Fr. Dr. Rif’at Bader celebrated Holy Mass in Smakiyeh, southern Jordan, on Sunday September 29, marking the Feast of Archangel Michael, the patron of Smakiyeh. The Mass was concelebrated by parish priest Fr. Ibrahim Naffa’, Fr. Yousef Rizeq, and Deacon Za’al Hijazeen in the presence of a large number of believers.
In the New Testament, we’re told that there are times in which we entertain angels without knowing it. The awareness of such possible spiritual visitations can be consoling and encouraging to us in the midst of life’s struggles and sorrows.
In speaking of our guardian angel, Pope Francis comments: “He is always with us! And this is a reality. It’s like having God’s ambassador with us.”
Saint of the Day for September 26
(September 26, 1897 – August 6, 1978)
Saint Paul VI’s Story
Born near Brescia in northern Italy, Giovanni Battista Montini was the second of three sons. His father, Giorgio, was a lawyer, editor, and eventually a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies. His mother, Giuditta, was very involved in Catholic Action.
Speaking to the media team of the Holy See, the Successor of Peter suggests a different way of communicating, an attitude that follows the example of the Christian martyrs.
"Communicating through witnessing, communicating by involving oneself in communication, communicating with nouns, naming things, communicating like martyrs, that is, as witnesses of Christ, as martyrs. Learning the language of the martyrs, which is the language of the Apostles".
As humbling as it can be, a saint always comes forward and promotes what is most lacking in a culture. In many respects, the saint’s very existence is a sign of contradiction, and what the holy one stands for or what they do is a glaring provocation to the spirits of an age.
When Pope Francis visited the South Asian island nation in 2015 he offered invaluable advice, but religious leaders chose to ignore it
In April 2014, when the Sri Lankan bishops were in Rome for an ad limina visit, they spoke to Pope Francis about the canonization of Blessed Joseph Vaz. Then, on his visit to Sri Lanka the following January, he agreed to raise Blessed Joseph to sainthood.
For experts and locals alike, it seems Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Thailand and Japan will not only highlight the Vatican’s strong ties with interreligious communities in each country, but it could also help the Pope advance his ecological and peace-making agenda.
Speaking to Crux, Adul Smanyaphirak, a Muslim living in Bangkok, said that for Thai people generally, “the pope’s visit is a great honor.”
Most mornings I have the BBC news on while I’m working, which is how I happened to catch a package with Martin Bashir Monday, September 6, covering Pope Francis’ visit to Madagascar over the weekend, in which the Pontiff issued a strong condemnation of runaway deforestation.
“The deterioration of biodiversity compromises the future of the country and of the Earth, our common home,” Francis said in the presence of Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina. “The last forests are menaced by forest fires, poaching, [and] the unrestricted cutting down of valuable woodlands.”
The Pope's journey to Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius is now over. They were five intense and extraordinary days.
Our minds are still filled with the joyful faces of the children, women, and men who accompanied Pope Francis along the sometimes muddy - and other times dusty - roads of Maputo and Antananarivo. The faces of all those people who animated, in the true sense of the word, the wonderful liturgies celebrated in these three countries.
Reaching beyond the borders of his own Catholic flock, Pope Francis Thursday, September 5, urged young Christians, Muslims, Hindus and followers of traditional religions to “write a new page of history” for their country, as the world is “destroying itself by war.”
“When everything seems to be standing still and stagnant, when our personal issues trouble us and social problems do not meet with the right responses, it does no good to give up,” Francis said.
