tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36388836947799709042024-03-04T23:45:08.821-08:00"Rediscover the journey of faith" - Pope Benedict XVIRSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-20084650332922748442013-11-28T12:50:00.001-08:002013-11-28T12:50:50.043-08:00<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #663300; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/libretti/2013/20131124-libretto-chiusura-anno-fede.pdf"><span style="color: #663300; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">HOLY MASS</span></a>
FOR THE CONCLUSION OF THE <a href="http://www.vatican.va/special/annus_fidei/index_en.htm"><span style="color: #663300; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">YEAR OF FAITH</span></a><br />
ON THE SOLEMNITY OF OUR LORD </span><span style="color: #663300; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #663300; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS</span></i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="color: #663300; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Saint Peter's Square<br />
Sunday, 24 November 2013</span></i></div>
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<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Today’s solemnity
of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, the crowning of the liturgical
year, also marks the conclusion of the Year of Faith opened by Pope Benedict
XVI, to whom our thoughts now turn with affection and gratitude for this gift
which he has given us. By this providential initiative, he gave us an
opportunity to rediscover the beauty of the journey of faith begun on the day
of our Baptism, which made us children of God and brothers and sisters in the
Church. A journey which has as its ultimate end our full encounter with God,
and throughout which the Holy Spirit purifies us, lifts us up and sanctifies
us, so that we may enter into the happiness for which our hearts long. […]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Scripture
readings proclaimed to us have as their common theme <i>the</i> <i>centrality
of Christ</i>. Christ is at the centre, Christ is the centre. Christ is the
centre of creation, Christ is the centre of his people and Christ is the centre
of history. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">1. The apostle
Paul, in the second reading, taken from the letter to the Colossians, offers us
a profound vision of the centrality of Jesus. He presents Christ to us as <i>the</i>
<i>first-born of all creation</i>: in him, through him and for him all things
were created. He is the centre of all things, he is the beginning: Jesus
Christ, the Lord. God has given him the fullness, the totality, so that in him
all things might be reconciled (cf. <i>Col</i> 1:12-20). He is the Lord of creation,
he is the Lord of reconciliation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This image
enables to see that Jesus is the centre of creation; and so the attitude
demanded of us as true believers is that of recognizing and accepting in our
lives the centrality of Jesus Christ, in our thoughts, in our words and in our
works. And so our thoughts will be <i>Christian</i> thoughts, thoughts of
Christ. Our works will be <i>Christian</i> works, works of Christ; and our
words will be <i>Christian</i> words, words of Christ. But when this centre is
lost, when it is replaced by something else, only harm can result for
everything around us and for ourselves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 35.4pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">2. Besides being
the centre of creation and the centre of reconciliation, Christ is <i>the
centre of the people of God. </i>Today, he is here in our midst. He is here
right now in his word, and he will be here on the altar, alive and present amid
us, his people. We see this in the first reading which describes the time when
the tribes of Israel came to look for David and anointed him king of Israel
before the Lord (cf. <i>2 Sam</i> 5:1-3). […]Christ, the descendant of King
David, is really <i>the “brother” around whom God’s people come together</i>.
It is he who cares for his people, for all of us, even at the price of his
life. In him we are all one, one people, united with him and sharing a single
journey, a single destiny. Only in him, in him as the centre, do we receive our
identity as a people.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjadmXffsNDsM2fcO1Ye26GzfrpnT3vz08cY28ax1darYphEELjgEyGUDQj9prpJA26vWa60I57UwtF5r_5Z1u8LRbXySxFzIpPdJ8XiwIiiLXTPAZlKY9pa_P9TmWWndIhDoC4e_c6b_8/s1600/Pope%252BFrancis%252BLeads%252BClosing%252BMass%252BYear%252BFaith%252BVu5PKnvXRtxl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjadmXffsNDsM2fcO1Ye26GzfrpnT3vz08cY28ax1darYphEELjgEyGUDQj9prpJA26vWa60I57UwtF5r_5Z1u8LRbXySxFzIpPdJ8XiwIiiLXTPAZlKY9pa_P9TmWWndIhDoC4e_c6b_8/s1600/Pope%252BFrancis%252BLeads%252BClosing%252BMass%252BYear%252BFaith%252BVu5PKnvXRtxl.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">3. Finally,
Christ is <i>the centre of the history of humanity and also the centre of the
history of every individual</i>. To him we can bring the joys and the hopes,
the sorrows and troubles which are part of our lives. When Jesus is the centre,
light shines even amid the darkest times of our lives; he gives us hope, as he
does to the good thief in today’s Gospel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Whereas all the
others treat Jesus with disdain […] the thief who went astray in his life but
now repents, clings to the crucified Jesus and begs him: “Remember me, when you
come into your kingdom” (<i>Lk</i> 23:42). Jesus promises him: “Today you will
be with me in paradise” (v. 43), in his kingdom. Jesus speaks only a word of
forgiveness, not of condemnation; whenever anyone finds the courage to ask for
this forgiveness, the Lord does not let such a petition go unheard. […] We
would do well, each one of us, on this day, to think about our own personal
history, to look at Jesus and to keep telling him, sincerely and quietly:
“Remember me, Lord, now that you are in your kingdom! Jesus, remember me,
because I want to be good, but I just don’t have the strength: I am a sinner, I
am a sinner. But remember me, Jesus! You can remember me because you are at the
centre; you are truly in your kingdom!” […] <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Let us ask the
Lord to remember us, in the certainty that by his mercy we will be able to
share his glory in paradise. </span><span lang="DE" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">Let
us go forward together on this road! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="DE" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";">Amen! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="DE" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif";"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Rjqo4NYthJbgN4Lmwv7CxFfWacO-2-RBC81bxMBTzYvMHGLYKFYu4rWQq9y_G0Q6X7e2QzV3OYOHPgYTFgPtgeVtVpesuO1LnKL2qV5fUMj5RqnhxgXP86S6K-Rr3vhkCL761Qp1xQ4/s1600/bones_2744443b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Rjqo4NYthJbgN4Lmwv7CxFfWacO-2-RBC81bxMBTzYvMHGLYKFYu4rWQq9y_G0Q6X7e2QzV3OYOHPgYTFgPtgeVtVpesuO1LnKL2qV5fUMj5RqnhxgXP86S6K-Rr3vhkCL761Qp1xQ4/s1600/bones_2744443b.jpg" height="248" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Archbishop Rino Fisichella carries the bones of Saint Peter which<br />Pope Francis venerated and held during the Creed.</td></tr>
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RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-74264670766151200282013-11-20T02:52:00.000-08:002013-11-20T02:52:12.398-08:00Courage and Hope<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Lucida Handwriting"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Angelus</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Lucida Handwriting";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Lucida Handwriting";">November
17, 2013<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Dear brothers and sisters,
hello!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">This Sunday’s Gospel (Luke
21:5-19) consists in the first part of one of Jesus’ sermons, that on the last
times. Jesus gives it in Jerusalem, near
the temple, and the topic is given to him precisely by the people who were
talking about the temple’s beauty, because that temple was beautiful. So Jesus said: “All that you see here -- the
days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that
will not be thrown down" (Luke 21:6).
Naturally, they ask him: When will this happen? What will the signs be? But Jesus deflects attention away from these
secondary aspects – When will it happen?
What will it be like? – and turns it toward the real issues. And there are 2. First, do not let yourself
be deceived by false messiahs and not let yourself be paralyzed by fear. Second, live the period of waiting as time of
witness and perseverance. And we are in
this of waiting, of waiting for the Lord’s coming.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">This sermon of Jesus is always
relevant, even for us who live in the 21<sup>st</sup> century. He repeats: “See that you not be deceived,
for many will come in my name” (21:8).
It is an invitation to discernment, this Christian virtue of
understanding where the spirit of the Lord is and where the evil spirit
is. Today too, in fact, there are false
“saviors,” who try to take Jesus’ place: leaders of this world, gurus, even
sorcerers, people who want to attract the minds and hearts, especially of young
people, to themselves. Jesus warns us:
“Do not follow them!” “Do not follow
them!”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">And the Lord helps us not to be
afraid too: in the face of wars, revolutions, but also natural calamities, epidemics,
Jesus frees us from fatalism and false apocalyptic visions. The second aspect addresses us precisely as
Christians and members of the Church: Jesus foretells painful trials and
persecutions that his disciples must undergo for his sake. Nevertheless, he assures them: “Not one of
your heads will be harmed” (21:18). He reminds us that we are totally in God’s
hands! The adversity that we face
because of our faith and our adherence to the Gospel are occasions for witness;
they need not distance us from the Lord but move us to abandon ourselves all
the more to him, to the power of his Spirit and his grace.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">I am reflecting in this moment
and let all of us reflect. Let us do it
together: let us think about the many brother and sister Christians, who suffer
persecution because of their faith.
There are many, perhaps many more than in the first centuries. Jesus is with them. We too are united to them by our prayer and
our affection. We also admire their
courage and their testimony. They are
our brothers and sisters, who in many parts of the world suffer because of
being faithful to Jesus Christ. We
salute them from our hearts and with affection.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">In the end, Jesus makes a
promise that guarantees victory: “With your perseverance you will save your
life” (21:19). How much hope there is in these words! They are call to hope and patience, to
knowing how to wait for the sure fruits of salvation, trusting in the profound
meaning of life and of history: trials and difficulties are part of a larger
design; the Lord, Lord of history brings everything to fulfillment. Despite the disorder and disasters that
disturb the world, the plan of God’s goodness and mercy will prevail! And this is our hope: to walk in this way, on
this road, in this plan of God that will prevail. This is our hope.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">This message of Jesus makes us
reflect on our present moment and gives us the strength to face it with courage
and hope, in the company of Our Lady, who always walks with us.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">[Following the recitation of
the Angelus, the Holy Father greeted those present:]<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">I greet all of you: families,
associations and groups, who have come from Rome, from Italy and from every
part of the world: Spain, France, Finland, the low countries. In particular I greet the pilgrims from
Vercelli, Salerno, Lizzanello; the Motoclub Lucania from Potenza, the young
people of Montecassino and Caserta.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Today the Eritrean community in
Rome celebrates the feast of St. Michael.
We greet you from our heart! </span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Today is the “Day of Victims of
Road Accidents.”</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">I assure you of my
prayers and encourage you to continue in your work for prevention because
respect for laws is the primary way of protecting oneself and others.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Today I would also like to
suggest a medicine to you. But someone
might think: “The Pope is a pharmacist now?”
It is a special medicine that will make the fruits of the Year of Faith
concrete. This year is drawing to its close.
