reports from the Ameri- can bishops about new threats to religious freedom. He mentioned especially the initiatives that would “deny the right of conscientious ob- jection” to people who are morally opposed to “cooperation in intrinsi- cally evil practices.” Here the Pontiff was obviously referring to policies Pope Sees Religious Freedom Eroding in US In a meeting with members of the Neo-Catechumenal Way on Fri- day, January 20 in Rome, Pope Bene- dict XVI announced the approval of the group’s prayers, celebrations, and practices that are non-liturgical. The announcement, made in the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall, was made when the Holy Father met with more than 7,000 members of the movement. During the ceremo- ny, the Pope commissioned 17 new “ad gentes” missions of the Neo-Cat- echumenal Way to locations in Eu- rope, the Americas, and Africa. Ac- cording to reports from the Vatican, “each mission is made up of three to four large families, members of the Neo-Catechumenal Way, who, accompanied by a priest, go to live in an area where Christian practice has lapsed or where the Gospel has never been announced.” The Holy Father also praised the movement’s efforts in helping to re-catechize and revitalize the Church in certain regions where it was needed. In addition to the “sending forth” of these families, Pope Bene- dict announced the approval of the non-liturgical celebrations and prayers specific to the Way in the catechesis of its members as found in the “Catechetical Directory of the Neo-catechumenal Way.” This ap- proval, published by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, allows celebra- tions found in the Directory “which are not, by their nature, already reg- ulated by the liturgical books of the Church.” These “already regulated” celebrations include the sacraments such as Mass and Reconciliation (Confession). Also noted by the Holy Father were the two already-approved li- turgical practices seen in the move- ment’s celebrations—specifically, offering the sign of peace before the Presentation of the Gifts and the re- ceiving of both species of the Eucha- rist. Both practices are permitted for the way with permission of the local bishop. The Pope also commented on the crucial importance of the Way’s catechesis leading to a fuller partici- pation in parish life, noting that the movement’s catechesis is designed to bring those who have fallen away from the Faith or who have been ill-formed into “the ecclesial com- munity as a whole.” Noting the im- portance of the liturgy, he remarked, “The risen Christ is actively present in the Church’s liturgical activity, making the Paschal mystery real and effective for our salvation to- day…This work of the Lord Jesus…, which is the true content of the lit- urgy, is also the work of the Church which, being His body, is a single entity with Christ.” See FREEDOM, Page 2 Pope Praises Neo-Catechumenal Way Efforts Deacon Diaz Laid to Rest YOUTH SUPPORT LIFE Urges Unity in Church’s Liturgy ‘The risen Christ is actively pres- ent in the Church’s liturgical activity, making the Paschal mystery real and effec- tive. The work of the Lord Jesus is the true content of the Liturgy.’ Pope Benedict XVI The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated for Deacon and retired Supreme Court Judge Ramon Valero Diaz on Wednesday, January 25 at the Agana Cathedral-Basilica. Photo by U Matuna Staff EVENT Guam’s World Youth Day Date: Palm Sunday, April 1, 2012 Time: 12:00 pm Location: Father Duenas Memorial High School Phoenix Center & Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey Catholic Read more details on page 3 St. John Berchmans TOKEN FAITH “Our true worth does not consist in what human beings think of us. What we really are consists in what God knows us to be.” INSIDE Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron, OFM Cap, DD smiles while praying the Rosary with more than a thousand Catholic faithful—including hundreds of Guam’s youth- -at the Chain for Life on Sunday, Jan. 22. The event is held in commemoration of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the US Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. The Archbishop is holding a relic of Bld. John Paul II, one of five given to the Archdiocese of Agana during a recent visit to the Vatican. Photos by U Matuna Staff Servus Tuus Awards Sex-selective Abortions Moving West Catholic Men’s Conference Inspires Selected teachers and staff from Catholic schools on Guam awarded. PAGE 4 Educating the immigrant communities about abortion is important. PAGE 8 The largest men’s conference on Guam to date. PAGE 2 Conversation with Judy Flores, Part 2 Judy Flores on Chamorro Identity and Cultural Renewal. PAGE 9
Transcript
Sunday, January 29, 2012
VOL. 66, NO. 05
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time umatuna.org
Pope Benedict issued a solemn warning about the erosion of reli-gious freedom in the United States, in a January 19 address to visiting American bishops.
The Holy Father told the Ameri-can prelates, who were making their ad limina visits, that “it is imperative that the entire Catho-lic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression
in the political and cultural spheres.” He added: “The seriousness of these threats needs to be clearly appreci-ated at every level of ecclesial life.”
He said: “At the heart of every culture, whether perceived or not, is a consensus about the nature of reality and the moral good, and thus about the conditions for hu-man flourishing. In America, that consensus, as enshrined in your nation’s founding documents, was grounded in a world view shaped not only by faith but a commitment
to certain ethical principles deriv-ing from nature and nature’s God. Today that consensus has eroded significantly.”
Pope Benedict urged the Ameri-can bishops to take every opportu-nity to defend religious freedom and to promote moral reasoning based on the natural law. He reminded them that the natural-law tradition does not impose restrictions on true human freedom. That tradition, he said, should be properly understood as “a ‘language’ which enables us to
understand ourselves and the truth of our being, and so to shape a more just and humane world.”
The Pope said that he was dis-mayed by reports from the Ameri-can bishops about new threats to religious freedom. He mentioned especially the initiatives that would
“deny the right of conscientious ob-jection” to people who are morally opposed to “cooperation in intrinsi-cally evil practices.” Here the Pontiff was obviously referring to policies
Pope Sees religious Freedom Eroding in uS
In a meeting with members of the Neo-Catechumenal Way on Fri-day, January 20 in Rome, Pope Bene-dict XVI announced the approval of the group’s prayers, celebrations, and practices that are non-liturgical.
The announcement, made in the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall, was made when the Holy Father met with more than 7,000 members of the movement. During the ceremo-ny, the Pope commissioned 17 new
“ad gentes” missions of the Neo-Cat-echumenal Way to locations in Eu-rope, the Americas, and Africa. Ac-cording to reports from the Vatican,
“each mission is made up of three to four large families, members of the Neo-Catechumenal Way, who, accompanied by a priest, go to live in an area where Christian practice has lapsed or where the Gospel has never been announced.”
The Holy Father also praised the movement’s efforts in helping to re-catechize and revitalize the Church in certain regions where it was needed.
In addition to the “sending forth” of these families, Pope Bene-dict announced the approval of the non-liturgical celebrations and prayers specific to the Way in the catechesis of its members as found
in the “Catechetical Directory of the Neo-catechumenal Way.” This ap-proval, published by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, allows celebra-tions found in the Directory “which are not, by their nature, already reg-ulated by the liturgical books of the Church.” These “already regulated”
celebrations include the sacraments such as Mass and Reconciliation (Confession).
Also noted by the Holy Father were the two already-approved li-turgical practices seen in the move-ment’s celebrations—specifically, offering the sign of peace before the Presentation of the Gifts and the re-ceiving of both species of the Eucha-rist. Both practices are permitted for the way with permission of the local bishop.
The Pope also commented on the crucial importance of the Way’s catechesis leading to a fuller partici-pation in parish life, noting that the movement’s catechesis is designed to bring those who have fallen away from the Faith or who have been ill-formed into “the ecclesial com-munity as a whole.” Noting the im-portance of the liturgy, he remarked,
“The risen Christ is actively present in the Church’s liturgical activity, making the Paschal mystery real and effective for our salvation to-day…This work of the Lord Jesus…, which is the true content of the lit-urgy, is also the work of the Church which, being His body, is a single entity with Christ.”
See FrEEdOM, Page 2
Pope Praises Neo-Catechumenal Way Effortsdeacon diaz Laid to rest
YOUTH SUPPORT
LIFEUrges Unity in Church’s Liturgy
‘The risen Christ is actively pres-
ent in the Church’s liturgical activity, making the Paschal mystery real and effec-tive. The work of the Lord Jesus is the true content of the Liturgy.’
Pope Benedict XVI
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated for Deacon and retired Supreme Court Judge Ramon Valero Diaz on Wednesday, January 25 at the Agana Cathedral-Basilica. Photo by U Matuna Staff
E V E n T
Guam’s World Youth DayDate: Palm Sunday, April 1, 2012 Time: 12:00 pm Location: Father Duenas Memorial High School Phoenix Center & Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey Catholic
Read more details on page 3
St. John Berchmans
T O K E N FA I T H
“Our true worth does not consist in what human beings think of
us. What we really are consists in what God knows us to be.”
InSIdE
Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron, OFM Cap, DD smiles while praying the Rosary with more than a thousand Catholic faithful—including hundreds of Guam’s youth-
-at the Chain for Life on Sunday, Jan. 22. The event is held in commemoration of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the US Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. The Archbishop is holding a relic of Bld. John Paul II, one of five given to the Archdiocese of Agana during a recent visit to the Vatican. Photos by U Matuna Staff
Servus Tuus Awards
Sex-selective Abortions Moving West
Catholic Men’s Conference Inspires
Selected teachers and staff from Catholic schools on Guam awarded. PaGE 4
Educating the immigrant communities about abortion is important. PaGE 8
The largest men’s conference on Guam to date. PaGE 2
Conversation with Judy Flores, Part 2 Judy Flores on Chamorro Identity and Cultural Renewal.
PaGE 9
2 Sunday, January 29, 2012arCHdIOCESan
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The 9th Annual Catholic Men’s Conference took place last Saturday, January 21, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Toto. Attended by 186 men—the largest men’s confer-ence on Guam to date - this was the first conference where younger men outnumbered the older ones (the “young” included 80 Father Duenas Seniors as well as some DYA After Care Clients). In addition, it was the first time a parish had of-fered to host a Catholic Men’s Con-ference.
