October 2012 - Archdiocese of Glasgow

FLOURISH • OCTOBER 2012
MISSION 27
THIS year’s Mission
Sunday theme of ‘Faith in
Action’ highlights the
work supported by
Scottish Catholics in missionary
dioceses in
Ghana, Zimbabwe and
India.
Renewed appeal to support
Church’s missionary work
Fr Tom Welsh, National
Director of Missio Scotland explained:
“The theme is particularly
appropriate this year, as
the annual focus on the missionary
work of the Church coincides
with the launch of the
Year of Faith, marking the 50th
anniversary of the opening of
the Second Vatican Council.
“Pope Benedict has called all
to reflect on and deepen our
faith, which he describes as a
gift which must be shared.
“This echoes the words of
his predecessor, Blessed John
Paul II, who encouraged every
parish, family and individual to
give priority to the work of the
Pontifical Mission Societies as
the primary channel for meeting
our missionary obligation.”
On a recent visit to southern
India, Fr Welsh visited the
Prem Niketan Home where religious
sisters care for children
with disabilities.
He met Sr Lizzie, who is primary
carer for five year-old
Chandu. Born with hydrocephalus,
he was not expected
THE Cathedral of Our Lady of Fatima was
consecrated in the city of Karaganda in
Kazakhstan, last month, marking the rise
of Christianity in a region that once hosted
camps for victims of Soviet persecution.
Bishop Janusz Kaleta of Karaganda said
the large church will be “a place of prayer
and a visible sign to attract new faithful to
the Christian faith.”
Over 1500 people attended the opening
liturgy, including Catholic faithful,
Orthodox Christian leaders, Muslim
leaders, and local civil authorities.
Fr Piotr Pytlowany, rector of the Diocese
of Karaganda’s seminary, said the
to live, but through care and
support has learned to walk and
the Sr Lizzie is hopeful that he
will soon talk.
In dioceses across India,
Africa and Asia, missionary
churches are being supported
in living out the Gospel of
Christ, bringing faith, hope and
love into the lives of millions
of people.
The Pontifical Mission
Societies are better known
under the title Missio Scotland
and were founded by a French
laywoman, Pauline Marie
Jaricot, in 1823.
She organized the first collection
for the mission in
China, gaining support of
workers in her family’s silk
factory in Lyon.
Last year, thanks to the generosity
of parishioners, Missio
Scotland raised almost
£347,000 to support the missionary
outreach of the Church.
All parishioners have an opportunity
to contribute to this
year’s collection on Mission
Sunday, 21st October.
Kazakhstan cathedral tribute to victims of repression
achievement is “the fruits of the martyrs
and the suffering that Christians lived in
the past in these lands.”
“We entrust the Catholic community in
Kazakhstan, and in all the countries of the
former Soviet Union, to the special
protection of the Virgin of Fatima, who has
already worked miracles,” he added.
Under Soviet rule, Kazakhstan became a
place of deportation. Karaganda was the
centre for a web of ‘Karlag’ concentration
camps for victims of religious and political
oppression.
Soviet authorities sent thousands of
Catholics of Polish, Ukrainian and German
nationality, as well as those from
Lithuania and Belarus, to the region.
In a pastoral letter marking the new
cathedral’s dedication, the Catholic
bishops said Karaganda earned “hideous
notoriety” as a place of repression and
banishment for anyone who dared to
challenge atheistic materialism.
“From the tragic depths of those dark
and difficult years of atheism and
religious persecution, Karaganda and its
surroundings was illuminated with the
shining light of the numerous priests who
lived, worked and finally died here,” the
bishops stated.
Kateri Tekakwitha
ON Mission Sunday,
Pope Benedict XVI will
canonise seven people
who witnessed faithfully
to Christ and brought
his love to others.
Among them is Kateri
Tekakwitha, a young
Mohawk woman, who will
become first Native
American saint. Known as
Lily of the Mohawks, she
was born in 1656 in upstate
New York and was only
four when her parents and
brother died of smallpox.
Takeri survived but her
face was badly scarred and
her eyesight impaired. In
1675, aged 18, Kateri met
the Jesuit Father Jacques de
Lamberville and started
studying the catechism with
him. She was baptised two
years later.
Over the next four years,
Kateri endured great suffering
from a serious illness,
but was known for her gentleness,
kindness and good
humour. She died just before
her 24th birthday.
Among the other new
saints is Marianne Cope
Marianne Cope
Witnesses to Christ
who carried on the work of
caring for people with leprosy
on the Hawaiian islands
begun under Fr Damien de
Veuster – who was canonized
in 2009.
French Jesuit priest,
James Berthieu served as a
missionary on Madagascar
during the turbulent years of
the second half of the 19th
century. When he refused to
renounce his Christian faith,
he was clubbed to death in
1896. His body was thrown
into a river and never recovered.
The other new saints are
Pedro Calungsod (a missionary
catechist from the
Philippines), John Baptist
Piamarta (an Italian priest
whose apostolate was
among young people and
workers’ families), Carmen
Sallés y Barangueras (a
champion of women’s rights
and dignity who founded a
religious community in
Spain) and Anna Schäffer (a
young Bavarian woman
crippled by a work accident
who devoted her life to
prayer and catechesis before
her death in 1925).
?Is God calling you
Vocation Director, Nunraw Abbey
HADDINGTON, EH41 4LW, Scotland
Or email: nunraw.abbot@yahoo.co.uk
Scottish Charity No SCO22611
to a life of silence and solitude
within a community of fellow seekers?
The Cistercian monks at Nunraw Abbey
offer such an opportunity.
With them you can praise God
through the psalms and liturgy
at set times during the day.
You will have time to study the ways
of God and to meet God in your
lectio divina. And, you will find work
that will keep body and soul together.
If you have good reason to believe
God may be calling you
to be a monk, write to:
A life of prayer with the Holy Mass as its Source and Centre
• Benedictine • Eucharistic • Contemplative • Liturgical
Do you feel called to this life?
Would you like to be a Benedictine Oblate?
Would you like to spend a set time in
Adoration during the day, or help to organise
a group of four or more for Night Adoration?
Monastic Afternoon - from 2pm onevery last Saturday of the month
Holy Manna Retreat Centre for Individuals and small groups
Holy Mass daily.
Expositionof the
Blessed Sacrament
day and night.
Tyburn Convent
Gloria Deo
DVD
£15 plus postage
The Path of
Mother Adele
Garnier
£20 plus postage
For more information please contact Mother Prioress
Benedictine Monastery, 5 Mackerston Place, Largs, KA30 8BY
Tel01475 687 320 info@benedictinemonasterylargs.com www.tyburnconvent.org.uk
World Mission Sunday—21st October 2012
Faith in Action
MISSIO Scotland, the only charity to guarantee support
for every one of the 1069 mission dioceses of the world.
This World Mission Sunday, please give generously.
For further information contact
MISSIO Scotland,
4 Laird Street, Coatbridge, ML5 3LJ
Phone: 01236 449774
Website: www.missioscotland.org.uk
Registered Charity No SC014858