It is a medicine of 59 pills for the heart. It is a “spiritual medicine” called
“Misericordina.” A little box with 59
pills for the heart. The medicine is in
this little box and some volunteers will hand it out to you as you are leaving
the piazza. Take it! It is a rosary with
which you can also pray the “Mercy chaplet,” a spiritual help for our soul and
to spread love, forgiveness and fraternity everywhere. Do not forget to take it because it is good
for you, okay? It is good for your
heart, your soul and your whole life!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Picture from </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;"><a href="http://www.sknvibes.com/news/newsdetails.cfm/81680">http://www.sknvibes.com/news/newsdetails.cfm/81680</a></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">I offer you all a cordial wish
for a good Sunday. Goodbye and have
a good lunch!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Translation of
the Angelus from </span><a href="http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/on-god-s-plan-of-goodness-and-mercy"><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/on-god-s-plan-of-goodness-and-mercy</span></a><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-92221921111708437452013-11-14T06:32:00.002-08:002013-11-14T06:32:23.152-08:00<div align="center" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 12.0pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #555555; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Angelus –
November 10, 2013<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Dear brothers and sisters, hello!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">This Sunday’s Gospel presents us Jesus
contending with the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection. And it is precisely
on this topic that they pose a question to Jesus to give him trouble and
ridicule faith in the resurrection of the dead. They propose a hypothetical
situation: “A woman had seven husbands, who died one after the other,” and they
ask Jesus: “Whose wife will she be after her death?” Jesus, always meek and
patient, first of all responds that life after death does not have the same
parameters as life on earth. Eternal life is another life, in another
dimension, where, among other things, there will be no marriage, which is
linked to our existence in this world. The resurrected, Jesus says, will be
like angels, and they will live in a different state that we cannot experience
or imagine now. And this is how Jesus explains things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">But then Jesus, so to speak, launches a
counterattack. And he does this by citing Sacred Scripture with a simplicity
and an originality that fills us with admiration for our Master, the only
Master! Jesus finds the proof of the resurrection in the episode about Moses
and the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6), where God reveals himself as the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The name of God is connected to the men and women to
which he binds himself, and this link is stronger than death. And we can also
say of God’s relationship with us, with each one of us: He is our God! He is
the God of each one of us! It is as if he bore our name. It pleases him to say
it, and this is the covenant. This is why Jesus says: “God is not the God of
the dead but of the living, because everyone lives for him” (Luke 20:38). And
this is the decisive link, the fundamental covenant, the covenant with Jesus:
he himself is the Covenant, he himself is the Life and the Resurrection
because, with his crucified love, he overcame death. In Jesus, God gives us eternal
life, he gives it to everyone, and thanks to him everyone has the hope of a
life still more true than this one. The life that God prepares for us is not
merely an embellishment of this present life: it transcends our imagination,
because God continually awakens wonder in us with his love and with his mercy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">So, what will happen is precisely the contrary
of what the Sadducees expected. It is not this life that illuminates eternity,
the other life, the one that awaits us, but eternity – that life – that illuminates
and gives hope to the earthly life of each one of us! If we look at things only
with human eyes, we are brought to say that man’s journey runs from life to
death. This is obvious! But this is only the case if we look at things with
human eyes. Jesus stands this perspective on its head and says that our
pilgrimage runs from death to life: to fullness of life! We are on a journey,
on pilgrimage toward the fullness of life, and that life is what enlightens us
on our journey! So, death is behind us, at our backs, not in front of us.
Before us there is the God of the living, the God of the covenant, the God who
bears my name, our name, as he said: “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob,” also the God with my name, with your name, with your name..., with our
name. God of the living! ... Before us is the final defeat of sin and death,
the beginning of a new time of joy and of light without end. But already on
this earth, in prayer, in the Sacraments, in fraternity, we meet Jesus and his
love, and in this way we can have a foretaste of the risen life. Our experience
of his love and his fidelity lights a fire in our heart and increases our faith
in the resurrection. In fact, if God is faithful and loves, it cannot be for a
limited time: fidelity is eternal, it cannot change. God’s love is eternal, it
cannot change! It is not for a limited time: it is forever! And to go forward!
He is faithful forever and he awaits us, each of us, he accompanies each of us
with this eternal fidelity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">[Following the recitation of the Angelus, the
Holy Father greeted those present in St. Peter’s Square:]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Today in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Paderborn</st1:city>,
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Germany</st1:country-region></st1:place>,
Blessed Maria Theresia Bonzel will be proclaimed blessed. Foundress of the
Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, she lived in the 19th century. The
Eucharist was the source from which she drew spiritual energy to dedicate
herself with untiring charity to the weakest. Let us praise the Lord for her
witness!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Blessed Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I would like again to assure the people of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Philippines</st1:country-region></st1:place>
and that region, who have been struck by a massive typhoon, of my closeness to
them. Unfortunately, there are many victims and enormous damage. Let us pray
for a moment in silence and then to Our Lady for these brothers and sisters of
ours and let us try also to help them concretely. Let us pray in silence. [And
then after a pause:] Hail Mary...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Today is the 75th anniversary of the so-called
“Kristallnacht,” the night of violence against Jews, their synagogues, homes
and businesses [in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Germany</st1:country-region>
and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Austria</st1:place></st1:country-region>]
November 9-10, 1938. It marked a sad step toward the tragedy of the Shoah. Let
us renew our nearness and solidarity with the Jewish people, our big brothers.
And we pray to God that the memory of the past, the memory of past sins help us
to be ever more vigilant against every form of hatred and intolerance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">This Sunday in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Italy</st1:place></st1:country-region> the Day of Thanksgiving is
celebrated. I join my voice to that of the bishops, expressing my nearness to
the agricultural world, especially to young people who have chosen to work the
land. I encourage those who work to ensure that no one goes without healthy and
adequate food.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I greet all the pilgrims, who have come from
different countries, the families, the parish groups, the associations; in
particular I greet the faithful of the dioceses of <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Liguria</st1:place></st1:state>, accompanied by Cardinal Bagnasco
and by the other bishops of the region.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I greet the Istituto Secolare Operaie
Parrocchiali, the Centro Académico Romano Fundación, the faithful from the
<st1:country-region w:st="on">United States of America</st1:country-region> and
from Tahiti, along with those from Riccione, Avezzano, <st1:place w:st="on">Torino</st1:place>,
Bertonico e Celano. A special thought goes out to the young people of the
Pontifical Missionary Societies, the young people from Pescara and Monte San
Savino and the Green Cross of Alessandria.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">I wish everyone a good Sunday. Goodbye and have
a good lunch!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">From <a href="http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/on-life-in-eternity">http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/on-life-in-eternity</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-55299460493696772062013-11-13T06:35:00.001-08:002013-11-13T06:35:38.668-08:00Baptism: The Beginning of Our Conversion<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; text-align: justify;">
General audience: November 13, 2013</div>
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By proclaiming “I believe,” said the Holy Father, “we affirm our true identity as sons of God.” At the same time, “Baptism is linked to our faith in the remission of sins. The Sacrament of Penance or Confession is, indeed, like a 'second Baptism', which always refers to the first to consolidate or renew it. In this sense, the day of our Baptism is the beginning of a path of conversion which lasts throughout our lives, and which is continually supported by the Sacrament of Penance.” When we go to confess our weaknesses, our sins, we ask Jesus Christ for forgiveness … but we also go to renew our Baptism with this forgiveness. Confession is not a torture chamber, it is a celebration of the day of Baptism.”</div>
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The Pope described Baptism as “the act of birth of a Christian in the Church,” and asked the participants in the audience to raise their hands if, alongside their birthday, they remembered the date of their Baptism. Since few hands were raised in St. Peter's Square, he set those present the task of asking their parents or finding out when they returned home, and urged them to celebrate it to commemorate the act of birth into the Church.</div>
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The Holy Father then considered the second element: one Baptism, recalling that the word “baptism” literally means “immersion.” “This sacrament,” he emphasized, “constitutes a true spiritual immersion in the death of Christ, from which we emerge as new creatures. It is a cleansing for regeneration and enlightenment. Regeneration because it puts into effect the birth from the water and the Spirit without which no one may enter the kingdom of heaven, and enlightenment since, through Baptism, the human person is filled with the grace of Christ, 'the true light that gives light to everyone' and dissipates the shadows of sin. By virtue of this gift, the baptized is himself called to become 'light' to his brothers, especially for those who find themselves in the shadows and do not perceive any glimmer of light on the horizon of their lives.”</div>
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Finally, Pope Francis turned to the forgiveness of sins. In the Sacrament of Baptism “all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all forms of punishment for sin. By Baptism we open the door to a new form of life that is not oppressed by the weight of a negative past, but instead already resonates with the beauty and goodness of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is a powerful intervention of God's mercy in our lives, for our salvation. But this salvific intervention does not remove the weakness from our human nature; it does not take away our responsibility to ask forgiveness whenever we err.”</div>
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“And I cannot be baptized twice, three times, four,” he continued, speaking off the cuff, “but I can go to confession and when I do so, I renew the grace of Baptism. It is as if it were a second Baptism. The Lord Jesus, Who is so good, and Who never tires of forgiving me. Listen! Baptism opens the door to the Church … but when the door narrows a little because of our weaknesses or our sins, confession helps us to open it because it is like a second Baptism, which forgives us all and enlightens us, helping us to go ahead joyfully in the light of the Lord. Because life is about living in the joy of Jesus Christ and it is a grace from the Lord."</div>
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RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-33549512369011549382013-11-12T12:19:00.001-08:002013-11-12T12:19:21.060-08:002 homilies from last week<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #663300; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/news_services/liturgy/libretti/2013/20131104-libretto-suffragio-card-vesc-defunti.pdf"><span style="color: #663300; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">PAPAL MASS FOR
THE REPOSE OF THE SOULS OF THE CARDINALS AND BISHOPS</span></a><br />
WHO DIED OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #663300; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS</span></i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="color: #663300; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Vatican Basilica, Altar of the Chair<br />
Monday, 4 November 2013 </span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the spiritual
atmosphere of the month of November, which is marked by the remembrance of the
faithful departed, we remember our brother Cardinals and Bishops from around the
world who have returned to the Father’s house during this last year. […]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We have listened
to the words of St Paul: “For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Apostle
presents the love of God as the deepest and most compelling reason for
Christian trust and hope. He lists the opposing and mysterious forces that can
threaten the journey of faith. But immediately he states with confidence that
even if our entire life is surrounded by threats, nothing will ever be able to
separate us from the love which Christ himself has obtained for us by his total
self-gift. […] This reality of the faithful love that God has for each one of
us helps us to face life’s daily journey, which sometimes passes quickly and at
other times is slow and laborious, with serenity and strength. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Only man’s sin
can break this bond, and yet even in this case God will always seek man, he
will run after him in order to reestablish a union with him that endures even
after death; indeed, a union that reaches its culmination in the final
encounter with the Father. This certitude gives new and full meaning to earthly
life and opens us to hope for life beyond death. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In fact, every
time we are faced with the death of a loved one or of someone whom we knew
well, the question arises within us: “What will become of his life, his work,
his service in the Church?” The Book of Wisdom tells us: they are in the hands
of God! The hand is a sign of welcome and protection, it is a sign of a
personal relationship of respect and faithfulness: to give a hand, to shake
someone’s hand. Now, these zealous pastors who have dedicated their lives to
the service of God and their brothers, are in the hands of God. […]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Even their sins,
our sins, are in the hands of God; those merciful hands, those hands “wounded”
by love. It was not by chance that Jesus willed to preserve the wounds in his
hands to enable us to know and feel his mercy. And this is our strength, our
hope. […]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This is how we
want to remember our deceased brother Cardinals and Bishops. As men devoted to
their vocation and to their service to the Church, who have loved as one loves
a bride. In prayer let us entrust them to the Lord’s mercy, through the
intercession of Our Lady and St Joseph, that he may receive them into his
Kingdom of light and peace, there where the just and those who were faithful
witnesses of the Gospel live eternally. And let us also pray for ourselves,
that the Lord may prepare us for this encounter. We do not know the date, but
we do know that the encounter will come.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #663300; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #663300; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS</span></i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="color: #663300; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Cemetery of Verano<br />
Friday, 1st November 2013</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At this hour
before sunset, we gather in this cemetery and think about our future, we think
of all those who have departed, preceded us in life and are in the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The vision of
Heaven we just have heard described in the First Reading is very beautiful: the
Lord God, beauty, goodness, truth, tenderness, love in its fullness. All of
this awaits us. Those who have gone before us and who have died in the Lord are
there. They proclaim that they have been saved not through their own works,
though good works they surely did, but that they have been saved by the Lord:
“Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev
7:10). It is he who save us, it is he who at the end of our lives takes us by
the hand like a father, precisely to that Heaven where our ancestors are. […]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We can enter
heaven only thanks to the blood of the Lamb, thanks to the blood of Christ.