Keynote speaker Joe McClane, brought to Guam courtesy of the Toto parish, gave morning remarks which resonated with the audience, whom he told:
� “Catholics, you are the original Christians. You have an intimate personal relationship with the Lord of Lords.”
� “After receiving grace from the Sacraments of baptism and confir-mation, we are called to be evange-lists (witnesses). When others see any of us, they should see Christ in us. We are expected to use our gifts and talents to help fulfill the gospel.”
� “In the Old Testament, God gave the Israelites manna in the desert. We are given the Eucharist as food for our journey.”
� “Women are looking for au-thentic masculine leadership…not perfection, but effort.”
� “In terms of witnessing for Christ, we are not responsible for success (converts are the responsi-bility of the Holy Spirit). But we are responsible for a positive attitude and making the effort…willing to be used. We may be humiliated, but it is nothing compared to the suffer-ing of Christ at Calvary” (which Mc-Clane described in graphic detail).
“We should be ready to give reason for our faith.”
� ”Some non-Catholics and fallen away Catholics say they don’t be-lieve in religion, but only believe
in a personal relationship with God. But Jesus believed in religion…he started the Church upon the foun-dation of the apostles.”
� “Protestants disagree so much about the truths about the faith that they are splintered into hundreds of denominations. Catholics can turn to the King’s ministers.”
� “When David offered to face the giant Goliath in battle, he was scared but he knew he had God on his side. Don’t tell God about how big your storm is; tell your storm how big your God is!”
In addition, Pale Eric Forbes, OFM Cap. delivered a motivational confession address to prepare men for the sacrament at the conference. The talk, one of the highlights of the conference, was given just before lunch when five (5) priests heard confessions from over 50 men.
Referencing a Thomas Aquinas tongue-in-cheek argument against confessing sins to a priest helps us better understand the reasons why
we should do so: � Need to overcome our pride…
humble ourselves as the sinners we are.
� Need to be accountable to someone other than ourselves.
� Priest as mirror lest we fool our-selves about our sin.
� Better appreciate the gravity of our sins and how our sins hurt oth-ers.
� Helps us appreciate how the commandments apply to our con-duct.
� We can hear the important words “I absolve you”, which heal us.
Pale Eric also shared some key ingredients of a good confession:
� Contrition: Sincere show for our sins because it offends God and others.
� Humility: We don’t make ex-cuses or justify ourselves.
y We confess our sins, not the shortcomings of others. y We confess sins, not tell stories.
We don’t talk about our virtues.
� Honest and complete: Confess all sins we can remember.
y Name the sin, and also state how often. y Describe briefly the magnitude
of the sin. y We should intend to repair
damage to others.
While the main purpose is to ab-solve a sinner from his/her sins (not to stop him/her from committing sin in the future) confession does give us grace to help us. However, this grace does not replace our free will. Going to confession regularly helps prevent our unconfessed sins from getting worse over time.
In addition, Tony Diaz moder-ated a Catholic Men’s Conference sports. Panelists were well-known local sports figures Charles Keone, Franklin Toves and Joey Gogue. This was a sequel to the sports pan-el at last year’s Catholic Men’s Con-ference at Catholic Social Services; moderated by Pat Wolff that panel consisted of Steve Martinez, Tony Diaz and Fran Hezel S.J.
The panelists were asked how sports may uphold or promote Christian teaching:
Keone: “God must be part of a coach’s relationships with his play-ers, parents and officials. I empha-size good sportsmanship with my players.”
Toves: “Perspective is impor-tant for coaches, seeing the little improvements you can praise in a player.”
Gogue: “We all fall down. Sports teach us to get back up.”
“Our talents are a gift from God to be used to help share the Good News.”
“Praying before games help. God hears.”
In addition, Alan Salas spoke of “The Virtue of Sports in helping kids rise up from nothing to be-come something”. Salas added: “It would be nice to bring athletes and coaches of faith together from time to time.”
Catholic Men’s Conference Inspires, Shatters attendance recordsBy Pat Wolff
Panelists Charles Keone, Franklin Toves, and Joey Gogue speak on sports and the life of faith with moderator Tony Diaz. Photo courtesy of Pat Wolff
that would require health-care personnel to coop-erate in abortions, or force both public officials and private individuals to participate in the celebration of same-sex marriages or refer children for adoption by gay couples. The US bishops have sharply criticized the Obama administration for its unwillingness to afford “conscience clause” protections to religious believers.
An AP story on the Pope’s address accurately re-ported that American Catholics have been divided on the duties of Catholic lawmakers regarding policies that violate the precepts of Church teaching. The AP story concluded: “In recent years, a small but grow-ing number of local bishops have publicly told Catho-lic lawmakers who support abortion rights not to present themselves for communion because of their stance on the issue.” (CNA/EWTN News)
FreedomCONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
3umatuna.orgSunday, January 29, 2012 GOSPEL & rEFLECTIOn
Sisters and Brothers: It is said that the great orators of the past, like the Greek Demosthenes and the Roman Cicero, had voices so power-ful that they could be heard well by thousands of people comprising their audience. The use of certain techniques for voice projection and constant practice made that pos-sible long before we had electricity and public address systems.
The human word can attain wondrous levels of power in many other situations. The power to teach, to convince, to move, to change. The power to console and to en-courage, to heal and to give life. Or the power to deceive, to desert, to inflict death.
An entire philosophy and theol-ogy can be constructed around the theme of the human word. Think about what a father can do within his family, for his children, by the use of his word. Think about the power of the word of those wielding authority in society: the power of kings, presidents, generals. Think of the power of mass media, espe-cially of film, where the word as vehicle of thought is communicated
not only through sound but also through color and movement.
God’s word is infinitely more powerful than anything human be-ings could ever conceive of. Take the story of creation. God speaks and the world comes into being. His word creates life. There are words and there is the Word. John tells us that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In time the Word be-came flesh and dwelt among us. It is in this light that we should view the power of Jesus’ word.
In the synagogue at Capernaum, the people are astonished by his word, as he teaches them with au-thority. He commands the unclean spirits and they obey him. The word of Jesus is even more power-ful than the words of Demosthenes or Cicero. It reveals the secret of the kingdom and draws people to faith. It heals people of their sickness and drives away the demons. It forgives and gives life.
The word of Jesus is seed scat-tered on the ground. It has an innate power to rise to life and grow and bear fruit. Almost two millennia af-ter Jesus spoke his life-giving word in Capernaum, it still continues to sound and to take root and sprout and grow in the hearts of people.
This gospel reflection is taken from St. Paul’s 366 Days with the Lord. May your day be filled with love and may Almighty God bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Pinagat Atsubispo Anthony Sablan Apuron, Kapuchinu
Mane’lu-hu, masasangan na i mangef maolek manguentos gi manmaloffan siha na tiempo tat komu i Greek as Demosthenes pat i Romanu as Cicero, man senmet-got i bos-niha ya sina manmahun-gok maolek ni mit taotao siha ni
ume’ekungok siha. Ma’u’usa todu klasen atte para u madaggao huy-ong i bos-niha kun todu i sesso ma praktika siha ni muna’pusibple este antes di u guaha elektrisidat yan sisteman kumuentos para i pupb-liku.
I fino’ taotao sina ha takka’ na’manman na pudet gi meg-gaina situasion siha. I pudet para mamana’gue, para mangombense, para manonnek, para tinilaika. I pudet para mangonsuelu yan para man uga’, para muna’homlo’ yan manna’i lina’la’. Pat i pudet para mandagi, para ma’abandona, para mamunu’. Interu gi filosufiha yan te’olugiha sina ma’usa gi uriyan i finihu’ taotao. Hasso hafa sina ha cho’gue i tata gi halom i familiha-na, para i famagu’on-na, ginen i ma’usan i finihu’. Hasso i pudet i finihu ayu siha u mangai atoridat gi susiat: i pudet i man rai, mam-prisidenti, manhenerat siha. Hasso i pudet i ‘mass media’, espesi-atmente i leston, anai i finihu ni muna’a’ankas i hinasso sina ma’usa gi sunidu yan lokkue gi kulot yan mubimiento.
I finiho’ Yu’os sen minina’sina mas metgot ki hafa i taotao sina ma hasso. Hasso i istorihan nina’huyong. Kumuentos si Yu’os ya i tano’ humuyong ha’. I fino’-na munana’huyong lina’la’. Guaha siha finihu yan guaha Fino’ Yu’os. Si San Juan ha sangani hit na gi tutuhon estaba i Finihu’ ya i Finihu’ sumis-iha yan si Yu’os, ya i Finihu si Yu’os. Gi tiempo i Finihu’ mama’sensen ya sumaga entre hita. Gi este na ma’atan-na na sina ta li’e’ i pudet i finihu’ Jesu Kristo. Gi synagoga giya Capernaum, nina’fanmanman i taotao siha ni fino’-na, sa’ mamanana’gue yan atoridat. Ha manda i mangai’aplacha na espiritu siha ya ma’osge gue’.
