CATHOLICISM Series Extended Preview - Father Robert Barron

A look inside the epic series CATHOLICISM by Father Robert Barron. Learn more at http://www.catholicismproject.org or http://www.wordonfire.org.

Discover the rich heritage of the Catholic Church in an epic media experience. Word on Fire Catholic Ministries offers a vision of the Catholic Faith, which has never before been seen. This vision seeks to explore, through a global journey, the living culture of the Catholic Church. From the lands of the Bible, to the great shrines of Europe, to the shores and heartland of America, to the mysteries of Asia, to the rich landscapes of Latin America, to the beating heart of Africa - and beyond, witness the passion and glory of the faith that claims over a billion of the earth's people as its own. Now in production. Ten part series for TV and DVD: Pre-order your copy now.

A Biblical Walk Through The Mass trailer

 
Comment: A useful popular presentation to provide background to the Mass especially in light of the recently introduced changes brought about by the Revised General Instruction on the mass.

A Biblical Walk Through the Mass is part of The Great Adventure Catholic Bible Study Series. This adult faith formation program provides a unique tour of the timeless Liturgy. It explores the biblical roots of the words and gestures we experience in Mass and explains their profound significance.

Participants in this study will come to know and understand the Mass like never before. They will see, perhaps for the first time, why they say what they say, and do what they do every week at Mass. The words and gestures will be seen in a new light, leading them to a richer, more fruitful worship experience.

New iPhone app brings virtual visitors to streets of ancient Rome

November 11, 2011. (Romereports.com) The Italian company Altair4 has launched an iPhone app that allows users to reconstruct some monuments from ancient Rome. Many say, the quality is surprising. 

“We conceived it as a tool to understand the city's antiquities and monuments in a simple way. That's clear and understandable for everyone by visibly rebuilding the monuments through the screen of a phone,” says Pietro Galfi, creator of "Roma mvr".

Thanks to the application, anyone can see the Colosseum just as Romans saw it, the day it was officially opened in the year 80 AD.

The makers of this app,  say it can be used by anyone. For example it will allow art experts to better understand ancient architecture. As far as tourists, it can help them get a better idea of what to look for while visiting.

Pietro Galifi
Roma mvr
“It can also be used to schedule a visit, because it allows for manual navigation. You can visit a place and move around and consider beforehand if you actually want to go. That way you can make more use of the time while visiting”

As of now, one can see the reconstruction of the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and parts of the Palatine Hill. In the future, the company plans to add more sites to the list.

It also have plans for a navigation system in Athens and a reconstruction of the famous Arena in the Italian city of Verona.

Nourishing Christian faith in Israel with new and innovative project

October 29, 2011. (Romereports.com) In the state of Israel, Catholics have always been a minority of course. But nowadays, the profile of this small community is changing.


Fr. David Neuhaus
Patriarchal vicar for Hebrew-speaking Catholics in Israel “What we are facing is the huge challenge of having thousands of Hebrew speaking Catholics who belong to the migrant communities. They are predominantly children of migrant workers or asylum seekers who have reached Israel.”
Father David Neuhaus lives in Jerusalem. He's the Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Hebrew speaking Catholics. In Israel, he says immigrant workers are mostly from the Philippines and India. Those seeking asylum are predominantly from Sudan  and Eritrea.

Since their children now go to school in Israel, they speak and are taught in Hebrew. To prevent them from loosing their Christian roots, a new project is underway.

Fr. David Neuhaus
Patriarchal vicar the Hebrew-speaking Catholics in Israel “The publication of Catechism books in Hebrew, which is a totally new project. Teaching religion classes within these communities of migrants.”
This and other issues were discussed by the Latin Bishops of the Arab Region, who recently met in Rome for their annual conference.

It's a challenge they welcome. Especially, since in a way, it brings Christians closer to their roots in the Holy Land.

Fr. David Neuhaus
Patriarchal vicar for Hebrew-speaking Catholics in Israel “To think through our faith in a language which is the original language of the Old Testament which has never been used by Christians as a Christian language. That too, we embrace with enthusiasm.”
Despite some challenges, Father Neuhaus says it's a key moment for the Catholic Church in Israel. Not only because of its collaboration with the immigrant community, but also, he says, because of its reconciliation efforts with the Jewish community.

