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No. 207 ● January 2015 240,000 Copies Nationwide FREE Alive! Catholic Monthly Newspaper 6th January: Feast of the Epiphany www.alive.ie Pope Francis: Children have a right to a father and mother We need a 'new ecology' that values marriage and the family Inside ● See Page 3 Pope Francis meets young Christian refugees from Syria and Iraq during his recent visit to Turkey. 'Wars solve nothin g, create new prob lems'…..page 2 Plus... World athlete comes home to her faith Page 2 ● US drone strikes kill Page 6 many innocent people Page 9 Case exposes 'gay' grip on US politics Page 5 Secularism is a religion in disguise Pages 4, 7 ● Bishop sets out vision of Catholic education Page 13 ● New series: Celebrating the Wonder of Marriage ● The content of the newspaper Alive! and the views expressed in it are those of the editor and contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Irish Dominican Province. Mormons admit founder had up to 40 wives Alive! January 2015 2 MORMON leaders in the US have acknowledged for the first time that Joseph Smith, the founder of their community had up to 40 wives, including a 14-year-old girl. Some of the marriages, it is said, were "for eternity alone", implying that they did not involve sexual relations. However, the disclosure has shocked many members of the Latter-day Saints. Until now Mormon leaders presented Smith as happily married to his wife Emma, but speculation on various internet sites have challenged this stance. An essay on the group's website has now admitted that "careful estimates put the number of wives between 30 and 40". Some of these women were already married to other men. 'Excruciating' The essay also notes that "plural marriage was difficult for all involved" but for Emma, Smith's first wife, "it was an excruciating ordeal." Indeed, after Smith's death in 1844 Emma fiercely opposed attempts to expand the practice, even to the point of denying that her husband was ever involved in it. Smith was a farmworker and treasure hunter who claimed Joseph Smith in the late 1820s to have found the Book of Mormom inscribed on golden plates and buried in upstate New York. One outcome of the group's early practice of polygamy was that it rapidly increased the Mormon population. "A substantial number of today's members descend through faithful Latter-day Saints who practised plural marriage," says the essay. It argues that Smith was a reluctant polygamist but gave in when faced with an angel who "came with a drawn sword, threatening Joseph with destruction unless he went forward and obeyed the commandment fully." Utah, the group's home territory, abandoned polygamy in 1890 when it became part of the United States. A nice little earner ■ A speed camera in Cardiff raked in an estimated £800,000 in fines in the first six months after it was put in place last year. It caught an average of 71 motorists per day breaking the limit. This was more than three times the amount earned by the previous most lucrative camera, on the M60 in Manchester. But angry drivers have claimed the 30mph speed trap is just "a cash cow" and does nothing to improve road safety. Research conducted by LV insurance revealed that in 2013 speed cameras cost British motorists £22million in fines. Cross removed ■ Real Madrid football team has produced a special version of its official badge, without a Christian cross at the top, in what looks like an attempt to win followers in a Muslim country, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). "From the looks of things, the club is willing to compromise on aspects of its identity in pursuit of these new fans," said Marca.com, a website which reports on Spanish football. The change has provoked cynicism among many fans, even though the badge remains as it was outside the Muslim region. The design change follows a lucrative 3-year sponsorship deal with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the lead- • Real Madrid badge with and without the cross. ing bank in the UAE. Study finds US drone strikes kill many innocent people A CLOSE study of US drone strikes, using data available to the public, has revealed that an estimated 1,150 innocent people, many of them children, have been killed in various attempts to "take out" 41 militants. On 13 January 2006 drones hit a village called Damadola in Pakistan, killing innocent adults and children, but missing their target, Ayman Zawahiri, who went on to become al-Qaida's leader. Ten months later the drones tried and failed again. Zawahiri is still alive. But the two attacks left 76 children and 29 adults dead. Qari Hussain, a deputy commander of the Pakistani Taliban, was killed by missiles from a Predator drone on 15 October 2010. It was the sixth attempt to assassinate him. But in its efforts to kill Hussain, using Barack Obama's favoured weapon, the US military unintentionally ended the lives of 128 people, many of them women, 13 of them children. A human rights group Reprieve has found that even when operators target specific individuals, what Obama calls "targeted killing", they kill vastly more people than their targets. "Drone strikes have been sold to the American public on the claim that they're 'precise'," Reprieve's Jennifer Gibson told the Guardian newspaper. "But they are only as precise as the intelligence that feeds them. There is nothing precise about intelligence 'Precise' US Drone flight Shakira was left disfigured by a US drone attack. that results in the deaths of 28 unknown people, including women and children, for every 'bad guy' the US goes after." The numbers given in the report, however, are only a fraction of the total number of people killed by US drones overall. Reprieve did not examine named targets struck only once. Nor did it examine drone strikes that do not tar- Top award honours Vatican astronomer AMERICA'S astronomers have awarded the 2014 Carl Sagan Medal, one of planetary science's most prestigious honours, to a Vatican astronomer, Bro. Guy Consolmagno (right). The Jesuit brother, from Michigan, has charge of the Vatican's meteorite collection, one of the largest in the world. His research explores the connections between meteorites and asteroids. The American Astronomical Society, announcing the award, said that the Jesuit "occupies a unique position within our profession as a credible spokesperson for scientific honesty within the context of religious belief." Bro. Consolmagno entered the Jesuit Order in 1989 at the age of 37. Before that he lectured at Harvard College, MIT and in 1985 he became assistant professor of physics at Lafayette College, in Pennsylvania. The Sagan Medal "recognises and honours outstanding communication by an active planetary scientist to the general public." It is for "scientists whose efforts have significantly contributed to a public understanding of, and enthusiasm for, planetary science." 'Wars solve nothing, create new problems' ON his recent visit to Turkey Pope Francis met young refugees from Syria and Iraq and told them that the conditions in which so many refugees are forced to live are intolerable! "Yours is the sad conse- quence of brutal conflicts and war, which are always evils and which never solve problems," said Francis. "Rather, they only create new problems." The Pope went on to remind political leaders that the great majority of their people "long for peace, even if at times they lack the strength and voice to demand it." He thanked Turkey for its great efforts on behalf of refugees and called on the international community to provide the support that is needed by so many people. get specific people, but attack people because their behaviour just looks suspicious. A report by the US Council on Foreign Relations reckons that 500 drone strikes outside of Iraq and Afghanistan have killed at least 3,674 people. Another problem with monitoring the use of drones is the secrecy surrounding them. Analysts must rely on local media reporting about their aftermath, with all the problems that beset journalism in dangerous or denied places. Anonymous leaks to the media, citing an unnamed Yemeni or American, Pakistani official, are the only acknowledgements that the strikes actually occur, or target a particular individual. "President Obama needs to be straight with the American people about the human cost of this programme," said Gibson. "If even his government doesn't know who are filling the body bags every time a strike goes wrong, his claims that this is a precise programme look like nonsense, and the risk that it is in fact making us less safe looks all too real." Repeats on TV ■ Irish TV viewers may accept the endless Fr Ted repeats on RTE 2, but UK viewers expect more. They were not amused when told that 2 out of 3 (63%) programmes over Christmas would be repeats. From 20 December to 2 January BBC1 and BBC2 would fill 331 viewing hours with 315 repeats such as Eastenders or old game shows. ITV and Channel 4 were as bad. The four broadcasters between them would show 670 hours of repeats. "Viewers will wonder why the cost of a TV licence is not falling when they are subjected to more and more repeats," said a TaxPayers' Alliance spokesman. "They will ask why it costs £145 a year to watch Dad's Army for the umpteenth time when they could buy the DVDs if they wanted it on endless repeat." Alive! January 2015 3 JUST FOR P RIE STS Pope says: Children have right to father Mass-centred spirituality and a mother C POPE Francis has made an impassioned plea to society to foster a deeper appreciation of the true nature of marriage and the beauty of the family based on marriage. He also urged people to grasp more deeply how a father and mother complement each other in the task of rearing their children. Warning that marriage is under attack from many sides, he called on society to vigorously defend the natural institution, and to focus on its essential nature and structure. With marriage being a relationship between a man and a woman, he pointed out, it is where the two sexes complement or complete each other as persons and in their role as parents. "Children have a right to grow up in a family with a father and a mother capable of creating a suitable environment for the child's development and emotional maturity," said the Pope. He made his remarks at the opening of a major conference in Rome exploring how men and women complement each other. Marriage and family are rooted in this complementarity, he noted. The family grounded in marriage "is the first school where we learn to appreciate our own and others' gifts, and where we begin to acquire the arts of cooperative living," said Francis. He recognised that tensions arise in families: between egoism and altruism, reason and passion, immediate desires and longrange goals. But it was important to The two sexes complement each other in their role as parents. realise that "families also provide frameworks for resolving such tensions," contributing to peace in the world. Today marriage and the family are in crisis. "We live in a culture of the temporar y, in which more and more people are simply giving up on marriage as a public commitment," he said. It was a point he had made at an earlier meeting with the German Schoenstatt association of families. Clear Speaking without notes he told that group that the many attacks on the family were "ver y sad, ver y painful". Various "new forms" of unions were being proposed, but such unions were "not marriage," he said. "It's an association but not a marriage. Sometimes we have to say very clear things, we just have to say it." He urged engaged couples to take part in a solid preparation for marriage and to understand the meaning of 'forever' which is now disputed by the "culture of the provisional". The new forms of relationship are "totally destructive and limit the grandeur of the love of matrimony: so many persons living together, and separations and divorces." At the Rome conference he noted that a revolution in behaviour and morals "has brought spiritual and material devastation to countless human beings, especially the poorest and most vulnerable." Francis noted that not only the natural but the social environment is under threat in today's culture and that it is "essential that we foster a new human ecology" that values marriage and the family. He urged the gathering to focus on another truth about marriage, that "permanent commitment to solidarity, fidelity and fruitful love responds to the deepest longings of the human heart." Adults should also uphold the dignity of marriage as an example to young people. He wanted young people to become "revolutionaries with the courage to seek true and lasting love, going against the common pattern," and not giving themselves to "the poisonous environment" of temporary relationships. Nor should people allow themselves to be swayed by fashionable political notions. "We cannot qualify the family based on ideological notions or concepts important only at one time in history," he said. "We can't think of conservative or progressive notions. Family is family. It can't be narrowed down by ideological notions." Monastic Experience Weekend Mount St Joseph Abbey, Roscrea, Co Tipperary. For men aged 20 to 40 who may be discerning a monastic vocation. Experience the rhythm of monastic daily prayer life. Friday 13th – Sunday 15th February For further info or to talk about vocation discernment, contact Vocations Director, Br Malachy, email: firstname.lastname@example.com or text info to 085-8338503. atholic spirituality can take on many different shapes and colours. We can be inspired by the Gospel of St John or the life of St Teresa of Avila or the events of Fatima. But ultimately the spirituality of every Catholic should be centred on the celebration of the Eucharist, on the Mass. This is particularly true for priests, whose lives, whose very being, is defined by the Mass. A priest exists to celebrate Mass, to act in persona Christi in offering up the sacrifice of Calvary. Everything else in a priest's life flows from this. And that includes his spirituality, his path to holiness. For the priest who is serious about becoming a saint, the key question is: How do I enter as fully as possible into every celebration of Mass? This question can be broken into two parts: (a) how do I enter into the mind and heart of Christ the priest? and (b) how do I enter into the mind and heart of Christ the victim? And each of these questions can be broken into a further two questions: (a) How do I enter into Christ during Mass? We examined this briefly last month; And (b) how do I enter into Christ in the rest of my daily life, making it a continuation of the Eucharist? Question Here the appeal of St Paul to all Christians applies to a priest in a special way: "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship" (Roms 12,1). Pope Benedict chose to speak on this theme in his first general audience of 2009, just months after his election. His words are still very timely (see box). You are a living sacrifice LET us stir up within us the commitment to open our minds and hearts to Christ, to be and to live as his true friends. His company will ensure that this year, even with its inevitable difficulties, will be a journey full of joy and peace. Only if we remain united to Jesus will the new year be a good and happy one. The commitment of union with Christ is the example that St Paul also offers us. He says: "I appeal to you, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." There is an apparent paradox in these words: while the sacrifice normally requires the death of the victim, Paul speaks on the contrary of the life of the Christian. The expression "present your bodies", independently of the following mention of sacrifice, carries the