The Vatican State in LEGO

An architect and LEGO enthusiast from Chicago is touring a spectacular LEGO model of Vatican City. The work is the world’s first contiguous LEGO landscape of an entire sovereign country. Vatican City may be one of the smallest city states in the world, but it has no shortage of minute details. LEGO artist Rocco Buttliere rose to the challenge and attended to each one, from St. Peter’s Dome to the tiny red tile that marks the papal window of the Apostolic Palace. The only thing missing is a miniature model of the pope speaking during his weekly Angelus. The model was created at a 1:650 ratio. It took about 500 hours of planning and an additional 300 hours of building to complete. The massive LEGO structure measures 52 inches by 68 inches and must be split into 13 sections to transport. This project required 67,000 LEGO bricks to complete. Of these, some 1,300 are unique LEGO pieces that are not always easy to find. The dome of St. Peter’s was formed from the curving tails of blue dinosaurs, one of the only pieces he could find that would create the desired slope. While Buttliere is an architect in his own right, he has been able to make a full-time living off his LEGO skills. On his website his portfolio features some 80 models of everything from building replications to historical reimaginings. One of his biggest projects to date is a replica of 1st-century Jerusalem, a project that took 114,000 LEGO bricks and eight months to complete. Other works by Buttliere include a model of the Second Temple (circa 70 AD), the Santa Maria del Fiore (or Florence Cathedral), Mount Rushmore, and the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Archangels

Today is the feast of the Archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Michael - the angel of judgment - is known as the champion in the fight against Satan and the other devils as well as the guardian of the faithful especially at the time of death. Frequently he is portrayed crushing the devil’s head with a lance. Gabriel - the angel of mercy - is the messenger from God in St Luke’s gospel who foretold the birth of John the Baptist, “Be not afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall name him John.” Six months later it was Gabriel who appeared to Mary at the Annunciation saying, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” Raphael - whose name means “God has healed” was sent by God to heal Tobias of his blindness and to deliver Sara from the devil in the book of Tobit. We tend to underestimate the presence of Angels in our lives. However they are gaining popularity as we see many angel pins on people’s jackets, posters and paintings of various angels are showing up at card stores. And of course at Christmas, there are the angels on ornaments and hanging on nativity scenes. We sing about the angels in several of the Christmas hymns. Angels were also present at Jesus’ tomb when the women went to anoint his body and found the tomb empty. But we are reluctant to accept their actual existence. This is certainly a departure from our childhood when we prayed to our Guardian Angel at least daily. As children we believed that there was truly one angel whose job was to look after us, who would always hover around us ready to protect us from all evil and to communicate our desires and needs to God. The feast of the Guardian Angels in fact is in 3 days, October 2.

A prayer by Pope Francis on Nature

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of creation, and above all for the gift of life. Father, in the beginning of creation, you took man and placed him in the garden of Eden, to work in it and protect it. But unfortunately man became careless and did not cultivate and care for creation. On the other hand, he actually abused this precious gift. Father, give us the courage to change this attitude of ours, so that we can really start to appreciate your creation, and start looking at it as a free gift you gave us, which we have to safeguard and protect. Give us the wisdom to comprehend our egoism, by which we are causing destruction, desolation and filth. Help us so that we don’t remain indifferent at the loss of biodiversity and the collapse of ecosystems, which we oursleves are creating with our irresponsible behavior. We pray that with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can come to realize, that with all human activity, we are experiencing a change in climate, which is causing, as a result of our negligence, drought, floods, fires, besides suffering to those who are poor and ever so vulnerable. Help us to understand what is our role in this ongoing destruction of nature and the environment, so that we can start our road to conversion. Give us the wisdom to realize that we have a right and duty to respect the environment, and leave creation in a state whereby future generations can truly enjoy it. And teach us Lord to be humble enough to admit our faults and our careless way of life, And start to respect creation, so that like many young people, we can commit ourselves sincerely to save the planet we have to live on, and respect the gift of creation You gave us.

