SCRUTATIO SCRIPTURAE
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PADRE PINO
A Scrutatio for the 6th
Sunday of the CHRISTIAN SEASON OF EPIPHANY
Readings from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer
Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 15:11-20 / Psalm 119:1-16 / 1
Corinthians 3:1-9 / Matthew 5:21-24, 27-30 and 33-37
Readings for the Pauline/Vatican II Rite of the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass
Ecclesiasticus (Sirach)
15:16-21 / Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18 and 33-34. / 1
Corinthians 2:6-10 / Matthew 5:17-37
Readings for the Tridentine Rite of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
Introit: Psalm 18:5-7 and 2-3
Epistle: I Corinthians 9:24-27 and 10:1-5
Gradual: Psalm 9:10-11 and 18-20
Gospel
Matthew 20:1-16
Offertory:
Psalm 92:1
Communion Antiphon: Psalm 31:16-17
For today's SCRUTATIO,
may I give you the LIFE AND WITNESS of the Reverend Father Giuseppe
"Pino" Puglisi:
Don Giuseppe Puglisi was born in the district of
Brancaccio in Palermo on September 15, 1937, the son of a shoemaker,Carmelo,
and a seamstress, Giuseppa Fana. He was killed by the mafia in the same area on
September 15, 1993, his 56th birthday.
He entered the diocesan seminary in 1953 and was
ordained priest by Cardinal Ernesto Ruffini on July 2, 1960 at the church of
La Madonna dei Rimedi. In 1961 he was nominated assistant priest at the parish
of Santissimo Salvatore in the district of Settecannoli, close to
Brancaccio, and he was also in charge of the church of San Giovanni dei
Lebbrosi at Romagnolo.
From 1962, he was the confessor of the Basilian
sisters Figlie di Santa Macrina at the institute of the same name. He also started
to teach at different schools: at the vocational school Einaudi (1962-63 and
1964-66), Archimede high school(1963-64 and 1966-72), the high school at Villafrati,
the primary school of Godrano 1975-77), the teachers’ training college
Santa Macrina (1976-79) and finally at the grammar school Vittorio
Emanuele II (1978-93).
In 1967 he was nominated chaplain at the
institute ‘Roosevelt’ at Addaura for orphans, and parish priest at the parish
of Maria Santissima Assunta at Valdesi. In 1969 he was nominated vice
rector of the minor archiepiscopal seminary and in the same year he
participated in a mission in the area of Montevago which had been hit by an
earthquake.
From these early years, he followed the young
with particular interest and became engaged in the social problems in the most
run-down areas of the city.
He followed the proceedings of the second
Vatican Council attentively and immediately distributed the texts among the believers, particularly documents regarding
the renewal of the liturgy, the role of the laity, the values of ecumenism, and
the local churches. His desire was always to spread the message of Jesus
Christ locally, thus taking on all the challenges involved in making the
Christian community accept it as their own.
On October 1, 1970 he was nominated parish
priest at Godrano, a small village in the province of Palermo, known for a sanguinary
vendetta, where he remained until the July 31, 1978, by which time he had
succeeded in reconciling the shattered families with the force of forgiveness.
During this period he also joined the movement Crociata del Vangelo (from 1987
called the Presenza del Vangelo) together with Lia Cerrito and other
volunteers, the movement founded by the Sicilian Franciscan friar Placido
Rivilli.
During these years, he also followed the social
conflicts in Scaricatore, (another run-down area in the eastern outskirts of
the city) in collaboration with the center Decollati, which was managed by
the Assistenti Sociali Missionarie, including Agostina
Ajello.
On August 9, 1978 he was nominated vice rector
of the minor seminary in Palermo and November 24 the following year he was chosen by the archbishop Salvatore Pappalardo as director of the Centro Diocesano Vocazioni. On October 24, 1980 he
was nominated vice regional delegate of the Centro Vocazioni and from the
February 5, 1986 he became director of the Centro Regionale Vocazioni and
member of the Consiglio Nazionale.
With passion, he dedicated many years to the
young and to the students at the Centro Diocesano Vocazioni through a series of school camps, which proved
to be a model from a pedagogic and Christian point of view.Don Giuseppe Puglisi taught mathematics and then
religion at various schools. He was a teacher at the secondary school Vittorio
Emanuele II in Palermo from 1978 to 1993.