religious nuance of "giving as an oblation, an offering". The exhortation "present your bodies" refers to the person in his entirety. "Spiritual worship" does not mean less real worship or even worship that is only metaphorical but rather a more concrete and realistic worship. It is a worship in which the human being himself, in his totality as a being endowed with reason, becomes adoration, glorification of the living God. — Pope Benedict XVI A Happy New Year to all our readers and supporters. Special thanks to all of you who gave time, energy, prayer or a donation to keep Alive! going in 2014. Is your marriage stressed, unloving, cold? Do you feel alone or distant from your spouse? Have you lost the desire to communicate with each other? Do you feel disillusioned or bored in your marriage? Have you separated, divorced, or are you thinking of doing so, but want to try again? The Retrouvaille programme can help you recover your marriage. Next weekend: 13th-15th February 2015 in Dublin Contact: Tony & Anne 01-4953536; Mike & Anne 01-4500922 Or text or call 086-4135440 www.retrouvaille.ie COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL Alive! January 2015 4 State imposing its own religion on us by Gerard Murphy IN A recent TV interview Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney stated that he "makes decisions on behalf of lots of non-Catholics, lots of non-Christians," and that "government decisions should not be taken on the basis of religion." Rather, decisions "should be taken on the basis of equality and of what is a reality in a country." Simon is not the first Minister to declare himself a Catholic and then disclose that his faith does not affect his decisionmaking. Indeed, this seems to be a widespread mentality in Irish politics. We could examine what it means to be a Catholic and how that should shape one's decisions. But that is for another day. Here I want to look at what does shape the politicians' decisions, particularly Simon's focus on "equality". Others would add in "tolerance", "rights", "freedom of choice", etc. There are massive problems with each of these notions. For example, did Fine Gael consider "equality" for unborn children when voting to legalise abortion up to birth? Again, that's for another day. But why would a Minister think that equality, tolerance, rights, etc should be the basis for government decisions? What makes these notions acceptable in decision-making? They are fashionable, of course, so ministers can feel self-satisfied that they have conformed to "modern" standards, something clearly important for Simon. Why are they fashionable in • Minister Simon Coveney does base his decisions on religious grounds. Western countries? Principally, it seems, because they provide a substitute for "religious" moral principles. If, as Simon says, "government decisions should not be taken on the basis of religion," then equality, etc. appear to be the only alternative basis. These principles, we are told, are based in "reason" not in "faith", so one's religion can be practised in private while the public life is ruled by reason. And everyone, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim or atheist can be happy. However, once we start probing it emerges that matters are not so simple. None of these principles is really much help in deciding how we should act. The call to be tolerant doesn't tell us what we should tolerate. Drug-dealing, for example? Family betrayal through adultery? Or how do we square a "right to choose" with "the right to life"? In fact, it turns out that each of these notions has become simply a disguise for self-will, especially the self-assertion of the powerful. Calling what I Monthly Musings with guest columnist, Rebecca Roughneen Rebecca is the Creative Director for Youth Defence A 'drop box' for babies THE Drop Box movie is a heartwarming documentary featuring a pastor in Korea who adopts unwanted babies who have been left on his doorstep. After a disabled baby boy was abandoned in a cardboard box at his church in Seoul in 2009 Pastor Lee (right) came up with the idea of the Drop Box. "The prejudice against disabled people is severe," said Lee. "People neglect them. They find them repugnant. They don't treat them as human beings. "Had these children gone elsewhere, they would have died. I'm glad they've come here. I'm so thankful that I'm able to help them." The Drop Box allows mothers to have their baby and leave him or her in a safe, warm place. South Korea has one of the highest abortion rates in the world, and disabled babies are viewed as disposable. Banning an offensive term EVERY Life Counts recently launched its Compatible with Life, Compatible with Love campaign. The organisation is led by the families of children who were diagnosed before or shortly after birth with a profound disability, and might not live long after birth. They teamed up with Tipperary TD Pope Francis prayed at an aborted children memorial during a recent visit to South Korea. Abortion, he said, is evidence of "the throwaway culture", and "it's horrific to think that there are children, victims of abortion, who will never see the light of day." Recently, I had the privilege of meeting teenager Josiah Presley at the Love Life Festival in Dublin. Josiah was born and placed for adoption in South Korea. His mother Mattie McGrath to launch what will be a ground-breaking Private Members Bill. Campaign members seek an end to use of the term "incompatible with life". For them it's a callous, offensive term often used unfeelingly when parents receive the devastating diagnosis that their baby has a profound disability. Such language, plus a lack of suitable perinatal hospice care, can leave families facing a bleak situa- had attempted to have an abortion while pregnant. Josiah survived, thank God, but he bears a disability, probably due to the attempt on his life before birth. "Often people look down on people with disabilities like myself," he says. "We need to remember that these are people. To a degree, I would say we all have disabilities. "We all have our limits, and for disabled people their limits may just be a little lower than others', but we're still precious, we still have value and people should respect that." The Drop Box movie challenges how we view "unwanted" or disabled children. Pastor Lee said "I adopted these children because God adopted me." This movie, for release in March, challenges us all to give more, to do more for babies such as these. It's inspiring to see the difference one person can make. tion. The term robs a child of his or her humanity, and is medically inaccurate, since these babies are alive in their mothers' womb. It makes a very difficult time for parents so much worse. Often the parents are pushed towards aborting their little sick babies. • See www.everylifecounts.ie for beautiful videos, stories of love, precious memories and hope. RIGHT: Members of Every Life Counts. want a "right" is a clever ploy, making my demand sound "reasonable" and not simply selfish. Failed The truth is that the effort over four centuries to find a rational basis for morality apart from religion has failed again and again. The great failures in this dismal history include Hobbes, Descartes, Bentham, Hume, Kant and Nietzsche. All we are left with is "choice", "what I want", toddler morality dressed up in fine sounding words. When we examine this history of failure it turns out that each of the proposed moral systems was rooted in a particular view of what it is to be human, what the purpose of life is. Ultimately it was rooted in a particular view of God, his existence, his involvement with humanity, what he has revealed or not, what he expects from us, etc. The same is true of today's secularist morality, it is rooted in a definite view of God, though this is ignored. In Secularism God may or may not exist, but either way, he's to be ignored. We are on our own. What happens after death, if anything, is of no interest. And we have to concoct our own "values". Secularism, then, is as much a religion as is Islam or Catholicism. The State tries to hide this because admitting it would shatter its game plan, and it has no other plan. But a false religion and a false, destructive morality are being imposed on our society. The fightback needs to begin immediately. Take one step more THIS summer I spent a week on the ancient pilgrim route, the Camino to Santiago de Compostella in Spain, the final resting place of St James the Apostle. I took the Camino Del Norte route, along the breathtaking rocky coast of Spain, beginning in Irún and ending in the beautiful city of Bilbao. It is very challenging physically, but most difficult is the time you have alone with your thoughts on a mountain side, all your belongings in a pack on your back. This forces you to consider where you're at in life, your values, what you hold dear, what you should do when you return home, time to reflect, to pray. My Camino took me across the Basque mountains. Often, we saw tiny but beautiful chapels in the woods or high up on a mountain. Sadly in this part of Spain these little 'Hermitas' were often locked. Locals told me they were often victim to antiCatholic vandalism. My favourite aspect of the Camino was meeting people from all walks of life, backgrounds, and faiths (and of no faith), from across the world. On the 'Way', everyone is a pilgrim. We each had our struggles and, as pilgrims, helped each other as best we could. The Camino was like our journey through life. We all have baggage to carry, hills to climb, good and bad days, but we can help each other through it. As the New Year begins, I am reminded of the many resolutions I made on my Camino: trying to better myself, eating healthier, getting fit (thanks to the mountains), praying more – all of which I've found difficult at times to adhere to. But my Camino walk reminds me that to continue on our journey we must simply take one step more. As Mother Teresa said: "Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin." Alive! January 2015 CARDINAL Vincent Nichols of Westminster has said he was shocked by a recent trip he made to Gaza. Alive! accepts CREDIT CARD Donations & Payments Tel: 01-404 8187 Anonymous Donations €1,000: Joseph Workshop Two children stand amid the rubble in Gaza. the extremists" was taking over in the Middle East. And in a veiled message to Israeli authorities he called on leaders to find a political solution and "not be satisfied with a security or military response." He also highlighted the plight of "the innocent citizens of Gaza caught in a vice of conflicting ideologies – an almost impossible situation for them." MPs take first step to protect baby girls BRITAIN'S MPs voted 181 to 1 for a motion declaring that "sex-selection" abortion is illegal. But this is only the first stage in a bid to make the law clearer. The move followed a decision by the DPP not to bring charges against two doctors whom the Telegraph caught on camera agreeing to arrange abortions of baby girls purely because of their sex. A statement from the DPP said that doctors had "wide discretion" in deciding whether continuing a pregnancy could threaten the physical or mental health of the mother or her existing children. Fiona Bruce MP, the driving force behind the motion, singled out the BPAS, which kills about 60,000 unborn children per year, for special mention. "Even today they are advising women in one of their leaflets and on their website that abortion for reasons of foetal sex is not illegal because the law is silent on the matter," she said. Major issue The Medical Association was little better. "They argue that having a child of a particular gender may be a legal and ethical justification for an abortion on the basis that the child's sex may severely affect the pregnant woman's mental health," said Bruce. With new technology available the abortion of babies simply because they are girls is turning into a major issue for society. It is already a serious problem in parts of China, India and Pakistan but thanks to immigration is now spreading to western countries. Feminists are divided on the issue, some wanting to sacrifice baby girls for the sake of "women's right to choose" and others wanting to limit choice to protect the babies. I wish to support Alive!. Enclosed is my donation for CUT OUT Among the places he visited was an orphanage run by nuns which cares for dozens of traumatised children, some of them given up by parents unable to care for them. He also visited a hospital and an industrial zone, both of them badly damaged by Israeli air strikes and shelling in the last bombardment of Gaza. The archbishop told the Guardian he had seen "a deeply depressing situation in a devastated region where people are trapped" and was "shocked at the effects of war and endemic poverty." He added: "It's astonishing the number of people who appear to have nothing to do, people just sitting on the streets. There is only the barest sense of order. This economy is not going to be able to support its population." He warned that the "rule of Alive! needs your support Charity, C'kilty; €370: Legion of Mary & friends, St Mary's, Limavady; €100: An; Pensioner D.6; €55: IMcB; €50: E&A Blake; An; OD; EF; €40: RJ Cork City; €30: An; A Clare; 3 Clonakilty Readers; €25: Angela Rathfarnham; R&BR; An; An D24; JM/B; €20: Well Wisher Galway; AJ; An; MC; JJK; DW; €10: Old Ballymote pensioner; An; TGDD; €5: An; WS; Stg: £100 An; £20 An; THANK YOU for your continued support. Name €1,000 €50 €500 €25 €250 €15 Address €100 other € Tel: ✄ Shocked at plight of poor in Gaza 5 Alive!, St. Mary's Priory, Tallaght, Dublin 24 Please send your donation to: SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO DONATED TO ALIVE! DURING DECEMBER If 8,000 people contribute just €20 each we can continue for another year. Abuse case exposes 'gay' grip on US politics TERRY BEAN, a major fundraiser for Barack Obama and one of America's most influential campaigners for the "gay agenda", has been arrested and charged with having sex with a young teenage boy on two occasions in 2013. Bean was arrested at his home in Portland, Oregon. He has denied the child rape allegation, claiming it is linked with an attempt to blackmail him. His 25-year-old boyfriend at the time has also been arrested in connection with the same incidents. According to police, "the indictment charges Bean with two counts of 3rd degree sodomy (a felony that carries a jail sentence) and one count of 3rd degree sex abuse." His arrest comes after a 5month investigation into claims that he made secret video recordings of encounters with his then boyfriend and other men in his bedroom. The case, however, is particularly important because it shines a light on the extraordinary hold the gay lobby over the exercises Democratic Party, going right to the top, and on Obama himself. It will be a major embarrassment for the Party if it turns out that one of its big fund-raisers and string- Terry Bean pullers is a paedophile. Bean, aged 66, a wealthy property developer, was a founder of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the world's largest, wealthiest and most powerful organisation dedicated to fighting for homosexual demands. The Campaign backed Bill Clinton for President in 1992 and was rewarded afterwards with an official meeting of its leaders with the new President to promote the gay agenda. It boasts on its website that it "worked tirelessly across the country" to elect Obama in 2008, "from raising money online to rallying volunteers in key states." One year later it got its payback when Obama, then US President, was the keynote speaker at the homosexual group's annual National Dinner. It endorsed Obama again in 2012, and committed itself to getting him re-elected, "mobilising thousands of volunteers, steering committee members, and HRC staff around the country." Bean himself is reported to have donated more than $1 million to HRC, and his arrest came just a few days before its major fundraiser for gay demands in Boston. The media have lauded him as Obama's top money-raiser in Oregon state, and Obama himself, having received a donation from him of $500,000, described him as a "great friend and supporter." Indeed, he shared a Christmas visit with Michelle Obama at the White House and has travelled with Obama on Air Force One, though the photos have now been removed from his Facebook page. It would be no surprise then, if he played a significant role in Obama's rapid "evolution" from being against same-sex "marriage" before his election to becoming one of the most fanatical campaigners for "gay" Lauded demands both in the US and globally. Researchers have found that Bean also repeatedly gave thousands of dollars in donations to the Democratic Party's most powerful figures, leaving many of them, including Hillary Clinton, deeply indebted to him. Bean's arrest has, however, been played down by most of the US media. Newsbusters website pointed out that CNN covered the story but the big three TV networks censored it, remaining silent about it. "An alleged child rapist who has travelled on Air Force One isn't something that happens every day. But the story got almost no national attention," said USA Today. Journalist Brett M. Decker of the White House Writers Group pointed out that if one of George Bush's "bundlers" had been charged with child rape, "the media feeding frenzy would have been uncontrollable – which would be legitimate given the severity of the allegation." So, the silence surrounding the Bean arrest, he said, "exposes the national media's partisan double standard in obscene detail." 