Did you know Tallulah that Pope Francis is currently on a visit to the Holy Land?
Hey isn't that where our master was a few months ago?
That's right Tallulah.
This morning, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Manger Square in Bethlehem and then he visited the Church of the Nativity.
Here are some pictures of Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity.
If youclick hereyou can actually watch some of the Mass that Pope Francis presided at.
If you put your hand down that black hole, you will touch the area where it is believed that Jesus was born!
These are pictures inside the Church of the Nativity.
On another note, Tallulah did you notice who was back at church today?
I sure did, it was our friend Alex!
He doesn't have too much hair at the moment, but it will grow back. Actually Tallulah, you still have so much winter fur maybe you could give him some of yours!
but who is Our Lady of Sheshan? As you know Tallulah, Mary has many special titles and you have named three of the most well-known ones. Our Lady of Sheshan is another of those titles.
Cloë, Mary looks like she is from China in this picture.
You are absolutely right. Mary was born in the Middle East, but she is everybody's mother, no matter where they are from. So it's important that everyone be able to see Mary as their mother.
It can be very hard to be a Catholic in China, because so many people do not know who God is. As you know Tallulah, we Shar-Pei dogs are originally from China, so I have a special place in my heart for Chinese Catholics!
I bet we should be praying for Chinese Catholics, right Cloë!
That's right Tallulah. Here is a special prayer that Pope Benedict gave us. Today is a good day to pray it, since May 24th is the day that Pope Benedict asked us to remember the Catholic Church in China in a special way.
Virgin, Most Holy Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother, venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan under the title ”Help of Christians”, the entire Church in China looks to you with devout affection.
Our Lady of Sheshan, sustain all those in China, who amid their daily trials, continue to believe, to hope, to love. May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world, and of the world to Jesus. Mother of Christ and all Asia, pray for us, now and for ever.
Amen.
Here is a picture of the basilica of Our Lady of Sheshan.
Over the last few weeks, we have celebrated a number of our Canadian Saints and Blessed. Today (May 24th) we remember Blessed Louis-Zéphirin Moreau.
Bl. Louis-Zéphirin Moreau was born almost 200 years ago in a place called Bécanour, Quebec. He became a priest when he was 22 and a bishop when he was 51. In fact he became bishop of Saint-Hyacinthe, which is just down the road from Cornwall. He was a man loved and worked with his parishioners, especially the poor.
Tallulah do you remember some of the other Canadians?
Well let me think. There is our two newest saints!
Saint François de Laval on May 6th. Saint François de Laval was the very first bishop of Quebec. He did many great things for Quebec and ultimately for Canada. He founded the seminary of Quebec and he started the Catholic school system throughout Canada. He was made a saint just last month on April 3rd. If you go to Québec City you can go tohis museum.
Blessed Marie-Léonie Paradis on May 4th. Blessed Marie has not yet been recognized as a saint, but like the others she did a lot in God's name. She entered the convent when she was only 13! She felt God was calling her to start a new religious order, which she did, called the Little Sisters of the Holy Family. You can visit her museum if you go to Sherbrooke.
Sainte Marie de l'Incarnation on April 30th. Sainte Marie, who was recognized as a saint on the same day as Saint Françcois de Laval, founded the oldest school for females in North America. She also wrote dictionaries in Algonquin and Iroquois, two of the languages spoken by the Aboriginal people that she worked with. Sainte Marie was an Ursuline nun and they havetwo museumsyou can visit, 1 in Québec City and 1 in Trois-Rivières.
Can you name any Canadian Saints? Maybe you and your parents can plan to go visit one of these museums or one of the many museums that are in Montreal, this summer.
Today (May 13th) is the day we celebrate the first appearance by Mary at Fatima in Portugal.
Cloë, didn't we do that back in February?!
Not exactly Tallulah, although we talked a lot about Fatima and the miracle that happened there. On February 20th we actually remembered Blessed Jacinta and Francisco Marto, two of the children that Mary appeared to. Click here to view that post again.
That bacon sure looks yummy Cloë, my mouth is just watering. I'm not sure about the dates, but with all that bacon flavour they are probably delicious too!
God calls all humans to help spread the Good News, but not everyone is asked to do it in the same way. Some boys will grow up to be priests, brothers or deacons. Some girls will grow up to be religious. Most boys and girls will grow up and get married and some will stay single.
How do the humans know which vocation God has chosen for them?
Click hereto watch Fr. Richard talk about how he knew God was calling him to the priesthood.
And finally here is a prayer you can pray so that God sends us more vocations.
God, thank you for loving me. In Baptism you called me by name to live as your child. Help all your people to know their call in life. For your greater glory, raise up generous leaders to serve as priests, deacons, sisters, and brothers. Amen.
Woof!
Cloë and Tallulah
P.S. Parents, the role you play in your child's future vocation is crucial. Here are a few links to great websites about vocations.
One of the reasons I wanted to highlight this story is because of what is happening in Syria today. Damascus is the capital the country of Syria and Saul was on the way to Damascus when God spoke to him.
Unfortunately very bad things have been happening in Syria for three years now. More than a million Syrians have left Syria because it is not safe for them and they are now living as refugees in the surrounding countries.
And the Christians in Syria are being persecuted today the same way they were 2000 years ago.
Gee Cloë, we are sure lucky, we go to Mass all the time and nobody wants to do bad things to us because of it. We need to pray for all Syrians, and in a special way for the Christians.
We certainly do Cloë. We can also help them by learning more about their situation and giving money to organizations who work with the refugees. Organizations likeDevelopment and Peace
Cloë I was checking out this website and I saw that Save the Children has a whole list of ideas about how we can help.Click here to see what they are.
A Prayer for Refugees Almighty and merciful God, whose Son became a refugee and had no place to call his own; look with mercy on those who today are fleeing from danger, homeless and hungry. Bless those who work to bring them relief; inspire generosity and compassion in all our hearts; and guide the nations of the world towards that day when all will rejoice in your Kingdom of justice and of peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
It has been a really busy week and our master was not able to help type out our blog for us. It was her birthday last Sunday and she had lots of family home to help celebrate!
She told us that things have calmed down so we can get back to more regular blogging.
Today we want to do two Gospels in one! As most of you may know, we are still in the midst of the Easter season. In fact it goes on for 50 days!
Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, but He did not go straight back to Heaven. Instead He stayed to help prepare his apostles for the mission He was going to give them.
So in last week's Gospel Jesus appeared to his apostles who were hiding away for fear that the people who killed Jesus would come for them.
Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." (John 20:21)
Cloë, not all the apostles were there. Thomas was missing. And he did not believe the others that Jesus had come to see them.
He may not have initially believed Tallulah, but Saint Thomas became one of Jesus' greatest apostles. It is believed that he brought the Good News of Jesus all the way to India!
In this Sunday's Gospel, Jesus meets up with two of his disciples who were on their way to a town called Emmaus, not far from Jerusalem. The disciples were very sad because they thought Jesus was the one who had come to save the Jewish people and now He was dead. They were so convinced that they had been wrong that they did not realize that it was Jesus who was walking with them.
Go to Amy's Free Ideasto download the template and to find out how to make this cool pop up. You will have to scroll down a bit to find this story.
As the stories of Thomas and the two disciples demonstrate, sometimes it is hard to see God in our daily lives, especially when things are not going well. Try today to find God in the people, things and situations around you.
Well that's it for today. We have lots in store for you next week!