Christ’s own blood has justified us, which has opened for us the gates of
heaven. And if today we remember our brothers and sisters who have gone before
us in life and are in Heaven, it is because they have been washed in the blood
of Christ. This is our hope: the hope of Christ's blood! It is a hope that does
not disappoint. If we walk with the Lord in life, he will never disappoint us! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the Second
Reading, we heard what the Apostle John said to his disciples: “See what love
the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we
are […]” (1 Jn 3:1-2). To see God, to be like God: this is our hope. And today,
on All Saints’ Day and the first day that we commemorate the faithful departed,
we need to think a little about this hope: this hope that accompanies us in
life. The first Christians depicted hope with an anchor, as though life were an
anchor cast on Heaven’s shores and all of us journeying to that shore, clinging
to the anchor’s rope. This is a beautiful image of hope: to have our hearts
anchored there, where our beloved predecessors are, where the Saints are, where
Jesus is, where God is. This is the hope that does not disappoint; today and
tomorrow are days of hope. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hope is a little
like leaven that expands our souls. There are difficult moments in life, but
with hope the soul goes forward and looks ahead to what awaits us. Today is a
day of hope. Our brothers and sisters are in the presence of God and we shall
also be there, through the pure grace of the Lord, if we walk along the way of
Jesus. The Apostle John concludes: “every one who thus hopes in him purifies
himself as he is pure” (v. 3). Hope also purifies us, it lightens us; this
purification in hope in Jesus Christ makes us go in haste, readily. Today
before evening falls each one of us can think of the twilight of life: “What
will my passing away be like?” All of us will experience sundown, all of us! Do
we look at it with hope? Do we look with that joy at being welcomed by the
Lord? This is a Christian thought that gives us hope. Today is a day of joy; however
it is serene and tranquil joy, a peaceful joy. […] And let us think about our
hearts and ask ourselves: “Where is my heart anchored?”. If it is not firmly
anchored, let us anchor it beyond, on that shore, knowing that hope does not
disappoint because the Lord Jesus does not disappoint.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-60876513735415360052013-11-07T10:39:00.001-08:002013-11-07T10:39:26.334-08:00THE CHARISMS ARE A WAY OF GROWING IN FAITH<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">
General Audience: November 5, 2013</div>
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The communion of holy persons who grow through participation in spiritual goods, and above all the Sacraments, charisms and charity, was the theme of Pope Francis' catechesis during yesterday's general audience.</div>
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In the Sacraments, each one of us is “incorporated in Christ and united with the entire community of believers. So, on the one hand there is the Church who 'makes' the Sacraments; on the other there are the Sacraments which 'make' the Church, edifying her, generating new sons and daughters, and joining them to the holy people of God.” Furthermore, “the Sacraments offer us the impetus to become missionaries, and the apostolic commitment to taking the faith to all places, even the most hostile. This is the most authentic fruit of a steadfast sacramental life, inasmuch as it constitutes participation in God's salvific plan, which aims precisely at bringing salvation to all.”</div>
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The second aspect of communion in holy things is the communion of charisms. “The Holy Spirit dispenses a multitude of gifts and spiritual graces to the faithful … for the edification of the Church,” explained the Pope. “Therefore, they are not given for the benefit of the recipient, but for use by the people of God. … The charisms are particular graces, given to some for the good of many others,” and “they are born in the conscience and experience of certain persons, called to put their gifts at the service of the community. In particular, these spiritual gifts are are of benefit to the sanctity of the Church and her mission.”</div>
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Charity is the third aspect of this communion with spiritual goods. “The charisms are important in the life of the Christian community, but they are always means of growing in charity, which St. Paul places above the charisms. Without love”, Pope Francis emphasised, “even the most extraordinary gifts are in vain, while the smallest of our gestures of love brings good to all. … This brotherly solidarity is not a rhetorical figure, a figure of speech, but rather an integral part of communion between Christians. If we live this solidarity, we are a sign to the world, a 'sacrament' of God's love.”</div>
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“This is not that easy charity that we offer between ourselves, but instead something deeper: it is a communion that makes us able to enter into the joy and the pain of others in order to sincerely make them our own. And often we are too arid, indifferent and detached, and instead of transmitting brotherliness, we transmit ill-humour, coldness and selfishness. And with ill-humour, coldness and selfishness, one cannot help the Church to grow; the Church grows only with the love that comes from the Holy Spirit”.</div>
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“And I would now like to ask of you an act of charity," said the Holy Father to the tens of thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, and added jokingly, “Don't worry! It's not a collection! Before coming to the Square, I went to see a seriously ill child aged just one and a half. Her mother and father pray and implore the Lord to cure their daughter. She is called Noemi and she smiled, poor girl. Let us carry out an act of love; we do not know her but she is a baptized child, she is one of us, a Christian. Let us ask the Lord to help her in this moment and to give her health: first in silence, and then let us pray the Hail Mary”.</div>
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Silence fell over the square for a moment, after which the Pope said, “And now let us pray together to the Virgin for the health of Noemi. … Thank you for this act of charity,” he concluded, after more than fifty thousand people recited the Hail Mary in unison.</div>
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RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-89310661020476841112013-10-30T06:58:00.002-07:002013-10-30T06:58:42.473-07:00Communion of the Holy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<strong>THE COMMUNION OF THE HOLY: TRUE CONSOLATION OF OUR FAITH</strong></div>
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<strong>General audience October 30, 2013</strong></div>
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“The communion of the holy”, one of the most beautiful aspects of our faith, as it was defined by Pope Francis, was the theme of the catechesis of today's general audience, which took place in St. Peter's Square and was attended by more than 80,000 people.</div>
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The communion of the holy consists of two related meanings: the communion of holy things and communion between holy people, and the Pope focused on the second, “one of the most consolatory aspects of our faith”. In fact, the term “holy” refers to those who believe in Jesus Christ and who are integrated with him in the Church by baptism”.</div>
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The relationship between Jesus and the Father is “the 'matrix' of the link between us as Christians: if we are intimately inserted in this 'matrix', in this ardent fire of love, then we can truly become one heart and one soul, because God's love burns away all our selfishness, our prejudices, our divisions, both internal and external. If we are thus rooted at the source of Love, which is God, we encounter a reciprocal movement: from brothers to God. The experience of fraternal communion leads me to communion with God. God's love burns away our sins”.</div>
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Francis moved on to consider the second aspect of the communion of the holy: faith needs the support of others, especially in difficult times, and asked, “Who among us has not experienced insecurity, disorientation, and even doubt along the path of faith? We have all experienced this; I have too, it forms part of the path of faith, the path of our lives. None of this should surprise us, because we are human beings, marked by our frailty and limits. However, in these difficult moments it is necessary to trust in the help of God, through filial prayer and, at the same time, it is important to find the courage and the humility to open ourselves to others. In this communion – because communion means common union – were are a great family, whose members all help and support one another”.</div>
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The third aspect of the communion of the holy “goes beyond earthly life, it goes beyond death and lasts forever. It is a spiritual communion, born at baptism, and it is not interrupted by death but, thanks to the risen Christ, is destined to find its full meaning in eternal life. There is a deep and indissoluble bond between those who are still pilgrims in this world, between us, and those blessed who have crossed the threshold of death to enter into eternity. All baptized persons here on earth, the souls in Purgatory and those who are already in paradise form a great and single family. This communion between heaven and earth is achieved above all through intercessory prayer. This communion is ours, it makes us brothers, it accompanies us on our path through life and it means that we meet again in heaven. Let us continue on this path, with joy!” </div>
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RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-15288696281065622772013-10-28T11:53:00.000-07:002013-10-28T11:53:20.437-07:00<div align="center" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #663300; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #663300; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/homilies/2013/libretti/2013/20131027-libretto-giornata-famiglie-anno-fede.pdf">HOLY MASS FOR
THE FAMILY DAY</a></span><br />
ON THE OCCASION OF THE <a href="http://www.vatican.va/special/annus_fidei/index_en.htm"><span style="color: #663300; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">YEAR OF FAITH</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #663300; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS</span></i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="color: #663300; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Saint Peter's Square<br />
Sunday, 27 October 2013</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The readings this
Sunday invite us to reflect on some basic features of the Christian family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">1. First: <em>the family prays</em>. The
Gospel passage speaks about two ways of praying, one is false – that of the
Pharisee – and the other is authentic – that of the tax collector. The
Pharisee embodies an attitude which does not express thanksgiving to God for
his blessings and his mercy, but rather self-satisfaction. […] The
tax collector, on the other hand, does not multiply words. His prayer is
humble, sober, pervaded by a consciousness of his own unworthiness, of his own
needs. Here is a man who truly realizes that he needs God’s forgiveness
and his mercy. […] <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the light of
God’s word, I would like to ask you, dear families: Do you pray together from
time to time as a family? Some of you do, I know. But so many
people say to me: But how can we? As the tax collector does, it is clear:
humbly, before God. […] But in the family how is this done? After all,
prayer seems to be something personal, and besides there is never a good time,
a moment of peace… Yes, all that is true enough, but it is also a matter
of humility, of realizing that we need God, like the tax collector! And
all families, we need God: all of us! We need his help, his strength, his
blessing, his mercy, his forgiveness. And we need simplicity to pray as a
family: simplicity is necessary! Praying the Our Father together, around the
table, is not something extraordinary: it’s easy. And praying the Rosary
together, as a family, is very beautiful and a source of great strength!
