NCW Easter Vigil in Australia During Pandemic

We are hoping to return celebrating the Word and Mass physically as a community.  Naturally, some precautions need to be taken with the elderly and those with underlying health problems as we gradually recover.  There had been some positive news in Guam in that many are recovering from the virus.  It is also hopeful to find that there were about 26 patients over the age of 60 who have recovered from the virus.  Even the 90 year old patient recovered.  

Like the rest of the world experiencing the pandemic, Australia was also hit with the corona virus.  But they have found a very beautiful way to celebrate the Easter Vigil.  Because they were in lockdown, the Easter Vigil was celebrated in the homes with families rather than in large groups that we normally have.  In fact, even here in Guam, our Word celebration continues within our families or through Zoom or video conferencing.  It is important that Catholics continue to listen to the Word of God.  Listening to His word sustains us and is also nourishment to our souls.  In Guam and across America, the buildings may be empty, but the Church continues to celebrate liturgies in the homes.  You can find the following article here (the bold is mine).
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FOR Catholics, Easter is a time of hope and devotion through the Paschal Liturgies.

And for communities of the Neocatechumenal Way, accustomed to large Easter vigil gatherings, the limitations of social distancing, proved a challenging prospect.

The Neocatechumenal Way has about 70 communities in 13 dioceses across Australia.

So instead of meeting as communities, Neocatechumenal families were invited to follow the Easter Vigil liturgy in their homes.

“This historic reality (of COVID-19 virus) was like the night of the Passover in Egypt … like the people in their own homes, waiting for the Passing of the Lord,” Vanda, a Sydney mother, said.

Kerry, celebrating Easter with her family said: “We started with the Lucernarium (lighting candles), and we had a fire to light our candles”.

“From there we moved inside where we began with the Exultet (Easter Proclamation),” she said.

“Then we began the Liturgy of the Word. We had asked seven of the children to prepare a reading each, and the 3 older girls proclaimed them.

“We had a song after each reading.

“All had a large candle to be lit, from which each lit their own candle – in many cases that from their own baptism.”

The natural crescendo in the Liturgy of the Word leads up to the Paschal Alleluia and the proclamation of the Gospel.

“Six of our ten children joined us in a beautiful and rich night of the word, where the kids fully participated,” Wollongong couple Arpad and Naomi said.

Parents helped their children through the readings, with different family members introducing each reading.

There were also moments to share with one another what the Lord was saying to them.

The Litany of the Saints was sung, before lighting their candles and renewing their baptismal promises – recalling previous Easters when each child was baptised by immersion.

To remember the Easter vigil, with its readings and baptisms is to be full of gratitude to the Lord who still has the power to lead us from Egypt to the Promised Land.

The limitations of 2020 caused by Covid-19 did not fundamentally alter the power of this night.

“We will remember this Easter fondly. Christ is truly risen for us! Alleluia!” Naomi said.

Those of the Neocatechumenal communities who were alone or in small households also celebrated as they could: many used Zoom to join a presbyter celebrating the Vigil.

Technology comes to our aid in difficult times enabling us to see and hear one another and even to sing together, in order to participate in a living liturgy which gives life.

In its own way the situation in 2020 has been a gift to the Christian family and enabled us to do something new – where the devil perhaps thought he had won a significant victory because the church buildings were empty, he had to acknowledge that multiple and powerful liturgies were being celebrated in domestic churches, the homes of families across Australia.

The good news was announced: Christ is risen. Alleluia.

Petition To Ban Planned Parenthood in Michigan

Gretchen Whitmer, the Governor of Michigan had stopped all elective surgeries in Michigan so that health officials can assist in battling the corona virus pandemic.  However, she has allowed abortion to continue, stating that it is "life-sustaining."  Several states in the Union, however, have moved to temporarily block abortion services deeming it as non-essential.  You can read the story here.  

