The Heart

This one-syllable, 5-letter word has a variety of meanings. When used in everyday language, the multiple connotations of heart prove endless.

Have a heart – to be compassionate and merciful.

Speaking from the heart – honestly expressing one’s deepest feelings and beliefs.

Set one’s heart on –to wish for intensely, pursue with determination.

Take to heart – to consider seriously, think about.

From the bottom of one’s heart – with complete sincerity.

Have one’s heart in the right place – to have good intentions.

Wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve – to allow one’s intimate feelings be known to all.

By heart – knowing exactly, word for word.

In one’s heart of hearts – deep within oneself.

Cross one’s heart – to maintain the truth of a statement, affirm one’s integrity.

At Heart – basically, in reality, fundamentally.

Take heart – to regain courage and strength.

Heart and soul – fervently, completely, enthusiastically.

Lose one’s heart – to fall in love.

Memo from God

I am God. Today I will be handling all of your problems.
Please remember that I do not need your help.

If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the SFGTD (Something For God To Do) box. It will be addressed in My time, not yours. Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold on to it.

Should you find yourself stuck in traffic, don't despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege.

Should you have a bad day at work; Think of the man who has been out of work for years.

Should you despair over a relationship gone bad; Think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return.

Should you grieve the passing of another weekend; Think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week to feed her children.

Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance; Think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror; Think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes she had hair to examine.

Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking what is my purpose? Be thankful. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity.

Should you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities; Remember, things could be worse. You could be them!!!!

Funny Definitions

Here are a few other definitions:

Boss: Someone who is early when you are late, and late when you are early.

Politician: One who shakes your hand before elections and shakes your confidence afterwards.

Classic: A book which people praise, but do not read.

Etc: A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do.

Committee: A group of individuals who singly can do nothings, but together can decide that nothing can be done.

Experience: The name people give to their mistakes.
Teenager: When you're too young to do half the things you want to do, and too old to do the other half.
Mother: A person who does the work of twenty people....for free.
Tomorrow: A mystical land where 99% of all human productivity, motivation and achievements are stored.

Children in church

The inside of a Church or a house of worship must be the most confusing place ever for a child. There’s water that you can’t play in, books without pictures, and mysterious doors that no one ever opens. You’re never allowed to see what’s behind you, and the only thing you can play with is your tongue, and that’s punishable by severe pinching.

One of the problems is we never tell our children what services are all about. All they’re told is to be quiet and not talk for an hour. They have no idea what we’re doing. One day a mother dragged her 6 year old to Confession on a Saturday afternoon. Every time she inched towards the closed closet door, the boy would start to say something, and his mother would clap her hand over his mouth. When it was her turn, he said “I don't have to go to the bathroom. I went before I left home,” and bolted towards the parking lot.

Then there’s the plight of the 4-year old who was in Church on Sunday when the wine and the hosts were being brought up for the Offertory, his mother leaned over and told him that he was not old enough to comprehend the mystery of transubstantiation, and that he was too young to receive Communion. Right away, the ushers were taking up the collection, and as the collection plate stopped dead in front of him, his mother leaned over and tried to coax the nickel out of his clenched fist. He held firm and shouted, “If I can’t eat, I won’t pay !”

Adults become different people in Church. A few years ago a young boy served his first Mass as an altar-boy. He knew he was supposed to ring the bell at a certain time in the Mass, but he wasn’t sure when, so he rang them every time he passed them. The Priest told his parents afterwards, “I felt like serving Mass with Quasimodo.“ One other boy was so anxious to ring the bells that he grabbed them as soon as the Mass started and would not let go of them, as he was so nervous that another server would ring them instead.

Church for a child is a place where they sing songs one never hears on the radio, where the Priests wear vestments one never finds in the Sears or Macy’s catalogue, and where you have to wait half an hour to shake hands with the people next to you. Church is lips that sing “Love the little children” at the same time eyes are saying, “You will never have another Oreo cookie for as long as you live.” Church is where everyone talks about joy and happiness, but when someone rings the bells at the wrong time, we’re afraid to laugh. Why ? And if you think the Crying Room is the best solution, don’t bet on it. At least in my chapel here at Hilltop Gardens, the older people insist on going in there, while I try to convince them it’s for babies and their mothers with carriages and push-chairs, which take a lot of space. When the adults insist on going in there, I tell them “Then I have to give you a bottle, a rattle and a pacifier if you insist on staying in there!”

