WEEKLY E-MAGAZINE 44/1-6/2/2021

Carlo Voice

Chief Editors- Bro. Ephrem Kunnappally and Bro. John Kanayankal

Contributing Editors Very Rev.Joychen Paranjattu, Vicar General- Diocese of Rajkot Rev.Fr. Shanthi Puthusherry, PIME Rev. Fr. Sunny Kuttikkattu CMI Rev. Bro. Philip Kunnumpurath Spiritual Patrons His Holiness Francis HB Ibrahim Isaac Sedrak Coptic Catholic HB Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-RahiMarionite Patriarch HB Ignace Joseph III Younan Syriac Catholic Patriarch HB Joseph AbsiMelkite Catholic Patriarch HB Louis Raphaël I Cardinal Sako Chaldean Patriarch HB Gregoire Pierre XX Ghabroyan of Cilicia Armenian Catholic Patriarch HB Mar George Alencherry- Major of Syro-Malabar Church HE Moran Mor Cardinal Cleemis Mar Baselius Catholicos HB Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa Jeruslem Catholic Patriarch HE Cardinal Oswald Gracias, CBCI- Chairman and Archbishop of Bombay HG Joshua Mar Ignatius, Vice Chairman CBCI- Mavelikara Metropolitan Bishop HG Domenico Sorrentino, Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino HE Philiopose Mar Stephanose, Syro- Malankara Bishop of Canada HE Mar George Madathikandathil Bishop of Kothamagalam HE Mar Prince Antony Panengadan Bishop of Adilabad HE Thomas Dabre, Bishop of Poone Dr.Nicola Ghori, Postulator Cause of Carlo Acutis Madam Antonia Salzano, Madre de Carlo Acutis

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Manuscripts for Publication, reviews should be addressed to Email [email protected] Website:carlovoice.com illegal copying and reproduction by any means is punishable under the Copyright Laws Homily of His Beatitude Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa January 31, 2021 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B Today’s Gospel passage (Mark 1:21-28) outlines in Mark’s characteristic short and concise style the first steps of Jesus’ ministry with his first disciples.

The first element to note is that, from the beginning of the Gospel, Jesus does not move alone. He is always accompanied by the disciples (they came to Capharnaum), who in this case are four disciples, whose call we heard last Sunday, who are the first witnesses. Jesus begins His ministry in Galilee, in the different synagogues (today in the one of Capharnaum), centers where the people gathered, places where the people came together to pray, to proclaim the Word of God, but also to meet. Jesus presents himself where the population lives, in the ordinary contexts of life, contrary to the Scribes and Pharisees that circulate in their elite circles and did not mix, usually with the simple population. Jesus begins to teach (22,27), and he does it with an authority that generates amazement (22) mixed with fear (27), unlike the Scribes. Those present perceive in him authority different from that of the Scribes and new teaching: “What is this? A new teaching, given with authority” (Mk 1:27). The bystanders are therefore astonished by the authority of Jesus. What is the meaning of this authority, from where does it come? When is a person’s teaching authoritative? When it does not limit itself to teaching the law or interpreting it, Jesus does not speak of something other than himself but speaks of what belongs to him because it is in Jesus that the Kingdom is fulfilled. There is a difference when you talk about what you have heard spoken, what you have learned, or when you talk about yourself, what you care about, what is part of your life. The very inhabitants of Capharnaum report the other reason for this authority: “He commands even the impure spirits and they obey him?” (Mk 1:27). The teaching of Jesus is authoritative because it is liberating teaching. Often, in the Gospel, Jesus will accuse the Scribes and Pharisees because their teachings are oppressive and place heavy burdens on the people’s shoulders. Not so his, which rather liberates, promotes, restores dignity, brings back to the origin. His teaching is new. Not only because he says new things, but because he transforms life, he makes it new. He does not increase the knowledge of his listeners with other knowledge, but he brings about conversion. This teaching, however, is ruinous for someone (Mk 1:24). It is disastrous for those who oppress persons, degrade him, like the impure spirit that took possession of the man in the synagogue. It is also a disaster for those who refuse to enter the dynamic of change, a transformation that Jesus promotes. It is a disaster for those who see their authority, their power threatened. The impure spirit that cries against Jesus does not say anything wrong, unorthodox, but rather correctly proclaims Jesus’ identity, that He is truly the “holy one of God” (1:24). In the impure spirit’s profession of faith, there is missing the precise faith, the humility to welcome Him as the holy one of God. He has felt Jesus as an obstacle, a stumbling block to his power over man, and he does not want to have anything to do with Him (Mk 1:24). But above all, the cross is missing. That profession of faith will be “true” only when his truth will be worshiped under the cross, as the centurion will do on seeing Jesus die like this: “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mk 15:39). In this short Gospel passage, we already find all the themes that will return in different ways throughout the Gospel and constitute the nucleus of the Church’s mission. Jesus, together with his disciples, meets people where he finds them, He goes to them. He teaches with the authority of one who knows he is the consecrated one of God and whose teaching changes the life of those who welcome it because it is a teaching that heals and liberates. His teachings and gestures generate amazement and fear but also rejection and opposition. The Demon will try to hinder the coming of the Kingdom until the time when Jesus will be hanged on the cross, challenging and mocking for the last time the validity of His authority. Be we know that Jesus, on the cross, completed the work of healing that began that day in the synagogue.

