Gloria Cruz of Darwin had a stroke-like attack on March 7 this year, and was rushed to hospital, where brain surgery was done.

The doctors said her case was hopeless, and her husband was asked to consent to her ventilator being turned off.

He did not consent.

After repeated approaches by doctors and social workers, over a couple of weeks, he gave in and it was turned off.

But she kept on breathing anyway, and surprised all concerned by waking up three days later.

The latest news is that she is getting about in a wheel chair, and her husband says, “She is well on the way to recovery.”

* * *

What does that prove?

Mr Cruz says it proves that God does miracles.

Others will argue that God doesn’t do miracles, because there is no God – not an “interventionist” God anyway.

Others will say, yes, but what about those who pray for a miracle and the patient dies regardless?

All this can be debated forever.

One thing is certain — the “brain dead” people from whom kidney transplants etc. are taken, should be left alone.

Being so-called brain-dead simply means that one or more experts think the brain is dead.

Experts are often wrong.

* * *

The Bible says:

O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is your name over all the earth.

You have exalted your majesty above the heavens.

Out of the mouths of children and babes in arms your majesty is proclaimed . . . .

When I regard the sky, the work of your hands, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you should be mindful of him?

Yet you have made him inferior only to yourself and crowned him with glory and honour . . . .

The media are full of stories about Osama Bin Laden being dead.

Is it true?

If it is, will it make the world a safer place?

Most people think it would not make much difference.

If his death won’t make the world safer, what was the point of killing him?

Was it a desire simply for revenge?

Or a ploy to improve President Obama’s chances of being re-elected?

* * *

How should we feel about the death of such a man?

The Vatican has issued a statement:

“Osama Bin Laden – as everyone knows – has had the gravest responsibility for spreading hatred and division among people, causing the deaths of countless people, and exploiting religion for this purpose.

“Faced with the death of a man, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibility of everyone before God and man, and hopes and pledges that every event is not an opportunity for further growth of hatred, but of peace.”

* * *

The Catholic Church is not against capital punishment.

But there should never be any rejoicing at the death of any child of God, no matter how evil his actions were.

If you think Osama Bin Laden is dead, then you should be praying for his soul.

The United Bible Societies is helping millions of people to read the Bible daily, using the social networking site Facebook.

According to figures published by www.allfacebook.com this week, more people are actively engaging with the Bible than any other Facebook page.

It seems that with more than 6 million ‘fans’, the Bible’s facebook page has beaten other top pages including those of sports teams like Manchester United and celebrities like Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga.

Nearly one million fans get involved each week by writing comments on the page wall and re-posting Bible verses on their personal pages.

* * *

Bible Society organisers are encouraged by seeing people leave comments saying how they’ve been touched by a particular Bible passage posted on its page.

It seems this Facebook page is helping to reach a new generation. Over half the Bible page fans are under 25 years old.

Many ask searching questions about the teachings in the Bible.

Enquirers include a fair share of atheists and Muslims. There is plenty of debate between people with different viewpoints.

Bible society volunteers try to respond with good-humour and a generous spirit.

For some, this may be their only contact with Christians, so it’s important to present a loving and accepting attitude.

For further information visit:
www.facebook.com/TheBible
www.facebook.com/UnitedBibleSocieties
www.biblesociety.org

From the Gospel of Saint Luke:

Jesus went ahead on his journey to Jerusalem.

They brought him a colt and threw their cloaks over it and helped him to mount.

They began to praise God with joy for the great things they had seen, “Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.”

Some Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

He answered, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!”

Drawing near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for your peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes.

“The days are coming when your enemies will rise up and smash you to the ground, and your children with you.

“They will not leave one stone standing upon another, because you did not recognise the time of your visitation.”

Then Jesus entered the Temple, driving out those who traded there, saying, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.’”

Every day he preached in the Temple area.

The chief priests, scribes and leaders of the people, meanwhile, were seeking to put him to death.

* * *

The hostilty to Jesus that we see today is nothing new.

The next seven days are known as Holy Week — an opportunity to focus on God and his “visitation”.

And to recover our sense of proportion.

And to thank God for his love as revealed by his Son.

Several months ago, the priests of Australia’s Sale diocese asked their bishop, Bishop Prowse, to give them some guidelines regarding Catholic funerals.

He did.

The guidelines include recommending that non-religious  music, power-point presentations and eulogies of praise for the deceased are not appropriate.

When asked whether these rules might drive some away from a church funeral — preferring to go somewhere where they can make up their own program with pop music etc., the bishop said, “I hope not . . . .”

He added, “We are there to pray. It’s a Catholic church . . . .”

* * *

This constitutes a bit of a crossroads for the Church.

We must ask ourselves, what is the Church for?

Is its role to comfort everybody . . . making us feel that our current attitudes and tastes are all that God wants for us . . . ?

Or must we face the fact that funerals – like everything else in life – should be done in such a way as to show God that we love him and want to offer him respect.

It’s a matter of putting first things first.

The first thing God wants from us is that we offer him prayers for the soul of the person who has died.

After that, by all means hold a wake at somebody’s house or a hall somewhere and reminisce, joke, play secular music, look at photos etc.

All of that can be very good. But it comes second.

* * *

To be honest, none of us can be certain that we are good enough to face the judgment of God trusting in our own merits.

The Church reminds us that we need each others’ prayers at the hour of death.

God is no rubber stamp, consigning everybody to heaven – regardless of whether they obeyed him in this life or not.

For some non-Catholic “churches”, a funeral may be primarily a time for “celebrating” a person’s life.

But for Catholics, the prayers of intercession for the dead are the central focus.

We are now halfway between Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, and the highest point of the Christian year, Easter Sunday.

There are six Sundays in Lent. Today is the fourth.

Entering the second half of Lent, a person should check his progress.

 (1) Every Christian must make his Confession at least once during Lent. Do that today or sometime this week.

(2) We should also make some sacrifice (e.g. giving up meat) and do something extra to help others (e.g. sponsoring a poor child).

(3) We should also make regular PRAYERS.

* * *

One prayer used for centuries during Lent is the Prayer of Saint Ephrem — traditionally said morning and evening.

It is in three parts. After each part, kneel briefly and reflect for a moment before going on:

“O Lord and Master of my life! Take from me the spirit of sloth, faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk.  (kneel)

“Give me instead the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love. (kneel)

“Yes, O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors and not to judge my brother; for Thou art blessed forever and ever. Amen (kneel)

* * *

The great thing about this prayer is how practical it is — a three-part check-list.

* What sins most distract us from preparing to celebrate Our Lord’s Passion? Aren’t they sloth (laziness), faint-heartedness (apathy/despair), lust for power (worldly ambitions) and idle talk (gossip)?

* This prayer reassures us that God wants to give us the virtues needed to overcome our weakness.

* Finally, we must abandon pride — knowing that only with God’s help can we please him.

* * *

The KNEELING is important.

We pray, not only with our minds, but also with our body.

Our body contributes to our sins. Now let’s conscript it into the fight against sin.

Kneeling is “psycho-somatic” evidence of our real desire to lose our pride and humble ourselves before Christ — by whose Passion our salvation is made possible – and our celebration of Easter a reality.