6 The Alive! January 2015 We need to think Top athlete about resolutions 'comes home' I FORUM to her faith YOUTH Scottish pupils given mad advice with Anne Nolan magine a school where the pupils were told that cheating at exams was risky but since some were going to cheat they should read the school's booklet on how to get away with it. Or where pupils were asked not to bully other pupils, but since some were going to bully others, they should read the tips pinned on the classroom door on how to avoid being caught. probably You'd think the teachers were all crackpots. Nor would you be impressed if the teachers argued that some pupils were going to cheat or to bully anyway, so they should do it safely. If they explained that they were being "non-judgmental" about such behaviour you would rightly think they were suffering from melted brain. Well, melted brain seems to be a big problem in Edinburgh at the moment where the city council has produced a booklet for 13 to 25-year-olds. The booklet contains "tips" on how to "stay safe" when taking drugs, drinking alcohol or having casual sex. And schools have started handing it out to pupils as young as 13. The pupils are advised to "sleep well" before and after snorting cocaine, to avoid mixing it with alcohol, to "wash out your nose after each session" and to "avoid sharing rolled-up bank notes or straws." I Ecstasy If taking ecstasy, the teenagers are told to "start with half a pill and wait at least two hours before redosing" and to "sip water regularly" but no more than "one pint an hour." They should "take regular breaks from dancing to cool down," and only take "short puffs" of cannabis if inhaling. The advice on sex is too gross to repeat here. The booklet, which treats 13-year-olds as if they were 25, or the other way round, says it gives "non-judgmental, accurate information about alcohol and other drugs and how to stay safe." First of all this mention of "how to stay safe" is deeply dishonest, it is a dangerous lie that will seriously mislead lots of young people. There is no "safe" way to engage in casual sex or drugs. The schools might as well be giving advice on how to "stay safe" when putting your bare hand in boiling oil. Secondly, these adults have little respect for teenagers, they expect so little from them. Instead of calling young people to greatness they endanger them, and spread their own moral confusion. Thirdly, this advice is coming from a bunch of adults who haven't the courage to stand up for what is right and condemn what is wrong or bad. How could young people trust or respect such foolish cowards? B lanka Vlasic from Croatia is one of the best high jumpers in the history of athletics, and was declared the women's World Athlete of the Year in 2010. Recently she was in Rome to speak at a conference on sport, organised by Italy's Olympic Committee and the Vatican. The theme was the benefits of sport for body and soul. In an interview with Zenit Blanka, aged 30, spoke about her return to the practice of her Catholic faith, and how it gives her the strength to face suffering and disappointment. "I grew up in a Catholic home but our faith was more of a tradition, and after our Confirmation it was not even that," she said. "It was only recently that Mum and Dad were married in the Church." The family had the usual ups and downs, but without Christ at the centre they often made decisions which led to anger and even alienation from each other. In 2012 Blanka had an ankle operation and an infection set in. She found the road to recovery and the return to jumping very tough. At the time she had fallen out with her eldest brother, Marin. "We weren't as close as we had been and I didn't know what was going on in his life," she said. He too had an ankle problem (from basketball) and major health problems, but Blanka wasn't aware that he had begun once again to attend Mass. So she was "quite astonished" when he told her one day that he was praying for her. "I was shocked, this wasn't the Marin I knew," she said. She continued: "He started to talk to me about God, conversion and how Jesus reaches out to us. At first, I put a high wall around myself, but the Holy Spirit was at work, as all walls eventually fall down like a tower of cards. "I'll never forget that special moment of grace. My tears started to fall and suddenly everything became crystal clear. "It was as if I had been Operation Blanka Vlasic competing in a high jumping event. brought up in the faith my whole life and everything I never thought about, I suddenly knew. Jesus took the place in my soul where he was always meant to be, like a missing piece of a puzzle. "That night I fell asleep calm and I thought: 'whatever happens in the future, should I jump again or not, the Lord is with me and I have nothing to fear.' I started to go to Mass regularly, to confession and to receive Communion." In 2013, she publicly supported the referendum campaign to have marriage legally defined as the union of a man and a woman, stating, "every family should begin with a man and a woman." Despite opposition from Croatia's leftwing government and most of the media, the referendum was supported by two thirds of voters. Asked about the Rome conference, Blanka remarked that people are not strong enough to simply rely on themselves, yet today's world promotes such thinking, seeing everything else as a weakness. "We have been taught to hide our flaws behind a mask of 'strength and self-confidence', which is just a smokescreen that disappears at the first sign of trouble," she said. "Only when we turn and look to Jesus can we find the meaning of the cross, which we always seem to run away from." For her, "as an athlete who is in the public spotlight, life is easier and more complete knowing God's mercy and infinite love. A feeling, in fact, of coming home," she said. Referendum by Caitriona Lynch have come to the conclusion that one of the reasons I do not stick to my new year resolutions is that I try to do to many things at once. Even if I had been wise enough to stick to one issue, for example, keeping my room tidy, I'd insist that I'd have to do 10 things every day to have it tidy. Invariably I would stick to my plan for a week and then things would begin to fall apart. We are now told by the powers that be that it takes at least 21 days to adapt a new discipline into your routine. It seems to me, however, that in fact it takes more like 60 days. In light of that, one very good piece of advice I was given, was to decide on one action, and one action only. Do that repeatedly every day for 8 weeks. Then and only then should you move on to your next action. So I made the decision to make the bed before I left the bedroom in the morning. Or maybe, in caring for myself, I'd decide to walk for 5 mins away from the house and then 5 mins back. It was so much easier to do and I was less inclined to drop it than I would be if going to a session in the gym. Frequently in the past things would crop up that put the trip to the gym on the long finger. However no matter what happened I could take my self or my bike out for ten minutes. Using this analogy I could You've got kids! make 6 changes to my life a year. As regards a healthy body, walking ten minutes a day and eating 116 calories less per day than you normally do could result in a loss of one stone weight a year. So maybe ask yourself what 10 or 12 things you can do this year to improve the relationships in your family. Here are a few suggestions: 1. Take 10 minutes a day either writing or texting or emailing an encouraging note to a member of your family; 2. Maybe take a few minutes to have a cup of tea and a sandwich ready for someone when he or she comes in tired and hungry. 3. Take some time you listen to the person you feel is listened to least in the family. 4. Spend a quiet ten minutes every day to put yourself undisturbed in God's presence. It's amazing what new things you can make a part of your life with just 10 minutes a day. Be part of, and help to promote, the Ictus Movement ● Praying and fasting for the legal protection of human life at all its stages ● Keeping society alert to respect for human life as a serious moral issue What Is Asked Of You: ● Prayer: Take part in Mass and Holy Communion on the 1st Friday of each month (Ictus Friday); ● Fasting: Abstain from meat each 1st Friday. This public witness helps to establish solidarity in the prolife cause. ● Mission: Invite others to join the Ictus Movement To receive a monthly reminder for the First Friday or a reminder for the parish notices/newsletter please email us. firstname.lastname@example.com Alive! January 2015 7 Editor's Jottings A closer look at stories in the round... Is Christian unity still on the cards? IN The Unintended Reformation, US historian Brad Gregory outlines the impact on Western history of the key Protestant principle, "sola Scriptura", Scripture alone. This principle claimed that God spoke directly to each person through Scripture, so there was no need for a teaching authority to explain what anyone should believe – God's word was enough. The principle reflected, and further boosted, the growing individualism of the time, and was badly tainted with arrogance. Not only the Church's teaching authority could be ignored, but also the insights and wisdom of earlier saints and theologians, in favour of one's own personal opinion. Catholics often ask what Protestants believe. They assume that Protestants hold to a unified body of teaching, similar to the Catholic Church's teaching summarised in the Catechism. This, however, is a serious misunderstanding of Protestantism. As Gregory shows, from the very beginning of the Reformation, the only thing that united Protestants was their rejection of the Church's authority to teach and what she taught. It was soon clear that the Scripture was telling something very different to each person who read it. The Reformation split into two general patterns. Some reformers, like Luther or Calvin, backed by local political leaders, succeeded in imposing a state religion. England under Henry VIII did likewise. But these reformers often despised each other and rejected each other's teachings, whether on the Eucharist, the role of the Spirit, infant baptism, and so on. The other pattern saw a huge multitude of little communities, each with its own beliefs. They hadn't rejected the Pope to be told by a king, a political leader or some theologian what to believe! And if any disagreed with some teaching in their own little community they broke away and formed a new grouping with its own unique beliefs. The same pattern is now happening more and more right through Protestantism. This month we celebrate Christian Unity Week. But it's no longer clear what this is about. We can have friendly relations at a local level, but we have to admit that thanks to sola Scriptura, unity in both doctrinal and moral beliefs is getting ever farther away. Split John Calvin Secularism is a religion in disguise IN a recent homily the Archbishop of Tuam remarked on the deep hold that secularism has taken on Irish life. The whole society, said Dr. Neary, knows "that a great struggle, social, political, intellectual and profoundly cultural has been fought. And that we have lost." But did this great struggle really happen? What evidence is there for it, apart from a few small skirmishes? Did not the Church in Ireland simply capitulate, step by step, to secularism, with barely a flicker of resistance, the latest stage being the debacle in the St VdeP Society? Instant surrender has generally been the strategy adopt- ed by our generals and officer corps, both clerical and lay. shepherds Many/most have maintained, at best, a prolonged, negligent, fearful silence on issue after issue. With many lay Catholic leaders the situation is worse. From journalists to government ministers, from college lecturers to school principals, they have been intellectually captured by secularism. And like Isis captives, but without the captives' excuse, they have adopted the religion of their captors, often becoming its fanatical advocates. Far from being over, however, the social, political, intellectual and cultural struggle has not even begun. And when it does begin both sides Neglect of Mass is root of problem THE biggest crisis facing the Church in the western world today is the fact that vast numbers of Catholics no longer take part in Sunday Mass. This may not seem like a crisis since few people seem to be bothered by it and there appears to be little urgency in discussing how to respond to it. But it is an utter disaster, especially for those who have fallen away. When people stop practising their faith they begin a journey away from it, and soon no longer even know what they should believe, in doctrinal or moral matters. What we see today in so many lives are religious ruins, with hardly one stone standing on another. People no longer even think of God, much less worship him or, at best, they concoct an individualistic religion to suit their own tastes. This is idolatry. But the loss of faith is also a disaster for society. A society without ultimate hope has no future. Nor can objective morality survive without a religious foundation, as experience over 400 years has shown. Finally, it is a disaster for the Church. How can she fulfil her Christ-given mission to bring the gospel to the whole world when so many of her members have Idolatry A religion to suit one's own taste. walked away? Tragically, the crisis is, to a large extent, of the Church's own making. Obviously the various scandals have done immense harm. But long before that, inadequate preaching and teaching, especially about the Mass, left many people spiritually deprived. How could we have continued for generations to teach little children that the Blessed Eucharist was "holy bread", whatever that might be? Worse still, for 60 years theologians have downplayed