Biblical Reflection of this week:

Very Rev. Fr.Joychen Paranjattu, Vicar General Diocese of Rajkot

Jn 3 Bronze Serpent, Moses and Eternal Life

Recently, we have been hearing that the right-wing groups have stepped up their anti-Christian campaign in central India, urging villagers to disassociate themselves from Christians and asking Christians to switch to their Religion and to avoid hostility. However, indigenous Christians in Madhya Pradesh state have vowed not to give up their faith under pressure and are prepared to face challenges to safeguard their faith. Today’s Gospel passage invites the reader to have strong faith in Jesus and to live in the light that Christ has brought to this world. God’s wish is not to condemn the world, but to save it through Jesus. This faith in Christ will save the believer and will lead him to eternal life. There is also warning to those who refuse to believe and prefer darkness that they are condemned already.

Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole in the middle of the Israelite camp. God had told Moses to do this so the Israelites who murmured against God and Moses and bitten by serpents could express their faith by looking at it and be healed. The bronze serpent was God's way. It was a call to faith in God and to the way of healing He established. Nothing more is known of the bronze serpent until it is mentioned again in 2 Kings 18:4 . There, in the account of King Hezekiah's purging of the Temple, the Bible tells of the destruction of this symbol. Apparently, the bronze serpent had become an object of worship as the Israelites had made offerings to it; it was called Nehusthan (Nehushtan is a combination of the Hebrew words for serpent and for bronze. cf. 2Kgs 18:4). Bronze serpent which became a symbol of God’s mercy towards the Israelites had become a stumbling block. So Nehusthan, as it was called, was broken into pieces.

In His conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus compared His own purpose with that of the bronze serpent. The serpent, lifted up in the wilderness, had been God's chosen way to provide physical healing. Jesus, lifted up on the cross, is God’s chosen way to provide spiritual healing for all afflicted by sin. As the serpent gave life in the wilderness, Jesus gives spiritual life. Faith was necessary to look at the serpent and be healed; faith is necessary to receive the healing (salvation) Jesus gives. His death on the Cross is to unite the believer in eternity with God who created them in His own image and likeness.

According to John, there is another moment of the symbol of God’s mercy. The moment of Jesus’ death and Resurrection is considered as a single moment of Jesus’ glorification. This is the moment of God’s mercy. This is the moment or hour when non-Jews will begin to believe in Jesus. Jesus says: “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he” (Jn 8:28). It is only with the death and Resurrection of Jesus, we realize how much God loves us and saves everyone by allowing his only son to die for us. Again in Jn 12:32, he says, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself”. That means, only after the Resurrection will the non-Jews believe in Jesus and know his true identity as the Son of God. Yes, this Son comes from the Father to the world to lead people to God the Father. He himself shows the way to the Father. He is the one who says that “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”.

If we listen to Jesus’ teachings and believe in him and in his teachings/words, we are in the right path. Jesus reveals to his audience, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12). There are many who prefer darkness in the world. They want to hide their evil deeds. They oppress others with their power and authority. However, those who live in Christ cannot live in darkness. To live in the light means to do what is true and to please God with our deeds.

Vox-Fidei The Precious Blood in the Age of Martyrs by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

The subject of our conference is really a statement of two mysteries of our faith: We were redeemed by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, and we are now living in the Age of Martyrs. Our purpose in this conference will be to briefly explain each of these two mysteries and show how they are related.

