New Beginning

Tomorrow is the Solemnity of Holy Mary, Mother of God - Theotokos. On this important day, our Holy Father Francis will open the Door of Mercy in Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome - the largest Catholic Church dedicated to Our Lady in the world. 

The ancient Basilica enshrines the venerated image of Salus Populi Romani, depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary as the health and protectress of the Roman people, which was granted a Canonical coronation by Pope Gregory XVI on 15 August 1838 accompanied by his Papal bull Cælestis Regina. The image is particularly dear to the Holy Father as he customarily makes his personal pilgrimage to Our Lady every time he comes back from the international voyage. Not only him, but also Saint Pope John Paul II requested that an oil lamp burn day and night under the icon of the Salus Populi Romani, as witness to his great devotion to the Madonna.

One of my major disappointments in my missionary life in Diocese of Musoma in Tanzania was the termination of the process of spiritual affiliation of Holy Mary, Mother of God Cathedral in Musoma to the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica - caused by my transfer from Musoma Cathedral back to Kiabakari. Musoma Cathedral would become the very first Theotokos church in African Continent affiliated to the Basilica. I initiated the process back in 2003 after the lengthy conversations in Rome with prelates responsible for the Basilica who suggested and encouraged me to pursue this goal. The then Bishop of Musoma - Rt. Rev. Justin Samba - showed some interest in this idea and took the documents for his perusal and involvement. His premature death and my subsequent transfer to Kiabakari terminated the process.

In this Year of Mercy the urge to restart the process has become more vivid in my soul and - though I am no longer affiliated with the Musoma Cathedral - nevertheless I will go and see the Bishop of Musoma - Rt. Rev. Michael Msonganzila to suggest the reopening of the process.

I strongly believe that this spiritual affiliation would be of major benefit to the People of God in Musoma Diocese and beyond.

What is special about this affiliation with the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore?

This basilica holds the relics of the crib where our Lord lay when He was born from the Virgin Mary. This same basilica is the oldest church dedicated to the holy Mother of God as a fruit of the Council of Ephesus in the year 431. According to Catholic pious tradition, the site of the basilica was personally chosen by the Blessed Virgin when during a summer month in Rome, snow appeared over the hill where the present basilica now stands. For some periods in church history, the popes also lived in this basilica. This is the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. 

We must realize realize that Musoma Cathedral would have been deemed worthy to be linked to this rich history and immeasurable value of the papal basilica of the Mother of God! And to be a part of that historic papal basilica. How can we not be proud! How can we keep quiet when the grace of God is so admirably and incredibly shown to us! Also, we would not have to go to Rome to Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica to obtain privileges, blessings and indulgences proper to that sacred place. We would obtain them right here, in Musoma Cathedral!

What would the affiliation of the Musoma Cathedral with the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore mean for us?

The Holy Father assures all the pilgrims who come to the spiritually affiliated church - his apostolic blessings and the spiritual graces of the Church. In Musoma Cathedral the voice of Our Lady - as in Santa Maria Maggiore - would always be heard “Turn away from sin and return to my Son”. In Musoma Cathedral - as in the Basilica in Rome - the voice of the priests saying over our offerings of bread and wine “This is my Body...This is my Blood” would be heard, constantly inviting the faithful to receive the Lord in Holy Communion. In Musoma Cathedral, the rosary would be prayed with same graces and blessings obtained as in Santa Maria Maggiore when rosary is recited in front of Salus Populi Romani image. 

In Musoma Cathedral, the Holy Father could always count on his spiritual warriors praying that the mission of Peter may continue in the church with loving children faithfully obeying him. In Musoma Cathedral, we - the People of God of Diocese of Musoma - would commit to be proud of our Catholic faith, to defend it, to preserve it, to share it, to live it.

As you can see, our Cathedral in Musoma spiritual affiliation with the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore speaks more of duties than privileges. This affiliation demands from us greater fidelity to the Lord and to the Church. It calls on us for more heroic obedience. It challenges us to be more vigilant against the attacks to our faith, to be more humble and to be more repentant, to be more zealous and to be more loving and merciful. Truth to tell, the real indulgence is really when all of us live as faithful disciples of her Son. 

As we come to Holy Mary, Mother of God Cathedral in Musoma to enter the Door of Mercy in the Jubilee Year of Mercy and meet our loving, caring and merciful Mother, the spiritual affiliation with Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome would be a priceless gift of Our Lady, Mother of Mercy, for the Church in Musoma and Tanzania at large.

Thus, we would always - generation after generation - come to Musoma Cathedral to meet Our Lady - Theotokos - and Her Merciful Son - for the blessings and for the indulgences and privileges proper to the Basilica in Rome which we could gain in Musoma, but also to renew our faith, to strengthen our hope and to increase our love. This is the real fullness of grace! This is how our Lady, full of grace, wants us to be!

Let us pray that this process is reopened and successfully finalized in the Year of Mercy! Let us hope for the new beginning!

