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     Today is the the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle while tomorrow is the First Tuesday of Advent. For the readings, liturgy, meditations and vignette on Saint Andrew, click on LITURGY FOR THE DAY.

Monday November 30:
FEAST OF SAINT ANDREW, APOSTLE

Red vestments

First Reading: Romans 10: 9-18
Psalms: Psalm 19: 2-5
Gospel Reading: Matthew 4: 18-22

      A former disciple of Saint John the Baptist, it was the Galilean Saint Andrew who introduced his brother Simon to Our Lord (cf. John 1: 40-42). Andrew first met Jesus when the Messiah was baptized by the Baptizer at the River Jordan. Because he was the first the Greeks called him the "Protoclete" or "first-called." After introducing his brother, whom Jesus called "Simon Cephas" ("Simon Peter") - the rock, both brothers followed Jesus throughout His public ministry. Fishermen by trade, Jesus promised to make them fishers of men: "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men", (Matthew 4: 19). After the Ascension, Andrew traveled to Scythia and Greece to preach the Gospel. Tradition says he was martyred at Patras, Acaia in southern part of Greece around the year 60. He was crucified on an X-shaped cross which ultimately came to be known as St. Andrew's Cross. In 357 his relics were brought to Constantinople to reside there. It was the beginning of intense devotion to this saint within the Byzantine Church. This great devotion was one reason Pope Paul VI, in an ecumenical gesture, returned the relics to Patras in 1964 after they had resided in Amalfi, Italy since 1208 with Andrew's skull in Rome since 1462. Andrew is the patron saint of both Russia and Scotland where legend persists that Andrew was spirited to both places, as well as Poland, to preach the gospel.

Tuesday December 1:
First Tuesday of Advent

Violet vestments

First Reading: Isaiah 11: 1-10
Psalms: Psalm 72: 1, 7-8, 12-13, 17
Gospel Reading: Luke 10: 21-24

      Today's Prayers are taken from the Opening Prayers for the Mass honoring the Apostle Saint Andrew:

Lord, in Your kindness hear our petitions. You called Andrew the Apostle to preach the gospel and to guide Your Church in faith. May he always be our friend in Your presence to help us with his prayers.

This is also the time of Advent. For the special Novena Prayer for this day during this time of preparation, click on ADVENT

ADVENT NOVENA PRAYER

    O Triune Divinity, we come to you through the intercession of Blessed Mary, ever-Virgin, and St. Joseph, her chaste, holy spouse. In this season of Advent we desire to obtain the grace of purity of intention, that through our obedience to Your Heavenly Will, we, too, can transform our poor, miserable lives into the resplendent stable at Bethlehem where You Only-begotten Son was born.
Through the intercession of Mary, and all the hosts of Heaven, we beseech You, through the merits gained for us by Jesus Christ, Your Only-begotten Son, to help us convert our hearts, to live the messages of Your Mother, and to ardently beseech You to bring about the Triumph of Mary's Immaculate Heart now, that the Reign of the Sacred Heart might be upon the world.
Heavenly Father, we trust in Your goodness and beseech You to hear us, not because of our worthiness, but because of our willingness to be Your little children who kneel in adoration to their God. Come, let us adore Him!

PRAYER for November 30: First Monday of Advent

    Heavenly Mother, we ask you to help us now to begin our preparation to welcome your Divine Son Jesus Christ into our midst. We offer to Jesus through your intercession our every thought, word and deed throughout these days, that we may participate in this sublime mystery of our salvation. Help us, Mary, to be obedient, humble children, hearts aflame with Love as anticipate the birth of Love Itself!

Holy Father emphasizes sacrifice and indulgences in decree on Jubilee Year with release of Papal Bull as well as announcing special Mass for Hurricane victims.

      With just over a year remaining before we enter the next millennium and the long-anticipated Jubilee 2000, the Holy Father released his Papal Bull Incarnationis Mysterium on Friday and read parts of it in a special ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica on Sunday, citing the plenary indulgences that can be gained from participating in a Jubilee Year, with a special emphasis on sacrifice, penance, prayer and good works. The Vatican also announced that it will hold a special memorial Mass for the dead victims of hurricane-ravaged Honduras, Guatamala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Mexico. For more, click on Jubilee Year

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- The Vatican Friday released the papal bull Incarnationis Mysterium, signed by Pope John Paul II, formally announcing the Grand Jubilee of 2000.

