SAFCAM Communique #48 - English

18-04-2021

Apr 18, 2021 - 12:05
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SAFCAM Communique #48 - English

SAFCAM Communique #48            18/04/2021    

Dear Subscribers

Already a fortnight of the Eastertide journey along the Via Lucis to Pentecost has been covered.

The story of the apparitions, of which the pericope of this third Sunday of Easter speaks, is immediately linked to the story of Emmaus. The two disciples of Emmaus have just told the Apostles about their meeting with the risen Lord Jesus and now the Lord appears to the Eleven.

It is noteworthy that Jesus is recognized by his wounds. It is precisely by the signs of his wounds that we know that He is the Crucified One who truly died. And also that it is through these wounds we experience and know that the Person who stands before us is no longer held in death, but is resurrected and is alive. In faith, therefore, we want to profess that Jesus is the crucified and risen Christ. He is both the Crucified and the Risen One; one evokes the other and vice versa.

The first word that Jesus addresses to his people is a greeting of peace: “Peace be with you” (Lk 24:36).

Jesus continues to address this greeting of peace to us, and may we truly be filled with his peace. Encountering Jesus leads to inner peace. His peace flows from faith in the resurrection. It creates an interior serenity through which we know that we are supported in all our circumstances of life by Jesus who is forever accompanying us. Everything the ups and downs we experience, Jesus bears them with us. He is the origin of our joys, and all our sorrows lose their destructive power because He conquered all pain with his cross and resurrection. Jesus still connects with us through his word. Himself is the Word. We are invited to open ourselves to the word of the Lord which grows in our hearts as a seed bearing the fruit of eternal life, the antidote to all fear of death in these times of pandemic. May His peace reign in our hearts, and may the Lord be our ‘insurance’ throughout our lives! The Devotion of the Via Lucis is very useful for the promotion of this experience of the Resurrection!

Find some formats of it on www.safcam.org  and on Boscolink:

Interesting statistics!

With 1.6 million baptisms of children under the age of 7 in 2019, the Philippines is the country with the highest number of newly baptized! The Pontifical Yearbook 2021 and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2019, two publications of the Holy See distributed in March, are rich in data which make it possible to draw up an inventory of the life of the Church in the world and of the vitality of the Church. Catholicism. Among the figures presented are those of the newly baptized under the age of seven by country.

With 1.6 million children baptized in 2019, the Philippines, which also celebrates 500 years since the arrival of Christianity, leads the rankings. The country is followed by Mexico (1.48 million), Brazil (1.05 million), the United States (595,000) and Colombia (442,000). Argentina, the country of Pope Francis, comes in sixth place with 441,572 children under the age of 7 baptized in 2019.

And taking into account the total number of baptized by country, Brazil comes first with 177 million Catholics baptized at the end of 2019, followed by Mexico (115.5 million), the Philippines (89 million), the United States (74 million). million) and Italy (57.8 million).

Another interesting ranking of countries to keep in mind is the one made according to the number of priestly ordinations. In 2019, two countries are tied for first place: the United States and India with 415 new priests each. Next come Nigeria with 410 new priests, Brazil (390) and Italy (317).

The Culture of Life need to combat the Culture of Death

The Abortion Lobby keep trying to figure out how they can scale up their abortion business so they can perform more abortions and rake in even more profits. In several summits of late, the proposal to declare the access to abortion as a human right has been tabled. Thankfully this has not yet gained endorsement at the highest international levels, but the media keep repeating the idea of there being a right to erminate the life of the unborn, and sadly we might see this being endorsed one day as part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Meanwhile the coronavirus crisis is being used as an excuse to push for mail-order abortion pills!

Last week, President Biden’s FDA Commissioner, Dr Jane Woodcock, issued a statement saying the administration was loosening restrictions on these dangerous chemical abortion drugs. This would allow for what the National Institute of Health calls “No-test medication abortion.” Thus, it will become legal to send abortion pills to women without any pre-screening nor follow-up care, despite the fact that Commissioner Woodcock previously testified that women have died and been injured ingesting these chemicals! This is all part of the Abortion Lobby’s ploy to prey on vulnerable young women. Through online and social media advertising, the Abortion Lobby has been tricking young girls into thinking that having an abortion is as trivial and easy as taking an aspirin for a headache. I (Francois) have just returned from a fortnight in Johannesburg where advertising for “backstreet” abortions is the most common ad found posted in the City on every available spot in the streets. You can obtain one for R100 ($7.50), and it is supposed to be pain-free and safe!

Recommended:

Have a look at this 45-second Jesuit vocation promotion advert: https://youtu.be/tMWQQAWJrMU

Wishing you a fruitful third week of Eastertide, and apart from the message of Pope Francis (easily available on internet), in preparation for Vocation Sunday next week find some materials on www.safcam.org  like the 2 videos – “The Chalice and the Pepsi Can”  and “Don’t become a priest if”, as well as some articles featured on the slider.

Camiel and François