AWARDS
Lamplighter Award given to those fostering the light of truth in a dark world:
To Most Rev. Macram Gassis, bishop of the Sudan,
whose courageous witness amidst persecution is an example to all the shepherds
of the world. Bishop Gassis shares the poverty and pain of his people
who have been marked for genocide by a radical Islamic regime using terror
and starvation against the Christian population and the Muslims who live
among them in the Nuba mountains. Churches are looted and desecrated;
catechists are arrested, tortured, and killed. Helicopter gunships attack
civilian targets. Bishop Gassis, banned from returning to the Sudan in
1990 because of his commitment to defending human rights, lives in exile
begging for his people. We pray for this true shepherd of Christ and ask
the intercession of our own North American martyrs who gave their lives
for the faith.
Millstone Award given to those who through ignorance or malice scandalize God's people:
To Most Rev. Robert Lynch, bishop of St. Petersburg, who has
suppressed Eucharistic Adoration in his diocese, distorting Church teachings
in the process. At a time when the Culture of Death is ascending everywhere,
shepherds should be zealous in encouraging adoration among the faithful
to beg God's mercy and atone for the sins of the world. Pray for the intercession
of Padre Pio whose love for Jesus in the Eucharist inspired millions and
to St. Peter Julian Eymard, Apostle of the Eucharist, who yearned to lead
all Christians to the Eucharist.
To Marymount University for inviting avid pro-abortionist Congressman
Jim Moran to speak on, of all things, ethics! May St. Thomas More, patron
of our diocese and newly-named patron of politicians, intercede for Mr.
Moran and for the administration and staff at Marymount.