There is a petition circulating through social media from Michigan, banning Planned Parenthood.  Our Archbishop Michael Byrnes is from Detroit, Michigan.  Let us help our brothers and sisters in the United States in shutting down Planned Parenthood and abortion by signing the petition below:  


Petition 

The Church is Essential

I was reading an article in the Guam Daily Post written by Helen Middlebrooke.  She stated that freedom of religion is a fundamental right needed at this time during the pandemic.  She is correct to some degree.  Freedom of religion is a fundamental right, but there is a difference between the right to believe and the right to practice those beliefs. The right to practice those beliefs can be limited by the government especially if it endangers the life, safety, and health of the people.  On the other hand, she is correct when she stated that the Church is essential.  And when I say "church," it is in reference to the people, not the church building.  The people is the church, and we are essential.  

The Church advocates the right to life to every unborn child, which is the reason we oppose abortion.  This right to life also extends to the church (the people).  It extends to her members.  And this Christian belief is put to practice when Archbishop Michael Byrnes closed down the parishes. It is for the life and safety of the Church.  Stay home and practice social distancing.  Observe good hygiene by washing your hands frequently.  Wear a mask and gloves when you go out for essential business.  The secular government is incorrect in stating that the Church is NOT essential.  Man is composed of both body and spirit.  When our bodies are injured, the hospital is the proper place to heal our bodies.  But our spirits can also be broken, and Christ is the only physician who can heal broken spirits.  Therefore, despite that we cannot physically be present, the Mass is televised or streamlived on the Internet so that the faithful can listen to the Word of God.  I agree that this is not good enough, but it is only temporary until the pandemic is over.  

It is the secular world that teaches that the Church is not essential.  As Christians, do not forget that what the secular world teaches is not always in conformity with Christian teaching.  The Church is essential.  God is essential in our lives everyday especially during this pandemic.  

The following article is on Bishop Peter Baldacchino, the Bishop of Las Cruces, New Mexico.  If you recall, Bishop Peter was appointed to head the Diocese of Las Cruces in New Mexico, making him the first Diocesan Bishop associated with the Neocatechumenal Way.  You can find the following article here.
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Washington D.C., Apr 15, 2020 / 04:45 pm (CNA).- The Bishop of Las Cruces, New Mexico, has lifted a diocesan ban on the public celebration of Mass, issued guidelines for distribution of Holy Communion, and told priests they may resume sacramental ministry if they follow state-ordered health precautions.

“We [as priests] have been called by Christ and ordained to serve the people of the Diocese of Las Cruces, to bring them hope and consolation during this difficult time,” Bishop Peter Baldacchino wrote in a letter dated April 15 and obtained by CNA.

The announcement came days after New Mexico's governor banned gatherings of more than 5 people, a restriction Baldacchino said priests must observe, even as the bishop expressed his objection to it.

Baldacchino is the first U.S. bishop known to have amended a previously declared diocesan ban on public Masses since the coronavirus pandemic took hold of the U.S. last month.

The bishop also made provision for priests to resume weddings and funerals in accordance with state regulations on social distancing, and granted permission for them to be held outside on Church property for the duration of the pandemic.

Christopher Velasquez, communications director of the diocese, confirmed the letter to CNA on Wednesday evening.

Velasquez stressed the "essential ministry of hope" the Church is called to undertake during the pandemic. He added that the diocese urges all Catholics in at-risk demographics to exercise prudence, remain at home and watch the Mass on livestream whenever possible

In his letter, Baldacchino said that “At the outset of the pandemic, I ordered the priests of the Diocese of Las Cruces to suspend all public Masses as we assessed the situation and established a safe way to continue to bring Christ to the people, both through the Word of God and the Sacraments."

"These past few weeks have allowed me to further analyze the situation and discern a safe way to proceed,” the bishop wrote.

“It has become increasingly clear that the state shutdown will last for some time. Depriving the faithful of the nourishment offered through the Eucharist was indeed a difficult decision, one that I deemed necessary until I had further clarity regarding our current state of affairs, but it cannot become the status quo for the foreseeable future.”