I finihu’ Jesu Kristo mas met-got-na ki finihu’ Demosthenes pat Cicero. Hana’a’annok i sikretun i
raino ya ha’u’uga i taotao siha para hinengge. Hana’hohomlo’ i taotao gi minalangun-niha ya ha dudu-lak i matnganiti. Manasisi’e’ yan mannana’i lina’la’. I finihu’ Jesu Kristo simiya ni machalalapun gi tano’. Ya gainina’sina gi sanhalom-na para u kahulu gi lina’la’ ya u dan-gkulo’ ya u fanfruta. Kasi dos mile-niu despues di kumuentos si Jesu Kristo put i mannana’i lina’la’ na fino’-na giya Capernaum, esta pa’go ha o’opan ya sigi ha manhali’ yan dumangkulo’ gi korason i taotao siha. Este na pinagat machuchule’ ginen i Lepblon San Papblo 366 Di-has Yan i Saina. Ohalara ya u bula guinaiya i ha’anen-miyu ya i todu hana’sina na Yu’os infambinendisi, gi na’an i Tata yan i Lahi-na yan i Es-piritu Santo. Amen.
Ibangheliu (Marcos 1:21-28)Matto si Jesus yan i mandi-
sipulu-na giya Capernaum ya humalom gi synagoga gi Sabalu na ha’ani ya hatutuhon mama’na’gue. Nina’fanmanman i taotao siha ni finana’gue’-na sa’ mama’nana’gue yan atoridat ya ti parehu yan i eskri-bas siha. Matto un taotao gi sinago-gan-niha ni gaiaplacha’ na espiritu ni gumigigek: “Jesus Nasarenu, hafa malago’-mu nu hami? Kao matto hao para un destrosa ham? Hu tun-go’ ha’ na hagu i Sinantusan ginen as Yu’os.” Linalatde gue’ duru as Je-sus: “Famatkilu! Huyong ginen enao na taotao!” Anai ha sangan este, i aplacha’ na espiritu ha na’fanaggue’ duru i taotao ya humuyong ginen i taotao ya gumigek a’gang. Todu i manmana’atan nina’fanmanman.
Ya matutuhon manaffaisen en-tre siha: “Hafa este kumekeilek-na? Gof nuebu na finana’gue este yan atoridat! Ha o’otden i manaplacha’ na espiritu siha ya ma’o’osge gue’!” Desde enao na tiempo i maolek na na’an-na machalapon gi todu i uri-yan Galilea.
ARCHBISHOPAnthony Sablan Apuron,O.F.M. Cap., D.D.
Gospel: Mark 1:21-28
annOunCEMEnTS
ACADEMY OF OUR LADY OF GUAM � Feb. 3: Catholic Schools Week
Conference, NO CLASSES � Feb. 18: Songfest/Family Night � Feb. 20: Presidents’ Day, NO CLASSES � Feb. 22: Ash Wednesday Liturgy; 8:30
a.m., Dolce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica. Parents are invited to attend.
Please visit the school’s website at www. aolg.edu.gu or call 477-8203 for more information. ARCHDIOCESAN WORLD YOUTH DAY 2012 ANNOUNCEMENTSCall For Youth VolunteersThe AWYD 2012 Planning Committee is calling for youth volunteers to assist in the operation of AWYD 2012 on Palm Sunday, interested youth age 14+ should leave their name and contact information at 734-3723 or email [email protected].
AYWD 2012 WebsiteFor more information about AWYD 2012 visit us online at http://guam2012awyd.tk
AWYD 2012 Registration begins Feb 3Registration begins online and through Catholic Parishes and Schools beginning February 3. Registration Fee will be $5. For more information on Registration, please visit our website: guam2012awyd.tk.
MASS FOR AN INCREASEOF VOCATIONS All those interested in the vocation to the priesthood or religious life are invited to attend a weekly Mass for Vocations offered every Wednesday, at 7 pm at Santa Barbara Catholic Church. For more info, please contact Fr. Paul Gofigan at 488-0613. Those interested in the permanent deaconate ministry are also invited to attend.
Preparations for Guam’s Wyd BeginWe are 12 weeks away from AWYD 2012! What’s AWYD 2012? Good Question.
AWYD 2012 stands for Arch-diocese of Agana World Youth Day in 2012. AWYD is part of the cycle of World Youth Day celebrations. Since their inauguration by Bld. John Paul II in 1985, the World Youth Days have alternated from one year to another between large biannual, international gatherings with the Pope and much smaller local events celebrated in the various dioceses. Together with the Catholic Church throughout the world we will ob-serve World Youth Day at the dioc-esan level in 2012.
Why AWYD 2012? What’s involved? How will it be accomplished?
The World Youth Days, whether international or diocesan, are ex-
pressions of the Church’s pastoral care for the youth. Throughout his life Bld. John Paul II ministered to the lives of many young people and recognized the role that they have in the life of the Church. In his ap-ostolic letter Dilecti Amici ‘Beloved Friends’ of March 31, 1985, Pope John Paul II says, “In you there is hope, for you belong to the future, just as the future belongs to you. For hope is always linked to the future; it is the expectation of ‘future good things.’ As a Christian virtue, it is linked to the expectation of those eternal good things which God has promised to man in Jesus Christ.” The immense love and trust with which the Supreme Pontiff had for young people is evident; this im-petus lives in continuity with our Holy Father Benedict XVI. Last year at the World Youth Day in Madrid, Pope Benedict boldly addressed the situation of the world today,
…We see a certain “eclipse of God” taking place, a kind of amnesia
which, albeit not an outright rejec-tion of Christianity, is nonetheless a denial of the treasure of our faith, a denial that could lead to the loss of our deepest identity. For this reason, dear friends, I encourage you to strengthen your faith in God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You are the future of society and of the Church!
The AWYD 2012 draws much of its gravity from these words. The situation of the world that sur-rounds us is dire. The Holy Father has given us an invitation to cling to the source of life, to do whatever we can to strengthen our faith in God. AWYD is just one event in the life of the local Church that can continue to edify the Christian lives of youth.
The program of events of AWYD 2012 is being organized by a plan-ning committee from the parish of Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey in Chalan Pago. Various subcommit-tees have been tasked with different logistical concerns. The last Arch-
diocesan World Youth Day in 2010 in Malojloj drew hundreds of par-ticipants from Catholic parish youth groups and schools. This year the attendance is expected to be greater due to the increased enthusiasm generated by the World Youth Day in Madrid last August.
We encourage interested young people to look to the U Matuna Si
Yu’os and posters at your local par-ish and catholic schools for upcom-ing events. You can also follow our twitter feed @GUAM2012AWYD. Registration opening soon!
Joaquin Pangelinan heads the Communications section of the AWYD Planning Committee he can be reached at [email protected] attn:”SoCom”
E V E n T
Who: Catholic Youth of the Island of Guam What: Archdiocese of Agana World Youth Day(AWYD) 2012 When: Palm Sunday, April 1, 2012, starting at 12:00PM Where: Father Duenas Memorial High School Phoenix Center & Our Lady of Peace and Safe Journey Catholic Why: “You are the future of society and of the Church!” –Pope Benedict XVI
4 Sunday, January 29, 2012umatuna.org CaTHOLIC SCHOOLS
Catholic School Week 2012 BeginsThe theme for Catholic Schools Week 2012 is “ Catholic Schools: Faith. Academics. Service.” This theme expresses three priorities that make Catholic schools stand out from other educational in-stitutions. Children learn about faith—not just basic Christianity, but having a relationship with God. They concentrate on aca-demics, which in Catholic schools are held to the highest standards, so they can reach their highest potential. They practice service—giving time, talent and effort to help others—as an expression of both faith and good citizenship. This combined focus on faith, academics and service prepares students for full and meaningful lives.
By Cynthia AgbulosSuperintendent of Catholic Schools u P C O M I n G
Schedule for Catholic School Week 2012Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 Proclamation Signing. Governor’s Cabinet Room
Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 Walkfest with Zumba Twist 6:00 a.m. at Skinner Plaza Servus Tuus Awaredees per school will be announced.
Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012 Students/Employees are asked to wear their school uniform or spirit wear to Mass at all our parishes.
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012Student Scholarships at 3:30 p.m. Chancery Office
Friday, Feb. 3, 2012Catholic School Educators Conference Father Duenas Phoenix Center
Nominees for the 2012 Servus Tuus AwardEach year, teachers and staff from Catholic primary schools and Catholic high schools are nominated for the Ser-vus Tuus Award in honor of their excellence in promoting Catholic education on Guam. Begun by Archbishop An-thony Sablan Apuron, OFM Cap, DD, the award honors one faculty member and one non-teaching staff member in each of the two categories of upper and lower grades. Nominees must have served at the nominating school for at least five (5) continuous school years. Winners will be announced on Friday, February 3 at the Catholic Schools Week Conference at the FDMS Phoenix Center.
Photos and captions supplied by Catholic Schools Office
Primayamat-Carreon Faculty AOLG
Placida Zulueta Staff DCDC
angelaThompson Staff FDMS
anita Panganiban Faculty SACS
Fred Torres Staff SACS
Bridget Meno Staff SFS
ErsaLouis Staff BBMCS
richard alvia Faculty FDMS
Josephine San nicolas Staff NDHS
Madeline Martinez Faculty SFS
daphne Castillo Staff AOLG
Ma. Cristina r. Escaran Faculty DCS
SharonQuintanilla Staff IOPCNK
Vicky dizon Faculty SBCS
Marilene Cusi Faculty SVCS
Brother Brian Champoux Faculty BBMCS
Josefina M. Queja Staff DCS
Jadeline Mullikin Faculty NDHS
romy Ocampo Staff SBCS
roseMansapit Staff SVCS
A Decade in the 5k“Fund” Run/Walk of AOLG
FD Cadets Preparefor 2012 CSW
Academy celebrated 10 years of sponsoring the 5K “Fund” Run/Walk race last Saturday, January 21st. It was another outstanding and fun-filled event from which funds are raised and earmarked for scholarships and tuition assistance. Contributing to the success of Academy’s 5k are its main sponsors -- Bank of Guam, Ada’s Trust and Investment, Royal Bic’s, Mobil, Cars Plus, Sylvan Learning Center and KUAM Care Force – who faithfully donate annually to this fundraising. Members of the Guam Air Guard and the 44 APS Air Force Reserve were part of the volunteers, together with students, parents and friends of the Academy.
