St. Margaret Clitherow

Feastday: March 26

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St. Margaret Clitherow was born in Middleton, England, in 1555, of protestant parents. Possessed of good looks and full of wit and merriment, she was a charming personality. In 1571, she married John Clitherow, a well-to-do grazier and butcher (to whom she bore two children), and a few years later entered the Catholic Church. Her zeal led her to harbor fugitive priests, for which she was arrested and imprisoned by hostile authorities. Recourse was had to every means in an attempt to make her deny her Faith, but the holy woman stood firm. Finally, she was condemned to be pressed to death on March 25, 1586. She was stretched out on the ground with a sharp rock on her back and crushed under a door over laden with unbearable weights. Her bones were broken and she died within fifteen minutes. The humanity and holiness of this servant of God can be readily glimpsed in her words to a friend when she learned of her condemnation: "The sheriffs have said that I am going to die this coming Friday; and I feel the weakness of my flesh which is troubled at this news, but my spirit rejoices greatly. For the love of God, pray for me and ask all good people to do likewise." Her feast day is March 26th.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux Pendant (Sterling Silver)
Medals

St. Joseph Pendant (Gold Filled)
Medals

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More about St. Margaret Clitherow from Wikipedia

Saint Margaret Clitherow (1556 – 25 March 1586) is an English saint and martyr of the Roman Catholic Church.^[2] She is sometimes called "the Pearl of York".

Contents

• 1 Life
• 2 Canonisation
• 3 Further reading
• 4 See also
• 5 References
• 6 External links
  • 6.1 Margaret
  • 6.2 Children
  • 6.3 Places

Life

She was born as Margaret Middleton,^[3] the daughter of a wax-chandler, after Henry VIII of England had split the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. She married John Clitherow, a butcher, in 1571 (at the age of 15) and bore him three children. She converted to Roman Catholicism at the age of 18, in 1574. Her husband John was supportive (he having a brother who was Roman Catholic clergy), though he remained Protestant.^[4] She then became a friend of the persecuted Roman Catholic population in the north of England. Her son, Henry, went to Reims to train as a Roman Catholic priest. She regularly held Masses in her home in the Shambles in York. There was a hole cut between the attics of her house and the adjoining house, to enable a priest to escape in the event of a raid. A house in the Shambles once thought to have been her home, now called the Shrine of the Saint Margaret Clitherow, is open to the public (it is served by the nearby Church of St Wilfrid's and is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough); her actual house (10 and 11, the Shambles) is further down the street.
In 1586, she was arrested and called before the York assizes for the crime of harbouring Roman Catholic priests. She refused to plead to the case so as to prevent a trial that would entail her children being made to testify, and therefore being subjected to torture. As a result she was executed by being crushed to death – the standard inducement o force a plea; on Good Friday 1586.^[5] The two sergeants who should have killed her hired four desperate beggars to kill her. She was stripped and had a handkerchief tied across her face then laid out upon a sharp rock the size of a man's fist, the door from her own house was put on top of her and slowly loaded with an immense weight of rocks and stones (the small sharp rock would break her back when the heavy rocks were laid on top of her). Her death occurred within fifteen minutes but her body was left for six hours before the weight was removed. After her death her hand was removed, and this relic is now housed in the chapel of the Bar Convent, York. Following her execution, Elizabeth I wrote to the citizens of York expressing her horror at the treatment of a woman. Because of her sex, she argued, Clitherow should not have been executed.^{[citation needed]}

Commemorative plaque on the Ouse Bridge, York

In 2008, a commemorative plaque was installed at the Micklegate end of Ouse Bridge to mark the site of her martyrdom; the Bishop of Middlesbrough unveiled this in a ceremony on Friday 29 August 2008.^[6]

Canonisation

She was beatified in 1929 by Pope Pius XI and canonised in 1970 by Pope Paul VI along with other martyrs from England and Wales. The group of candidates canonised at that time is commonly called "The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales". Her feast day in the current Roman Catholic calendar, together with the other English martyrs, is 4 May. However her feast day in England is 30 August, which she shares with fellow female martyrs St. Anne Line and St. Margaret Ward.
A number of schools in England are named after Margaret Clitherow, including schools at Bracknell, Brixham, Manchester, Nottingham, Thamesmead SE28, Brent, London NW10 and Tonbridge. The Roman Catholic primary school in Nottingham's Bestwood estate is named after Clitherow. In the United States, St Margaret of York Church and School in Loveland, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, is also named after her. Another school named after her is St. Margaret Clitherow RC Primary School, located next to Stevenage Borough Football Club.
She is also the patroness of the Catholic Women's League, an organisation of Catholic women founded in 1906, with small groups (known as branches) and sections (groupings of branches, usually along diocesan lines) across the world. A group of parishes in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool, Sacred Heart in Hindsford, St Richard's in Atherton, Holy Family in Boothstown, St Ambrose Barlow in Astley, St Gabriel's, Higher Folds in Leigh are now united as a single community with St Margaret Clitherow as its patron.^[7][8]

Orodha Kamili ya waliongia katika kinyang'anyiro cha Kilimanjaro Tanzania Music Awards 2014:

Wimbo bora wa mwaka
1 Number one-Diamond
2 Joto hasira-Lady Jaydee Ft Prof Jay
3 I love u-Cassim Mganga
4 Yahaya-Lady JayDee
5 Kidela -Abdu Kiba Feat Ali Kiba
6 Muziki gani-Ney ft Diamond

Wimbo bora wenye vionjo vya asili ya Kitanzania
1 Kwejaga nyangisha-Batarokota
2 Nalonji-Kumpeneka
3 Bora Mchawi-Dar Bongo massive
4 Tumbo lamsokota-Ashimba
5 Aliponji -Wanakijiji
6 Agwemwana-Cocodo African music band

Wimbo bora wa kiswahili -Bendi
1 Ushamba mzigo-Mashujaa Band
2 Shamba la Bibi -Victoria Sound
3 Chuki ya nini -FM Academia
4 Yarabi nafsi -Mapacha Watatu
5 Kiapo mara 3 -Talent Band

Wimbo bora wa Reggae
1 Niwe na wewe-Dabo
2 Hakuna Matata-Lonka
3 Tell Me-Dj Aron ft Fidempha
4 Bado nahitaji-Chikaka ft Bless p & Lazzy B
5 Bongo Reggae-Warriors from the east

Wimbo bora wa Afrika Mashashariki
1 Tubonge-Jose Chamelleone
2 Nakupenda Pia-Waire Ft Allain
3 Badilisha-Jose Chamelleone
4 Kipepeo-Jaguar
5 Kiboko Changu-Aman FT Weizal and Radio

Wimbo bora wa Afro pop
1 Number one-Diamond
2 Joto hasira-Jay Dee
3 Kidela-abdul kiba ft Ali Kiba
4 I love you-Kassimu
5 Tupogo-Ommy Dimpoz Ft J Martins
6 Roho yangu-Rich Mavoko

