What Does It Mean to Be A Catholic?

Does it mean putting another title next to my name? Does it mean getting up early ever Sunday? Is it the same as other Christian religions?

No. Our society is living in a culture of death where lies spread because some prefer the darkness to the light. These people hate the Truth - the Truth that Jesus Christ started the Catholic Church (Matthew 16:18) and the Seven Sacraments of that Church. Through the ages the manipulations by others have taken the teachings of Christ and not simplified them but changed them! They call Christ liars!

I, however, do not blame anyone today at all. Above all, being Catholic is to love Christ completely. When we enter the Church in baptism we have our sins forgiven by the power of Christ working through His priests. This command he gave to His disciples at the end of the Gospel of Matthew: "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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 to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

In this great Sacrament of baptism, we literally enter the Catholic Church and in turn become part of the Mystical Body of Christ. We are baptized into Christ's body and therefore salvation is possible. Salvation outside of baptism is unrealistic because salvation outside of baptism is available only to those that truly didn't know of Christ - not those that refused Him.

We as Catholics are not hypocrites. We know the Mass - the form of worship started by Christ where at every single Catholic Mass Christ, the Good Lord - is the bloodless sacrifice of the Cross. We remember His death as in the words of the Gospels: "Do this in memory of Me." And through the Mass we reach a question: Can't I just stay at home and pray the same?

No! Is God physically present in your room? No, but at the Mass at the very most solemn moment, by the power of God and through His teachings in the Gospel of John 6, the Bread and Wine truly become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ not by the priest's power but God's power working through the priest.

We as Catholics are not idolaters and pray to statues and we don't worship Mary at all. We are not liars and wrongdoers but followers of Christ and His teachings before those came to corrupt them so that these anti-Christs might bring others down with them.

Look to Christ. So many people spend YEARS looking for life and its purpose, and in truth it only has one word: God. Look to God alone and trust in Him. Love Him who died for you and rose again so that you might live in His glory. Is Heaven easy? Certainly not, look to the lives of the saints and martyrs who died for their beliefs. Look to those in everyday life standing against the majority to support Christ's teachings and not trying to reason around opinions against the Church. Heaven is the narrow road that few shall find (Matthew 7:13)

Trust in God. He is there, waiting...Patiently in the Holy Eucharist for us to adore Him. In this year of the Eucharist may we grow more in love for our Savior and God and serve Him alone. That His not our way may be done.

The Council of Nicea (325 AD) wrote the following Profession of Faith. This is what Catholics believe. It should be solemnly proclaimed each Sunday Mass:

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us men and our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary , and became man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures: He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Catholics also must never support abortion, embryonic stem cell research, homosexual marriage, human cloning, euthanasia, or artificial contraception. A Catholic must believe all dogmas of the Catholic Church declared over the past 2,000 years since.

For more information see Apologetic Posts. Are you, Interested in becoming Catholic?  If so, look at the online resources available through CatechismClass.com.

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A Travel Back to the Catholic Basics

I recently read of an incident at a Church where a group of people after Communion ran up to the altar and smashing it onto the ground and destroying it. Today, I read a follow-up where the vandals claimed that a vision from Heaven led them to do it. And this article also stated they did it because Catholics don't care at the Mass. They just say the words with no feeling; they worship the idol - the altar.

I was deeply saddened by this and for that reason I wanted to start a "Return to the Basics" this week and I would appreciate others bloggers doing the same. I'd like to post links to my articles on the true teachings of the Church as we are NOT idolaters.

Basics:

Praying to Saints? Is this wrong?
Prayer
The Mass
Purgatory
Indulgences
Sacraments
Eucharist
Confession
Prayer to Mary
Dogma of the Immaculate Conception

Image Source: Images in the Public Domain. If you are interested in obtaining all of the images of this series in high resolution, please click here to visit my post to obtain them.