A famous Julian

Because of my name, I’m always on the lookout for people named Julian and Juliana. When I was in regular parishes, I encouraged many parents to name their children Julian or Juliana, and was successful on a few occasions. When this was not possible, I even had a horse, a piglet and a goat named such. But yesterday another Julian became quite famous, even though his name has been a household name with those familiar with professional cycling. Julian Alaphilippe won the iconic rainbow jersey of the annual UCI cycling road race, held yesterday in the Flanders, around Bruges and Leuven with thousands of fans cheering him on. He had already won the title last year and he is only the 7th cyclist to repeat the feat back-to-back. It was a grueling race with over 250 kilometers of tough climbing, strategies and occasional sprints, which led to many great aspiring names to drop out. The French Julian Alaphilippe sprinted away 12 kilometers from the end and survived the push from behind of Dutch, Italian and Belgian cyclists. Congratulations Julian!

Red Arrows

Yesterday and today the famous British Red Arrows will be giving a spectacular display in the skies above Malta. I share with you two photos I took yesterday, and two more I took a few years ago when they happen to be in Malta, probably sometimes in the 1980s. They were far from where I was, just finishing my 5 PM Mass and all I could take were two quick photos as they were descending at Luqa Airport around 6 PM. The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at Scampton, UK. The team was formed in late 1964 as an all-RAF team. In 1966, the team was increased to nine members, enabling them to develop their Diamond Nine formation. In late 1979, they switched to the BAE Hawk trainer. The Red Arrows have performed over 4,800 displays in 57 countries worldwide. The first two photos were from the 1980s display, and the last two are from yesterday.

Bea Johnson’s 5 R’s

Every day, the world generates 3.5 million tons of garbage – 10 times the amount generated 100 years ago. Bea Johnson wanted to do something to change this situation – she is the type of person that practices what she preaches. For the past 10 years, along with her family of four, she was able to reduce garbage to almost nil. She uses the method she calls the 5 R’s: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rot. She plans her life methodically, using glass bottles instead of plastic, buys fresh produce instead of frozen, always according to what’s in season. Bea started a movement to share her vision – for people to live simpler lives without any waste. She wrote a book called Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide to Simplifying your Life by Reducing your Waste (Scribner, 2013), promoting her vision of the 5R’s of Zero Waste. The book was translated into 28 languages, and was a best-seller on Amazon. She now travels around the world presenting her vision, inspiring millions who listen to her, with the hope of adopting the idea of zero waste.

Marble

A hall in a big museum was covered with marble tiles. In the hall were various works of art, including an impressive statue made of marble. Every day hundreds of people pass by this statue and admire it, even taking pictures of it. One night the marble tiles started to complain...’we were made from the same marble, even cut off from the same place, and yet everyone marvels in front of you, while everyone steps all over us.’ The marble statue replied, ’that is true, but please remember that when the sculptor started to work on you, you resisted his tools.’ The tiles replied by saying ‘of course we were not ready to allow the hammer and chisels and grinders to attack us.’ The statue replied ‘well, since you resisted him, he started to work on me, and created this masterpiece instead, even though I suffered so much when he was hammering and chiseling away relentlessly. But I let him be the master craftsman that he is and created me, and placed me here in this museum. So, since you refused to let the artist create something out of you, don’t complain now that people walk all over you!’

St Pio of Pietrelcina

This is one of my favorite prayers by St Pio of Pietralcina, (1887-1968) whose liturgical feast we celebrate today............. My dear Jesus, release from my mind and heart, - any troubles from the past, - any worries about the present, - any anxieties about the future.......So that I can desire always, and in everything, just one thing – TO GO AGAINST MYSELF IN FAVOR OF YOUR LOVE. I entrust my reckless and troubled past to Your bountiful Mercy, o Lord. I also entrust to Your infinite Love my confused and undecided present. And I entrust to Your holy Providence my mysterious future. Amen.

24 Converts

20 years ago I was at St Stanislaus Kostka parish in Pleasant Valley, New York, and among the duties I had in that parish was instructing the new converts into the church. That particular year I had a group of 24 converts, who were all very close to each other, and collaborated well with me. Some of them were baptized and confirmed, besides receiving their first Holy Communion. Others who were Protestants were received into full communion of the Catholic church. As parish priests we were allowed to give the sacrament of Confirmation at the Easter Vigil, when catechumens are entering the church. My previous year I had around 12 converts and the following year I remember I had 8. Then I went to Oregon and again the number of converts kept increasing, especially since only 10 % of Oregon is Catholic, and I kept encouraging the people to join us. In a small parish of 250 people, one year in 2005 I had 18 converts at St Elizabeth of Hungary in John Day.

