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Our Lord reveals Himself in all His glory to those chosen ones He has singled out

      In the third part of Chapter 12, Behold His Glory! we see, through interior vision, the many appearances in an infitesmal amount of time, of the Risen Lord to many we have come to known from the Scriptures. These meditative lessons on the Glorious Mysteries were imparted by Our Lady to the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart after Pentecost 1993. They are meant to inspire and prompt a greater understanding of the Glorious Mysteries. For part three of Chapter 12, click on "MY LORD AND MY GOD!"

      And another scene is immediately shown to me. It is a damp, dank, awful prison cell in some building. A single torch gives a dim light and I can make out a figure who is sitting against a moldy, fettered wall, his head inclined to the right. A large rat scurries about the debris, but the man does not notice.

      Suddenly all is brightness, a silvery light more dazzling than sunlight. Everything is transformed by this light which comes from, surrounds, and comprises Our Lord'' glorified Body.

      The man in the cell is Joseph of Arimethea. He, too, has been maltreated, but his sorrow is obviously greater than his physical misery.

      "My Lord!" he exclaims, moving from his sitting position to kneel before Jesus, Who smiles at him with Infinite Love.

      "Now that you have witnessed the truth, you will follow the Light into eternity. No longer be afraid. Soon you will be released. Go to the house where My Apostles are gathered and wait and pray with them."

      "Yes, Lord, Yes!" Joseph's prayer is complete, from his heart. But Jesus is already gone, and I follow to yet another place.

      I am within the temple, which is a place of chaos, as on-lookers, temple guards, priests, scribes, and general citizens have come to gaze and exclaim over the damage to this place in the Friday afternoon earthquake. Off in a side room, I see Gamaliel, who rests his head upon his arms as he sits at a table, covered in dust and debris. His body posture is one of defeat, as that which lies in ruin at his feet is proof of the reality of Jesus Christ the Messiah. The sign he had needed was given. But he did not have the faith to believe when the Messiah was in the midst of the people.

      "You have witnessed the power of God," says Our Lord, Who stands before Gamaliel.

      Startled, the elderly man looks up. His face has aged considerably since the day of the Sacred Passion. "Yes, the Power of God. He said I would receive this sign. But I was blind and stubborn and did not recognize Him."

      "Behold, Gamaliel, you have learned a great lesson. Your eyes saw first God's Justice and Power. Now behold His Glory, which has been won for all who will believe."

      Jesus' full Divinity transforms His body into its Glorified state, and Gamaliel is so shaken, so filled with awe, reverence, and respect that he can barely rise to his feet.

      "O! My God, forgive an old man whose wisdom was clothed in pride. I am your servant, the least of them, if You will have me."

      "Gamaliel, it will be your voice which shall shake the walls which remain in this temple. It will be your voice, which will help My Apostles to establish the Gospel, which I have given to all the world. Let Israel hear and believe, for the Kingdom of God lives forever in the hearts of the just."

      "O! My Lord, all You say I will do. I…. May God have mercy on Israel."

      "I am Mercy. Israel has rejected Me. Know that many generations shall pass before Israel proclaims its messiah, who will be not I, but My enemy. Know that when this happens the Kingdom of God is at hand and I will return to claim My Kingdom. Go now to the house where my Apostles and My Holy Mother are gathered in prayer. You will stay among them until your heart is filled with the knowledge you must have to go forward. I bless you, Gamaliel. Speak of Me often that all might know and love Me."

      I am again above Jerusalem within Our Lady's embrace and she beckons me to look at the distant horizon. As if by a miracle, which it can only be, I see a succession of scenes where Jesus appears. I recognize His meeting with the two men on the road to Emmaus. I see also that those disciples which He had sent to Antioch to prepare the people to receive the Gospel, see the Glorified Christ and are instructed as to their duties. To all, Jesus' Love is paramount, and upon all, His Peace descends, leaving each heart renewed, stronger.