And also praying for one another! The husband for his wife, the wife for her
husband, both together for their children, the children for their
grandparents….praying for each other. This is what it means to pray in
the family and it is what makes the family strong: prayer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi08-lC527aXS56Dgi2jzePvnUbl3PS4rtWtVGKc4i_AhyphenhyphenCQ0p1KUfZ-AYDZUpG8ZSJtZCey_n0RCrvT_mACNy-biBSx5Py5ZZFyesQTGUQW2W5aNDNKuD2HIJs-2aus-CRBGMoZDZdE8I/s1600/PopeFrancisLimo271013e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi08-lC527aXS56Dgi2jzePvnUbl3PS4rtWtVGKc4i_AhyphenhyphenCQ0p1KUfZ-AYDZUpG8ZSJtZCey_n0RCrvT_mACNy-biBSx5Py5ZZFyesQTGUQW2W5aNDNKuD2HIJs-2aus-CRBGMoZDZdE8I/s1600/PopeFrancisLimo271013e.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">2. The second
reading suggests another thought: <em>the
family keeps the faith</em>. The Apostle Paul, at the end of his
life, makes a final reckoning and says: “I have kept the faith” (<em>2 Tim </em>4:7). But how did
he keep the faith? Not in a strong box! Nor did he hide it
underground, like the somewhat lazy servant. Saint Paul compares his life
to a fight and to a race. He kept the faith because he didn’t just defend
it, but proclaimed it, spread it, brought it to distant lands. […]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Here too, we can
ask: How do we keep our faith as a family? Do we keep it for ourselves,
in our families, as a personal treasure like a bank account, or are we able to
share it by our witness, by our acceptance of others, by our openness? We
all know that families, especially young families, are often “racing” from one
place to another, with lots to do. But did you ever think that this
“racing” could also be the race of faith? Christian families are
missionary families. Yesterday in this square we heard the testimonies of
missionary families. They are missionary also in everyday life, in their doing
everyday things, as they bring to everything the salt and the leaven of faith!
Keeping the faith in families and bringing to everyday things the salt
and the leaven of faith. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">3. And one more
thought we can take from God’s word: <em>the
family experiences joy</em>. In the responsorial psalm we find
these words: “let the humble hear and be glad” (33/34:2). The entire
psalm is a hymn to the Lord who is the source of joy and peace. What is the
reason for this gladness? It is that the Lord is near, he hears the
cry of the lowly and he frees them from evil. As Saint Paul himself
writes: “Rejoice always … The Lord is near” (<em>Phil
</em>4:4-5). I would like to ask you all a question today. But
each of you keep it in your heart and take it home. You can regard it as a kind
of “homework”. Only you must answer. How are things when it comes
to joy at home? Is there joy in your family? You can answer
this question.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Dear families,
you know very well that the true joy which we experience in the family is not
superficial; it does not come from material objects, from the fact that
everything seems to be going well... True joy comes from a profound
harmony between persons, something which we all feel in our hearts and which
makes us experience the beauty of togetherness, of mutual support along life’s
journey. But the basis of this feeling of deep joy is the presence of
God, the presence of God in the family and his love, which is welcoming,
merciful, and respectful towards all. And above all, a love which is
patient: patience is a virtue of God and he teaches us how to cultivate it in
family life, how to be patient, and lovingly so, with each other. To be patient
among ourselves; a patient love. God alone knows how to create harmony
from differences. But if God’s love is lacking, the family loses its
harmony, self-centeredness prevails and joy fades. But the family which
experiences the joy of faith communicates it naturally. That family is
the salt of the earth and the light of the world, it is the leaven of society
as a whole.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Dear families,
always live in faith and simplicity, like the Holy Family of Nazareth!
The joy and peace of the Lord be always with you!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Cited on October 27, 2013 from<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20131027_omelia-pellegrinaggio-famiglia_en.html<o:p></o:p></span></div>
RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-44469216504708526072013-10-24T11:51:00.000-07:002013-10-24T11:51:19.708-07:00<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11.5pt;"><b>Mary, Model of the Church</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11.5pt;">General audience October 23, 2013</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">Below is a summary of the Holy Father's message from yesterday's audience:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSH2QGghf5Tzbog1tkDF2dcleOVO24hm8kg99faQaNOf2zm1WYfysGd7XwFT7pIUdtYFxFaUMBEpEHPXMjS-rMWL9LqYOnWWYj_PPbUMEfZfYdOA9EO0ErVuTNv7bX8mIDt7PrbNBggWw/s1600/download+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSH2QGghf5Tzbog1tkDF2dcleOVO24hm8kg99faQaNOf2zm1WYfysGd7XwFT7pIUdtYFxFaUMBEpEHPXMjS-rMWL9LqYOnWWYj_PPbUMEfZfYdOA9EO0ErVuTNv7bX8mIDt7PrbNBggWw/s1600/download+(1).jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11.5pt;">Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our continuing
catechesis on the Church, we now look to the Virgin </span></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11.5pt;">Mary who, as the Second
Vatican Council reminds us, is “the model of the Church in the order of faith,
charity and perfect union with Christ” (</span><i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html"><span style="color: #663300;">Lumen Gentium</span></a></i>, 63). As a daughter of Israel, Mary responded in faith to
God’s call and became the Mother of his Son. She teaches us to live a life of
faith by her obedience to God’s will and by her unfailing devotion to Jesus and
his work. Mary also models the Church’s charity, born of faith, which brings
the joy and peace of Christ’s presence to others and to our world. Finally,
Mary models the Church’s union with Christ through her constant prayer and
participation in the mysteries of his life, death and resurrection. As Mother
of the Church, may Mary, by her prayers, bring us ever closer to the Lord, open
our hearts to share his transforming and redeeming love, and inspire us to put
our firm faith in God’s word, trusting in his goodness and his gracious plan
for us and for our world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Turning to our responsibilities as Christians, Pope Francis asked what is the nature of the love we bring to others. “Is it the love of Jesus who shares, who pardons and who accompanies us” or is it “a weak love" that "looks for favours in return?” “A love based on self-interest?” Our love towards others must be a free love. As he has done in the past, the Pope warned the faithful against gossip and “speaking ill of our brothers and sisters in our dealings with those in our community” or in our parish. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">He concluded by urging those present to maintain "a constant relationship and profound friendship with Jesus" and not just remember him "when we have problems and need his help." </span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-85673848532020218252013-10-21T11:20:00.000-07:002013-10-21T11:20:11.015-07:00Sunday Angelus: The need to pray always<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; text-align: justify;">
<strong>SUNDAY ANGELUS: THE NEED TO PRAY ALWAYS</strong></div>
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At midday yesterday the Pope appeared at the window of his study to recite the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square and, before the Marian prayer, he commented on Sunday's Gospel reading in which Jesus tells a parable on the need to pray, always and incessantly. “The protagonist is a widow who, by pleading with a dishonest judge, manages to obtain justice from him. And Jesus concludes: if the widow manages to convince that judge, do you think that God does not listen to us, if we pray to him insistently? The expression Jesus uses is very powerful: 'And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?'”</div>
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"This description of prayer is striking to us. But let us ask: why does God want this? Does He not already know our needs? What's the point of 'insisting' with God?” observed the Pope.</div>
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This question allows us to explore in depth an important aspect of faith: “God invites us to pray with insistence not because He does not know what we need, or does not listen to us. On the contrary, He always hears and knows everything about us, with love. In our daily journey, especially in difficulties in the fight against the evil inside and outside us, the Lord is on our side, we fight with Him by our side, and our weapon is prayer, which makes us aware of His presence, His mercy, and also His help. But the fight against evil is hard and long, it requires patience and endurance. … It is a daily battle, but God is our ally, faith in Him is our strength, and prayer is the expression of this faith. Therefore, Jesus assures us of victory, but asks: 'when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?'. If faith is dimmed, prayer is dimmed, and we walk in darkness; we lose our way in our journey through life."</div>
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"And so we learn from the widow of the Gospel to pray always and tirelessly. The widow was good! She knew how to fight for her children! And I think of many women who fight for their families, who pray, who never tire. I would like us to take a moment to think today, all of us, for these women, whose attitude gives us a true witness of faith, of courage, a model of prayer. … Always pray! But not to convince the Lord with words! He knows what we need better than us! Rather, perseverance in prayer is an expression of faith in a God who calls us to fight with him, every day, every moment, to overcome evil with good."</div>
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RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-1312340224485247242013-10-16T06:23:00.000-07:002013-10-16T06:23:18.372-07:00An Apostolic Church<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; text-align: justify;">
<strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">General Audience: Wednesday, October 16, 2013</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THE CHURCH IS ROOTED IN THE APOSTLES BUT LOOKS TO THE FUTURE</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After considering the unity, holiness and catholicity of the Church, as defined by the Creed, the Holy Father today addressed her apostolic nature. During the catechesis of the Pope's general audience in St. Peter's Square, he stated that “to profess that the Church is apostolic means underlining her constitutive bond with the Apostles, with that small group of twelve men whom Jesus called to Him by name one day, to ask them to stay with Him and to send them to preach. Indeed, 'apostle' is a Greek word meaning 'messenger', 'envoy'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The Apostles were chosen, called and sent by Jesus in order to continue His work, that is, prayer, the first task of an apostle, and secondly, to proclaim the Gospel”, continued the Pope, recalling that in the first years of the Church, to enable the apostles to have enough time for prayer, they instituted deacons to help them with their evangelizing mission. “And when we think of their successors, of the bishops – including the Pope, because he too is a bishop”, he added, “we have to wonder if this successor of the Apostles prays, first of all, and then proclaims the Gospel. This is what it means to be an apostle, and this is why the Church is apostolic”.