the Mass as a sacrifice in favour of the community meal dimension. St John Paul II tried to change this but much still needs to be done. Ultimately there is only one reason for taking part in Mass, and that is because of what it is: the sacrifice of Calvary made present for us, forming community. Only when we recognise and proclaim the true wonder of the Eucharist can we hope for a renewal of the Catholic faith. • Secularism, like Islam, is a religion. are in for a huge surprise. They will discover that secularism is a massive confidence trick, that its "weapons" are made of cardboard. We have no need whatever to fear it or its champions. At the core of this deception is the true nature of secularism, what it really is. Liberalism or secularism has always presented itself as a "neutral space" between the various religions, a place of reason alone where believers of all kinds can meet and agree. Looking at it closely, however, we discover that, in fact, it lacks any real respect for reason. Rather, it advances principally by suppressing debate and manipulating emotions. Far from being "neutral" it is, in fact, a religion, with its own beliefs about God (if he exists he's irrelevant), about the meaning of life (consumerism is the path to happiness) and about morality (each of us makes his or her own rules). It's attraction, especially for money or power elites, is that excluding God allows us free range for our own desires, pleasures and ambitions. Secularism promises "freedom" but it's a distorted freedom, flowing from a distorted understanding of human dignity. It promises "equality" and "tolerance", but delivers violence and even terrorism, the oppression of the weakest, especially children, the rule of the powerful and, ultimately, despair. Why would we esteem, or even fear such junk ideas and practices? Casting off fear, the whole Church in Ireland must arm itself with truth, love and zeal and confront this disguised religion. Above all, it must vigorously proclaim the Gospel of Christ with the joy, freedom, hope and peace it brings. Using bogus science A NEWBORN baby boy who survived for five days without food or fluids was recently found in a drain in Sydney. Commenting on the baby's survival a prominent Australian obstetrician claimed that babies have evolved to be able to live for days without feeding. "If it has underlying good health - they're evolved to be able to withstand malnutrition in the first few days," he said. The mention of evolution here was bogus science. There is no concrete evidence that babies have "evolved" in this way. Perhaps the doctor just wanted to sound more authoritative, "scientific". As if we needed an "expert" to tell us what is evident from this case: that a newborn baby can survive for days without nourishment. "It's my body" DRUG addicts have begun selling a new magazine, Illegal, in London. The aim of the venture is to allow addicts to earn money for drugs rather than resorting to theft and prostitution. Illegal, an English version of a Danish quarterly, seeks to make drug use more acceptable. The theme of the first issue is "safer and more enjoyable drug use". The foreword states: "Everyone has a right to do with their body as they wish and, if that means a two-day acid trip in Camden or an ecstasy-fuelled night in Shoreditch, then so be it." A slogan that is used to justify the abortion of babies, "no fault" divorce and casual sex is now being used to argue for the social and legal acceptance of hard drugs use. The case here is based on "the right to choose", the core of selfcentred secularist or 'humanistic' morality. And once we accept secularism, with its exclusion of God and its dead-end view of life, there is no real argument against these positions. The only way out of this moral quagmire is to recognise that there is an objective or God-given morality. FILM Review Alive! January 2015 8 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 20th Century Fox - Directed by Matt Reeves Peace or war? cience fiction is a terrific genre for looking at mankind. 50 years on from the classic Planet of the Apes, is the metaphor of a world ruled by apes still relevant? This blockbuster sequel is set ten years after a man-made virus has wiped out the vast majority of humanity. Scientific follies have also resulted in apes becoming more intelligent. That species has occupied the forests and flourished whilst the remnants of mankind are left cowering in the ruined former cities. This film is told mostly from the apes' viewpoint. They have developed into a society with hunters, teachers and healers. Their leader, Caesar (Andy Serkis), rules with a firm hand but with compassion and a deep sense of responsibility. Like all great leaders he worries about his community, fearing that one day mankind will emerge again. History shows us that the greatest challenge for any society is co-existing with another society. S Theme Herein lies the theme of this film. A small band of humans led by a man called Malcolm (Jason Clarke) arrive at the apes' village and request access to a disused dam that can re-power and save their city. Malcolm is a humble man and gradually he and Caesar learn to trust and help each other. But other apes, led by Koba, had suffered cruelty under humans and do not want peace. As apekind's intelligence has advanced, so has its tendencies for bigotry, deceit and hatred. As with humans, division and war among the apes is inevitable. This movie warns of our worst potentials. It has some stunning imagery, created by extremely complex visual effects. The complexities of the characters are even more interesting. Rather than portray the clichés of cruel humans and victim animals, there is nobility, sacrifice, cowardice and betrayal on both sides—a microcosm of the challenges within every society and every culture in our richly diverse world. Ads for Avonmore and condoms ■ After the Nine O'Clock News (4/12/14) a Prime Time report on RTE 1 explored how young people using social media leave themselves open to sexual exploitation and worse. Aoife Hegarty's 35-minute report highlighted the dangers of these media and the major concern that adults are using social media to "groom" young people for sex. But before the programme, and just after Avonmore's nightly family-friendly ad, RTE broadcast an expensive advert for condoms. Highly suggestive, it glamorised casual sex, and said nothing of a possible pregnancy, the danger of sexually transmitted diseases or the failure rate of condoms. It could be argued that this itself was a polished form of sexual grooming. No wonder young people are confused about sex when they receive such contradictory messages from morally confused adults. • Call Avonmore, Tel: 1850 202366. Fury at 'death knock' exposé ■ It's known in media circles as "The Death Knock", a journalist turning up at the home of a person who has died tragically, looking for pictures, information or a statement from the family. We see the results in newspapers and on TV news bulletins almost daily, but do we ever question the media intrusion into the grief of a family which may be in shock and deep distress? Journalist Darragh Peter Murphy has come under fire from other reporters since he revealed this ugly side of the news business. "It's a practice carried out by at least one Irish newspaper reporter every day of the week," wrote Murphy. "After the death or serious injury of any Irish person, the same procedure applies in newsrooms across Dublin." In an unsigned piece for the Irish Times (30/9/14) Murphy wrote: "I have heard, on multiple occasions, news editors cheering at the news of a tragedy involving an attractive woman." Even when a baby dies, he said, "the pressure is on reporters from radio and TV stations to talk to the Media Watch family and to get the allimportant quotes and pictures." He told how a colleague had once been sent to the funeral of a young GAA goalkeeper. He was ordered by his editor "to pressure the dead man's parents to leave their only son's funeral, walk to the local pitch, and stand in the goalmouth holding his picture." 'Dole queue' At one death knock almost a dozen news and radio journalists and photographers were scrumming outside the home of an accident victim. A senior reporter advised the family "if you just give us a few words and a picture, that'd be the end of it." Murphy hung back, but couldn't leave. "If you're the only reporter without a picture or quotes in the next day's paper, you might as well be joining the dole queue," he said. Reporter: I've heard editors cheering at the news of a tragedy involving an attractive woman. After three hours of harrassment from reporters, the grieving family finally gave the media what they were looking for. The journalist commented: "Maybe the real disgrace is not that we are ordered to be so insensitive, but that we acquiesce in being so." But if Murphy thought he could protect himself by anonymity he was badly mistaken. "Within hours of the piece being published, the finest minds of the Sunday World's investigative unit took to social media to name me as its author," he wrote in his blog. "The reaction from some of the country's foremost death-knockers was vitriolic." He was warned by the news editor in one paper to "watch" himself, and told by another reporter that "the first rule of hackery [journalism] is that we don't talk about hackery." In a piece for the Sunday Times (30/11/14) Murphy wrote: "It was disheartening to see some journalists, supposed upholders of free speech, attempting to silence debate on a matter that affects untold numbers of grieving families every week." They reacted "just like every other threatened power structure that is faced with an examination of its practices." He questioned the morality of private companies dispatching reporters to the doors of distressed families to extract the maximum amount of information, pictures, and gory details in order to repackage and sell it at a profit. He was glad that he told the truth despite the damage it may have done to his job prospects. "For a couple of days though," he wrote, "I could feel what it must be like to be hounded by death knockers myself, via phonecalls, texts and online. "Well used to the rough and tumble of the fourth estate, I can take it. I'm not grieving, after all." Who now has the power in politics? ■ George Monbiot, a columnist with the Guardian, recently did a series of articles examining the colossal power big business exercises over government decision-making in the UK. We can take it that what he wrote about Britain applies in Ireland too, maybe even more so, since politicians here have even less power to resist these multinational businesses. "Do you wonder why those who want a kind, decent and just world so often appear to be opposed by the entire political establishment?," asked Monbiot (8/12/14). Or why there is a "severe limitation of political choice" in a nation "crying out for alternatives?" No real choice is certainly a problem in Ireland too. Even leftwing parties, he pointed out, "seem incapable of offering effective opposition to market fundamentalism, let alone proposing coherent alternatives." The answer to these and similar questions is that big business or corporate power is responsible for the undermining of democracy. There are many ways in which The whole world in his hands! Pic by Nicola Jennings these giant corporations operate, Monbiot explained. Buy Perhaps the most obvious "is through our unreformed political funding system, which permits big business and multi-millionaires in effect to buy political parties." And "once a party is obliged to them, it needs little reminder of where its interests lie. Fear and favour rule." Monbiot was not giving just his own outsider opinion. Before the last election, he recalled, David Cameron himself, now prime minister, had warned about the whole lobbying industry. "It is the next big scandal waiting to happen," said Cameron. "…an issue that exposes the far-too-cosy relationship between politics, government, business and money." And he added: "Secret corporate lobbying, like the expenses scandal, goes to the heart of why people are so fed up with politics." In power, however, "Cameron has ensured that the scandal continued." There is also the problem of officials keeping an eye on their own ambitions and future interests. "Ministers and civil servants know that if they keep faith with corporations in office they will be assured of lucrative directorships in retirement," said the journalist. With so many major decisions now made at global level and beyond the influence of voters, multinational business and its lobbyists fill the political gap. For Monbiot "the key political question of our age, by which you can judge the intent of all political parties, is what to do about corporate power." It is a question "perennially neglected within both politics and the media." Alive! January 2015 9 COMMENT Bishop sets out vision St. Mary's Priory, Tallaght, Dublin 24. Tel: 01-4048187 Fax: 01-4596784 E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Protect marriage The loving union of a man and woman to procreate and rear children is the most remarkable and wonderful institution in the world. It existed before state or religion and is the basis of every society in history. Utterly unique, no other relationship is anything like it, so we give it a unique name: marriage. For health or age reasons not every marriage leads to children, but procreation in love remains its intrinsic purpose. It is in the family that children learn from both father and mother, complementing each other, the joy of being loved, how to love, the sacrifices that are required. It is in the family that the foundations of justice, peace and civilisation are laid, for the benefit of the whole community. Wounded From the beginning, of course, and due to human selfishness and sin, the family has been wounded in a multitude of ways. It has been wounded from within by self-centredness, abuse, adultery, cohabitation, violence, contraception, divorce, polygamy and so on. It has been wounded from without by famine, unemployment, emigration, and recently by anti-family state policies and destructive UN and EU ideologies. More and more we see how undermining marriage and the family causes immense suffering, especially to children but also to spouses and the whole society. Until recent times we did not even question the importance of marriage and the family. "Blood is thicker than water" summed up our esteem for them. But today we can no longer take them for granted. They are under attack as never before in history. Today we must deepen our appreciation for this fundamental unit of society and do everything possible to protect it. Alive! 