      "I decree that the Grand Jubilee of the Year 2000 will begin on Christmas Night of 1999," the Holy Father says at the outset of the document. The Jubilee will begin with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica, and several hours of ceremonial activity in Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The Pope explains that the Jubilee will have "two centers"-- in Rome and in the Holy Land, "where the Son of God became man."

      Saying that the Jubilee marks "a new step forward in reciprocal dialogue," the Holy Father invites "even those who are far from faith in God," to "share our joy" in the celebration. He added that the Holy Door of another Roman basilica, St. Paul's, would be opened on January 18, 2000, the first day of the annual week of prayer for Christian unity, to underline "the particular ecumenical character that marks this Jubilee."

      Recalling the first Jubilee pronounced by a Roman Pontiff-- that of the year 1300, proclaimed by Pope Boniface VIII-- the Pope said that such a year, specially dedicated to the actions of grace, can produce enormous spiritual benefits. He also noted the tradition of granting plenary indulgences to pilgrims who participate in the Jubilee, provided that they make an individual confession and receive the Eucharist during their pilgrimage.

      Meanwhile, the Vatican announced that a special Mass in memory of the victims of Hurricane Mitch will be celebrated at the Vatican on December 3, with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican Secretary of State, as the principal celebrant. All citizens of the affected countries who are now living in Rome have been invited to participate.

      The Italian bishops' conference has issued a statement indicating that, after the first rush of organization to send emergency aid to the devastated countries of Latin America, they now feel the urgency of organizing prayers for the victim and for the survivors now living in deplorable conditions in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico.

Israeli government trying to muscle archive holders in perpetuating the guilt of the holocaust




      It's getting pretty tiresome, the constant blame-mongering the Israeli government is perpetuating in making more demands to have all archives opened even though they already have. Rather than learning from the tragedies, Jewish interests want to blame anyone they can from Pope Pius XII to the French to England and the Czech Republic. What it comes down to is that you cannot get blood from a turnip, but the Israelis don't seem to understand that and continue to make unreasonable demands, alienating more and more nations at a time when allies are important in light of the times foretold in Sacred Scripture. It is matters like this that continue to put a crimp in negotiations between Israel and the Vatican regarding the Holy Father's visit to Jerusalem in 2000. For more, click on Israeli ills.

      JERUSALEM (CWNews.com) - The government of Israel this week demanded that certain Holocaust-era archives be opened up for their research and published a list of the recalcitrant archives.

      In a letter from Bobby Brown, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's adviser on Diaspora affairs, to the head of Israel's delegation to an upcoming Washington conference on Holocaust assets, he named a dozen institutions in Europe that "have refused or have been uncooperative in sharing information." The archives named included the Vatican archives, the French National Archives, the files of the British Custodian of Enemy Property, the British MI5 intelligence agency, and the central state archives and Prague Jewish Museum in the Czech Republic.

      "We appeal to each institution listed to open their files so that we may learn why civilized society failed in its basic commitment to ensure the safety, lives, liberty and property of our people," the letter said. Many of the institutions immediately rejected the demands, saying they have already been adequately forthcoming.

      "(MI5) is reviewing its World War II archive, but to the best of our knowledge there is nothing on MI5 files that is relevant to the Holocaust," a Home Office spokesman in London said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Philippe Delaval, head of the French National Archives, said he was "astonished" the archive was accused of restricting access, especially since it recently welcomed a delegation from the Holocaust Museum in Washington. Israeli officials said, however, that the archive would not allow documents to be copied or taken out of the country. The Vatican has consistently said that it has made as much of the archive available as possible without violating the sanctity of documents relating to sacramental matters.

"Dr. Death" arraigned in Detroit while down another "Dr. Death" being hunted

      It took several days, but Detroit authorities finally arrested the notorious "Dr. Death" - otherwise known as Jack Kevorkian after his hideous and clinic-like murder of a 51-year old Catholic man suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease, which was shown on CBS' 60 Minutes last Sunday night. Meanwhile, in Australia, authorities there are ready to lower the boom on another "Dr. Death" down under Philip Nitschke who has admitted to assisting numerous patients in assisted suicide. For more, click on Dr. Deaths

      DETROIT (CWNews.com) - Assisted suicide activist Jack Kevorkian was arrested and charged with murder last Wednesday in the lethal injection of a man that was nationally televised last Sunday.

