Tekton Ministries Weekend Movie Guide for Catholics

Pilgrimage to Italy meaningful to visitors

By Judy Horan / World-Herald correspondent

Trappist nuns carefully watch over a more-than-2,000-year-old veil in the ancient Italian town of Manoppello. The veil, said to have covered Christ during his burial and resurrection, is believed to show the image of his face. It is displayed in the Basilica of the Holy Face.

For University of Nebraska-Lincoln philosophy major Ben Mattern, who recently was part of a group that traveled to Italy, seeing the face on the veil in person was an awesome experience.

“If you lay this cloth up against the Shroud of Turin, they match perfectly,” Mattern said. “We spent the morning for three hours praying and reflecting on the cloth. We had Mass there. It was a very big moment for everybody in our group.”

Mattern was one of 44 college students, mostly from UNL, who signed up for the March 20-30 trip, the fourth pilgrimage to Italy sponsored by the Newman Center.

“When you come into the church, the veil is completely transparent. You can see through it, but when light hits the silk, the image of Christ’s face is clearly seen,” said the Rev. Ben Holdren, associate pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, who led the pilgrimage. “Nobody knows quite sure how the image is there.”

Holdren also is assistant spiritual director for the Newman Center, a student organization attached to the church on UNL’s campus.

He said the Newman Center and St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church are busy places for “huskercatholic” students. (Students can be seen wearing T-shirts with “huskercatholic” on them). About 1,200 students walk through the doors Sunday for Mass. More than 600 students participate in Bible studies.

Another face that awed Mattern on the pilgrimage was the smiling face of Pope Francis in Vatican City.

“One of the biggest highlights was seeing the pope and seeing his great joy for all of us. The Holy Father had this huge smile on his face. He loves seeing us as much as we loved to see him,” the UNL senior said.

Sophomore Kathryn Kopetzky, an education major at UNL, sat about 5 feet from the popemobile as Pope Francis rode by, greeting visitors before his papal address.

“Being that close to Pope Francis was so incredible,” she said. “I’ve seen videos and pictures of him, but it was different just being that close to him, seeing him in real life and seeing he was an actual person.”

Pope Francis addressed the group in Italian, and priests from countries that were represented translated.

Mattern found joy at St. Peter’s Basilica, the center of the Catholic faith, despite waiting in St. Peter’s Square for three hours in pouring rain.

“My group was surrounded by Italians and French people, and we were having a good time and talking and laughing,” he said.

“Joy spread all around, in spite of the fact that we couldn’t communicate with each other. It was so much fun. One person would start a song, and others would join in. The joy was infectious.”

Kopetzky was struck, while at the papal audience, by how Catholicism brings the world together.

“The pope was translated into about seven different languages,” Kopetzky said. “They were from all over the world, but were united being Catholic.”

The group from Lincoln celebrated Mass at the Tomb of John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“He was the pope for most of my life growing up,” Kopetzky said. “The pope was kind and loving. He always said, ‘Do not be afraid,’ and that stuck with me. I’ve always had a love of him.”

Holdren said the visit is about making Christianity tangible.

“We can actually go to the place where the first Christians would have had Mass in underground catacombs,” he said. “We can actually physically see the bones of St. Peter and climb the stairs that Jesus would have climbed when condemned by Pontius Pilate.”

Mattern climbed the same Holy Stairs that Christ had climbed. The Lincoln student ascended the steep staircase on his knees along with other pilgrims. There are 28 steps.

“It’s incredibly painful, but we made it up by the grace of God,” said Mattern, who stopped to pray on each step while climbing. Despite the pain, he managed the climb in 30 minutes.

“It’s a very spiritual experience.”

For Mattern, the pilgrimage was a way of getting away from routine life to spend time with God.

“I needed some time away from the daily grind of life to spend time with Him so he could reveal to me all the changes in my life I needed to do,” he said. “The 10 days were very spiritual. A lot of things were revealed to me that I need to work on. Some were hard to hear, and some were great to hear.”