Wimbo bora wa Taarab
1 Wasi wasi wako-Mzee Yusuf
2 Asiyekujua Hakuthamini-Isha Ramadhani & Saida Ramadhani
3 Nipe stara -Rahma Machupa
4 Sitaki shari-Leyla Rashid
5 Fahari ya Mwanamke-Khadija Kopa
6 Mambo bado-Khadija Yusuf
7 Kila muomba Mungu -Mwanahawa Ali

Wimbo bora wa Hip hop
1 Bei ya mkaa-Weusi
2 Nje ya box-Nick wa pili ft Joh Makini and , Gnako
3 Siri ya mchezo-Fid q ft Nature
4 2030-Roma
5 Pesa-Mr Blue Ft Becka Title

Wimbo bora wa R&B
1 Listen-Belle 9
2 Closer -Vanessa Mdee
3 So crazy-Maua ft Fa
4 kama huwezi-rama dee ft jay dee
5 Wa ubani-Ben Pol ft. Alice

Wimbo bora wa kushirikisha/kushirikiana
1 Music Gani-Ney Mitego ft Diamond
2 Joto Hasira-Lady JayDee ft. Prof Jay
3 Kidela -Abdul Kiba ft. Ali Kiba
4 Bila Kukunja Goti-Mwana FA na AY ft. Jay Martins
5 Tupogo-Ommy Dimpoz ft. Jay Martins

Wimbo bora wa Ragga/Dancehall
1 Nishai-Chibwa Ft Juru
2 Sex girl-Dr Jahson
3 My sweet-Jettyman Dizano
4 Feel Alright-Lucky Stone
5 Wine-Princess Delyla

Wimbo bora wa Zouk /Rhumba
1 Yahaya-Lady Jaydee
2 Yamoto-Mkubwa na wanawe
3 Msaliti-Christian Bella
4 Nakuhitaji-Malaika Band
5 Narudi kazini-Beka

Mwimbaji bora wa kike -kizazi kipya
1 Vanessa Mdee
2 Lady Jaydee
3 Linah
4 Maua

Mwimbaji bora wa kiume -kizazi kipya
1 Ben Pol
2 Rich Mavoko
3 Diamond
4 Ommy Dimpoz
5 Cassim Mganga

Mwimbaji bora wa kike -Taarab
1 Khadija Kopa
2 Isha Ramadhani
3 Khadija Yusuf
4 Mwanahawa Ali
5 Leyla Rashid

Mwimbaji bora wa kiume -Taarab
1 Mzee Yusuf
2 Hashimu Saidi
3 Mohamedi Ali aka Mtoto Pori

Mwimbaji bora wa kiume -Bendi
1 Jose Mara
2 Kalala Junior
3 Charz Baba
4 Khalid Chokoraa
5 Christian Bella

Mwimbaji bora wa kike -Bendi
1 Luiza Mbutu
2 Catherine (Cindy)
3 Ciana

Msanii bora wa -Hip hop
1 FID Q
2 Stamina
3 Young killer (Msodoki)
4 Nick wa pili
5 Gnako

Msanii bora chipukizi anayeibukia
1 Young Killer(Msodoki)
2 Walter Chilambo
3 Y Tony
4 Snura
5 Meninah

Rapa bora wa mwaka -Bendi
1 Kitokololo
2 Chokoraa
3 Furguson
4 Canal Top
5 Totoo ze Bingwa

Mtumbuizaji bora wa kike wa Muziki
1 Khadija Kopa
2 Vanessa Mdee
3 Isha Ramadanni
4 Luiza Mbutu
5 Catherine (Cindy)

Mtumbuizaji bora wa kiume wa Muziki
1 Diamond
2 Christian Bella
3 Rich Mavoko
4 Ommy Dimpoz
5 Abdu Kiba

Mtayarishaji bora wa nyimbo wa mwaka -Taarab
1 Enrico
2 Ababuu Mwana ZNZ
3 Bakunde

Mtayarishaji bora wa nyimbo wa mwaka -Kizazi kipya
1 Marco chali-Mj Records
2 Man Water-Combination Sound
3 Mazoo-Mazoo Records
4 Sheddy Clever-Burnz Records
5 Nahreel -Home Town Record

Mtayarishaji bora wa nyimbo wa mwaka -Bendi
1 Allan Mapigo
2 C9
3 Enrico
4 Amoroso
5 Ababuu Mwana ZNZ

Mtunzi bora wa mwaka -Taarabu
1 Mzee Yusuf
2 El-Ahad Omary
3 El-khatib Rajab
4 Kapten Temba
5 Sadiki Abdul
6 Nassoro Seif


Mtunzi bora wa mwaka -kizazi kipya
1 Belle 9
2 Ben Pol
3 Diamond
4 Rama dee
5 Rich mavoko

Mtunzi bora wa mwaka -Bendi
1 Christia Bella
2 Jose Mara
3 Chaz Baba
4 Nyoshi Saadat
5 Kalala Junior

Mtunzi bora wa mwaka -Hip hop
1 Nikki wa Pili
2 Young Killer(Msodoki)
3 Roma
4 FID Q
5 G- Nako

Video bora ya muziki ya mwaka
1 Number one-Diamond
2 Yahaya-lady Jaydee
3 Joto hasira-Lady Jaydee Ft Prof Jay
4 Uswazi takeaway-Chege Ft Malaika
5 Mama Yeyo-Gnako Ft Ben Pol

Bendi ya mwaka
1 FM Academia
2 Mapacha Watatu
3 African Stars(Twanga Pepeta)
4 Akudo Impact
5 Malaika Band
6 Mashujaa Band

Kikundi cha mwaka cha Taarab
1 Jahaz Modern Taarab
2 Mashauzi Classic
3 Five Stars

Kikundi cha mwaka cha kizazi kipya
1 Makomandoo
2 Navy kenzo
3 Weusi
4 Mkubwa na wanawe

Njia ya Msalaba, 2014: mwaliko wa kuiangalia sura ya Kristo katika sura ya mwanadamu anayeteseka!

Tafakari ya Njia ya Msalaba kuzunguka Magofu ya Colosseo mjini Roma, Ijumaa kuu kwa Mwaka 2014 imeandaliwa na Askofu mkuu Giancarlo Maria Bregantini wa Jimbo kuu la Campobasso Boiano, Italia. Ni tafakari ambayo ameifanya kwa niaba ya Baba Mtakatifu Francisko na itafanya rejea kwa vituo kumi na vinne vya Njia ya Msalaba kadiri ya Mapokeo.

Askofu mkuu Bregantini ni mwenyekiti wa Tume ya masuala ya kijamii, kazi, haki na amani ya Baraza la Maaskofu Katoliki Italia. Taarifa hii imetolewa muda mfupi tu tangu Baba Mtakatifu Francisko alipokutana na kusali pamoja na wahanga wa mashambulizi ya kikundi cha kigaidi cha Mafia nchini Italia.

