MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

Wishing you all the peace, joy, and love of the season!
The warmth and joy of Christmas From Home to home,and heart to heart,from one place to another.The warmth and joy of Christmas,brings us closer to each other.

I hope you have a wonderful christmas. Have a great new year !
May your days be bright, and your heart be light! May this glorious day of our Savior's birth resound with hope and peace on earth!

Christmas is not a time nor a season,but a state of mind.To cherish peace and goodwill,to be plenteous in mercy,is to have the real spirit of Christmas.

May Jesus fill your heart with warmth and love.
May the joy and peace of Christmas be with you all through the Year. Wishing you a season of blessings from heaven above.
A silent night, a star above, a blessed gift of hope and love,
May the good times and treasures of the present become the golden memories of tomorrow.
I wish you all God's wonderful gifts of faith, hope, peace, and love
at Christmas-time and always.

As we take a moment from our busy lives to celebrate the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ
We pray that your life are filled with love, and your New Year filled with peace.
May this glorious day of our Savior's birth resound with hope and peace on earth!
May your Christmas be filled with God's love and blessings.

May your life be blessed with the true meaning of Christmas!
May the splendor and beauty of this season remind you of the One who is worthy of all our praise and may God bless you abundantly!

Sharing with you the Glory, the Wonder, and the Miracle of this Holy Season. Blessings to you and yours! God gave us His greatest gift! Celebrate- and be blessed! May His love and peace surround you, at Christmas-time and always.

May You feel God's presence in the candles that softly glow at Christmas, and may you experience the wonder of His abiding love in the coming new year. May God's blessings be with you all.

"I wish you a merry Christmas, and a happy new year"
"O Come, Let Us Adore Him"

Have an ideal Christmas; an occasion that is celebrated as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions.
with its shining radiance light our tree of faith on Christmas night.

May your world be filled with warmth and good chear this Holy season, and throughout the year.
We'll have to gather all our faith and be of one accord knowing you are safe with Him, spending Christmas with our Lord...

Faith makes all things possible,Hope makes all things work,Love makes all things beautiful,May you have all the three for this Christmas.

Lets welcome the year which is fresh and new,lets cherish each moment it beholds, Lets celebrate this wonderful New year.

Wishes For Christmas

Wish you a Merry Christmas and may this festival bring abundant joy and happiness in your life!
May this Christmas be so special that you never ever feel lonely again and be surrounded by loved ones throughout! You are special, you are unique; may your Christmas be also as special and unique as you are!

Here's wishing you all the joys of the season. Wish you and your family a Merry Christmas! May joy and happiness snow on you, may the bells jingle for you and may Santa be extra good to you! May this Christmas be bright and cheerful and may the New Year begin on a prosperous note! Love, Peace and Joy came down on earth on Christmas day to make you happy and cheerful.Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time. May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year trough!

Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.
May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace,
The gladness of Christmas give you hope,
The warmth of Christmas grant you love.
May you have the gladness of Christmas which is hope;
The spirit of Christmas which is peace;
The heart of Christmas which is love.

MARY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

Lisabon, 2010.12.18

With love and prayer
Sr. Ma. Mendes, SSpS

DOBEM TIMOR LESTE

Timor, husi ó ami moris
husi ó ami aprende atu terus ho domin
husi ó aprende atu perdua sira nebe halo at mai ami

Timor, ó kiik iha mundo rai klaran mas ó nia terus boot liu.
Terus nebe halo ó too ikus mai ó manan duni, ó sai duni ema iha mundo tomak nia oin

Timor, ami hotu hadomi ó
Maske ami lao doo husi ó
maibe ami lori nafatin ó nia naran iha ami nia fuan no laran

Loron ida, ami sei fila fali ba ó
hodi tane ó ba oin nafatin

Timor, ami dobem,
ami hadomi ó

(Portugal, 29.11.2010)

Santa Cruz Cemetery Massacre (Rushes) - East Timor

Massacre de Santa Cruz parte 3

East Timor - Dili Santa Cruz Massacre, November 12th 1991

Job description of the JPIC Coordinator

From the SVD Handbook of Superiors (2002)


