Preparing for LENT
Because of the Consistory this past Wednesday and Thursday, Pope John Paul II did not hold his regular catechetical General Audience. In lieu of his Wednesday Message, we bring you some Lenten thoughts to help all properly prepare for Lent which is just around the corner. We explain the reason for 40 days in Lent and what it signifies as well as illustrating the difference between fasting and abstinence and the general intention of why the Church holds the Lenten season in such esteem for the good of our souls.
For these penetential points , provided by the Catholic Dispatch, see LENTEN THOUGHTS
 
Second Day of Papal Visit to Egypt
 
On this day one year ago Pope John Paul II spent his second day in Egypt on the second leg of his historic "Jubilee Journey" retracing Salvation History. On this day he celebrated Holy Mass in the Sports Palace and met with leaders of the Coptic Church, the Grand Imam and other religious leaders in urging a greater understanding of each other through dialogue in striving toward ecumenism and peace in the Mideast. For news events of this historic occasion, see PAPAL VISIT TO EGYPT. We also invite you to read our editorial regarding his journey to Egypt at Danger always lurks in this land of enigma called Egypt.
  
Pope calls on Cardinals to be Missionaries of Mercy
Before an enthusiastic audience, many teary-eyed with joy, Pope John Paul II told his new cardinals the importance of being missionaries, because "we live in a time when people are hungry for the deeper things of the Spirit."
The Pope created 44 new cardinals at a consistory Wednesday, and on Friday he met them in Paul VI Hall along with 5,000 of their relatives and friends to came to Rome for the historic consistory. For more, see News from ROME
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Hypocrisy in Brooklyn!
Flap over sacrilegious photo exhibit at Brooklyn Museum exposes obvious double standard of museum director
A protestor made his point vociferously about the hypocrisy of the Brooklyn Museum of Art and its director as he was evicted. He was there to protest the obscene and blasphemous photo exhibit "Yo Mama's Last Supper," which depicts Christ at the Last Supper as a nude woman. From the reactions of the museum and its director Arnold L. Lehman there is clearly evidence of a double standard and hypocrisy. Scott LoBaido, who also protested the sacriligeous display of the Blessed Virgin Mary with elephant dung all over it, brought a painting to the museum that depicted a dead pig with a man's lips planted on its derrier and wanted it displayed. The museum had him thrown out, proving the museum's defense of allowing the photo exhibit for free speech means only if it fits their political ideology. Bishop Thomas V. Daily of Brooklyn and New York's Mayor Ralph Giuliani have already strongly condemned the exhibit as blasphemy and Catholic-bashing to the extreme. For more, see USA News
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Former abortionists find the Centurions an ideal way to adapt from the culture of death to the Culture of Life!
While abortions continue to mount, there are many who have had it with the gruesomeness of this deed and have left the abortion business. It can be a shock once they have left the culture of death behind for their reputation precedes them and much distrust abounds from both camps. To aid those who are truly repentant and ready to amend their ways and allow them to transition to saving lives rather than destroying them, a special organization called the "Centurions" is there to promote the Sanctity of Life and recruit more who will defend life. For more, see Pro Life News
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Chaldean Patriarch fears increased bombing by the West could set Mideast ablaze
Strongly condemning the recent bombing of Iraq by US and British forces, His Beatitude Raphael Bidawid, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq was interviewed by Fides News Agency. He expressed a great concern for his people who are the ones who have suffered from the embargo placed on them after the Gulf War. Saddam Hussein has not been harmed, only the people and strangely, they do not blame the Iraqi despot but the Americans for their troubles. The Patriarch expressed to Fides that the use of force could be the straw that breaks the camel's back and the crisis in the Mideast becomes full-fledged war. For more, see Universal News
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For more Daily News, we recommend sources we rely on. For these news agencies, see News Sources
EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Today is the final Sunday in Ordinary Time until July 1st. Tomorrow and Tuesday are the final Weekdays in Ordinary Time before we begin the Lenten Season on Ash Wednesday, followed by the Easter Season leading up to four consecutive Sundays of Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi Sunday, and the Feast of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist which falls this year on the Sunday after tahe Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. Therefore, Ordinary Time will not begin Sunday-wise until July 1st. For today and tomorrow's liturgies, see Daily LITURGY
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Green vestments
SUNDAY February 25:
EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
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First Reading: 1 Samuel 27: 4-7
Psalms: Psalm 92: 2-3, 13-16
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15: 54-58
Gospel Reading: Luke 6: 39-45
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"The good man from the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and the evil man from the evil treasure brings forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." Luke 6: 45
Pope Saint Pius V excommunicates Queen of England
On this date 431 years ago in 1570 Pope Saint Pius V, 225th successor of Peter, was forced to excommunicate England's Queen Elizabeth for her persecution of Catholics. With this interdict the Pope absolved all English people from holding allegiance to the staunch, feminist and crazed queen who had her Catholic sister Mary murdered, much in the same mold as her father King Henry VIII. For other Time Capsule events that happened Today in Church history, see Daily TIME CAPSULES in Church History
God's reasoning triumphs over man's
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminary did so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".
"What can one do in the face of pain and suffering? Various solutions have been offered. One is stoicism, which is to grit one's teeth and bear it, in order to prove apathy and indifference to the ills of the world; another way is that of Buddhism, which is to see all suffering as the result of desire. As one crushes desire and strives for union with the great Nirvana of conconsciousness, one diminishes and finally conquers suffering. The Old Testament, as revealed in the Bood of Job, is to acknowledge that we are face to face with a mystery which is incapable of solution by reason. When Job asks God questions, God appears and begins asking Job questions, such as, 'Where you when I laid the foundations of the earth?' When God finished asking Job questions, Job realized that the questions of God made more sense than the answers of men. Job's final philosophy was summed up in his words: 'Slay me though He might, I will trust in Him.' (Job 13: 15)."
Monthly Medjugorje Message for February 2001
"Dear children! This is a time of grace. That is why pray, pray, pray until you comprehend God’s love for each of you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
For Our Lady's February 25th message for 2001 and more on Medjugorje, see MEDJUGORJE AND MORE
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February 25, 2001 volume 12, no. 56
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