God IS Love

"All I can do is remind you of what you already know deep within your True Self and invite you to live connected to this Source. John the Evangelist writes, "God is love, and whoever remains in love, remains in God and God in him [and her]" (1 John 4:16). The Judeo-Christian creation story says that we were created in the very "image and likeness" of God--who is love (Genesis 1:26; see also Genesis 9:6). Out of the Trinity's generative, loving relationship, creation takes form, mirroring its Creator.

We have heard this phrase so often that we don't get the existential shock of what "created in the image and likeness of God" is saying about us. If we could believe it, we would save ourselves ten thousand dollars in therapy! If this is true--and I believe it is--our family of origin is divine. It is saying that we were created by a loving God to be love in the world. Our core is original blessing, not original sin. Our starting point is positive and, as it is written in the first chapter of the Bible, it is "very good" (Genesis 1:31). We do have a good place to go home. If the beginning is right, the rest is made considerably easier, because we know and can trust the clear direction of our life's tangent.

The great illusion we must all overcome is the illusion of separateness. It is the primary task of religion to communicate not worthiness but union, to reconnect people to their original identity "hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). The Bible calls this state of separateness "sin." God's job description is to draw us back into this primal and intimate relationship. "My dear people, we are already children of God; what we will be in the future has not yet been fully revealed, and all I do know is that we shall be like God" (1 John 3:2)."

Fr. Richard Rohr, Gateway to Silence

The Door Of Mercy In Kiabakari Registered on Vatican Official Website Of The Year Of Mercy

Happy day today as our Door of Mercy in Kiabakari Shrine has been officially registered in The Jubilee of Mercy official website. And it is the very first Door of Mercy registered from the entire Tanzania. We feel very proud!

Here is the link to the description of our Shrine (click here).

Link to the Doors of Mercy worldwide (click here)

Make Time For What You Love

Gaudete!

Today is the Third Sunday of Advent. This Sunday is called also "Gaudete" Sunday due to the joyful message proclaimed by the Mass formula and the Liturgy of the Word.

We have several reasons today for a very joyful celebration. The Holy Father has opened the Door of Mercy at St. Peter's Basilica on Tuesday. On Wednesday our Bishop of Musoma did the same in Holy Mary, Mother of God Cathedral in Musoma. Us did the same on Friday. Today another Doors of Mercy will be opened my the Holy Father in Rome's Papal Basilicas, in particular at his own cathedral at St. John  in Lateran.

In all dioceses of the world and indeed in every parish in the world the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy will be inaugurated and Doors of Mercy will be opened all over the world.

I have yet another - personal - reason to celebrate in gladness, gratitude and joy. This morning I have received the shipment of my new books and publications which I prepared for this Year of Mercy. A new book on Divine Mercy, a guidebook for readers of the Word of God, the examination of conscience for adults, the examination of conscience for the youth, the Jubilee prayer and the checklist of corporal and spiritual deeds of mercy during the Jubilee Year.

Immediately after we finished offloading the truck and stored books securely - the heavy downpour came all of a sudden and it still rains as I write these words three hours later. We were lucky, otherwise the shipment would get soaked in rain.

Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo! Thanks be to Merciful Father for the safe transportation of the shipment. Thanks be to Merciful Father for these first couple days of the Year of Mercy and extraordinary blessings and graces we have already received.

Live Feed from Vatican TV

Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and the Inauguration of the Jubilee of Mercy

The full text of Pope Francis’ prepared homily for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and the Inauguration of the Jubilee of Mercy can be found below:

Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Inauguration of the Jubilee of Mercy

8 December 2015

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In a few moments I will have the joy of opening the Holy Door of Mercy. We carry out this act, so simple yet so highly symbolic, in the light of the word of God which we have just heard. That word highlights the primacy of grace. Again and again these readings make us think of the words by which the angel Gabriel told an astonished young girl of the mystery which was about to enfold her: “Hail, full of grace” (Lk 1:28).

The Virgin Mary was called to rejoice above all because of what the Lord accomplished in her. God’s grace enfolded her and made her worthy of becoming the Mother of Christ. When Gabriel entered her home, even the most profound and impenetrable of mysteries became for her a cause for joy, faith and abandonment to the message revealed to her. The fullness of grace can transform the human heart and enable it to do something so great as to change the course of human history.

The feast of the Immaculate Conception expresses the grandeur of God’s love. Not only does he forgive sin, but in Mary he even averts the original sin present in every man and woman who comes into this world. This is the love of God which precedes, anticipates and saves. The beginning of the history of sin in the Garden of Eden yields to a plan of saving love. The words of Genesis reflect our own daily experience: we are constantly tempted to disobedience, a disobedience expressed in wanting to go about our lives without regard for God’s will. This is the enmity which keeps striking at people’s lives, setting them in opposition to God’s plan. Yet the history of sin can only be understood in the light of God’s love and forgiveness. Were sin the only thing that mattered, we would be the most desperate of creatures. But the promised triumph of Christ’s love enfolds everything in the Father’s mercy. The word of God which we have just heard leaves no doubt about this. The Immaculate Virgin stands before us as a privileged witness of this promise and its fulfilment.