The Academy’s 5K is held in honor of, and is dedicated to, the grad-uating class celebrating their 50th golden anniversary. Officially open-ing the race was the traditional “Passing of the Torch” from the Class of 1961 to the Golden Anniversary Class of 1962. Prior to the torch pass-ing is the Tribute to the Deceased Alumnae in recognition and remem-brance of the talents and contributions of alumnae who have passed on. This is a unique ceremony to the Academy’s 5K.
If you missed this race, mark your calendars for next year’s race on January 19, 2013. Call 477-8203 for more information.
Photos courtesy of AOLG
Photos courtesy of Val Separa
The Father Duenas Memorial School Phoenix Company NJROTC has spent the month of January preparing for visiting local schools during the 2012 Catholic Schools Week which kicked off on Saturday, January 28 and continues through Friday, February 3.
The cadets in the FD Drill Team confirmed that they have completed their final drill sequence in preparation for presentations at six Catho-lic middle and elementary schools. The presentations give the cadets a chance to “show their stuff” on the drill field as well as talk with stu-dents about FDMS.
5umatuna.orgSunday, January 29, 2012 CHurCH & SOCIETy
I interrupt this column to bring you a spe-cial column. I had planned to print my small treatise “Y I am Catholic” in an uninterrupted series of columns but some breaking news must be dealt with.
On January 21, as if to celebrate its own ver-sion of the 39th anniver-sary of Roe v. Wade, the Obama Administration announced that there will be no expansion of the narrow religious ex-emption to the mandate requiring all employ-ers to cover contraceptive services, some of which induce abortions, as part of their em-ployee health plans. The only “bone” thrown by Obama to religious institutions is an extra year to comply.
Catholic leaders, particularly Archbishop and Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, are predictably incensed and are speaking out strongly against the decision. But I can’t help but shake my head. And I will tell you why. However, I would like to first preface my remarks with the following con-sideration:
It is with great hesitation that I call into question the leadership of any pastor and most of a all a bishop and particularly the president of the USCCB. But while Catholics may not question the teaching of their pastors on defined matters of faith and morals, we are free to question them on certain matters of
church governance. (Cann. 1732 - 1739)And here I call into question matters of
church governance by Archbishop Dolan during a time when the Church in America has never been in more danger. I don’t do so in order to impugn or disrespect him, but to call the attention of ordinary Catholics to the gravity of the battle that is upon us - and to the realization that the front lines have al-ready been breached.
The war wages on two major fronts: same-sex marriage and abortion. And on both fronts, the leader of the U.S. Catholic Church, by his own admission, has been duped by the enemy.
Before you call me harsh, allow me to quote directly from an EWTN interview with Archbishop Dolan following the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York: “It sort of taught us that it’s not all that good to trust politicians sometimes. And I think some of us bishops think we were being deceived. And I think that could be, shame on us for believing them.”
Dolan was responding to an inquiry into why the New York bishops had done almost nothing to oppose the bill. Of New York’s 21 bishops, only two had publicly opposed it, with Dolan being one of them. But even Dolan’s opposition was muted and generic. In fact, the lack of opposition from Dolan and the rest of the bishops was so obvious that gay activist, Terence Weldon, wrote after the vote:
“the really interesting thing about the Catholic bishops and NY gay marriage is not how vig-orously they fought against it... but how luke-warm this opposition was overall, and how calm they have been in response.”
Dolan claimed that he had assurances
from New York’s politicians that the same-sex marriage bill wasn’t going anywhere so he and the others decided to keep their “ammo dry”. While it might be tempting to cut Dolan a bit of slack since he admits his failure and does on obligatory “mea culpa” (i.e. “shame on us”), his next “Neville Chamberlain moment”, only a few months later, proves that Dolan is either not up to the job or values appeasement more than truth. (Stay with me.)
I refer to the meeting he had with Obama on 11/15/11 at which the contraceptive man-date, under the broader title of “religious liberty”, was discussed. Dolan is quoted after the meeting as saying that he was “a bit more at peace than when I entered” and that he be-lieved the president to be “very open to the sensitivities” of Catholics about religious lib-erty.
There is not the room here to explain “Neville Chamberlain” (google it), but that is the name that came to mind the minute I read the report of the meeting. Dolan had just ad-mitted to being deceived by New York’s politi-cians and he was now feeling a “bit more at peace” after a meeting with the man who had openly sworn to erase every pro-life law on the books?! (See FOCA)
Personally, to see our leader all smiles af-ter the meeting, was a crushing moment. First, Dolan had given into the terms of the “enemy” who agreed to meet with him on the condition that no details of the meeting would be re-leased. Second, because he gave into Obama’s reported cordiality and his own feeling of
“peace” (a la N. Chamberlain), official USCCB opposition to the contraceptive mandate fell silent after the meeting.
And then surprise, surprise, Hitler march-es on Poland (see Neville Chamberlain), i.e. Obama gives Dolan a Roe v Wade anniversary present by giving no quarter to religious liber-ty other than more time to fall in line, shut up, and sit down. The Catholic Church will pay for sterilizations, contraceptives, and abortifa-cients, like it or not, by order of the Supreme Commander of the United States of America. Obama must have laughed as Dolan left the meeting.
Apologies for the longer than usual col-umn, but unfortunately there is more. To re-peat, the U.S. Catholic Church has never been more in harm’s way. Obama has made no se-cret that Christianity in general and Catholics in particular are in his cross-hairs. The fact that the USCCB has hastily assembled an ad-hoc committee to do battle against the Obama administration’s attacks on religious liberty is a move reminiscent of a wartime emergency, and leaves no doubt that the bishops now un-derstand the true objectives of the man they have been trying to appease.
But under our current episcopal leader-ship there is reason to fear we will lose. That fear stems not from Dolan’s follies as regards our losses on the war fronts of same-sex mar-riage and the abortifacient mandate, but stem from two other actions that bode more omi-nously: 1) the rerelease of a very dangerous USCCB document, and 2) something Dolan himself said on national television about God.
The document to which I refer is the US-CCB voter guide titled “Faithful Citizenship”. The document is dangerous because of its shocking disregard for moral prioritization of social issues. Though it gives special mention to abortion, its moral gravity is completely di-luted by its being lumped together with other social ills such as war, hunger, and poverty, allowing Catholics to see abortion as just one issue among many and paving the way for Catholics to disregard the massive attack on
unborn life carried out by this President.In a previous column, I pointed out that
the document had been roundly criticized by certain Catholic analysts for handing Obama the election in 2008. Despite Obama’s open promise to destroy every pro-life law on the books including the ban against partial-birth abortion and laws which mandate medical care for children who survive failed abortions, more Catholics voted for Obama, percentage-wise, than did the rest of the nation. Talk about “shame on us!”
Chief among the critics of Faithful Citi-zenship was Archbishop Raymond Burke, the highest ranking prelate in the Vatican, who roundly scolded the U.S. bishops for meekly paving the way to an anti-life Obama presi-dency. Burke, perhaps a Churchillian figure (as long as we are using the Chamberlain anal-ogy), foresaw exactly what would happen to the U.S. Catholic Church under an Obama presidency and was aghast that Catholic lead-ers would invite the destruction upon them-selves. But despite the scolding, Dolan and the U.S. bishops, with very few changes, have re-released Faithful Citizenship to help “pre-pare” Catholics to vote in the 2012 election! Goodness!
But onto a much more serious matter - as if it could get any more serious. Archbishop Dolan, while appearing on Fox and Friends on 11/24/10, said something on national televi-sion that should be disturbing to every Catho-lic. The context of the show was the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and when asked for his thoughts on Thanksgiving, Archbishop Dolan replied:
“It's a time of the year when people are open to the Lord and we don't think about ourselves. We're grateful to God. We're con-scious that somebody, some call him or her, whatever you want, somebody beyond us is in charge and we are immensely grateful that it's not about us.”
Does this need any comment from me? “Somebody...”? “Him or her...”? “ “Call (God) whatever you want..”??? And this from our Five-Star General? I of course do not believe that Dolan himself believes that God is a “him or her” or a “whatever you want”. But such squishy-ness about our Supreme God on na-tional television from a national religious leader of Dolan’s stature?? No wonder Obama believes he can have his way with the Catholic Church. Is there a Churchill out there?
Now, one last thing. Before you call for my deposition as a weekly columnist, refer to the disclaimer that I personally place at the bot-tom of every column, but also go to the The-MassNeverEnds.com website, find this article, click on the links, and read the evidence for yourself.
I am often criticized for being “too nega-tive”. I guess the thought is we only want
“happy thoughts” in our paper. Folks, the fact that the bishops are now assembling for war with the Obama Administration demonstrates that we are on the brink. There is no time for
“happy thoughts”. The actions of the USCCB in response to the attack on religious freedom are unprecedented. And I will pray that this will be Archbishop Dolan’s finest hour. I hope you will too. Should he become a saint, he wouldn’t be the first to have been forged into sainthood on the anvil of the times.
This column reflects only the views of the au-thor and does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and management of the Umatuna. Hyperlinks to supporting data can be found on the online version at www.themassneverends.com The author can be contacted at [email protected]
ITE MISSA EST From the Mass to the Market: Engaging the World Beyond the Church Doors
dolan, Chamberlain, & ChurchillBy Tim Rohr
6 Sunday, January 29, 2012umatuna.org rEGIOnaL
PHILIPPINES
MANILA — Doctors have a re-sponsibility to disclose the truth to their patients, including infor-mation on the dangerous effects of contraceptives on the body, a speaker pointed out at the Catholic Physicians’ Guild of the Philippines (CPGP) 2012 Annual Convention held January 20.