Independence Day for Malta

Happy Independence Day to all the Maltese, in Malta and abroad. Malta was ruled over the past 2 millennia by various rulers: the Romans, the Arabs, the Normans, the Spanish, the Knights of St John, the French and the British. Following a Maltese constitutional referendum in 1964, approved by 54.5% of voters, on September 21st, 1964, Malta became an independent state as a Constitutional Monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as its Head of State. So September 21st every year is celebrated as Independence Day or Jum l-Indipendenza in Maltese, this year being the 57th anniversary. One can say that both Labor Leader Dom Mintoff, as well as Nationalist Leader and Prime Minister George Borg Olivier contributed towards the attainment of Independence. On December 1st 1964, Malta was admitted to the United Nations. In 1965 Malta joined the Council of Europe, and in 1970, Malta signed an Association Treaty with the European Community. Malta was declared a republic on December 13th, 1974 and in 2004, Malta finally became the 25th nation to join the European Union. (The photo shows the Prime Minister George Borg Olivier showing the documents declaring Malta Independent)

Remembering Jimmy Greaves

The world of European and British football mourns the death of one of the greatest players that ever played in England, and briefly in Italy. Jimmy Greaves died yesterday at the age of 81 after suffering a stroke 6 years ago. He made his debut for Chelsea on August 24, 1957, and today, nearly 50 years after he retired, nobody has scored more than his 357 goals in the top flight of English football. That in itself is remarkable. Not many, apart from George Best, were as lethal with both feet. Hardly anyone standing 5ft 8in or less was as reliable with his head. And very few did all of it with such seeming lack of effort. Jimmy played for Chelsea as a young player, playing in 157 matches, scoring 125 goals between 1957 and 1961. Then after a brief spell with Milan AC where he only played 12 games and scoring 9 goals, he passed on to Tottenham Hotspurs where he would play 321 games and scoring 220 goals between 1961 and 1970. He would play with West Ham for a year, playing in 38 games and scoring 13 goals, and continued playing with other minor teams. He was also a constant presence with the England national team, winning the 1966 World Cup, even though he was injured during the final stages. He played 57 matches with England, scoring 44 goals. Greaves was a prolific goalscorer, and cited his relaxed attitude as the reason for his assured composure and confidence. He also had great acceleration and pace, as well as great positional skills, clinical finishing, and opportunism inside the penalty area; he was also an excellent dribbler.

Never give up!

* Michael Jordan, the famous American basketball star, was told as a youngster that he was not good enough to be on the first team in his primary school. We’re glad he never gave up.... * J.K.Rowling was a single mother raising her daughter alone, when she started to write the books on Harry Potter. Her first book was refused 12 times, before it actually got printed. We’re glad she didn’t give up after her 11th try.... * Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper firm because he was told he had no creative ideas. We’re so glad he did not give up, but opened Disneyorld, Disneyland and so much more.... * The Beatles were not accepted at one studio to record a song, because they had absolutely no future in the music business. We’re glad they persevered.... * Albert Einstein could not talk until he turned 4 years old. His parents were told he would be a total failure in life. We are glad his parents never gave up on him.

How 9-11 led to Pope Francis

I want to share with you an article I wrote in the Times of Malta and appeared yesterday. It shows how some turn of events led to Pope Francis getting some unexpected exposure after the tragic events of September 11, 2001. This may have led to him being elected Pope in 2013. It just happened that the Bishop’s Synod was due to start inRome on Septmeber 15 , 2001. And the main coordinator was Cardinal Edward Egan of New York. Since he had to urgently return back to his community and devastated city unexpectedly, the second person to run the synod was Cardinal Joreg Bergoglio, who had just been created a Cardinal only 7 months earlier. Read the whole story here: (Unfortunately the blogger is not allowing direct link to the article - so kindly copy the following link and paste - Thank you - Fr Julian) https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/how-9-11-led-to-pope-francis-election-fr-julian-cassar.900902

St Robert Bellarmine

                          