Katika mikakati yake ya kichungaji, Askofu mkuu Bregantini amekuwa akijielekeza zaidi katika majiundo ya dhamiri nyofu, kwa kuwataka waamini na watu wote wenye mapenzi mema kusimama kidete kulinda na kutetea: utu na heshima ya binadamu; haki msingi, amani na utawala wa sheria.

Askofu mkuu Bregantini anasema, amepewa heshima kubwa na Baba Mtakatifu Francisko kuandika tafakari ya Njia ya Msalaba kwa mwaka 2014. Ni tafakari inayoonesha Fumbo la Msalaba katika maisha ya Yesu mintarafu mahangaiko na mateso ya mwanadamu, katika sala na tafakari.

Hapa waamini wanaalikwa kuingalia sura ya Kristo katika sura ya mwanadamu anayeteseka. Yesu anaendelea kumwonjesha mwanadamu huruma na upendo wake wa dhati; anayafuta machozi ya watu wake kama alivyofanya kwa Mtakatifu Petro alipomkana mara tatu. Tafakari ya Njia ya Msalaba pamoja na mambo mengine itagusia athari za myumbo wa uchumi kimataifa, umuhimu wa Neno la Mungu.

Ikumbukwe kwamba, Askofu mkuu Bregantini ni mwanashirika wa Shirika la Madonda Matakatifu, maarufu kama Wasigmatin. Ni mwaliko wa kumwilisha Injili ya Furaha katika uhalisia wa maisha ya mwanadamu anayejikuta daima akisukumizwa pembezoni mwa Jamii. Mama Kanisa anapenda kumwonjesha mwanadamu upendo na huruma ya Mungu isiyokuwa na kifani inayobubujika kutoka kwa Yesu na Kanisa lake!

Ujumbe wa Baba Mtakatifu Francisko kwa Kipindi cha Kwaresima 2014

Mama Kanisa anakianza kipindi cha Kwaresima, yaani siku arobaini za toba na wongofu wa ndani; kusali na kufunga; kusoma na kulitafakari Neno la Mungu pamoja na kumwilisha imani katika matendo, kwa Jumatano ya Majivu. Waamini wanakumbushwa kwamba, wao ni mavumbi na mavumbini watarudi tena.

Hizi ni nyakati za toba na zimewekwa na Mama Kanisa kwa ajili ya mazoezi ya maisha ya kiroho; zinajikita katika liturujia ya toba, kuhiji kama ishara ya toba, kujinyima kwa hiyari kama sehemu ya kufunga na kutoa sadaka kwa maskini na wote wanaosukumizwa pembezoni mwa Jamii; ni mwaliko wa kushiriki kidugu kazi za mapendo na kimissionari zinazotekelezwa na Mama Kanisa.

Ujumbe wa Kwaresima kutoka kwa Baba Mtakatifu Francisko kwa Mwaka 2014 unaongozwa na kauli mbiu “Maana mmejua neema ya Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo, Jinsi alivyokuwa maskini kwa ajili yenu, ingawa alikuwa tajiri, ili kwamba, ninyi mpate kuwa matajiri kwa umaskini wake”. Huu ni mwaliko kwa waamini kuonesha moyo wa ukarimu kwa jirani zao kama ilivyokuwa nyakati za Mtakatifu Paulo aliyewahimiza Wakorintho kuwasaidia ndugu zao waliokuwa wanateseka mjini Yerusalemu.

Baba Mtakatifu katika tafakari hii anaonesha jinsi ambavyo Mwenyezi Mungu ambaye ni tajiri na mwingi wa rehema kwa njia ya Yesu Kristo, Mwanaye wa pekee amejinyenyekesha na kuwa maskini, ili aweze kuwa karibu na binadamu kwa njia ya Fumbo la Umwilisho. Hiki ni kielelezo cha upendo wa Mungu ambao ni neema na baraka inayotolewa kwa binadamu anayependwa na Mwenyezi Mungu, kiasi cha hata Kristo kujisadaka maisha yake.

Huu ndio upendo unaoshirikisha, unajenga na kuimarisha umoja na udugu kwa kuvunjilia mbali kuta za utengano. Kwa njia ya Fumbo la Umwilisho, Mwenyezi Mungu amefikiri na kutenda kama binadamu katika mambo yote isipokuwa hakutenda dhambi.

Kwa njia ya umaskini wa Yesu, Mwenyezi Mungu amependa mwanadamu aweze kutajirika, hii ndiyo mantiki ya Fumbo la Umwilisho na Fumbo la Msalaba. Alibatizwa mtoni Yordani si kwa vile alikuwa anahitaji toba, wongofu wa ndani na msamaha, bali alipenda kuonesha mshikamano wa dhati na binadamu mdhambi kwa kujitwika dhambi zake mabegani mwake, ili aweze kuwafariji, kuwaokoa na kuwakomboa kutoka katika lindi la dhambi na mauti.

Baba Mtakatifu Francisko katika ujumbe wake wa Kwaresima kwa Mwaka huu anasema, Yesu alijifanya kuwa jirani na Msamaria mwema, kwa kuguswa na mahangaiko ya binadamu, ili hatimaye, aweze kumwonjesha huruma na mapendo yanayobubujika kutoka kwa Mwenyezi Mungu. Utajiri wa Yesu unajionesha kwa namna ya pekee kwa kumtegemea Baba yake wa mbinguni, katika kutekeleza mapenzi yake na hatimaye kuvikwa taji la utukufu. Yesu anatambua kwamba, ni Mwana pekee wa Mungu, Masiha anayewaalika wafuasi wake kujitajirisha kutoka kwake na kushiriki udugu na kujitahidi kuchuchumilia utakatifu wa maisha kwa kuishi kama watoto wa Mungu na ndugu zake Kristo.

Kila wakati Mwenyezi Mungu anaendelea kumkomboa mwanadamu kutoka katika umaskini wake kwa njia ya umaskini wa Yesu, kwa kuonja na kuguswa na umaskini wa jirani zao tayari kujifunga kibwebwe kusaidia kupambana na umaskini: wa hali, kipato na maadili. Umaskini ni kielelezo cha kukosa imani, mshikamano na matumaini. Umaskini wa kipato unawakumba wote wanaoishi katika mazingira ambayo ni kinyume kabisa cha utu na heshima ya binadamu.