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St. Francis of Assisi

Memorial (1969 Calendar): October 4
Greater Double (1955 Calendar): October 4

Francis Bernardone was born in 1181 in Assisi, Umbria, Italy, to his who father was a wealthy merchant and to Pica, his mother. At his baptism, St. Francis received the name Giovanni (John), but his father changed it Francesco for France, where his business as a clothes merchant led him at that moment. He became a favorite of the nobles in Assisi and lived a life of a noblemen delighting in noble clothing and other possessions.

At the age of 20, after living a life away from God, Francis went to war against Perugia, but was captured and imprisoned for a year. While there, he received a fever that appears to have turned his thoughts to the things of eternity. However, he still wanted a military career. The very night before his departure, he experienced a vision of Christ that changed his life.

When he was approached by his noble friends afterward, his demeanor was utterly changed. He was a man of the spirit. They asked him if he was to be married. St. Francis said, "Yes", and he wanted to take as his bride Lady Poverty. He gave up his attire and sinful ways and submitted himself to a life of prayer and solitude although he was still uncertain over his change in life

St. Francis of Assisi was what we would call today a "radical". He loved God in such a radical way that from the moment of his conversion he served God completely. Once he saw a leper and was horrified by the man and kept walking until he realized his sin and turned around. He not only gave the man his money but...a kiss. Lepers were not only considered hideous but their odor was equally as disgusting as their appearance. And St. Francis fought against these desires of "Me" and "I" and turned them around to serving God through our neighbors.

"If anyone says: I love God, but he hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother"(1 John: 4:20-21)

St. Francis was not a priest but a holy man who did receive the five wounds of Christ - the stigmata and lived a life devoted to God.

Once Christ on the crucifix in a church actually spoke to him asking Him to rebuild His Church, which he did. His intense love of God one day even became a visible fire around his church where numerous people came and tried to put it out and realize it was not a fire but an intense love manifested - similar to a halo.

St. Francis is the patron saint of animals and was not a vegetarian but specifically would not eat lamb because Christ identified himself with the lambs as the Lamb of God. St. Francis said, "If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men."

Let us also be especially kind to those animals of the world. This week, give up meat in one extra meal (in addition of course to the required Friday abstinence) and give that money in the Sunday collection. Or, if you are able to fast, do so and spend extra time in prayer. I conclude with my favorite quotation by him, which he sang while lying on the ground dying: "Lead me out of my prison, that I may give thanks to your name" (Psalm 142).

Traditional Matins Reading:

Francis was born at Assisi in Umbria, and, after his father’s example, followed from his youth a mercantile career. One day, contrary to his custom, he repulsed a poor man who begged an alms of him for Christ’s sake; but, immediately repenting of what he had done, he bestowed a large bounty upon the beggar, and at the same time made a promise to God, never to refuse an alms to any one that asked him. After this he fell into a serious illness; and on his recovery, devoted himself more eagerly than ever to works of charity, making such rapid progress in this virtue, that, desirous of attaining evangelical perfection, he gave all he had to the poor. His father, angered at his proceedings, brought Francis before the bishop of Assisi, that, in his presence, he might formally renounce all claim to his patrimony. The saint gave up all to his father, even stripping off his garments, that he might, he said, for the future, have more right to say: Our Father who art in heaven.

After hearing one day this passage of the Gospel: Do not possess gold nor silver, nor money in your purses; nor scrip for your journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, he took it for his rule of life, laid aside his shoes, and kept but one tunic. He gathered together twelve disciples and founded the Order of the Minors. In the year of our salvation 1209, he went to Rome, to obtain the confirmation of his rule and Order from the apostolic See. Pope Innocent HI at first refused to see him; but having in sleep beheld the man he had repulsed supporting with his shoulders the Lateran basilica which was threatening to fall, he had him sought out and brought to him; and receiving him kindly confirmed the whole system of his institute. Francis then sent his brethren into every part of the world to preach the Gospel. He himself, desirous of an opportunity of martyrdom, sailed into Syria; but the Soldan treated him most kindly; so that, unable to gain his end, he returned into Italy.