Hollywood plans newest biblical films on lives of Noah, Moses and Judah Maccabee

October 28, 2011. (Romereports.com)  Hollywood is preparing three big films on biblical personalities. These are the stories of Noah, Moses and Judah Maccabee. On October 3, Paramount Pictures announced the start of the movie production “Noah”. After a tough battle with 20th Century Fox, Paramount came away with the rights to the project.


The film will be directed by Darren Aronofsky and has the same screenwriter from “Gladiator”. While the main actor is slated to be Christian Bale.

The other two biblical projects are being produced by Warner Bros.

The first is the big-budget film “Gods and Kings” about the life of Moses. Among the possible directors, Steven Spielberg has been mentioned as a possibility.

According to The Guardian newspaper, this project could be delayed by the other Warner project on Judah Maccabee from Mel Gibson.

"Porta Fidei", the Pope's letter on the "Year of Faith"

October 17, 2011. (Romereports.com) Benedict XVI's has published his apostolic letter called "Porta Fidei" or "Door of faith" in English. This document officially calls for "Year of the Faith." It will take place from October 11, 2012 until November 24, 2013. It's set to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Vatican II.


This Apostolic Letter emphasizes that "believing is not a private matter" and that faith "has a social responsibility."

Benedict XVI invites Catholics to actively engage on behalf of the New Evangelization to "rediscover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the faith."

2011-10-17 Vatican Radio
It was in a packed St Peter's Basilica on Sunday that Pope Benedict XVI declared that the year 2012 to 2013 was to be a"Year of Faith". The Holy Father made the announcement during his homily at a mass for the New Evangelisation. The Eucharistic celebration marked the conclusion of a meeting organised by Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation, which the Pope addressed on Saturday.

Speaking about his decision to invoke this "Year of Faith" Pope Benedict said it was "to give new impetus to the mission of the whole Church to lead men out of the desert in which they often find themselves, to the place of life, of friendship with Christ".

The Pope explained that the year would be "a moment of grace and commitment to a more complete conversion to God, to strengthen our faith in Him and to proclaim Him with joy to the people of our time."

In order to illustrate the meaning of this "Year of Faith", the Holy Father said he would prepare a special Apostolic Letter and he informed the congregation present that the year would begin "on 11 October 2012, the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, and would end on 24 November 2013, Solemnity of Christ the King",.

During the course of his Homily the Holy Father referred back to the meeting of the Pontifical Council saying, he was delighted that this conference had taken place in the month of October, a month of prayer and just one week before the World Mission Sunday.

The Pope underlined that there was no opposition between the mission ad gentes and new evangelization, although he added the latter was very urgent, "especially in traditionally Christian countries, which have become increasingly "indifferent" and "hostile" to the mission of the Church."

The Pope's sentiments were echoed by those of the President of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, Archbishop Rino Fisichella in his address to the Holy Father at the start of the celebration. He said, the mission of the church now needed "an additional face, that of the new evangelization, primarily, as he put it, for believers to rediscover the strength to believe and the joy of bearing witness."

The Pope looked to history, and to the Gospel on Sunday to re-enforce the importance of a New Evangelization. He said "the theology of history was an important, and essential part of the new evangelization, because the men of our time, after the disastrous era of totalitarian empires of the twentieth century, need to find a comprehensive vision of the world and time, a truly free, peaceful vision."

Turning to the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians for inspiration, the Holy Father explained, it demonstrates that in order to be effective, evangelization needs the power of the spirit.

Drawing his homily to a close the Pope Benedict stressed that "the new evangelizers are called to walk in the Path that is Christ, and to make known to others the beauty of the Gospel that gives life before thanking those present for being "protagonists of the new evangelization".

Pope announces a coming "Year of Faith"

October, 17, 2011. (Romereports.com) During his Sunday Mass in St. Peter's, Benedict XVI announced that 2012 would serve as the “Year of Faith.” He made the announcement during a Mass to celebrate the closing of the meeting on the New Evangelization which took place on October 15th and 16th at the Vatican.


Benedict XVI
“It will be a moment of grace and commitment to a more complete conversion to God, to strengthen our faith in Him and to proclaim Him with joy to the people of our time.”

The pope also wrote an apostolic letter explaining the Year of Faith in more detail. He did note that this initiative would serve to help people during their moments of doubt.

Benedict XVI“It will give new impetus to the mission of the whole Church to lead men out of the desert in which they often find themselves, to the place of life, of friendship with Christ, who gives us life in abundance.”

