Tuesday, September 1, 2009

The Passion of Christ Today

The Holy Father's mission prayer intention for the month of September is "that Christians in Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar, who often meet with great difficulties, may not be discouraged from announcing the Gospel to their brothers, trusting in the strength of the Holy Spirit." I was reminded of this particular intention just now while reading several articles about Bui Thanh Hieu, a catechumen and a blogger who has been actively defending the Church in Vietnam. He was arrested by police in Hanoi on August 27 and has not been heard from since. In this article, Sr. Emily Nguyen from Vinh Diocese warns that "his arrest certainly is not the last one.”

Dear Lord Jesus, we pray for those who steadfastly proclaim your gospel in the face of great hostility and under the threat of personal harm. We beg you to increase their faith, renew their courage, and never let them be separated from your love. As they sow in tears, may they reap rejoicing, full of song. Amen.

For more information, see:
Vietnam detains dissident blogger, Reuters
Pope's speech distorted, catechumen, dissident bloggers arrested, VietCatholic News
Vietnam police detain dissident blogger, Associated Press
Vietnamese blogger arrested for challenging media distortions of Pope's speech, Catholic News Agency

No comments:

Post a Comment