What a Good Prayer!

Universal Prayer
Post-communion Group  

Lord, I believe in You: 
but let me believe more strongly. 
I love You: but let me love You more ardently. 
I sorrow, but deepen my sorrow for my sins. 

I adore You as my first beginning, 
I long for You as my last end, 
I praise You as my constant benefactor, 
I call on You as my loving protector.

Guide me by Your wisdom,
hold me with Your justice,
comfort me with Your mercy, 
protect me with Your power.

I offer You, Lord, my thoughts, 
my words, to be fixed on You, 
my actions, to be according to You, 
my sufferings and to be endured for You.

I want to do what You want, 
in the way You want, 
for as long as You want, 
because You want.

I pray, O Lord, enlighten my understanding, 
inflame my will, 
purify my heart, and sanctify my soul.

May I weep for my former iniquities, 
repel future temptations, 
correct my faults, 
and cultivate suitable virtues.

Grant me, O God, love of You, 
hatred of myself, 
zeal for my neighbor, 
and contempt for the world.

May I be eager to obey my superiors, 
be courteous to my inferiors, 
faithful to my friends, 
and to forgive my enemies.

Help me to conquer sensuality with austerity,
greed with generosity, 
anger with gentleness, 
apathy with fervor.

Make me prudent in planning, 
steadfast in danger, 
patient in adversity,
and humble in prosperity.

O Lord, make me attentive in prayer, 
temperate in drink, 
diligent in my duties,
and firm in purpose.

May I take care to have an innocent interior, 
a modest exterior, 
exemplary speech,
and a well and ordered life .

May I be ever-watchful in guarding against my weaknesses, 
cherishing Your grace, 
keeping Your laws,
and coming to salvation.

May I learn from You the passing nature of this world, 
the grandness of heaven, 
the shortness of this life,
and the life to come eternal.

Grant that I may prepare for death, 
fear judgment, 
flee from Hell, 
and obtain paradise.
Grant this though Christ our Lord. Amen.

Breaking: Nigerian Gunman Kills Students

At least 20 students have been shot dead by unknown gunmen in Mubi, north-eastern Nigeria, a police source has told the BBC. The attack happened at a student hostel away from the Federal Polytechnic Mubi campus, the source said. A lecturer told the BBC that more than 40 students had been killed but there has been no official comment. The reported killing comes days after a major operation against the Boko Haram militant group in the town.

Western Double Speak: Nuclear Iran v Environment Protection

Nicodemus Minde

October 1, 2012: Iran has always provided us with interesting foreign policy perspectives. The phases of Iran foreign policy have witnessed a different treatise ever since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. This defining moment in their history has continued to shape their politics and relations with other nations. It is difficult to argue that there is a consistent foreign policy behavior in any state. The only consistent factor in defining foreign policy behavior has always been consistent national interests. States, in the realist tradition will always pursue policies consistent to their national interests, which in most occasions are state survival, security and prosperity. The Islamic theocracy under Ayatollah Khomeini was modeled on anti-imperialism establishment and a return to Islamic values which had been eroded by the ousted Western backed Shah of Iran. Contemporary Iran was labeled ‘axis of evil’ by the former US president George Bush on the pretext sponsoring terrorism. Further deluge has been generated by Iran’s nuclear ambition. Iran has consistently said that they seek to enrich uranium for peaceful uses of nuclear energy. My preposition is that Iran should be given the benefit of the doubt and not be subjected to pernicious economic sanctions. 

Iran is a signatory of the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a key player of the International Atomic Energy agency (IAEA). The NPT which is built on three pillars of ‘Non-proliferation’, ‘disarmament’, and ‘peaceful use’ is the principle international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. Israel, the ardent critic of nuclear Iran is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons and to be the sixth country in the world to develop them. It is one of four nuclear-armed countries not recognized as a Nuclear Weapons State by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the others being India, Pakistan and North Korea. Israel maintains a policy known as "nuclear ambiguity" (also known as "nuclear opacity"). Yet it has always questioned the intentions of Iran, which subscribes to the dictates of the NPT and the IAEA. The other ardent critic of Iran nuclear process is the US. The US has gone on to draft sanction policies to Iran due to Iran’s pursuit of nuclear program for peaceful energy purposes. The same countries slapping these sanctions have not been cooperative to the environmental treaties that call for the minimizing of poisonous gases that cause global warming and climate change. 

The Kyoto protocol and many other subsequent climate conferences such as the Copenhagen and Durban have been a failure mainly due to frustrating efforts by the same Western powers that see Iran’s pursuit of nuclear power as wrong. States that advocate for environmental protection should also do the noble task of punishing those who don’t conform to international environment treaties the same manner they are ‘dealing’ with Iran.   

Zionist and Al Qaeda: No difference

Via Press TV

The CEO of Press TV says the al-Qaeda and the Zionists act in the same ways when it comes to committing crimes.

“The Zionists and the Americans, who are apparently the al-Qaeda’s enemies, have gone to the point that today their infantry, which is al-Qaeda, commits the same crimes that the Zionists did in Lebanon and Palestine,” Dr. Mohammad Sarafraz said in an interview with IRIB late Thursday.