He built many convents of his Order, and then retired into solitude on Mount Alvernia; where he fasted forty days in honor of the Archangel St. Michael. On the feast of the Exaltation of the holy Cross, he had a vision of a seraph bearing between his wings the figure of the Crucified, who impressed the sacred stigmata on his hands and feet, and side. St. Bonaventure says he heard Pope Alexander IV, while preaching, relate how he had himself seen these wounds. These signs of Christ’s exceeding love for his servant excited universal wonder and admiration. Two years later, Francis grew very ill, and was carried, at his own request, into the church of St. Mary of the angels; that he might give up his mortal life to God, in the very place where he had commenced his life of grace. There, after exhorting the brethren to poverty and patience, and the preservation of the faith of the holy Roman Church, he said the psalm: I cried to the Lord with my voice. When he reached the verse: The just wait for me, until thou reward me, he breathed forth his soul, on the fourth of the Nones of October. He was renowned for miracles and Pope Gregory IX enrolled him among the saints.

Auspicato Concessum:

A happy circumstance enables the Christian world to celebrate, at a not far distant interval, the memory of two men who, having been called to receive in heaven the eternal reward of their holiness, have left on earth a crowd of disciples, the ever-increasing off-spring from their virtues. For, after the centenary solemnities in honor of St. Benedict, the father and lawgiver of the monks of the West, the opportunity of paying public honors to St. Francis of Assisi will likewise be furnished by the seventh centenary of his birth. It is not without reason that We see therein a merciful intention of Divine Providence. For, by calling on men to celebrate the birthdays of these illustrious Fathers, God would seem to wish that they should be induced to keep in mind their signal merits, and at the same time to understand that the Religious Orders they founded ought on no account to have been the objects of such unbefitting acts of violence, least of all in those States where the seeds of civilization and of fame were cast by their labor, their genius, and their zeal.

Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII promulgated on September 17, 1882.

Writings:

A letter by St. Francis of Assisi

Prayers:

O God, Who, through the merits of blessed Francis didst give increase to Thy Church by enriching her with new offspring: grant us, that following his example we may despise earthly goods and ever be glad to partake of Thy heavenly gifts. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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Harriet Miers Nominated to Supreme Court of the USA

What does this mean?

Well, several days ago Justice John Roberts was confirmed to the Supreme Court and with cases coming VERY soon on assisted suicide laws in Oregon and the abortion parental-notification law in New Hampshire we will soon know Justice Roberts position. Let us pray, especially with last Sunday being Sanctity of Life Day, that Justice Roberts will protect life along with the other justices.

Today, Oct. 3rd, Harriet Miers has been nominated to take Sandra Day O'Connor's position and many are uncertain on her nominated. She, however, has apparently fought against abortion before and certainly, in my opinion, is a good choice for the court. Now, I'd like to share a quotation I read on a Family Research Council letter:

"[The] culture of life cannot be sustained solely by changing laws. We need, most of all, to change hearts" (President Bush)

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Feast Day of the Guardian Angels

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father." (Matthew 18:10)

 
Memorial (1969 Calendar): October 2
Greater Double (1954 Calendar): October 2

Just a few days after the The Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel, we have the Feast of the Guardian Angels. Dom Gueranger writes:

Although the solemnity of September 29 celebrates the praises of all the nine glorious choirs, yet the piety of the faithful, in the latter ages, desired to have a special day consecrated to the Guardian Angels. Several churches having taken the initiative, and kept the feast under various rites and on different days, Paul V (1608) authorized its celebration ad libitum. Clement X (1670) established it by precept as a feast of double rite on October 2, the first free day after Michælmas, on which it thus remains in some way dependent. [Note: After his work was written, Pope Leo XIII raised the feast to the rank of Greater Double].

Each of us has a specific guardian angel to watch over us night and day (Ps 34:7, Mt 18:10, Ac 12:15), but what do we do concerning them? Do we ask for their guidance daily or ignore them? Everyday when we rise to go about our day and make a morning offering let us thank God for His mercy and pray that our guardian angel protects our body and soul in the day ahead. Please take advantage of this - for we are not alone in life! Our guardian angel is always with us! As stated in the Baltimore Catechism, "Our Guardian Angels pray for us, protect and guide us, and offer our prayers, good works and desires to God" (223).