Hawa ni watu wanaopokonywa haki na mahitaji msingi kama vile: chakula, maji, malazi, huduma bora za afya, fursa za kazi na ajira, maendeleo na ukuaji wa kitamaduni. Kanisa linaendelea kujisadaka kwa ajili ya kupambana na umaskini wa kipato katika mikakati yake ya kichungaji inayopania kumkomboa mtu mzima: kiroho na kimwili. Kanisa linaiona na kuitambua sura ya Kristo miongoni mwa maskini na wote wanaosukumizwa pembezoni mwa Jamii. Kanisa linapania kuhakikisha kwamba, utu na heshima ya binadamu vinaendelea kupewa kipaumbele cha pekee kwa kukomesha ubaguzi ambao wakati mwingine ni chanzo kikuu cha umaskini. Kanisa linahimiza matumizi bora ya rasilimali ya dunia kwa ajili ya ustawi na maendeleo ya wengi. Jamii iongozwe katika misingi ya haki, usawa, kiasi na ushirikiano.

Baba Mtakatifu Francisko anasema kuna umaskini wa kimaadili, unaomfanya mwanadamu kuwa ni mtumwa wa dhambi, ulevi wa kupindukia, mcheza kamari na mtazamaji wa picha za ngono. Hili ni kundi la watu lililopoteza dira na mwelekeo wa maisha kwa kukata tamaa! Ni watu wanaoogelea katika utupu kwa kukosa fursa za ajira pamoja na kuendelea kudhalilishwa utu na hehima yao kama binadamu: wanakosa chakula na malazi; hawana haki ya kupata huduma bora katika sekta ya elimu, afya na maendeleo. Matokeo yake ni watu kuelemewa mno na umaskini wa kimaadili kiasi hata cha kutema zawadi ya maisha!

Umaskini huu ni chanzo kikuu cha myumbo wa uchumi kimataifa na matokeo yake ni umaskini na utupu wa maisha ya kiroho. Hali hii inajionesha pale mwanadamu anapomn’goa Mwenyezi Mungu katika maisha na vipaumbele vyake, kiasi hata cha kutema upendo na huruma yake. Hapa mwanadamu anadhani kwamba, anaweza kujitegemea mwenyewe na wala haitaji msaada kutoka kwa Mwenyezi Mungu. Lakini ikumbukwe kwamba, ni Mungu peke yake anayeweza kukomboa na kumwokoa mwanadamu.

Baba Mtakatifu anasema, Injili ni dawa inayoponya umaskini wa maisha ya kiroho, changamoto na mwaliko kwa kila Mkristo kuhakikisha kwamba, anashiriki kutangaza Injili ya Kristo katika medani mbali mbali za maisha, ili watu waonjeshe upendo na huruma ya Mungu; ili hatimaye, waweze kushirikishwa maisha ya uzima wa milele. Waamini wawe ni watangazaji amini wa Injili ya Furaha inayojikita katika huruma na matumaini; mwanga na faraja kwa wote wanaotembea katika giza na uvuli wa mauti. Ni mwaliko wa kumfuasa Kristo aliyethubutu kuwaendea maskini; akaonesha sifa ya kuwa mchunga mwema kwa kumwendea Kondoo aliyekuwa amepotea, ili kumwonjesha upendo wake. Kwa kushikamana na Yesu, waamini wanaweza kuwa na ujasiri wa kushiriki katika mchakato wa Uinjilishaji Mpya na maendeleo endelevu.

Baba Mtakatifu Francisko katika Kipindi hiki cha Kwaresima anawataka waamini na watu wote wenye mapenzi mema kuonesha ushuhuda wa pekee kwa maskini wa hali, maadili na maisha ya kiroho wanaokutana nao kila siku ya maisha yao, ili waweze kuonja huruma na upendo wa Mungu kwa njia ya Yesu Kristo. Kwaresima ni muda muafaka wa kujisadaka kwa ajili ya kuwasaidia wengine, kwa kutambua kwamba, kwa njia hii pia tunafanya toba.

Waamini wanaweza kuwatajirisha jirani zao na hivyo kushiriki katika mchakato wa kuganga na kuponya umaskini unaomwandama binadamu. Ni matumaini ya Baba Mtakatifu Francisko kwamba, waamini wataweza kukitumia kipindi hiki cha Kwaresima ili kupata neema na baraka zinazobubujika kutoka kwa Kristo mwenyewe!

Ujumbe huu umehaririwa na
Padre Richard A. Mjigwa.
Idhaa ya Kiswahili ya Radio Vatican.

KWARESIMA: Muarobaini wa Maisha ya Kikristu

Neno Kwaresima linatokana na neno la lugha ya kilatini Quadragesima; maana yake, namba arobaini. Kwa hiyo, Kwaresima ni kipindi cha siku arobaini katika  Mwaka wa Liturjia au Mwaka wa Kanisa. Mwaka wa Kanisa ni maadhimisho ya mafumbo ya Ukombozi kwa njia ya Kristo, pamoja na Kristo na ndani ya Kristo katika Kanisa. Mwaka wa Kanisa una vipindi vikuu vitano; Majilio, Noeli, Kwaresima, Pasaka na dominika au jumapili za kawaida. Noeli na Pasaka ndivyo vipindi maalum katika Mwaka wa Kanisa na kabla ya kuadhimishwa hufanyika maandalizi maalum. Noeli huandaliwa kwa kipindi cha Majilio; na Pasaka huandaliwa kwa kipindi cha Kwaresima. Kwaresima huanza siku ya jumatano kwa Ibada ya Jumatano ya Majivu na huisha alhamisi jioni inapoanza Misa ya Karamu ya Bwana ya Alhamisi Kuu ambapo Siku Kuu Tatu za Pasaka huanza. Kwaresima ni kipindi pekee katika Mwaka wa Kanisa ambacho huanza kwa amri ya Kanisa (amri ya pili ya Kanisa): “Shiriki liturjia ya Jumatano ya Majivu, ambayo ni siku ya kufunga chakula; na Ijumaa Kuu iliyo siku ya kutokula nyama.”

Maana ya Kwaresima

Kwaresima ni kipindi muafaka cha kufanya toba. Toba ni sharti la msingi kabisa katika kuutafuta uzima wa milele au ufalme wa mbinguni. Mwenyezi Mungu ndiye anayemwalika mwanadamu ashiriki katika ufalme wake; basi mwanadamu naye anaitikia mwaliko huo kwa kufanya toba. Kwa hiyo toba ni kielelezo cha mwanadamu anayekubali mwaliko wa kuingia katika maisha ya imani ili ashiriki katika ufalme wa Mungu (Mk. 1:15): .....Yesu akaenda Galilaya, akiihubiri Habari Njema ya Mungu akisema, “Wakati umetimia na ufalme wa Mungu umekaribia; tubuni na kuiamini Injili.”

Mwaliko wa Yesu kumtaka mwanadamu afanye toba ndiyo mwanzo wa historia mpya ya uhusiano kati ya Mungu na wanadamu. Tendo la toba linajikita katika maana kuu tatu za msingi:

1)    Kuacha njia potovu. Mtu anapotambua kuwa maisha yake ni kinyume na nia ya Mungu na hivyo anakubali na kuamua kubadilika. Hili ni tendo la toba linalompelekea mtu kubatizwa; na kwa mkristo humpelekea kurudi katika maisha ya kushiriki sakramenti za Kanisa.