      Kevorkian was released on a $750,000 bond that forbid him from participating "any homicide, euthanasia, or whatever you call it. Any action used in taking of human life." Kevorkian insisted during the proceedings that he will represent himself, and will only retain three "legal advisers." He has been charged with murder in the first degree, assisting suicide, and delivering a controlled substance.

      During the broadcast of the CBS news show 60 Minutes on Sunday, Kevorkian dared prosecutors to arrest him for lethally injecting Thomas Youk of Waterford Township, Michigan on September 17. Youk suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease. Oakland County Prosecutor David Gorcyca, who filed charges after obtaining Kevorkian's unedited videotapes from CBS, has said his case is legally sound. "We charge him with the charges that he deserves. They're supported by the law, they're supported by the facts," Gorcyca said.

      Although Kevorkian has been acquitted three times on assisted suicide charges, the lawyer who defended him in those case predicted his former client would be convicted if he represented himself. "I can tell you what the results will be if he represents himself. He will go to jail and starve," Geoffrey Fieger said Thursday. "He has a constitutional right to make a fool of himself, and the prosecutor will make him look like a fool." Kevorkian said on 60 Minutes that he starve himself if convicted.

      Meanwhile, in Melbourne the Australian Medical Association on Friday called for a police investigation into assisted suicide activist Philip Nitschke who recently admitting to aiding in the death of 15 people.

      Nitschke, commenting on the arrest of American assisted suicide Jack Kevorkian, said on Thursday that he had continued to aid in the death of people after a law legalizing the practice was overturned last year. He added that he had videotaped the victims giving him permission to kill them.

      "I think police should be able to investigate anybody that has publicly said they have ... got video evidence that they have done such a thing," David Brand, president of the Australian Medical Association, told ABC radio. "It seems rather strange that the police sit on their hands until somebody actually complains," he added.

Philly Archdiocese helps moniker "City of Brotherly Love" live up to its image with new 877-BLESS ME number as part of new evangelization efforts

      Cardinal Anthony Bevilaqua inaugurated a new concept for his Archdiocese in Philadelphia with the advent of a new toll-free number (877-BLESS ME) for people everywhere to seek advice. Despite jokes by media punsters of "Call in your confession," the program has been quite successful so far with priests manning the phones. Naturally, no sacraments can be performed by phone but evangelization and counseling can and the Archdiocese has spent a quarter of a million dollars in advertising to assure that it gets off on the right track in the greater Philadelphia area. The number is available twelve hours during the day and on weekends a message line records calls so the priests can follow-up on Monday. For more, click on Reach out and touch someone.

      PHILADELPHIA (CWNews.com) - The Archdiocese of Philadelphia this week launched a new toll-free confidential advice hotline that has already received hundreds of calls seeking advice, prayer, and answers.

      The archdiocese launched the new line, 877-BLESS-ME, with a $225,000 television and radio ad campaign. "They can call us about anything," Father Charles Devlin said Wednesday. "And believe me, they do. They find security in anonymity over the phone." Diocesan priests have volunteered to man the three lines on their days off to answer the estimated 100 calls per day. The phones are staffed Monday through Friday from 8 am to 8 pm. On nights and weekends, an answering machines takes messages for people who would like a call back.

      The topics of the calls have reportedly ranged from requests for prayer to questions about divorce, suicide, and abortion. Father Devlin added that the callers are not exclusively Catholic with people of many faiths taking the opportunity to call and talk.

For more headlines and articles, we suggest you go to the Catholic World News site. CWN is not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC but provides this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.

    Dear children! Today I call you to prepare yourselves for the coming of Jesus. In a special way, prepare your hearts. May holy Confession be the first act of conversion for you and then, dear children, decide for holiness. May your conversion and decision for holiness begin today and not tomorrow. Little children, I call you all to the way of salvation and I desire to show you the way to Heaven. That is why, little children, be mine and decide with me for holiness. Little children, accept prayer with seriousness and pray, pray, pray. Thank you for having responded to my call. For more on Medjugorje, click on MEDJUGORJE AND MORE

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November 30, 1998 volume 9, no. 232   DAILY CATHOLIC