This year we commemorate the 400th anniversary of Bellarmine’s death in 1621. Born at Montepulciano, Italy, October 4, 1542, St. Robert Bellarmine was the third of ten children. His mother, Cinzia Cervini, a niece of Pope Marcellus II, was dedicated to almsgiving, prayer, meditation, fasting, and mortification of the body. Robert entered the newly formed Society of Jesus in 1560 and after his ordination went on to teach at Louvain (1570-1576) where he became famous for his Latin sermons. In 1576, he was appointed to the chair of controversial theology at the Roman College, becoming Rector in 1592; he went on to become Provincial of Naples in 1594 and Cardinal in 1598. This outstanding scholar and devoted servant of God defended the Apostolic See against the anti-clericals in Venice and against the political tenets of James I of England. He composed an exhaustive apologetic work against the prevailing heretics of his day. In the field of church-state relations, he was also very effective in a time of major upheaval all over Europe. Remember that these were the days of the Protestant Reformation, with various leaders starting their own religion, King Henry VIII and the Anglican/Episcopalian religion, Luther with Lutheranism, Calvin and Zwingli in central Europe, and others. And like other well-know priest saints of this era, Robert was able to defend the church with the likes of St Vincent de Paul, St Ignatius of Loyola, St Francis Xavier, St Julian Peter Eymard, St Francis De Sales, St John Baptist Vianney, St Charles Borromeo and many others. Robert Bellarmine was the spiritual father of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, a Jesuit novice. He has left us a host of important writings, including works of devotion and instruction, as well as controversy. He died in on September 17,1621, this year being his 400th anniversary, and was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1930; the following year he was declared a Doctor of the Church. His remains, in a cardinal's red robes, are displayed behind glass under a side altar in the Church of Saint Ignatius, the chapel of the Roman College, next to the body of his student, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, as he himself had wished.

Going into space?

                     

The Director of the Vatican Observatory, the Jesuit priest Fr Guy Consolmagno, a well-known planetary astronomer, was asked recently if he would love to go into space, just as Jeff Bezos did recently. He answered in this way: “Obviously I would never say No if the opportunity is there. If God opens a door, He would want me to go through it. 25 years ago I had the chance to go to Antarctica to collect some meteorites. It wasn’t an easy trip, but I was happy I experienced it. Presently every human being has the possibility to reflect on the cosmos and admire its beauty and magnificence. Whether you go into a space shuttle or a space capsule, we all have the opportunity at night to go outside and behold the million stars above us, and there reflect that the entire universe is bigger than any problem we may encounter.” St. Ignatius of Loyola, when he was an administrator in Rome, used to go outside in the evening and look at the stars. And he would end up with tears in his eyes seeing the beauty of the universe and God’s love towards us. Let us protect our universe and appreciate all we have around us.

Our Lady of Sorrows

The liturgical feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is celebrated a day after the feast of the Cross, and even though we are far from the Lenten season, the church asks us to reflect on the 7 sorrows that Mary experienced, as beautifully depicted in this image by Adriaen Isenbrant from the 16th century, a panel visible in Bruges, Belgium.

The 7 sorrows that Mary had to face were these, as described in each of the panels surrounding the image of the Sorrowful Mother:
1. Jesus’ circumcision.
2. The escape into Egypt.
3. Jesus lost and found in the temple.
4. Seeing Jesus carrying the cross and meeting him on the way to Calvary.
5. The crucifixion of Jesus.
6. The Pieta, as the dead body of Jesus is laid on her lap.
7. The burial of Jesus.
 
St Bernard had a beautiful analogy of the transformation that happened to the Blessed Mother when Jesus died. One of the last 7 words was addressed to Mary and John, beneath the cross...’Behold your Mother’ to John, and ‘Behold your son,’  to Mary.  What a change! John was given to her instead of Jesus. The servant instead of the Master.  The disciple instead of the Teacher. Son of Zebedee instead of Son of God. A simple man instead of the true God. At that moment Mary also became our own mother, since John was representing each and every one of us, throughout history.

 

The beautiful hymn Stabat Mater Dolorosa is sung frequently during Lent, especially during the Stations of the Cross. The first three words mean Stood the mournful Mother weeping, and the poem was written by Jacopone de Todi in the 13th century, and was set to music by various composers including  Palestrina, Pergolesi, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Haydn, Rossini, Dvorák and Arvo Part. Here are the first 2 verses:
 
At the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to her Son to the last.

Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
all His bitter anguish bearing,
now at length the sword has passed.

5 sisters – 5 nuns

The story of five biological sisters who became nuns in a period of just 2 years has drawn attention in Spain, their home country. The family includes a total of 7 adult children — six sisters and one brother. All 5 sisters joined the same Spanish contemplative religious community, Iesu Communio, founded in 2010 in Burgos, in the north of the country. The first was Jordán. The following year Francesca and Amada de Jesus entered. Two months later, it was Ruth Maria’s turn; she is the oldest of the five. Lastly, six months later, Nazaret also entered. Their religious community published a video to share the journey of the five religious sisters. In her testimony, Amada de Jesus says, “It was a great surprise for everyone when our Lord called us five sisters to the institute in a period of two years.” She attended meetings that Iesu Communio organized with members of her parish, during which women religious shared experiences of “rescue and healing.” At that time, Amada was studying to be a teacher, with an emphasis in special education.

