Fred Beretta, passenger of Flight 1549, testifies
February 21, 2009 by Melody Laila
Filed under People of God, Testimonies
US Airways Flight 1549 was a commercial passenger flight from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport bound for Charlotte, North Carolina. After striking a flock of Canada Geese, the plane faced an immediate loss of thrust from both engines and subsequently ended up landing in the Hudson River adjacent to Manhattan on January 15, 2009.
Miraculously, all 155 people on board the flight survived.
The time the plane landed in the Hudson was during the 3 o’clock hour (at about 3:31 pm), which Christ told St. Faustina is “the hour of great mercy.” It was during this hour that His heart was pierced by a lance, and blood and water gushed forth as a fountain of mercy for the world. “In this hour,” He told her, “I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion.” (Diary of Saint Faustina, #1182, 1320.)
(Fred on Fox’s “The O’Reilly Factor” shortly after the Miraculous Crash Landing)
Fred Beretta, was aboard Flight 1549 and following the miraculous landing, he sent the following email to Vinny Flynn who is the author of “Seven Secrets of the Eucharist”.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Subject: Passenger of Flight 1549
Vinny,
I sincerely hope this email finds its way to you. I was a passenger on flight 1549 and my name is Fred Berretta. You might have caught a glimpse of me or heard me on CNN or Fox the night of the crash. I interviewed with Lou Dobbs, Wolf Blitzer and Bill O’Reilly and discussed the crash that night.
Vatican tells bishop to recant views on Holocaust
February 5, 2009 by Melody Laila
Filed under SpecialsBy Michael Paulson
Globe Staff / February 5, 2009The Vatican, facing the biggest controversy to confront the papacy of Benedict XVI, yesterday called on a bishop who has denied the extent of the Holocaust to recant his views.
The statement follows an extraordinary global firestorm over Benedict’s recent decision to lift the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson, who has said he believes only 200,000 to 300,000 Jews were killed in concentration camps, none of them in gas chambers, during World War II. Williamson is among four traditionalist bishops, leaders of a right-wing, anti-modernist, schismatic Catholic movement called the Society of St. Pius X, who had been excommunicated in 1988 because they were ordained without papal sanction, and whose excommunications were lifted by Benedict last month.
(Bishop Richard Williamson)
Read moreFebruary 2009
February 1, 2009 by Royston Braganza
Filed under IntercessionComments Off
Daily Intercessions through the Word of God – February 2009
Sanctuary Intercessors – India Branch of FBB
International Catholic Charismatic Missionary Intercessors of the Fellowship of the Burning Bush (FBB)
The ‘Intercession Diary’ has the approval and blessings of the Bishops’ Team of the Archdiocese and contains intentions of our Cardinal and the Bishops
(Join us in agreement to intercede each day according to the Scriptures, ask the Holy Spirit how to pray to actualize God’s promises in each situation)Day/Date Interceding According to the Mind of Christ
Sun
1/2/2009 Ps 24:9 Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in
The Church in Mumbai, light to the nations and the glory of God’s Holy People – Vision Statement, Archdiocese of Bombay, Synod 2000. We lift up the Church in Mumbai; may God raise up a people that shine forth His glorious light so that those in darkness may experience the true light of Christ, those in bondage, the liberating love of Christ, those in sin, the merciful love of Christ, those in sickness, the healing power of the Gospels, those searching for the truth, the liberation that Christ alone gives and those lonely and abandoned, the glorious presence of Jesus, so that in our times the Church would fulfill her mission of being the light of the world and the salt of the earthInterceding, amidst the darkness
February 1, 2009 by Royston Braganza
Filed under Columnists, Royston Braganza“We are to pray with the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other”, said a priest, during a talk on the “Signs of the times”, last Sunday.
And indeed it was interesting trying out that technique. Some interesting news articles over the past week caught my attention.
Buses in England now display the advertisement, placed by an atheist group, “There probably is no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” which millions of commuters and citizens are being exposed to daily.
And then, probably nature and human intelligence (both gifts of the Creator) getting one back, with Chesley Sullenberger ‘landing’ his aircraft in the water, saving all 155 lives, so that global newspapers / media headlines screamed, “Miracle on the Hudson”. (My atheist brother and sisters, thank God you wrote ‘probably’.)
And then there is Obama, all set to become the 44th President of the United States tomorrow (at the time of writing). Symbol of hope and change for millions of people, in America and around the world. May God bless him; that while he brings forth his agenda on reconciliation and economic stimulus, he will be convicted in some of the areas where he has taken a liberal stand - pro-abortion, gay rights, etc.
Nearer home – the Satyam scam, compounding the already existing economic gloom.
So what is the role of an intercessor in all this? As we know, the Word of God challenges us to be ‘the light of the world … the salt of the earth’ (Mt 5:13,14). And in another remarkable example of the movement of the Holy Spirit (what some may call coincidence), this month we had chosen to focus our prayers for the Church in Mumbai, in line with the Vision Statement of the Archdiocesan Synod of 2000, “The Church in Mumbai, light to the nations and the glory of God’s Holy People”. May we truly take our place, as individuals and as a Church, in standing in the gap for the nations and the needs of God Holy People.
May the Holy Spirit, in the Season of Lent that we begin in February, give us grace to live in this passing world, with our eyes set on the world that will never end.
And I saved a juicy bit for the end. Mr Ron Heather, a Christian bus driver in the UK, has refused to drive the bus, opening up another debate. Way to go, Ron. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it (John 1:5).
Have a Blessed February.