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Tekton Becomes Running Sponsor of Indy's Race for Vocations

Tekton Ministries Catholic Pilgrimages, Media and Non Profit Management became a permanent sponsor of the popular Archdiocesan Race for Vocations in Indianapolis which occurs during the One America Festival Mini-Marathon and 5k each May.

In a recent press release, Chris Weldon, PR Associate for Tekton Ministries wrote, 

Richard Sontag, director of Tekton Ministries, saw this as a prime place to establish sponsorship and further the mission of Tekton Ministries, which is to serve people on their journey of faith, he said.

"I'm not a runner." Sontag laughed, "Running is a penance for me. So what a great way to pray for vocations, evangelize and support our priests and religious. We wanted to participate however we could and that meant becoming a permanent sponsor of the Race for Vocations."

Embracing the new evangelization is something Tekton Ministries seeks to accomplish through Catholic media. "At the same time, old methods work as well," Sontag commented when talking about how the runners and walkers witness to their faith.

To read more, click here. 

Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for us

Tekton Ministries

www.tektonministries.org

(317) 574-4191

Each year thousands upon thousands turn out for the annual process of the statue that represents the Church-approved apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. Below is a sample itinerary of a Tekton pilgrimage that traveled to both Fatima, Salamanca and Madrid.  

Pilgrimages are tailored to the desires of each priest leading the pilgrimage and can be customized to fit the group's needs. Please contact us if you have questions or would like to book a pilgrimage to Fatima or any other Catholic destinations. 

Day 1: Depart U.S.A.
Our spiritual journey begins as we depart on our transatlantic flight to Lisbon.

Day 2: Arrive Lisbon
Upon arrival in Lisbon, we will be met by our tour escort and transfer to our hotel. The remainder of the day is free.

Day 3: Lisbon / Santarem / Fatima
Today we will explore Lisbon including visits to the ancient Moorish Alfama Quarter, Jerónimos Monastery, the birthplace of St. Anthony of Padua (the patron saint of Portugal), Lisbon Cathedral, the Tower of Belém, Black Horse Square, and the Monument to the Discoveries. Then depart Lisbon and drive north to Santarem for Mass at the Church of St. Stephen, famous for its venerated relic, "the Bleeding Host". Continue our drive north to Fatima. 

Day 4: Fatima
Today, celebrate Mass on the spot where Our Lady appeared at the Chapel of Apparitions. Visit the Basilica to see the site of Francisco and Jacinta's graves and then on to the hamlet of Aljustrel where the three children who witnessed the Apparitions lived at the time. Continue to Valinhos, the site where Our Lady appeared following the children's release from prison. This evening participate in the Stations of the Cross along the Via Sacre, site of the first Apparition. 

Day 5: Fatima / Salamanca 
This morning leave Portugal for Spain. En route we will stop in Coimbra, a famous university town, to visit the Convent of Santa Clara La Nova where sister Lucia resided until her death in 2005.  Continue on across the Portuguese-Spanish border to Salamanca, one of Spain's foremost cultural centers, a great university city and a showcase of intricately sculpted Renaissance architecture in golden stone. 

Day 6: Salamanca / Madrid 
After breakfast depart Salamanca for Alba de Tormes to visit the Carmelite Convent which contains St. Teresa's incorrupt arm and heart. Continue to the walled city of Avila, the birthplace of St. Theresa. Visit the Monastery of the Incarnation where St. Teresa spent many years of her life, then to the Monastery of St. Joseph, her first foundation. Continue to Segovia whose cathedral is considered the last great Gothic church in Spain. Here we will pay our respects to another great Carmelite, St. John of the Cross who served as spiritual director to St. Theresa of Avila. Drive on to Spain's capital, Madrid.

Day 7: Madrid 
This morning's city tour of Madrid will show some of the history and tradition of Spain, including the Prado Museum - with its masterpieces of El Greco, Goya, and Velasquez, the Royal Palace, the University with Cervantes' monument, Puerta del Sol and the Retiro Park. The remainder of the day is free.

