St Josemaría: Newsletter No. 27: Passionately Loving the Church
Throughout his life, St Josemaría Escrivá reflected an attitude of complete fidelity and service to the Church, “the same one Christ founded. It cannot be any other.”
An Extraordinary "Urbi et Orbi" Blessing
This papal blessing dates back to the time of the Roman Empire. Over the years, it was eventually extended to the entire Catholic population.
Mass at Site of Last Supper
On May 26, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the Upper Room, in Jerusalem. "How much charity has gone forth from here, like a river from its source: from the Heart of Christ, from the Eucharist and from the Holy Spirit."
Loving the Church, serving her as she wants to be served
"Beg the Holy Spirit to enkindle in your heart this fire of love for his Spouse," Bishop Alvaro del Portillo tells us in his letter from November 1988.
“One heart and one soul”
As a child of God, with his grace in you, you have to be a strong person, a man or woman of desires and achievements. We are not hothouse plants. We live in the middle of the world, and we have to be able to face up to all the winds that blow, to the heat and the cold, to rain and storms, but always faithful to God and to his Church. (The Forge, 792)
Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
Courage! You... can! Don't you see what God's grace did with sleepy-headed Peter, the coward who had denied him..., and with Paul, his fierce and relentless persecutor? (The Way, 483)
“Union with the Pope is union with Peter”
You must love, venerate, pray and mortify yourself for the Pope, and do so with greater affection each day. For he is the foundation stone of the Church and, throughout the centuries, right to the end of time, he carries out among men that task of sanctifying and governing which Jesus entrusted to Peter. (The Forge, 134)
“Live a special Communion of Saints”
Communion of Saints.--How shall I explain it? You know what blood-transfusions do for the body? Well that is more or less what the Communion of Saints does for the soul. (The Way, 544)
“We should go to the good shepherd”
You think you are quite important: your studies, your research work, your publications, your social standing, your name, your political activities, the positions you hold, your wealth... your age: you're no longer a child!... Just because of all that, you, more than others, need a Director for your soul. (The Way, 63)
“In the church... we are all equal”
You say that you are now beginning to understand what a priestly soul means. Don't be annoyed with me if I tell you that the facts show that you only realize it in theory. Every day the same things happens to you: at night time, during the examination, it is all desire and resolutions; during the morning and afternoon at work, it is all objections and excuses. Are you in this way living a "holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ?" (Furrow, 499)