“Reproductive medicine address-es the whole scope of reproductive health, and the positive aspect of this is achieving pregnancy. Among the negative aspects are contracep-tion and abortion,” said Rene Josef Bullecer, M.D., Human Life Interna-tional (HLI) Pilipinas country direc-tor and CPGP Cebu Chapter director.
“And [artificial] birth control pos-es threats to unborn life, to women, the environment through hormones, and to society,” Bullecer added.
After launching into a brief his-tory of reproductive health (RH) leg-islation, the global scope of the RH agenda, and statistics pertaining to abortion, Bullecer gave the floor to HLI Asia/Oceania Executive Direc-tor Dr. Ligaya Acosta, who touched on the implications of a government sterilization program on indigenous peoples.
“I have known about forced ster-ilization of indigenous tribes partic-ularly in Mindanao for many years already. My friends there who have personal knowledge of this fact
have told me of government com-pensation for men and women for sterilization services, reaching as much as three to five thousand, plus a sack of rice,” Acosta related.
Having worked for the Depart-ment of Health (DoH) for nearly 30 years before leaving her post, Acosta said she also heard accounts from victims themselves of how they were subjected to “aggression, intimidation, and even humilia-tion, when they become pregnant, or even when they just plainly seek medical attention for themselves and for their children. Health work-ers would often tell them that if they get pregnant, they will no longer be [taken care] of.”
Acosta pointed out that such situation is not peculiar to the Phil-ippines, citing forced sterilization of American Indian women in the US, the poor in Central America and the Tibetan and Romani women; and the permanent sterilization done on indigenous women in Peru under President Alberto Fujimori.
“Certainly the forced steriliza-tion services being performed today among our indigenous brothers and sisters, is perpetuating the geno-cidal tendencies that have made the eugenics movement a legacy of ter-ror,” Acosta said.
She stressed the acquisition of lands as another compelling reason
for mandatory sterilization of indig-enous people.
“Is forced sterilization pushing our indigenous tribes to extinction? Certainly, for a specie that does not produce babies is [doomed] to ex-tinction.”
“We know that many generations of indigenous tribes are no longer in existence now – either as a result
of human error or intentional geno-cide. It is time we put a stop to these condemnable acts,” she added.
The healthcare profession “is meant to be an impassion[ed] and unflinching affirmation of life – not of the culture of death.”
The convention, which coincid-ed with the CPGP’s 76th anniversary, was held at the Makati Medical Cen-
ter and carried out in partnership with Doctors for Life Philippines.
Topics discussed in the day-long affair were “Use of vaccines derived from aborted fetal lines,” “The mor-al status of the embryo,” “The indig-enous tribes: Are we pushing them to extinction?” and “Injustice in the delivery of medical care among equals.” (CBCP for Life)
doctors' Confab Stresses Health Care, Physician's duty
Children Learn Importance of Being Missionaries at Convention
DIGOS City — More than three hundred children from differ-ent private and public schools in Digos diocese learned the signifi-cance of becoming missionaries to fellow children and of caring for the environment in a recent convention of the Holy Childhood Association.
The convention took place at Cor Jesu College Gymnasium last Jan. 15 and was the 3rd conven-tion of the Holy Childhood Asso-ciation of the diocese.
It was centered on the theme “Mission as Children helping other children and caring for the envi-ronment.”
Diocesan Mission Director Fr. Jupiter Canoy said the children have committed themselves to respect and help others, especial-ly their fellow children by praying for them and by giving donations to the less fortunate ones.
They also promised to care for the environment by planting more trees and be more careful in segregating their garbage.
Canoy said the children do-nated gifts for typhoon victims, such as kitchen wares which will be sent to the victims of typhoon Sendong in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.
“[They did that] with the little
amount that they spared for their offerings, they realized that it is al-ready a big help for those who will receive them,” he said.
The priest encouraged every-one, especially the parents and in charge of formation and cateche-sis of children to really exert an extra effort in teaching, guiding, and molding their young Christian life according to the teachings of Christ so that as they grow and mature, their lives will always be rooted in the values of the Gospel.
The children are indeed, the future and the hope of our Church, he furthered. (CBCP News)
7umatuna.orgSunday, January 29, 2012 naTIOnaL
WASHINGTON — Every child and adult with special needs, every un-wanted unborn child and every per-son who is "poor, weak, abandoned or homeless" is "an icon of God's face and a vessel of his love," said Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput.
"How we treat these persons -- whether we revere them and welcome them, or throw them away in dis-taste -- shows what we really believe about human dignity, both as individuals and as a nation," he said Jan. 22 in a keynote address at a pro-life conference in Washington.
He was the keynote speaker at the 13th annual Cardinal O'Connor Conference on Life at Georgetown University. It is named for the late Cardinal John O'Connor, archbishop of New York from 1984 to 2000.
The student-run conference drew more than 700 young people and adults. The agenda included sessions on topics such as the inter-national abortion situation; media and the pro-life movement; abor-
tion and natural law; adoption's role in the pro-life movement; and ethi-cal controversies in evolving medi-cal technologies.
The day ended with a discussion on pro-life legislation with mem-bers of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus.
In his keynote, Archbishop Cha-put talked about "the kind of people we're becoming and what we can do about it," illustrating his theme by outlining the current situation fac-ing unborn babies shown by genetic testing to have Down syndrome.
He said he has friends who have children with disabilities, in par-ticular Down syndrome. He noted that about 5,000 children with the genetic disorder are born in the U.S. each year, and currently there are about 400,000 people in the coun-try with Down syndrome.
But that population "may soon dwindle," he said. "And the reason why it may decline illustrates, in a vivid way, a struggle with the Amer-ican soul. That struggle will shape the character of our society in the decades to come."
Prenatal testing today can detect 95 percent of the pregnancies that have a strong risk the child will be born with Down syndrome, he said. Studies show more than 80 percent of unborn babies diagnosed with it are aborted "because of a flaw in one of their chromosomes -- a flaw that's neither fatal nor contagious, but merely undesirable."
"I'm not suggesting that doctors hold back vital information from parents. Nor should they paint an implausibly upbeat picture of life with a child who has a disability," Archbishop Chaput said. But he sug-gested expectant parents hear from parents who already have special-needs children, not just from doc-tors and genetic counselors.
"They deserve to know that a child with Down syndrome can love, laugh, learn, work, feel hope and excitement, make friends and cre-ate joy for others," he said.
Raising such a child, he ac-knowledged, "can be demanding. It always involves some degree of suffering," as his friends have expe-rienced.
"The real choice in accepting or rejecting a child with special needs is never between some imaginary perfection or imperfection. ... The real choice in accepting or reject-ing a child with special needs is between love and unlove; between courage and cowardice; between trust and fear," Archbishop Chaput said.
That also is the choice society faces "in deciding which human lives we will treat as valuable, and which we will not," he said.
"Abortion kills a child; it wounds a precious part of a woman's own dignity and identity; and it steals hope. That's why it's wrong. That's why it needs to end. That's why we march."
Quoting Jesuit Father John Courtney Murray, he said, "Anyone who really believes in God must set God, and the truth of God, above all other considerations."
So "Catholic public officials who take God seriously cannot support laws that attack human dignity without lying to themselves, mis-leading others and abusing the faith of their fellow Catholics," Archbish-op Chaput said.
"Catholic doctors who take God seriously cannot do procedures,
prescribe drugs or support health policies that attack the sanctity of unborn children or the elderly; or that undermine the dignity of hu-man sexuality and the family," he continued. "Catholic citizens who take God seriously cannot claim to love their church, and then ignore her counsel on vital public issues that shape our nation's life."
As a nation, he said, the United States depends "on a moral people shaped by their religious faith." With faith "animating its people and informing its public life, America becomes something alien and hos-tile to the very ideals it was founded on," he added.
Archbishop Chaput warned Catholics "to wake up from the illu-sion that the America we now live in
... is somehow friendly to our faith.""Changing the course of Ameri-
can culture seems like such a huge task," he said. "But St. Paul felt ex-actly the same way. Redeeming and converting a civilization has already been done once. It can be done again. But we need to understand that God is calling you and me to do it." (CNS)
Treatment of disabled Shows Belief about Human dignity, Says archbishop
Archbishop CharlesJ. Chaput CNS Photo
ArchbishopCharles J. Chaput
‘They deserve to know that
a child with Down syndrome can love, laugh, learn, work, feel hope and excitement, make friends and create joy for others.’
By Julie AsherCatholic News Service
an Invitation to JoyThe pastor invites you to a CATECHESIS for adults and youth (12 years and older). 7:30 PM, Mondays and Thursdays at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica Blessed Sacrament Chapel beginning Jan. 30,2012 (Babysitting available).
“Do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour.” (Luke 1:30). Neocatechumenal Way
8 Sunday, January 29, 2012umatuna.org InTErnaTIOnaL
Christian leaders yesterday welcomed a Punjab provincial assembly minister’s de-cision to pay compensation out of his own pocket after a Muslim mob attacked Christian properties in Lahore on Sunday causing ex-tensive damage.
Two churches, cars and several shops were damaged in the attack when around 250 armed men went on the rampage following a simmering dispute between Muslim and Christian youths living in nearby apartment blocks.
Father Saleh Diego diocesan director of the Catholic Bishop’s National Commission for Justice and Peace says it is a positive ges-ture by the minister.