30 years ago

Back in 1988, I was stationed at Holy Spirit Church in New Hyde Park, Long Island, New York and every morning , at exactly 8:45 AM and again at 9:15 AM, the Concorde used to pass over us. First it was the Air France plane and then it was the British Airways plane. During the 9 AM Mass, we had to stop around 9:15 AM, usually sometime during the Offertory to let the plane pass, with its sonic boom noise that would not let us continue with the Mass for a minute or so. Parishioners got used to it, just as we did. It was quite a sight seeing that big bird fly by, and very rarely it was delayed, arriving on time every single day.

On another occasion the Space Shuttle was flown over us, being carried as a piggy-back ride on a Jumbo Jet, heading towards JFK Airport for a stop-over before heading toward Cape Canaveral in Florida. And of course I was there with my camera taking photos of these historic events. The photos are not very sharp, as this was the age before digital cameras, but I’m sure you’ll appreciate these historic images.

Blessing of Tools

As is now customary, I bless the tools and artifacts and other hobbies that parishioners bring on the feast of St Joseph the Worker, May 1. This was done yesterday at my chapel at Hilltop Gardens, and as you can see, the table I provided was filled with all kinds of tools and equipment people use in their daily lives. Among them were: diaries, cell-phone, camera, computer charger, shells from World War I, knick-knacks from Australia, tools for etching and crochet, religious posters created by the residents, spatulas, ladles and kitchen utensils, plastic gardening gloves, a nurses' blood-drawing equipment, an IPad, school diary, my newspaper 'Lehen', compact discs, my watercolor brushes, and a cross-stitch masterpiece of Leonardo's Last Supper.

St Joseph the Worker

To foster deep devotion to Saint Joseph among Catholics, and in response to the “May Day” celebrations for workers sponsored by Communists, Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker in 1955. As we honor all workers today, I offer this prayer in honor of the patron saint of workers on his special day.
We pray today for the protection of St. Joseph, spouse of Mary and father of Jesus. In a special way today we pray for all workers, so that they can see in him a model of dedication, sincere loyalty and love for his family. We pray for those who work with their hands and their brain, and with the sweat of their brow to earn a living to support their family. We remember those who work outdoors in the hot summer months or cold wintry days.
Give protection to those who serve us daily without getting any recognition at times, police officers, doctors, nurses, mailmen and women, greengrocers, farmers and fishermen, those who clean up after us, those who inspire us by what they write and report, those who serve us in churches and nursing homes. We acknowledge every housewife who cleans, washes and cooks, and oversees everything that we need, their husbands who are there to support them day in, day out, those who embellish our environments by their talents, artists, musicians and other entertainers, and those who participate in sporting activities.
We pray that everyone does his job in all honesty, and in particular those whom we elect to govern us and lead us, members of local councils and groups who work behind the scenes, may they act responsibly as they recognize their duty and perform it loyally. And may they work with humility and a sense of commitment, appreciating also the fact that they can at least earn a living by their work. We pray especially today for those who are searching for work, so that the Lord will provide them with a decent job. St Joseph, patron of workers, pray for us. Amen.

Pope St Pius V

Pope St Pius V (1504-1572)

We honor today a great reformer, and one of only 2 Popes to be canonized over an 800 year period. Before John XXIII and John Paul II were canonized in 2014, only two Popes had been canonized from the 13th century up till now, Pope Pius X and Pope Pius V. Born in 1504 as Michele Ghislieri, he worked as a shepherd until some Dominican priests called him to join them. He was ordained a priest at the age of 24 and taught philosophy and theology until he was made a Bishop and soon afterwards a Cardinal.
He was a great friend of St Charles Borromeo and helped in fighting against heresy and corruption in his time. He was elected Pope in 1566 and chose the name of Pius V. He served the poor and the sick himself and fasted and prayed in front of the Blessed Sacrament regularly. He helped devise the new catechism that came out after the Council of Trent. He also opposed the Protestants who were starting new religions at that time, Lutheranism, Anglicanism and Calvinism. But he was very strong against the Ottoman Empire and the Turks who were infiltrating all of Europe. He encouraged the people to pray the Rosary to combat the Turks, especially in the battle of Lepanto, as well as the Great Siege of Malta.
Pope Pius V was very kind in giving a generous donation to the people of Malta to start building the new city, the capital city called Valletta. He also instituted the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7. He died on May 1, 1572 and was canonized in 1712. An interesting fact about Pope St Pius V is that he is the one who introduced the white cassock for a Pope. Since he was a Dominican, he frequently used the white habit, especially in the hot summer days in Rome. Then all the Popes that followed kept the tradition in wearing white, feeling a little cooler in white, rather than wearing black.