A13 JUSTICE, PEACE AND INTEGRITY OF CREATION COORDINATOR

1.0 Part of missionary calling. Action on behalf of justice, peace and the integrity of creation (JPIC) in solidarity with the poor and the marginalized is a demand of our common religious missionary calling. Therefore, as the 12th General Chapter reaffirmed, all of us should manifest a definite commitment to promote justice and peace in whatever kind of apostolate we may find ourselves engaged (Nuntius XI, p. 583, 1).
2.0 Provincial coordinator for justice, peace, and the integrity of creation.
2.1 Coordinator. All provinces should appoint a provincial JPIC coordinator to animate the confreres to a more determined commitment to the promotion of justice, peace and the integrity of creation in solidarity with the poor and marginalized, and to coordinate action in this field (Nuntius XI, p. 584, 2).
2.2 Commission. To reach out more effectively to all the confreres in the province and to deal more comprehensively with the complex issues of justice, peace, and the integrity of creation, provinces are encouraged to establish a commission to assist the coordinator.
3.0 Appointment and term of office. The provincial coordinator is appointed by the provincial superior with the consent of his council, and where applicable, also the members of the commission. He usually serves for a term of three years and may be reappointed (see c 615). However, in the interests of cultivating awareness of issues and fostering skills of coordination in a greater number of confreres, it is recommended that JPIC personnel be changed at reasonable intervals while ensuring adequate continuity.
4.0 Duties of coordinator. These include the following:
4.1 Awareness building:
4.1.1 to assist the members of the province in the process of conscientization about contemporary JPIC issues, particularly in those areas that impinge on our apostolates, and to promote an effective solidarity with the poor and the marginalized;
4.1.2 to contribute to a more critical awareness of cultural religious values and attitudes, of ideologies, of women’s issues and of socio economic and political realities; to encourage study of their effects on local and global justice, peace, integral human development, and on the ecology;
4.1.3 to engage in ongoing social analysis and research on JPIC issues in the context of local realities and to make the results known to the confreres for discussion, reflection and appropriate action;
4.2 Theology and spirituality:
4.2.1 to promote a faith awareness and spirituality in which a commitment to justice and peace is integral, and a theology of mission which incorporates justice, peace and the integrity of creation as a characteristic dimension;
4.2.2 to promote the realization that authentic living and preaching of the gospel as a community and as individuals involves a critical examination of our modes of acting in our various apostolates, of our possessions and investments, of our enterprises, and of our life style;
4.2.3 to foster an adequate appreciation of the scriptural and theological foundation for the promotion of justice and basic human rights as constitutive of the preaching of the gospel and as an authentic expression of the Society’s charism;
4.3 Support and solidarity:
4.3.1 to keep in touch with the apostolates in the province so as to be able to fulfill a consultative role in these apostolates, to help confreres in seeking funding when necessary, and to gain the understanding of the province;
4.3.2 to help and support members of the Society in difficulty because of their engagement in matters of justice, peace and the integrity of creation;
4.3.3 to seek to establish relations with confreres isolated from the province because of their involvement in JPIC activities, aiming to increase understanding and improve relationships within the province;
4.4 Dissemination of information: to prepare and make available materials related to JPIC issues, both at the national and international levels and, where possible, to suggest a theological and pastoral approach;
4.5 Coordination and collaboration:
4.5.1 to coordinate and support justice-oriented initiatives and promote collaboration with the confreres in the various apostolates within the province: mission animation, mission research, biblical apostolate, communications, education, formation, youth, indigenous peoples, etc.;
4.5.2 to serve as consultant to the provincial superior and the provincial council; to recommend specific programs of action for the province for their approval or active support; to accept from them JPIC related tasks;
4.5.3 to represent the province in responding to social issues and in networking with other organizations, especially the local church, e.g., through diocesan commissions;
4.5.4 to prepare a triennial report to be sent in to the generalate through the provincial council (D22);
4.5.5 to maintain communication and cooperation with the JPIC area secretary of the zone and the coordinator at the generalate; to participate in the activities of the area team of the zone and cooperate with other provinces;
4.5.6 to cooperate with the SSpS and lay associates, and with Church related or other organizations, whether local or international, such as Pax Christi, Amnesty International and so on;
4.5.7 to coordinate the provinces’ collaboration in international campaigns such as campaigns to restrict the arms trade, to alleviate debt, to establish a UN convention on food security, etc.
4.5.8 to maintain contact with VIVAT International and to collaborate with them on their various JPIC initiatives.
5.0 Coordinator’s relationship with the provincial and the provincial council.
5.1 The provincial should consult with the coordinator before he makes important decisions concerning JPIC matters. Although the role of the coordinator is informative and consultative, the provincial should give special regard to his recommendations.
5.2 The coordinator should be invited to provincial council meetings, or at least consulted beforehand if this is deemed preferable, when JPIC matters are at issue.
5.3 The provincial should encourage the districts and communities to establish links with the JPIC coordinator for the sake of consultation and ongoing formation. He should also ensure that venues for collaboration and dialogue between the coordinators of the different areas of concern are established, especially with those working in formation.
6.0 Interprovincial JPIC board. In countries with two or more provinces, an interprovincial JPIC board could be beneficial. Setting up such a board, approval of its statutes, and appointment of the members are within the competence of the provincial superiors.

