Pope's apology... and encounters with Pentacostal community

  When Brian C Stiller, Global Ambassador, World Evangelical Alliance, met Pope Francis for lunch, he asked Pope Francis what his heart was for evangelism. Pope smiled, knowing what was behind Stiller's question and comment was, “I’m not interested in converting Evangelicals to Catholicism. I want people to find Jesus in their own community.  There are so many doctrines we will never agree on. Let’s be about showing the love of Jesus.” 

Stiller & Pope Francis

  Writing in his blog, Stiller says , "a vibrant pope, spiritually vital, tough in ethical leadership and competent in overseeing his world communion is critical. What he says and does has a profound affect on us all."
  "In his years in and out of Rome, he became friends with an Italian pastor. In time he came to learn that the church and pastor felt the power and presence of the Catholic Church, with its weighty presence, obstructing their desire to grow and be a witness. So he decided to visit the church and offer an apology for the difficulty brought to their congregation," Stiller writes.
  Earlier this week, Pope Francis went to southern Italian city of Caserta for a private visit to the Pentecostal community known as the Evangelical Church of Reconciliation. The Pope first met the founder of the community, Pastor Giovanni Traettino, during his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires and over the past year he has met and received groups of Pentecostals at his Santa Marta residence in Vatican.
  Pardon and reconciliation were the themes at the heart of the Pope’s words as, to loud applause he asked forgiveness for the words and actions of Catholics who have persecuted Pentecostals in the past.
  All of us are sinners, the Pope stressed, but all of us must continue to walk boldly in the presence of Our Lord. Quoting from St Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, Pope Francis spoke of the diversity of the Body of Christ but he stressed that diversity is reconciled to unity through the action of the Holy Spirit.
  The Pope first met the founder of the community, Pastor Traettino, during his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires and over the past year he has met and received groups of Pentecostals at his Santa Marta residence here in the Vatican.
  Pope's friendship with Bishop Tony Palmer, the international ecumenical officer of the Communion of Episcopal Evangelical Churches and founder of the online Ark Community, who died recently following a motorbike accident in England was well-known. During one of his visits to the Vatican in February this year, Bishop Palmer recorded an iphone message that Pope Francis wished to send to a Pentecostal group meeting, chaired by Kenneth Copeland, in the United States. In that off-the-cuff video message, the Pope spoke frankly of his longing for unity and reconciliation, saying that all Christians share the blame for the sins of division.
  Writing about his luncheon meeting with Pope, Stiller says, "from the outset his charm set us all at ease. As we moved from the greeting hall to the conversation room, he stood by the door to turn out the lights. I noticed that gone were the papal slippers and instead shoes with dangling laces. At lunch, eaten in the cafeteria, it wasn’t the waiters who served us drinks; Pope Francis served Geoff Tunnicliffe, Secretary General of the WEA and me."
  "His presence undermines pomp or circumstance. One has to remind themself (sic) that sitting across the lunch table, smiling through moments of joy is one of the most influential persons in the world. His celebrity is muted by his kindly ordinariness. His influence is corralled by his loving affection for people. His power leans towards the poor, those trampled underfoot," Stiller's blog says.
  According to him, two dominant gifts showed. First his pastoral instincts and gifts are so evident. Stiller asked, “When you were presented on the balcony in St Peter’s Square after your election, did you plan to ask those in the square to pray for you and then bow in silence?” He laughed. “No,” he said, “in that moment I sensed the Spirit leading me to do that.” So Stiller asked, “When you did so, how did you feel?” He looked at Stiller and smiled, “I was so at peace.”
  Stiller says Vatican matters. "For Evangelicals and Protestants, of all shapes and sizes, the state and condition of the Roman Catholic Church matters. Of the over 2 billion Christians, one-half are linked to the Vatican. About 600 million are Evangelicals and another 550 million members of the World Council of Churches, (which includes the Orthodox Churches)," he writes.
  The religious environment is undergoing a transformation. There's a major religious shakeup worldwide. Christians are being persecuted in various countries, especially in the Middle East. The situation has taken a turn for the worst in Iraq and Syria. "The Middle East is on the edge of what we know not. Islam is on the rise," he says.
  Christians need the support of each other. Evangelicals, Protestants and Catholic Church need to put up a united front to withstand the attack on Christianity. 