And each of our parishes and countries has its own individual guardian angels as well. St. Frances de Sales writes of this:

"The great Peter Faber, the first priest, the first preacher, and the first proposer of divinity in the Holy Society of Jesus, and the companion of St. Ignatius, its founder, returning from Germany, where he had done great service to the glory of our Lord, and travelling through this diocese, the place of his birth, related, that having passed through many heretical places, he had received innumerable consolations from the guardian angels of the several parishes, and that on repeated occasions he had received the most sensible and convincing proofs of their protection. Sometimes they preserved him from the ambush of his enemies, at other times they rendered several souls more mild, and tractable to receive from him the doctrine of salvation: this he related with so much earnestness, that a gentlewoman then very young, who heard it from his own mouth, related it but four years ago, that is to say, about threescore years after he had told it, with an extraordinary feeling. I had the consolation last year to consecrate an altar on the spot where God was pleased this blessed man should be born, in a little village called Vilaret, amidst our most craggy mountains. Choose some particular saint or saints, whose lives may please you most, and whom you can best imitate, and in whose intercession you may have a particular confidence. The saint, whose name you bear, is already assigned you, from your baptism."

Above all, get to know your guardian angel. Request their aid even in computer and Internet trouble or traffic jams. Angels are spiritual creatures with remarkable intelligence yet no free will. As stated in the Baltimore Catechism Q 216: "Angels are pure spirits without a body, created to adore and enjoy God in heaven." They serve God completely and devotion to our guardian angels can only lead us closer to Jesus Christ. Early Christians were devoted to angels. Origen writing in 225 AD declared: "Every believer — although the humblest in the Church — is said to be attended by an angel, who the Savior declares always beholds the face of God the Father. Now, this angel has the purpose of being his guardian." 

And as a reminder, we do not become angels as some people seem to believe. Angels are completely different creatures; what we hope to become is a saint (no matter how old we are when we die), and then we will be in Heaven with the angels praising God: "Hoshana in the Highest, Lord God of Peace." People can't be angels just like they can't be dogs after they die - we are completely different creatures.

For more information, please see my post: What are Angels? A Summary & Exposition on Angels for Catholics

No evil shall befall you, nor shall affliction come near your tent, for to His Angels God has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways. Upon their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone (Psalm 91: 10-12) 

From St. Bernard:

"And so, that nothing in heaven should be wanting in your concern for us, You send those blessed spirits to serve us, assigning them as our guardians and our teachers. 'He has given his angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways.' These words should fill you with respect, inspire devotion and instill confidence: respect for the presence of angels, devotion because of their loving service, and confidence because of their protection. And so the angels are here; they are at your side, they are with you, present on your behalf. They are here to protect you and to serve you. But even if it is God who has given them this charge, we must nonetheless be grateful to them for the great love with which they obey and come to help us in our great need.

"So let us be devoted and grateful to such great protectors; let us return their love and honor them as much as we can and should. Yet all our love and honor must go to Him, for it is from Him that they receive all that makes them worthy of our love and respect. We should then, my brothers, show our affection for the angels, for one day they will be our co-heirs just as here below they are our guardians and trustees appointed and set over us by the Father. We are God's children although it does not seem so, because we are still but small children under guardians and trustees, and for the present little better than slaves.

"Even though we are children and have a long, a very long and dangerous way to go, with such protectors what have we to fear? They who keep us in all our ways cannot be overpowered or led astray, much less lead us astray. They are loyal, prudent, powerful. Why then are we afraid? We have only to follow them, stay close to them, and we shall dwell under the protection of God's heaven."

Votive Mass of the Angels:

Missa Cantata on a side altar at St. Josaphat's Church in Detroit Michigan, said by Fr. Hrytsyk

Daily Prayer to Your Guardian Angel:

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here, ever be at my side to light and to guard, to rule and to guide. 