In Palermo and Sicily as a whole he was among
the inspirers of numerous movements, for example Presenza del Vangelo, Azione
Cattolica, Fuci, Equipes Notre Dame, Camminare Insieme. From May 1990, he also
worked as a priest at Casa Madonna dell’Accoglienza at Boccadifalco on
behalf of Opera Pia Cardinal Ruffini in aid of young women and unmarried mothers
in difficulties.
On September 29, 1990 he was appointed parish
priest at San Gaetano at Brancaccio and in 1992 he also assumed the office
of spiritual director of the propaedeutic course at the archiepiscopal seminary
in Palermo. On January 29, 1993 the center Padre Nostro was opened at
Brancaccio, a landmark for the young and for the families in the area. During
this period he was also helped by a group of nuns, sister Carolina Iavazzo
among others, and the assistant priest Gregorio Porcaro. He cooperated
with laymen of the area in connection with Associazione Intercondominale to
claim civil rights for the district, denouncing crimes and collisions between
politicians and mafia, and thus exposing himself to threats and intimidations.
He was killed at his house in piazzale Anita
Garibaldi 3 on the day of his 56th birthday: the September 15, 1993. He was buried
at the cemetery of Sant’Orsola, in the chapel of Sant’Euno, property of the lay
confraternity of the same name.
As stated in the legal investigations his pastoral
work proved to be the motive for his assassination, the mafia instigators and perpetrators of which have been
arrested and condemned with final verdicts.
Because of these events, numerous voices were
raised immediately to recognize his death as a martyr.
In memory of his commitment, innumerable
schools, social centers, sports centers, streets, and squares have been given
his name in Palermo and all over Sicily and Italy. Commemoration and
other initiatives have also been organized abroad, from the United States
to the Congo and even in Australia.
From September 15, 1994, the anniversary of his
death has signified the beginning of the pastoral year in the diocese of Palermo.
On September 15, 1999 Cardinal Salvatore De
Giorgi appointed the diocesan ecclesiastical tribunal for the recognition of martyrdom.
The investigation has been closed at the diocese level in
May 2001.
The Beatification of Father Pino Puglisi, took place on
May 25, 2013.
The Open-Air Mass took place at the Foco Italico
'Umberto I', a large green area that forms one of the promenades of Palermo.
The Mass was presided by Paolo Cardinal Romeo, Metropolitan Archbishop of
Palermo, with Salvatore Cardinal de Giorgi, Metropolitan Archbishop
Emeritus of Palermo, as the Papal Legate who performed the Rite of
Beatification. Estimates state that 50,000 people attended the Mass.
During his Angelus address, the following
Sunday, May 26, Pope
Francis stated that the newly beatified Puglisi was first and foremost 'an exemplary priest and a
martyr', as well as condemning mafia groups.
An archive of published and unpublished
documents, tape recordings, testimonies, and articles has been built up at the Centro Diocesano Vocazioni in via Matteo
Bonello in Palermo (Archivio Puglisi; 091-334669).
His life and death are evidence of his fidelity
to the one Lord, and have highlighted the evilness and the absolute impossibility
of compatibility of the mafia with the message of the Gospel.
“The believer who has seriously considered his
Christian vocation for which martyrdom is a possibility, already announced in
the revelation, cannot exclude this possibility from the horizon of his own
life. The 2000 years from the birth of Christ have been marked by a continuous
testimony of martyrs.”
(Blessed/soon to be Saint John Paul II, Incarnationis Misterium,
no. 10)
SOURCE: http://www.padrepinopuglisi.diocesipa.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=168&Itemid=222
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pino_Puglisi
In today's society where
various passive sub-cultures and sub-"moralities" are luring each and
everyone of us to declare a "gospel" of conformity, a false
"gospel" that seeks to proclaim a mere, ugly caricature of Christ
sans the WONDERFUL CROSS, Father Pino is inviting us to always be COURAGEOUS IN
WITNESSING TO GOD'S ETERNAL TRUTH, SAVING LOVE, AND ENLIGHTENING HOPE.
We are CHRISTIANS not
because of our social "niceties" and
"political correctness"...
NO!
We SPEAK THE TRUTH IN
LOVE and we BARE WITNESS TO CHRIST IN SEASON AND OUT OF SEASON!
WE FOLLOW HIM, HE WHO IS
THE FULLNESS OF LIFE, TRUTH AND BEAUTY WHICH IS EVER ANCIENT YET EVER NEW!
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