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXo6r_s-R3MUJsN0lgsbhKpU5O_VRHKSGLYOomkzzqXlQ6u9bKsEw_Zphg5ocIMuJp-caOk1r04IK-zP0qwKAythg6snBwYjWkSc_iTkHoBvXrFpYHeM0XIHjA-nZzl6fd6XQwCEvyGxk/s1600/o-POPE-FRANCIS-facebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXo6r_s-R3MUJsN0lgsbhKpU5O_VRHKSGLYOomkzzqXlQ6u9bKsEw_Zphg5ocIMuJp-caOk1r04IK-zP0qwKAythg6snBwYjWkSc_iTkHoBvXrFpYHeM0XIHjA-nZzl6fd6XQwCEvyGxk/s1600/o-POPE-FRANCIS-facebook.jpg" height="267" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Church is apostolic “because she is based on the preaching and prayer of the Apostles, on the authority given to them by Christ Himself”, said the Pope, quoting St. Paul who, in his letter to the Christians of Ephesus compared them to “living stones, forming a house that is the Church, and this edifice is based on the Apostles, who are its columns, and the cornerstone of Jesus Himself. Without Jesus there can be no Church – he is the base and foundation. The Apostles lived with Jesus, they listened to His words, they shared in His life and, above all, they witnessed His Death and Resurrection. Our faith, the Church that Christ wanted, is not based on an idea, on a philosophy, but on Christ Himself. And the Church is like a plant that grows throughout the centuries … and has borne fruit, but the roots are planted deeply in Him, and the fundamental experience of the Apostles, chosen and sent by Jesus, reaches us”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“But”, Pope Francis asked, “how is it possible for us to connect with this testimony of those who lived with and listened to Him?” He responded that it is the Catechism that affirms that the Church is apostolic, since she “keeps and hands on the teaching, the 'good deposit', the salutary words she has heard from the Apostles”; that is, “she conserves over the centuries the valuable treasure of the Sacred Scripture, the doctrine, the sacraments, the ministry of the pastors, so that we can be faithful to Christ and participate in His life. It is like a river flowing through history … but the water that flows is always that which emerges from the source, from Christ Himself. He is the Risen One, the Living One, and His words do not pass away from us. Christ never passes away from us, He is here, among us”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Addressing the thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father said, “Do we ever think of how it has been precisely the Church who, in her path across these centuries, in spite of difficulties, problems and weakness, who has transmitted Christ's authentic message to us, and who gives us the security that what we believe in is really what Christ communicated to us?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, the Church is apostolic because “she is sent to bring the Gospel to all the world. She continues, on her path through history, the very mission that Christ entrusted to the Apostles: 'Go and make disciples of all nations. … And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age'. I insist on the missionary aspect of the Church, because Christ invites us all to the encounter with others, He sends us, He asks us to be on our way, to bring the joy of the Gospel to all!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Holy Father concluded, “The Church has her roots in the teaching of the Apostles, authentic witnesses of Christ, but looks to the future, and has the fixed awareness of being sent by Christ, of being Christ's missionary, of bringing forth Christ's name by prayer, proclamation and witness. A Church closed in on herself and the past, a Church who focuses only on minor rules and habits, betrays her own identity”.</span></div>
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RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-64546162156009958152013-10-15T11:57:00.001-07:002013-10-15T11:57:18.524-07:00Many things happening!<b>Recently, the Holy Father has had a lot on his schedule. Below are some of his homilies and talks given recently, along with pictures. Enjoy!</b><br />
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<span lang="DE" style="color: #663300;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/news_services/liturgy/libretti/2013/20131013-libretto-giornata-mariana-anno-fede.pdf"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #663300; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">HOLY MASS</span></a></span><span style="color: #663300; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> FOR THE MARIAN DAY <br />
ON THE OCCASION OF THE </span><span lang="DE" style="color: #663300;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/special/annus_fidei/index_en.htm"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #663300; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">YEAR OF FAITH</span></a></span><span style="color: #663300; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #663300; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">HOMILY OF HOLY FATHER FRANCIS</span></i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="color: #663300; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Saint Peter's Square<br />
Sunday, 13 October 2013</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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In the Psalm we said: “Sing to the Lord a new
song, for he has done marvelous things” (<i>Ps </i>98:1).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Today we consider one of the marvelous things
which the Lord has done: Mary! A lowly and weak creature like ourselves, she
was chosen to be the Mother of God, the Mother of her Creator.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Considering Mary in the light of the readings
we have just heard, I would like to reflect with you on three things: first, <i>God
surprises us, </i>second,<i> God asks us to be faithful, </i>and third, <i>God
is our strength. </i><o:p></o:p></div>
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1. First: <i>God surprises us</i>. The story of
Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Aram, is remarkable. In order
to be healed of leprosy, he turns to the prophet of God, Elisha, who does not
perform magic or demand anything unusual of him, but asks him simply to trust
in God and to wash in the waters of the river. […] There it is: God surprises
us. It is precisely in poverty, in weakness and in humility that he reveals
himself and grants us his love, which saves us, heals us and gives us strength.
He asks us only to obey his word and to trust in him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This was the experience of the Virgin Mary. At
the message of the angel, she does not hide her surprise. […] “Here I am, the
servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (<i>Lk</i>
1:38). That was her answer. God constantly surprises us, he bursts our
categories, he wreaks havoc with our plans. And he tells us: Trust me, do not
be afraid, let yourself be surprised, leave yourself behind and follow me! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Today let us all ask ourselves whether we are
afraid of what God might ask, or of what he does ask. Do I let myself be
surprised by God, as Mary was, or do I remain caught up in my own safety zone:
in forms of material, intellectual or ideological security, taking refuge in my
own projects and plans? Do I truly let God into my life? How do I answer him?<o:p></o:p></div>
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2. In the passage from Saint Paul which we have
heard, the Apostle tells his disciple Timothy: Remember Jesus Christ; if we
persevere with him, we will also reign with him (cf. <i>2 Tim </i>2:8-13). This
is the second thing: to remember Christ always – to be mindful of Jesus Christ
– and thus to persevere in faith. <i>God</i> surprises us with his love, but <i>he
demands that we be faithful in following him</i>. We can be unfaithful, but he
cannot: he is “the faithful one” and he demands of us that same fidelity. Think
of all the times when we were excited about something or other, some
initiative, some task, but afterwards, at the first sign of difficulty, we
threw in the towel. Sadly, this also happens in the case of fundamental
decisions, such as marriage. It is the difficulty of remaining steadfast,
faithful to decisions we have made and to commitments we have made. Often it is
easy enough to say “yes”, but then we fail to repeat this “yes” each and every
day. We fail to be faithful. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Mary said her “yes” to God: a “yes” which threw
her simple life in Nazareth into turmoil, and not only once. Any number of
times she had to utter a heartfelt “yes” at moments of joy and sorrow,
culminating in the “yes” she spoke at the foot of the Cross. Here today there
are many mothers present; think of the full extent of Mary’s faithfulness to
God: seeing her only Son hanging on the Cross. The faithful woman, still
standing, utterly heartbroken, yet faithful and strong. […] Faith is ultimate
fidelity, like that of Mary.</div>
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<o:p></o:p><br />
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3. The last thing: <i>God is our strength</i>.
I think of the ten lepers in the Gospel who were healed by Jesus. They approach
him and, keeping their distance, they call out: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on
us!” (<i>Lk </i>17:13). They are sick, they need love and strength, and they
are looking for someone to heal them. Jesus responds by freeing them from their
disease. Strikingly, however, only one of them comes back, praising God and
thanking him in a loud voice. […] <o:p></o:p></div>
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Take Mary. After the Annunciation, her first
act is one of charity towards her elderly kinswoman Elizabeth. Her first words
are: “My soul magnifies the Lord”, in other words, a song of praise and
thanksgiving to God not only for what he did for her, but for what he had done
throughout the history of salvation. Everything is his gift. If we can realize
that everything is God’s gift, how happy will our hearts be! Everything is his
gift. He is our strength! Saying “thank you” is such an easy thing, and yet so
hard! How often do we say “thank you” to one another in our families? These are
essential words for our life in common. “Sorry”, “excuse me”, “thank you”. If
families can say these three things, they will be fine. “Sorry”, “excuse me”,
“thank you”. How often do we say “thank you” in our families? How often do we
say “thank you” to those who help us, those close to us, those at our side
throughout life? All too often we take everything for granted! This happens
with God too. It is easy to approach the Lord to ask for something, but to go
and thank him: “Well, I don’t need to”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As we continue our celebration of the
Eucharist, let us invoke Mary’s intercession. May she help us to be open to
God’s surprises, to be faithful to him each and every day, and to praise and
thank him, for he is our strength. <span lang="DE">Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="DE"><br /></span></div>
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<b>At 5 p.m. on October 12, 2013 in St. Peter’s
Square, the Marian Day was celebrated as part of the Year of Faith. The event
began with a procession around the square of the original statue of the Virgin
of Fatima, which had been transported by air from Portugal and which Pope
Francis welcomed at the entrance of the Basilica. More than one hundred
thousand people attended the event.</b></div>
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<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/libretti/2013/20131012-libretto-preghiera-mariana-anno-fede.pdf">PRAYER
FOR THE MARIAN DAY</a><br />
ON THE OCCASION OF THE <i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/special/annus_fidei/index_en.htm">YEAR OF FAITH</a></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i>ADDRESS OF HOLY
FATHER FRANCIS</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Saint Peter's
Square<br />
Saturday, 12 October 2013</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Dear Brothers and Sisters,<o:p></o:p></div>
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This event of the <a href="http://www.vatican.va/special/annus_fidei/index_en.htm">Year of Faith</a> is
devoted to Mary, the Mother of Christ and the Mother of the Church, our Mother.
The statue of Our Lady which has come from Fatima helps us to feel her presence
in our midst. It is a fact: Mary always brings us to Jesus. She is a woman of
faith, a true believer. But we can ask: What was Mary’s faith like?<o:p></o:p></div>
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1. The first aspect of her faith is this: <i>Mary’s
faith unties the knot of sin</i> (cf. <i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html">Lumen
Gentium</a></i>, 56). What does that mean? The Fathers of the Second Vatican
Council took up a phrase of Saint Irenaeus, who states that “the knot of Eve’s
disobedience was untied by the obedience of Mary; what the virgin Eve bound by
her unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosened by her faith” (<i>Adversus Haereses</i>,
III, 22, 4).<o:p></o:p></div>
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The “knot” of disobedience, the “knot” of unbelief. When
children disobey their parents, we can say that a little “knot” is created.