This Extraordinary Holy Year is itself a gift of grace. To pass through the Holy Door means to rediscover the infinite mercy of the Father who welcomes everyone and goes out personally to encounter each of them. This will be a year in which we grow ever more convinced of God’s mercy. How much wrong we do to God and his grace when we speak of sins being punished by his judgment before we speak of their being forgiven by his mercy (cf. Saint Augustine, De Praedestinatione Sanctorum, 12, 24)! But that is the truth. We have to put mercy before judgment, and in any event God’s judgement will always be in the light of his mercy. In passing through the Holy Door, then, may we feel that we ourselves are part of this mystery of love. Let us set aside all fear and dread, for these do not befit men and women who are loved. Instead, let us experience the joy of encountering that grace which transforms all things.

Today, as we pass through the Holy Door, we also want to remember another door, which fifty years ago the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council opened to the world. This anniversary cannot be remembered only for the legacy of the Council’s documents, which testify to a great advance in faith. Before all else, the Council was an encounter. A genuine encounter between the Church and the men and women of our time. An encounter marked by the power of the Spirit, who impelled the Church to emerge from the shoals which for years had kept her self-enclosed so as to set out once again, with enthusiasm, on her missionary journey. It was the resumption of a journey of encountering people where they live: in their cities and homes, in their workplaces. Wherever there are people, the Church is called to reach out to them and to bring the joy of the Gospel. After these decades, we again take up this missionary drive with the same power and enthusiasm. The Jubilee challenges us to this openness, and demands that we not neglect the spirit which emerged from Vatican II, the spirit of the Samaritan, as Blessed Paul VI expressed it at the conclusion of the Council. May our passing through the Holy Door today commit us to making our own the mercy of the Good Samaritan.

The Ends of the Earth Have Seen His Mercy

From Zenith agency website:

The Ends of the Earth Have Seen His Mercy

HM Television and Apostolic Penitentiary: program on Confession for Jubilee Year of Mercy.

HM Television, in collaboration with the Apostolic Penitentiary, present “The Ends of the Earth Have Seen His Mercy,” a documentary on the Sacrament of Penance, on the occasion of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. 

Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza; Regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary, Archbishop Krzysztof Nykiel; Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Archbishop Arthur Roche; the penitentiaries of the four major basilicas of Rome and other experts on the subject help us to enter more deeply into the unfathomable mystery of God’s mercy.

The program opens with a glimpse into the Old Testament to discover “a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin” (Ex 34:6-7).

What follows is a presentation of Jesus Christ as the Revelation and Incarnation of the Father: “We see the closeness of God our Heavenly Father to us through the Incarnation, through His Son becoming flesh like us, living amongst us” (Archbishop Arthur Roche).

The central part of the program is dedicated to a reflection on the Sacrament of Penance, the instrument God uses to administer His mercy in the forgiveness of sins. The program offers a commentary on the basic requirements for making a good confession as well as an explanation of the needs and effects of reconciliation with God: “When a confession is made with faith, everything falls back into place, because the Lord is always ready to receive us, like the father from the parable of the Prodigal Son. With arms wide open, He awaits us in the confessional. All we have to do is be sincere and have contrition in our hearts” (Cardinal Mauro Piacenza).

The program concludes with a brief reflection on how priests should dedicate themselves to this ministry and a look at the indulgences the Church grants penitents.  

The program includes interviews with:

-Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary

-Archbishop Arthur Roche, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

-Archbishop Krzysztof Nykiel, Regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary

-Fr. Fr. Ján Ďačok, SI, Theologian of the Apostolic Penitentiary

-Fr. Pedro Fernández, OP, Penitentiary of the Basilica of St. Mary Major

-Fr. Ciro Stanzione, OFM, Penitentiary of the Basilica of St. John Lateran

-Fr. Kevin Hanley, OFM, Penitentiary of the Basilica of St. Peter (Vatican)

-Fr. Roberto Dotta, OSB, Penitentiary of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls

"The Ends of the Earth Have Seen His Mercy” has a running time of approximately 30 minutes and is available in Spanish, English, and Italian.

Click the following link to view the trailer: 

English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA1yaue44E8
 Italian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqbdFJ20OeM
Spanish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhU0nVQfMYU

Click the following link to view the program in its entirety:

English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxFH0GegR5w
Italian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPnQFOBmAbw
Spanish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ijzACCQl_Y

The DVD version of the program (in all three languages) is available for purchase on the EUK Mamie Foundation website: http://www.eukmamie.org/en/catalogue/dvd/specials/2266-his-mercy

It can also be downloaded free of charge, with the possibility of making a donation to HM Television to help support future productions.

“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live?” (Ezk 18:23) 

Poland Is Beautiful

Polish Legends. The Cracow's Dragon.