2)    Kuacha fikra potovu. Ni mabadiliko ya dhati kwa wakristo wenye fikra potovu kuhusu ukombozi. Baadhi ya wakristo wanapotea kwa kuamini kuwa ubatizo peke yake watosha ili kuokoka. Ubatizo ni mwanzo wa maisha ya kumfuasa Kristo na ni ufunguo wa kuingilia kwenye haki na wajibu wa kikristo.  Kuokoka ni tendo la kuishinda dhambi na kuingia mbinguni. Kwa hivyo basi, si sahihi mtu kusema kuwa ameokoka angali bado yuko hapa duniani. Duniani tunaishi kwenye dhambi na wakati wowote tunaweza bado kuanguka katika dhambi hata kama tumeshabatizwa.

3)    Kuongoka. Ni tendo la kila siku kwa mkristo mwenye fikra sahihi juu ya ukombozi. Kuongoka ni kutambua udhaifu wa kibinadamu na kuitumia vema huruma ya Mungu kwa kuungama dhambi. Dhambi ipo duniani na ina nguvu kuliko sisi wanadamu. Lakini, neema ya Mungu ipo pia na ina nguvu kuliko dhambi. Kufanya toba maana yake ni kuitambua dhambi yako na kuiungama kwa Mungu ili upate neema. Neema ya Mungu inatupatia nguvu ya kupambana na dhambi na inatusaidia kukwepa nafasi ya kutenda dhambi tena.

Kwaresima na Pasaka

Uhalisia wa Kwaresima haupo tu katika toba bali hasa upo katika fumbo la Pasaka. Pasaka ndiyo kiini cha Mwaka wa Kanisa; na ndiyo sherehe kubwa kuliko sherehe zote katika liturjia. Ni sherehe inayoadhimisha ukombozi wa wana wa Mungu kutoka katika utumwa dhambi na kufanyika kwa taifa jipya la Mungu. Kimsingi, Kwaresima ni kipindi cha siku arobaini za toba zinayoitayarisha Pasaka. Pasaka huadhimishwa kila mwaka mara baada ya Kwaresima; na huendelea kuadhimishwa kila jumapili kwa mwaka wote (Jumapili zote zilizo ndani ya kipindi cha Kwaresima hazihesabiwi kati ya siku arobaini). Kila jumapili ni Pasaka, ni siku ya Bwana Mfufuka (dominika) ambapo taifa la Mungu hukusanyika ili kusherehekea ukombozi. Kwa umuhimu wake, Pasaka ya kila mwaka ni lazima itayarishwe kwa kipindi maalum; yaani Kwaresima. Pasaka na Kwaresima ni vipindi vinavyotegemezana. Kwaresima ndiyo inayotuandaa ili tustahili kusherehekea Pasaka.

Nguzo za Kwaresima

Siku arobaini za Kwaresima ni kielelezo cha utimilifu wa maandalizi ya Pasaka. Kadiri ya desturi za kibiblia, namba 1, 3, 7, 10, 12, 40 na 50 huitwa namba kamili. 40 ni namba kamili inayoashiria utimilifu wa kitu fulani. Kwa mfano; Musa alikaa siku arobaini mlimani sinai akisubiri kupewa Amri Kumi za Mungu, waana wa Israeli walisafiri jangwani kuelekea nchi ya ahadi kwa miaka arobaini, Yesu alifunga chakula siku arobaini jangwani kabla ya kuanza kuhubiri Habari Njema, Yesu alipaa mbinguni siku ya arobaini baada ya ufufuko wake. Matukio hayo na mengine mengi kuhusu namba 40 yanaashiria ukamilifu wa jambo fulani katika umuhimu na umaana wake.

Utimilifu wa siku arobaini za Kwaresima hujengwa katika nguzo kuu nne: Neno la Mungu, Sala na Sakramenti, Mfungo, na Matendo Mema.

1)    Neno la Mungu: Kipindi cha Kwaresima ni fursa nzuri ya kujipa muda wa kutosha kwa ajili ya kusoma na kutafakari Neno la Mungu. Tukisoma Biblia tutamjua zaidi Mungu wetu, tutajijua sisi wenyewe na hasa tutaijua nia ya Mungu kwetu ili tuweze kuyafanya mapenzi yake.

2)    Sala na Sakramenti: wakati wa Kwaresima ni vema kusali zaidi sala binafsi na sala za Kanisa ili kujitakatifuza na kuzibariki shughuli zetu za kila siku. Tushiriki Misa Takatifu, tushiriki ibada ya Njia ya Msalaba, tushiriki katika jumuiya zetu, tushiriki sakramenti za Kanisa (hasa Kitubio na Ekaristi Takatifu).

3)    Mfungo: Kwaresima ni wakati muafaka wa kujinyima vitu na mambo ya ziada. Kielelezo kikubwa zaidi ni kufunga chakula. Maana ya kufunga haiishii tu kwenye chakula bali pia ni kuacha mazoea mbalimbali yasiyo ya lazima na yasiyofaa. Kujinyima kunatuwezesha kupata fursa ya kusoma Neno la Mungu, kusali na kufanya matendo mema.

4)    Matendo Mema: Kila mmoja wetu ana shida fulani na anahitaji msaada wa mwenzake. Lakini pia wapo wenzetu wengine wenye shida zaidi kuliko sisi. Kile nilichojinyima kwa kufunga ndicho nimpatie mwenye shida zaidi kuliko mimi. Tuwatembelee wafungwa na wanaoishi katika upweke, tuwatibu wagonjwa, tuwazike wafu, tuwasaidie wazee, yatima na wajane, tuwashauri na kuwaombea wanaopotoka.

Umuhimu wa Kwaresima

Amri ya pili ya Kanisa inamtaka kila mkristo kushiriki kipindi cha Kwaresima tangu siku ya kwanza, yaani Jumatano ya Majivu. Toba ndiyo roho ya Kwaresima iliyojengwa juu ya Neno la Mungu, kusali, kushiriki sakramenti, kufunga na kufanya matendo mema. Siku arobaini za Kwaresima ni kielelezo kamili kinachotufundisha kuwa toba ni tendo la kila siku katika maisha ya mkristo. Wakati wa Kwaresima toba husisitizwa zaidi na kwa namna ya pekee ili kumjenga mkristo katika wajibu wa kuiishi imani. Katika kuiishi imani yetu tunapambana na shetani ambaye nia yake ni kuharibu mpango wa Mungu wa ukombozi. Silaha kubwa ya kupambana na shetani ni kuiishi roho ya toba inayojikita katika Neno la Mungu, sala na sakramenti, mfungo na matendo mema. Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo alifunga jangwani kwa siku arobaini kama maandalizi ya kufanya matendo mema ya kumkomboa mwanadamu. Kwa siku arobaini alifunga na kusali akamshinda shetani kwa kulitumia vema Neno la Mungu (Mt. 4:1-11). Kwa mfano huo wa Yesu, mkristo anatakiwa kuiishi toba wakati huu wa Kwaresima ili astahili kuishiriki Pasaka. Mkristo anatakiwa kuiishi kwa dhati toba ya kila siku ili amshinde shetani na hatimaye aingie kwenye Pasaka ya milele mbinguni.
Makala haya yameandaliwa na;
Dk. Padri Leonard Maliva Mhadhiri wa Chuo Kikuu cha Mtakatifu Agustimo Stella Maris Mtwara. simu namba 0754666908

Msiogope kupokea Sakramenti ya Mpako wa Wagonjwa!

