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May 2019

Ascension of the Lord and Seventh Week of Easter
 (Saturday, 1 June 2019 )

JUNE 2 – THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD. 
Mass of the Solemnity, Gloria, Creed, Preface of the Ascension (white). 
Readings: Acts 1:1-11; Hebrews 9:24-28; 10:19-23; Luke 24:46-53.
 
JUNE 3 – SS. CHARLES LWANGA & COMPANIONS. 
Mass of the memorial, Easter or Ascension Preface (red). 
Readings: Acts 19:1-8; John 16:29-33.
 
JUNE 4 – TUESDAY: SEVENTH...

Ascension of the Lord - The reasons for hope and joy
 (Saturday, 1 June 2019 )

Luke’s Gospel ends with the story of the Ascension (vv. 50-53). Before entering the glory of the Father, Jesus blesses the disciples (v.51). 
 
At the end of the liturgical celebrations in the temple, the priest came out of the holy place and pronounced a solemn blessing on the faithful gathered for prayer (Sirach 50:20). After the blessing they returned to their jobs, confident that the Lord would bring to fruition all their efforts and all their...

Ascension of the Lord - Tayo ay mga saksi ni Hesus
 (Saturday, 1 June 2019 )

Si Hesus ay umakyat sa langit patungo sa Ama. Sa kanyang pag alis, hindi nya pinabayaan ang kanyang mga alagad. Binendisyunan nya silang lahat at nangako sa pagpapadala ng Espiritu na magpapala at magpapalakas sa kanila. 
 
Napakabuti ng ating Panginoon. Hanggang sa huli ay inaalala nya ang kanyang mga alagad. Hindi nya sila pinabayaan sa kabila ng pag iwan sa kanya. Ang kanyang mga habilin ay puno ng pagasa.
 
Magandang makita natin sa...

Campaign urges government to withdraw extradition bill
 (Saturday, 1 June 2019 )

HONG KONG (SE): The Justice and Peace Commission of the Diocese of Hong Kong collected over 4,000 signatures for a petition urging the Hong Kong government to withdraw its controversial extradition law amendment bill. 
 
In a May 24 statement, the commission said the proposed law, if passed, would allow the extradition of suspects to countries which do not, at present, have any long-term extradition agreement with Hong Kong and are not signatories to the International...

Confirmed by Peter’s embrace
 (Saturday, 1 June 2019 )

Pablo Virgilio David
 
I was surprised when the prefect of the Papal Household, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, instructed me to sit right next to the Holy Father, on his left. He was just an arm’s length away. The rest of us were seated in a circle around him. I did not see the logic of the sitting arrangement. No hierarchy. 
 
The archbishops, bishops and auxiliaries were interspersed with each other. The seat...

Prioritising profit over people a cause of climate change crisis
 (Saturday, 1 June 2019 )

VATICAN (CNS): Addressing a Vatican climate change conference titled, Climate Change and New Evidence from Science, Engineering and Policy, for finance ministers from around the world on May 27, the pope said that the current crisis is “caused by a confusion of our moral ledger with our financial ledger.”
 
“We live at a time when profits and losses seem to be more highly valued than lives and deaths, and when a company’s net worth is given...

Concerns over China’s sharp power
 (Saturday, 1 June 2019 )

TAIPEI (UCAN): A May 18-20 conference in Taiwan heard that China’s communist government is increasingly using so-called sharp power to stymie international scrutiny of its poor human rights record, including the Tiananmen Square massacre of 4 June 1989.
 
The conference, marking the 30th anniversary of the massacre, was organised by the Hong Kong-based New School for Democracy and the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China....

We are family says head of Caritas
 (Saturday, 1 June 2019 )

VATICAN (CNS): President of Caritas Internationalis, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle of the Philippines, added a photo of his Lolo Kim to a mosaic of migrants, world leaders and Caritas workers to illustrate how humanity forms one family and is sharing one journey.
 
The mosaic, now including the cardinal’s maternal grandfather who immigrated to the Philippines from China, was unveiled on May 23 at a Vatican news conference kicking off the May 23 to 28 general...

Inaction equals extinction
 (Saturday, 1 June 2019 )

ANOTHER JUNE 4 is around the corner and for those who dream for democracy in China, it is a sacred anniversary of the student-led movement for reform.  Thirty years have passed since the Tiananmen Square tragedy of 1989, which resulted in the killing of thousands of protesters.  
 
The Chinese word, Tiananmen, means gate of heavenly peace. Names can be deceptive. Ever since 1989 it has been anything but a place of peace. For the victims, their families and friends...

Prenatal diagnosis of illness not excuse for abortion pope says
 (Saturday, 1 June 2019 )

VATICAN (CNS): “Abortion is never the answer” to couples seeking a way to deal with a prenatal diagnosis of serious illness or disability, Pope Francis said at a Vatican conference on medical care for “extremely fragile” babies and on the pastoral care of their parents, sponsored by the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, on May 25.
 
The pope explained that the Catholic Church’s total opposition to abortion is not primarily a religious...