The church in Mongolia

St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

When we think of the country of Mongolia, we think of desolation, a far away country up there somewhere beyond Russia, also close to China. It has a population of 3.2 million and the temperature can dip to -40 degrees Celsius. The Catholic Cathedral in 2003 was dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. The faith actually arrived in Mongolia in the 14th century, but it never grew. It re-surfaced in 1992, but the Russian Communists suffocated it again. After the Mongolian Revolution of 1990, when Communism was stopped, some missionaries went back to re-start the Catholic faith. But there were no Mongolian Catholics and no prayer books in their language. Even though the missionaries could not speak Mongolian, yet the church continued to sprout. Today there are 1200 Catholics, 33 priests, 44 sisters and many foreign Catholics, especially from the Philippines and South Korea. There are also some lay missionaries from Poland and Scotland. In 2003, they had their first Bishop, Fr. Wenceslaus Padilla. 

Fr Enkh Joseph celebrating his first Mass as a Mongolian priest.

In 2016, Fr. Enkh Joseph was ordained its first native priest with the support of Korean Catholics on August 28 at Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Ulaanbaatar. The Salesians also arrived to evangelize. Half of Mongolia is Buddhist and the other half are atheists. The young Catholics are often persecuted and have to be careful what to post on Facebook, especially Catholic images, but we are grateful for the Catholic presence which helps in charitable and social services to the natives.

Me and Him – alone

During our prayer time, we have to minimize ourselves and let God grow within us. We’ll tell Him: ‘Lord God, my friend, so that I can spend some good quality time with You, I am removing the shoes of my ambitions; I will also remove the watch, of which I have become a slave; I will also remove my glasses with which I can see clearly my own opinions; I will drop my pen and paper and stop my work; I will also hide the keys  of my own security. And now, that I have spent this good time with You, I will put on my shoes so that I can walk through the streets where You guide me. I will wear my watch so that I can spend more time with You. I will wear my glasses so that I can see what You see. I will also pick up my pen, to write on paper Your thoughts and share them with others. And I will search for the keys, so that I can open wide open Your door to true happiness.

20 years ago - part 3

A message in Maltese I wrote on a tarpaulin at Ground Zero

The photo shows a part of a large tarpaulin on which people wrote messages and prayers. I wrote mine in Maltese, on the right side: 'Il-Bambin jiftakar fikom, u l-Maltin jitolbu għalikom.' (God will keep you in His arms, and the Maltese will pray for you.) I share with you today an article I wrote 20 years ago in my parish Bulletin, back at St Stanislaus Kostka parish in Pleasant Valley, NY:

It is truly heart-breaking following the events of September 11, 2001! All we can do right now is pray, as we follow the aftermath of the catastrophic tragedy on TV. People have been crowding to our Churches, as Friday the 14th is a National Day of Prayer and Mourning for the victims. The rest of the world joined in solidarity and prayer, and the whole of the United States is grateful for the world-wide support that we're receiving right now.
The heart-breaking stories we're hearing are truly incredible....like the man from Fishkill who was buried but was able to get out alive, with minor scratches. Or the young woman who called her husband in California frantically just before she died, leaving simply a message "They bombed us. I'm going to die. I love you always." Or the Fire Department Chaplain Fr Mychal Judge OFM, who was administering last rites when he was hit by a falling body and other debris. Or so many others who were writing E-mails or sending Instant Messages while the planes crashed into their buildings.
Or the people who died on the planes, like the Priest from Massachusetts, who just found a last-minute seat to go and see his sister in Los Angeles, only to die half-an hour later. Or the three children with their teachers who had won a National Geographic Competition and were experiencing part of their reward on the plane.
The feelings of people here had changed from disbelief to shock on the first day, from anger to numbness on Wednesday, from patriotism and prayer to unity and collaboration today and in the weeks to come. In the midst of all this chaos and darkness, we cannot give up hope. As the motto of the Christophers says, "we have to light one candle instead of cursing the darkness." We have to look for something positive, instead of criticizing how terrible everything around us is. We have to look forward to continue to unite the country and the world, not be divisive by searching for opportunity for revenge.
May God continues to bless the generous and hardworking firefighters, police-officers, volunteers and medical teams who are helping with the recovery process, which could be very long, tiring and extremely discouraging.
May God give eternal rest to all the victims, and strength to their families and loved ones. These are the new American Martyrs, or better yet, the New York Martyrs, whose feast should be inserted in the Liturgical Calendar for September 11th.