Kwa mpako Mtakatifu wa Wagonjwa na Sala za Makuhani, Kanisa lote huwakabidhi wagonjwa na wazee kwa Bwana aliyeteswa ba kutukuzwa ili awainue na kuwaokoa. Na kwa hakika, Kanisa linawahimiza wajiunge kwa hiari na mateso na kifo cha Kristo ili kutoa mchango wao kwa mafao ya Taifa la Mungu.

Mama Kanisa anapenda kutafakari mang'amuzi ya ugonjwa na mateso mintarafu huruma ya Mungu inayojionesha kwa Yesu ambaye ni kielelezo cha Msamaria Mwema. Mama Kanisa kwa kuiga mfano wa Msamaria mwema katika kufundisha na kuponya kwa njia ya Mpako Mtakatifu wa Wagonjwa."Mtu wa kwenu amekuwa hawezi? Na awaite wazee wa Kanisa, nao wamwombee, na kumpaka mafuta kwa jina la Bwana". Hivi ndivyo Mama Kanisa ameendelea kutekeleza utume wake kwa wagonjwa kwa njia ya sala ya Makuhani na Mpako Mtakatifu.

Sakramenti ya Mpako Mtakatifu wa Wagonjwa, ndiyo mwendelezo wa Katekesi iliyotolewa na Baba Mtakatifu Francisko, Jumatano tarehe 26 Februari 2014 kwenye Uwanja wa Kanisa kuu la Mtakatifu Petro mjini Vatican. Anasema, kwa njia ya Maadhimisho ya Sakramenti ya Mpako Mtakatifu wa Wagonjwa, Kanisa linawasindikiza waamini wake ili kukabiliana na Fumbo la Mateso na Kifo.

Baba Mtakatifu anawaalika waamini na watu wenye mapenzi mema kutambua na kuthamini Sakramenti ya Mpako Mtakatifu wa Wagonjwa hasa katika tamaduni ambazo zinashindwa kuzungumzia kweli hizi ambazo zinagusa maisha ya binadamu.

Waamini watambue na kuthamini Sakramenti hii kama kielelezo cha mshikamano wa maisha ya kiroho na Kanisa zima, kwa kutambua uwepo endelevu wa Yesu anayewaimarisha wafuasi wake katika imani na matumaini, akiwakumbusha kwamba, hakuna kitu kinachoweza kuwatenga na nguvu yake inayookoa, si dhambi wala kifo.

Baba Mtakatifu ametambua uwepo wa wajumbe wa mkutano mkuu wa SIGNIS unaoendelea mjini Roma. Hiki ni kikundi cha Wanahabari Wakatoliki 300 kutoka katika nchi 80, kinachotafakari kuhusu "Vyombo vya Habari katika Utamaduni wa amani: kutengeneza taswira na vijana wa kizazi kipya".

Baba Mtakatifu amewasalimia wanafunzi na marafiki wa Chuo Kikuu cha Kipapa cha Canada kinachoadhimisha kumbu kumbu ya Miaka 125 tangu kilipoanzishwa. Anaendelea kuwahimiza waamini kuhakikisha kwamba, wanapokuwa na mgonjwa au mzee ambaye yuko katika hatari ya kufa, wasisite kumwita Padre ili aweze kumpatia Mpako Mtakatifu wa Wagonjwa. Kwa njia hii, Yesu Kristo Mkombozi na Bwana wa maisha, atakuwa karibu na wagonjwa hawa.

Yesu yupo katika kila Sakramenti ya Kanisa na kwa njia hii anawashirikisha waamini maisha na huruma yake. Waamini wajitahidi kumfahamu ili hatimaye, waweze kumhudumia kwa njia ya wagonjwa. Tarehe 27 Februari, Kanisa linafanya kumbu kumbu ya Mtakatifu Gabrieli mteseka, changamoto kwa vijana kuwa ari na mwamko wa kutaka kuwa kweli ni wafuasi wa Kristo.

Baba Mtakatifu anawaalika wagonjwa kutolea shida na mahangaiko yao huku wakijishikamanisha na Kristo. Wanandoa wapya wajitahidi kuhakikisha kwamba, Injili inakuwa ni dira na mwongozo wa maisha yao.

Ash Wednesday - March 5, 2014

The first day of Lent

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.

Why we receive the ashes

Following the example of the Nine vites, who did penance in sackcloth and ashes, our foreheads are marked with ashes to humble our hearts and reminds us that life passes away on Earth. We remember this when we are told

"Remember, Man is dust, and unto dust you shall return."

Ashes are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice.

The distribution of ashes comes from a ceremony of ages past. Christians who had committed grave faults performed public penance. On Ash Wednesday, the Bishop blessed the hair shirts which they were to wear during the forty days of penance, and sprinkled over them ashes made from the palms from the previous year. Then, while the faithful recited the Seven Penitential Psalms, the penitents were turned out of the church because of their sins -- just as Adam, the first man, was turned out of Paradise because of his disobedience. The penitents did not enter the church again until Maundy Thursday after having won reconciliation by the toil of forty days' penance and sacramental absolution. Later, all Christians, whether public or secret penitents, came to receive ashes out of devotion. In earlier times, the distribution of ashes was followed by a penitential procession.

The Ashes

The ashes are made from the blessed palms used in the Palm Sunday celebration of the previous year. The ashes are christened with Holy Water and are scented by exposure to incense. While the ashes symbolize penance and contrition, they are also a reminder that God is gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts. His Divine mercy is of utmost importance during the season of Lent, and the Church calls on us to seek that mercy during the entire Lenten season with reflection, prayer and penance.

Daily Reading for Thursday, February 27th, 2014

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Reading 1, James 5:1-6

¹ Well now, you rich! Lament, weep for the miseries that are coming to you.
² Your wealth is rotting, your clothes are all moth-eaten.
³ All your gold and your silver are corroding away, and the same corrosion will be a witness against you and eat into your body. It is like a fire which you have stored up for the final days.
⁴ Can you hear crying out against you the wages which you kept back from the labourers mowing your fields? The cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord Sabaoth.
⁵ On earth you have had a life of comfort and luxury; in the time of slaughter you went on eating to your heart's content.
⁶ It was you who condemned the upright and killed them; they offered you no resistance.