Dioceses across the United States have suspended the public celebration of Mass, and many have restricted priests’ ability to hear confessions and anoint the sick. While priests in some dioceses have tried to find ways to provide sacramental ministry, including drive-in Masses and Eucharistic adoration, some bishops have banned these practices.

Baldacchino said in his letter that the public danger posed by the coronavirus had to inspire renewed reflection by the Church, and demanded a response from ministers. He also said that his action was in part inspired by the deaths of two priests, close friends and seminary classmates, who contracted the virus.

“We are all aware of the tragedy caused by the Coronavirus, I myself have lost two close friends of mine, priests I studied and served with. I am fully conscious of the death and sadness these days seem to bring. And yet there is more. The Coronavirus can also be a help to us. How long have we settled down in our ‘usual way’ of doing things? For how long have we grown comfortable with our routines? For how long have we taken the grace of the sacraments for granted? Or the beauty of the assembly at Mass?”

Baldacchino said the crisis created by the pandemic had brought about “a time for renewal.”

“In the events of these days and weeks the Lord is calling us out of our comfort zone, he is calling us to seek new ways to reach the people. In addition to this mission with which we are entrusted, we also have the mission to keep people safe. The two must be equally pursued,” he said.

“While it is true that we need to take every reasonable precaution to reduce the spread of Coronavirus, it is equally true that we offer the greatest ‘essential service’ to our people. The past few weeks have brought to light many unintended consequences of the ‘stay-at-home’ order.”

The bishop pointed to reports that the Disaster Distress Helpline, a federal crisis hotline run by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, has seen an 891% increase of calls during the pandemic, with large spikes also being recorded at suicide prevention hotlines. He also noted reports of increases in domestic violence in places under lockdown.

“Simply put, in the midst of financial uncertainty, fear for one’s health, pandemic induced anxiety and confinement to their homes, people definitely need a word of hope,” he said.

“We, as priests, are called to bring the Word of Life to people, we are called to minister the life-giving sacraments. Televised Masses have been an attempt to bridge the gap during this time, but I am increasingly convinced that this is not enough,” Baldacchino said.

“The eternal life offered in Christ Jesus needs to be announced. It was precisely the urgency of this announcement that drove the first apostles and the need is no less today. Christ is alive and we are his ambassadors.”

Revoking the suspension of public Masses, in place in the diocese since March 16, the bishop said that priests are now allowed to celebrate Masses in the presence of the faithful “while maintaining all current health precautions set forth by the state and federal government.”

Baldacchino’s letter noted that the state of New Mexico recently updated its Public Health Order, which no longer includes churches as “essential services.”

“I strongly disagree,” he said. “Sadly, the Governor is no longer exempting places of worship from the restrictions on ‘mass gatherings.’ It seems to me that while we run a daily count of the physical deaths we are overlooking those who are dead interiorly.”

To comply with the governor’s directive, guidelines issued to all priests limit attendance at Mass in church buildings to 5 people, including the celebrant, and insist that a minimum safe distance of six feet be observed and all seating sanitized after Mass ends.

Baldacchino also authorized priests to celebrate Mass outdoors, in compliance with state guidance on social distancing, and specifically recommended setting up an altar in the parish parking lot with parishioners remaining in their cars with an empty space between each vehicle.

“Parishes that lack sufficient parking spaces may celebrate the liturgies in open cemeteries or other available open spaces. Parishioners should maintain at least a six feet separation at all times,” the guidance states.

Over the Easter Triduum, the bishop had a stage erected outside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and celebrated the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil for local Catholics who remained in their cars.

Bishop Peter Baldacchino celebrates Mass on Holy Thursday. Credit: David McNamara/Diocese of Las Cruces

Cardinal Pell Mentions Kiko

The following article is an Easter message from Cardinal Pell.  You can find article here.




