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Other articles taken from the Church Magazine

2010 A Miner Miricle
2010 St Barbara -Pratron Saint of Miners
2011 “I Want to Serve Jesus” -Shahbaz Bhatti
2011 Pope John Paul II Beatified
2011 2nd May 2011 was St George’s Day!
2011 Indaba (Meeting of Minds)

A Miner Miricle (December 2010 edition of magazine)

Following the successful rescue of the Chilean miners in October, a number of ‘interesting faith facts’ have emerged.

One of the miners said “There weren’t 33 people down there, but 34; Jesus was with us”.
mine rescues Many scientists and engineers were amazed at the miraculous nature of the rescue mission, seeing the hand of God at work.

One of the trapped miners, Jose Henriquez, is an evangelical preacher. Thirty three Bibles were sent down to the miners.

The miners prayed at twelve noon and six o’ clock in the evening every day.
Many of the miners emerged from the rescue pod wearing Campus Crusade for Christ T-shirts. On the front of the shirt was the Chilean Flag with the words Gracias Senor! (Thank you Lord!) and on the back was the words of Psalm 95:4: Porque en su mano están las profundidades de la tierra, y las alturas de los montes son suyas. (In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.)

The chaplain to the Chilean president, the Rev Alfredo Cooper, was once a postman in Cornwall! He led the prayers for the trapped men in the presidential palace and the thanksgiving service, seen by millions on television, after their rescue. Rev Cooper was born in Chile but became a postman and also a window cleaner in St Austell after his parents moved to Cornwall, where they still live. He was appointed chaplain to President Sebastian Pinera in January this year.


Saint Barbara, Patron Saint of Miners (December 2010 edition of magazine)

After watching the drama of the miners in Chile being rescued and thinking of the dangers that miners have faced in the past, it is not surprising that they have adopted a patron saint.
Saint Barbara Barbara lived in the 3rd Century AD in Asia Minor. To protect her from foreign influences, her father provided sumptuous living quarters for her in a tower. But loneliness caused Barbara to think seriously; and, as a result, she became more and more convinced that the Roman-Greek gods were but a hollow imitation. Without her father's knowledge, she became familiar with the teachings of Christ, and had herself baptized. At that time, Christians were being persecuted nearly everywhere and where considered as enemies of the state. Adherence to Christianity was subject to the severest punishment.
When Barbara explained to her father that she was a Christian he was overcome with rage. He handed her over to the Roman Supreme Court judge for trial and punishment. The judge attempted at first, by kind persuasion, to make her break with her faith but, when this failed, he had her thrashed and cast into jail. Due to the strength of her faith, her wounds healed immediately.

On the following day, she was ordered to make a sacrifice to the pagan gods. When she refused, she was mutilated in a dreadful way. When she continued to proclaim her Christian faith, she was sentenced to die by the sword. Barbara went to her place of execution cheerfully and with great enthusiasm for her true faith. Immediately following her death, a terrible thunderstorm arose and, as punishment for his monstrous crime, her father was killed by lightning.

Later when Christianity had become firmly established, St Barbara was invoked as a protector against the perils of lightning. The belief became widespread that Barbara could control lightning and other manifestations of flame and fire. As gunpowder began to be used for breaking rocks, it produced manifestations similar to thunder claps and lightning flashes. The miners thought they needed special protection against accidents and so they adopted Saint Barbara as their patron saint. Many mines were named after St Barbara, for example ‘St Barbara Bonanza’ and ‘St Barbara Good Hope Vein’.

Shahbaz Bhatti: “I Want to Serve Jesus” (April 2011 edition of magazine)

Shabaz Bhatti the Pakistani Federal Minister for Minorities, was a devout Catholic and the only Christian member of Pakistan’s Federal Cabinet. He was assassinated on 2 March 2011 at the age of fourty two by Muslim extremists for his opposition to an Islamic blasphemy law that is used to persecute Christians. This is an extract from an interview he gave in 2008 in which he talks powerfully about his faith.