This link takes you to an article I wrote today in the Times of Malta, placed on line just a few minutes ago: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/i-served-in-new-york-in-2001-this-is-how-i-remember-911.899137

20 years ago - part 2

An image I designed back in September 2001

We saw them disappear 12 years in a ruthless terrorist attack. But the Twin Towers live on in my memory, as I see the Two Spiritual Towers take their place. I created this reflection back then as I saw the image of Jesus and Mary replacing the two landmark skyscrapers that disappeared for the iconic New York skyline forever. The metal and beams and glass were gone, but the spirit of what they represented will live on in the spirit of the people, as well as the 3,000 who lost their lives that day 20 years ago.  Let us pray and remember.

“When damaged, those buildings eventually plummeted to the ground, imploding in a moment's time. Yet underneath the debris is a foundation that was not destroyed. We have a choice, whether to implode and disintegrate emotionally and spiritually as a people and a nation, or to become stronger through all of this struggle to rebuild on a solid foundation. And I believe that we're in the process of starting to rebuild on that foundation. That foundation is our trust in God. And in that faith we have the strength to endure something as difficult and horrendous as what we have experienced this week.”- Rev Billy Graham speaking after the tragedy in September 2001.

We pray today that from the ashes will rise a new spirit of beauty and unity in America.
Already, all across this nation our hearts have been knit together into a new tapestry of one America.
Because of this tragedy, we have been bound together by a silver chord of hope and brotherhood and sisterhood.
What was meant to drive us apart has really drawn us together. May we always remember.
And so today we ask, God, that you would wipe the tears of all in need of comfort.
That you would warm the heart of one who would grow cold from bitterness.
That you would lift the head of that one who is bowed down in sadness.
That you would touch the discouraged and remind them that love will always conquer hate.
We thank you, God, for making us such a resilient people. We know that we are.
And we pray now for the strength to rise again, to build again, and to live free from fear.
We pray that you will help us rebuild our broken lives and mend our broken hearts.
We pray that you will give us the courage to face evil and the faith to believe that good will never be defeated. Hold us close to your heart.
And through our tears, and through our sorrow, may we all see a new vision of a new tomorrow.
Bless us all and God bless America.

20 years ago – part 1

Over the next 3 days, I will share various reflections and photos of my experience of September 11, 2001, from my own perspective since I was close to the action, as you will see as you read on. Incidentally, 2 days after the tragedy, I wrote an article entitled ‘A Priest’s 5-day Diary in New York,’ for the Times of Malta and was quickly included  a few days later. A Company called BookSurge noticed it and  asked me if they could re-print it in a book they were publishing with various memoirs. Of course I said Yes and my entries were printed in the book called  ’09/11  8:48 AM.’ Another article will appear this week, and I will send you its link as soon as it appears over the next 3 days. 

The iconic Twin Towers dominating the New York skyline.

This is a day when we remember the three thousand victims of the most senseless tragedy in human history. At least those who are in their upper 20s and older will surely remember where they were when the events of September 11, 2001 unfolded. I personally was preparing and celebrating Mass at my church in Pleasant Valley, NY, and believe it or not, I heard about the attack on America from my mother, who was of course here in Malta. When I got to my room after Mass, I found a message on my phone, and as soon as I was retrieving the message, the phone rings again, and it was my mother frantically screaming "Julian, are you all right ?" "yes, of course I'm all right" I answered, wondering why was she panicking. Then she told me to open the TV and relayed to me quickly what was happening. At first I thought that the TV was showing a Schwarzenegger movie, but quickly I realized that this was no science-fiction movie.

Ruth Klein with the quilt she made to honor son Peter.