'The greatest work on earth' — St John Paul II — of Catholic education BISHOP Kevin Doran has outlined in broad terms the Catholic view of education, the primary role of parents and the place of the Catholic school in forming young people. For him the key issue was the dignity of children, their happiness and their purpose in life. In his first pastoral letter, entitled A Future Full of Hope, Bishop Doran reminded politicians, with all their plans for educational change, that the economy is for children, not children for the economy. As a result, schools must look to the education of the whole person, without ignoring the essential needs of the economy. Bishop Doran first posed the fundamental question, "For what are we raising our children?" He listed some of parents' practical hopes, then pointed out that it is above all for a relationship with God that children are created. "It is in this friendship with a loving God that they will find their true and lasting happiness," he said. But how, in fact, can parents be "the best of teachers" in the ways of faith? "If Jesus is spoken about in your home," said Bishop Doran, "if there are pictures or books about his life that the children can identify with; if there is a prayer at mealtimes and at night, then Jesus will be part of the family circle." Mass needs your help today. Dublin We provide free services to women with an unexpected pregnancy and their families, and to anyone suffering after an abortion. Volunteers Needed: ● Nurses & midwives ● Medical professionals ● Social workers ● Street counsellors ● For direct work with clients ● For general office work ● For fundraising Could you could spare some time, however little, to protect mothers and babies from abortion? Call Carolyn 087-6729393 / 086-0293727 or email email@example.com www.giannacare.ie Children preparing for Confirmation, he recalled, had told him their parents could help by teaching them their prayers and bringing them to Mass. A young woman preparing for baptism had told him: "My parents were kind-of hippies in the 1960s. They thought it would be a good idea to let me make up my own mind when I grew up. "What they didn't seem to realise was that, by not having me baptised and by not bringing me up in the faith, they were already making up my mind. Fortunately, I had a grandmother who brought me to Mass." Religious education must have a place in school, and taking it out of school would suggest that it is not really part of life. "The school supports the • 'By not bringing me up in the faith, they were already making up my mind' form our children in faith, we are also teaching them to love others as God loves them. "This means being good citizens, respecting the lives and the property of others, doing an honest day's work, caring for the sick, working for human rights and social justice." Bishop Doran recognised that religious symbols are important in a school but were not enough to make the school Catholic. Among other things, a Catholic school is essentially a community of faith, living by the faith. The bishop recommended an evaluation process already used by some Catholic primary schools to measure how they were "living" their Catholic ethos. This process, he said, "will support the whole school community in developing a renewed sense of identity and of mission." Grateful for the faith commitment of so many teachers, he noted their important influence in the lives of children, "not always or primarily by what they say, but by who they are." religious formation that parents give their children at home, and provides the expertise that parents lack," said the Sligo-based bishop. "But no school, however excellent, can adequately fill the gap if parents fail to play an active part in the education of their children." Religious education also greatly contributes to the common good. "When we Conference on the Family Designed by God "I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name" (Ephs 3:15) West County Hotel, Chapelizod, Dublin 20 Saturday, 31st January 2015. 10:30am – 4:45pm including Mass Talk 1: "The Family" – What does Rome know anyway?" Joseph Meaney, Director of International coordination, Human Life International, Rome, and HLI liaison with Pontifical Council for the Family. Talk 2 : "Parents : from legal outcasts to outlaws ; parents' rights usurped." Dr Thomas Ward, (UK) International speaker. Founder of National Association of Catholic Families, Corresponding member Pontifical Academy of Life, Vatican. Talk 3 : "Hope for every moment in the home – Pope John Paul II to the rescue!" Joanna Bogle (right), UK, Journalist, author, TV documentary host. Talk 4: "Family Matters – Healthy Families, Healthy Nation" Patrick McCrystal, Human Life International (Ireland). Talk 5: "Christians : Breaking the chains of our contraceptive revolution." Dr Thomas Ward, (UK) Corresponding Member Pontifical Academy for Life. See www.humanlife.ie/ for more details. *********************************************************************** Sunday 1st February 2015: Family Retreat Day - St. John Paul II, Saint of the Family Rest and Care Centre, Knock Shrine (left) 11am – 3pm, with Mass, talk, lunch, social. Bring a packed lunch to share! Human Life International (Ireland), Guadalupe Centre, Main St. Knock, Co. Mayo. Tel 09493 75993 www.humanlife.ie email: email@example.com Charity CHY 11138 Alive! January 2015 10 We face collapse of the Big Lie Dear Nettles, Dumbag I writes..! look at the modern secular world and I wonder how we pulled it off, how we sold it to so many smart people. And I wonder how long we can keep the charade going before the whole thing collapses in on itself. Meantime it provides us with much needed amusement down here as we listen to the latest crackpot idea that the moderns consider cool. I think it was Joe Goebbels who said: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." A smart guy in his own way was Joe. I hope that by this stage you are ransacking your tiny brain in a bid to figure out the Big Lie at the heart of the modern world. A clue. This one Lie is at the root of all that is banjaxed with modernity, so it has to be really fundamental. Got it yet? Ok, I'll tell you. It says that when it comes to running society today, Him above, if he exists at all, can be simply ignored. In practice this says, all individuals or groups can have whatever religious beliefs and practices they want, but they have to be boxed off into their private lives. In other words, the state and public society must operate as if Him above does not exist or, if he does, he is totally irrelevant. Imagine a biology professor telling his class that he was Letters from a Master to a Trainee Tempter going to explain to them the functioning of the human body, but he would exclude from his lectures any mention of the heart and how it works as irrelevant. If he was smart enough and arrogant enough, and repeated the Lie often enough, he might succeed in silencing the class. But the students would end up Irish Water is 'daylight robbery' — Creighton FORMER minister Lucinda Creighton has accused Enda Kenny's Government of cronyism, arrogance, incompetence and of daylight robbery. "Irish Water epitomises all that has gone wrong with this Government," the TD wrote in the Irish Catholic. Ramming the legislation through just before TDs went off on holidays, she said, "showed the sheer contempt" of ministers for the Dáil and for voters who elect them to safeguard the public interest. When the CEO of Irish Water let slip on radio that "rather hefty sums of money had been paid to 'consultants'," Minister Phil Hogan simply criticised the media for daring to question him about it. But Creighton argued Lucinda Creighton that "when a minister takes in excess of €1 billion euros of taxpayers' money to set up a new semi-state company" he ought to keep a careful eye on the project. She pointed out that Irish Water, which collects all of its income from taxpayers, will "tax homeowners to collect €200 million each year until 2018 and we are unsure what the sum will be after that." But the greatest scandal was the secret deal between Kenny's Government and the trade unions. This "stitch-up" added €2 billion to the costs of establishing Irish Water, bought the silence of the trade unions, and resulted in a super-quango. "With 4,000 staff members, rather than the 2,000 it requires, it has become a sprawling monster – inefficient, unresponsive and unmanageable," said the TD. "This is daylight robbery, once again based on secret deals between the Government and the unions." Creighton sacrificed her political ambitions and her ministerial salar y when she refused to support Enda Kenny's evil law allowing the killing of unborn children. UK water bills set to hit €505 ■ The average household water bill in England is expected to rise to £400 (€505) by April this year, according to the website, money.co.uk. Private water companies in the UK are allowed to increase their bills each year in line with inflation, which currently stands at 2.3%. What the different companies charge varies considerably, so that the average bill can range from £202 in Bristol to £485 for Wessex customers. "For many people prices are going to be rising faster than wages and that's why one in five people are struggling with their water bills," said Labour MP Maria Eagle. CLASSIFIEDS EXTRA MEDJUGORJE Mass, St. Mary's Lucan, Monday 12th January at 7.30 pm. Confessions & prayers @ 6.50pm. Celebrant: Fr. Aloysius Zuribo, Light refreshments. email@example.com. f: medjugorje mass lucan. MEDJUGORJE 2015, 11th to 20th May. Sp director: Fr. Tom Gilroy; from €580 pps. Call: Pat or Phil, M: 086 067 7392 / 086 243 7653. email@example.com with a totally distorted view of human biology. Of course the Lie would eventually collapse in on itself. And those who had clung to it in the past would be mortified at their own stupidity, their gullible acceptance of fashionable nonsense. Well, eventually the same thing will happen with the Big Lie at the heart of secularism. And multitudes will be astonished that, on issue after issue, they ever accepted utter nonsense. Put simply, Him above can't be excluded. No state, for example, believes that education is just about preparing pupils to be cogs in the economic machine. But if officials ask what the purpose of education is they WHAT GOD ME! MEANS TO M y two sisters and I grew up on the outskirts of London. My childhood and teen years had a strong spiritual foundation. We went to Mass every week as a family and my father was a Special Minister of Holy Communion and would take Communion to the sick and the housebound. Once a month, we went up to Cane Hill Hospital, the local institution for the mentally ill, and escorted one or two patients to chapel there. In my late teens, I had a strong love and admiration for Jesus and the example he showed in the way he lived, demonstrating compassion, kindness, understanding, mercy and faith. I knew this was the Truth. Unfortunately, due to personal and environmental influences, about this time I stopped attending Mass and turned to drink and drugs to feel comfort or relief, or what I perceived at that time as excitement. This wasn't a problem at first, or so I thought, and that puffed up my ego no end. However, by the age of 27, I realised I had a serious problem with alcohol addiction in particular, but also with smoking (which is far from just a harmless 'vice'). I began the process of drying out and having to start life all over again, but sober, which I continued to the age of 36. Several things collided during this period and I buckled under the pressure and started drinking again. The next five years were a total nightmare. I became a chronic alcoholic, drinking from morning till night, usually passing out at some point in the day. I quit my job where I had been working for 9 years and got into financial trouble. Then my flat was repossessed. I offended just about everyone and alienated friends and family alike. I felt God was nowhere, that my life was a mess and I was a total failure, one of life's losers. It got to have to ask what it means to be human, what the purpose of life is and how to achieve it. And that inevitably brings up the God question. Again, no society can function without some moral principles, like truth-telling and care for children. But ask how to ground these principles and again the God question comes up. Should the health system cure or kill the elderly sick? Once again the God question arises. So any attempt to bracket Him above, as secularism tries to do, is pure stupid, a con job. And a lot of people, I'm afraid, are beginning to realise that. Yours anxiously, Dumbag the point where I would have terrifying seizures after a binge as I was coming down. There was a short series of these and I got so scared I stopped drinking. I was okay for about three months which can make you feel quite cocky and again under some pressure went to the off licence and began another binge. This lasted for about five days and nights and took me to the most frightening moment of my life: I felt completely poisoned, weak, and in a terrible state physically but I could not drink any more. I had reached my final limit and knew it. I started getting muscle cramps and broke out in a sudden and profuse cold sweat. My heart rate went right up and I couldn't breathe properly, but I was on my own so I couldn't ask anyone for help. I knelt down where I was and asked God to help me as I thought I was going to die. The cold sweat stopped and my heart rate came down so I went upstairs to rest on the bed. As I made my way to the bedroom, I picked up a statue of the Blessed Virgin and held on to it. As I lay on the bed, my breathing became very shallow, and I felt I was on the way out. I closed my eyes and saw a white light and a figure approaching me from the light. I knew it was Mother Mary and my eyes snapped open. I looked at the statue, and clearly heard the words: "I can take you back now, or do you want to live?" In my mind, I answered: "I want to live!" Immediately, I ran to the bathroom and was sick. It took three days before I could eat anything, and some time to get back to normal, but I knew in that moment I would never drink again, and I haven't. I owe all I am to the Lord; I owe my very life to the blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary. She has given me a second chance to live, and came to me in the crucial moment, just when I thought it was all over. I realised because of my battle with alcohol addiction, that most things are in the mind and emotions, but they aren't real. I realised that only God is real, only love is real, and only spiritual development is of true worth. That doesn't mean you opt out of life - you just live it in a different way, with a different approach, and a different attitude. I attend Mass regularly again. It keeps me grounded in some way and gives me a more accurate perspective on things, and my place in the world. And I thank Mother on a regular basis for saving my life. Justin John Carroll, 42, is a poet, artist and actor. Alive! January 2015 11 'Anger, frustration' at how VdeP being run THE scandal over the St Vincent de Paul Society's decision to give a grant of €45,000 to a homosexual, 'pro-choice' lobby group in Galway is bringing to the surface deeper concerns about the way the Society is being run. In a letter to Alive! an officer in one branch has written about the "anger and frustra- tion at the way the Society is being changed" without consultation with the members. The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, began by saying how he had read with interest the piece in the November issue of Alive!, entitled: Resignations as VdeP row raises wider issues. THE THINGS THEY SAY... ● 400 human rights Each of the six major human rights treaties has been ratified by more than 150 countries, yet many of these countries remain hostile to human rights… In most countries people formally have as many as 400 international human rights – rights to work and leisure, to freedom of expression and religious worship, to nondiscrimination, to privacy, to pretty much anything you might think is worth protecting. The sheer quantity and variety of rights, which protect virtually all human interests, can provide no guidance to governments. — Professor Eric Posner, in the Guardian ● Truly Catholic If our bankers had been truly Catholic bankers and not simply bankers "who happened to be Catholics", then we wouldn't be in the mess we are now. Because they would have acted justly, with a concern for the common good and not just greed for their own profits and bonuses. Is anybody screaming that this would be detrimental to our democracy? — Fr John Harris O.P. in public lecture ● Unique relationship What makes marriage unique