25 February 2016

What is the Good Friday Collection?

Four weeks from today, a collection will be taken up throughout the Church at the direction of His Holiness Pope Francis to support the institutions and mission of the Church in the Holy Land. The funds received are forwarded to the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land, who have been caretakers of the holy places for some eight centuries.

As so many of the faithful are fleeing the Holy Land and the Middle East generally, our prayerful and financial support is needed more than ever. The funds received in this universal collection are used in many ways to support and strengthen the faithful who remain in the Holy Land.

Last year, for example, the annual collection benefited the faithful in Iraq and Syria in these ways:
  • Supported 29 parishes, four homes for orphans, three academic institutions
  • Helped keep 16 schools open for over 10,000 pre-K through grade 12 students
  • Funded university scholarships for 295 students
  • Provided 398 homes benefiting Christian families
  • Helped rehabilitate over 100 homes for Christians families
  • Provided senior care facilities in Bethlehem and Nazareth
  • Created more than 1,500 jobs in the Holy Land
  • Preserved 74 sanctuaries and shrines from the life of Jesus and the prophets
  • Supported over 100 men preparing to be priests or brothers
The collection, however, not only benefited Iraq and Syria, but other places in the Holy Land in these ways:
  • In Old City of Jerusalem, 80 homes were renovated for Christian families
  • Senior care facilities were built in both Bethlehem and Nazareth
  • Archeological research was funded at Magdala
  • New parish centers were built in Jericho and Cana
 You can learn more about the projects funded by Good Friday Collection here.

As a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, which provides 75% of the annual budget of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, one of my principle duties is to contribute both spiritually and financially toward the welfare of the Christians in the Holy Land and toward the holy places in the Holy Land. A related duty - and no less important - is to encourage others to join the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulchre in this work.

As Saint Paul proclaimed the Gospel of Christ to the Gentiles throughout the world, he made it part of his mission to take up collections to assist the poor Christians of Jerusalem:
I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be sped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a little. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem with aid for the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem; they were pleased to do it, and indeed they are in debt to them, for if the Gentiles have com to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. When therefore I have completed this, and have delivered to them what has been raised, I shall go on by way of you to Spain (Romans 15:24-28).
In much the same way, we, too, share in the spiritual blessings of the Christians who live in the land where Jesus walked. Therefore, we, too, should be of service to them in material blessings. Please, in these next few weeks, ask the Lord what contribution you can and ought to make to our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land. In this way, when the Good Friday Collection is taken up four weeks from today, may you and I be pleased to contribute toward it.

20 February 2016

30 years ago

In one of the homilies of Narsai (d. ca. 502), known in the Eastern Church as "the Harp of the Spirit," we find these words addressed to a Bishop:
O thou dust-born, who signs the flock with the sign of the Lord, and seals upon it its hidden name by the outward mark. Ah, dust-born, who holds the Spirit on the tip of his tongue, and cuts away the iniquity of the soul and the body with the word of his mouth.
The Creation of Adam
Meister Betram, Grabow Altarpiece
This appellation of dust-born comes, of course, from what we read in the Sacred Scriptures, namely that "the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7).

As a consequence of the original sin, at some point the breath of God will leave each of us who are dust-born and we will die, for, as the LORD God said to our first parents, "you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19). This is a reality from which none of us can escape, yet we are not without hope because we who are "but dust and ashes," "if we have been united with [Christ Jesus] in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his" (Genesis 18:27; Romans 6:5).

We remembered all of this, of course, just a few days ago on Ash Wednesday, when we asked of the Father "pardon for sins and newness of life after the likeness of your Risen Son" (Blessing of the Ashes).

I stumbled upon those words of Narsai some weeks ago while conducting a bit of research for my thesis and - though they will not be particularly useful in the writing of my thesis - they have not left me. Today, especially, they are close to my heart for it was thirty years ago this morning that my father returned to the dust from which he came (cf. Preface IV, Mass for the Dead).

George William Zehnle


It scarcely seems possible that so many long years could have transpired since that fateful morning. It seems as yesterday in my mind and still can I recall the various details and moments of that day when everything changed in one instant. After all these years, I am not sure the pain has lessened, but it has become easier to carry.

The great J.R.R. Tolkien, who also knew the pain of losing his parents at a young age, put these words in the mouth of Gandalf the White: "I will not say: do not weep, for not all tears are evil" (The Lord of the Rings, 6.IX). These words have often brought comfort to my heart, because, while tears are often an expression of deep sorrow, they are also borne of love. Were I anywhere near home today, I would lay a new lei on his grave, as I have often done in the past:

 
After Saint Joseph Damien de Veuster left his home and family in Belgium to serve in the missions of the Hawaiian islands, he often wrote to saying, as he did in April of 1877,  "let us all live as good Christians, with the hope of meeting one day in heaven." Many other saints also wrote to their families with similar sentiments. In his last letter to his daughter, written in the Tower of London the day before he was killed, Saint Thomas More expressed his hope "that we may merrily meet in heaven." 

The Church, too, often expresses this same hope, as she does in the Collect of the Prayers for the Priest's Parents in the Masses for the Dead:
O God, who commanded us to honor father and mother,
have mercy in your compassion
on my father and mother,
forgive them their sins,
and bring me to see them one day
in the gladness of eternal glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God for ever and ever.
May the Lord in his goodness unite us who are dust-born together again in the joy of his kingdom where our tears will be of exceeding happiness!

19 February 2016

Islamic State in West Africa (formerly called Boko Haram) Ongoing Updates - February 2016

Previous Updates: January 2016 | December 2015 | November 2015 | October 2015 | September 2015 | August 2015 | July 2015  | June 2015 | May 2015 | April 2015  March 2015 | February 2015

29 February 2016
28 February 2016
26 February 2016
25 February 2016
21 February 2016
19 February 2016
18 February 2016
17 February 2016
16 February 2016
10 February 2016
9 February 2016
6 February 2016
1 February 2016

16 February 2016

Islamic State Ongoing Updates - February 2016

Previous Updates: January 2016 | December 2015 | November 2015 | October 2015 | September 2015 | August 2015 | July 2015 | June 2015 | May 2015 | April 2015 | March 2015 | February 2015 | January 2015 | December 2014 | November 2014 | October 2014 | April - November 2014

29 February 2016
28 February 2016
27 February 2016
26 February 2016
25 February 2016
24 February 2016
23 February 2016
22 February 2016
21 February 2016
20 February 2016
19 February 2016
18 February 2016
17 February 2016
16 February 2016
15 February 2016

14 February 2016
13 February 2016
12 February 2016
11 February 2016
10 February 2016 
9 February 2016
8 February 2016
7 February 2016
6 February 2016
5 February 2016
4 February 2016
3 February 2016
2 February 2016
1 February 2016