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Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
Managing Director
She is also the Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon. She is a first generation entrepreneur with more than 43 years' experience in the field of biotechnology. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Science (Zoology Hons.) from Bangalore University and a Master's degree in Malting and Brewing from Ballarat College, Melbourne University. She has been awarded with several honorary degrees including Honorary Doctorate of Science from Ballarat University, National University of Ireland, Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Glasgow. She is the recipient of several national and global awards, the most noteworthy being the 'PadmaShri' and the 'Padmabhushan' Award in 1989 and 2005, respectively, conferred by the President of India. She was also conferred with 'Ernst & Young Best Entrepreneur: Healthcare & Life Sciences Award (2002)', 'The Economic Times Business Woman of the Year Award (2004)', 'Nikkei Asia Prize for Regional Growth' by Japan's business daily, Nihon Keizai Shimbun, (2009) and the 'Othmer Gold Medal' by the U.S. based Chemical Heritage Foundation and '2014 Global Economy Prize' by Germany's Kiel Institute both in 2014. The prestigious Foreign Policy magazine has named her among the '100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2014'. She has also been named as one of the '100 Most Influential People in the World' by TIME magazine in 2010, '25 Most Influential People in Biopharma' by Fierce Biotech, Asia-Pacific's 'Heroes of Philanthropy (2013)' and '100 Most Powerful Women 2013 and 2015 by Forbes magazine and Asia's Power Businesswomen 2016 by Forbes Asia. She was also conferred with the highest French distinction – Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Légion 'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) in 2016. She is Ranked #1 in Business Captains category in Global 'Medicine Maker Power List' 2018. Ms. Shaw is the only Indian in the Hurun Global Self- Made Women Billionaires List 2017. She is also an Independent Director of the Board of Infosys, and is the Chairperson of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. She is a part of the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) Board of Trustees. She is a member of Karnataka's Vision Group on Biotechnology and currently chairs this forum. She has setup the Association of Biotech Led Enterprises (ABLE) in 2003 and was its first President. She serves on the National Advisory Council of the Government's Department of Biotechnology. She is a member of the governing body of the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. She has been a Director of our Company since November 1993.
Jonathan Hunt
Whole-time Director & CEO
He holds a BA (Business Studies & Economics) degree from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom and has done his MBA from Durham University, United Kingdom. He is responsible for leading Syngene's business operations as well as steering its investments in developing and strengthening its capabilities and capacities. He has more than 25 years of extensive experience in the global biopharmaceuticals industry. Prior to joining Syngene in January 2015, he worked with Astrazeneca for over a decade where he has held various leadership positions including President & Director of Astrazeneca, Austria and President & COO, Astrazeneca India. He is a director of our company from 1st May 2017.
John Shaw
Non-Executive Director
He holds a Master's degree in Arts (Economic Hons.) in History and Political Economy from Glasgow University, United Kingdom. Prior to joining our Board, he had worked with Coats Viyella Plc. for 27 years in various capacities including finance and general administration and also served as Finance Director and Managing Director of Coats Viyella group companies in various locations around the world, before he came on the Board our Company. He has been a Non- executive Director of our Company since March 2000.
Catherine Rosenberg
Non-Executive Director
She holds a 'Diplome d'Ingénieur' from the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunications de Bretagne, an M.S. (Computer Science) from the University of California, a 'Doctorat en Sciences' from the Universite de Paris XI, is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a Fellow Member of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. She is a professor in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Waterloo. Since June 2010, she holds the Canada Research Chair in the Future Internet. She has been a Director of our Company since August 2000. She is a member of Nomination & Remuneration Committee and Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the Company.
Rusell Walls
Independent Director
He is a Fellow Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, United Kingdom and brings to the Board his experience of more than 45 years in the field of finance. He possesses experience as director across a range of industries such as pharmaceuticals, textiles, transport and leisure. He is currently on the board of Biocon Limited where he chairs the Audit Committee and is the Chairman of the Board of Aviva Italia Holdings SpA..
Paul Blackburn
Independent Director
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Science (Management Sciences) from Warwick University, United Kingdom and a professional accounting qualification from Institute of Cost and Management Accountants, United Kingdom. He has over 38 years of experience in the field of finance. He is a senior finance executive with extensive emerging markets, corporate finance and change experience at GlaxoSmithKline, UK a global healthcare company. He has been a Director since August 2014. He is a Chairman of Audit & Risk Committee and a member of Stakeholders Relationship Committee of the Company.
Dr. Bala S. Manian
Independent Director
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Science (Physics) from Loyola College, Chennai, a postgraduate level Diploma in Instrumentation from the Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai, a Masters' degree in Optics from the University of Rochester and a Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University. He has 35 years of experience in the field of biomedical sciences. He holds over 40 patents in the field of physics, engineering and biomedical sciences. He has been awarded a Technical Academy Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in February 1999 for advances in digital cinematography. He has been a Director of our Company since June 2015. He is a Chairman of Nomination & Remuneration Committee & Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the Company.
Suresh Talwar
Independent Director
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Law from the Government Law College, Bombay (1961). He is a solicitor of the Incorporated Law Society, Mumbai. Mr. Talwar is enriched with experience across corporate law and other related matters. He has been the legal counsel to numerous Indian companies, multinational corporations as well as Indian and foreign banks. He served as a senior partner for many years at M/s. Crawford Bayley & Co and then founded Talwar Thakore & Associates, a law firm of repute. He is also on the Board of several leading companies such as Merck Limited, Sandvik Asia, Johnson & Johnson Limited amongst others. He also served on the Biocon Board for a period if twelve years from 2003 till July 2015. He is a Chairman of Stakeholders Relationship Committee and a member of Audit & Risk Committee, Nomination & Remuneration Committee & Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the Company.
Dr. Vijay Kuchroo
Independent Director
He holds a Ph.D in Pathology from the University of Queensland, Brisbane (Australia). He is the Samuel L. Wasserstrom Professor of Neurology at the Harvard Medical School, Senior Scientist at Brigham & Women's Hospital and Co-Director of the Center for Infection and Immunity, Brigham Research Institute, Boston. He possesses excellent experience in the field of immunology and has 25 patents to his credits. He has published over 325 research papers in immunology and serves on the scientific advisory Boards and works in advisory capacity to a number of big pharmaceutical companies including Pfizer, Novartis and Glaxo-Smith-Kline (GSK). He has founded 5 different biotech companies including CoStim Pharmaceuticals and Tempero Pharmaceuticals. He is also an Independent, Non-Executive Director on the Board of Biocon Limited. He is a member of Nomination & Remuneration Committee & Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the Company.
Vinita Bali
Independent Director
Vinita Bali is a global business leader with extensive experience in leading large Companies both in India and overseas. She has worked with eminent multinationals like The Coca-Cola Company and Cadbury Schweppes PLC in a variety of Marketing, General Management and Chief Executive roles in the UK, Nigeria, South Africa, Latin America and the USA, in addition to Britannia Industries Ltd., in India. Effective April 2014, Vinita moved from a full-time operational role as MD & CEO in Britannia to pursue her wide-ranging interests in the corporate and development sectors, through a portfolio of roles and responsibilities. She is a Non-Executive Director on the Global Board of Smith & Nephew plc, Chairman of GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition), a Swiss Foundation based in Geneva, and on the Advisory Board of Cornell University's Department of Nutritional Science. She also served on the Global Board of Syngenta International AG from April 2012 to June 2017. In India, Vinita serves as a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of CRISIL Ltd, Titan Industries Ltd, and Kasturi & Sons Ltd; is a Member of the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Management – Bangalore; and an Advisory Board Member of PwC. She brings a global and pragmatic perspective to strategy and operations, having lived and worked in 6 countries and 5 continents, with responsibility for global roles, in addition to regional ones. Vinita was among 27 global leaders appointed by the UN in 2012 to help improve maternal and child health as part of its SUN (Scaling up Nutrition) initiative and completed her term in 2016. She has been recognized in forums nationally and internationally and won several awards for her various contributions to the business.