is the orientation of this committed relationship to the procreation and care of children. I choose to use the term because I 'procreation' believe that parents transmit the gift of life in partnership with God. The term 'reproduction' seems to reduce everything to biology. There is a proposal to redefine marriage so that it would no longer be a life-long commitment between one man and one woman which is open to the gift of life… In a culture of 'live and let live', there might be a tendency to say, sure what harm will it do, if the two men or the two women love one another? However, to extend civil marriage to include a rela- More debate needed tionship between people of the same sex would change the meaning of marriage. It is not just a case of adding 'another kind of marriage' alongside what we already have… The unique relationship between marriage and procreation would disappear completely from the definition of marriage. — Bishop Kevin Doran, in a public lecture ● BBC's licence fee The BBC are in a fight to the death over the future of the licence fee. They know that if Labour comes along it's business as usual but if the Tories come in the licence fee will be cut or abolished. This is going to be a very tight election now and the corporation's lack of balance could tip the balance in Labour's favour. — Andrew Bridgen, Tory MP ● Censorship Last week, a student mob pressured Oxford University's Christ Church College to cancel a debate on abortion, claiming that the debate threatened students' welfare. This week, students' censorship-seeking continued. At Glasgow University, proPalestinian students shut down a debate featuring an Israeli delegate. And at East Anglia University a student clique successfully petitioned for the no-platforming of a UKIP MEP, saying he would make some students feel uncomfortable. This is bad news. Universities are meant to be places where students have their ideas challenged – intellectual discomfort ought to be embraced, not avoided. There are stirrings of resistance with the news that Cardiff University students voted against plans to ban pro-life speakers from campus. We need more of this more free speech, more debate, more intellectual discomfort. — Brendan O'Neill, editor of Spiked ● Don't say thanks For many women nowadays, they're angry that they had a choice. It's too bizarre, but it's like "If you weren't here, I wouldn't have to have made this choice." And so, instead of feeling gratitude toward the physician and a sense of, you know, "You've helped me so much" a lot of the time that woman is in her own pain or anger, and the doctor may not get a lot of gratitude… When a woman doesn't want an abortion, but simply accepts it as her fate, she is unlikely to feel any gratitude toward the one who provided it. As one doctor said "No one ever says 'Thank you' to an abortionist." — Charlotte Taft, US abortion clinic owner ● Parents' views Misplaced niceness is the enemy of goodness. If you are too nice to children, and keep letting them off, they never improve. We had some teachers with pins in their noses telling the children to take the pins out of theirs. Teachers are supposed to be role models. One parent told me: 'My daughter doesn't do detention.' And a child insisted: 'I don't wear school shoes because my father's arranged it with the school.' Another parent told me: "My child likes to swear at people, that's just how she is. It's none of your business to try to change her. We like her how she is." You can't run a school like that. You have to be consistent. It's about fairness. — A Bristol headteacher, in the Guardian "Whilst I am sorry that so many members resigned from one conference, I can appreciate their reasons for doing so," he wrote. He continued: "We had a members' meeting some weeks ago in Cork. It was the first meeting of the Cork and Kerry regions, now called the South West Region. "Unlike other years, this year we were only given a half day, with just over an hour for volunteers' questions and answers. The meeting was chaired by Geoff Meagher, the National President. no one except the National Council may speak to the media. "When a regional president brought our concerns to the National Management Council he was threatened in print that legal action would be taken against him," he wrote. "This is bullying and we feel we are being bullied and pushed aside with no say or input." The officer concluded: "Never in the history of this Society has there been so much anger and frustration in the way the Society is being changed by such a few." The controversial use of money donated to the Society and the refusal to cancel the donation to the Galway lobby group, to be paid in three stages, continues to damage the Society's reputation and its mission to the poor. 'No input' "Volunteer after volunteer complained about the raft of changes introduced by the National Management Council without any input from the members. "Volunteers and members were not asked for an opinion on the changes and it would appear that the volunteers' and members' opinions are not wanted." The officer went on to say that these changes alter the structure of the Society in a very serious way. Yet members have been silenced and Catholic Activist Training School Easter Week 6th-10th April 2015! With world-leading Catholic apologist and evangelist Tim Staples, daily talk show host with Catholic Answers radio, former Assemblies of God minister. Empowering you to be salt and light in today's secular world! Discover the glorious vocation of Christian witness. Training, media skills, apologetics, fellowship, formation, equipping for the spiritual battle, prayer, outdoor pursuits/activities, preparation for real activism, lives of the saints. Residential. Being Catholic is not a spectator sport!! Pope Francis said, be "protagonists of transformation. Don't be observers, but immerse yourself in the reality of life, as Jesus did." Don't be a spectator - get involved, answer the CALL!!! Come on Catholic Boot Camp – Corralea Outdoor Education Centre, Belcoo, Co. Fermanagh – Places are limited. To book write or call Colette in our office. 09493 75993 (Some sponsorships available.) Human Life International (Ireland), Guadalupe Centre, Main St, Knock Co. Mayo Tel 09493 75993 email: email@example.com www.humanlife.ie Charity CHY 11138 12 Have you a call? he Latin word 'vocare' means 'to call'. From this we get English words like 'vocal' and 'advocate'. We also get the Latin word, 'vocatio', or in English 'vocation', which means a calling. So, we say that nursing or teaching is a vocation, that is, a calling. Or a young person might say that he felt a calling to be a doctor or perhaps an athlete. We can appreciate that being a husband or wife, a mother or father, is a vocation, a way of life that a person is called to. Feeling called to some occupation or job generally indicates that the person is not motivated by money or prestige but by some kind of desire to serve the community. All this, of course, raises a key question: Who is doing the calling? And in the Catholic faith the caller is God or Jesus. This reminds us that everything we do is a response, it does not come from our own initiative. Rather, the initiative always lies with God. And that applies to our very existence. Every single person is called by God into existence. This is the fundamental call for each person. It is also a unique call. Each one of us exists only because of God's specific call, because God loved us into life. T KNOW YOUR FAITH It is hard to grasp the awesome fact that God is so aware of each one of us, that he knows each one of us far better than we know ourselves, that he knows every detail of our lives. Step further Having called us into existence, God then goes a huge step further, he calls us into friendship with himself. Indeed, this was his very purpose in creating us – to bring us into union with himself. Again, this is a personal, unique calling, each of us is called as an individual. Loving union with God is our vocation. But here we see a new stage of God's plan. He wants our free response to his call, a response that we may or may not give. St Augustine captured this neatly in one of his sermons. He told his listeners: "He who created you without your cooperation will not save you without your cooperation." (Sermon 169). Augustine is stressing here the great drama of our freedom and the immense importance of our response to God's call. No one else can give that response for me. It lies solely within my power. T Alive! January 2015 Ebola: behind the headlines he current Ebola crisis in Africa will have farreaching consequences for generations to come. Advances in development that took years to accomplish are starting to vanish as three of the poorest countries in West Africa struggle to get Ebola under control. Official estimates say that more than 5,000 people have lost their lives. However, the true number is likely to be far higher as underresourced contact teams cannot cover the vast distances in these countries. "Already some of our members have had to stop part of their work," says Misean Cara CEO, Heydi Foster. "Water, sanitation, health and education projects in the works for years are now on hold. "Our members tell us that local communities desperately want the schools and health clinics to re-open, but there is little they can do until curfews and quarantines are lifted. "The people's needs cannot be over-estimated. For Ebola directly, our members provide new beds and medical equipment for hospitals, protective clothing for frontline medical staff, food and water supplies, and temporary shelters." Heydi explains that there is Speaker's Corner by By Tara Finglas also a great need for maternal and child health care. Pregnant women are not getting proper care, resulting in an increase in miscarriages, breech births, and preeclampsia. In Sierra Leone women make up 51% of the population. Before this Ebola outbreak the country had one of the world's highest mortality rates with almost 9 women in 1,000 dying from pregnancy-related issues. Statistics are not available, but our members report an increase in the death rate as women pay the ultimate price for the Ebola crisis. As the only organisation funding Irish missionaries, we have re-allocated €250,000 to our Emergency Response Funding scheme so that missionary organisations can receive money as quickly as possible. Since August, Misean Cara has made Ebola a priority, giving over €350,000 in response to requests for emergency funding. Sr. Teresa McKeown from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Funding Orphans with ebola in Sierra Leone. Cluny, Streamstown, Co. is leading Westmeath, fundraising efforts in Ireland at present. She was in Ireland for a holiday when her return ticket to Sierra Leone was cancelled in September. Sr Teresa is in constant contact with her sisters in Freetown by phone and it is their determination to stay in solidarity with the communities they support that spurs her on. "The sisters are all working there and they are scared. That's the common word that comes through all the time," says Sr. Teresa. "They're scared and all I can tell them is take care. "I would say Freetown is one of the hardest hit places because it was over-crowded after the war and the people never went back to where they are from. There's no proper sanitation there, so it will be very difficult to get control of the situation." She explains that even before the Ebola outbreak, the people would come to the sisters if there was an emergency, an operation or something out of the ordinary, because they are so poor. "It's just very difficult to accept the situation and I am 60 years there," she says. She believes that governments and international organisations have a responsibility to act. "The international response was too slow. I was just so angry that they were too slow, taking it too easy at the beginning, especially organisations like the World Health Organisation that should be responding fast. "Now they're coming in, but you almost feel that it's too late, too little too late. I'm just hoping and praying that they get a drug that will be able to control it. "Although the drug will control the Ebola, the sickness itself, it won't cure the poverty," says Sr. Teresa. • Tara Finglas is Communications Officer with Misean Cara, Tel: 01405 5028. Pr o c l a i m i n g G o d ' s wi l l Monthly Meditation I A man n war you needed to have the man decent, patriotic. But no matter how patriotic he was, if he ran away he was no good. So it is in citizenship; the virtue that stays at home in its own parlour and bemoans the wickedness of the outside world is of scant use to the community. We are a vigorous, masterful people, and the man who is to do good work in our country must not only be a good man, but also emphatically a man. We must have the qualities of courage, of hardihood, of power to hold one's own in the hurly-burly of actual life. We must have the manhood that shows on fought fields and that shows in the work of the business world and in the struggles of civic life. We must have manliness, courage, strength, resolution, joined to decency and morality, or we shall make but poor work of it. Finally, those two qualities by themselves are not enough. In addition to decency, and courage, we must have the saving grace of common sense. We all of us have known decent and valiant fools who have meant so well that it made it all the more pathetic that the effect of their actions was so ill. — Theodore Roosevelt, (US President, 1901–1909) he prophets preached the Covenant and the Law, including the Ten Commandments. They were defenders of true worship, purity of intention, truth and justice. Some scholars present them as spreading a "spiritual" religion independent of the priesthood or the cult, that is, the organised worship of the Temple. However, this is not the case. It is certainly true that the prophets sought a pure and interior worship of God. They also criticised strongly the abuse of the cult, especially worship that went hand in hand with injustice (see Amos 5:21ff; Hosea 6:6; Isaiah 1:11ff; Jer 7:21ff). In God's name they demanded an authentic cult, free from idolatry and impurity and lived with innocence and justice. Nor were the prophets against the priesthood. Jeremiah and Ezekiel were themselves priests and T Fr Joseph Briody linked to the Temple. Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi were also concerned with the Temple and its liturgy. Nor were the prophets individualistic figures. They were firmly rooted in the commuTheir preaching nity. revolved around Israel as the chosen, covenanted People of God. the past and continued to act. Prophecy is the opposite of forgetfulness of God. It recalls people to the covenant and to the Lord. This is clear, for example, in Hosea 2:15. There the Lord says of Israel: "… and me she forgot completely." In the Bible, to "forget" means "to hold the Lord's saving acts in contempt that they no longer have any effect on the life and consciousness of the people and the individual" (Francis Martin). There were also false Holiness Their preaching was focused on the covenant relationship between God and his people. They called people to holiness and denounced sin. If God is holy, then the human response must also be a life of holiness. Forgetfulness of God was the great sin in Israel. The prophets' role was to remind people of how God acted in 'Me she forgot completely' prophets whose self-interest and desire for money led them to tell the king and his court only what they wanted to hear. Deuteronomy 13:2ff gives the criterion for distinguishing true from false prophecy: a true prophecy will conform to God's will and plan as expressed in the Covenant and the Law (i.e. the Commandments). Israel must conform to God's will and Commandments, in life and in the cult. Anything contrary to this could be no true word of God. The different prophets have much in common as regards doctrine and teaching. They also express God's word in a way that is personal, reflecting their individual personalities and circumstances. They rarely refer to each other. As Bruce Vawter says, their authority comes from "their individual serene confidence of having the mind of the Lord." Celebrating the Wonder of Marriage Alive! January 2015 Male and female he created them P harisees look for laws and legal judgments, but Jesus looks at the person. We see this again and again in the gospels. Thus Jesus heals on the Sabbath and says to the Pharisees about the woman caught in adultery, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone." They ask about the laws and how they can use them to inflict pain on her, but Jesus looks at the woman herself and the healing she needs. He doesn't just save her life from the Pharisees, he also saves her from the choices that make her unhappy. He talks to her, encourages her (Jn 8). He's interested in her as a person. Asked about divorce, what conditions can justify it (Mt 19:3), Jesus doesn't talk about the laws. Rather, he says: "From the beginning, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." These words "from the beginning" are ground-breakers. They mean from the very act of creation, God "made them male and female…" "From the beginning" means it's written into human hearts. When God made us, he put marriage in our hearts. This can't be too surprising. We see it all the time in the wish of so many people to get married and in their joy when someone they love gets married. Have you ever been to a wedding where the groom cried because his bride was so beautiful? I have. Everybody understood why he did, and that shows us that marriage is written into the human heart "from the beginning." Now they have a child, and their marriage is written into another person's life as well. W hen Jesuit missionaries went to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries, the native peoples they met were interested in the Catholic Church, but they had a different idea about marriage. When the men turned forty, they liked to replace their wives with new ones, so they wanted the missionaries to change the Lord's teaching that marriage is forever to make it fit in with their customs and practice. The missionaries lost out on a lot of converts because they wouldn't break Jesus' teaching. John the Baptist was beheaded for the same reason, as were St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More. For all of them Jesus' words were clear, "From the begin- From the beginning, God made them male and female. ning," meaning from the very act of creation, God "made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." The Catholic Church has always stood by this teaching that marriage, the loving, lifelong, fruitful commitment of man and woman, is the gold-standard because it's written on the human heart. The teaching of Jesus on marriage is one of his greatest teachings. When two people commit their lives to each other, they learn what it means to have something to live for and something to die for. It makes life precious in a unique way: someone hopes to get home safely now not just "because", but because the people they love couldn't live without them. Marriage means that someone has found me worth giving their life to. It means that my life has meaning too, because now I have someone to give my life to as well. It's Jesus' teaching that gives the person a chance to live their deepest hopes in reality. In teaching us about marriage Jesus wasn't looking at laws, but at the real person. — Fr Terence Crotty O.P. Marriage made them saints II In October 2001, Pope John Paul onal pers a ed fulfill and ry made histo dream: for the first time in the Church's history he beatified a married couple jointly. The couple were Luigi and Maria Quattrocchi, and three of their four children were still alive and present in in St. Peter's Basilica, taking part of ion ificat beat the the Mass and their parents. Soon we may have the first married couple to be canonised jointly as is saints. Their youngest daughter èse Thér t, sain d nise already a cano of Lisieux, popularly known as the Little Flower. On 4th November last the Vatican's Department for Saints declared that prayed to Our Lady and began a nove ks na to Louis and Zélie Martin. Than to their intercession Carmen did not die as the doctors had predicted and was instead completely cured. She is now a perfectly healthy and delightful little girl who has just celebrated her 6th birthday. With this healing of little Carmen now accepted as the "presumed mirz acle", we can expect that Louis and the healing of little Carmen Pere med by ined expla be not Zélie Martin will shor tly be declared could Pons a fore there was and ion, saints. Blessed Louis and Zélie, pray ical inter vent for us! miracle. Carmen was born in 2008 after a • A booklet, A Nest of difficult pregnancy. Shor tly after her ts, the life of Zélie Sain birth she contracted double sepLouis Martin, is and bral ticemia and also suffered a cere available from Alive! haemorrhage. Cost: €2.50 incl. p&p. Her parents, Santos and Carmen, 13 'Your marriage is your project for the world' I feyinwa Awagu (pictured) from Lago s in Nigeria is a wife and mother, a lawyer and educational psychologist. She spoke in the first of six sho rt videos made for the recent Humanum conference in Rom e, organised by the Vatican's Department for the Doctrine of the Faith. Preparing for the conference the orga nisers had to reduce 200 hours of footage from speakers in man y parts of the world (Argentina, France, Lebanon, Mexico…) into six short films. But it was Ifeyinwa's insight which made the biggest impact on those involved. In talking about her mar riage she said it has a ripple effect that stretche s out from the couple to the family and then keeps getting wider and wider, affe cting their relations, their neighbours, their kids' friends and their families, their community, their region, their coun try. She told all couples: "your mar riag e is your project for the world." At morning Mass during Advent Pope Francis spoke in his homily about mar riage and holiness. "So many mothers and fathers, with so much effort, raise their families, educate their children, carr y on their daily work, bear their problems, but always with hope in Jesus. They do not strut about but do what they can. They are the saints of daily life." What parents do – from making thei r children laugh to comforting them when they cry; from teaching them colours and numbers to reminding them for the hundredth time to say 'please'; from carr ying or ferr ying them around all day to feed ing them and rocking them back to sleep at night – this may be uns een but it is heroic. They make the whole world a better place, even if nobody notices. Pope Francis is right that mothers and fathers, in their mar riage and in their parenthood, are becoming "the saints of daily life". All of us know men and women who live their lives to the full in this way. Let us notice them and admire them. Let us recognise them and celebrate them. Let us be like them and love like them, embracing the whole world in the simple act of wiping away a child's tears. • The Humanum videos are grea t and can be viewed at: http://humanum.it/en/videos/#hum anum Let's celebrate our marriages St Valentine's Day (14th Feb.) is a great time to celebrate the wonder of marriage in our parishes and communities. • Do we pray for the married couples in our parishes, both in our private prayer and in the bidding prayers at Mass? • Do we pray for young people who are getting married or who would like to be married? • Do we support each other, as married couples, through meeting and sharing meals and conversation together? • Could we have a Renewal of Vows for the married couples of the parish at a special annual Mass with a meal afterwards? St. Valentine was a Catholic priest who lived in the 200s in Rome. Tradition says the Emperor forbade young men from marrying. Unmarried soldiers made better fighters because they cared less about dying in battle. Valentine continued to promote marriage. Many couples were attracted by the Catholic Church's vision of marriage, and Valentine married them in secret. Eventually, however, he was caught. In 269 AD, Valentine was sentenced to death, beaten, stoned, and finally beheaded; all because he promoted the Christian ideal of marriage. Alive! January 2015 14 ALGARVE, Albuferia, Portugal. Luxury 1 or 2 bed aparts for rent. Sky TV, shared pool, long/short term. Special Winter rates. Tel: 087 2371716, 087 2856636. KNOCK. Near Shrine, beautiful 2 bedroom bungalow, furnished, €63,000. Tel: 094 9362216. VIBRANT B&B for sale on the Beara Peninsula. 4 bedroom, fabulous location, 2 mins walk from the village of Glengarriff. For further details Tel: 087 6728615. ROOM to rent for 1 person, Raheny area, D.5. Close to Dart and buses. Tel: 087 7781797 after 7pm. ● ACCOMMODATION CAMINO Drug rehabilitation, run by Fr. Denis Laverty since 1997, is in urgent need of funds. Please send what you can. Camino Project, Meadowbrook, Cloncurry Cross, Enfield, Co. Meath. Tel: 046 9549241. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com. Charity no: CHY 12826. PART-TIME worker (6-8 hours per week) wanted for a Catholic group in Dublin. Work mostly from home, hours flexible. Must have initiative and internet access and ability. Applications to Box 7400. WATERFORD Volunteers wanted to help distribute Alive! papers, please. Tel: Julie 086 0596051. ALOE vera. Forever living products. Distributor: Phil Colgan 016281436; 086 2437653. COMPETITIONS. Bargains. Offers. www.holyjoey.com SUPPORT Family & Media Association. See www.fma.ie, 086 3309724 info. Text Monitoring media for you. THE MIRACLE SHIP: From Conversations with John Gillespie, by Dr Brian O'Hare. Many people who have read this book have described it as 'lifechanging.' Available on Amazon.co.uk. ● MISCELLANEOUS FAMILY Retreat Day Sunday 1st February 11am – 3pm Rest and Care Centre, Knock Shrine Mass, talk, lunch, social. Bring a packed lunch to share! Human Life International (Ireland), Guadalupe Centre, Main St. Knock, Co. Mayo Tel 09493 75993 CLASSIFIED ADS ☎ Breda 01-404 8187 ON YOUTUBE. Search for "The Irish Times Way" for a short video exposing anti-life bias in the Irish Times. ALFIE Lambe (1932–1959) Holy Mass for his Beatification, will be celebrated in Church of Our Immaculate Lady Refuge of Sinners, Rathmines, Sunday, 8th Feb at 12.30pm. Principal Celebrant and Homilist will be Fr. Michael Maher S.M. Work on Alfie's cause is progressing. What is needed is a miracle through his intercession. ON YOUTUBE. Search for "Fr Brian McKevitt" for two homilies given in Medjugorje. DEAR Sacred Heart of Jesus in the past I have asked for many favours. This time I ask you this very special one (mention favour). Take it, dear Heart of Jesus, and place this request in your broken Heart where your father can see it. Then in his merciful eyes, it will become your favour not mine. Amen. Say this prayer for three days. Pub promised and favour will be granted. Never known to fail. EQ, MC, MB. MOST beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendour of heaven, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. O star of the sea, help me and show me herein you are my mother. O Holy Mary, mother of God, queen of heaven and earth, I humbly beseech you to succour me in this necessity (make request). There are none that can withstand your power. O show me herein you are my mother. O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us, who have recourse to thee. Say prayer for 3 consecutive days. MB. ● NOVENAS MALE early 40s, single, solvent, RC, 5'11", handsome build, good-looking, blue eyes, smart, honest, with sense of personal ● PERSONAL Remember Your Loved One with a Special Keepsake • Memorial Cards • Bookmarks • Acknowledgement Cards • Key Rings • Wallet Cards memorialcardsireland.ie email: firstname.lastname@example.com Call 053-92 35295 for a catalogue email@example.com MASS in HONOUR of HOLY FACE of JESUS! Shrove Tuesday - Feast of Holy Face 17th February 2015 11:45am Apparition chapel, Knock Shrine. With Holy Face devotions. Order our 9 day novena booklet, Coupon on back page. Cuppa afterwards. Human Life International (Ireland), Guadalupe Centre, Main St. Knock, Co. Mayo Tel 09493 75993 www.humanlife.ie Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Charity CHY 11138 Classifieds: €1 per word; Box No. €3.00 extra value. Very outgoing, loves travel, adventure, music, meals out. SD, NS, VGSOH. Seeks single lady up to 37, nurse, medical, or other profession for friendship, possible relationship. Absolute confidentiality assured. Midlands. Box 7401. DONEGAL single male, 54, tall, likes music, dancing, NSND, wltm female for relationship. Tel: 086 3458489. GENT early 50s, likes home, family life, seeks lady for friendship/relationship. Box 7402. MONAGHAN gent, 42, 5'7", slim build, quiet, shy, NDNS, kind, caring, honest, genuine, Christian values, no ties. Interests are GAA, keep fit, nature, likes the coast of Ireland, and would like to learn the Irish language. Wltm a pretty lady for a long lasting relationship. Tel: 087 9401068. DUBLIN sincere honest male, NSND, refined, seeks, sincere attractive lady, for friendship/relationship. Tel: 089 9563856. GARABANDAL only €395. All incl. 4-day packages. Fly (midday) ex Dublin to Spain with Sp. Dir. & guide to full board hotel accom. in Garabandal. Departs 18 Apr, 9 May, & 23 May. Early booking with €195 deposit is essential to secure places at €395pps price. Contact group leader Benny Woods tel 086 8976569. Email: benny.woods@ hotmail.com. MEDJUGORJE, 17-24 May, exDublin, £499. Staying opposite church. Sp. director, Fr. Brian McKevitt O.P. Tel: Brenda Smyth 028 (RoI 048) 90833730. Also 23-30 Sept. GARABANDAL & NE CAMINO €395 pps includes return flights & full board hotel accom 4 days in Spain. Departs twice monthly. For free info package, contact group leader email benny. firstname.lastname@example.com Tel: 086 8976569. SAINT Thérèse Pilgrimages. Malta, In the Footsteps of St Paul, 24th February £549/€619. Divine Mercy, Krakow, 9th April from £459/€539. Other dates available. Contact Danny NI 028 90245547; RoI 048 90245547. MEDJUGORJE dentist, Dr. Davor Planinic. White fillings, porcelain crowns, dental implants. High quality work & ● PILGRIMAGES COMMUNION DRESSES NEW IN MARIAN GALE D4 OPEN SUNDAYS 1-5pm DVD Transfers Cine films, photos and slides transferred to DVD with music & titles added. Also Camcorder and video tapes edited and transferred to DVD. Tel: 01 2807838 or 087-9132265 Email: email@example.com End of Year 2014 Returns Alive! is a registered charity. ● If you are an individual donor (PAYE or SelfAssessed) and your total donation to Alive! was €250 or more in 2014 we can reclaim your tax. Please ask us for a form or Tel 01-4048187 for more info. ● If you are a company and your donation to Alive! was €250 or more in 2014 you can claim tax relief on your donation. excellent rates. In accord with European standards. 00387 36651889; 00387 63447840. www.dr-planinic.com MEDJUGORJE, special offers for 2015. €150 off if paid by 10 Dec., €100 off if paid by 2 Feb. 10 June and 9 Sept, both accompanied by Joe Dalton and Phyllis Mulligan. Tel: 042 9336705; mob. 087 2028492. LOURDES April-September 2015. 5 night pilgrimage, flying out from Dublin/Belfast. Accommodation/Tour Information etc. Starting from €350/£280 sterling per person. Web: www. lourdesindpendenttravel.com. FATIMA pilgrimage with Sp. Dir. 21-28 May. Full programme. Ceremonies at Chapel of Apparitions & Rosary Basilica. Contact Jo Morris 087 6163648. AVILA 500th Anniversary. 