“People are now standing for truth and hu-man rights. Such instances are an eye opener
for the few who jump on opportunities to tar-get vulnerable minorities”, he said.
Muhammad Yasin Sohl, a member of the Punjab provincial assembly, on Monday at-tended a religious meeting held at the Nasrat Church, which was one of the buildings dam-aged, to apologize for the violence.
“It’s a pity religious places and property were damaged; we apologize and will repay the losses. Both communities should live how they used to in the past,” he told the meeting.
Witnesses to the violence described cha-otic scenes.
“They charged during a power cut. We were inside when the streets echoed with gunshots,” said Pastor Shahzad Akhtar who organized a special prayer of peace and har-mony yesterday at the Assembly of God Church, which was also damaged.
“Those who were attacked have fled to their relatives. There is no check on cler-ics spreading hatred among youngsters,” he added.
INDONESIA
PAKISTAN
ITALY
JAKARTA, Indonesia — The Indonesian bishops’ Commission for Youth is to intro-duce an annual youth festival called Indone-sian Youth Day (IYD), the first of which will be held October 20-26 in Sanggau, in West Kalimantan.
The announcement was made after a Mass on January 20 in Assumption of Mary Cathedral in Jakarta.
More than 500 people attended the ser-vice concelebrated by the commission’s chairman Bishop John Philip Saklil of Timika, and 19 priests including Yohanes Dwi Harsan-to, the commission’s executive secretary.
“An Indonesian Youth Day like this is not only a way to address the problems young people face. It is hoped that it can influence
young Catholics to care for others,” Bishop Saklil said.
He said the IYD will not merely be a fes-tival but a joint movement of young people.
“It is a lay movement aiming to make us re-alize that the face of young people is the face of Jesus Christ. So the face of young Catholics’ face is the face of our Church and nation as well,” he continued.
He invited all Catholics to support the fes-tival, which I intended to gather about 3,000 young people from around the country.
“Our task is to make young people’s faith rooted in Jesus Christ,” he said.
The IYD will include catechesis programs, workshops and cultural exchanges. (UCAN)
Bishops announce First youth Festival
Christians Welcome Compensation OfferProvincial Assembly Expresses Regret Over Muslim Attack on Christians
ROME — Aborting unborn girls on account of their gender has been a documented trend in certain Asian countries for at least two de-cades. Now, according to an Italian biologist and author, the practice is also growing in the West.
Women and couples who emigrate from cultures where male children are deemed more prestigious and economically valuable
"will often bring those same values to their new country," said Anna Meldolesi, author of
"Never born: Why the world has lost 100 mil-lion women" ("Mai nate: Perche il mondo ha perso 100 milioni di donne"), in a telephone interview with Catholic News Service Jan. 22.
In 1990, Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen calculated at 100 million the number of women who, by the laws of nature, should be part of the world population but are not. The "missing women" in question, Meldolesi wrote, have been the victims of infanticide, intentional neglect of health and nutrition, and more recently, abortion on the basis of sex.
Inspired by studies of sex-selective abor-tion among Asian immigrants in North Amer-ica, Meldolesi said she tried to find out if there was a similar trend in her own country of Italy.
Using four years of demographic data from ISTAT, the Italian statistics bureau, she found that the "sex ratio" of first-born chil-
dren appeared to occur at the natural rate of about 105 males to 100 females, similar to the Italian population and other nationalities.
But when it came to second and third children, figures showed that the number of boys increased markedly -- with the dispro-portion as high as 119 to 100 -- indicating that parents had probably aborted female fetuses, Meldolesi said.
She concluded that sex selective abor-tion, or "feminine feticide," has been com-mon among Italy's Chinese and Indian immi-grant populations, and also, to a lesser extent, among Albanians.
A review in L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, in January gave the book high marks for highlighting a "gigantic dra-ma," and for recognizing that "it is very diffi-cult to fight the battle for safer abortion and against gendercide at the same time."
Most important would be an effort to edu-cate immigrant communities, many of whom come from highly patriarchal societies in which women are valued "only to have chil-dren and be mothers, preferably of boys," she said. Raising girls is seen as "a waste of time and resources" because they will eventually be married off and will take care of their hus-bands' parents in their old age, Meldolesi said.
This article has been edited for length and content by USY. (CNS)
Sex-selective Abortions Moving to West with Immigration, Author Says
9umatuna.orgSunday, January 29, 2012 FEaTurE
Judy Flores is a well-known and revered artist who resides in the southern village of Inarajan. Born in Colorado, she moved to Guam as a child with her parents who were contract teachers, and she has lived here ever since.
An avid devotee of art and art education, she is a professional artist, former teacher, and supporter of the arts on Guam, par-ticularly traditional/folk art.
U Matuna Si Yu’os spoke with Ms. Flores recently on the role of art in the cultural renewal and Chamorro identity.
Q What got you involved in the arts? Was it something you grew into, or was it something you were interested in as a child and
throughout your life?
A I always like to draw, and before we moved to Guam, my father who was a teacher would bring home scratch paper from school, and that
was our drawing paper. I would draw myself stories and illustrate them, and that’s basical-ly the art that I did until we moved here.
There was a very good art program in those days. In junior high, once we got into 7th grade all the way through high school, there was a very good art program. Music and art. In 7th, 8th, and 9th grade, we were learn-ing things about art and music that I would later be taught in college. Our art education was very good. Looking back, all the princi-ples were taught at that young age. Liking art, I took the class every year. In music class, we learned to write music.
It’s amazing how dumbed down our arts education has become. We had to learn tempo, draw staves, everything, but now kids don’t. In those days, our curriculum was based on that of California, and we shared an art cur-riculum along with the rest of the US.
Q When and how did you make the transition to being a professional artist? Did you gradually evolve into that, or was it your goal from a
young age?
A It was always a goal. My mother, like any parent, was very practical and urged me to get my art degree with an education emphasis. So
I took classes at what at the time was still the College of Guam, and it was there that I learned how to teach art. When I went into teaching art at Inarajan Junior High and High School, I enjoyed it very much. I was doing the typical things, like watercolors and oils, which on Guam take a long time to dry, as well as acrylics.
Looking in the magazines in the 1970s, they were starting to talk about batik, which I had never heard of. So I took some red dye and some old cotton pillow cases, melted some candles, and tried it. I just loved it—that crackle effect and what it can do to kind of give richness to the themes of culture and scenery that I was interested in painting. In my early batik days, I was very traditional, and it was a very complicated process that took a lot of room. So I did it in my art room at school, and
many students joined me as I was learning batik. We all learned and produced this art to-gether. We made murals and such, based on themes around me, such as the culture and history, legends and such.
Q So the inspiration for your work came from your immediate sur-roundings, as opposed to classical forms or subjects themselves?
A Absolutely.
Q Do you think then that you have a certain interpretive quality that you bring when translating from your environment through the medium—
an interpretive “lens” you think that your environment goes through, or are you more concerned with an “accurate” portrayal?
A I think it’s changed over the years. I was very traditional in the beginning and trying to show that I could take this medium of batik and manipulate
it into a very realistic painting. That gradu-ally evolved, as with scenes of people doing what they do in daily life: cooking, working at the ranch, playing ball in the street, fish-ing, throwing talaya. I was also inspired by a photographer named Carlos Viti who had documented these old Palauan chiefs with all these tattoos, at these majestic people. I did a whole series of those in tribute, just by be-ing able to manipulate the medium of batik. So I think I kind of evolved that way with the things and inspired by things that were hap-pening around me. Chamorro consciousness, pre-colonial identity emerged, things derived from research. These images fill my art.
I watched a Renaissance of the arts in the Marianas. All the time I was growing up, the dance was based on Spanish dances. The concept of a pre-colonial society was so sub-dued that the art was either based on purely Western introductions or a mix or adapta-tion of those introductions. Even Hawai’ian dance—there were a significant number of Hawai’ians who came in after the war—began as hula groups started up. People were more concerned with outside influences than with their own art.
This went right into my masters and PhD thesis. I saw this Renaissance happen first in dance; then I saw how the visual artists and the performance artists worked together and drew energy from each other. I saw this hap-pen after Frank Rabon actually went back and tried to figure out what was here before the colonial powers changed what was here.
I was working for the arts council as the folk arts coordinator at the time, and my mandate from the NEA was to document the traditional arts. In the 1980s, here came this
“strange group of dancers,” wearing almost nothing, jumping around. It was certainly not something that the previous generation grew up with. Even after it had become more estab-lished, some of the very elderly commented to me with no rancor or hostility in her voice at all, “In my day when we danced, we didn’t jump around or dress like that.”
That was the concept. The connection of
Chamorros to the pre-colonial times was sim-ply erased. It was gone. So Frank Rabon did a lot of work, and we documented how artists and activists worked with him.
So the expression in the society of the arts did so much to not only support the activist movement of identity and self-determination, but the activists themselves looked at the art-ists and started drawing on what they were producing, and they started wanting to wear the sinahi or this other thing. Artists said, “We can produce that.” They go hand-in-hand, and these objects express the identity. Artists then move to see how they can move forward with that precisely as artists. There is this explora-tion and experimentation going on.
Dance groups now show themselves fol-lowing this. Their art is traditional, yet very edgy and very modern at the same time.
Q That interplay between the artist and those who imbibe the art is an interesting point. Following up with that, how do you understand the
role, or the interplay, of education with art? For example, even a couple of decades ago, schools taught not only art technique, but also a substantial degree of art appreciation as well as art history. Do you see a decline in art education on the whole in recent generations, or any pieces lacking in art education?