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2012 Pastoral Letter | One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church: I Believe, We Believe
Essays and Messages
by Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M.
My dear brothers and sisters in the Diocese of Trenton:
In announcing the upcoming "Year of Faith," which celebrates the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and the Twentieth Anniversary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI explained that "to rediscover the content of faith that is professed, celebrated, lived and prayed and to reflect on the act of faith is a task every believer must make his own (Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei, 9, October 11, 2011)." It is fitting, then, at the beginning of this "Year of Faith," that the Diocese of Trenton joins with the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world in a period of reflection and celebration of our Catholic faith.
For the Christian, the Catechism states that
Believing in God cannot be separated from believing in the One he sent, his "beloved Son," in whom the Father is "well pleased"; God tells us to listen to him (Mark 1: 11). The Lord himself said to his disciples: "Believe in God, believe also in me (John 14: 1)." We can believe in Jesus Christ because he is himself God, the Word made flesh: "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known (John 1: 18)." Because he "has seen the Father," Jesus Christ is the only one who knows him and can reveal him (John 6:46; Matthew 11: 27).
Similarly, we read that
One cannot believe in Jesus Christ without sharing in his Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who reveals to men who Jesus is. For "no one can say 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12: 3)," who "searches everything, even the depths of God.... No one comprehends the thoughts of God, except the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2: 10-11)." Only God knows God completely: we believe in the Holy Spirit because he is God.
Much has been spoken and written about faith in the history of humankind, especially in the last two thousand years of Christianity. Faith is, as has been said, "personal," an act of the human individual that is rooted in his/her capacity to give assent to some truth that is perceived. "I believe," "I have faith."
I believe that the sun will rise again tomorrow. Why? Because it always has before and I have no reason not to believe it or to doubt that it will happen again. I am not absolutely certain about tomorrow but I have good reason to be confident about it. I believe that my parents and my friends love and care for me. Why? Because my past relationships with them have been positive and tended toward my good, although it might be disrupted on occasion by particular situations or circumstances. I cannot be absolutely certain about their feelings but I have good reason to be confident about them. When I leave for a trip, I have faith that I will arrive at my destination safely. More often than not, I do not even think about it. Of course, something could happen to prevent my safe arrival but I rarely give that possibility a thought when I first depart. If I did not have basic human faith, I would not even put my feet on the ground when I wake up in the morning. Faith is that aspect of human life that enables me to continue living in this world. Without such faith, I would be paralyzed and afraid of doing anything at all.
Christian faith, however, "differs from our faith in any human person" or thing (CCC, 150). It, too, is personal. It, too, gives assent to some truth that is perceived. But, Christian faith is a grace, a "gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by him" that "moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and 'makes it easy to accept and believe the truth (CCC, 153).'" The Catechism notes that "in faith, the human intellect and will cooperate with divine grace." The great philosopher and theologian St. Thomas Aquinas once explained that "believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will, moved by God through grace (Summa Theologica, II-II, 2, 9; CCC, 154)." And, so, I believe and I have faith because God has taken the initiative to introduce me to the truth, even when, perhaps especially when, human reason has no other demonstrable proof of science.
St. Augustine once wrote, "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of faith is to see what you believe (Sermones 4.1.1)." Several centuries before St. Augustine lived, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews defined faith as "the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)." An older translation explained that faith "is confident assurance concerning things hoped for and conviction about things we do not see."
These descriptions of faith are rooted in a simple fact of human life: faith is not the result of some demonstrable proof of science or reason. At the same time, however, faith is not contrary to human reason or unreasonable. Like reason, faith is a human act that identifies what we believe as true, real and compelling. Like reason, faith and what it presents as true make a claim on human lives, guiding and directing them toward life's purpose and fulfillment. We can, therefore, state with confidence that "we walk by faith and not by sight (Second Letter to the Corinthians 5:7)."
The Roman Catholic Church has always believed and taught that religious faith is a gift and grace freely given to us by God, whom "we do not see." It is this God whom we do not see who takes the initiative revealing himself and his truth to us, and our response of faith is a response specifically to God's initiative and grace. While we do not see God or his initiative and grace, we can and do see the consequences of both at work in the world.
St. Augustine presented a thoughtful insight into faith and its consequences when he wrote, "Seek, therefore, not to understand so that you may believe but believe that you may understand; for unless you believe, you will not understand (In Epistulam Joannis ad Parthos, Tractate 29)." For the human person then, according to St. Augustine, the act of faith leads to understanding.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) describes faith as "first of all a personal adherence of man to God. At the same time, and inseparably, it is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed (CCC, 150)." The Catholic Church lifts up and celebrates that faith.
God exists. I believe it. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Three Persons but One God. I believe it. Jesus Christ is "God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God" who took on human flesh and was born of the Virgin Mary. I believe it. Jesus Christ suffered, died, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. I believe all these things expressed in the Nicene Creed as true. And my faith is confirmed all the more by virtue of the fact that others believe those same things as well.
For the Christian, then, in addition to his/her personal faith, God also gives the grace of faith to a "community of believers." The Roman Catholic Church is a "community of faith," individual Christians born, baptized and united by things we "do not see." We read in the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church,
Lumen Gentium
, 19,
God does not make men holy and save them merely as individuals, without bond or link between one another. Rather has it pleased him to bring men together as one people, a people which acknowledges him in truth and serves him in holiness.
The Lord Jesus did not choose only one person to follow him; we know that from the New Testament. Rather, he chose twelve men of different talents, abilities, temperaments and occupations. To these twelve and to the many others he drew into his company like Lazarus, Mary and Martha, Mary Magdalene and the countless people who benefitted from his miracles in the Gospels, he gave the gift and grace of faith, both as individuals and a community. The Gospel of St. Mark explains
He went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed twelve [whom he also named apostles] that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons (Mark 3: 13-15).
The twelve apostles were the "first community (Acts 2: 13-14)" who, after the Pentecost — often called the "birthday of the Church" — began to gather still others close to themselves to share their faith and their experiences of the Lord Jesus and to fulfill the Lord's mission. This was the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church and the Lord's message and mission were kept alive and handed down through that "first community" to believers who would follow them in the Roman Catholic Church as we have come to know it. The Catechism observes
It is the Church that believes first, and so bears, nourishes, and sustains my faith. Everywhere, it is the Church that first confesses the Lord: "Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you", as we sing in the hymn "Te Deum"; with her and in her, we are won over and brought to confess: "I believe," "We believe." It is through the Church that we receive faith and new life in Christ by Baptism. In the Rituale Romanum, the minister of Baptism asks the catechumen: "What do you ask of God's Church?" And the answer is: "Faith." "What does faith offer you?" "Eternal life."
Salvation comes from God alone; but because we receive the life of faith through the Church, she is our mother: "We believe the Church as the mother of our new birth, and not in the Church as if she were the author of our salvation (Faustus of Riez, De Spiritu Sancto 1, 2)." Because she is our mother, she is also our teacher in the faith.
For this reason, the expression "Holy Mother the Church" takes on much more significance as a way to understand and communicate our relationship of faith in her.
In his apostolic letter announcing the "Year of Faith,"
Porta Fidei
, our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI wrote that
Profession of faith is an act both personal and communitarian. It is the Church that is the primary subject of faith. In the faith of the Christian community, each individual receives baptism, an effective sign of entry into the people of believers in order to obtain salvation. As we read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "'I believe' is the faith of the Church professed personally by each believer, principally during baptism. 'We believe' is the faith of the Church confessed by the bishops assembled in council or more generally by the liturgical assembly of believers. 'I believe' is also the Church, our mother, responding to God by faith as she teaches us to say both 'I believe' and 'we believe' (CCC, 167).
The "liturgical assembly" of which Pope Benedict wrote is, of course, the Holy Eucharist, which the Second Vatican Council called "the source and summit of the Christian life (Lumen Gentium, 11)." A prominent feature of the Eucharist, at least on Sundays and other special liturgical feasts, is the recitation of the "Profession of Faith" or "Nicene Creed," initially composed at the First Council of Nicea in 325 AD — hence, the label "Nicene" — then revised at the First Council of Constantinople in 381AD. It contains the "core" or essential elements of the Church's faith, commonly held, believed within and professed by the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI explained the rationale for this repeated profession in
Porta Fidei
, 10
Evidently, knowledge of the content of faith is essential for giving one's own assent, that is to say for adhering fully with intellect and will to what the Church proposes. Knowledge of faith opens a door into the fullness of the saving mystery revealed by God. The giving of assent implies that, when we believe, we freely accept the whole mystery of faith, because the guarantor of its truth is God who reveals himself and allows us to know his mystery of love.
Although modified in a recent translation contained in the Third Edition of the Roman Missal, the text of the Nicene Creed or "Profession of Faith" is familiar enough to Catholics that it need not be repeated here in its entirety. The affirmation of the fundamental truths of faith of the Roman Catholic Church contained there give the context for the community of faith first born of these truths at Pentecost and which have been believed, handed down and professed by the Roman Catholic Church for over 2,000 years up to the present moment.
The doctrinal formulations of the Nicene Creed rarely generate the kind of controversy today that surrounded them at their initial presentation in the mid to late 4th century. Faith in the Trinity — God as Father, Jesus Christ as Son, and the Holy Spirit — are not the kind of beliefs that ordinarily result in great debates today within the community of believers. Belief in "one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church," however, may raise some doubts or, at least, some significant questions today in a world (and even a Church!) that places less and less faith in institutions.
It is not uncommon in our times to hear people, even baptized Catholics, say, "I am spiritual but not very religious" to legitimate their distancing themselves or feeling distant from the institutional Roman Catholic Church and its teachings and practices.