9-17 Oct 2015. Visiting foundations Nth & Central Spain. Sp. Dir. Fr. Donnellan O.C.D. David €1,195pps. Single room sup. €250. Details Marian Pilgrimages 01 8788159. firstname.lastname@example.com www.marian.ie FATIMA 21 May, 7 nights, €714, discount €100 if paid by 2 Feb. Details Joan Bourke Tel: 061 600951. MEDJUGORJE. Departing 20 May, 2015. Contact group leader Michael Buffini 086 1564105 or 01 4936700. MEDJUGORJE 2015: 11th May, 9 nights, €599 (€100 deposit secures €599; after 17th February price of €649 applies). 13th May, 7 nights, €599. Liam Cotter 087 6381157 or 01 4928194. Marian Pilgrimages 01 8788159. MEDJUGORJE Holy Week 2015. 30th March, 7 days, ex Dublin, €639. Sp Director, Fr Paul Gallagher. For details contact Bernie at 087 9353953. PILGRIMAGE to the Holyland from 4-12 May, Sp. Dir. Fr. Dan Sheridan. Also pilgrimages to Medjugorje Easter Sun 5 Apr, Fr. Johnny Cusack; 10 June, Fr. Sean Maguire; 9 Sept, Fr. Paul Casey. Tel: Anna Brady 049 4336291 or 087 2549960. HOLYFACE. Reparation books, medals, & various scapulars. Write to: Michael Gormley, 68 ● RELIGIOUS Melvin Rd, Terenure, Dublin 6W. SACRED Heart thanks for favours. P. THANKS for the Sacred Heart of Jesus for many favours received. EH. ● THANKSGIVING ALL unwanted home waste removed. Cookers, fridges, beds, suites, wardrobes, carpets, etc, removed and disposed of in proper manner. No job too small or big. Contact Tommy 087 6406015. OLD photos, torn, cracked, stained, etc. Repaired and enlarged as new. B/W or colour. Tel: 01 6265243, 087 2915672. TYPEWRITERS repairs, sales, ribbons, most makes, Tel: 01 8309333. OIL boiler servicing, maintenance & breakdowns. Tel: 086 2645828. SHEEP equipment. Everything supplied for handling & feeding Esmonde sheep. B.T.G. Machinery, 0402 37182, nationwide. CHAINS saws comprehensive selection new & used. Spare parts & repairs. B.T.G. Esmonde Machinery. 0402 37182. nationwide. ALL repairs: bathrooms, kitchens, floors, doors, roofs, anything else. Tel: 087 9816809. (Leinster) CHURCH Conservations: Towerbells, Altarware, Furnishings, Statues of wood, marble, plaster, bronze, etc. Repair, repaint. Altar cleaning. Specialist in statues. Nationwide. Refs. Visit: www.studio-michele. com. 091 556735 mob. 087 2203898. ● USEFUL SERVICES 24th DIVINE MERCY NATIONAL CONFERENCE RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 21st & 22nd February 2015 Theme: 'Our Father… forgive us our trespasses' Speakers: FR KEVIN SCALLON, CM SR BRIEGE MCKENNA, OSC FR MICHAEL ROSS, SDB PHILIP RYAN, (MEDJUGORGE) Tickets: Weekend €35 Saturday €30, Sunday €20, Contact: Divine Mercy Apostolate, 22 Castle Grove, Clondalkin, Dublin 22. Tel: 086 – 0669203 e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com Alive! January 2015 15 Prize Crossword...No.187 K KIID DS S'' C CO OR RN NE ER R 143 COLOURING PICTURE - WIN €10 €25 1 2 3 5 4 6 7 9 8 10 11 12 15 14 13 16 17 ✄ Hiya, Kids, We all love what's new – a new toy, a new car, a new book. And this month we have a new year, 2015. But why do we love what is new? Because it is full of promise. It promises us more fun, more excitement, more happiness. But soon what is new gets old, it loses its magic, it no longer excites us, and we may even throw it aside if something newer comes along. This gets some people asking, is there anything that can bring me full and lasting happiness? This, in fact, is the most important question we can ever ask. And it has an answer: Jesus. The more we get to know Jesus the newer he seems, the more full of fun. This year, then, let us try to really love Jesus and talk to him often. Slán go fóill, Cryptic Clues: €25 for the first correct entry out of the bag. Entries before 16th January. One entry per family. Winner and answers next month. 18 19 22 20 21 23 Aisling 24 Changing only one letter at a time, can you get from TIME to WALK and from LIFT to MOVE? WALK MOVE TIME LIFT Five-A-Side Clue: COUNTRY Find the answers to the clues and when the circled letters are put in the right order, they spell the answer. Name................................................ ......................................................... 1. SNAKE Address............................................. 2. AIRMAN ......................................................... 3. RUBBISH ......................................................... ....................................Age................ 4. STUDENT 5. MALE BEE ANSWER:............................................................................ Last Month's Colouring Picture Winner was: Jackie Kenny, Rosewood Lodge, Black Bog Road, Carlow. Age 9. Lives of the Saints St. Oliver Plunkett ● Part 10: On the run ews that spies had been sent out by the authorities to track down fugitive bishops and priests reached Oliver Plunkett in his woodland hovel on 18 January 1674. He was forced to take flight again. He wrote: "There was a cutting north wind blowing into our faces and it beat the snow and hail so fiercely into our eyes that even now we are hardly even able to see with them. Many times we were in danger of being lost in the valleys and of N dying of suffocation in the snow. "Finally we arrived at the house of a gentleman who had lost so much he had nothing more to lose. "As ill-luck would have it, however, he had a stranger staying in the house whom we did not want to recognise us, so we were placed in a large attic without either chimney or fire where we have been for the last eight days. "It may all work for the glory of God and the salvation of our souls and the flocks entrusted to our charge. Mae Keegan, Sooey, via Boyle, Co. Sligo. Dec. X-word Winner: Solution to Dec. Crossword: Across: 7. Orator 8. Putter 10. Recount 11. Slogs 12. Earl 13. Drill 17. Debar 18. Warn 22. Alibi 23. Landing 24. Docile 25. Planet. Down: 1. Journey 2. Dancers 3. Lotus 4. Mussels 5. Stoop 6. Crush 9. Eternally 14. Vehicle 15. Rations 16. Knights 19. Bands 20. Hitch 21. Angle. "The cold and the hail were so terrible that my eyes have not yet stopped running nor have those of my companion. "I feel that I shall lose more than one tooth, they are paining me so much, and my companion was attacked with rheumatism in one arm and can scarcely move it." His companion was his old friend, Bishop John Brennan of Waterford. Then came more bad news. The Catholics in the Scottish Highlands were targeted. Scotland's Protestant Parliament – union with England was still three decades away – was even more virulently anti-Catholic than London or Dublin. They declared that the crime of being a priest was high-treason. The Dublin Parliament, to show that it was not going soft, was 25 ACROSS: 1. He is charged a vast amount? (7) 5.Different loans needed for beauty parlour (5) 8. Children's magazine from Casco, Michigan (5) 9. Shorten a river structure (7) 10. It's normal when mad aunt and Mr Corbett return (7) 11. Ken somehow gets the Spanish to pray? (5) 12. 1,000 I'd led out from the centre (6) 14. A noisy disturbance over a scarf! (6) 17. Right oven for beef, perhaps (5) 19. Piece of furniture for a big lad! (7) 22. So I lied in order to worship (7) 23. A 12-inch king? (5) 24. Silver turns fluorine to iron, what a blunder! (5) 25. Abandons barren lands (7) DOWN: 1. Graduate has a reason against meat (5) 2. Restricted company? (7) 3. Suffer in being a worthless dog (5) 4. Nobleman arrives in New York, almost! (6) 5. Footballer not working? (7) 6. Deposit money at the gatekeeper's house (5) 7. Irritates with pins? (7) 12. Lamenting we hear, at this time of day (7) 13. Retinal surgery in the lavatory! (7) 15. Get an iced drink for the shoemaker (7) 16. Be present at a non-drinker's funeral? (6) 18. An idiot returns and seems distant (5) 20. Entices when rules are broken (5) 21. Measurements of enclosed grounds (5) Name............................................................................ Address......................................................................... ...................................................................................... ...................................................................................... Telephone..................................................................... ✄ WORD LADDERS Solution to Alive!, St Mary's Priory, Tallaght, Dublin 24. expected to follow the Scottish example. Ever ything looked more and more like the era of the Roman persecutions. Oliver again briefed Rome: "Here we are in greater fear and trembling than ever. In Scotland the Parliament enacted that in future it should be considered high treason to hear Mass. Martyrs "It would seem that the days of Nero, Domitian and Diocletian have returned; the penalty for this crime of high treason is to be disembowelled and quartered. So we shall have the blood of martyrs in abundance to fertilise the Church. "It is like the time of the early Church; and it is my hope that the Church will once again be made glorious by the sufferings and martyrdoms of her northern children who are humble and devoted servants and imitators of Christ and the Apostles, and that the adverse storm will help us even more than the favouring breeze." Then, suddenly, things calmed down. Having made ferocious antiCatholic noises, having reaffirmed the draconian laws of the Tudors, the authorities backed off. The registered bishops and priests for the most part slipped back to their dioceses and priestly duties. Oliver came out of hiding and took up his mission where he had left off. But the paranoia had not gone away. It would give rise to a new and deadly agent two years later, the grotesque and corrupted figure of Titus Oates. The Holy Face: Divine Remedy for evil Alive! January 2015 16 YOU have a direct part to play! Catholics are labelled as bigots if they express their faith. The attacks afflicting our faith are effects and manifestation of atheistic communism. It is in our faces. However, there is a remedy! The enemies of the Church are ultimately destined to fall. ● Divine Remedy: Jesus's Holy Face To Blessed Maria Pierina De Micheli - beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 – Our Lady said in 1938: " … in these times of sensuality and hatred against God and the Church… evil spreads … A Divine remedy is required; and that remedy is the Holy Face of Jesus." Imagine that!!! Jesus's Holy Face as heaven's remedy to these attacks on faith and the Church. Under inspiration, Sr. Mary of St. Peter in the 1840s composed powerful prayers to the Holy Face for the utter failure Imagine the difference if Jesus turned His Face anew upon Ireland!! Imagine an Ireland where the enemies of God are vanquished, even coming to conversion and receiving Christ's mercy! That's what Holy Face devotion is all about. Endorsed many times by successive Popes for 150 years, Holy Face devotion is a work of REPARATION against blasphemy and attacks on God and His Church. Great promises are attached to the medal, revealed to Blessed M. Pierina De Micheli and for those who promote this devotion. Imagine an Ireland where anti-Catholic godlessness is no more!! ● Enemies of God Blessed M. Pierina De Micheli was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 Why should some be allowed to impose Godless laws on us? Why should scoffing media personalities be allowed to foment Ireland with massive disillusionment against the Church. They act to cut off the Irish people from the Church and her sacraments; the channel of eternal salvation and God's healing and peace! Should those acting as enemies of God be freely allowed to rob Christ's children from eternal salvation – won by Christ's Blood? NO. ● Victory Possible Imagine if the power of Christ's Face shone on Ireland!!! Everything would change. We don't have to be slaves to Atheistic Communism! But we DO have to use the weapons! If we can pull off Victory in Ireland…. it could spread across the world! Wouldn't that be wonderful? Turn to God As well as action, prayer is crucial. A lady wrote to me a few weeks ago: "We've had the rallies, we've lobbied politicians, now it's time to turn to God." YOU can help ADOPT YOUR COUNTY. Don't leave your COUNTY OUT! – order your "Holy Face Power Pack." Let's Cover all 32 Counties. Let's call on God's Face to directly shine upon and especially bless, by name: ● every politician in Ireland, ● every TV station, ● every radio station and newspaper, local and national ● the bishop of each diocese, his priests and people, doctors, pharmacists and personnel or promoting prescribing abortifacients and contraception in all forms, ● schools, especially those promoting sex education and anti-Christian values, ● All organisations – secret and public – attacking the Church and opposing the Gospel… and much more. Tick and return immediately the coupon below. Receive your Holy Face "Power Pack" – brimming with prayers, graces, blessed items and instructions to greatly release Christ's Power in Ireland! Join this "De Micheli Holy Face prayer movement - The promotion of good and downfall of evil!" ● Hear the Call Help launch this Divine remedy to attacks on God, religion and the Church. You've got the power. Let's play OUR part. Then let's see Imagine if the power of Christ's Face shone on Ireland! EVERYTHING would change! what GOD does. Every Blessing, Patrick McCrystal, Executive Director Human Life International (Ireland) PS Let's act for conversion of sinners and vanquish the enemies of God. PPS You are invited to Mass in honour of Holy Face in Knock Shrine, Shrove th Tuesday 17 February, Feast day of Holy Face at 11:45am. Put in your diary! Order your Nine Novenas for Shrove Tuesday Feast Day on coupon below! Cut out and return immediately: Yes Patrick, Let's call on the power of the Holy Face for Ireland! Let's Call on Heaven for end to attacks on God and Church! Please tick: ❑ I will pray the prayers when you send me my prayer booklet and cards. ❑ Please send me your Holy Face "Power Pack". ❑ I will pray for my county_______________ as well as ALL Ireland! ❑ Please send me 9 day Holy Face Novena before Shrove Tuesday! Name............................................................................................................................................. Address......................................................................................................................................... BLOCK CAPS PLEASE ........................................................................................................................................................ Tel:.........................................................Email:.............................................................................. ❑ Please accept my donation of €_______ towards this Holy Face initiative Please cut out and return to:, Human Life International (Ireland), Guadalupe Centre, Main Street, Knock, Co Mayo, Ireland Charity no: CHY 11138 Tel +353 94 93 75993 email: email@example.com Published by Alive Group, St. Mary's Priory, Tallaght, Dublin 24. Tel: 01-4048187 • E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com • Editor: Fr Brian McKevitt OP • Design/Sub-editing: Tom English • Printed by Datascope, Enniscorthy ✄ It's affecting YOU. Our nation convulses with a ferocious attack on Catholic values and the Family; hatred against the Church, surrogacy, IVF, sex education, sensuality, attack on marriage, loss of parental rights, secular takeover of schools. of all disposed to evil, their plans "overthrown", "split up by disagreements" and conversion of sinners (that's us all!) and all propagating atheistic communism. The Psalmist writes: Let the light of your face fall upon us O Lord. ✄ Dear Alive! Reader,
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