This happens if the child acts with an awareness of what he or she is doing,
especially if there is a lie involved. At that moment, they break trust with
their parents. You know how frequently this happens! Then the relationship with
their parents needs to be purified of this fault; the child has to ask
forgiveness so that harmony and trust can be restored. Something of the same
sort happens in our relationship with God. When we do not listen to him, when
we do not follow his will, we do concrete things that demonstrate our lack of
trust in him – for that is what sin is – and a kind of knot is created deep
within us. These knots take away our peace and serenity. They are dangerous,
since many knots can form a tangle which gets more and more painful and
difficult to undo.</div>
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<o:p></o:p><br />
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But we know one thing: nothing is impossible for God’s mercy!
Even the most tangled knots are loosened by his grace. And Mary, whose “yes”
opened the door for God to undo the knot of the ancient disobedience, is the
Mother who patiently and lovingly brings us to God, so that he can untangle the
knots of our soul by his fatherly mercy. We all have some of these knots and we
can ask in our heart of hearts: What are the knots in my life? “Father, my
knots cannot be undone!” It is a mistake to say anything of the sort! All the
knots of our heart, every knot of our conscience, can be undone. Do I ask Mary
to help me trust in God’s mercy, to undo those knots, to change? She, as a
woman of faith, will surely tell you: “Get up, go to the Lord: he understands
you”. And she leads us by the hand as a Mother, our Mother, to the embrace of
our Father, the Father of mercies.<o:p></o:p></div>
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2. A second aspect is that <i>Mary’s faith gave human
flesh to Jesus</i>. As the Council says: “Through her faith and obedience, she
gave birth on earth to the very Son of the Father, without knowing man but by
the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit” (<i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html">Lumen
Gentium</a></i>, 63). This was a point on which the Fathers of the Church
greatly insisted: Mary first conceived Jesus <i>in faith</i> and then<i> in
the flesh</i>, when she said “yes” to the message God gave her through the
angel. What does this mean? It means that God did not want to become man by
bypassing our freedom; he wanted to pass through Mary’s free assent, through
her “yes”. He asked her: “Are you prepared to do this?” And she replied: “Yes”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But what took place most singularly in the Virgin Mary also
takes place within us, spiritually, when we receive the word of God with a good
and sincere heart and put it into practice. It is as if God takes flesh within
us; he comes to dwell in us, for he dwells in all who love him and keep his
word. It is not easy to understand this, but really, it is easy to feel it in
our heart.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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Do we think that Jesus’ incarnation is simply a past event
which has nothing to do with us personally? Believing in Jesus means giving him
our flesh with the humility and courage of Mary, so that he can continue to
dwell in our midst. It means giving him our hands, to caress the little ones
and the poor; our feet, to go forth and meet our brothers and sisters; our
arms, to hold up the weak and to work in the Lord’s vineyard, our minds, to
think and act in the light of the Gospel; and especially to offer our hearts to
love and to make choices in accordance with God’s will. All this happens thanks
to the working of the Holy Spirit. And in this way we become instruments in
God’s hands, so that Jesus can act in the world through us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnCrnsSBSBH7sPiFPH6GUVeFnbZnzU9SkvjeQXgxPBsyGOQwLUN-14bHAVs8ji3BcZbuKrfkfLNM6AL72egKpZITo7UmRD59-_0z2RBlCN-UJYLngQJSds5r-RRqTJk4z78DuntiAmK50/s1600/notre-dame-de-fatima.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnCrnsSBSBH7sPiFPH6GUVeFnbZnzU9SkvjeQXgxPBsyGOQwLUN-14bHAVs8ji3BcZbuKrfkfLNM6AL72egKpZITo7UmRD59-_0z2RBlCN-UJYLngQJSds5r-RRqTJk4z78DuntiAmK50/s1600/notre-dame-de-fatima.jpg" height="196" width="320" /></a></div>
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3. The third aspect is <i>Mary’s faith as a journey</i>.
The Council says that Mary “advanced in her pilgrimage of faith” (<i>ibid.</i>,
58). In this way <i>she precedes us on this pilgrimage</i>, she
accompanies and sustains us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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How was Mary’s faith a journey? In the sense that her entire
life was to follow her Son: he – Jesus – is the way, he is the path! To press
forward in faith, to advance in the spiritual pilgrimage which is faith, is
nothing other than to follow Jesus; to listen to him and be guided by his
words; to see how he acts and to follow in his footsteps; to have his same
sentiments. And what are these sentiments of Jesus? Humility, mercy, closeness
to others, but also a firm rejection of hypocrisy, duplicity and idolatry. The
way of Jesus is the way of a love which is faithful to the end, even unto
sacrificing one’s life; it is the way of the cross. The journey of faith thus
passes through the cross. Mary understood this from the beginning, when Herod
sought to kill the newborn Jesus. But then this experience of the cross became
deeper when Jesus was rejected. Mary was always with Jesus, she followed Jesus
in the midst of the crowds and she heard all the gossip and the nastiness of
those who opposed the Lord. And she carried this cross! Mary’s faith
encountered misunderstanding and contempt. When Jesus’ “hour” came, the hour of
his passion, when Mary’s faith was a little flame burning in the night, a
little light flickering in the darkness. Through the night of Holy Saturday,
Mary kept watch. Her flame, small but bright, remained burning until the dawn
of the resurrection. And when she received word that the tomb was empty, her
heart was filled with the joy of faith: Christian faith in the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Faith always brings us to joy, and Mary is the
Mother of joy! May she teach us to take the path of joy, to experience this
joy! That was the high point – this joy, this meeting of Jesus and Mary, and we
can imagine what it was like. Their meeting was the high point of Mary’s
journey of faith, and that of the whole Church. What is our faith like? Like Mary,
do we keep it burning even at times of difficulty, in moments of darkness? Do I
feel the joy of faith?<o:p></o:p></div>
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This evening, Mother, we thank you for our faith, the faith
of a strong and humble woman; we renew our entrustment to you, Mother of our
faith. Amen.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="DE">
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<br />
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<span lang="DE"><b>A mini translation of last Wednesday's audience (October 9, 2013):</b></span></div>
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Dear Brothers and Sisters:</div>
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In the Creed, we profess that the Church is “catholic”; in
other words, she is universal. We can understand this catholicity in three
ways. First, the Church is catholic because she proclaims the apostolic faith
in its entirety; she is the place where we meet Christ in his sacraments and
receive the spiritual gifts needed to grow in holiness together with our brothers
and sisters. The Church is also catholic because her communion embraces the
whole human race, and she is sent to bring to the entire world the joy of
salvation and the truth of the Gospel. Finally, the Church is catholic because
she reconciles the wonderful diversity of God’s gifts to build up his People in
unity and harmony. Let us ask the Lord to make us more catholic – to enable us,
like a great family, to grow together in faith and love, to draw others to
Jesus in the communion of the Church, and to welcome the gifts and
contributions of everyone, in order to create a joyful symphony of praise to
God for his goodness, his grace, and his redemptive love.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #663300; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #663300; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="color: #663300; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/travels/2013/papa-francesco-assisi-20131004_en.html">PASTORAL VISIT
TO ASSISI</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #663300; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">HOLY MASS</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #663300; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">HOMILY OF HOLY FATHER FRANCIS</span></i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="color: #663300; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Saint Francis Square, Assisi<br />
Friday, 4 October 2013 <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“I give you thanks, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and
understanding, and revealed them to babes” (<i>Mt</i> 11:25).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Peace and all good to each and
every one of you! With this Franciscan greeting I thank you for being here, in
this Square so full of history and faith, to pray together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Today, I too have come, like
countless other pilgrims, to give thanks to the Father for all that he wished
to reveal to one of the “little ones” mentioned in today’s Gospel: Francis, the
son of a wealthy merchant of Assisi. His encounter with Jesus led him to strip
himself of an easy and carefree life in order to espouse “Lady Poverty” and to
live as a true son of our heavenly Father. […]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">What does Saint Francis’s
witness tell us today? What does he have to say to us, not merely with words –
that is easy enough – but by his life?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWonjZ66CUu180HfS1O6B04ZvvZf4GI8hrAQV5IDPV_5avUqj2PrBq8mG-9PWpIIU458fyOwL5alo100x3NudrotywfqnCxlmqGZtWQabG85-sEBzqppOSXjP7m6cjhHnpz_MY0LPJgKo/s1600/B97235130Z.120131004182150000GSE3T0BO.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWonjZ66CUu180HfS1O6B04ZvvZf4GI8hrAQV5IDPV_5avUqj2PrBq8mG-9PWpIIU458fyOwL5alo100x3NudrotywfqnCxlmqGZtWQabG85-sEBzqppOSXjP7m6cjhHnpz_MY0LPJgKo/s1600/B97235130Z.120131004182150000GSE3T0BO.11.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">1. The first thing he tells us
is this: that being a Christian means having <i>a living relationship with the
person of Jesus; it means putting on Christ, being conformed to him</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Where did Francis’s journey to
Christ begin? It began with <i>the gaze of the crucified Jesus</i>. With
letting Jesus look at us at the very moment that he gives his life for us and
draws us to himself. Francis experienced this in a special way in the Church of
San Damiano, as he prayed before the cross which I too will have an opportunity
to venerate. On that cross, Jesus is depicted not as dead, but alive! Blood is
flowing from his wounded hands, feet and side, but that blood speaks of life.
Jesus’ eyes are not closed but open, wide open: he looks at us in a way that
touches our hearts. The cross does not speak to us about defeat and failure;
paradoxically, it speaks to us about a death which is life, a death which gives
life, for it speaks to us of love, the love of God incarnate, a love which does
not die, but triumphs over evil and death. When we let the crucified Jesus gaze
upon us, we are re-created, we become “a new creation”. We turn to you,
Francis, and we ask you: Teach us to remain before the cross, to let the
crucified Christ gaze upon us, to let ourselves be forgiven, and recreated by
his love. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">2. In today’s Gospel we heard
these words: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in
heart” (<i>Mt</i> 11:28-29).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This is the second witness
that Francis gives us: that <i>everyone who follows Christ receives true peace,
the peace that Christ alone can give, a peace which the world cannot give</i>. […]
It is the peace of Christ, which is born of the greatest love of all, the love
of the cross. It is the peace which the Risen Jesus gave to his disciples when
he stood in their midst (cf. <i>Jn</i> 20:19-20). […] The peace of Saint
Francis is the peace of Christ, and it is found by those who “take up” their
“yoke”, namely, Christ’s commandment: Love one another as I have loved you (cf.