"I believe in God," they might explain, "but I just do not believe in the Church or organized religion." Scratching the surface of such confessions, one might find reasons as many and varied as the people who offer them. It is not the Divine that gives them pause in their journey of faith. It is, more often than not, the human or institutional dimensions of the Church that create some sort of stumbling block to their continued belief: Church structures, Church personnel, Church laws, Church practices, Church teachings, especially in the realm of morality. That was certainly clear in the survey I recently conducted throughout the Diocese of Trenton among "lapsed Catholics" or Catholics who had indicated that they "left the Church." In addition to those things, a steadily increasing, aggressive and rampant secularization in society, as Pope Benedict XVI has frequently argued, makes it all the more difficult for some people within the Roman Catholic Church to view and accept her as "one, holy, catholic and apostolic." In other words, the things that they "do see" get in the way of their continuing to embrace, in the words quoted at the beginning of this reflection, things that they "do not see:" the objects of faith.
Whether it is the rather inadequate, confusing or absent catechesis that sometimes seems to be a defining characteristic of life in the Roman Catholic Church in the last fifty years or so, or the lack of a solid foundation upon which to build the Church's new efforts at evangelizing more recent generations of baptized Roman Catholics, it appears increasingly clearer that "the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things they do not see" does not easily motivate baptized Roman Catholics to believe what the Church teaches and, therefore, want to belong. Consequently, when confronted with the forces of secularization, with "lights contrary to the Gospel," with hypocrisy or the betrayal of trust witnessed by recent revelations of the horrific sexual abuse of minors by some clergy or other personnel in the Catholic Church in the United States, the affirmation of faith in "one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church" becomes a profoundly daunting task for those who, as St. Augustine recommended, seek to "believe" in order to "understand." People may, indeed, want to be "spiritual" but not necessarily "religious" in that, more institutional sense.
But the Roman Catholic Church is a community of doctrine, worship and laws. This contemporary "crisis of faith" — and it is that — cannot and must not be left unchecked and unchallenged by those of us in the Roman Catholic Church who seek to "walk by faith and not by sight" and to lead the journey.
We profess faith in a Church that is "one, holy, catholic and apostolic" and we make that profession because it is true. Truth is accessible to faith and reason but truth can, at times, be overshadowed by a thousand doubts all of which can be prompted by a thousand reasons, none of which diminish its veracity.
I am reminded of the portrayal of St. Thomas More in Robert Bolt's play "A Man for All Seasons". The influence of his Catholic faith upon his conscience is presented throughout the play as almost indefensible when confronted with the desires of King Henry VIII to act contrary to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and to make himself head of the new "Church of England." In Act Two of the drama, More says to the Duke of Norfolk, one of King Henry VIII's most ardent supporters in this effort to replace the Pope,
… the theory is that he's also the Vicar of God, the descendant of St. Peter, our only link with Christ. …The Apostolic Succession of the Pope is … why, it's a theory, yes; you can't see it; can't touch it; it's a theory. But what matters to me is not whether it's true or not but that I believe it to be true, or rather, not that I believe it, but that I believe it.
St. Thomas More will not deny the truth of his faith or the dictates of his conscience informed by that faith, despite the urgings of his fellows in the Court of King Henry VIII to do so if, for no other reason, than to remain in the "fellowship" of their company. With a conviction that ultimately cost him both their company and his life, More responds
And when we stand before God, and you are sent to Paradise for doing according to your conscience, and I am damned for not doing according to mine, will you come with me, for fellowship?
That the Church is "one, holy, catholic and apostolic" — traditionally called the "four marks of the Roman Catholic Church"— is a truth that must be recovered wherever and however it may be overshadowed by doubt or some other reason. This truth of our "profession of faith" will never be recovered if it is not believed. St. Augustine's words ring true, "Seek, therefore, not to understand so that you may believe but believe that you may understand; for unless you believe, you will not understand."
"I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church." What is it that we believe?
The Church is one.
On the night before he died for us, the Lord Jesus prayed for his apostles and for those who would believe in him through their word — the Roman Catholic Church — "that they may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you … that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me (John 17:21-23)." Jesus did not pray that everyone would be the same or think the same or act the same. No, he prayed for something deeper, a unity of faith, a unity of belief that would lead to a unity — a believing community — of love.
In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke wrote that "the community of believers was of one heart and mind (Acts 4:32)." The sacred author was not describing "sameness" among the members of the early Church. No, he was speaking about something much deeper than mere similarity, something that dwelt in the deepest part of the community: unity in faith and unity in beliefs without which there would never be a unity of love witnessing to the truth of that faith and those beliefs, in a community "of one heart and mind."
That should not surprise us. After all, as St. Paul wrote in his Letter to the Ephesians, there is "one body and one Spirit … one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4: 4-6)." He urged us in that same place "to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received … bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4: 1-3)."
Does that describe the Church in the times in which we live? The Catechism reminds us
The Church is one because of her source: "the highest exemplar and source of this mystery is the unity, in the Trinity of Persons, of one God, the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit." The Church is one because of her founder: for "the Word made Flesh, the Prince of Peace, reconciled all men to God by the cross … restoring the unity of all in one people and one body (The Second Vatican Council Pastoral Constitution On the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, 78, para. 3)."
The Church is one because of her "soul": "It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in those who believe and pervading and ruling over the entire Church, who brings about that wonderful communion of the faithful and joins them together so intimately in Christ that he is the principle of the Church's unity (Second Vatican Council Decree on Ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio, 2)." Unity is of the essence of the Church.
If the Church ceases to be one in faith, if voices and actions within the Church move against its essential unity in faith, the Church ceases to be. The Catechism affirms
Through the centuries, in so many languages, cultures, peoples, and nations, the Church has constantly confessed this one faith, received from the one Lord, transmitted by one Baptism, and grounded in the conviction that all people have only one God and Father (Ephesians 4: 4-6). St. Irenaeus of Lyons, a witness of this faith, declared:
"Indeed, the Church, though scattered throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, having received the faith from the apostles and their disciples… guards [this preaching and faith] with care, as dwelling in but a single house, and similarly believes as if having but one soul and a single heart, and preaches, teaches, and hands on this faith with a unanimous voice, as if possessing only one mouth (St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 1, 10, 1-2)."
"For though languages differ throughout the world, the content of the Tradition is one and the same. … The Church's message "is true and solid, in which one and the same way of salvation appears throughout the whole world (ibid., 5, 20)."
"We guard with care the faith that we have received from the Church, for without ceasing, under the action of God's Spirit, this deposit of great price, as if in an excellent vessel, is constantly being renewed and causes the very vessel that contains it to be renewed (ibid., 3, 24)."
When, therefore, in the Profession of Faith, we proclaim "I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church," therefore, this is what we mean by "One." In believing, we understand.
The Church is holy.
In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus urged his listeners, "Be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5: 48)." A tall order for any human being to be sure but an exhortation from the Master himself not to be taken lightly. Quoting from the Old Testament Book of Leviticus (Leviticus 11:44) in his first letter to several early Christian communities, St. Peter — upon whom Christ "built his Church (Matthew 16: 18)" — delivered the same message this way: "As he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, "Be holy because I am holy (1 Peter 1: 15-16)."
Clearly, the Church's call to holiness is rooted in Christ's own invitation to be holy in imitation of him. The holiness of the Church is not merely a reflection of but, rather, an identification with the very holiness of God. Can the Church be anything less than what God calls her to be in imitation of him? Certainly not if the Church is what God intends her to be.
In the Catechism, we read
United with Christ, the Church is sanctified by him; through him and with him she becomes sanctifying. "All the activities of the Church are directed, as toward their end, to the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God (Second Vatican Council Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 10)." It is in the Church that "the fullness of the means of salvation" has been deposited (Unitatis Redintegratio, 3, para. 5). It is in her that "by the grace of God we acquire holiness (
Lumen Gentium
, 48)."
Of course, we know that humanity as a whole and every human individual or group of individuals within it are imperfect, this side of eternity. The Second Vatican Council made that abundantly clear, in Lumen Gentium, 48, when it stated
The Church, to which we are all called in Christ Jesus, and in which we acquire sanctity through the grace of God, will attain its full perfection only in the glory of heaven, when there will come the time of the restoration of all things. At that time the human race as well as the entire world, which is intimately related to man and attains to its end through him, will be perfectly reestablished in Christ. … for the Church already on this earth is signed with a sanctity which is real although imperfect.
And, yet, the realization and recognition of our imperfection as individuals and as a Church is not now and can never be an excuse for complacency or compromise. The Church, despite its imperfection, is holy now because of its foundation and source in Christ and, in its humanity, is capable of greater holiness still. In fact, at no point on this earth or in the unfolding of human history can the Church and its members ever cease in the deeper pursuit of holiness. St. Augustine reminded us in his familiar prayer, "Thou has made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts cannot rest until they rest in thee (Augustine, "Confessions" I, 1)." At the same time, we must always remember that it is God — not anything we say or do — that makes us holy. It is God's grace that leads us to his holiness and it is his holiness with which we identify and it is his holiness in which the Church professes its faith. In the Liturgy of the Mass we pray that "the desire to praise you is, itself, your gift (Preface IV, Weekdays).
When, therefore, in the Profession of Faith, we proclaim "I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church," this is what we mean by "Holy." In believing, we understand.
The Church is catholic.
Before his Ascension into heaven from the Mount of Olives, the Lord Jesus directed his disciples in the Gospel of St. Mark, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature (Mark 16: 15)." St. Matthew presents Jesus giving this same command, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them all that I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age (Matthew 28: 19-20)."
The Greek root meaning of the word "catholic" is "universal." The "great commission" of the Lord Jesus to his disciples at the Ascension is universal in nature and scope: the "whole world;" "every creature;" "all nations." The mission of the Church to preach and teach given by Christ himself is "catholic." The Catechism explains
The word "catholic" means "universal," in the sense of "according to the totality" or "in keeping with the whole." The Church is catholic in a double sense: First, the Church is catholic because Christ is present in her. "Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church (St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Smyrn. 8, 2)." In her subsists the fullness of Christ's body united with its head; this implies that she receives from him "the fullness of the means of salvation (Unitatis Redintegrato, 3; Second Vatican Council Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church Ad Gentes, 6; Ephesians 1: 22-23)" which he has willed: correct and complete confession of faith, full sacramental life, and ordained ministry in apostolic succession. The Church was, in this fundamental sense, catholic on the day of Pentecost (Ad Gentes, 4) and will always be so until the day of the Parousia.