Regarding the assassination of Press TV’s correspondent in Syria, Maya Nasser, Sarafraz said that Naser and his colleagues had received 'numerous death threats' months before his murder.

He said the Press TV and Al-Alam Damascus Bureau had received numerous threatening messages over the past few months, adding journalists working for the two Iranian news networks had been directly and repeatedly threatened with death.

Sarafraz said that such threats were part of Western efforts to block the free flow of news dissemination on the regional developments including what is going on in Syria.

"The enemy now targets the free flow of news dissemination and anyone trying to express views that are different from the enemies is either intimidated as part of the psychological warfare so that they fail to do their job efficiently, or the threats are actually carried out and the news person is assassinated,” the top IRIB official added.

Insurgents in the Syrian capital of Damascus attacked Press TV staff, killing the Iranian English-language news network’s correspondent, Maya Naser, and injuring Press TV and Al-Alam Damascus Bureau Chief Hosein Mortada, on Wednesday.

Naser was shot and killed by a sniper, while Mortada, a Lebanese national, was shot and wounded in the back.

The two were covering twin bomb blasts, which targeted the military command building in the Syrian capital and killed at least four Syrian security forces.

Kenyan Army captures Kismayo: The Implications

Picture courtesy of Al Jazeera

Nicodemus M. Minde

Friday 28^th October 2012: Kenyan army says it has entered Somali port city of Kismayo and captured an al-Shabab major military stronghold. “[Report that] Kismayo fell today to KDF [Kenyan Defence Forces] and TFG [Somali government troops] forces are indeed very true," Cyrus Oguna, military spokesman, told Kenya's Citizen television. Oguna said that the troops had entered Kismayo early on Friday. Kenya sent its troops into Somalia last October after the fighters were blamed for a series of raids on Kenyan soil targeting its security forces as well as Western tourists.

Ever since the KDF entered Somalia, Kenya has faced reprisal attacks many of which have been claimed by the Al Shabaab terror group. The implications of the seizure of Kismayo means more attacks aimed at Kenya. The militia group are notorious of grenade attacks aimed at religious targets mostly churches, entertainment spots and other key strategic places. With a majority of Al Shabaab sympathizers in Kenya mostly jobless youth who are radicalized by Islamic extremism, then it’s certain that Kenya should embrace itself for more reprisal attacks in the coming days.    

The Dirty Tricks of Save the Children

25 September 2012: In my usual daily routine, I open all the major news websites in the world upon my getting to work. I also listen to world news on the radio on my way to work. I have now been accustomed to that. Today, I was greeted with the headline Syria child trauma 'appalling' - Save the Children in one news website. The Syrian crisis has gone for over a year now. Anti-government protests erupted in the southern city of Deraa in mid-March 2011 which ignited countrywide protests and have been going on to date. There have been repeated calls for the Syrian President Bashaar Al Assad to step down. Nowhere have these calls been so fervent than from the Western nations. The protests in Syria were part of the Middle East and the Arab Spring uprisings last year. The protests saw the deposition of leaders such as Muammar Gadhafi of Libya, Tunisia’s leader Ben Ali, President Hosni Mubarak, the Western puppet, and Yemeni longtime leader Abdullah Saleh. Attempts to see off Mr. Assad have been thwarted partly due to the divided ‘opposition’ the likes of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the National Coordination Committee (NCC) and the Syrian National Council (SNC) which is the equivalent of the then opposition council, the National Transitional Council (NTC) of Libya. As part of the move to end the escalating crisis in the country, the Arab League appointed Kofi Annan as a peace envoy to mediate the crisis. He failed miserably and decided to throw in the towel. Kofi Annan with his six-plan peace strategy failed due to undoubtedly western interference and western incessant desire for regime change and backing rebels. Long time Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi replaced Kofi Annan. Brahimi has also started on a bad footing. In his first interview, he admitted that his work will be challenging. In yet another move of western interference, Mr. Brahimi says that the government of President Bashar al-Assad was "not serious about making reforms". He was speaking the UN Security Council.

I would like to draw your attention to the striking headline: Syria Child trauma “appalling” as documented by a report by Save the Children.  It says almost every child it spoke to has seen a family member killed. The report gives testimonies collected from refugees in camps outside Syria. The report reveals that children are been killed, maimed and tortured in the country's brutal civil war. The report further indicates that children have also witnessed the deaths of parents, siblings, other children, and torture. I don’t totally discount these finds nor do I totally agree with them either. Of great concern is the motive of such a report. It is not new to the cycles of a humanitarian disaster to witness the horrendous and harrowing sights of children suffering from the traumas of wars and its effects. The children of Iraq and Afghanistan long for such reports. This British Charity firm may have clear and humanitarian intentions, but their intention is no doubt driven by the Western agenda of regime change. Brahimi has a lot to do. He must do a great balancing act to solve the crisis in Syria. Western International NGOs and Western pressures will be enomous. His task now is to balance it out. It is not going to be easy. 

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Iran essential to Syria solution: Egypt

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