The Precious Blood

The words “Precious Blood” come from the Holy Spirit who inspired St. Peter to write, “You know that you are redeemed from the vain manner of life handed down from your fathers, not with perishable things as silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ as the Lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

What is St. Peter telling us? He is saying that our redemption was accomplished by the shedding of the blood of the Son of God who became man and died for our salvation on the cross.

Having sinned and becoming estranged from God’s friendship, the human race could not have been saved unless God had become man in order to die on the cross for our salvation.

There is nothing more basic to our faith than this mystery of divine love.

God became Incarnate in order to have a human nature. This means that He had a human body and a human soul. It means that He could suffer in His body, indeed could die a bodily death, not because He had to but because He wanted to out of love for us.

The only way that Christ could die was by being put to death by His enemies, who crucified Him on Calvary. Being the sinless Lamb of God, He could not die of any sickness or disease which, for us, is a consequence of original sin.

Christ, therefore, had to bleed to death. He had to shed His blood in order for His soul to leave His body which thus died on the cross so that we might be redeemed.

Jesus not only had a human body that could bleed to death, He also had a human will that could choose this death on the first Good Friday. That, in fact, is the essence of sacrifice. To sacrifice means to voluntarily surrender something precious to God. Christ sacrificed the precious possession of His human life so that He might restore the divine life of grace to the human race.

Over the centuries, devotion to the Precious Blood has been one of the hallmarks of authentic Catholic spirituality. In the Litany of the Precious Blood, we pray: “Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in the agony, save us” “Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the scourging, save us” “Blood of Christ, poured out on the cross, save us” “Blood of Christ, price of our salvation, save us” “Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness, save us”

So the Litany goes on with one repeated theme. God became man to shed His blood on Calvary so that we might reach the heaven for which we were made.

All of this is part of our faith. As Christ told us, “Without me you can do nothing.” This could be rephrased as, “Without the shedding of my blood you could not hope for heaven.”

The Age of Martyrs

As we enter the second part of our conference, on the age of martyrs, let us first make sure that the Precious Blood of Christ and our martyrdom belong together.

We believe that by His death on the cross, Christ merited all the graces we need to reach heaven. He won all the graces necessary for our salvation. He gained all the graces that the human race needs to reach its eternal destiny.

But we also believe that what Christ did by dying for us on the cross requires that we die on our cross by cooperating with the graces that Jesus won for our redemption. He could not have been more clear. He told us, “If you wish to be my disciples, take up your cross and follow me.” We must cooperate with Christ’s grace if we wish to join Him in eternity. He was crucified by shedding His blood. We must be crucified by shedding our blood in witness to our love.

All of this is elementary Christian teaching. The Precious Blood of Christ does indeed provide us with the light and strength we need to reach heaven. But we have to do our part, otherwise Christ’s passion and death on Calvary would have been in vain.

The focus of our conference is on the Precious Blood of Christ in the age of martyrs. What are we saying? We are saying that the present century is the age of martyrs par excellence. Ours is THE (all three letters capitalized) age of martyrs.

No words of mine can do justice to this statement: We are inclined to think that martyrs are those ancient men and women in the first centuries of the Church whom we commemorate by name in the first Eucharistic prayer, when we say, “We honor the apostles and martyrs,” and then name after the apostles, “Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Carnelius, , Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian.”

Unless we take stock of ourselves, martyrs are not commonly associated with the later history of the Church, and certainly not with our own times. What a miscalculation! A conservative estimate places the total number of martyrs who died for Christ up to the liberation edict of Constantine in 313 A.D. at around 100,000. We call that period of massive persecution the age of martyrs. Yet, the number of Christians who have died for their faith since 1900 is several million. In the Sudan alone, during the 1950s, over two million Catholics were starved to death by the Muslims because they refused to deny that Mary is the Mother of God since her Son is the Ibn Allah, the Son of God. There have been more Christian martyrs since the turn of the present century than in all of the preceding centuries from Calvary to 1900 put together.

It is no wonder that the in its Constitution on the Church went out of its way to identify martyrdom as one of the marks of holiness in our day. The passage deserves to be quoted in full.

Since Jesus, the Son of God manifested His charity by laying down His life for us, so too no one has greater love than he who lays down his life for Christ and His brothers. From the earliest times, then, some Christians have been called upon and some will always be called upon to give the supreme testimony of their love to all men, but especially to persecutors.

The Church, then, considers martyrdom as an exceptional gift and as the fullest proof of love. By martyrdom a disciple is transformed into an image of his Master by freely accepting death for the salvation of the world as well as his conformity to Christ in the shedding of his blood. Although few are presented such an opportunity, nevertheless all must be prepared to confess Christ before men. They must be prepared to make this profession of faith even in the midst of persecutions, which will never be lacking to the Church, in following the way of the cross.