Secondly, the Church is catholic because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race (Matthew 28:19):
All men are called to belong to the new People of God. This People, therefore, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and to all ages in order that the design of God's will may be fulfilled: he made human nature one in the beginning and has decreed that all his children who were scattered should be finally gathered together as one … the character of universality which adorns the People of God is a gift from the Lord himself whereby the Catholic Church ceaselessly and efficaciously seeks for the return of all humanity and all its goods, under Christ the Head in the unity of his Spirit (Lumen Gentium 13, para. 1-2; John 11:52).
The contemporary use of the word "catholic" in our vocabulary is, more often than not, a reference to the Roman Catholic Church. While that is not incorrect, the fullest sense of the term "Catholic" itself includes two understandings or, as is popularly explained, catholic with a small "c," that is "universal" in its embrace, and Catholic with a capital "C," that is, "institutional" in nature: the Roman Catholic Church and all its teachings, structures and as a believing community. As members of the Roman Catholic Church, we own and affirm both understandings in our self-definition. Our mission as a "community of faith" is, as the Lord Jesus commanded his disciples, to "all nations." And that mission includes preaching and teaching all that we believe in the Church, whole and entire. It is within the Church that the Lord Jesus is with us "always, until the end of the age (Matthew 28: 20)."
Lumen Gentium
, 8, the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council stated
… this Church, constituted and organized as a society in this present world, subsists in (subsistit in) the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although (licet) many elements of sanctification and truth can be found outside her structure; such elements, as gifts properly belonging to the Church of Christ, impel towards Catholic unity.
The phrase "subsists in" generated a great deal of controversy after Vatican II, with some commentators suggesting that its use excluded the possibility that Christ might be present or found in "churches" or faith communities other than the Roman Catholic Church. The text itself, however, expressly states that "many elements of sanctification and truth can be found outside her structure" but that the fullness of sanctification and truth resides or "subsists" in the universal Church of Christ "governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him." While advancing the importance of ecumenical dialogue with other faith communities, the Roman Catholic Church seeks the ultimate and universal unity that is her interpretation and application of Christ's prayer in St. John's Gospel "that they may be one (John 17: 21)."
The Catechism explains:
"All men are called to this catholic unity of the People of God. … And to it, in different ways, belong or are ordered: the Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all mankind, called by God's grace to salvation (Lumen Gentium, 13)."
To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son's Church. The Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation.
When, therefore, in the Profession of Faith, we proclaim "I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church," this is what we mean by "Catholic." In believing, we understand.
The Church is apostolic.
In St. Matthew's Gospel, the Lord Jesus responded to St. Peter's famous "confession of faith" at Caesarea Philippi:
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16: 18-19).
Christ founded his Church upon the apostles. That is the root of our "apostolic faith" and the heart of the "great commission" that he gave to the apostles before his Ascension. In the Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul wrote that the Church was
… built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ himself as the capstone. Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord' in him you are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2: 20-22).
In his great priestly prayer the night before he died, as recorded in the Gospel of St. John, the Lord Jesus prayed to his Father for the apostles who surrounded him
Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I send them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth (John 17: 17-19).
Referring to this passage, Pope Benedict XVI explained
… this is the inclusion of the Apostles in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, the institution of his new priesthood for the community of the faithful of all times. "Sanctify them in truth": this is the true prayer of consecration for the Apostles. The Lord prays that God himself draw them towards him, into his holiness. He prays that God take them away from themselves to make them his own property, so that, starting from him, they can carry out the priestly ministry for the world (Benedict XVI, Homily, Mass of the Lord's Supper, April 9, 2009).
The consecration of the apostles "in truth" by Christ prepared them for their mission in the Church, a mission that would be handed down to their successors for all the People of God through all generations to the present day.
Lumen Gentium
, 20, The Catechism states
"In order that the mission entrusted to them might be continued after their death, [the apostles] consigned, by will and testament, as it were, to their immediate collaborators the duty of completing and consolidating the work they had begun, urging them to tend to the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit had appointed them to shepherd the Church of God. They accordingly designated such men and then made the ruling that likewise on their death other proven men should take over their ministry."
"Just as the office which the Lord confided to Peter alone, as first of the apostles, destined to be transmitted to his successors, is a permanent one, so also endures the office, which the apostles received, of shepherding the Church, a charge destined to be exercised without interruption by the sacred order of bishops (Lumen Gentium, 20, para. 2)." Hence the Church teaches that "the bishops have by divine institution taken the place of the apostles as pastors of the Church, in such wise that whoever listens to them is listening to Christ and whoever despises them despises Christ and him who sent Christ (idem)."
The whole Church is apostolic, in that she remains, through the successors of St. Peter and the other apostles, in communion of faith and life with her origin: and in that she is "sent out" into the whole world (Second Vatican Council Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity Actuositatem Apostolicam, 2).
Apostolic in origin and nature, the Roman Catholic Church is constituted by a community — bishops, priests, deacons and laity — that are "co-responsible" for the Church. The Letter to the Romans reminds us
For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function,so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them: if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness (Roman 12: 4-8).
When, therefore, in the Profession of Faith, we proclaim "I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church," this is what we mean by "Apostolic." In believing, we understand.
Faith is as natural to the human person as religious faith is indispensable to the baptized Roman Catholic. In the first case, faith seems to be part of the make-up of who and what we are, creatures possessed of intellect and free will, capable of seeking and knowing truth and following where it leads in our lives. In the second case, religious faith, Christian faith, Catholic faith is a gift and grace infused in the human mind and heart by God, our Creator, so that we might know and love him and his truth and follow where he leads in our lives. His path leads us to the Roman Catholic Church and to all that it believes and teaches as true. Our Catholic faith gives us, as human persons, the truest sense of purpose in life as God created us. Our Catholic faith gives us, as human persons, the truest sense of belonging in life as God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, intended for us: belonging to him and to one another in one, holy, catholic and apostolic community of believers.
In his collection of essays "The Weight of Glory," the Christian apologist C.S. Lewis once wrote, "I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen; not only because it has risen but because by it I see everything else." For the Catholic, faith enables us to see everything in life by the light and truth and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we begin this "Year of Faith" together in the Roman Catholic Church throughout the Diocese of Trenton, let us prayerfully and joyfully reflect upon the closing words of the apostolic letter of Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI,
Porta Fidei
, 15,
Having reached the end of his life, Saint Paul asks his disciple Timothy to "aim at faith" (2 Timothy 2:22) with the same constancy as when he was a boy (cf. 2 Timothy 3:15). We hear this invitation directed to each of us, that none of us grow lazy in the faith. It is the lifelong companion that makes it possible to perceive, ever anew, the marvels that God works for us. Intent on gathering the signs of the times in the present of history, faith commits every one of us to become a living sign of the presence of the Risen Lord in the world. What the world is in particular need of today is the credible witness of people enlightened in mind and heart by the word of the Lord, and capable of opening the hearts and minds of many to the desire for God and for true life, life without end.
Most Reverend David M. O'Connell, C.M.,
Bishop of Trenton
Feast of St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
August 28, 2012
For the Catholic,
faith enables us to see everything in life
by the light and truth and glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Christian rockers Rhett Walker Band to play at The Journey
If you go...
Rhett Walker Band
7 p.m. Tuesday
The Journey at First Baptist
— Tickets are $10 for the show and are available at The Journey or Identity Graphics. For more information on the Southern Christian rock group, visit rhettwalkerband.com.
If you go…
Rhett Walker Band
7 p.m. Tuesday
The Journey at First Baptist
— Tickets are $10 for the show and are available at The Journey or Identity Graphics. For more information on the Southern Christian rock group, visit rhettwalkerband.com.
If you want energetic music with a strong message and you don't want to wait until Sunday, The Journey at First Baptist is the place to be mid-week.
The Journey will host Christian group Rhett Walker Band (RWB) at 7 p.m. Tuesday. RWB is a Southern Christian rock ensemble from Nashville, Tenn., whose 2012 debut album "Come to the River" launched successful singles of the title track and the Grammy-nominated "When Mercy Found Me."
The Craig Daily Press discussed with vocalist and co-lyricist Rhett Walker what they will bring to their performance in Northwest Colorado.
CDP: What is one thing about your music that you feel people of faith most will enjoy?
RW: I think we write music for all people no matter what your faith is in. No matter what you're going through. We all have faith in something because you look around at what is happening in the world today, and everyone is searching for something better. We've found that the something better is Jesus. So we make music about faith, family and country.
CDP: As a Christian group, what all genres and sounds do you encompass?
RW: We just write. We don't think about genre, or certain sounds. We do pull from influences, but the biggest influence we pull from is just being on the road, meeting people and just being guys from the South.
CDP: What kind of influences, musical or otherwise, have made you the group you are now?
RW: We grew up listening to bands like (Lynyrd) Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker Band, Soundgarden and The Wallflowers. I was always attracted to these kinds of bands cause they wore their heart on their sleeve and just made music and sang about life experiences. That's what we try to do.
CDP: Is the biblical symbolism of songs like "Come to the River" and "When Mercy Found Me" present in all your songs?
RW: Yes and no. We are guys that believe that scripture is the word of God, so that just seeps into our lyrics. But we are all married and I have three kids, so we take those things and tie together faith and family. So sometimes it's more present than in other songs.
CDP: Give us some examples of how people have been affected by the band's message.
RW: We've heard from people who have changed their lives around, used our music as motivation to try to do good in this world. We write music in hopes that people will break out of the mold they are in and try to live life simply and for a better purpose.
CDP: What can the people of Craig expect Tuesday night?
RW: One big party.
—Interview by Andy Bockelman
Troopers arrest teen on child abuse, other charges after crash
A Craig teen is accused of a drunken rollover crash in a vehicle filled with children and booze.