      There are hundreds of these brief scenes. They are swift, and I do not recognize each person to whom Our Lord appears. But I do not need to know whom. What is important, I am given to understand, is that all of these apparitions occur in a short span of earthly time, and many occur simultaneously. How wonderful is the life, which awaits us when we are no longer tied and bound to our heavy bodies, not subject to the laws of time, place, distance, etc. Then very gently, led by Our Blessed Mother, I find that all of these interior visions fade and I am in my own room, pen in hand, and I sense the profound peace and renewed heart which I have also received. May God be praised!

HEADLINES:

Holy Father addresses challenges ahead between Christian and Jew

      During his regular Wednesday Papal Audience at Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father addressed the challenges ahead in dialogue with the Jews in preparation for the Pope's expected acceptance of foreign minister Ariel Sharon's invitation to visit the Holy Land next year for Jubilee 2000. The Pope pointed out the similiarities and differences of the two major religions and the sufferings both faiths have shared over the centuries. For more, click on Dialog.

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- In his regular Wednesday audience on April 28, Pope John Paul II said that inter-religious dialogue particularly with Jewish people involves a special challenge to the Christian conscience.

      Speaking to an audience of 20,000 people in St. Peter's Square, the Pontiff observed that relations between Christians and Jews have been marked by difficulties, "from the first days of the Church about until today." On the other hand, he noted, there have been noteworthy moments of "peaceful and constructive dialogue." He mentioned his own visit to a synagogue in Rome in 1986, and the recent Vatican publication reflecting on the Holocaust.

      Among the things that Christians and Jews share in common, the Pope said, the most important is "a large part of the history of salvation" as represented in the Old Testament. Although Christians must interpret the Hebrew Scriptures differently, in light of the Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection, the stories of God's relations with his people remain the same.

      Also, the Holy Father continued, Christians and Jews share "the common duty to protect the sanctity of human life in all forms and the defend the dignity of each brother and sister."

      Finally, John Paul noted that the Catholic Church has derived much of her liturgical treasure from the Jewish tradition. He pointed to the scriptural basis for Eucharistic prayers, and the Psalms used especially in the Liturgy of the Hours.

      Today, the Pope concluded, dialogue with Jews requires that Christians be "more conscious of the facts that bring us together." As for the "sad events and tragedies of the past," he said, the dialogue should now point toward the complete elimination of "the bad seed of anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism."

War in the Balkans causes cancelation of historic meeting between East and West in Baltimore

      The planned Theological summit on June 5 between leaders of the Greek Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church has been postponed until next year because of the war in the Balkans. This was announced in a joint press conference the organizers of this historic summit - Baltimore's Archbishop Cardinal William Keeler and Archbishop Spyridon of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. It was canceled jointly by Cardinal Edward Isdris Cassidy, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Orthodox Archbishop in Australia. For more, click on Canceled summit

      BALTIMORE (CWNews.com) - Catholic and Orthodox leaders announced on Tuesday that a key meeting between the two groups planned for June will be postponed because of the current war between NATO and Yugoslavia.

      Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore and Archbishop Spyridon of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said in a statement that the meeting of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches will be rescheduled for 2000. The commission has met periodically since 1979 and was set to meet on June 5 at Mount St. Mary's College near Baltimore.

      The decision to postpone the meeting was made by the international co-chairs of the commission, Cardinal Edward Cassidy and Orthodox Archbishop Stylianos of Australia who said they hoped to use the delay to "the benefit of this dialogue." The postponement came as NATO entered the sixth week of a bombing campaign against Yugoslavia which has a majority population of Serbian Orthodox Christians.

Holy Spirit to descend on Russia on Pentecost Sunday in the form of the ordinations of first Russian seminarians since the revolution in 1917

      It was the year Our Lady appeared at Fatima in 1917 the last time a Russian priest was ordained for the revolution would ensue and communism would take root choking out Catholicism behind the atheistic iron curtain. Our Lady asked for prayer and those prayers have helped produce the first Russian priests to be ordained since then. Despite the current problems in Russia regarding the fued for Church property and permissions, there will be five native-born Russian seminarians who will be ordained in the Diocese of St. Petersburg on May 23rd - the Feast of Pentecost. For more, click on Russian ordinations.