Collect:

O God, Who in Thine ineffable Providence hast deigned to send Thy holy Angels to keep watch over us: grant to us Thy suppliant people, that we may always be defended by their protection, and may rejoice in their fellowship for ever. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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Today is the Sanctity of Life Day!

Today is finally the Sanctity of Life Day. Please, pray the Rosary today. Pray it for all those that are thinking of abortion, have had one, and the children in the womb. Today is our chance to make a difference - our chance to help others in carrying their crosses - our chance to help Our Lord. Did He not say thus:

"Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. . . . Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." -- Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:40, 45)


Wouldn't you help our Lord if He were in the womb? If you answered yes then PLEASE pray the Rosary. Through the Rosary, Mary will pray for us and her prayers can only lead to her Divine Son - Our Lord, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us.

Peace be with you all

Image Sources: Created by a user of Phatmass Phorums. Used with permission.

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St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Memorial (1969 Calendar): October 1
Double (1955 Calendar): October 3

Known as the Saint of the Little Flower as well as the greatest saint of modern times, St. Thérèse of Lisieux (also called St. Therese of the Child Jesus) died at a young age in a monastery but lived her short life with great love. She was born on January 2, 1873, to a watchmaker and a lace maker. Her mother, the lacemaker, died when Thérèse was only 4 years old. Both of her parents were canonized in 2015.

St. Thérèse became a Carmelite nun at age 15. She described her simple path to sanctification and spirituality as "The Little Way". Read her autobiography, Story of a Soul, as well as Maurice and Therese, a book of letters between St. Thérèse and a struggling young priest. At 7pm on Thursday, September 30, 1897, St. Thérèse died of tuberculosis.

She is the patron saint of France, missionaries, florists, and the concerns of children to name a few. She has been called the greatest saint of modern times. There are nearly a countless number of people claiming her intercession in their lives including Mother Angelica, founder of EWTN. Countless numbers of miracles have been attributed to her. After all, Thérèse said that she wished to spend her entire time in Heaven by doing good on earth.

"Our Lord does not come down from Heaven every day to lie in a golden ciborium. He comes to find another heaven which is infinitely dearer to him - the heaven of our souls, created in His Image, the living temples of the Adorable Trinity." --Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

For a virtual tour of the National Shrine of St. Therese of Lisieux, please click here.

Traditional Matins Reading:

Teresa of the Child Jesus was bom at Alençon, in France, of respectable parents noted for their singular and constant piety. She was imbued with the grace of the divine Spirit from earliest childhood and desired to lead the religious life. She made an earnest promise that she would deny God nothing which He seemed to ask of her, and strove to observe it faithfully until death. She lost her mother when she was only five years old and committed herself wholly to divine providence, under the watchful care of her affectionate father and her elder sisters. Under such teachers Teresa exulted as a giant to run the way of perfection. At the age of nine, she was placed in the school of the Benedictine nuns at Lisieux, where she was remarkable for her progress in the knowledge of divine things. In her tenth year she suffered from a serious and mysterious illness, from which, as she herself relates, she was delivered by the Blessed Virgin, who appeared to her smiling, during a novena which she made to her under the title of our Lady of Victories. Then, filled with an gelie fervour, she began to prepare herself with all care for that sacred banquet “wherein Christ is received.”

After her first communion she felt an insatiable hunger for this heavenly food and, as if by inspiration, besought Jesus to turn all earthly consolation to bitterness for her. She was filled with a tender and burning love for Christ and the Church, and desired with all her heart to enter the Order of Discalced Carmelites, in order by self-abnegation and self-sacrifice to help priests, missionaries, and the whole Church, and to gain innumerable souls for Jesus Christ: all which, when at the point of death, she promised that she would obtain from God. Her extreme youth was the source of many difficulties for her entrance into religion, but she overcame them by her incredible fortitude of soul, and entered the Carmel of Lisieux at the age of fifteen. God disposed the heart of Teresa in a wonderful manner to ascend to Him by steps, and, imitating the hidden life of the Virgin Mary, she brought forth, like a well-watered garden, the flowers of all virtues, particularly charity towards God and her neighbour.