Cardinal George Pell said Friday that suffering can be offered to God for good, and that Christians see Christ in the suffering, and are obliged to help them. His message came days after his release from prison, and amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

“The sexual abuse crisis damaged thousands of victims. From many points of view the crisis is also bad for the Catholic Church, but we have painfully cut out a moral cancer and this is good. So too some would see COVID-19 as a bad time for those who claim to believe in a good and rational God, the Supreme Love and Intelligence, the Creator of the universe,”  Pell wrote in an Easter message published by The Australian April 10.

“It is a mystery; all suffering, but especially the massive number of deaths through plagues and wars. But Christians can cope with suffering better than the atheists can explain the beauty and happiness of life,” the cardinal added.

Pell was convicted in December 2018 of sexually assaulting two choirboys at the Melbourne Cathedral in 1996. On April 7, the Australian High Court unanimously ruled that the evidence presented during the trial would not have allowed the jury to avoid reasonable doubt and ordered Pell’s acquittal and release after more than 400 days in prison.

The High Court’s Tuesday decision marked the end of a nearly three-year legal process which began in June 2017, when the cardinal was charged with several counts of sexual assault dating back decades. The majority of these charges were dropped before they could be brought to trial.

Pell, who was most recently the Archbishop of Sydney before he left Australia in 2014 for a Vatican position as prefect of the Secretariat of the Economy, has returned to Sydney after his release from prison.

In his message, the cardinal acknowledged his incarceration, writing that “I have just spent 13 months in jail for a crime I didn’t commit, one disappointment after another. I knew God was with me, but I didn’t know what He was up to, although I realised He has left all of us free. But with every blow it was a consolation to know I could offer it to God for some good purpose like turning the mass of suffering into spiritual energy.”

“The only Son of God did not have an easy run and suffered more than his share. Jesus redeemed us and we can redeem our suffering by joining it to His and offering it to God,” Pell added.

In a reference to the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, Pell noted that in times of plague and difficulty, Christians were unique in the ancient world for their commitment to nurse and care for the sick.

Pell cited Kiko Argüello, co-initiator of the Neocatechumenal Way, for having noted how “a fundamental difference between God-fearers and secularists today is found in the approach to suffering."

“Too often the irreligious want to eliminate the cause of the suffering, through abortion, euthanasia, or exclude it from sight, leaving our loved ones unvisited in nursing homes. Christians see Christ in everyone who suffers — victims, the sick, the elderly — and are obliged to help,” he wrote.

The 78-year-old’s release from prison this week has been controversial, and was met with protest in Australia.

Hours after Pell was exonerated, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne was vandalized. The cathedral’s door was spray-painted with a cartoon image of a devil, along with the message “ROT IN HELL, PELL.” Other doors were daubed with upside-down crosses and the words “NO JUSTICE,” “PAEDO RAPIST,” and: “The law protects the powerful.”

Archbishop Peter Comensoli of Melbourne told Australian media that while he was upset about the vandalism, he was “not entirely surprised.”

“There remains such strong emotions around all of these matters,” Comensoli told Australian news network 3AW.

The cardinal’s Easter message included a proclamation of the Gospel: that Jesus of Nazareth died, and was resurrected bodily. “It was a return of his entire person from death, breaking the rules of health and physics, as Christians believe this young man was the only Son of God, divine, the Messiah...who redeems us, enables us to receive forgiveness and enter into a happy eternity.”

On April 7, the day he was released from prison, the cardinal told CNA that "prayer has been the great source of strength to me throughout these times, including the prayers of others, and I am incredibly grateful to all those people who have prayed for me and helped me during this really challenging time.”

Easter 2020

This year's Easter will always be remembered unlike all other Easters we have experienced.  It is an Easter where the brothers are not present.  The celebration of the Mass takes place online.  The celebration of Easter will also take place online because we are still on lockdown.  Social gatherings are not allowed due to COVID-19.  However, some of the brothers in the NCW communities were able to celebrate Holy Thursday and Holy Friday through the Internet and video conferencing.  One of the changes made in Holy Friday were the addition of ten solemn intercessions:

The last prayer in the solemn intercession was very touching.  "Let us pray, dearly beloved, to God the Father almighty, that he may free the world from the suffering of the present time; take away the Coronavirus pandemic, drive out hunger, wipe out hatred and violence, grant health to the sick, strength and support to those work in the health care system, hope and comfort to families, and salvation to those who have died."