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What is duty? Does it affect us? Do we need to do anything about it?
Let us have a few considerations on this topic, based on the Gospel according to spiritism, chapter 17, item 7.
Universal law
Duty is a moral obligation, firstly to ourselves and then to others. Duty is a law of life encountered in the smallest details as well as in the most elevated acts. Now I wish to speak only of moral duty and not of that duty which refers to the professions.
Allan Kardec, Gospel according to spiritism, chapter 17, item 7
Duty concerns everyone, it is a universal law of life. From the smallest things to the greatest ones. Not only in professional life but in each and every one of our behaviours.
Within the order of sentiments, duty is a very difficult one to fulfill because it finds itself in antagonism with the seductions of interest and of the heart.
Allan Kardec, Gospel according to spiritism, chapter 17, item 7
Our imperfect tendencies, our vices and our own interests often prevent us from fulfilling our duty.
But how can we know what our duty is? What should we do?
The voice of our conscience
The pressure of Man's conscience, this guardian of interior integrity, alerts and sustains him, but shows itself frequently impotent against the deceptions of passion.
Allan Kardec, Gospel according to spiritism, chapter 17, item 7
Our conscience tells us what is right or what is wrong. The laws of God are written in our conscience. However, we often drown this voice with our desire to satisfy our passions.
Where does duty begin? Where does it end? Duty begins exactly at the point where the happiness or tranquility of our neighbour is threatened, and therefore terminates at the limit we would not wish to be passed in relation to ourselves.
Allan Kardec, Gospel according to spiritism, chapter 17, item 7
As a general guidance, we should not go too far in a way that would hurt our neighbour. Before doing something, we should ask ourselves if we would like it if someone else were to do this unto us. If our answer to this question is negative, we should refrain from this action.
God has created all men equal in relation to pain; whether we be small or great, ignorant or educated, we all suffer for the same motives […].
Equality in the face of pain is God's sublime providence. He desires that all of His children, being instructed through their common experiences, should not practice evil with the excuse of not knowing its effects.
Allan Kardec, Gospel according to spiritism, chapter 17, item 7
Knowing how painful some things are, we should not inflict them upon others. We do not have the excuse of not knowing that something is bad if we experimented its effects. If we act badly toward others, we may receive the same kind of offense in return, as an educational experience.
Progress through love
The man who fulfills his duty loves God more than his fellow beings and loves his fellow beings more than himself.
Allan Kardec, Gospel according to spiritism, chapter 17, item 7
This is the ultimate goal of duty, this is where it leads us to. It starts from the smallest daily acts, reaching for the sublime conquest of loving God above all and others more than ourselves.
Man should love duty, not because it protects him from the evils of life from which humanity cannot escape, but because it transmits vigour to the soul, which it needs so as to be able to develop.Allan Kardec, Gospel according to spiritism, chapter 17, item 7
Duty gives us the strength to progress! It pushes us forward! Far from being a chore, it is a blessing that is designed to help us improve and come closer to God! How beautiful 🙂
Duty grows and irradiates under a constantly more elevated form in each of the superior stages of humanity.
Allan Kardec, Gospel according to spiritism, chapter 17, item 7
The level of duty that each one of us has grows with our level of elevation. The more consciousness we have, the greater our duty. The more we know what is right and what is wrong, the more we are obligated to act accordingly.
The more we grow in consciousness, the more light we invite in. As we progress, we come closer to God.
Roles of duty
Duty has three main roles: inner peace, maintenance of the order, and evolution.
Inner peace
Peace is one of the greatest treasures that we can conquer in life. It is something that we reach through our efforts and belongs to us. We find peace when our behaviour is in harmony with our conscience. When what we do and what we know we should do are one and the same.
Maintenance of order
By defining limits which should not be exceeded, duty helps maintain the order in the creation. Respecting the freedom of others, taking care that our actions are not detrimental to our neighbour.
Duty promotes evolution. It is the impulse that causes us to make necessary changes. We humans tend to get accommodated easily. Once we reach a certain level, we stay there and enjoy it, avoiding further efforts.
When problems come our way, it forces us to address them, to analyse our current situation and what we can do to improve. Problems are like stones that are placed in the bed of a river. When the water cannot bypass the stones because they are too high, the current is forced to rise above to pass. Likewise, problems force us to overcome ourselves, to reach a higher level in order to move on.
Because the solutions to the problems we face are not found at the level we are currently at – the solutions are on the level above.
Cast out of paradise
In the biblical Genesis, Adam and Eve were cast out of the paradise after eating from the fruit of knowledge.
When we look at the symbolism of this story, we conclude that getting cast out of a paradise is what happens to all of us once we gain knowledge.
We learn something new, we gain more conscience about what is good and what is not. This new knowledge forces us to leave our "paradise" – the ways of life that we are accommodated to. Ways of thinking and acting that we used to be immersed in are no longer acceptable. We are forced to leave this zone of comfort to improve our ways and conquer higher levels.
This is also the reason why it is common for people who decide to change their lives for the better suddenly face many problems. The external situation did not actually change – the people, the situations of life are the same. However, behaviours that used to be seen as good or acceptable suddenly aren't anymore.
This reasoning made it easier for me to understand the following words of Jesus:
Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn't darkness.
Luke 11:35 (World English Bible)
Seen this way, this means: be careful that the knowledge that you gain (the light in you), does not become a source of more pain, due to your failure to act according to this new knowledge!
Having more conscience about what is good and what is bad, and not acting accordingly, only brings more inner unrest and a guilty conscience.
Therefore, we should strive to shine more light in ourselves and take care to put it in practice in our lives.
Universal solidarity
Duty gives us responsibilities. The responsibility to help those that are less evolved to progress on the evolutionary scale. To show good examples in our lives so that those on lower steps may be inspired to do likewise.
This means that spirits that are more elevated than we are, have the duty to help us progress. Spirits like Joanna de Ângelis, Bezerra de Menezes, are responsible for helping us.
What's fascinating about this concept is that it is infinite.
It goes from the lowest to the highest level of evolution, from the simple and ignorant spirit to the highest angels of light that are in communion with God! How wonderful, this infinite chain of solidarity among God's creations! Each and every one of us is a part of the universal masterpiece!
No matter where we are on our journey, we can make ourselves useful and help someone move forward, while others above are helping us as well.
Isn't that amazing and wonderful? 🙂
Let's do good
We learned that as we learn, we gain the responsibility to act well, to do good.
The following answer to question 932 in the Spirits's book is particularly intriguing:
Q: "Why do the bad ones usually have greater influence over the good ones in the world?"
A: "Due to the weakness of the good ones. The bad ones are intriguing and audacious, the good ones are shy. When the latter so wish, they will dominate."
The Spirits' Book, Allan Kardec, question 932
The answer is quite direct. The fact that the bad has a greater influence in the world than the good is simply due to shyness and a lack of will!
If the workers of good were more ambitious and courageous, the world would be completely different!
Rossandro Klinjey made an interesting observation regarding this topic: what would happen if we created mafias of good? What would happen if we all worked for good, practiced charity and fought moral corruption with the same intensity, determination and courage as the big criminal organisations?
We could do a lot more. We could change things. We could have a bigger positive impact in the world.
We need to abandon the fear of being judged, leave our inertia, and start acting with more strength to serve our Master and disseminate light.
This beautiful quote from is also compelling:
If you want to bring happiness to the whole world, go home and love your family.Mother Teresa
The best way to have a positive impact in the world is to start by loving our family and the people close to us. We tend to look outside and try to help people outside our home, sometimes neglecting our own family.
As Chico Xavier was saying, in reincarnation, "noone gets sent to the wrong address". Our incarnations are carefully planned so that we are with the people that we need to fix things with, and with the people who can give us all the necessary support in doing so.
The environment we are in is the right place for us to be. Let's always strive to do our best possible wherever we are.
This other quote is fantastic as well (please let me know if you know who it is from):
Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.Author unknown
This means that words are nice, but there is nothing more effective than acts. Preaching beautiful words and not acting accordingly is a bad example.
Example is shown in actions.
We are collectively responsible for the improvement of the planet. Each of us needs to contribute within his possibilities.
We are like small ants in a bigger scheme of things, but many ants working together can achieve greater things! Let's all collaborate! 🙂
Another encouragement:
For God didn't give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
2 Timothy 1:7 (World English Bible)
Let's remember this phrase so that we can become a little more courageous and strong, daring to act out of love in our daily lives. God is always supporting and helping us.
8 For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or who is there among you, who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Matthew 7:8-11 (World English Bible)
God is infinite love and might. We can always trust Him to give us the resources and support that we need. Let's strengthen our faith.
Our destiny is to be in communion with God. The path to enlightenment is inevitable for all of us. All we can do is to make the journey longer by rebelling and acting childishly.
Let's make the peregrination shorter and more enjoyable by working and doing our best 🙂
A little more
Reaching the highest level of illumination might sometimes seem like too big of a goal. The temptation to give up can be there at times.
But we need to know is that God never gives us a task too big for us to carry. We always receive the necessary resources and help.
We need to take it step by step. One little thing at a time. Every day a little more.
I find this message very comforting and encouraging:
Dear children, I would like to kindly ask of you:
a little more patience.
A little more tolerance.
A little more faith.
A little more hope.
A little more charity.
A little more spirituality.
A little more prayer.
A little more efforts.
A little more forgiveness.
A little more love.
It is not much, just a little bit more. Because with God, a little becomes a lot!
Bezerra de Menezes
To conclude this reflection, I would like to link to this beautifully moving video. On the occasion of Divaldo Franco's 90th birthday, Haroldo Dutra Dias organised an interview with him, together with his friend Rossandro Klinjey. It is so amazing to see these three great examples.
Tirelessly working for 70 years for the well-being of mankind, Divaldo Franco explains his experience and mindset during all these years of service.
One sentence that stood out for me was when he said that when he got to know spiritism, he didn't find a treasure map; he found the treasure itself directly. And that since then, he never stopped spreading the good news and the comforting message of around the world.
This is such a beautiful example of love and dedication. It motivates me to try to be a little better every day, so that I can learn to be useful and use this treasure to help in any way possible.
To this, we should note that the question here is not about trying to convert others to our way of thinking. We should strive to help, comfort and enlighten when we can, firstly with our attitudes and then with our words.
Let the name of the LORD be praised, now and forevermore.
The Gospel According to Spiritism Kindle Edition
World English Bible
Divaldo Franco, 90 years! (Portuguese, captions can be auto-translated)
Artur Valadares – Duty (Portuguese)


