Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and representatives of other Orthodox and Anglican churches accompanied Pope Benedict in lighting a candle to launch the Year of St Paul.
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Celebrate the living spirit: Bishops urge
Australia's bishops have urged Catholics to "celebrate the Living Spirit" to mark Aboriginal and Torres Islander Sunday this weekend.
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Korean priests in Mass protest against US beef
Two hundred South Korean priests have celebrated a street Mass in Seoul to protest an unpopular government decision to resume beef imports from the US.
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Bees for Benedict
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Feature - Walking away from what they do not know
"People who leave the Church are not leaving because they are rejecting the teachings of John Paul II or Pope Benedict. Most do so because they go to Catholic schools and they think that the kind of warm secular humanism with Christian gloss that they get in Catholic schools is in fact the Catholic faith and it hasn't captured their imagination, their love or their intellect so they are walking away from something that they do not know." - The Catholic Herald
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Featured Website - First Things
First Things is a monthly ecumenical journal concerned with the creation of a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society." It is published by The Institute on Religion and Public Life in the United States of America.
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Film Review - Kung Fu Panda
Kung Fu Panda is essentially a martial arts comedy and is a total action movie. It has striking effects and action sequences and a particularly impressive concluding fantasy sequence which brings DreamWorks to a new level of technological sophistication. There is a strong cultural feel about the movie and it heavily draws on Chinese culture to bring authenticity to its fantasy. - Peter Sheehan, Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting
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Opinion - God is without circumference
His challenge was to see the beauty in every face, even when the owner of that face had long given up on it. Surely, that is to love others as Jesus did—Jesus the One who never gives up on us. If we are to love as Jesus loved, we need to be forgiving people. Forgiving people are bridge-builders and reconcilers. - Fr Chris Gleeson, Madonna
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OPINION
Beyond knowledge to wisdomI believe this is one of the crisis points for contemporary Christianity. Put bluntly, its representatives do not seem wise. Yes, those representatives can give you any amount of information, some of them can even speak knowledgeably of Christian teachings. Wisdom is another thing altogether. - Fr Michael Whelan [More] - Aquinas Academy
FEATURE
Connected across bordersIt is time for leaders of nations to see their national interests as connected with the interests of people on the other side of the globe. We have reached the point where human existence is at stake and our destiny is inextricably linked. If we are to overcome this crisis of climate change we need to think beyond the confines of national states. - Just Comment [More] - Edmund Rice Centre
FEATURED CATHOLIC WEBSITE
Catholic Education Diocese of ParramattaReturning to our education theme, we shine the spotlight on arguably the most innovative Catholic education website in the country. In addition to all the standard features of any CEO site, Parramatta's includes some interactive opinion polls and a competition for students to attempt to ''Become the Executive Director for the day''. The site is also well regarded for its RE and curriculum resources.
- www.parra.catholic.edu.au
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Christians must rediscover baptism and mission, says the Pope
The Pope yesterday invited Christians to commit themselves to a "new re-evangelisation". On the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Christians, too, must rediscover the baptism, sign of one’s full commitment to the faith and true participation to Church life, he said.
The rediscovery of baptism expresses itself in the commitment of one’s life to God “in the daily application of the Commandment of love”.
Asia News offers a summary of the Pope's address:
“Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, an event the Evangelists consider as the beginning of His messianic ministry.
“A Christian’s mission begins with the baptism, too. Rediscovering the baptism through appropriate adult catechesis is an important part in the new re-evangelisation.
“Renewing in a more mature way one’s commitment to the faith is a condition for true participation in the Eucharistic Celebration which represents the apex of Church life.
“May Holiest Mary help all those who through the baptism are reborn ‘from the water and the Spirit’ and make of their own lives a constant oblation to God in the Commandment of love and so exercise the common priesthood of every baptised person.”
Following the Angelus prayer, together with some greetings, the Pope said:
“My thoughts on the Sunday of the Baptism of the Lord go to all the children who were baptised this year.
“I embrace and bless them. I bless the godparents and especially the parents of the newly baptised, urging all of them to nourish in the children, by word and by example, the seed of divine life born from the baptism.
SOURCE
Christians must rediscover baptism and mission, says the Pope (AsiaNews 10/1/05)
LINKS
Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia
ARCHIVE
Pope lists three goals of Synod on Eucharist (CathNews18/11/04)
Pope John Paul declares Year of the Eucharist (CathNews 11/6/04)
Bishops act to refresh Australian Church with Eucharist focus (CathNews 21/5/04)
10 Jan 2005
