Indian Chaplaincy’s Celebrations of Holy Week – 2012 in the Holy Land *The church is not a political party but…

31.03.2012   PALM SATURDAY CELEBRATIONS
Venue: JERUSALEM: Shrine of Palms, Bethpage to Basilica of the Agony, Gethsemane 

BETFAGE
8.15  am     Arrival to the Shrine of Palms, Bet-phage  
8.45  am     Reading of the Gospel
9.00  am     Blessing of the Palms by His Paternity V.Rev. Fr.Custos of the Holy Land 
              Followed by the Solemn Procession towards Mount of Olives Palm Sunday Routes

GETHSEMANE
Entering the Basilica of Agony through the main entrance. 
10.00 am     Holy Eucharist of the Passion in the Basilica of the Agony, Gethsemane, Jerusalem
12.00 am     Conclusion of the Celebrations

PARTICIPANTS:  More than 1000 from Haifa, Tel Aviv, Herzylia,  Nof Yam, Jerusalem

                            
05.04.2012  MAUNDY THURSDAY
Venue:      JAFFA –TEL AVIV: TERRA SANCTA SCHOOL CAPMPUS
7.00 pm     Celebration of the Paschal Meal of our Lord Jesus Christ,
            The ceremony of the Washing of the feet and sharing of the bread
8.30 pm     Solemn   Procession of the Blessed Sacrament & Adoration
                  

06.04.2012  GOOD  FRIDAY
Venue: JERUSALEM: MOUNT ZION TO KEDRON VALLEY
9.30 am     Arrival to Cenacle, Mount Zion
9.45 am     Introducing the Passion of our Lord: 
                      Pre-experience of the passion in the Last Supper       
10.00am   Way of the Cross: Meditation on the Stations of the Cross
            First Station Caenaculam  
            II.  Galli Canthu
            III. Entrance of the City of David
            IV.  Eastern Wall Corner
            V.   Monument of Absalom
10.30 am    Other stations in and around the Kedron Valley, Gethsemane, Jerusalem
11.00 am    Celebration of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ  in Konkani
12.30 pm    Veneration of the Crucifix  
       
07.04. 2012  EASTER SATURDAY: CELEBRATION OF THE PASCHA VIGIL
Venue:  JAFFA –TEL AVIV:  TERRA SANCTA SCHOOL CAMPUS
7.30 pm LITURGY OF THE PASCHA  LIGHT
                Liturgy of the WORD OF GOD
        Liturgy of BAPTISM AND BAPTISM OF INFANTS: Aaron & Gloria 
               Liturgy of the EUCHARIST & Communion
Joy of the Glorious Resurrection of our L.J.C. : SHARING OF GREETINGS AND SWEETS            

EASTER SUNDAY:
10.00 am   Solemn Mass at St.Joseph’s Latin Parish Hall in Haifa
Malayalam Speaking Faithful

Palm Saturday
9.00  am  Solemn Procession with Palms from Bethfage 
10.00 am Mass at  Gethsemane Garden

Holy Thursday:
In the evening celebrations of Paschal Meal of the Lord at St.Peter’s  Church, Old Jaffa, Tel Aviv

Holy Friday:
10.30am   Celebration of the Passion of the Lord  at Gethsemane Garden
1.00pm    Way of the Cross at Via Dolorosa

Holy Saturday:
10.00am   Celebration of the Pascha  at the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate Church at  4th Station, Jerusalem(Oriental Rite)
9.00 pm   Easter Vigil at St.Peter’s Church   Old Jaffa, Tel Aviv (Latin Rite)

– fr. jayaseelan ofm

The church is not a political party but…

Vatican City, 24 March 2012: Yesterday morning, before boarding his flight for Mexico, Benedict XVI was greeted at Rome’s Fiumicino airport by Mario Monti, prime minister of Italy. Later, during the course of the journey, the Holy Father participated in the traditional in-flight press conference with the more than seventy journalists accompanying him on the plane. He answered questions on a wide range of subjects, from drug trafficking and violence in Mexico to the social situation in Cuba and new evangelisation on the Latin American continent.

The Pope noted that his journey was taking him in the footsteps of John Paul II, who had made five visits to Mexico and one to Cuba, and that he hoped to continue the work begun by his predecessor. “I share the joys and hopes, but also the suffering and difficulties” of the Mexican people, he said. “I am going to bring encouragement but also to learn, to bring comfort in faith, hope and love; a commitment to goodness and to the struggle against evil. Let us hope that the Lord will help us”.

A Mexican journalist pointed out that great social inequalities persist in Latin America and that the at times the Catholic Church is not sufficiently encouraged to intervene in this field. “The Church must of course ask if she does enough for social justice on that great continent”, the Pope replied. “It is a question of conscience which we must always pose ourselves. … What must the Church do? What can she not do? What must she not do? The Church is not a political power, she is not a party but a moral entity, a moral power. … I reiterate what I have already said. The Church’s first concern is to educate minds in both individual and public ethics, thus creating the necessary sense of responsibility. Here perhaps there are some shortcomings. In Latin America, as elsewhere, no small number of Catholics show a kind of schizophrenia between individual and public morals. … We must educate people to overcome this schizophrenia, educate them not only in … individual morality, but also in public morality. This we must seek to do with the social doctrine of the Church because, of course, such public morality must be a reasonable morality, shared and shareable by non believers.

Another journalist recalled the words used by John Paul II on his trip to Cuba, “may Cuba open to the world and, and may the world open to Cuba”, and noted that many defenders of human rights had spoken out in anticipation of Benedict XVI’s visit to the island.

The Pope reiterated the continuity of his ideas with the words of John Paul II “which are still highly relevant”. The visit marked, he said, “the beginning of a journey of collaboration and constructive dialogue, a long journey which requires patience but which is moving forward. It is clear today that Marxist ideology as it was conceived no longer responds to reality. … In order to build a new society new models must be discovered, patiently and constructively. In this process, which requires patience but also firmness, we wish to make our contribution in a spirit of dialogue, in order to avoid traumas and facilitate the way to a fraternal and just society for all people. Obviously, the Church is always on the side of freedom, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion. … The faithful can also contribute to the progress of this journey”.

Finally the Holy Father responded to a question about new evangelisation in Latin America, in the light of the Aparecida Conference.

“The path of new evangelisation began with Vatican Council II. This was the fundamental intention of Blessed John XXIII, it was also emphasised by John Paul II and its importance in a world undergoing such great changes has become even more evident. The Gospel must be expressed in new ways. … There is a condition which exists throughout the world: secularisation, the absence of God, the difficulty of seeing Him as a reality which concerns us. … It is today, in the context of modern day rationality, that we can rediscover God as a fundamental guide for life, the fundamental hope for life, the foundation of the values upon which our society rests. … I think it is very important to announce a God Who responds to our reason. … However, we also have to take account of concrete reality. It is important to bear in mind that, in Latin America as a whole, religion is a question not of reason but of the heart. … Yet this intuition of the heart must be linked to the rationality of faith, and to the profundity of faith that goes beyond reason. We must not lose the heart, but unite heart and reason, … only in this way is the human being complete”.

– vis