UN Secretary-General Guterres Visits Crisis-Hit Haiti
June 30, 2023
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is visiting Haiti this Saturday July 1st to address the unprecedented crisis plaguing the nation. With rampant gang violence causing extreme insecurity and over 4 million people experiencing food insecurity, Guterres aims to understand the situation better and find solutions.
He will meet with Prime Minister Ariel Henry and engage with political leaders and civil society representatives. This visit highlights the UN’s commitment to supporting Haiti and emphasizes the need for international cooperation.
Guterres’ discussions will focus on restoring stability, security, and improving living conditions for the Haitian people.
The visit serves as a reminder of the urgent collective action required to alleviate the suffering and promote a brighter future for Haiti.
National Center of Haitian Apostolate
REFLEXION FOR SUNDAY 13 IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A - July 2, 2023
2 Kings 4, 8-16; Psalm 89; Romans 6, 3-11; Matthew 10, 37-42
Msgr. Pierre André Pierre
The theme of this mass is WELCOMING and HOSPITALITY. All the biblical readings insist on the need of welcoming others or the stranger. But today, it is Saint Paul, the Apostle of the Nations, who gives us the key to reading and understanding the message: "Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ." Once in Christ, we are a new creation, called to act in a totally new way.
In the first reading (2 Kgs 4.8-11.14-16), the prophet Elisha is welcomed by a woman from Sunam. This anonymous stranger welcomes the homeless prophet and is very generous towards him because she recognized in him a man of God. In her heart, however, she secretly carries deep suffering and great frustration. According to her, there is no solution: She has no children and her husband is an old man. In return, she is blessed. The prophet Elisha promises her that she will have a son. His despair turns to joy.
Welcomed with joy and honor, Elisha understands in turn how important it is to be attentive to the needs of the Shunammite. Listening to her confidences, and sharing her joys and sorrows was also part of the welcome. She made some expenses to accommodate her guest. But beyond the quantity or the luxury of the means, the important thing is the quality of the reception and the exchanges that it gives way to. This conviction of Christians is rooted in the Old Testament: Through the people we meet, it is God who comes to us; it is God whom we welcome or reject. The Shunammite of the 8th century BC could easily meet the criteria that the Master imposes on his own: “By your welcome and your brotherly love, they will recognize that you are my disciples. »
The most important day of our life is the day of our baptism, says St Paul (Rom 6,3-4.8-11). We are dead to sin and we are alive in Christ, immersed in new life. It's quite a new birth. The Church welcomes us into the family of Christians. In baptism, we have met Christ. In addition, since then we walk with Him from death to sin to life in Him.
The Gospel of Matthew (10, 37-42) also speaks to us of hospitality. Jesus' message is clear. He instructs his apostles on their calling and vocation. The first step is the reference to the first Commandment: to love and prefer God above all. The Father's will takes absolute priority in their choices, decisions, and actions. God must be number ONE in their life.
Jesus makes it very clear that our love for him must come before all family ties: « He who loves his father, his mother, his brothers, his sisters, and his children more than me is not worthy of me. » They must follow Christ and be ready to sacrifice everything for him. In return, anyone who welcomes them or welcomes strangers, or those in need welcomes God himself.
This message is addressed to the Apostles and not to the big crowd. They gave up everything and made a radical choice for Jesus. He called them to follow him. Jesus is not a teacher among others; He is the Son of God. He is therefore above man. It is he alone whom we can and must love more than the people who are dear to us.
Thus, the Lord calls all the baptized to be “disciples and missionaries.” As disciples, we follow Him. As missionaries, we must announce Him. To welcome Christ, to prefer him to everything, to be inhabited by him, this is what is proposed to us. Jesus ends this sermon by telling the disciples: “Whoever gives a drink of water to one of these little ones in his capacity as a disciple, amen I say to you, will not remain without reward. » At the Eucharistic table, God welcomes us. Then He sends us. To Welcome and to Love bring more joy to the heart than all the treasures in the world.
Exclusive - Trump, longtime admirer of Putin, says aborted mutiny 'somewhat weakened' Russian leader
Steve Holland and Nathan Layne
Thu, June 29, 2023at 7:19 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump, a longtime admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Thursday Putin has been "somewhat weakened" by an aborted mutiny and that now is the time for the United States to try to broker a negotiated peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine.
"I want people to stop dying over this ridiculous war," Trump told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Speaking expansively about foreign policy, the front-runner in opinion polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination also said China should be given a 48-hour deadline to get out of what sources familiar with the matter say is a Chinese spy capability on the island of Cuba 90 miles (145 km) off the U.S. coast.
On Ukraine, Trump did not rule out that the Kyiv government might have to concede some territory to Russia in order to stop the war, which began with Russian forces invading Ukraine 16 months ago. He said everything would be "subject to negotiation", if he were president, but that Ukrainians who have waged a vigorous fight to defend their land have "earned a lot of credit."
"I think they would be entitled to keep much of what they've earned and I think that Russia likewise would agree to that. You need the right mediator, or negotiator, and we don't have that right now," he said.
U.S. President Joe Biden and NATO allies want Russia out of territory it has seized in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine has launched a counteroffensive that has made small gains in driving out Russian forces.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last year proposed a 10-point peace plan, which calls on Russia to withdraw all of its troops.
"I think the biggest thing that the U.S. should be doing right now is making peace - getting Russia and Ukraine together and making peace. You can do it," Trump said. "This is the time to do it, to get the two parties together to force peace."
As president, Trump developed friendly relations with Putin, who Biden said on Wednesday has "become a bit of pariah around the world" for invading Ukraine.
Trump said Putin had been damaged by an uprising by the Russian mercenary force, the Wagner Group, and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, last weekend.
"You could say that he's (Putin) still there, he's still strong, but he certainly has been I would say somewhat weakened at least in the minds of a lot of people," he said.
If Putin were no longer in power, however, "you don't know what the alternative is. It could be better, but it could be far worse," Trump said.
As for war crime charges levied against Putin by the International Criminal Court last March, Trump said Putin's fate should be discussed when the war is over "because right now if you bring that topic up you'll neve rmake peace, you'll never make a settlement."
Trump was adamantly opposed to China's spy base on Cuba and said if Beijing refused to accept his 48-hour demand for shutting it down, a Trump administration would impose new tariffs on Chinese goods.
As president, Trump adopted a tougher stance on China while claiming a good relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping that soured over the coronavirus pandemic.
"I'd give them 48 hours to get out. And if they didn't get out, I'd charge them a 100% tariff on everything they sell to the United States, and they'd be gone within two days. They'd be gone within one hour," Trump said.
Trump was mum on whether the United States would support Taiwan militarily if China invaded the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own.
"I don't talk about that. And the reason I don't is because it would hurt my negotiating position," he said. "All I can tell you is for four years, there was no threat. And it wouldn't happen if I were president."
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Nathan Layne, additional reporting by Kanishka Singh, editing by Ross Colvin and Grant McCool)