Year: 2020

Focusing on Blessed Mother During General Audience, Says ‘How Beautiful It Would Be If We Too Could Be a Bit Like Our Mother!’

November 18, 2020 Deborah Castellano Lubov

A model for our prayer, at simple and at the most difficult of times? The Blessed Virgin Mary.

Pope Francis gave this reminder during his Nov. 18 General Audience today, privately streamed from his Apostolic Library, again without public due to the resurgence of COVID19 in the country.

The Holy Father continued his series of catechesis on prayer, this week looking at Our Lady.

The Pope reflected on Mary praying when the Archangel Gabriel came to bring his message to her in Nazareth.

“Her small yet immense “Here I am”, which makes all of creation jump for joy at that moment,” he said, “was preceded throughout salvation history by many other “Here I ams”, by many trusting obediences, by many who were open to God’s will.”

Openness, and God Always Responds….

He noted there is no better way to pray than to place oneself in an attitude of openness.

With this heart open to God, the Pontiff noted, one says: ‘Lord, what You want, when You want, and how You want.’ That is, with a heart open to God’s will. And God always responds.”

Our Mother Mary, the Holy Father reminded, keeps everything and brings it to her dialogue with God.

“Someone has compared Mary’s heart to a pearl of incomparable splendour, formed and smoothed by patient acceptance of God’s will through the mysteries of Jesus meditated on in prayer.”

How beautiful it would be…

“How beautiful it would be,” Pope Francis said, “if we too could be a bit like our Mother! With a heart open to God’s Word, with a silent heart, with an obedient heart, with a heart that knows how to receive God’s Word and that allows itself to grow with the seed of good for the Church.”

Here is the Vatican-provided text of the Holy Father’s address:

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Catechesis on prayer – 15. The Virgin Mary, prayerful woman

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

On our course of catechesis on prayer, today we meet the Virgin Mary as the prayerful woman. The Madonna prayed. When the world still knew nothing of her, when she was a simple girl engaged to a man of the house of David, Mary prayed. We can imagine the young girl of Nazareth wrapped in silence, in continual dialogue with God who would soon entrust her with a mission. She is already full of grace and immaculate from the moment she was conceived; but she knows nothing yet of her surprising and extraordinary vocation and the stormy sea she will have to cross. One thing is certain: Mary belongs to a great host of the humble of heart whom the official historians never include in their books, but with whom God prepared the coming of His Son.

Mary did not autonomously conduct her life: she waits for God to take the reins of her path and guide her where He wants. She is docile, and with her availability she prepares the grand events in which God takes part in the world. The Catechism recalls her constant and caring presence in the benevolent design of the Father throughout the course of Jesus’s life (see CCC, 2617-2618).

Mary was praying when the Archangel Gabriel came to bring his message to her in Nazareth. Her small yet immense “Here I am”, which makes all of creation jump for joy at that moment, was preceded throughout salvation history by many other “Here I ams”, by many trusting obediences, by many who were open to God’s will. There is no better way to pray than to place oneself in an attitude of openness, of a heart open to God: “Lord, what You want, when You want, and how You want”. That is, with a heart open to God’s will. And God always responds. How many believers live their prayer like this! Those who are the most humble of heart pray like this: with essential humility, let’s put it that way; with simple humility: “Lord, what You want, when You want, and how You want”. They pray like this and do not get upset when problems fill their days, but they go about facing reality and knowing that in humble love, in love offered in each situation, we become instruments of God’s grace. “Lord, what You want, when You want, and how You want”. A simple prayer, but one in which we place ourselves in the Lord’s hands so that He might guide us. All of us can pray like this, almost without words.

November 20, 2020 ·  By Shay Cullen
Shay Cullen

Human trafficking and child sexual abuse is still alive and thriving in the Philippines. Online sexual abuse of children is everywhere, it seems, and more has to be done by the telecommunication corporations to stop it. That’s why this heinous crime against small children to satisfy the sexual lust of foreign pedophiles is so abhorrent. Shame on all who allow it to happen with impunity. The Philippines has become the hub for such crimes. The National Bureau of Investigations (NBI) in Olongapo and from Manila has rescued 18 women and children and arrested three human traffickers recently.

In Angeles City this week, two children were rescued and two pimps, both minors, were arrested and turned over to the social workers of Angeles City. A US national, Nicholas Pyant, was arrested by the Philippine National Police in a room with children and should be charged with sexual assault and rape of young children. Pyant was under surveillance for weeks and is allegedly a known child predator.

In Barrio Baretto, Olongapo City minors are brought to sex hotels to be sold as sex slaves to customers. They are a hub for spreading the coronavirus and human trafficking. The sex industry exists for the sexual gratification of foreign sex tourists and rich locals and earns huge profits for the foreign and local owners of the sex bars and hotels.