More flowers

 

Here are a few more Maltese flowers which show up at this time of the year in gardens. Of particular interest is a plant that spreads like a vine with very unusual white petals in the shape of a pinwheel. Also of a strange resemblance are red flowers that look like a brush, like the one used to clean narrow-necked bottles. 

I am not a botanist by any means, but am always on the lookout for unusual flowers, many of which I’ve never seen in the USA.

St Gianna Beretta Molla

St Gianna Beretta Molla (1922-1962)

I would say the 5 most popular Italian saints are St Francis of Assisi, St Pio of Pietrelcina, St Anthony, St Maria Goretti and St Gianna Beretta Molla. Today we honor this last saint canonized in 2004 after sacrificing her life for her baby daughter, Gianna Emmanuela.
Born on October 4, 1922, Gianna Beretta was the 10th of 13 children, even though only 8 of the siblings survived infancy. She grew up in Bergamo, Italy where she was very active in the Catholic Action movement. In 1942, in the midst of the chaos of World War II she started her studies in Milan and graduated as a doctor in 1949, specializing in paediatrics. She actually wanted to go to Brazil to work as a paediatrician with her brother, a missionary priest, but her health prevented her from doing this. So she worked happily as a doctor, eventually meeting her future husband Pietro Molla, whom she married in 1955. They had 3 children within 5 years, and in 1961, she was pregnant with her 4th child. During the pregnancy, she developed a fibroma in her uterus, and the doctors suggested her to have an abortion to save her life. But she continued with her pregnancy and the baby was born on April 21 1962, Easter Saturday. Gianna made the ultimate sacrifice for her daughter, and she got weaker and weaker and died a week later, on April 28, 1962. Her daughter Gianna Emmanuela became a paediatrician herself, and was present with her father and two other siblings at her mother’s beatification in 1994. Another sister had died in 1964, 2 years after her mother.
The miracle that certified her canonization was done on a Brazilian woman Elizabetta Comparini, who in her 16th week of pregnancy, experienced a tear in her placenta, losing all the amniotic fluid. Praying to Gianna Beretta Molla, she continued with her pregnancy and gave birth to a healthy baby, defying all the negative prognosis the doctors had given her. Gianna was proclaimed a Saint by Pope St John Paul II on May 16, 2004, with her husband and three children present. She has since became the patron for pro-life and for pregnant women, and a great statement against abortion.

Malta flowers

After sharing with you some unusual trees yesterday, today we look at some flowers that show up at this time of the year in Malta. Some of them may be familiar to you, but others may be new and native of Malta and the Mediterranean region.

Resilient Trees

Trees have been around for about 370 million years, and as you can from these incredible pictures, there's a good reason why they've survived for so long. Whether they're growing in the middle of gale-force winds, on the tops of rocky platforms, inside concrete tunnels, or even growing out of each other, trees know how to survive in places that few living organisms can, which explains why the planet is host to around 3 trillion adult trees that cover an estimated 30% of the earth's land. 

Considering that plants produce the vast majority of the oxygen that we breathe, we should all think ourselves very fortunate that trees are as resilient as they are. We wouldn't even be here if they weren't.

Saint Mark

St Mark Icon crafted by Jennifer Godwin

We celebrate today the feast of one of the Evangelists, and companion to St Paul in many of his missionary voyages - Saint Mark. He is sometimes called John Mark. Both he and his mother, Mary, were highly esteemed in the early Church, and his mother's house in Jerusalem served as a meeting place for Christians there. St. Mark was associated with St. Paul and St. Barnabas (who was Mark's cousin) on their missionary journey through the island of Cyprus. Later he accompanied St. Barnabas alone. We know also that he was in Rome with St. Peter and St. Paul. Tradition ascribes to him the founding of the Church in Alexandria. St. Mark wrote the second Gospel, probably in Rome sometime before the year 60 A.D.; he wrote it in Greek for the Gentile converts to Christianity. Tradition tells us that St. Mark was requested by the Romans to set down the teachings of St. Peter. This seems to be confirmed by the position which St. Peter has in this Gospel. In this way the second Gospel is a record of the life of Jesus as seen through the eyes of the Prince of the Apostles.