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Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 49:14-15, 15-16, 17-18, 19-20

¹⁴ They are penned in Sheol like sheep, Death will lead them to pasture, and those who are honest will rule over them. In the morning all trace of them will be gone, Sheol will be their home.
¹⁵ But my soul God will ransom from the clutches of Sheol, and will snatch me up.Pause
¹⁶ Do not be overawed when someone gets rich, and lives in ever greater splendour;
¹⁷ when he dies he will take nothing with him, his wealth will not go down with him.
¹⁸ Though he pampered himself while he lived -- and people praise you for looking after yourself-
¹⁹ he will go to join the ranks of his ancestors, who will never again see the light.
²⁰ In prosperity people lose their good sense, they become no better than dumb animals.

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Gospel, Mark 9:41-50

⁴¹ 'If anyone gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not lose his reward.
⁴² 'But anyone who is the downfall of one of these little ones who have faith, would be better thrown into the sea with a great millstone hung round his neck.
⁴³ And if your hand should be your downfall, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life crippled, than to have two hands and go to hell, into the fire that can never be put out.
^44
45 And if your foot should be your downfall, cut it off; it is better for you enter into life lame, than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.
^46
47 And if your eye should be your downfall, tear it out; it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell
⁴⁸ where their worm will never die nor their fire be put out.
⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire.
⁵⁰ Salt is a good thing, but if salt has become insipid, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.'

St. Leander of Seville

February 27

534 - 600

St. Leander of Seville, Bishop (Feast - February 27th) Leander was born at Cartagena, Spain, of Severianus and Theodora, illustrious for their virtue. St. Isidore and Fulgentius, both bishops were his brothers, and his sister, Florentina, is also numbered among the saints. He became a monk at Seville and then the bishop of the See. He was instrumental in converting the two sons Hermenegild and Reccared of the Arian Visigothic King Leovigild. This action earned him the kings's wrath and exile to Constantinople, where he met and became close friends of the Papal Legate, the future Pope Gregory the Great. It was Leander who suggested that Gregory write the famous commentary on the Book of Job called the Moralia. Once back home, under King Reccared, St. Leander began his life work of propagating Christian orthodoxy against the Arians in Spain. The third local Council of Toledo (over which he presided in 589) decreed the consubstantiality of the three Persons of the Trinity and brought about moral reforms. Leander's unerring wisdom and unflagging dedication let the Visigoths and the Suevi back to the true Faith and obtained the gratitude of Gregory the Great. The saintly bishop also composed an influential Rule for nuns and was the first to introduce the Nicene Creed at Mass. Worn out by his many activities in the cause of Christ, Leander died around 600 and was succeeded in the See of Seville by his brother Isidore. The Spanish Church honors Leander as the Doctor of the Faith.

 

from Wikipedia

Saint Leander of Seville (Spanish: San Leandro de Sevilla) (Cartagena, c. 534–Seville, March 13, 600 or 601), brother of the encyclopedist St. Isidore of Seville, was the Catholic Bishop of Seville who was instrumental in effecting the conversion to Catholicism of the Visigothic kings Hermengild and Reccared of Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, comprising both modern Spain and Portugal).

Contents

• 1 Family
• 2 Life
• 3 Works
• 4 See also
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Family[edit]

Leander and Isidore and their siblings (all sainted) belonged to an elite family of Hispano-Roman stock of Carthago Nova. Their father Severianus is claimed to be according to their hagiographers a dux or governor of Cartagena, though this seems more of a fanciful interpretation since Isidore simply states that he was a citizen. The family moved to Seville around 554. The children's subsequent public careers reflect their distinguished origin: Leander and Isidore both became bishops of Seville, and their sister Saint Florentina was an abbess who directed forty convents and one thousand nuns. Even the third brother, Fulgentius, appointed Bishop of Écija at the first triumph of Catholicism over Arianism, but of whom little is known, has been canonised as a saint. The family as a matter of course were staunch Catholics, as were the great majority of the Romanized population, from top to bottom; only the Visigothic nobles and the kings were Arians. It should be stated that there was less Visigothic persecution of Catholics than legend and hagiography have painted. From a modern standpoint, the dangers of Catholic Christianity were more political. The Catholic hierarchy were in collusion with the representatives of the Byzantine emperor, who had maintained a considerable territory in the far south of Hispania ever since his predecessor had been invited to the peninsula by the former Visigothic king several decades before. In the north, Liuvigild struggled to maintain his possessions on the far side of the Pyrenees, where his Merovingian cousins and in-laws cast envious eyes on them and had demonstrated that they would stop at nothing with the murder of Liuvigild's sister.

Life[edit]

Illumination in a 12th-century manuscript of a letter of Saint Gregory's to St. Leander (Bibl. Municipale, MS 2, Dijon)

Leander, enjoying an elite position in the secure surroundings of tolerated Catholic culture in Seville, became at first a Benedictine monk, and then in 579 he was appointed bishop of Seville. In the meantime he founded a celebrated school, which soon became a center of Catholic learning. As Bishop he had access to the Catholic Merovingian princess Ingunthis, who had come as a bride for the kingdom's heir, and he worked tirelessly with her to convert her husband St. Hermenegild, the eldest son of Liuvigild, an act of court intrigue that cannot honestly be divorced from a political context. Leander defended the new convert even when he went to war with his father "against his father's cruel reprisals," the Catholic Encyclopedia puts it. "In endeavoring to save his country from Arianism, Leander showed himself an orthodox Christian and a far-sighted patriot."
Exiled by Liuvigild, as his biographies express it, he withdrew to Byzantium — perhaps quite hastily — when the rebellion failed, from 579 to 582. It is possible, but not proven, that he sought to rouse the Byzantine Emperor Tiberius II Constantine to take up arms against the Arian king; but in any case the attempt was without result. He profited, however, by his stay at Byzantium to compose works against Arianism, and there became acquainted with the future Pope Gregory the Great, at that time legate of Pope Pelagius II at the Byzantine court. A close friendship thenceforth united the two men, and some of their correspondence survives. In 585 Liuvigild put to death his intransigent son Hermenegild, who is a martyr and saint of the Roman Catholic Church. Liuvigild himself died in 589. It is not known exactly when Leander returned from exile, but he had a share in the conversion of Reccared the heir of Liuvigild, and retained an influence over him.
Catholic sources aver that it is not known exactly when Leander returned from exile, but it is extremely unlikely that it was during the old king's lifetime. After the death of Liuvigild, Leander swiftly returned to Hispania to convoke within the very year (589) the Third Council of Toledo, where Visigothic Hispania abjured Arianism, and Leander delivered the triumphant closing sermon, which his brother Isidore entitled Homilia de triumpho ecclesiae ob conversionem Gothorum a homily upon the triumph of the Church and the conversion of the Goths. On his return from this council, Leander convened a synod in his metropolitan city of Seville (Conc. Hisp., I), and never afterwards ceased his efforts to consolidate the work of extirpating the remains of Arianism, in which his brother and successor St. Isidore was to follow him. Leander received the pallium in August, 599.