We all know the rest of the story, and for the next month or so, I was in touch with the Klein family of Pleasant Valley who had lost their son Peter, in his twenties, and married only a year. Of course I had to do the funeral, with no body, but a large picture of Peter, lots of flowers and a nice quilt which his mother had crafted with friends, showing the various talents Peter had, from being an altar-boy to a boy scout. 20 years have passed since that day, and the pain for so many families is still there. The blemish that terrorism had inflicted on the USA and the rest of the world is still around us. We just hope and pray that similar horrific tragedies will never occur again. I took these photos in 1988, while on a school trip to the Statue of Liberty with our school children.

Let us pray and remember.

Nativity of Mary

                   
Today we celebrate the feast of the birthday of the Blessed Mother. She was conceived in St Anne’s womb on December 8th, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, and to follow the duration of a human pregnancy, the church celebrates her birth date today. Many countries, including Italy and Spain as well as Malta celebrate this holy day with images and statues of the baby Mary, although the statues venerated in Malta are that of a young girl, all of which known as Maria Bambina (the little child Mary.) Th image of the statue shown above is the one at Naxxar parish, where I serve Mass regularly, and the other photo shows the church decorated at its finest today. The feast of the Nativity of Mry started in the 5th century when a basilica was built in Jerusalem where St Anne and St Joachim lived and where Mary was born, traditionally around 12 BC. Saints Joachim and Anne have their own feast on July 26, but today we honor Mary’s birthday. Imagine the joy to see this little girl being born, in the obscurity of her town, with no Angels, no shepherds, no Kings, but that’s because she didn’t want to take the attention from her Son, who would be born 16 years later.

In Malta we also commemorate the occasion of two major victories at war. The first one was the victory of the Maltese and the Knights of Malta against the Turks, the Ottoman Empire in 1565, and the second one was the end of Fascism and Nazism at the height of World War II, a time of terrible suffering for the Maltese people. Unfortunately, because of Covid, no processions will be held today in the 4 parishes that celebrate the Nativity of Mary, Naxxar, Mellieħa, Senglea and Xagħra in Gozo, but celebrations inside the churches are held with the usual pomp and reverence.

Legion of Mary

We celebrate today the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Legion of Mary, a spiritual organization that is known all over the world. It was on September 7th, 1921, that Frank Duff (1889-1980), together with a group of women, formed the first Praesidium in the Dublin Archdiocese, precisely at Myra House, Francis Street, Dublin, Ireland. When Frank was 24, he had joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society to help the poor in Dublin. He encouraged many others to give of their time in voluntary work to help the poor, but also to teach about the Catholic faith and spread the devotion to the Blessed Mother. One of his closest associates was Edel Quinn, an Irish girl, and the members had to focus on 3 main areas: spirituality, work and discipline. They also followed the principles devised by St. Louis de Montfort, and Frank demanded they would have to do practical work in their community, mostly by contacts and visiting families. Frank was invited by Pope St. Paul VI to attend the Second Vatican Council, and even received a standing ovation towards the end of the Council. The Legion of Mary is structured like a Roman Legion, with various terms like Catena, Curia, Comitium, Regia, Senatus and Acies, sections of the organization that is still going strong for 100 years. There are presently over 10 million members world-wide, and the biggest number of members are in South Korea, the Philippines, Brazil, Argentina and Congo.

Ivona and Art Chaves

Gravestone where Art and Ivona are buried in Mt Hope Cemetery, Baker City.

On July 7, 2007 the date could be written as 07-07-07, and of course at 7 minutes and 7 seconds past 7 it can be written as 7:07:07 07-07-07 and many people think it can be a lucky day for them. On that day in my parish at the Cathedral in Baker City, Oregon, we buried Ivona Chaves who was Bishop Connolly’s cook and housekeeper for 15 years. Her husband Art took care of the bishop’s horses, and died in 1998. Among the many anecdotes I heard about Ivona, the most incredible one was what happened back in 1912, a few days before the Titanic sank. Her husband Art was of a Portuguese descent, and his family grew up in the Azores Islands. But back in 1912, Art’s mother and father got tickets to travel on the Titanic, the same trip that eventually sank on that infamous April date in 1912. But Art’s mother felt that she did not have enough clothes to travel with the likes of the Astors, Strausses, Molly Brown and so many other wealthy people. So just before they boarded the ship, they sold their tickets, and decided to wait for another less luxurious ship. We all know what happened with the Titanic, and the strange thing is that Mrs. Chaves was at that time pregnant with Art, who eventually was born, attended our St. Francis Academy and married Ivona, and had 6 children. We buried her on July 7, 2007, aged 94.