This coronavirus pandemic came during Lent.  In some ways, it came as a blessing.  It caused many of us to reflect on what is truly more important in life and how we have taken many things for granted.  There was a time, when some Traditional Latin Mass Catholics would criticize the NCW for receiving the Body of Christ by hand.  They were so many arguments regarding HOW to receive the Body of Christ.  Emphasis was placed more on the "HOW" rather than on the fact that the Body of Christ was received.  Whether by hand or tongue is irrelevant.  So much emphasis was placed on WHERE the NCW should be holding their celebration rather than seeing the fact that all celebrations are one regardless of whether it was held in a home, church building or social hall.  

Now, with the COVID-19 lockdown, who can receive the Body of Christ?  Who receives it by hand or by tongue?  Where now are the faithful celebrating the Mass?  It is no longer in the church building in front of a consecrated altar.  It is in the comforts of our home in front of a computer or TV screen.  The Mass has entered the virtual world in which the faithful cannot receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.  Perhaps, God allowed the physical Mass to be taken away because some people worshiped the RULES of the Mass rather than God.  They made the rules their idol just as the Pharisees did.

John 4:20-21 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."  "Woman," Jesus replied, "believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 

This is an unusual Easter because we are not physically present in the celebration.  We cannot receive the Body and Blood of Christ.  Nevertheless, we are the Body of Christ, never separated from the Head, our Lord Jesus Christ.  We are with Him and in Him.  When the Militant Church on earth physically celebrated the Mass, the angels and saints were present together with us.  This time, the Triumphant Church will be celebrating the Mass together in Heaven and the Militant Church will be spiritually present with them.  

Happy Easter to everyone!!! 

  

Cardinal George Pell's Abuse Conviction Overturned

The sexual abuse conviction on Cardinal George Pell has been overturned by Australia's high court.  His conviction for the five alleged counts of sexual abuse was unanimously overturned; therefore, he will be released from jail.  You can read the story here.  The statement below was from Cardinal George Pell (the bold is mine).  

STATEMENT FROM CARDINAL GEORGE PELL

I have consistently maintained my innocence while suffering from a serious injustice.

This has been remedied today with the High Court's unanimous decision.
I look forward to reading the judgment and reasons for the decision in detail.
I hold no ill will toward my accuser, I do not want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel; there is certainly hurt and bitterness enough.
However my trial was not a referendum on the Catholic Church; nor a referendum on how Church authorities in Australia dealt with the crime of paedophilia in the Church.

The point was whether I had committed these awful crimes, and I did not.
The only basis for long term healing is truth and the only basis for justice is truth, because justice means truth for all.

A special thanks for all the prayers and thousands of letters of support.
I want to thank in particular my family for their love and support and what they had to go through; my small team of advisors; those who spoke up for me and suffered as a result; and all my friends and supporters here and overseas.
Also my deepest thanks and gratitude to my entire legal team for their unwavering resolve to see justice prevail, to throw light on manufactured obscurity and to reveal the truth.

Finally, I am aware of the current health crisis. I am praying for all those affected and our medical frontline personnel.

Cardinal George Pell 

The only basis for long term healing is TRUTH and the only basis for justice is TRUTH, because justice means TRUTH FOR ALL.

The Catholic Church should always be on the side of TRUTH.  This is not to say that there are no sex abuse victims.  There are REAL victims of sex abuse, but they are being undermined by false accusers.  

The law lifting the statutes of limitations is an unjust law.  There are reasons why statutes of limitations exist in the first place.  It is to ensure that justice takes place.  There is no justice when an accuser comes out 50 years later to claim an accusation against a dead priest who cannot speak nor defend his name and reputation.  A person who believes that ALL sexual accusations against the clergy, without any investigations, are true is a person who cares only for what he/she thinks is "good for the Church" rather than the TRUTH. 