A As my kids were growing up, I don’t think they got the rich experience that I got. After my generation, the notion of Chamorro identity became
more prominent, of course, and that became central to arts, in a way. Progress has definite-ly been made in that area; for example, pretty much every local community has Chamorro dance. Of course, we also have other institu-tions that receive federal funding to insure art education.
Some think that art should be let go from schools due to a shortage of money, but I dis-agree with that. The arts can be applied into every subject. It need not be a separate sub-ject—although it should be—and when people dismiss the arts, they do a disservice to the
community. Where is the artistic outlet? How are we able to meet that need—to have that spiritually uplifting experience that can come through the arts?
Q That shift from the arts seems more and more pronounced in recent years and today. Some would say there should be that shift into sci-
ence and math, but it would seem that the shift really is designed to direct education based on the belief in the supremacy and omnipotence of technology. For them, even the visual would be beholden to technologi-cal methods instead of artistic method in the more traditional sense.
A I agree. I was talking with an archi-tect not long ago, and he was telling me that his interns many times can-not even draw a sketch. Instead, they
have to go to the computer and do their CAD [computer-aided design] drawing. They don’t have those skills. In his generation and mine, we could simply sketch out what it is we want, and it is done. So we can certainly employ technology in our art, but I don’t think for a second that we can skip over the basics and go straight into technology and hope to achieve the same result.
Q It would seem from an aesthetic sense that the attempt to substitute technology in place of art ends up leaving a certain “barrenness” to
the work. Do you think that technology, or at least the substitution of it for artistic “craft,” may prove harmful?
A Yes, and as artists, where do they get the self-esteem when they have to admit, “Oh, I can’t do that. I have to depend on a machine to do some-
thing so basic because I never learned to do that.” Self-esteem and the identity as artist need to be developed without the technol-ogy so that the technology can be used prop-erly later. It’s not like we don’t think when we work with our hands. We do, but it’s some-thing deeper and richer.
Part 2 of 2
Our Talk with Judy Flores About Chamorro Identity These PeopleM ajestic
Photo by U Matuna Staff
10 Sunday, January 29, 2012umatuna.org FaMaGu’On yan ManHOBEn
WORD SEARCH
SUDOKUSUDOKU
CRYPTOGRAM
Fill the empty cells so that each column, each row, and each of the 3x3 regions contains all of the digits from 1 to 9.
The sentence below is encrypted using a secret code. Your job is to break the code by substituting the correct letter for the ones given. Each letter given in the code always represents the same letter throughout the puzzle.
Find all the words hiddin within the puzzle. Words are placed diagonal, forward, backward, up and down.
No region can contain any duplicate digits.
There is only one solution to a Sudoku puzzle.
Use a pencil.
“Where you go I will go and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people. And your God my God“ (Ruth 1:16)
S Z T T C K N L G N S S S D LN A U G V J D C O D T A A O ES N N G X F U T D H M D N M MM I V I C S R F G I E Z E I RL P C X U E T I G Y L E U N AI Q N N D Q E A M M Z A D I C
G W T A A H A E B O R B R C TZ P M T Y R D S H A B L E A MB E Z C H A F X A N R L H N TF P R E C R J T V M W B T V KG E J A N G K B S H O Q A L MM S A N V I C E N T E H F R LG Q Y N O H T N A T S B T L AF W G T X L W S Q P R Y D T LD W Y X O H W O J R I R W E S
Baltimore CatechismFor decades, the Baltimore Catechism was the primary tool used by CCD teachers throughout the US to help teach young people the basics of the Faith. Presented in a simple, question-and-answer format, the Catechism also gives a citation from Scripture that help us to understand that the Catholic faith is indeed “Bible-based.” The U Matuna Si Yu’os is please to be able to offer this weekly series as both an instruc-tion for youth as well as a refresher for adults.
66. What is mortal sin? Mortal sin is a grievous offense against the law of God. Flee from sins as from the face of a serpent; for if thou comest near them, they will take hold of thee. (Ecclesiasticus 21:2)
67. Why is this sin called mortal? This sin is called mortal, or deadly, because it deprives the sinner of sanctifying grace, the supernatural life of the soul. Before man is life and death, good and evil; that which he shall choose shall be given him. (Ecclesiasticus 15:18)
68. Besides depriving the sinner of sanctifying grace, what else does mortal sin do to the soul? Besides depriving the sinner of sanctifying grace, mortal sin makes the soul an enemy of God, takes away the merit of all its good actions, deprives it of the right to everlasting happiness in heaven, and makes it deserving of everlasting punishment in hell. For the wages of sin is death; but the grace of God, life everlasting in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
In an historic first, the U.S. Naval Hos-pital Chapel of Hope Church confirmation students participated in last year’s Decem-ber 8th Santa Marian Kamalen procession in Agana. According to Mrs. Isabel Montague, one of the CCD teachers, “these students realized the importance of being part of the Catholic community regardless whether it is occurring outside the fence. We are proud that they chose to make history by being the
first ever to attend the procession as a class.” For decades, many on Guam have sensed
a “division” between Catholics in the mili-tary and those who permanently reside on Guam. However, the class’s participation in the procession demonstrates the unity of the Church, regardless of location or ori-gin. “It is often said that the military does not contribute to community functions, but these young men and women proved other-wise,” said Sister Oliva Benavente, RSM, the other religious formation teacher.
Navy Confirmation Class Walk in Procession
(L-R) Kyle Montague, Brandon Meno, Andrew Suda, Rio Gerber, Giana Medina, Donovan Quintanilla, Allora Manalo, Samantha Cruz and Christopher Quintanilla. Not in picture: C’iara Pecha and Ja.Mon Medina. Photo courtesy of Marilyn Manibusan
By Marilyn Manibusan
11umatuna.orgSunday, January 29, 2012 THE LIFE OF FaITH
There was once a butterfly on my shoulder but after a while it flew away hopping from one flower to another leaving behind pollens on petals of different kinds. I presumed too that it left some dusts on my shoul-der which made me realize that kindness is like a butter-fly. It comes and goes, it too hops from one heart to another, from one’s words to another’s deeds, from one’s thoughts into an-other’s touch, and from someone’s traits into another’s taste. But one thing sure is that it will leave col-orful marks on people’s lives, and traces of happy memories. It will ease someone’s stress and sadness, loosen the muscles of a frowning face into a sweet smile and will align loose relationships into close friend-ships.
Kindness is an inner desire that makes us do good things to our neighbor even if we don’t get any-
thing in return. People do things for different reasons and for various seasons and occasions. Some desire to achieve, others achieved because of strong desire. But kindness is the product of an inner disposition to care for others. It builds up moral bridges where people can reach out to each other, lifts up weary spirits, gives hope to the despairing.
A kind act creates a homely at-mosphere where the unwanted feels important, the weak feels secure and the stranger welcomed. A kind person is loved by everyone, he or she is like a torch that lights up dark curves and corners of human living, inspires others to move on despite some setbacks and tragedies, heals the wound of rejection because kindness accepts even expired promises and broken resolutions.
Kindness will leave behind not footprints in the sand but heart-prints in people’s memory and will write story will be told and re-told through generations worthy of emu-lation for an honorable and fulfilled life. Kindness is a language that the deaf can hear and a picture that the blind can see. It makes you respect-ed and dignified not for who you are, not even for what you have done, but for what others become because
of you. Kindness is like music that entertains the shy and destitute, it shames the proud, gives lessons to the wise and topples down the walls of division and indifference.
Always continue the journey of being kind to every person you meet. Life is never a coincidence, it’s the fruit of the seed of what you planted and remember that there are only two days in our lives that we can do nothing about; one is yesterday which is gone, while the other is tomorrow which is uncer-tain and might not come at all. We can only live today so, stay blessed and kindly share too your blessings with others.
A heart that is kind always ap-preciates every good deed and favor no matter how small and is bigger than the eyes that see what is miss-ing and forgotten. Let our kindness be the reason to stay alive and hap-py and may those missing opportu-nities serve as inspiration and chal-lenge to strive and to work for a life that never stops to get better. Being KIND is much more important than being wise because God doesn’t need a proud mouth that speaks much but a kind heart that listens a lot. ARE YOU KIND? Amen on that folks if you are!!!
In her Diary entry no. 607, St. Faustina wrote Jesus’ words to her;
“Patience in adversity gives power to the soul”.
Tune in to KOLG 90.9 FM for the Divine Mercy prayer at 3 p.m. daily.
Recite the Chaplet of Mercy for peace in the world and conversion of sinners.
Thanks to the Aquino family for the presentation of the Divine Mercy and veneration of the sacred relic of St. Faustina in their home in Agana Heights last Sunday afternoon, Jan-uary 22, 2012. Likewise to the Divine Mercy prayer team for your faithful-
ness in our Sunday afternoon Divine Mercy home apostolate. May the good Lord continue to bless you and your families with the abundance of His grace and mercy.
To arrange for Divine Mercy home presentation, prayer and veneration of the sacred relic of St. Faustina, please contact Amy Borja at 472-7778. Thank you.
Kindness
Fr. Joel de Los reyesDivine Mercy Moments
World Marriage Day was estab-lished by the Worldwide Marriage Encounter as a way to celebrate marriage and the second Sunday of February was selected as a day to honor married couples.
Couples for Christ, Marriage En-counter and the Sponsor Couples have joined forces once again to com-memorate World Marriage Day by sponsoring the 3rd Catholic Sweet-hearts Ball on the second Saturday of February – February 11, 2012 at the Guam Marriott Resort and Spa from 6 pm- 12 am.
