Novena to Bl. James

Today begins the novena before the Feast of Bl. James Alberione (this year it falls on the 40th anniversary of his death). Sr Kathryn just sent us a prepared novena text that connects this media apostle's life with the work of the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization: a great idea! Since I don't know if the novena appears on the "official" web site where I can link to it, I will just cut-and-paste it here for you day by day:

Day 1:
In John Paul II’s words, Blessed James Alberione is “the first apostle of the new evangelization.” Not only because he used modern media to proclaim the Gospel, but because, like Paul at the dawn of Christianity, he heralded in his person and his message the central call of the Gospel: total configuration with Christ the Master, a personal, life-changing, lifelong encounter with Christ. His reference was always the Gospel and he insisted that everyone of us read it in order to live it—a novelty at the turn of the last century. His lodestar was the primacy of Christ. His journey was a personal relationship with Christ and a burning desire that the whole world would join him on that journey.

This is the meaning of the new evangelization, outlined in the lineamenta for next year’s Synod of Bishops. We entrust to Bl. James our own desire to witness to the saving love and truth of Jesus Christ with what the lineamenta calls new “ardour, methods, and expression.”
In the words of Bl. James Alberione “The love for the Gospel is the sign and characteristic of persons whom God designates for great enterprises.”


Prayer: O God, who raised up in  your Church Blessed James Alberione, priest, to proclaim your Son as the Way, the Truth and the Life through the many forms of communication, grant, we beseech you, that we may follow his example and devote ourselves to preaching the Gospel to all nations. Through Christ our Lord.




Have you watched the Alberione film trailer yet? See the sidebar!