NEW WEBSITE ON THE WAY: www.christianmonitors.com

New Christian website:

www.christianmonitors.com

 A new website is being launched to propagate faith in Lord Jesus Christ and spread the Good News of Salvation to all the nooks and corners of the world.   

Make sure there's no devil behind your cross at home

 When Mr Antony visited China recently, he bought a cross and rosary from one of its fabled markets. The cross looked very beautiful, or rather very alluring. He fell for the cross and didn't think twice before purchasing it. Mr Antony bought it dead cheap as a similar cross in any other country would have cost three or four times of what he paid.

  However, he had made a big mistake. Mr Antony realised this when he took the cross and rosary to a priest for blessing. The stuff that he bought from China was satanic. "A cross in upside down position and the figure of devil with horns were embossed behind the cross. You can't easily figure out satan's figure behind the cross. Had Mr Antony kept these things in his house, his life would have gone for a toss. Devil would have made his life miserable. Such a cross would influence the place and people where it's kept," said Rev Fr Jose Vettiyankal VC.

  Rev Fr Jose who conducts Divine Mercy outreach programme across the world, narrated this incident at a Charismatic prayer meeting in Mumbai last week.

  If Mr Antony had kept the cross in his house, he would have literally ended up worshipping Satan. Nobody is sure how many such crosses are floating in the market. "If you're planning to buy a replica of cross or a rosary, have a close look at these things before buying them. Otherwise, you could be in for big trouble," Rev Fr Jose says.

 The manipulator who crafted the cross committed the fraud in a clever manner. Nobody would have thought about this unique way of bringing Satan into people’s lives in their wildest of imaginations.  

  During a May 24, 1987, visit to the sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel, John Paul II said, "the battle against the devil which is the principal task of Michael the archangel, is still being fought today, because the devil is still alive and active in the world. The evil that surrounds us today, the disorders that that plague our society, man's inconsistency and brokenness are not only the results of original sin but also the result of Satan's pervasive and dark action."

  Satan is working overtime in the world to keep people away from God. It can be through temptation, enticement, seduction, greed and so on. The evil spirit has succeeded in this exercise to a big extent. But we know who is going to have the final victory -- Jesus.

  Please check the religious artefacts kept at your home. You shouldn’t end up worshipping Satan unknowingly.

  

How a Catechism teacher came back to God: An Italian story

By Sheena George

  Rev Fr Jose Vettiyankal VC is truly a gift from God. He has been preaching the Word of God and conducting healing sessions and charismatic meetings across the world for the last 24 years. His Divine Mercy outreach programme has been a hit with people with even non-Christians flocking to hear him and get healed. “God wants us to be happy, healthy and wealthy. It’s satan who tries to prevent this from happening,” he says.

  Rev Fr Jose, who was in Mumbai last week to conduct a one-day charismatic prayer service, narrated a story to depict God’s great mercy and the necessity of us – human mortals – to seek forgiveness and come and back to God.      

  This happened when Rev Fr Jose visited Italy many years ago. He happened to visit a parish when he went around Italy. He met the parish priest who told him about a woman in the parish. This lady was a catechism teacher and very close to parish and religious activities many years ago, but turned away from God and stopped coming to the church after an incident.     

  This Italian lady had a two-year old son. One day this kid who was playing in the second floor of their home fell from the balcony to the ground and died on the spot. This lady actually witnessed the whole thing -- her son falling to the ground and dying immediately thereafter in her arms.

 This incident shocked her so badly that she suffered from a stroke that led to the paralysis of her left hand. She turned desolate and melancholic and stopped going out. She refused to go to church or attend prayers. “Why should I pray to God? Why did God do this to me? God didn’t want to see me happy and took away my only son. Why didn’t God prevent this? There’s no meaning in prayers or going to the mass,” she used to say after the incident.

 The parish priest insisted that Rev Fr Jose should meet this lady. The priest was unable to convince her about coming back to God. The parish priest dropped Rev Fr Jose near the lady’s house and sat in the car.