Day 8: Madrid / U.S.A.
Transfer to the airport for our return flight home.

Video message of Custos of Holy Land on Pope Francis pilgrimage to the Holy Land May 24-26

Central African bishop recounts Holy Week kidnapping; one of his priests murdered returning from Chrism Mass

(CNA/EWTN News).- A Central African bishop who was abducted on Holy Wednesday by Seleka rebels, and on his way to be executed, has called the incident “a great misfortune.”

Bishop Nestor-Désiré Nongo-Aziagbia of Bossangoa was in a car with three priests of his diocese on their way to Immaculate Conception parish in Batangafo on April 16.

“Around 5 p.m. we were intercepted by Seleka rebels under the command of a colonel who was in charge in Bossangoa when the rebels occupied the city,” Bishop Nongo-Aziagbia told Fides later that month.

Bishop Nongo-Aziagbia and his three priests were driven toward the Chadian border. At another roadblock, near Kabo, another Seleka commander “did not agree with the order of execution,” the bishop told Fides, and he and his priests were released.

His pectoral cross, mitre, bishop's ring, and car were seized, but he was able to celebrate Holy Thursday in Batangafo. He was then returned by African Union peacekeepers to Bossangoa on Good Friday via helicopter.

That same Friday, one of his priests, Fr. Christ Forman Wilibona, pastor of Paoua, was killed as he returned to his parish from Chrism Mass.

Click here to read more.

Priest and Extraordinary Minister of the Holy Communion murdered while walking between parishes

Unnamed priest in Diocese of Bereina where a priest and EMHC were killed while walking

(CNA) A Catholic priest and a layman of the diocese of Bereina were killed on Sunday, May 4, for reasons which are still unclear, while they were walking in a remote area of the diocese. We are talking about Fr. Gerry Maria Inau and Benedict, a lay extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist. The news, sent to Fides by the communications office of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, was confirmed by the Vicar General of the Diocese of Bereina who, with another priest, arrived on the spot with a police helicopter. The Bishop of Bereina and the other bishops are in New Zealand for the Assembly of Bishops of Oceania, from May 12 to 16.

Fr. George Licini PIME, of the Communications Office of the Episcopal Conference says "it will take time to collect testimonies from locals and the police to reconstruct what happened". The two are perhaps victims of a tribal conflict that has been going on in the last few years.

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Pope Francis to the faithful: Bother your pastors!

Pope Francis' remarks at the Regina Caeli on Sunday, May 11, 2014

May the Lord help us, us pastors, to be ever faithful to the Master and to be wise and enlightened guides of the people of God entrusted to us. And you, too, please, I ask you to help us. Help us to be good pastors. Once I read a beautiful thing about how the people of God help the Bishops and the priests to be good pastors. It is a writing of St Caesarius of Arles, a father of the first ages of the Church. And he explained how the people of God should help the pastor, and he gave this example: when the calf is hungry, it goes to the cow, to the mother, and takes the milk. But the cow does not give it right away: it seems that she keeps it for herself. And what does the calf do? It knocks with its nose against the cow’s udder, so that the milk comes. It’s a beautiful image! That, the saint says, is how you should be with the pastors: knocking always at their doors, at their hearts, so that they will give you the milk of doctrine, the milk of grace, the milk of guidance. And I ask you, please, bother [it: importunare = importune] the pastors, disturb the pastors, all of us pastors, so that we will give you the milk of grace, of doctrine, and of guidance. Bother us! Think of that beautiful image of the calf, how he bothers the mother so that she will give him to something to eat. In imitation of Jesus, every pastor “will sometimes go before his people, pointing the way and keeping their hope vibrant; the pastor should go ahead at times. At other times, he will simply be in their midst with his unassuming and merciful presence. At yet other times, he will have to walk after them, helping those who lag behind” (Apost. Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, 31). Would that all Pastors would be like that! But you, bother the pastors so that they will give us the guidance of doctrine and grace!