The famous St Mark Basilica is in Venice, where thousands of people visit to pray all year round, but especially today. As a child I remember having a small procession blessing the fields for a good crop production, in what used to be called the Rogation days. St Mark has also my all-time favorite quote in the Bible...when Jesus sent the apostles on their mission, he asked them not to carry any walking stick or a second tunic or money bag..."They were however,  to wear sandals." (Mark 6:9)

Confidence

One of the residents gave me a prayer which he has been saying for over 60 years, every day of his life. He also made a promise to make copies and distribute them to family and friends.  It speaks about confidence and trust in God, knowing well that He will take care of all of our problems. It is written in old English format, using Thy instead of Your, Thee instead of You. Keep a copy and say it often.

My fate is in Thy hands,

My God, I wish it there,

My heart, my life, my health –

I leave – entirely to Thy care.

My fate is in Thy hands,

Whatever it may be,

Pleasant or painful, bright or dark

As best may seem to Thee.

My fate is in Thy hands,

Why should I doubt or fear,

My Father’s Heart will never cause

His child a needless tear.

Soap

From various sources of research done over centuries, it seems that the Babylonians invented soap around 2,500 BC. They used to mix the fat of animals with shavings from wood and water. They used this mixture to clean the fur and skin of animals and to wash cotton, but they never used it to wash themselves. Then in around 1550 BC, the Egyptians were found to mix the fat of animals with oil taken from vegetables, mixed with salt, and they used this mixture to cure skin diseases and the wash themselves. The Greeks and Phoenicians invented something similar which they used to wash themselves. A soap factory found near Pompeii showed that the Romans also used soap. The kind of soap we use today was invented by the Arabs, and was a mixture of olive oil and other aromatic oils. They added perfume to their invention and so the soap became colorized and also smelling pretty nice. Their first soaps were both in the solid form as well as the liquid type. Liquid soap was not invented until the nineteenth century; in 1865, William Shepphard patented a liquid version of soap. In 1898, B.J. Johnson developed a soap derived from palm and olive oils; his company, the B. J. Johnson Soap Company, introduced 'Palmolive' brand soap that same year. This new brand of soap became popular rapidly, and to such a degree that B.J. Johnson Soap Company changed its name to Palmolive.

The Good Shepherd

The affectionate image of the Good Shepherd shows up annually on this 4th Sunday of Easter, and we honor today all our shepherds who guide us, inspire us and motivate us to stay close to them and follow their leadership. We honor Pope Francis, our Cardinals and Bishops, all pastors and priests, monks and brothers, sisters and seminarians. We honor in a special way all parents and guardians who have a tremendous responsibility to instill in their children a good dose of respect, accountability and responsibility in all they do. We honor also all teachers, coaches, baby-sitters and those who form character in our young people by guiding them through scholastic work, sports, drama and other activities. As we see Jesus freeing the lost sheep from among the thorns, may He be present in our lives to protect us from danger, trouble and accidents that are taking from our midst so many young people’s lives. May He also bring harmony and peace in war-stricken areas, in Syria, the Middle-East, North Africa and in other volatile zones.

Coming to church

Arrive on time. God is waiting for you to forgive you and fill you with his love. Turn off your mobile phone. You have a place reserved for you at the table of the Lord. Don’t keep Him waiting. If you have to go to confession, make sure you do so earlier. Don’t wait till the last 5 minutes.

Dress properly. When you arrive, greet the Lord. Thank Him for the invitation. When passing by the altar, make a bow. When passing in front of the tabernacle, make sure you genuflect properly. Get rid of any chewing gum, and don’t drink or eat anything for an hour before Mass starts. Find a good place in church and prepare yourself reverently. Sing along with the congregation. Think of any failures during the Penitential Rite. Before the Gospel, bless your forehead, your lips and your heart. 

During the consecration, kneel down. Do not speak the words of the priest. During the elevation say in your heart ‘My Lord and My God.’ At the sign of peace, greet only those close to you. Receive communion reverently. Return to your place and kneel down in a spirit of gratitude.