Rest In Peace Father Gioacchino Basile

The information on Father Gioacchino Basile was emailed directly to me.  The corona virus claimed another priest in New York.  Father Gioacchino Basile was the spiritual director in the RMS in Brooklyn.  May he rest in peace.  

Another Redemporis Mater priest passes on to the Father

He is Father Gioacchino Basile, 60, missionary priest from Reggio Calabria Italy, who died this morning in Newark, NJ.  In 1986, already being part of the Neo-catechumenal Way which helped him to discover his vocation to the priesthood, he was evangelizing in Sicily. After this phase of intense discernment, he left for New Jersey, where he entered the seminary in 1988. He was ordained a priest on May 27, 1995 and, two months later, he was appointed parish priest in the city of Penuelas in Puerto Rico.

After a decade of ecclesial service in that region, he was transferred to New York to the parish of San Gabriele dell'Addolorata in the diocese of Brooklyn. He was always happy.  He was also spiritual director in the Seminary RM of Brooklyn where Father Julio Caesar is Rector.

News taken from L’Avvenire di Calabria

Father Jorge: A Missionary Priest

More information on Father Jorge Ortiz-Garay.  The following article can be found here.  May he rest in peace.  
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Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn March 28 announced the death of Father Jorge Ortiz-Garay, 49, who died the evening before from COVID-19.

He was pastor of St. Brigid’s Church in the Wyckoff Heights area of the New York borough of Brooklyn and he also was diocesan coordinator of the ministry to Mexican immigrants.

He died at Wyckoff Hospital Medical Center in Brooklyn from complications related to the coronavirus and is believed to be the first Catholic priest in the United States to die as a result of COVID-19.

“This is a sad day and a tremendous loss for the Diocese of Brooklyn. Father Jorge was a great priest, beloved by the Mexican people and a tireless worker for all of the faithful in Brooklyn and Queens,” said Bishop DiMarzio, who issued a video statement in English and Spanish. He said Father Jorge, as he was called, had “underlying complications” which made him more vulnerable to the coronavirus.

The bishop called the late priest “a great missionary among us,” especially in establishing the diocese’s Mexican apostolate.

Bishop DiMarzio noted that it was Father Jorge who coordinated “the magnificent Our Lady of Guadalupe feast day traditions” in the Diocese of Brooklyn, which includes a Mass attended by thousands of pilgrims followed by a torch-lit pilgrimage through the streets of Brooklyn and Queens, the two New York boroughs that make up the diocese.

He recalled the crowd of 3,000 that gathered for the feast last Dec. 12 at Brooklyn’s Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph and in his video message made a special plea to those who attended to think about a vocation , as “someone must replace Father Jorge. We need vocations to care for Hispanic community, we need vocations from the Spanish speaking.”

If you feel God is calling you, please pray and when the coronavirus epidemic is over please go to see one of your priests” about a possible vocation, Bishop DiMarzio added.

Father Jorge was born Oct. 16, 1970, in Mexico City. He was ordained to the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, as a member of the Neocatechumenal Way May 29, 2004.

He came to the Brooklyn Diocese in 2009 and first ministered at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, in Prospect Heights, while also serving as the Chaplain for “missio ad gentes” in Brooklyn. In 2014, he began serving as administrator at St. Brigid’s Church and on July 13, 2019, was installed as the pastor.

On Dec. 10, 2019, he was incardinated into the diocese, officially becoming a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn. He also became a naturalized citizen recently.

A memorial Mass for father Jorge will be celebrated at a later date. He is survived by his parents, Jorge and Estella Ortiz, and siblings, and nieces and nephews.

“God bless all of you in this difficult time,” Bishop DiMarzio said in his message. “We mourn the passing of our own father Jorge, pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe for him and his family and for all that we may surpass and conquer this terrible virus.”