The report of a JPIC coordinator in Slovakia

There are some areas in which I work every day and some others I work occasionally. For some several years I have been doing the work of a hospital chaplain. They ask for annoying of the sick, I listen to their confessions and say the masses in our hospital chapel every day.
The other social work is a work with roman people. Once a week they usually come to our parish asking us to baptize their children. It is very common that the father´s name of a child is unknown. There are many reasons why work with them is so tough. They have many demands on us, but they do not want to be led and educated by us. They are still attached to their own roman traditions. For instance, a roman woman just after baptizing the child with the holy water starts tweaking that child. The child has to cry loudly so everyone will know that this child is healthy. Afterwards they take the child and go around the altar three times praying and asking God to bless their child.
Sometimes they call us to bless their houses. So that is the good opportunity to know them better and even to see every place in their houses. We work with them in our pastoral centre which was repaired in 2004. I talk about small children attending the primary schools. We do some catechesis and through the small groups we try to lift up and make better their behaving and education.
Through these children we try to reach their parents. On different occasions they are invited to come and to participate and joined us. The best trap is to organize a disco for them. You can be sure for 100% that they will come and after finishing it, they will leave you with a lot of rubbish.
According to the official statistics 300 thousand roma people live at the present time in Slovakia. This amount is closed to the amount of roma people living in France, but the France is 11times bigger than Slovakia.
But it is a tough work and takes ages to improve something. One proverb says: “does not matter for how long a piece of wood stays in the water, it still does not turn to be a crocodile”.
The people believe that the socialist law which came out in the year of 1958 and was forbidding the migration was the begging of all the troubles with the roman people in Slovakia.
Once a week I go to charity to serve the homeless people. My work consists of worming the soup and spreading the butter on the bread and so getting closer to them. It sometimes happens that they asked for a confession.
Once a month I go to see drug and alcoholic addicts in Novy Svet. Some of us still remember visiting this places and I assure you they remember you. It was such a surprise when they suddenly saw a big bus and more than 30 people coming out of the bus just to see them and talk to them. The re- socialization centre is still receiving and accommodating more and younger or older people who have got into these addictions. The last week just one of them, a young boy overdosed himself. But on the other hand in two years three of them had been prepared to receive all the sacraments and they did so this year.
This year I have also started to work two non-government organizations named Pro-Life and Forum of Life. These organizations work hard to protect dignity and justice of a person as a human being and to protect human lives. I have started distributing a lot of brochures about protecting human lives everywhere I go but mostly in the hospital I take care off. The other time we had a mass for an unborn children and protection of human life.
On 1st-5 September this year a pilgrimage called “green” was led by the first deputy Prime Minister Jan Figel and the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson Kodwo. He said at a press conference that the theme of Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation should be studied in all seminaries. Furthermore, it should be incorporated into the curriculum of Catholic universities. Cardinal visited the capital city of Slovakia, Bratislava and then they proceed to Mariazell a small town in Austria. The idea was based on the message of Pope Benedict XVI. Which he gave on the Day of World Peace 2010: “If you want to help peace, we have to save the creation.” The cardinal added: “The world is a house of people, and we try to make the world safe and comfortable house for all”.
In this context we started to separate the waist. We collect the plastic bottles and theirs tops and put them into the bags. The tops of these plastic bottles are collected by a one lady who is saving the many for buying wheel chairs for handicap children.
There are many other things that I am not going to mention them here but as God say: “For my justice God has given me a reward, because he has seen that my hands are cleaned” (Z 18).
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The report of
Fr. Pavel Kobliha, SVD
Nitra, Slovakia 2010