Be born in us

This a beautiful yet simple prayer by Caryll Houselander:

Be born in us, Incarnate Love

Take our flesh and blood, and give us Your humanity.

Take our eyes and give us Your vision.

Take our minds and give us Your pure thought.

Take our feet and set them in Your path.

Take our hands and fold them in Your prayer.

Take our hearts and give them Your will to Love.

Charging

Have you noticed that lately one of the things we do so often, and without which we cannot survive, is the charging we do in our lives. Charging I phones, I pads, I pods, Lap-Tops, electric cars, transformers, portable video-games, remote controls, and everything that needs batteries...charging, charging, and making sure we  don’t run out of charge – otherwise we’re in trouble! How often we ran out of charge in the middle of an important phone call. This mentality teaches us a big lesson about our lives and our faith. We need to recharge our human batteries to survive in this day and age. With the heat-waves we’re experiencing, we need to be healthy to face the unknown future. With our sedentary lives we are leading, sitting in front of computers and clicking on the I phones, we need to re-charge our motivation and strive to remain focused on our priorities. Moreover, we need to update our knowledge about all we’ve learned in our catechism classes as children. We certainly need that spiritual re-charging of our faith, and keep ourselves up to date with the teachings of the church, the beautiful letters and encyclicals of our Popes, the messages of our Bishops and the homilies of our pastors. We do this by attending meetings and talks organized in parishes and communities. We do this by reading Catholic magazines and newspapers, and jump into the immense realm of cyberspace that is there at our fingerprints, at the touch of a button, at the swipe of an image. Let’s not fall behind, but stayed charged up.

St Gregory the Great

St. Gregory, born at Rome about the year 540, was the son of Silvia, herself a saint, and Gordianus, a wealthy senator, who later renounced the world and became one of the seven deacons of Rome. After he had acquired the usual thorough education, Emperor Justin the Younger appointed Gregory, in 574, Chief Magistrate of Rome, though he was only thirty-four years of age. After the death of his father, he built six monasteries in Sicily and founded a seventh in his own house in Rome, which became the Benedictine Monastery of St. Andrew. Here, he himself assumed the monastic habit in 575, at the age of thirty-five. After the death of Pelagius, St. Gregory was chosen Pope by the unanimous consent of priests and people. Now began those labors which merited for him the title of Great. His zeal extended over the entire known world, he was in contact with all the Churches of Christendom and, in spite of his bodily sufferings, and innumerable labors, he found time to compose a great number of works.  Gregory was a great reformer and encouraged his priests to be kind to the poor, himself inviting a group of them daily to eat with them. He is known above all for his magnificent contributions to the Liturgy of the Mass and Office. The mainstream form of Western plainchant, standardized in the late 9th century, was attributed to Pope Gregory I and so took the name of Gregorian chant. Gregory wrote over 850 letters in the last 13 years of his life (590–604) that give us an accurate picture of his work. He is one of the four great Doctors of the Latin Church. He died March 12, 604. St Gregory is the patron saint of musicians, singers, students, and teachers.

Great victory for Malta

The Maltese soccer team yesterday accomplished something extraordinary and unique. They beat Cyprus 3-0 in a World Cup qualifying match. The match played in Malta was completely dominated by the Maltese. And the players surely did that yesterday with a brilliant display of possession and attacking football, never seen before by the Malta national team. The result was the natural consequence of such a display as Malta now joins Slovenia and the same Cyprus with four points in the group. Of course they still have a way to go to advance to the finals to be held in Qatar next year. In a group with Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and Cyprus, it is very hard for the small countries to ever advance to the final stage of such a competition. But even getting a tie or a draw and then winning a game is a superlative accomplishment on any day. But yesterday’s victory shows that Malta is certainly improving, under Italian coach Devis Mangia who has instilled a superhuman power in the Malta team ever since he took over a year ago. Congratulations Malta!

A prayer for our children

Father hear us, we are praying,

Hear the words our hearts are saying,

We are praying for our children.

Keep them from the powers of evil,

From the secret, hidden peril,

From the whirlpool that would suck them,

From the treacherous quicksand pluck them.

From this world’s deep hollow gladness,

From the sting of faithless sadness,

Holy Father, save our children.

Through life’s troubled waters steer them,

Through life’s bitter battle cheer them,

Father, Father please be near them.

Read the language of our longing

Read the wordless pleadings thronging,

Holy Father, for our children do we pray.

And wherever they may be,

Always keep the close to Thee.