      ROME, APR 27 (ZENIT).- On May 23, the first five seminarians to graduate from the Queen of Apostles Seminary in St. Petersburg will be ordained to the priesthood. They will be the first Russian Catholic priests since the Revolution 82 years ago.

      The Seminary opened in Moscow in 1994 with 27 students. Because of difficulties with Russian authorities, the Seminary moved to St. Petersburg in 1995. It is directed by Italian Father Bernardo Antonini.

      The Seminary's opening was announced in 1993 by Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewick of Moscow, who is also apostolic administrator for European Russia. Father Antonini made provisional housing arrangements for the young aspirants to the priesthood, while awaiting restitution of Church property in Moscow, which would have made space available for classrooms, a library, and places of reflection and prayer.

      Although he had all the required permits from the government and the municipality, Father Antonini did not succeed in obtaining the buildings. The Church of the Immaculate Conception, for instance, was turned into a commercial cooperative; since the operators refused to leave the building, the decision was made to transfer the seminary to St. Petersburg.

      Archbishop Kondrusiewick expressed his enthusiasm for the rebirth of the Seminary. "We are very grateful to the priests of so many countries, both near and far, as for example Argentina, who come to help us and the faithful. But, sooner or later a Church must stand on its own feet. In order to do so, the Russian Church needs Russian priests." At last, the long awaited moment has arrived for the Church in Russia. ZE99042702

Priests retreat this year to be held in Holy Land in preparation for the new millennium

      June 20th is Father's Day, but two days after that it will truly be "Fathers' Week" in Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Nazareth when priests from all over the world will gather for their annual retreat that began in 1996 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima and last summer was held at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. For more, click on Priests of the world to gather in Holy Land.

      ROME, 28 (NE) Priests from all over the world will meet in Holy Land this year in an encounter of preparation for the Jubilee of the year 2000. From June 22 until June 27, Nazareth, Jerusalem and Bethlehem will be the cities in which the IV International Meeting of Priests will be carried out. "We cannot speak of the new evangelization without good priests," said Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, in charge of the event. Similar encounters have been held before in Fatima (1996), in Yamoussoukro (1997) and in Mexico (1998).

Daily Dose of curious contents of the Church:

      On this date in 1111, Saint Robert of Molesmes died. He, along with Saint Alberic and Saint Stephen Harding founded the contemplative, cloistered Order known as the Cistercians in 1098 at Citeaux in France. The great Saint Bernard of Clairvaux was one of the early Benedictines who helped the Cistercian way of life prosper with over 530 Cistercian abbeys by the end of the 1100's and 150 more by the end of the thirteenth century. This extension of the Benedictine Order with its strict rules and constititutions greatly influenced monastic life in the middle ages. But as happens so often with orders that try to adhere to a strict rule, such as the Franciscans who rebelled against Saint Francis' rule, laxity set in with the Cistercian Order in the fourteenth and fifteenth century when the Church itself was struggling with some Popes who were more interested in temporal things than spiritual. With the Counter-Reformation an even stricter group of cloistered, contemplative monks was formed based on the Cistercian code and founded by Armand de Rance who founded the monastery at La Trappe; its members would become known as the Trappists. For more on the Cistercians, we recommend NEW ADVENT CATHOLIC SUPERSITE (sources: Cabinet of Catholic Information, Duggan Publishing Co.; Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., Doubleday).

    In honor of the feast of Saint Catherine of Siena we present an excellent site that provides timely articles, documents and inspirational features on Catholicism. It is called the St. Catherine Review and is a past recipient of our GOLDEN CHALICE AWARD

Click here to return to SECTION ONE or click here to return to the graphics front page of this issue.

April 29, 1999 volume 10, no. 84   DAILY CATHOLIC