I was offered several high government positions in exchange for quitting my struggle but I always refused to give up even at the cost of my life. I said: “No, I want to serve Jesus as a common man”.
Shabaz Bhatti I am happy with this devotion. I do not want popularity; I do not want any position. I just want a place at Jesus’ feet. I want my life, my character and my actions to speak for me and indicate that I am following Jesus Christ. Because of this desire, I will consider myself even more fortunate if, in this effort and struggle to help the needy, the poor, the persecuted and victimized Christians of Pakistan, Jesus Christ will accept the sacrifice of my life. I want to live for Christ and I want to die for Him.
I do not feel any fear in this country. Many times the extremists have wanted to kill me. Many times they have wanted to put me in prison. They have threatened me, harassed me and terrorized my family. Even my parents were asked by the extremists a few years ago to stop their son from continuing with his mission, his struggle to help the Christians and the needy. But my father always encouraged me. I said: “Whilst I live, until my last breath, I will continue to serve Jesus and to serve the poor and the suffering.”

I want to share the fact that I am very much inspired by the Holy Bible and the life of Jesus Christ. The more I read the New and Old Testaments, the Word of God, the more it gives me strength and determination. When I see that Jesus Christ sacrificed His everything and our Lord sent His Son for our redemption and salvation, I ask myself “How I can follow that path to Calvary”. And our Lord said: “Come to me, hold your cross, and follow the path”. The verses I like the most from the Holy Bible read: “I came to you when I was hungry, when I was thirsty, when I was imprisoned”. (sic) So when I see the poor people, I think Jesus might have come to me. Hence I always try to help, along with my colleagues, those in need, the hungry and the thirsty.

What more can we say about Shabaz Bhatti? A very brave and faithful man –Editor.

Taken from Christians in Pakistan -Where Hope Is Tested (Marcianum Press)

Pope John Paul II Beatified (June 2011 edition of magazine)

Pope In May, the late Pope, John Paul II was been beatified at a ceremony at the Vatican in front of hundreds of thousands of Catholic faithful. The late pontiff's coffin was exhumed from the crypt below St Peter's Basilica to be placed in front of the altar.

Among those in St Peter's Square was a French nun, Marie Simon-Pierre, who says she was cured of Parkinson's disease. Her apparently miraculous cure is part of the case for the beatification, the last stage before sainthood. Beatification, or declaring a person to be ‘blessed’, is the necessary prelude to full sainthood. For this to happen, the Vatican must declare the person to have performed or influenced a miracle.
In John Paul II's case, Sister Marie, 49, said she and her fellow nuns had prayed for the intercession of the Pope after his death to cure her from Parkinson's disease. Her sudden cure had no logical medical explanation and she later resumed her work as a maternity nurse, the Vatican says. Sister Marie said: "I was cured on the night of the third of June 2005. I woke up at four in the morning and felt that something had changed in me."

If the late Pope is declared to have performed or influenced another miracle he will be eligible for canonisation as a saint.

2nd May 2011 was St George’s Day (June 2011 edition of magazine)

St George Really? I had always thought that St George’s Day was on 23rd April. The Church, however, does not celebrate saints’ days in Holy Week, Easter Week or Sunday’s in Eastertide. As the 23rd April was on Easter Eve (the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Day) St George’s Day had to be deferred. The 2nd May was the first available day.

Indaba (Meeting of Minds) (June 2011 edition of magazine)

Matt, our Rector and Andy Broom have just returned from ten days in New York. They went there as part of a Derby diocese delegation on Indaba.

This is a three way ‘conversation’ between the dioceses of Derby, New York and Mumbai and is a new initiative by the Church of England to try and resolve some of the more intractable problems we, as an Anglican communion, seem to be facing.

As Matt says “It takes the African concept of Indaba where we try and understand one another before pronouncing judgment on things we don’t understand rather than an adversarial win/lose kind of way”.

So having been to New York, the Derby delegation will host the other delegations later this year before going to Mumbai early next year.