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Red Cross Tells The Stories Of Those They Helped In 2012 [Video]
To bolster trust in their volunteer efforts, charity organization broadcasts the voices of the people they aided.
To help show how much a donation to the Red Cross can mean to someone's life, the organization sent a video camera to 300 people who they had helped after a fire, flood, or other tragedy. 25 of the stories were chosen to run as TV spots, to bridge the disconnect between giving and seeing the effect.#gallery-3 { margin: auto; } #gallery-3 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 25%; } #gallery-3 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-3 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
The campaign was developed by BBDO New York. Gathering stories across the nation, they managed to capture and edit over 250 hours of footage, much of which is comprised of intimate moments of people by themselves. Watch the trailer below:


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Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Airport
Script Analysis of Airport
Click on a plot link to find similar books!
Plot & ThemesComposition of Book Actual chase scenes or violence 30%Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives 30%Feelings, relationships, character bio/development 40% Time/Era of Movie: - 1960's-1970's Disaster, big vehicle - Yes Kind of vehicle: - plane
Main CharacterIdentity: - Male Profession/status: - business executive Age: - 40's-50's - long lived adults Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
SettingUnited States - Yes The US: - Midwest Air? - Yes Air: - passenger plane Misc setting - building
Writing StyleAccounts of torture and death? - no torture/death Unusual forms of death - dropped from large heights - visually blown into pieces Any profanity? - None If this is a kid's movie... - Ages 5-10 Is this movie based on a - book
Movies with storylines, themes & endings like Airport
|Airport '80 starring Alain Delon, George Kennedy, Robert Wagner, Susan Blakely, Sylvia Kristel
|Airport '75 starring Charlton Heston, George Kennedy, Karen Black
|The Flight of the Phoenix starring James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Hardy Kr�ger, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, George Kennedy, Ronald Fraser
|Airport '77 starring Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, George Kennedy
|Alive starring Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano and others