 Rev Fr Jose rang the bell. The lady opened the door and asked him, “why are you here?”

  “I came to pray for you,” he said. “I don’t want anybody’s prayer. Please leave me alone,” she said. But Rev Fr Jose insisted, “I have come from India.” His pleas and her obstinacy continued for some time. But finally she relented when he told her that he wanted to pray for others, and not for her. “Let us raise our hands and pray for others,” Rev Fr Jose said.

  She raised her hands immediately! The 20-year old paralysis on her left hand was immediately cured and she could raise her hands. She was flabbergasted. She wondered: How this can happen? But Rev Fr Jose continued his prayer. He prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Then he saw a vision of her two-year old son sitting on the lap of Jesus. When he told her about this, she asked him, “what was he doing there?”

  “He was praying for you,” he said. This really struck her. “Oh God, my son with Jesus,” she said.

 She realized what was going on. Devil had bound her in a state of bondage. The idea that God was responsible for her son’s death came from devil. The master of all cheats knew that she would be in devil’s bondage. She suddenly understood devil’s game plan.

  After the prayer, she came out of all bondages and received both physical and inner healing. She resumed her catechism teaching and started going to the church once again. She repented and came back to God.

  “What a wonderful God we have got. He doesn’t want you to get into any physical or mental agony. Devil is a great trickster. Be cautious about him. Seek God’s help to overcome satanic influences,” Rev Fr Jose says.

  According to him, once you come out of the grip of satan, you will be healed of many diseases, trials and tribulations. “You must pray deliverance prayer every day. You can use the prayer of Pope Leo 13^th to cast out the devil from your life. Devil will try to keep you away from God. He did that to Adam and Eve,” he says.

  “However, the new Adam – that is Jesus – salvaged us. The new Eve – St Mary – strengthens us in our fight against devil,” he says. So walk with God all the time. Don’t come out of His protective cover. Then you will be saved.

   As I left Sacred Heart Church, a beautiful church in Vashi, Mumbai after attending Rev Fr Jose’s prayer meeting, I had a silent prayer in my mind: God, strengthen Rev Fr Jose in his spiritual journey and let hundreds and thousands of people get physical and mental healing and come to Your Kingdom. 

** Rev Fr Jose, who is currently superior of Vincentian Congregation’s monastery in Thodupuzha, India, is getting ready to set up a Charismatic retreat centre in Australia.       

            

'If we don't communicate with God, we're inviting satan'

Thomas Mathew Vattakunnel
  I recently met the 10-year old son of a relative. When I asked him about family prayers, he glanced at me with a surprised look.   "There's no regular prayer in the family... it happens once in a fortnight or a month," he said.

Nuns in Bangladesh brutally attacked

  Catholics in Bangladesh, a majority Muslim South Asian nation are outraged over an attack upon a convent where a large group of men invaded the convent premises and attacked with attempts to rape the nuns. The armed men reportedly attacked the convent of PIME, or Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions nuns in Boldipukur, a village mission in Dinajpur diocese in northern Bangladesh in the early hours of July 6.

‘Worry about your spiritual death, not your physical death…’

  Are you apprehensive about your physical death or spiritual death? A relevant question at a time when man can go – and he goes -- to any extent to look after his physical well being and comfort.  “These days many of us only care about our physical death. It shouldn’t be like that. You must be more worried about your spiritual death,” says Rev Fr Biju Kollamkunnel in a measured tone, choosing his words carefully, but hitting where it matters in his Sunday homily.

Louisiana ruling on confession rankles Catholics

Associated Press | BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)
 Catholics are decrying a recent Louisiana Supreme Court decision that reaches into the most sanctified of church places, the confessional booth.

100 minus 10 = 170. It's not 90

 What's 100 minus 10 (100-10)? Most of us will say 90 as the answer. 
 It's not necessarily 90. Then what's the answer? "It can be 170 also," says Rev Fr Kurian Karickal, a Christian charismatic preacher who's active in several countries.

'The banner of the poor is Christian... Communists have stolen it'

  Ever since Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio took over as the Pope on March 13, 2013, media has written reams about his close leaning towards communist ideology with some even calling him a 'communist'.