<i>Jn</i> 13:34; 15:12). […] We turn to you, Francis, and we ask you: Teach us
to be “instruments of peace”, of that peace which has its source in God, the
peace which Jesus has brought us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcBIswEu092EO8hHI3vP_OgPy4nH7-__vrWFwHfsCVV4NB6Lm8v-QH2rW6FBsRwIYs3aA8TatlKXtbMjWJlMiQQ7SFFUY4l-IusSjrP4jrWRWrpEJhMmDKUxQ7PYb3Y_5ooW2jUI8W1kg/s1600/178164081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcBIswEu092EO8hHI3vP_OgPy4nH7-__vrWFwHfsCVV4NB6Lm8v-QH2rW6FBsRwIYs3aA8TatlKXtbMjWJlMiQQ7SFFUY4l-IusSjrP4jrWRWrpEJhMmDKUxQ7PYb3Y_5ooW2jUI8W1kg/s1600/178164081.jpg" height="267" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">3. Francis began the Canticle
of the Creatures with these words: “Praised may you be, Most High, All-powerful
God, good Lord… by all your creatures (<i>FF</i>, 1820). Love for all creation,
for its harmony. Saint Francis of Assisi bears witness to the need to <i>respect
all that God has created</i> and as he created it, without manipulating and
destroying creation; rather to help it grow, to become more beautiful and more
like what God created it to be. And above all, Saint Francis witnesses to
respect for everyone, he testifies that each of us is called to protect our
neighbour, that the human person is at the centre of creation, at the place
where God – our creator – willed that we should be. […]From this City of Peace,
I repeat with all the strength and the meekness of love: Let us respect
creation, let us not be instruments of destruction! Let us respect each human
being. May there be an end to armed conflicts which cover the earth with blood;
may the clash of arms be silenced; and everywhere may hatred yield to love,
injury to pardon, and discord to unity. Let us listen to the cry of all those
who are weeping, who are suffering and who are dying because of violence,
terrorism or war, in the Holy Land, so dear to Saint Francis, in Syria, throughout
the Middle East and everywhere in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">We turn to you, Francis, and
we ask you: Obtain for us God’s gift of harmony, peace and respect for
creation! […] <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">I make my own the prayer of
Saint Francis for Assisi, for Italy and for the world: “I pray to you, Lord
Jesus Christ, Father of mercies: Do not look upon our ingratitude, but always
keep in mind the surpassing goodness which you have shown to this City. Grant
that it may always be the home of men and women who know you in truth and who
glorify your most holy and glorious name, now and for all ages. </span><span lang="DE" style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Amen.”
(<i>The Mirror of Perfection</i>, 124: <i>FF</i>, 1824). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7m-PdWRN_tzk6lfYER3WGAnTec9msTdif0mMexrP92R5tQuky_knn3cAkphwhVhrKy51ds6BEUXIRqPf97cgWC2N7KsSzqa3om5TUguKtfrpxaveo9FvpFg8rcRE-7Av_FjQ0fsOvDwQ/s1600/gty_pope_francis_assisi_6_ss_jtm_131004_ssh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7m-PdWRN_tzk6lfYER3WGAnTec9msTdif0mMexrP92R5tQuky_knn3cAkphwhVhrKy51ds6BEUXIRqPf97cgWC2N7KsSzqa3om5TUguKtfrpxaveo9FvpFg8rcRE-7Av_FjQ0fsOvDwQ/s1600/gty_pope_francis_assisi_6_ss_jtm_131004_ssh.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>And, finally, from the general audience on October 2, 2013:</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEjhMJsVRzLcgXXDHFx4Kt_iZ5nI4xGy3UcQ58NVMT-0iebRVkcHG6Y3p_x-4mU3ZqVEyKupf7MIoSzBMWB4xHvgcK08_x-WK9CqXUMKgMQGUOea1zd4rZZRWk40p1AnFGI1n-2fnTi9s/s1600/1ff705c703af9a82eaa9f560602f7350272f66f6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEjhMJsVRzLcgXXDHFx4Kt_iZ5nI4xGy3UcQ58NVMT-0iebRVkcHG6Y3p_x-4mU3ZqVEyKupf7MIoSzBMWB4xHvgcK08_x-WK9CqXUMKgMQGUOea1zd4rZZRWk40p1AnFGI1n-2fnTi9s/s1600/1ff705c703af9a82eaa9f560602f7350272f66f6.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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In the <i>Creed</i>, after professing: “I believe in
one Church”, we add the adjective “holy”; we affirm the sanctity of the Church,
and this is a characteristic that has been present from the beginning in the
consciousness of early Christians, who were simply called “the holy people”
(cf. Acts 9:13, 32, 41; Rom 8:27; 1 Cor 6:1), because they were
certain that it is the action of God, the Holy Spirit that sanctifies the
Church.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But in what sense is the Church holy if we see that the
historical Church, on her long journey through the centuries, has had so many
difficulties, problems, dark moments? How can a Church consisting of human
beings, of sinners, be holy? Sinful men, sinful women, sinful priests, sinful
sisters, sinful bishops, sinful cardinals, a sinful pope? Everyone. How can
such a Church be holy?<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7LJC-5MiHggCVHb1gF167pjcQslW5rTWMhL6krng5ZBm-V6fOdceSOcb1F2oYs1nja4qmg-HeiqEP2Gp2iWg6Bc8QUBxGnUuZ75VRwK48w55B_9dkzAb7QroPrAlLS7-0KfZMbeHR0w/s1600/2013.03.pope_francis_blesses_child.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7LJC-5MiHggCVHb1gF167pjcQslW5rTWMhL6krng5ZBm-V6fOdceSOcb1F2oYs1nja4qmg-HeiqEP2Gp2iWg6Bc8QUBxGnUuZ75VRwK48w55B_9dkzAb7QroPrAlLS7-0KfZMbeHR0w/s1600/2013.03.pope_francis_blesses_child.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a>1. To respond to this question I would like to be led by a
passage from the Letter of St Paul to the Christians of Ephesus. The Apostle,
taking as an example family relationships, states that “Christ loved the Church
and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her” (5:25-26). Christ
loved the Church, by giving himself on the Cross. And this means that the
Church is holy because she comes from God who is holy, he is faithful to her
and does not abandon her to the power of death and of evil (cf. Mt 16:18). She
is holy because Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God (cf. Mk 1:24), is indissolubly
united to her (cf. Mt 28:20); She is holy because she is guided by the Holy
Spirit who purifies, transforms, renews. She is not holy by her own merits, but
because God makes her holy, it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and of his
gifts. It is not we who make her holy. It is God, the Holy Spirit, who in his
love makes the Church holy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPQKONCFw4nvCLcb36fLuV4iRPTOw_sBfaEk_HRWeJzRWXwp9iV5rvpul2qScjDm7i1LrQwk1yUPGbgd3kA1O6Vrjb_Re_5IIOfbh_iuX1XUOjtoS8omGZidAzPLMnMSR4UMrUuZzlAk/s1600/100613_pope06z_600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXPQKONCFw4nvCLcb36fLuV4iRPTOw_sBfaEk_HRWeJzRWXwp9iV5rvpul2qScjDm7i1LrQwk1yUPGbgd3kA1O6Vrjb_Re_5IIOfbh_iuX1XUOjtoS8omGZidAzPLMnMSR4UMrUuZzlAk/s1600/100613_pope06z_600.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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2. You could say to me: but the Church is made up of
sinners, we see them everyday. And this is true: we <o:p></o:p></div>
are a Church of sinners;
and we sinners are called to let ourselves be transformed, renewed, sanctified
by God. There has been in history the temptation for some to say: the Church is
only the Church of the pure, the perfectly consistent, and expels all the rest.
This is not true! This is heresy! The Church, that is holy, does not reject
sinners; she does not reject us all; she does not reject because she calls
everyone, welcomes them, is open even to those furthest from her, she calls
everyone to allow themselves to be enfolded by the mercy, the tenderness and the
forgiveness of the Father, who offers everyone the possibility of meeting him,
of journeying toward sanctity. “Well! Father, I am a sinner, I have tremendous
sins, how can I possibly feel part of the Church? Dear brother, dear sister,
this is exactly what the Lord wants, that you say to him: “Lord, here I am,
with my sins”. Is one of you here without sin? Anyone? No one, not one of us.
We all carry our sins with us. But the Lord wants to hear us say to him:
“Forgive me, help me to walk, change my heart!”. And the Lord can change your
heart. In the Church, the God we encounter is not a merciless judge, but like
the Father in the Gospel parable. You may be like the son who left home, who
sank to the depths, farthest from the Gospel. When you have the strength to
say: I want to come home, you will find the door open. God <br />
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</div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIP84lYciJsf5kb76AF-OgBxVNVdMV9S4dcjRTGpBgfXO0_Cy4whXauL9BER0SVDzNu2oYtVsplIjBIBNO-oawi2UKRZ-7ApG07uu6LmMTE8QbRpN6VXe-L5T7kO-HsGNzTVdc9tsgDDY/s1600/20130909cnsbr1522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIP84lYciJsf5kb76AF-OgBxVNVdMV9S4dcjRTGpBgfXO0_Cy4whXauL9BER0SVDzNu2oYtVsplIjBIBNO-oawi2UKRZ-7ApG07uu6LmMTE8QbRpN6VXe-L5T7kO-HsGNzTVdc9tsgDDY/s1600/20130909cnsbr1522.jpg" height="209" width="320" /></a></div>
will come to meet
you because he is always waiting for you, God is always waiting for you, God
embraces you, kisses you and celebrates. That is how the Lord is, that is how
the tenderness of our Heavenly Father is. The Lord wants us to belong to a
Church that knows how to open her arms and welcome everyone, that is not a
house for the few, but a house for everyone, where all can be renewed,
transformed, sanctified by his love, the strongest and the weakest, sinners,
the indifferent, those who feel discouraged or lost. The Church offers all the
possibility of following a path of holiness, that is the path of the Christian:
she brings us to encounter Jesus Christ in the Sacraments, especially in Confession
and in the Eucharist; she communicates the Word of God to us, she lets us live
in charity, in the love of God for all. Let us ask ourselves then, will we let
ourselves be sanctified? Are we a Church that calls and welcomes sinners with
open arms, that gives courage and hope, or are we a Church closed in on
herself? Are we a Church where the love of God dwells, where one cares for the
other, where one prays for the others?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPeFUF5lJsGgU9ol5lqU3KL6p9k8Kewa5Kg8V7cpJZ92qeku26p9ZbNvTgblnA0ntt-Qg7vq1RVQ6eOdF8lXecnJxYtTTC2WCZ-swIVbsAsngZfVGTbMN3BC4bw8OLFpl84fG6x_DBMs/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPeFUF5lJsGgU9ol5lqU3KL6p9k8Kewa5Kg8V7cpJZ92qeku26p9ZbNvTgblnA0ntt-Qg7vq1RVQ6eOdF8lXecnJxYtTTC2WCZ-swIVbsAsngZfVGTbMN3BC4bw8OLFpl84fG6x_DBMs/s1600/images.jpg" height="210" width="320" /></a>3. A final question: what can I, a weak fragile sinner, do?