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WilsonA2KRB16DTDUDE-Right Handed Throw Wilson
Wilson A2K DTDUDE Fielding Glove 11.5 Right Handed Throw A2KRB16DTDUDE Baseball Glove
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Product Description
Warranty Information
One Year Warranty
Product Reviews
Pot of gold at end of rainbow.
Posted by Scott Snyder on Nov 20th 2016
No secret the leather can't be beat. Craftsmanship is top of line.
Love the flash and sizzle in the design.
Can't beat durability and feel on hand. Laces are very solid. Web is perfect for infield use.
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Nice glove and feels nice when you are playing. Snake skin pattern is cool. Very unique A2K and very durable.
Satisfied Customer
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The A2KRB16DTDUDE's overall quality, craftsmanship, leather, and attention to detail exceeded my expectations. My glove shipped the morning after I placed my order.


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A Girl Watcher's Paradise Volume 3135
Studio: G.D. DouglassCWMH
Series: A Girl Watcher's Paradise
Director: G.D. Douglass
Approximate Running Time: 01:00:29
Released: 2003
Watch This Movie
Pay Per Minute Streaming Video
Own This Movie
The Girls of Denver, Colorado! It's called "The Best of a Girl Watcher's Paradise!" A review of first time in front of the camera girls who show it all. Spread leg, spread cheek, show pink. G.D. Douglass, a videographer that John "Buttman" Stagliano calls "the king of single girl porn," has put together the largest single girl collection in the world!
Categories: Amateur -> Pro-Am Clothing -> Striptease


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Mipony – Detect & Batch Download Files From Various File Hosting Services
Mipony is a unique downloader that can batch download files automatically from Megaupload, Rapidshare, 4Shared, Mediafire, and more such file hosting services. You must have come across many forum posts where multiple links that make up multiple parts of the file are listed.
You will then need to manually download each and every part and merge them together with apps such as HJSplit. This process can take countless hours if the file is big and each part is made up of hundred of megabytes. Also in this case if you reach the download limit for the day, then you have to wait 24 hours before you can again begin downloading.
Following the method above is quite annoying, this is where Mipony comes in. It has a build-in browser through which you can visit any page where the links are listed. When done, hit the Detect Links button. This will add all links(files) detected on the page and list them neatly in the window below.
While testing it detected all links and didn't miss a single one thus showing 100% accuracy. Apart from the link, it also shows the file name, it's size, and availability.
Now select the files that you want to download and hit Download Selected button. This will begin the download instantly in the Downloads tab.
It will automatically run the counter, retry failed download, and more. You will find some bunch of common options in the right-click context menu, these options are commonly found in download managers. There is only one option that is new called Write Password, which allows you to write password to the file.
You can view the files that have been downloaded by going to Downloaded tab, choose the number of simultaneous downloads, output destination, and other settings from the Options tab. You must keep in mind that this program supports both Rapidshare and Megaupload free and premium user accounts. You can enter the premium account details by going to Options.
One of the best thing I like in the app apart from automatic link detection is the build-in Join Files feature. You will be surprised to know that is powered by the popular HJSplit program.
Mipony is both powerful and easy-to-use download manager which has far exceeded my expectations. It can automatically recognize the captcha thus making it further easier for users.
Download Mipony
It works on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Enjoy!


text: Smile Elite Smile Elite are pioneering a different approach to real estate in Sydney. Using technology to support mobile agents and removing the expensive overheads of maintaining a shop-front, bundling everything into one package, so their clients only pay a single fee that covers the expertise, time and energy of their dedicated elite agents. Tasks Branding Press Brochures / Flyers eDM's Photo Retouching


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RxMedsListNoRx.com provides Prescription - Free online access to Cefadroxil, FDA-approved drug. If you are looking for a way to buy Cefadroxil, RxMedsListNoRx.com is right for you. Purchase Cefadroxil and thousands of other prescription drugs at our Online Pharmacy. Prescription is not required to buy Cefadroxil online at our website - you can buy prescription drugs without prescription.
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Cefadroxil without prescription.Used to treat certain infections caused by bacteria such as skin, throat, and urinary tract infections. .is a cephalosporin antibiotic used to treat certain infections caused by bacteria such as skin, throat, and urinary tract infections. . . . . . . .
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Prescription drugs


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Wharton's Icefields
August 27, 2008
In a seamless blend of mountaineering, history, botany and fiction, Edmonton author Thomas Wharton revisits the shifting social and cultural events that took place on the edge of the Columbia icefields in the late 19th and early 20th century. In 1898 while on an expedition in the Columbia (Arcturus) glacier, doctor and amateur botanist Edward Bryne fell through a crevasse where he was held upside down in the icy grip of the narrowing walls of the chasm suspended in a liminal state between reality and dreams.
Using Adobe Photoshop I created this digitage inspired by descriptions and interpretations of the angel in Dr. Bryne's icy vision. I layered images of ice taken at the Glenmore reservoir in Calgary, a Calypso orchid taken on Heart Mountain in June 2008 and my mother's portrait from the early 1900s.
The Calypso orchid was elegantly selected as a character in the novel, as the origin of its name signifies concealment. It is a fragile plant with a wide, circumpolar distribution, that requires a highly specific ecosystem. Once it was an edible and medicinal plant for the First Nations who gathered plants in the Rockies but with increased traffic on what were once remote montaine trails, it is now an endangered species. At a certain height on Heart Mountain Trail when the scree became too difficult for me to manage, I was looking for an easier route a bit farther back from the steep edge of the trail when I came across a couple of these tiny purple orchids in a delicate floral embrace.
stoney, concealment, edible, circumpolar, ethnobotany, fairy slipper, Venus's slipper, tagging, taxonomy, walkingtrails, wildflowersnorthamerica, wfgna, rockymountains, rockies, geotagging, geotagged, geotag, creativecommons, calgarydaytrips, alberta, CalypsoFairySlipper, Calypso.Bulbosa,
"bare, windswept slope of ice … projecting spine of ice … stepped backward into the abyss . . . (Wharton 1995 [2007:2]) . . . deep blue gloom p.3 . . . "
"I prefer words on a page. They don't gesticulate."
"restless crowd with its panoply of cameras (Wharton 1995 [2007:274])."
Wharton, Thomas. 1995 [2007]. Icefields. Nunatak Fiction. NeWest Press. Edmonton, AB.
1. The calypso orchid The Calypso bulbosa, Calypso orchid, Fairy's slipper, Venus's slipper or Plantae < Magnoliophyta < Liliopsida < Asparagales < Orchidaceae < Epidendroideae < Calypsoeae < Calypso < Salisb. < Calypso bulbosa
Nunatak is a word in Inuktitut meaning "lonely peak," a rock or mountain rising above ice. During Quaternary glaciation in North America, peaks stood above the ice sheet and so became refuge for plant and animal life. Magnificent nunataks, their bases scoured by glaciers, can be seen along the Highwood Pass in the Alberta Rocky Mountains and on Ellesmere Island. The Nunatak fiction series are especially selected works of fiction by new western authors. Editors for Nunataks for NeWest Press are Aritha van Herk and Ruby Wiebe.
Sexsmith's expedition is based on the 1859-1860 expedition undertaken by James Carnegie, Earl of Southesk.
Bibliography of research resources acknowledged by auhtor Thomas Wharton
Adassiz, Louis. 1967. Studies on Glaciers. Trans. Albert Carozzi. New York: Hafner.
Carnegie, James. 1875. Saskatchewan and the Rocky Mountains.
Gadd, Benn. 1987. Handbook of the Canadian Rockies, Jasper, Alberta: Corax.
Kagami, Yoshiro. 1951. "Edward Bryne: a Life on Ice." Journal of Alpine Exploration. ii:6.
Stuffield, Hugh; Collie, J. Norman. 1903. Climbs and Explorations in the Canadian Rockies. London: Longmans, Green and Company.
Uploaded by ocean.flynn on 26 Aug 08, 3.16PM MDT.


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by Ram Kalyan 'Kelly' on Sunday 9th November 2014 at 5:32pm
Mr.Hadz host of Notes, Beats & Bars playing the best variety of soulful, R & B, Old School and urban music. Mr.Hadz chatted to Jay Sean yesterday 8th November during his radio show from 6pm to 8pm. "I am happy that he is back in the UK and returning to his R & B roots as this will hopefully encourage new local artists to make the music they love" said Mr.Hadz.
He asked him about his future plans and much much more.
Listen to the full interview by clicking on the link below.


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Dr. Andrews joined our team in January 2017 as the retention specialist for the TRIO Student Support Services. Her primary responsibilities are developing retention services, advising students, and supervising the student mentor program.
Kathryn also teaches undergraduate and graduate courses at The University at Buffalo where she maintains an active role in research. Kathryn's research focuses on the developmental aspects of how learning is shaped by agency and social relationships.
Before coming to Pitt-Bradford, Kathryn worked Healthy Families New York and Marine Corps Community Services. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and three children, raising chickens, and running.