She read in the Holy Scripture the words: “Whosoever is a little one, let him come to me,” and desiring to please the Most High, determined to be a little one in spirit, and thus committed herself with childlike confidence to God as to a most loving Father. This path of spiritual childhood, according to the Gospel, she taught to others, especially the novices, whose training in the religious virtues she undertook out of obedience; and thus she set the way of evangelical simplicity before a world full of pride and of the love of vanities. Her heavenly Spouse inspired her with the desire of suffering in soul and body. Moreover, seeing that the love of God was almost everywhere neglected, she was filled with great grief, and two years before her death offered herself as a victim to the love of the merciful God. Then, as she herself relates, she was wounded by a flame of heavenly fire. At last, consumed by charity, rapt in ecstasy, and murmuring with all fervour the words: "My God, I love thee," she passed to her heavenly Spouse on September 30, 1897, at the age of twenty four. When dying she promised that she would let fall a ceaseless shower of roses upon the earth, which promise she has actually fulfilled since her entrance into heaven, and continues still to fulfil by countless miracles. Therefore, Pope Pius XI enrolled her in the catalogue of blessed virgins on April 29, 1923, and two years later, after more wonderful miracles, proceeded on the sixteenth of the kalends of June (May 17), to her solemn canonization.

Prayers:
 
Dear Little Flower of Lisieux, how wonderful was the short life you led. Though cloistered, you went far and wide through fervent prayers and great sufferings. You obtained from God untold helps and graces for his evangelists. Help all missionaries in their work and teach all of us to spread Christianity in our own neighborhoods and family circles. Amen.

O Little Flower of Jesus, ever consoling troubled souls with heavenly graces, in your unfailing intercession I place my trust. From the Heart of Our Blessed Savior petition these blessing of which I stand in greatest need (mention here). Shower upon me your promised roses of virtue and grace, dear Saint Therese, so that swiftly advancing in sanctity and in perfect love of neighbor, I may someday receive the crown of eternal life. Amen.

O Lord, Who has said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven: grant unto us, we beseech Thee, so to follow in humility and simplicity of heart the footsteps of Saint Teresa, the Virgin, that we may obtain everlasting rewards: Who livest and reignest.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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Images of God

I recently was asked by another blogger to post on what I view as my image of God. In our heads we all have different images of God's presence in our natural world, so what is your image?

I could find no picture of the image of God that I had; the closest I could find of my image of God was a website with the sun. My image of God is one set early in the morning when the sun is just rising over the distant and beautiful purple and red streaks blaze across. And as the sun rises a deep, golden Cross shines upon the sun - the sun though is shaped as the Eucharist. And finally as the bright orb reaches its peak the sky clears into soft blue - a lasting reminder of God's love of the cross and the glory in the Resurrection.

Add links to your images below.

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Pope Benedict XVI Visits a Children's Hospital

Today Pope Benedict XVI visited the main children's hosptial in Rome: Bambino Gesu. It was an extremely poignant trip.

His Speech:

Hospital Administrators and Distinguished Authorities,
Dear Children,

At the end of my Visit, I am glad to speak to you and to thank you for your warm welcome. I am grateful to the President of the "Bambino Gesù" Paediatric Hospital for his words on behalf of you all, words of faith and true Christian charity. I greet the Presidents of the Region and of the Province, the Mayor of Rome and the other Authorities gathered here.

My gratitude then goes to the Administrators, Directors and Coordinators of the Hospital Wards, and to the doctors, nurses and all the personnel. I address you in particular with affection, dear children, as well as your relatives who are beside you to care for you. My heartfelt thanks go to your representative who has paid me a kind tribute on behalf of the entire family of the "Bambino Gesù". I am close to each one of you and want to make you feel God's comfort and blessing. I would like to express these same wishes to those in the branches of this hospital at Palidor and Santa Marinella, who are equally close to me.