When the council says that “few are presented” the privilege of shedding their blood for Christ, this is relative term. The actual number in our century is in the millions.

However, there are two kinds of martyrdom. There is the red martyrdom of shedding one’s blood physically; and there is the white martyrdom of suffering in witness to one’s faith in Jesus Christ.

As we have said, the number of those who have died a martyr’s death in our century is the greatest in Christian history. Must we not also say that the number of those who are now called to live a martyr’s life is the greatest since Christ’s crucifixion on the first Good Friday?

Let me leave no doubt in your minds. To be a faithful Catholic bishop, or priest, or religious, or husband or wife, or father or mother, or young man or woman - devoted to Christ and loyal to His vicar on earth - is to live the life of a martyr in the modern world.

Not all the faithful who suffer for Christ also die for Christ. Opposition to the Christian faith and way of life does not always end in violent death for the persecuted victims. That is why we must be ready to live a martyr’s life if we hope to remain faithful to Jesus Christ. No doubt loyal Catholics must suffer for their faith in Communist countries like China. That is why Chinese Catholics who are loyal to the Pope can survive only in an underground Church which is not subject to the Marxist government. In China only “patriotic Catholics” have freedom of religion.

Let’s be honest. Fidelity to the , to her doctrines of faith and precepts of morality; who are obedient to the Bishop of Rome must pay dearly for their allegiance. They must be ready to join in spirit their fellow believers throughout the world.

Let us have no illusions. Any Catholic in America who wishes to sincerely and fully live up to his religious commitment finds countless obstacles in his way and experiences innumerable difficulties that accumulatively can demand heroic fortitude to overcome and withstand. All we have to do is place the eight Beatitudes in one column and the eight corresponding attitudes of our culture in another column and compare the two. Where Christ’s praises gentleness, the world belittles weakness and extols those who succeed in crushing anyone who stands in their way. Where Christ encourages mourning and sorrow for sin, the world revels in pleasure and the noise of empty laughter. Where Christ promises joy only to those who seek justice and holiness, the world offers satisfaction in the enjoyment of sin. Where Christ bids us forgive and show mercy to those who offend us, the world seeks vengeance and its law courts are filled with demands for retribution. Where Christ blesses those who are pure of heart, the world scoffs at chastity and makes a god of sex. Where Christ tells the peaceful that they shall be rewarded, the world teaches just the opposite in constant rebellion and violence and massive preparation for war. And where Christ teaches the incredible doctrine of accepting persecution with patience and resignation to God’s will, the world dreads nothing more than criticism and rejection; and human respect, which means acceptance by society, is the moral norm.

The world does not believe in the Beatitudes. But that is not all. With all the legal and financial and psychological power at its disposal, the world opposes those who do not accept the secularism of our day.

Anyone who does not think that a loyal Catholic today must be ready to live a martyr’s life is living in a dream.

Conclusion

The subject of this lecture was the Precious Blood in the Age of Martyrs. These two are related as source and consequence.

The source of the grace we need to live a martyr’s life is the Precious Blood which Christ shed for us on the cross. Without the grace that He won for us on Calvary, it would be folly, not to say madness, to expect to follow the Savior faithfully in the world in which we live. Certainly we need the strength that Jesus merited for us by shedding His blood on the cross. But, if we dare say it, Jesus needs us to supply, as St. Paul says, what is wanting in the sufferings of Christ.

What are we being told? Did not Christ’s death redeem the world? Yes, His death redeemed the world, but conditionally. What is the condition? The condition is that we unite our sufferings with His, our crosses with His, our blood in body or spirit with His.

Martyrdom is not an appendix to Christianity. It belongs to its essence. If we unite our sufferings for the faith with the Precious Blood of Christ, we shall be cooperating with Him in the redemption of the world.

The secret is to love the cross. Why? Because our Love was crucified and we wish to be crucified with Him. Why? Because then we shall be glorified together with Him.

Prayer

“Lord Jesus, you shed your blood on the cross for the salvation of the world. It is by your blood that we were redeemed.

But you also told us that we are your disciples only if we carry our cross, which means shed our blood, and follow you.

Give us the strength we need to be your followers in truth and not only in name. We ask for the gift of martyrdom by professing our Catholic faith in the face of a hostile and Christless world. Amen.”