Papa Francisko aunda Taasisi za kusimamia na kuratibu shughuli za uchumi na fedha ya Kanisa

Mama Kanisa amepewa dhamana ya kusimamia kwa uaminifu na busara mali ambayo amekabidhiwa kama sehemu ya utekelezaji wa utume wake wa Uinjilishaji, kwa kutoa kipaumbele cha kwanza kwa maskini na wote wanaosukumizwa pembezoni mwa Jamii.Usimamizi na uratibu mzuri wa mali ya Vatican una uhusiano wa pekee na utume wa Khalifa wa Mtakatifu Petro kwa ajili ya Kanisa la Kiulimwengu sanjari na maendeleo ya mtu mzima: kiroho na kimwili.

Kwa maneno haya Baba Mtakatifu Francisko, Jumatatu tarehe 24 Februari 2014 ameanzisha muundo mpya wa uchumi na uratibu wa wa shughuli za Vatican, baada ya kufanya marekebisho makubwa kuhusiana na Waraka wa Kitume wa Mchungaji Mwema, Pastor Bonus. Baada ya kupokea ushauri wa Makardinali kwa hiyari yake mwenyewe ameamua kuunda Baraza la Kipapa la Uchumi litakalosimamia na kuratibu shughuli zote za uchumi na fedha mjini Vatican pamoja na kusimamia taasisi zote zilizoko chini ya Vatican.

Baraza la Kipapa la Uchumi litakuwa na wajumbe kumi na watano, kati yao kutakuwepo na Makardinali au Maaskofu wanane watakaoteuliwa kutoka sehemu mbali mbali za dunia, kama kielelezo cha uwakilishi wa Kanisa la Kiulimwengu, wajumbe wengine saba watakuwa ni wataalam walei watakaoteuliwa kutoka katika mataifa mbali mbali: hawa wanapaswa kuwa na sifa, ujuzi na weledi katika masuala ya fedha na uchumi.

Baraza la Kipapa la Uchumi litasimamiwa na Kardinali ambaye atakuwa na dhamana ya kuratibu shughuli zote.

Baba Mtakatifu Francisko ameunda pia Sekretarieti ya Uchumi itakayokuwa inawajibika moja kwa moja kwa Khalifa wa Mtakatifu Petro katika utekelezaji wa majukumu yake kwa kuunda sera, kanuni na taratibu za manunuzi sanjari na ugavi bora wa rasilimali watu kwa kuzingatia mahitaji ya taasisi husika. Sekretarieti ya Uchumi itasimamiwa na Kardinali, kwa kushirikiana na Sekretarieti ya Vatican na kwamba, Katibu mkuu wa Sekretarieti atakuwa na dhamana ya kumsaidia Kardinali ambaye ataratibu shughuli zote hizi.

St. Tarasius

 

Feastday: February 25
730 - 806

St. Tarasius was subject of the Byzantine Empire. He was raised to the highest honors in the Empire as Consul, and later became first secretary to the Emperor Constantine and his mother, Irene. When being elected Patriarch of Constantinople, he consented to accept the dignity offered to him only on condition that a General Council should be summoned to resolve the disputes concerning the veneration of sacred images, for Constantinople had been separated from the Holy See on account of the war between the Emperors. The Council was held in the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople in 786; it met again the following year at Nice and its decrees were approved by the Pope. The holy Patriarch incurred the enmity of the Emperor by his persistent refusal to sanction his divorce from his lawful wife. He witnessed the death of Constantine, which was occasioned by his own mother; he beheld the reign and the downfall of Irene and usurpation of Nicephorus. St. Tarasius' whole life in the Episcopacy was one of penance and prayer, and of hard labor to reform his clergy and people. He occupied the See of Constantinople twenty-one years and two months. His charity toward the poor was one of the characteristic virtues of his life. He visited in person, all the houses and hospitals in Constantinople, so that no indigent person might be overlooked in the distribution of alms. This saintly Bishop was called to his eternal reward in the year 806. His feast day is February 25th.

Daily Reading for Tuesday, February 25th, 2014

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Reading 1, James 4:1-10

¹ Where do these wars and battles between yourselves first start? Is it not precisely in the desires fighting inside your own selves?
² You want something and you lack it; so you kill. You have an ambition that you cannot satisfy; so you fight to get your way by force. It is because you do not pray that you do not receive;
³ when you do pray and do not receive, it is because you prayed wrongly, wanting to indulge your passions.
⁴ Adulterers! Do you not realise that love for the world is hatred for God? Anyone who chooses the world for a friend is constituted an enemy of God.
⁵ Can you not see the point of the saying in scripture, 'The longing of the spirit he sent to dwell in us is a jealous longing.'?
⁶ But he has given us an even greater grace, as scripture says: God opposes the proud but he accords his favour to the humble.
⁷ Give in to God, then; resist the devil, and he will run away from you.
⁸ The nearer you go to God, the nearer God will come to you. Clean your hands, you sinners, and clear your minds, you waverers.
⁹ Appreciate your wretchedness, and weep for it in misery. Your laughter must be turned to grief, your happiness to gloom.
¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.

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Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 55:7-8, 9-10, 10-11, 23

⁷ How far I would escape, and make a nest in the desert!Pause
⁸ I would soon find a refuge from the storm of abuse, from the
⁹ destructive tempest, Lord, from the flood of their tongues. For I see violence and strife in the city,
¹⁰ day and night they make their rounds along the city walls, Inside live malice and mischief,
¹¹ inside lives destruction, tyranny and treachery never absent from its central square.
²³ You, God, will thrust them down to the abyss of destruction, men bloodthirsty and deceptive, before half their days are spent. For my part, I put my trust in you.

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Gospel, Mark 9:30-37

³⁰ After leaving that place they made their way through Galilee; and he did not want anyone to know,
³¹ because he was instructing his disciples; he was telling them, 'The Son of man will be delivered into the power of men; they will put him to death; and three days after he has been put to death he will rise again.'
³² But they did not understand what he said and were afraid to ask him.
³³ They came to Capernaum, and when he got into the house he asked them, 'What were you arguing about on the road?'
³⁴ They said nothing, because on the road they had been arguing which of them was the greatest.
³⁵ So he sat down, called the Twelve to him and said, 'If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all.'
³⁶ He then took a little child whom he set among them and embraced, and he said to them,
³⁷ 'Anyone who welcomes a little child such as this in my name, welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me, welcomes not me but the one who sent me.'