The Year of Faith is scheduled to begin on October 11, 2012 and last until November 24 in 2013.

Special edition of Bible for teenagers sells half million copies

October 6, 2011. (Romereports.com) Reading the Bible can sometimes be a challenge. When it comes to teenagers, the challenge is even bigger. To make things a bit more appealing a group developed a Catholic Bible specifically for teenagers.

It was first published six years ago by an American institute called "Fe y Vida", meaning faith and life in Spanish.

Since it was designed for teenagers, the Bible has main bullet points, short prayers, drawings and easy to read summaries. On their website, one can download a small portion of that Bible to get an idea of its layout. Or one can even take an animated tour of its different sections. A list of resources includes a question and answer portion, with relevant answers for the youth and songs that can be downloaded for free.

Since this youth Bible was first published, the institute has also launched its own facebook and youtube site, to reach out to even more young adults.

For now, the Catholic youth Bible is published only in Spanish and Italian. It's currently being translated into Portuguese. Roughly half a million copies have been sold in the U.S, Latin America and Europe.

Winning video for contest to promote sacrament of confession

Winning video for contest to promote sacrament of confession

September 3, 2011. (Romereports.com) (-ONLY VIDEO-) This video is called “Get clean,” it's the winning video from a contest held by different Catholic dioceses in New York. The contest asked for 1 minute videos to encourage youth to accept the sacrament of confession. The filmmakers were awarded a prize of $25,000.

Complete translation of the Bible into colloquial Japanese

AUGUST 28, 2011. (Romereports.com) In 1950 a group of Franciscans began translating the Bible into colloquial Japanese. Now, after 61 years of work, the academic society Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, located in Tokyo, finished their translation of the Bible.


This is the first version of the Bible to be translated from a Japanese original instead of the Latin version.

The Cardinal of Tokyo gave the volume to the prefect of the Vatican Library, Cardinal Raffaele Farina.

This translation was also made possible by the collaboration of the Japan Bible Society.

After some discussions, it was decided on the theme “The Covenant” for next Bible Sunday and Msgr Eugene would do the write-up of the article. The article would be presented for review at the next meeting.

Bible Sunday Highlights

Bible Sunday 2011 Highlights

Mr. Richard Wong of Kota Kinabalu Archdiocese reported that Archbishop John Wong would send the survey to the parishes. Due to time factor, the survey could not be done on Bible Sunday. It would be done in the later date.

Msgr William Sabang of Kuching Archdiocese reported that Bible Sunday message and the survey were sent to the parishes. He got some feedbacks. Cathedral successfully organized a Bible Exhibition on Bible Sunday with Bible quiz and questions for adult and children, Bible sale and display of Bible commentaries and different types of Bible. The responses were very good.

Mr. Fredoline Umis informed the meeting that Keningau diocese has standardized its programmes for Bible Sunday that is, a three days (Triduum) seminar for the people: first day – on Bible Sunday Message and the Exhortation, second day on Lectio Divina and Holy Hour, and third day on the relation between Eucharist and Bible. He has distributed the survey two weeks earlier before the Bible Sunday and has yet to collect all the returns.

Fr. Ambrose Vaz from Singapore Archdiocese reported that the different parishes had their own activities on Bible Sunday. From the feedback on the article of Bible Sunday, he said that the people found it easy to understand but challenging when they reflected on the questions.

Bishop Cornelius Sim of Brunei Vicariate reported that Bible quiz and plays were organized for the children. For the adults, a 5 weeks course on Eucharist called a Walk through the Bible video course  was organized. In one parish, the writing out the New Testament on paper (and bound into a book) was also organized and the completed work was displayed. The Bible survey for youth has yet to be carried out.

Fr. Gerard Theraviam of Kuala Lumpur Archdiocses mentioned that the Herald newspaper form Kuala Lumpur published the Bible Sunday Article in 4 languages. There was a feeling of fatigue in many parishes with regards to the nature of activities on Bible Sunday. He opined that it would be easier to work with those involved with youth than with the priests. In Penang Diocese, a parish was still in the midst of writing the whole Bible.

Fr. Alphonsus Tang of Sibu Diocses reported that with the Diocesan Bible committee, a Bible Exhibition entitled “to know Jesus, the Crucified Christ” was set up for the weekend of Bible Sunday at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Bible Sunday article and survey were sent to different parishes via e-mail with the help of Fr. Paul Ling. He commented that at the just concluded on-going formation of St Peter's College graduates in Kuching, Mr. Benedict Lo gave his input on Youth and the Bible made an interesting suggestion on repackaging of the Bible: the same content with different but appealing outlooks.