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Vendor Director - Biometrics
- Recruiter
- Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited
- Location
- Pampisford
- Salary
- £60,000 per annum
- Posted
- 10 May 2018
- Closes
- 23 Jun 2018
- Job Function
- Director
- Industry
- Science / Environment
- Position Type
- Permanent
Your new company
A global pharmaceutical organisation who reward their employees for autonomy within individuals, with beneficial company rewards and recognition. All employees are essentially making a positive impact to patient lives every day, and this is the setting stone for the noticeable motivational atmosphere and collaborative efforts as soon as you step into the office. The current pipeline is smashing every other in the UK, so what better time to join and be a key part in driving ground breaking success.
Your new position
Implementing visionary solutions, driving high standard delivery, excellent decision making whilst shaping and engaging the external environment is all part of delivering value to the pipeline. This is the main goal of the Biometric team.
You will be reporting to and working with the Pipeline Delivery Lead, to support and set up Biometric goals for Analysis & Reporting deliverables across all models, and in alignment with the project requirements. You will partner with the leading CROs, ensuring deliverables are met as agreed, setting partnership objectives and managing contracts ensuring the scope of work is followed accurately.
Other responsibilities:
- Maintain high level of communication, interactivity, cultural sensitivity, negotiation, discretion and persuasion to ensure that you obtain outcomes and maintain professional relationships
- Lead improvement of analysis and reporting delivery components of drug development
- Ensuring the strategic partnerships are successful by establishing strong communication pathways internally and externally, and that the correct skills and capabilities are in place
- Be the delegate for the Pipeline Delivery Lead for specific tasks/activities
What do you need to qualify?
- University degree
- Extensive experience within the pharmaceutical industry or CRO
- Strong understanding and knowledge of business strategy and goals
- Be able to generate new strategies
- Comfortable dealing with people and senior managers
- Successful experience working with external partners
- Proven ability to work remotely and independently, from key stakeholders and customers
- Proven project management/leadership experience from drug related projects
- Proven experience working on an adhoc project basis
- Strong networking skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
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My client can offer you a competitive salary with multiple additional company benefits, but also the guarantee of a clear and progressive career path due to the exciting pipeline and mass of projects currently being planned/worked on. The new office is a great place to be, with a friendly and open environment, where team work and leadership is key!
If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV.
If this job isn't quite right for you but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion on your career, as there are multiple statistical, SAS programmer and biostatistics positions available.


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In a sign that people have finally had enough with the junk mail style tactics of a most online advertising, there is a growing trend around browser adblockers. Of the 100+ add-ons available for Firefox, adblockers are now the most popular download and add-on. They work by preventing advertising images from downloading and replacing them with blank space or art from a curated collection. All of this really came into focus for me yesterday when it was picked up on by the New York Times in an article called 'Web Fight: Blocking Ads and Adding Art' Currently the most popular is Adblock Plus which has over 4 million downloads since January 2006 and it's predecessor Adblock has been downloaded over 8 million times. I think it will be interesting to watch and see the the industry deals with this growing trend when we spend so time and money to target consumers who can now simply choose to completely tune us out.
More in Digital culture
Create Street Art in Virtual Reality with Kingspray
I have long street art for a really long time for the way it redefines a space, redefine how people see art...May 10, 2016
Conferences like SXSW need to evolve and what they could learn from the NFL
Conferences that focus on new technology should use for it for themselves.March 15, 2016
Beme – a social media network that engineers authenticity
I've written before about who social media has created an era of unprecedented social transparency and reactions to all this information...July 31, 2015


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Mind The Gap love to create large-scale, premium-quality artworks and SWING WITH ME is no exception. Framed wall art to die for.
Designed and produced in Transylvania. Printed on fine art paper and embellished with gold foil. Framed with a premium wooden frame and protected with acrylic glass.Size: 100cm x 70cm


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In Jane's Footsteps
Get your walking shoes out. This weekend (May 2 and 3) is the annual Jane's Walk, dedicated to everyone's favorite grassroots urbanist. Inspired by Jane Jacobs' close attention to the everyday experience of urban life as it unfolds on the ground as a basis for understanding and acting upon the city, volunteers will lead free walking tours in over 200 neighborhoods in North America, and for the first time, in India (where PUKAR will lead the way). Organized by the Centre for City Ecology in Canada and by the Center for the Living City in the US, Jane's Walk included over 6000 participants last year, its second in existence. Many tours focus on the built environment, but others touch on local culture, history or crucial planning issues. It's not too late to lead your own...
The walks celebrate Jacobs' simple and groundbreaking idea that in order to figure out what will work for cities, one has to look at how people actually experience the city at ground level and plan with people at the center, rather than on the basis of car traffic, utopian models or scientific formulas. Not a formally trained planner herself, Jacobs' principles (higher densities, mixed uses, short blocks) are now the ABC's of the field. More importantly, her promotion of community-based planning as a counterpoint to top-down master-planning was responsible for a vast paradigm shift. It's no accident that Where readers voted her seminal treatise, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, into the top position of our list of best books for the novice urbanist.
To what extent have Jane's footsteps left a lasting imprint? According to Hilary Ballon, an architectural historian at NYU quoted in the NY Times' City Room blog, this is a "'golden moment for the rebirth of city planning... after a long period of tremendous suspicion about the viability and value of a master plan' — suspicions fueled by a perception of 'evil top-down planners who didn't understand what neighborhoods needed.'" She was introducing a talk on April 15 by Daniel L. Doctoroff, deputy mayor until early 2008, on PlaNYC, what he called '"one of the most sweeping, most comprehensive blueprints for New York ever undertaken."
Based on the premise that New York's population is expanding rapidly, its infrastructure is aging, and its environment is at increasing risk from climate change, PlaNYC lays out a detailed framework for meeting goals in the arenas of land, water, transportation, energy, air and climate change. The plan was created after a four-month public outreach process, including consultation with advocacy groups and town hall meetings in all five boroughs. With characteristic NYC bravado, the plan claims to be a model for city planning in the 21st century.
Are we indeed witnessing the rebirth of far-reaching master-planning, but with new features? Is this a happy medium: planning for tomorrow while making residents' needs and voices central? Or are Jane Jacobs' views on the importance of keeping our feet on the ground and involving communities being diluted to token community outreach meetings?
(Flyer from the Center for the Living City. Photo of Jane by Maggie Steber, Planning Magazine, 1986, sampled here.)
1 comment:
- Benjamin Hemric said...
It seems to me that many contemporary "urbanists" and "planners" (le.g., Daniel Doctoroff, Amanda Burden, chairperson of NYC's planning commission, and Hilary Balon, etc.) mistakenly think planning is OK -- and maybe even "Jane Jacobs approved" -- as long as it takes into account the wishes of local communities. I think this is incorrect on both counts (i.e., being a good idea in general and being Jane Jacobs approved). (Whether the plans of Doctoroff et al. really take into account the wishes of local communities is yet another, separate, issue. Norman Oder, of the blog "Atlantic Yards Report" seems to be covering this aspect of the issue.)
Judging from all her writings (all seven of her major books, not just a few chapters of the first one) and a number of her interviews, it seems to me that Jane Jacobs has outlined a way of looking at cities and economies that is much more anti-planning (even by "local communities") than most people realize. (See especially her chapters on "drift" in "Cities and the Wealth of Nations" and a similar one towards the end of "The Nature of Economies.")
Judging from her writings and civic activism, it seems to me that Jacobs was less for general planning (or "comprehensive planning"), even community-based "comprehensive planning," than for honest, democratically arrived at government decisions over governmental responsibilities, like roads, parks, etc. This, so it seems to me, is VERY DIFFERENT from comprehensive planning and deciding what a city or an economy should ultimately become and how to go about getting it to be that way.
- April 28, 2009 at 7:09 PM


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Ian Megson
Ian Megson is Head of the Division of Health Research and Director of the Free Radical Research Facility. His qualifications include a BSc in Physiology, a PhD investigating the release of nitric oxide from novel drugs, and a British Heart Foundation Post-doctoral Fellowship. Professor Megson has also held lectureship and senior-lectureship posts at the University of Edinburgh.


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Breathing Easier as EPA Rescinds Smog-Standard Delay
NEW YORK – Environmental and public health groups are breathing a sigh of relief that the Environmental Protection Agency will not postpone implementation of standards for smog-forming ozone.
In June, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that the standards, scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 1, would be put on hold for a year.
Fifteen states, including New York, and a coalition of organizations last week filed a lawsuit challenging that decision. The EPA rescinded the postponement the next day.
Graham McCahan, a senior attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund, says the delay would have been "unlawful" and had been imposed without considering the impact of smog on children, asthma sufferers, the elderly and anyone with heart or respiratory problems.
"So this is a really welcome development that they have reversed course and we can begin getting these emission reductions in place as soon as possible," he states.
Pruitt had maintained there was confusion among the states over the standard's requirements, and that the EPA needed to review the regulations.
But McCahan points out that the states already have collected the data and made their recommendations to the EPA for designating areas that need to improve air quality.
"Now the ball is in EPA's court and they have a legal deadline of Oct. 1 to either accept those recommendations or tweak them," McCahan states. "But, generally speaking, the EPA accepts the recommendations of the states."
According to EPA data, when fully implemented, the smog standard will prevent about 660 premature deaths, 230,000 childhood asthma attacks and 28,000 missed workdays each year.
Meeting the standard will require reducing pollution from all sources, including cars, power plants and factories. McCahan adds, the states can't do it on their own.
"It's a cooperative framework under the Clean Air Act between the states and the federal government, and it's important that the federal government hold up its end of the bargain," he points out.