I chose the "Bambino Gesù" for my first Visit to a hospital for two reasons: first of all, because this Institution belongs to the Holy See and is caringly watched over by the Cardinal Secretary of State, who is present here. Passing through several wards, meeting so many suffering little ones, I thought naturally of Jesus who loved children tenderly and wanted them to be allowed to go to him. Yes, like Jesus, the Church too expresses a special fondness for children, particularly when they are suffering.

And this is the second reason why I have come to see you: to witness personally to Jesus' love for children, a love that wells up spontaneously from the heart and that the Christian spirit nurtures and strengthens. The Lord said: "As often as you did it for one of my least brothers, you did it for me" (cf. Mt 25: 40, 45). In every suffering person, especially if he or she is little and defenceless, it is Jesus who welcomes us and is expecting our love.

Consequently, dear friends, the work you do is important. I am thinking of the advanced surgery that has made the "Bambino Gesù" famous. But I am also thinking above all of the ordinary everyday work: of the welcome, hospitalization and painstaking care provided to the small patients - and there are so many of them! - who have recourse to your health-care structures. This requires great availability and a constant effort to increase the available resources; it demands attention, a spirit of sacrifice, patience and disinterested love to ensure that parents find here a place where they can breathe hope and serenity, even in moments of the most acute anxiety.

Permit me to say another word precisely about the welcome and care that is given to those who are sick. Here you are concerned to guarantee excellent treatment, not only from the medical but also from the human point of view. You seek to give a family to the patients and those who are with them, and this requires a contribution from all: the directors, doctors, nurses and staff in the various wards, the personnel, and the many praiseworthy Organizations of volunteers who daily offer their precious service.

This approach, which is effective for every clinic, must be a special feature of those inspired by Gospel principles. For children, then, no resources should be spared. May every project and programme, therefore, always be centred on the good of the sick, the good of the sick child.

Dear friends, thank you for your collaboration in this work of great human value that is also an especially effective apostolate. I pray for you, knowing that this mission of yours is far from easy. However, I am convinced that everything will be easier if, in devoting your energy to all your little guests, you are able to recognize in their faces the face of Christ.

When I went to pray in the chapel I met the priests, women religious and all those who accompany your work with their dedication, assuring in particular an appropriate spiritual animation. May the Church herself be the heart of the Hospital: draw from Jesus, truly present in the Eucharist, from the sweet Doctor of body and soul, the spiritual strength to comfort and care for all who are hospitalized here.

Lastly, as Bishop of Rome, may I be permitted to make a supremely pastoral reflection. The "Bambino Gesù" Hospital, in addition to being an institution of the Holy See that directly provides practical help for sick children, is an outpost of the Christian Community's evangelizing activity in our City. Here a practical and effective Gospel witness can be offered in contact with suffering humanity; here, the power of Christ, who with his spirit heals and transforms human existence, is proclaimed through deeds.

Let us pray that together with their treatment, the love of Jesus may be communicated to the little ones. May Mary Most Holy, Salus infirmorum - Health of the sick, whom we feel yet closer as Mother of the Child Jesus and of all children, protect you, dear sick children, and your families, the administrators, the doctors and the entire Hospital Community. I impart my Apostolic Blessing with affection to you all.

© Copyright 2005 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

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Human Cloning

The Church is intrinsically opposed to human cloning because human cloning takes God out of our lives and we make false gods of ourselves. We can't create life. Can we create a soul? No, and for this reason human cloning (research and experimental) is entirely wrong; only God, the author of all life, can create an immortal soul.

Recently, in a Sept. 29, 2005, article I read that Wisconsin just passed a bill banning all human cloning but will be vetoed by the governor. I will keep readers updated if I hear more on the bill in the future. Please, let's all pray that Wisconsin can overturn the veto and this bill can still become law.

Right now in the US 6 states have banned all forms of human cloning: Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, North Dakota and South Dakota.

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