Around the Dioceses - 2011

A summary of what;s happening in the Dioceses of the CBCMSB as of August 2011:

Reports of Dioceses

1 Diocese of Sibu: Bishop Joseph Hii has been promoting Bible reading based on Time Line concept over a period of 12 months. The people responded well and some commented that it helped them to understand the readings at Mass better. Fr. Michael Lee and Fr. Philip Hu were still having Matthew in their parishes. Fr. Alphonsus has yet to decide on the third round of BCL.

2 Archdiocese of Singapore: BCL was still on. 22 parishes had their own Bible programmes like video based Bible courses and getting speakers to give Bible talk. Many were requesting for Matthew. The Pastoral Institute has finished Isaiah and would begin with the Gospel of John.

3 Diocese of Keningau: Mr. Fredoline said that more groups especially among the catechumens were asking for BBS. BCL was expected to finish by this year and Msgr Gilbert was still busy translating some of the course materials. The Bible apostolate was asked to take charge of Alpha. KK has requested Msgr Gilbert and Mr. Fredoline to conduct Alpha in BM.

4  Apostolate Vicariate of Brunei: Bishop Cornelius reported that they were having the Bible course on Psalms and Church History. They have finished Genesis 1-11. One parish was on Mark. Fr. Andy Lee gave a session of Basic Bible Study.

5 Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu: Mr. Richard reported that Deacon Sheman gave a seminar on Part one of “Splendor of Truth” on 12-14^th May, 2011 and would give the second part on 22-24^th September, 2011. Fr. Ambrose gave “the Gospel of John” on 22-30 June, 2011.The Great Adventure on James, Pearl for wise living, was still on-going from 7^th June to 23^rd August, 2011. On November 18-20, 2011 Fr. Jery would give “Life in the Word” retreat.

6 Archdiocese of Kuching: Msgr William reported that BCL in English would have the 5^th Module: Luke/Acts in September, 2011. Salvation History by Mr. Christopher Adrian was still on since March with around 50 participants. Chinese Little Rock completed Acts in May, 2011 and was on Exodus since the end of July. There were around 30 participants. A parish had the Great Adventure of Jeff Cavins for 175 participants.

7 Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur: Fr. Gerard informed the meeting that under 20 candidates sat for the BCL course exam on 2^nd July, 2011. The Archdiocese had no plan to organize another round of BCL. Msgr James Gnanapiragasam was looking into adapting the 100 weeks Bible course into shorter modules as his experience was that many were unwilling to commit to a long course or give up half way. Various Bible courses as usual were being conducted in the parishes.

Archbishop John Ha informed the meeting that SPC, Kuching had just organized a week study on “Verbum Domini” for the priests.  The responses from the priests  were generally positive.

RBC Meeting Day 1

Keningau Day 1: 2nd August 2011

The day begins with mass at 7.00 am in the Chapel. Archbishop John ha is the main celebrant. Abp Ha noted the parallelism between the Gospel and the Old Testament reading, in which two types of "prophets" or spokespersons for God were compared. Those who have been authentically chosen to speak for God must be prepared for opposition but God's support for them will not be lacking.

Bro. Richard Wong reading the passage from Numbers 12:1-13. Aaron and Miriam set themselves up as "alternative" prophets in opposition to Moses.

The meeting began in earnest at 9.00 am with perusal of the Minutes of the 38th Meeting which was held in February 2011 in Sibu.

The Road to Keningau

RBC Road Journey 1st August 2011

The first group of RBC members left Kota Kinabalu at 11.30 am, following a short visit to Coadjutor Archbishop John Wong. We were driven by Kota Kinabalu representative Richard Wong. We encountered engine overheating after 20 minutes on the way to Tambunan. We had to stop for 30 minutes to cool it down through the kind permission of a very nice lady and her daughter who allowed us to park our car in her front yard and to use the water from her washing area to wet the radiator.

There were several puppies down by the bottom of the stairs who amazingly were able to have a nap despite the intense heat. It's a dog's life!

