7/25/10 c-blog MESSAGE FROM FATHER MAURER of BENTON HARBOR (MI) re CATHOLIC CHURCH IN RUSSIA, St. JBAP COSTA MESA 5p m: I'm fathr dan maurer..mssion in russia..the only place in world where cath church u starting comp new..bef 1917 hw catholic. Russia was..russian orthdox..is the prdmnnt church I russa..bf revol..bf rev 25 mil rom cath....spread out..8 hours non-stop flight still in russia..church bldg taken over by communist not destroyed...we got it back..now a 14th story bldg..very symbolic..from one cath church to the next is like going from here to philadelphia...most parishes don't have a building..also success w/ youth..life expctncy much lower..older already lost to commun...so we target youth...alpha program...also pro-life..success..russia was 1st country to legalize abortion..in 1921..it was an atheist revolution..if no god nothing sacred, not even life..avg woman will have 8 to 12 abortions,,some as many as 35..we started crisis ...1/2 of 1% of persons are practicing faith....& that's only those who go to church a handful of times per year..family in russia dstryd..95% divorce rate..80% divorce 4 yrs aftr wedding..also alcoholism rampant..hopeless.death of spirit..what russia needs today..know & love Jesus Christ..He is the one who strengthens us..gives us hope..respond to vocations he gives us..russia has none of that..how do alc anon..therapy for woman abortion..hope they catch on its from the lord..vladivostok russia..."
Gen 18:20-32 "In those days, the LORD said: "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grave, that I must go down and see whether or not their actions fully correspond to the cry against them that comes to me I mean to find out." While Abraham's visitors walked on farther toward Sodom, the LORD remained standing before Abraham. Then Abraham drew nearer and said:"Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty? Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to make the innocent die with the guilty so that the innocent and the guilty would be treated alike! Should not the judge of all the world act with justice?" The LORD replied,"If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake." Abraham spoke up again"See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord, though I am but dust and ashes What if there are five less than fifty innocent people? Will you destroy the whole city because of those five?" He answered, "I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there." But Abraham persisted, saying "What if only forty are found there?" He replied, "I will forbear doing it for the sake of the forty." Then Abraham said, "Let not my Lord grow impatient if I go on. What if only thirty are found there?" He replied, "I will forbear doing it if I can find but thirty there." Still Abraham went on,"Since I have thus dared to speak to my Lord, what if there are no more than twenty?" The LORD answered, "I will not destroy it, for the sake of the twenty." But he still persisted:"Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time. What if there are at least ten there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it."
Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 6-7, 7-8 Responsorial Psalm R. (3a) Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Col 2:12-14 "Brothers and sisters: You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead And even when you were dead in transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he brought you to life along with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions; obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims, which was opposed to us, he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross.
Luke 11:1-13 "one of his disciples said to him,"Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples."
He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test." And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, Friend, lend me three loaves of bread for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,' and he says in reply from within, Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.' I tell you, if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence."And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"