If you have children, teach them to be quiet and never run around uncontrollably. Use the crying room if available. Bless yourself when the priest gives his blessing. When Mass is over, wait till the priest leaves the sanctuary. As you leave church, it’s polite to greet other parishioners and if possible, say hello to the presiding priest.

From marriage to religious life

They were engaged and ready to get married when two young lovers discovered a deeper voice inside of them to see what God really wanted from them. The prospective groom is Fr Javier Olivera, and the prospective bride is Sister Marie de la Sagesse, both from Argentina. They knew each other since they were young children, but Javier drifted slightly from the Catholic faith in which they were raised. Since they were both studying law, they started studying together and attending various lectures and even conferences by Argentinean Catholic authors. So they started attending Mass together on Sunday, and their love grew deeper and got engaged at the age of 21. They planned to graduate from University and then get married. Then when Marie’s brother became a monk, they drove him to the Monastery. They asked each other what will happen if God were to call one of them to the religious life. They were already buying things for their eventual home when they started to question themselves about a vocation. So when they finished the law course, they decided to pursue a religious vocation.Fr Javier was ordained a priest at the age of 31 and became a priest of the Diocese of San Rafael, while Marie joined the Sisters of the Divine Mercy. Today Fr Javier is a professor in a University and published a book on doubts in a religious vocation. Sister Marie lives in a convent in the south of France.

A few more gems in a sentence

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these. (George Washington Carver)

The only difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is extraordinary determination. (Mary Kay Ash)

Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end.

Four short words sum up what lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: a little bit more. They did all that was expected of them and….a little bit more.

Three billion people on the face of the earth go to bed hungry every night, but four billion people go to bed every night hungry for a simple word of encouragement and recognition.

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. (Helen Keller)

Ninety percent of those who fail are not actually defeated. They simply quit.

Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. (Thomas Edison)

Do a little more than you’re paid to. Give a little more than you have to. Try a little harder than you want to. Aim a little higher than you think possible, and give a lot of thanks to God for health, family and friends. (Art Linkletter)

Hope never dies where faith is strong, and faith grows strong in the presence of hope. (Chad Witmeyer)

The message is clear: plan with attitude, prepare with aptitude, participate with servitude, receive with gratitude, and this should be enough to separate you from the multitudes.

Barbara Bush

Barbara Bush with husband and son, both Presidents.

      The world gives tribute today to a great lady as she passes away at the age of 92. Barbara Bush was both wife and mother of two former US Presidents. She was married for 73 years to her husband George H. W. Bush, the 41^st President of the USA, one of the few Presidents ever to come to Malta during the Mata Summit with Gorbachev in 1989. She was also the mother of the 43^rd President George W. Bush who served two terms. Barbara was in failing health and was receiving just comfort health over the last few days. She was a great advocate for literacy and a true model of faith and resilience in the face of opposition. She witnessed her husband’s role in ending the cold war with Russia, and also she suffered with her son’s confrontation of world terrorism after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks. Barbara was born on June 8, 1925 and with her husband George they had 6 children, George, Robin, Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy. Robin died at the age of 3. They also had 14 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.

My earliest photos

Three seminarians pose for me on a glorious sunset photo

Going back to the 1970s today as I share with you three of my earliest photos, when I was still developing my own photos in a darkroom, while having only a simple Instamatic camera. In fact I entered a few photos in a Malta Photographic Club Competition and two of them were accepted and exhibited for a few weeks in 1975. 

Praying at the Seminary courtyard

Obviously this was the age before digital technology was invented and when you had to take quite a few photos until you get the best shot. Then you had to wait to finish the whole film to have it developed and the photos printed, to see the result you've got. Often you got disappointed, but occasionally you got a surprising result. Color photography became more popular in the 1980s, but there is still some charm and quaintness looking at black and white photos, just as black and white movies are seen as quite historic, precious and unique. 

One of my exhibited photos, a fisherman at Balluta Bay.

More gems in a sentence

A man who works with his hands is a laborer; one who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; and he who works with his hands, his brain and his heart is an artist.

Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry at day time, and too sleepy to worry at night.

Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent (Victor Hugo)

Do not quarrel the first time with your husband. If you do, it will never end. If you don’t, it will never begin.

To keep your marriage brimming with love….whenever you’re wrong, admit it; but whenever you’re right, shut up!

I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God. (Abraham Lincoln)

There is no limit to what a man can do, or where he can go, if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.

Joy is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of the Lord.

God never asks us about our abilities or inabilities, but always about our availability.