Proceeding on, we stopped at Gunung Mas for a coffee and then headed for Tambunan and Keningau. We arrived at the Cathedral and Pastoral Center at 3 pm. We met Fredoline Umis, our RBC Keningau representative who then guided us to the Retreat Center for tea with Bishop Cornelius Piong.

As the above photo shows, our progress to the Center was blocked a couple of times as we were not the only road users!

RBC Meeting - Keningau

The next meeting of the RBC will be held in Keningau, Sabah from the 2nd to the 3rd August 2011. There will be a "Meet the People" session on the evening of 2nd August. Venue and timing for this evening session will be advised by Bro Fredoline Umis on the first morning meeting.

 

Agenda 

a. Minutes, amendments and matters arising

b. Communication from Archbishop John Ha

c. Reports of (Arch) dioceses

d. Bible Sunday and planning ahead - Apostolic Exhortation of the Pope

e. “Making sense of the Bible” – Fr. Andy

f. Media and Web sites

g. Other business

Malaysia-Holy See Establish Diplomatic Relations

Note: The following news item is not directly connected to our Biblical Apostolate but it is nevertheless of some interest to our region.

Malaysia: 179th State With Diplomatic Ties to Holy See

VATICAN CITY, JULY 27, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican today announced that Malaysia is the 179th nation to establish diplomatic ties with the Holy See.
The announcement follows a visit last week of Najib Razak, the prime minister of Malaysia, to Benedict XVI.
The Vatican statement confirmed that the diplomatic relations will be at the level of apostolic nunciature on the part of the Holy See and of embassy on the part of Malaysia.
The Church has been active in Malaysia since 1511, when the first Portuguese missionaries reached Malacca. St. Francis Xavier also arrived in that city in 1545. Today the Church has nine ecclesiastical circumscriptions centered on the Archdioceses of Kuala Lumpur (on the peninsula) and of Kuching and of Kota Kinabalu (on the island of Borneo).
There are 11 bishops, 274 diocesan priests, 119 religious priests, 123 male religious, 759 female religious and 270 major seminarians. Catholics number 850,720 -- around 3% of the population.
The religion of state is Islam, professed by 60.4% of the inhabitants. The next largest religious group is the Buddhists (19.2%), followed by Christians (9.1%), Hindus (6.3%), Chinese religions (2.6%) and Animists (2.4%).
The Church in Malaysia is active in evangelization and in the pastoral care of families and young people, through education, charity and social work. The Church runs numerous primary and secondary schools, as well as institutions for the poor and for migrant workers. Initiatives exist to promote social harmony and reconciliation among the various religious communities, through dialogue, equality of rights and duties, and mutual respect.
An apostolic delegation to Malaysia was created Feb. 2, 1998.

ZE11072702 - 2011-07-27
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-33164?l=english

Bible Sunday 2011

Bible Sunday in Brunei
14th July 2011

The second Sunday of July is traditionally celebrated  in the various Catholic dioceses in the region of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia Singapore and Brunei. This year Bible Sunday fell on 14th July 2011.

 As usual, various activities are organised on this Sunday to bring out the importance of the written Word of God in the lives of individual Catholics.

In the Vicariate of Brunei Brunei Darussalam, for example, the three parishes commemorated Bible Sunday with activities such as Bible enthronement, Bible quizzes and competitions. After one of the Sunday morning masses, parishioners were invited to the parish Hall to participate in a program where the Bible is given prominence through song, dance and sharings by members of the community. 

The Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception in Seria took the opportunity to officially unveil their hand written volume of the New Testament. This took several months to carry out. Each Sunday, at one of the masses, a family would come forward and receive the unfinished manuscript. They would also receive good quality paper to write on their contribution. In this way, many  families has this special experience of "writing the Bible"!

This year one of the highlights was the implementation of a Bible Reading survey for committed Catholic youths, which was recommended to all the Diocesan Bible Commissions to undertake in their individual dioceses.. The results of the survey will be compiled and it is hoped that it will give us a better insight into the role of the Bible in their lives.

As has been the practice for several years already, on behalf of the Regional Biblical Commission, Archbishop John Ha of Kuching prepared a Bible Sunday Message based on the Apostolic Exhortation "Verbum Domini". This was sent to the various Catholic newspapers for publication to coincide with Bible Sunday. The message was also translated into Tamil, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin. In Brunei, the message was disseminated through handouts distributed to the faithful during weekend Masses and priests' homilies were dedicated to expounding on the Bible's importance in lay Catholic spirituality.