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Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Advent Announcement 2016

The Neocatechumenal Way had its Advent Announcement last night at the Asan Church.  Father Pius delivered some good news.  Some of the brothers from Guam went to evangelize in Palau and gave a catechesis.  The good news is that there will now be an NCW in the island of Palau.  

Father Pius spoke about Kiko's new book, which was recently published.  His book entitled "Annotations 1988-2014" are reflections and notes by Kiko Arguello.  His book will soon be translated into English so that we would be able to read it.  


Those who attended the announcement last night also received a 16 page letter from Cardinal Gerhard Muller, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.  I cannot publish the entire letter on this blog, but I will quote some of the most interesting parts in the letter (the bold is mine): 


  1. And while the holy people of God participates in the prophetic mission of Christ by means of a life of faith and charity (LG 12), the Holy Spirit gives charisms from the simple to those "most extraordinary" - like those of the founders of orders, families or religious movements - which "are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation for they are perfectly suited to and useful for the needs of the Church" (LG 12).
  2.  Therefore, to ensure that the Church may not be fragmented in its various offices, ministries and charisms but recomposed in its variety to form and build unity in Christ, the Church's Magisterium, entrusted to the Pope, shall guard for the universal Church over the unity of the whole people of God, expressed in the variety of vocations and charisms and the Magisterium of the bishops for the local churches, "The judgement as to their authenticity and proper use belongs to those who are appointed leaders in the Church, to whose special competence it belongs, not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to that which is good. (see 1 Ts 5.12 and 19-21)" (LG 12)
  3. In the exercise of the mandate given to them by christ, the Popes have analysed, accompanied and promoted the Neocatechumenal Way in various stages.  It was Pope Benedict XVI, on 11th May 2008, who gave to their statutes the canonical approval, recognized also the founders' charism as an action of the Holy Spirit given for the Church's pastoral and spiritual edification and approving this itinerary of evangelization of the world and of the new evangelization for baptized Catholics. 
  4.  The painful issue in the Churches of old Catholic culture is just that: many of them, despite being "sacramentalised", are not "evangelized"; they have a theoretical knowledge of their faith, but without being rooted spiritually and existentially in it, and without being completely permeated by the love of God and of neighbour.  Of course, it wouldn't be fair to judge people solely based on this contrast, which is a general characterization of the state of Christianity in the European-American culture.  And since here it is not a matter of the catechumenate for adults before their baptism, but rather to awaken, sustain and fortify the faith according to the model of the pre-baptismal catechumenate, this is synthetically called "neocatechumenate."  
What I placed in bold in #2 is extremely important.  The judgement as to the authenticity and proper use of the Neocatechumenal Way belongs to the appointed leaders of the Church.  It does not belong to Tim Rohr, CCOG, or LFM.

Number 3 is also very important and I placed the whole paragraph in bold.  The Popes have analysed, accompanied and promoted the Neocatechumenal Way in various stages.  It was Pope Benedict XVI, on 11th May 2008, who gave to their statutes the canonical approval, recognized also the founders' charism as an action of the Holy Spirit...    


The announcement closed with a reminder to all NCW members to start building their belens  or nativity inside their homes so family members can start praying the novena.  A few instructions were given to the younger communities.  


6 comments:

  1. Is it possible to find this letter online? I wasn't able to find it on the Vatican website. I'm interested in reading it in its entirety.

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    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous at 2:37pm,

      The letter will not be available on the Internet until later on. You will have to check with Father Pius to get a copy of the letter.

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    2. I don't reside in Guam so I guess I'll just have to wait until it's published online.

      Delete
  2. Great news from KUAM! Senator Frank Aguon, a personal good friend of Tim Rohr, is all in worrying and nail biting because of what he did in his Legislative Committee will be questioned and exposed by Archbishop Byrnes! The legal counsel of the Archdiocese of Agana is requesting an overview of all documents that led to the church attacking Bill 326-33 that was forced on and signed into Public Law 33-187 by Governor Calvo!

    http://www.kuam.com/story/34036475/2016/12/13/aguon-question-churchs-sudden-interest-in-legislation

    It looks like Senator Aguon who wants to run for Governor in 2018 feels he has a lot to worry about publicity given to his dealing in relation to this anti-Catholic bill. The main feature of the bill is not restitution for the alleged victims, but a very peculiar opportunity it gives to accusers: accusers can demand unlimited liability from the church!

    There is no such law known to anybody on the wide world that allows unlimited charges to be made without any hard fact or evidence! This is called justismord, a deliberate misuse of lawmaking! All the dirt Rohr heaped up will be falling back now on the people who helped him. Frank Blas Jr. and Rory Respicio who co-authored bill 326-33 together have already been eliminated from the Guam Legislature! The voters judged them unworthy to continue decent law making. Now it is the turn on Frank Blas Aguon who is all cringing for his survival as a politician!

    What a fiasco JW, what a fiasco CCOG! Archbishop Byrnes might begin his job as the Archbishop of Agana, but he is surely not a beginner in fighting back against the trouble makers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tim Rohr is already scared and yelling, making foolish demand on Archbishop Byrnes! Read:

      TimDecember 13, 2016 at 8:29 PM

      Archbishop Byrnes needs to clarify what the hell is going on and he needs to do it pronto.

      http://www.junglewatch.info/2016/12/aguon-i-have-to-wonder-where-were-these.html

      Hey Rohr, just for the facts: you are NOT the Archbishop of Agana! It is Archbishop Byrnes and not you! Do you understand?!

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    2. The honeymoon of the junglers with Archbishop Byrnes is over! They became so scared of a normal scrutiny of their famous Bill 326-33 that they are shriveling and shaking in fear of what the next move of the Archdiocese could be. Yes, this bill may be struck down and replaced by a real one addressing the real problem of Guam and not a fake one!

      JW and CCOG people make an impression that there is something to hide about Bill 326-33. For one, the author of the bill has been already ejected from the Legislature by Catholic voters. The legislative production of Bill 326-33 seems to be faulty and corrupted to the guts. It looks like a speedy hatchet job! Rohr and associates have every reason to be scared and fear for their future if they were involved in a grand conspiracy to defraud the church! It will be something that Archbishop Byrnes cannot and won't tolerate.

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