The social workers of the Preda Foundation are very active in intelligence gathering and provided vital information and assisted in the recent rescue of the trafficked women and minors in the Barretto night club district. The four minors were referred to the Preda Home for Girls where they are safe from the sex mafia and the families of the human traffickers. At the Preda home, they receive full support, affirmation, counselling, emotional release therapy and education and value formation to prepare them to have a normal, happy life. You can view life in the Preda Homes on Preda Foundation Youtube channel https://youtu.be/G0fFNmHSYic

The Preda home will assist the minors in bringing charges against their abusers and traffickers. Together, we win several convictions of traffickers and child rapists every year. In 2018, we had 18 convictions. In 2019 we helped the children win 20 convictions leading to life sentences. This year 2020, 13 convictions have been won so far. There would be more but due to the pandemic the courts were closed.

Fighting for justice is a very important healing therapy for the children to get justice and to testify in court what the abusers did to them. Most victims/survivors are teenagers. Some are only three years old and six-year-old. They can then have a happy, secure life knowing that their traffickers and rapists are behind bars and can abuse no more children. Some of the teenage children victims of human trafficking also want to be advocates for children’s rights and to speak out as is their right of free expression. They volunteer and sign on to be child rights advocates, a brave and courageous action to take. While we adults do everything to protect their identity, we cannot stop them from exercising their human and civil rights to speak out against human trafficking and advocate children’s rights.The #MeToo movement is a way for women and children to experience freedom from abuse and to fight for justice and many young survivors want to be part of it.

It is adults that allow the sexual exploitation of children in the first place.The horrific child sex abuse business that is a scourge today in the Philippines is due to the former presence of the US Naval Base at Subic Bay, Olongapo City. Thousands of women and children were exploited and abused in hundreds of sex bars catering to the US Navy personnel. It was a wonderland of sex fantasy and abuse. Pedophiles flocked there and the sex mafia systematically and efficiently allowed them to sexually exploit, rape and abuse children. The government allowed and promoted it and the rich made millions of dollars.

In 1983, I discovered a child sex abuse syndicate selling children as young as nine years old to US sailors. I broke that story in the media and instead of being recognized for taking a stand for justice and truth and child protection, I was vilified by local government officials at the time and I was brought to trial at the Bureau of Immigration to be deported. The charge was that my child protection work and writing was bringing Olongapo City and its officials into disrepute. They felt I was blaming them for the child sex industry. They denied all responsibility despite a high profile military court case in Guam that brought a US officer to trial for child sexual abuse in Olongapo City. A sad state of affairs indeed.

That’s how journalists and child rights campaigners fighting for the dignity of the Filipinos were dealt with. However, I won my case, was found innocent and continued my work protecting human rights from my base in the Preda Foundation. When the city officials said they would close the Preda home for children, I said it would be better to close the US Naval Base. An idea was born and I started a “Life after the Bases” campaign to close the US military bases and convert them to civilian economic zones. It was amazing then how many people, in the Catholic Philippines, were hostile and negative to that vision of hope and help.

However, against all opposition, I promoted that idea and it caught on and a coalition of civil society members was formed that eventually persuaded the Philippine Senate to vote against the continuation of the US military bases. The conversion plan I formulated was eventually implemented and Subic Bay is now a thriving industrial area giving jobs with dignity to thousands of Filipinos. Human trafficking never really ceased and years later it began to make a comeback as tourism was promoted. So, today we are still fighting this scourge against humanity and protecting Filipino children.

www.preda.org

Circular No. 20-79

Your Eminences, Your Excellencies and Very Reverend Diocesan Administrators:

Peace!

Typhoon Rolly left thousands of families bereft of hope, security and stability and a number of people dead in the Bicol Region. And days after it, Typhoon Ulysses hit many parts of Luzon, particularly Bicol and Metro Manila. In fact, as of today, many areas in the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao and Diocese of Ilagan are still under flood waters. These two (2) typhoons brought great suffering to our people, caused so much damage to properties, homes and sources of livelihood and, most painful of all, the loss of lives.

Though we are not strangers to this recurring natural calamity caused by typhoons, there is no doubt that we are again touched by the pain and misery that our people are experiencing during these difficult times as they also battle against the effects of COVID-19. We cannot even try to imagine the pain that families are enduring with the loss of loved ones.

Again, we are called to act in solidarity with these devastated families and communities. We are challenged to bring even our most humble and lowly offerings of mercy and compassion to these people. And one of these is our most sincere and fervent prayer to the Lord, for Him to touch the hearts of these suffering people, to keep their hopes alive, and to keep their faith in the Lord. Also, we offer our special prayers for those who died and for their grieving families.

We are aware that our CBCP-ECSA-JP and NASSA have written to appeal to us to jointly campaign for help and to bring whatever help we can do and offer to the suffering people in these areas. The CBCP-ECSA-JP and NASSA is in contact with the bishops of these affected areas.

Please find attached to this letter a copy of the appeal for your quick referral: Solidarity Appeal for Typhoon Rolly Devastated Families and Communities.