The 7 ages of man: SPILLS, DRILLS, THRILLS, BILLS, ILLS, PILLS and WILLS.

Life is a mixed bag of blessings and disasters. Living is the art of storing enough Joy to tide us over the rough spots.

Doing an injury puts you below your enemy; revenging one makes you but even with him; forgiving him sends you and sets you above him. (Benjamin Franklin)

The reason a dog has so many friends: he wags his tail, instead of his tongue.

Gems in a sentence

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you’d have preferred to talk.

When you want something down, well done, give it to a busy person.

Never trouble trouble till trouble troubles you. You’ll only double trouble, and trouble others too.

There are only 2 rules for good manners. One is always think of others, and the other is never think of yourself.

The biggest source of man’s unhappiness is his ignorance of Nature.

One great thing about vacations is that they make you feel good enough to go back to work, and poor enough so that you have to.

There is no comparison between that which is lost by not succeeding, and that which is lost by not trying.

One ought every day to hear a little music, read a good poem, see a picture, and if possible, speak a few reasonable words. (Wolfgang Goethe)

If all the trees were pens, and all the oceans full of ink, they would not suffice to describe the wonders of the Almighty.

A sharp tongue, a dull mind, haughty eyes and inattentive ears are usually found in the same head.

For the interested, everything is interesting. For the bored, everything is boring.

I noticed that the wicked people of this world usually hang out together, even when they hate each other – and this is their strength. Good people on the other hand, are scattered – and this is their weakness. (Yevgeny Yevtuschenko)

Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount (Gen. Omar Bradley)

The most gleaming trophy a great man can claim in his life is the discovery of a few truths, and the destruction of a few errors.

In written English, 12 most used words are, in order of frequency: the, of, and, to, a, in, that, is, I, it, for, as. The word most used in conversation is I. The most frequently written letter is e; the most frequently used capital letter is T.

Looking for Peace

I share a reflection today on the United States official seal. As the US strikes Syria today, let us pray for peace and cessation from violence. I reflect on the seal of the United States because I see a subtle message in it that is often overlooked. I pondered on this often and I am sure it was created as it is, for a purpose, to symbolize a search for peace not war. If you look closely at the seal, you can see the bald eagle clutching in its left claws a dozen arrows (symbolic of war) and an olive branch in the right claws (symbol of peace.) And the eagle is looking at the olive branch, to emphasize that we should always look for peace rather than conflict. It was in 1782 that Charles Thomson created the final design of the US seal. In September that year, the first Great Seal die was cut and used to begin sealing the peace with England. For 236 years now, the Great Seal of the United States has ratified international agreements of peace, cooperation, and trade. Representing the people of America, it seals their promise to other nations. The motto is in Latin: E Pluribus Unum, meaning ‘Out of many, One’ which further accentuates the desire for unity. Let us hope and pray that America and all countries in the world will continue to look for reconciliation, harmony and world-wide peace, as the seal and motto represent.

Prayer by St Teresa of Calcutta

You are God. You are true God from true God. Generated not created.

Of the same Substance of the Father. You are the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity.

You are one in being with the Father. You are with the Father from all eternity.

All things were created by you and the Father. You are the Beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased.

You are the Son of Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit in her virginal womb. You were born in Bethlehem.

You were wrapped in swaddling- clothes by Mary and placed in a manger filled with straw. You are an ordinary man without much education, and the educated class in Israel judges you.

Jesus is: the Word made flesh ...

the bread of life,

the victim immolated for our sins on the cross, the sacrifice offered for the sins of the world and for my sins in the Holy Mass,

the word to be proclaimed,

the truth to be revealed,

the way to be followed,

the light to illumine,

the life to live,

the love to be loved,

the hungry person to be fed,

the thirsty person given drink,

the naked one to clothe,

the homeless to receive shelter,

the sick to be cured,

the abandoned to be loved,

the outcast to be welcomed,

the leper whose wounds are bathed, 

the beggar to whom a smile is given, 

the drunkard who needs to be listened to,

the mentally disturbed who needs to be protected,

the infant who needs to be held in our arms,

the blind person who needs to be led by the hand,

the mute for whom someone must speak,

the crippled with whom one walks, 

the drug addict who needs help,

the prostitute who needs to be taken off the street and listened to,                          

the prisoner who needs to be visited, 

the aged person who needs to be taken care of.