The theme for this year’s ball is “Dancing with the Star of Your Life” and the evening promises to be a night filled with dancing and fellow-ship with other married couples as well as engaged couples throughout the Archdiocese. Babysitting is avail-able. Please register early to save your spot. For babysitting inquiries email Christine Rosario at [email protected]
The keynote speaker for the eve-ning is Fr. Paul Gofigan, pastor of Sta. Barbara Church in Dededo. In addi-tion to being spiritually fed there will be a dinner buffet and a whole lot of dancing. The organizing committee has much more in store so join us in this celebration of love and commit-ment. Tickets are $35.00 per person and can be purchased at the Chan-cery Office in Agana or Guam Bakery in Dededo. For further information please call Deacon Larry Claros at the Chancery Office at 472-6116, ext 231. See you there!
Third Catholic Sweethearts Ball Set for February 11, 2012By Christine Oftana Rosario
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Since starting the spring semester as a teacher at one of our fine Catholic high schools on our beloved island, I have found myself altering my daily routine, and I’m not sure if it’s such a good thing. But alter it I have.
The ride to Hagatna each morning is pretty uneventful. Get in the car, say the Rosary, ar-rive at work. End of story. Normally this is my evening practice as well, but in the last couple of weeks, I have regressed into a 16 year old on this ride home back down South.
The proof? I have listened to “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” by the band Oasis ev-ery single day.
That might not sound like evidence, but the fact is that young people can listen to the same song or CD again and again and again and again and again and again and never ever ever ever ever ever ever get tired of it. Until another song or CD catches their fancy, or they realize that the greatest song EVER is in fact just lame.
But I can’t help it. The music is catchy, the lyrics are spot-on, the sound is rich, and I feel…I don’t know…good when I listen to it. A sort of satisfaction in it—not for its beauty, but for its coolness.
In fairness, that’s probably because I have no earthly idea what cool is anymore except that whatever I am, coolness is mostly likely the opposite.
Anyway, this repetition of cool music seems to be part and parcel to youth. I confess I was rather the same way as a young person. I purchased my first ever LP in 1977. Scooping together three weeks worth of allowance, this young 3rd grader was taken by his mother to K-Mart (the only “mart” in our town) where I flipped through records until I found one I wanted.
Led Zeppelin’s fourth album. The one with “Stairway to Heaven.”
I’d love to tell you that little ditty demon-strates how cool my musical tastes were, but in reality, it was either that or some less-than-forgettable number by Olivia Newton-John. Sensing a life-altering decision was in the making if I did indeed purchase Olivia New-ton-John—one I would thereafter regret to my dying day--my mother intervened. This of course makes her the only mother in recorded history who allowed a Led Zeppelin album to find its way into the shopping cart. Thus was this walking rock and roll nightmare born.
I listened to that album so many times that my poor mother probably would have rather I exchanged it for the more reserved volume of tuba lessons. But I loved it. A lot.
Genius—pure, unadulterated genius. I was thereafter changed. I had been given old hand-me-down records before, of course—mostly Motown R & B and 70s soul. Very good stuff, but still—things were different after that.
As I recall, my dad quickly gave me a copy of the Beatles “White Album,” and my Uncle David delivered with delight an LP version of David Bowie’s “Station to Station.” Never would Olivia Newton-John or anything ap-proaching pop or disco find its way into my stereo.
For us classic rock types, these are not re-cords or albums or CDs. They are manifesta-
tions of the great musical artform of the sec-ond half of the 20th Century (next to movies, of course). Moral degenerates though these musicians might be (or might have been), they had created masterpieces that shaped me and gave me an inkling of a world beyond “Looks Like We Made It” by Barry Manilow.
Speaking of Barry, my mom simply adored his music, which is perfectly acceptable since she is a woman. Not to stereotype, but I have never once met a man who really was into Barry Manilow. Dan Fogelberg? I guess. Leo Sayer? I suppose. Neil Diamond. Sure. But never Barry Manilow. I’m just saying.
Anyway, I had these other records, and one was particularly painful for me. Even the sight of it made me wince. It’s name? You guessed it: “Petula Clark’s Greatest Hits,” featuring her mutant of a hit, “Downtown.”
To be clear, that single was so bad that VH-1 put it as #1 on their list of songs that make people want to go on a three-state kill-ing spree.
Ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But it had to be in the top three or four anyway.
So one Christmas, my little sister Nikki got a Strawberry Shortcake record player—the kind of hard plastic contraption that mostly played little 45s, and she didn’t have any 33 1/3 LPs to play.
So in an act of savvy genius and brutal mischief rolled into one, I gave Ms. Clark’s manifesto of perkiness to my younger sibling. Figuring it would at worst gather dust or at best be used as a Frisbee, I handed it to her, all the while feeling assured that I had been freed of something in the same family as leprosy.
God having a sense of humor, I had in-stead chosen my own torture. Nikki played that crime against humanity incessantly. When I begged her to stop after 10 plays, she said no. When I threatened to beat her when my dad wasn’t looking, she laughed. I even of-fered her money to buy it back from her, but she wouldn’t hear of it.
I literally had to lock my door and put on earphones. But Nikki would plug in that hor-ror of a hit single into the socket outside my door like a sonic Chinese water torture until I
was forced to go outside and cut the grass just to get away from it.
It’s curious how our judgments, our thought processes—put simply, our intellects—get caught up in repetition. Very recently, I mentioned in passing to students that “sin darkens the intellect,” and then I carried on with the lecture.
Every last one of them looked at me with that “What in the world is Mr. Fitz talking about?” sort of look to which I have become accustomed.
Seriously, sin actually DOES darken the intellect. For some reason, the intrinsic disor-derness of evil in any form has a way of cloud-ing not only our judgment, but also of keeping us from recognizing Truth, much less choos-ing the Good.
Like any atrociously bad song, “Down-town” was awful precisely because it was so catchy and utterly impossible to get out of your head. With Nikki in full swing, it was al-most impossible to even listen to other music without still hearing it in my brain housing group.
As far as I can tell, that’s one of the keys (if we follow Sts. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas) to understanding why we persist in sin. Sure, we have a fallen nature that is pro-foundly weak, but sin has a tendency to put blinders on us, so to speak, and lead us where we deep down don’t want to go. The problem is that with those blinders on, we don’t really see any other way to be.
That’s why alcoholics have that famous
“moment of clarity.” That’s why conversion ex-periences are so powerful. It’s as though the scales have fallen away from the eyes, and we at last genuinely see things for what feels like the first time.
Like music, it’s also frustrating that for people my age, we find ourselves caving in to temptations that we should have long out-grown, but somehow haven’t. Darkness is never far away.
That’s evidence that you’re never too old to be sinfully foolish or foolishly sinful.
It’s ironic then that Oasis had a hit in the 90s with this chorus that (unbeknownst to the composer) illustrates this rather well: “I met my Maker and made Him cry, and on my shoulder He asked me why His people won’t walk through the storm. I said, ‘Listen up, man -- they don’t even know you’re born.’”
Blinded from the truth right before our eyes. We hear the words of the Gospel almost daily, but the seeds often don’t take root.
I was already out of college when Oasis hit it big, so I’m only now at 42 enjoying what a much younger generation already considers the music of their youth. I should probably hate myself for enjoying the music, but my reasons are my own. I like Oasis not for teen-age girl reasons or for teen angst reasons. In a way, it somehow shines a light on things for me.
Maybe Olivia Newton-John and Barry Ma-nilow would be enlightening too. Then again, I could be wrong.
On July 7, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI gave wide permission for priests to celebrate Mass and other sacraments using the Missal and rites in use in 1962. The Holy Father, in his Motu Proprio "Summorum Pontificum," explained that there is one Roman Rite, in two forms, an Ordinary Form using the Mis-sal that was issued after the Second Vatican Council, recently updated in its latest Eng-lish translation, and an Extraordinary Form, using the 1962 Missal. Pope Benedict men-tioned that both forms enrich each other.
All over the world, many priests have begun celebrating the Eucharist in the Ex-traordinary Form, some weekly and others periodically. In 1998, Archbishop Apuron approached Pale' Eric Forbes, OFM Cap, to see if he could fulfill the desire of those seeking Mass in the Extraordinary Form, as it is called now. The Extraordinary Form has been celebrated on Sundays by Pale' Eric, and now also by Father Andre Eduvala, OFM Cap, since then.
Recently, Pale' Eric, with Archbishop Apuron's blessing, invited Canon Jean-Marie Moreau, a priest with the Institute of Christ the King, a priestly community totally dedi-cated to the Extraordinary Form, to come to Guam to give classes on the Extraordinary Form. Canon Moreau, who is French, was ordained in 1992 in Rome by Cardinal Pietro Palazzini. He spent 13 years as a missionary in Gabon in Africa. He built many chapels
across many miles in that poor coun-try. He was then sent to Green Bay, Wisconsin to learn Eng-lish, which he quickly mas-tered. He was then assigned to the Diocese of Oakland in California, as
Episcopal Vicar for the Extraordinary Form. Based at Saint Margaret Mary Church in Oakland, Canon Moreau was responsible for the celebrating Masses in the Extraordinary Form in three locations at one time; Oak-land, San Jose and Santa Clara. He is now Rector of Saint Anthony of Padua Oratory in West Orange, New Jersey in the Archdiocese of Newark.
Classes are open to the public and will be held at the Friary chapel on Thursday, February 2 at 6PM; Friday at 6PM and Sat-urday at 10AM.
The Institute of Christ the King operates its own seminary at Gricigliano, Italy. More information can be accessed at www.insti-tute-christ-king.org
Priest to Give Classes on the Extraordinary Form
By Jeffrey L. Fitzgerald
From Oasis to “downtown” and Back againI’m Just Saying:
Barry Manilow and his hair. Words fail me. Google images