God says to you: do not be afraid of holiness, do not be afraid to aim high, to
let yourself be loved and purified by God, do not be afraid to let yourself be
guided by the Holy Spirit. Let us be infected by the holiness of God. Every
Christian is called to sanctity (cf. Dogmatic Constitution <i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html">Lumen
Gentium</a></i>, nn. 19-42); and sanctity does not consist especially in doing
extraordinary things, but in allowing God to act. It is the meeting of our
weakness with the strength of his grace, it is having faith in his action that
allows us to live in charity, to do everything with joy and humility, for the
glory of God and as a service to our neighbour. There is a celebrated saying by
the French writer Léon Bloy, who in the last moments of his life, said: “The
only real sadness in life is not becoming a saint”. Let us not lose the hope of
holiness, let us follow this path. Do we want to be saints? The Lord awaits us,
with open arms; he waits to accompany us on the path to sanctity. Let us live
in the joy of our faith, let us allow ourselves to be loved by the Lord... let
us ask for this gift from God in prayer, for ourselves and for others.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<b><br /></b></div>
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RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-67824994259913901312013-09-26T03:47:00.000-07:002013-09-26T03:47:19.182-07:00The Church: Unity in Diversity, Which is Harmony<div style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Church: Unity in Diversity, Which is Harmony</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">General audience, September 25, 2013</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15.555556297302246px;">The unity of the Church, dispersed around the world, was the theme chosen by Pope Francis for his catechesis during yesterday's general audience in which over 40,000 people participated. “In the Creed”, he said, “we profess our faith in the Church, which is one, and this Church is in itself unity … even though it spreads across all the continents.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unity in faith, in hope, in charity, in the sacraments and the ministry, are “like the pillars that support and hold together the single great edifice of the Church. Wherever we go, even in the smallest parish, in the furthest corners of this earth, there is the One Church; we are at home, we are with our family, we are brothers and sisters. And this is a great gift from God! The Church is One for all. There is not one Church for Europeans, one for Africans, one for Americans, one for Asians, one for those who live in Oceania, but she is the same everywhere. And the Church is just like a family: the members may be far away, spread around the world, but the strong bonds that unite us all hold firm regardless of the distance.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Pope recalled that during the recent World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, which brought together so many cultures and languages, from so many places of origin, there was nonetheless a “profound unity, which formed a single Church, in whom all were united, and this could be felt”. “Let each one of us ask: do I feel this unity? Do I live this unity? Or am I not interested, am I one of those who would 'privatize' the Church for their own group, their own nation, their own friends? It is sad to encounter a privatized Church, as this form of selfishness indicates a lack of faith. Do we pray for each other? I wonder how many of you you pray for persecuted Christians, for those brothers or those sisters who suffer as a consequence of their faith? It is important to look over one's own fence, to feel part of the Church, of the single family of God."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pope Francis then went on to ask whether there were any casualties of this unity, whether it could inflict harm, since “at times there arise misunderstandings, conflicts, tensions and divisions, which cause harm and then the Church does not have the face we would like, she does not manifest her charity, as God would want. We create those lacerations! And if we look at the divisions that still exist between Christians - Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants – we become aware of the effort that it takes to make this unity fully visible.” The Pope explained that although “God gives us unity,” we sometimes find it difficult to manifest it in our lives. “It is necessary to seek, to build communion, to educate in communion, to overcome misunderstandings and divisions. … Our world needs unity, reconciliation and communion, and the Church is the Home of Communion."</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1_EfMrQEY-UgOnIh2xF6jG5DKxoNlu25WIl8PfoBOOjqoEMj7_onzvTRhBdNlIJxOd_7BqRKGj3gWYf2IoD8ZWX4mLFShZCsBIp9f8edf9VvlSPwHVRKQA5oFhxZE2MZeowu8V1SjjA/s1600/images+%25287%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1_EfMrQEY-UgOnIh2xF6jG5DKxoNlu25WIl8PfoBOOjqoEMj7_onzvTRhBdNlIJxOd_7BqRKGj3gWYf2IoD8ZWX4mLFShZCsBIp9f8edf9VvlSPwHVRKQA5oFhxZE2MZeowu8V1SjjA/s1600/images+%25287%2529.jpg" height="253" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Quoting St. Paul to the Ephesians, the Pope reiterated that in order to conserve unity it is necessary to have “humility, gentleness, magnanimity and love,” but this is not primarily the result of our consent or efforts, but rather comes from the Holy Spirit, which continually recreates the Church and creates “unity in diversity, which is harmony.” The Holy Father concluded by asking the Lord, as in the prayer of St. Francis, to help us never to become instruments of division, but rather to bring love where there is hate, forgiveness where there is injury and union where there is discord.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(translation from VIS)</span></div>
RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-87566468250416584622013-09-25T23:37:00.003-07:002013-09-25T23:37:41.057-07:00<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Britannic Bold","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Pope Francis Makes a Pastoral Visit to Cagliari<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Britannic Bold","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">September 22, 2013<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Britannic Bold","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On September
22, 2013, the Holy Father made a pastoral visit to Cagliari, found on the
island of Sardegna, Italy. He met with
the workers, with the poor and the inmates, with a group of cloistered sisters,
with the world of culture, and ended his visit with an audience for the young
people. In the square of the Shrine of
Our Lady of Bonaria, the Holy Father celebrated Mass, followed by a brief <i>Angelus</i> message to those present. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> In his message to the young people, he gave a brief
glimpse into his own personal call 60 years to-the-day prior. Pope Francis recounted that he was 17-years
old when he first heard God’s call, and he has never forgotten it. He encouraged young people to not be afraid
to follow Christ. He acknowledged the
disappointment young people experience when they enter a Church that is dull
and stagnant, and he encouraged them to not lose hope, that it is a terrible
thing to lose faith. To be hopeful is to
be young! He urged them to not sell
their youth for things that bring death.
Repeating several times emphatically, Pope Francis encouraged the youth
to trust in Jesus Christ. “Open yourselves
to God, open yourselves to one another!”
At the end of his message, he remembered those 70 who died in Pakistan
during that day and asked for prayers.
As always, he concluded by invoking the Blessed Mother and by asking
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RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-46943508989632626372013-09-18T06:25:00.000-07:002013-09-18T06:25:00.209-07:00The Church is a merciful mother<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">General Audience: September 18, 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Church as mother was again the theme chosen by Pope Francis for today's catechesis at the <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_900571629" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Wednesday</span></span> general audience. “I like this image a lot, as it seems to me that it tells us not only how the Church is, but also shows us the face the Church, this Church of ours, should increasingly show," he explained.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Pope began by considering what a mother does for her children. First of all, “she teaches us how to proceed in life … she orients us, she always tries to show us the right path in life in order to grow and become adults. And she does this with tenderness, with affection, with love, always – even when she tries to correct our path because we lose our way a little or take routes that might lead us to a fall.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“The Church does likewise: she orients our lives, she offers us instruction on how to walk in the right way. Think of the ten Commandments: they show us the route to follow if we are to mature, fixing certain cardinal points in our behavior. And these are the fruits of tenderness, of the very love that God gives us. You might say to me: but these are commandments! They are a list of negatives! I would like to invite you to read them, … and then think about them positively. You will see that they concern our way of behaving towards God, towards ourselves and towards others, just as a mother teaches us how to live well. They remind us not to make material idols for ourselves, which then turn us into slaves; to remember God; to respect our parents; to be honest; to respect others … Try to see them in this way and consider them as if they were the words and teachings a mother gives us in order to take a good path through life. A mother never teaches anything that is bad, she wants only what is best for her children, and the same is true of the Church.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Secondly, “when a child grows and becomes an adult … and assumes his responsibilities … he does what he wants, and at times, he may happen to stray away from the path. … A mother always, in every situation, has the patience to continue to accompany her children. She is animated by the strength of love … and even when [her children] make mistakes, she always finds a way of understanding them … to help them. We say that a mother 'stands up and is counted' for her own children; that is, she always seeks to defend them.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“The Church is the same: she is a merciful mother who understands, who always tries to help, to give encouragement even when her children have made mistakes or continue to do so. She never closes the doors of her house to them: she does not judge, but rather offers God's forgiveness, she offers her love to invite her children to return to the right path and even when they have fallen into the deepest abyss, the Church is not afraid to enter into their darkest night with them in order to give them hope; the Church is not afraid to enter into our night when our soul and conscience are surrounded by darkness, to give us hope! Because the Church is our mother!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally, “a mother also knows how to ask, to knock on every door for her children, without calculation but with love. And I think of how mothers know, most of all, how to knock on God's door! Mothers pray a lot for their own children, especially for those … most in need, whose lives have taken dangerous or mistaken paths. … The Church does likewise: through prayer, she places the lives of all her children in the hands of the Lord. Let us trust in the strength of prayer of the Mother Church: the Lord never remains indifferent. He always knows how to astonish us when we least expect us. The Mother Church knows this!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“So, these are the thoughts I wanted to share with you today: we see in the Church a good mother who shows us the path to walk in life, who is always patient, merciful and understanding, and knows how to place us in God's hands.”</span></div>
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RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-14368261874629129092013-09-17T11:41:00.001-07:002013-09-17T11:41:26.684-07:00Only love can fill the gaps<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">September 15, 2013</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sunday Angelus</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At midday today Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in a St. Peter's Square full of umbrellas owing to the heavy rainfall in Rome. The Pope commented on today's Gospel reading which contained the three parables of mercy: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the story of the prodigal son.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“All these three parables”, he said, “speak of the joy of God. God is joyful! The joy of God is the joy of forgiveness. … It is the joy of the shepherd who finds his lost sheep; the joy of the woman who finds her lost coin; the joy of the father who welcomes home his lost son. ... This is all the Gospel, here; this is Christianity! But this is not sentimentalism or bland 'do-goodism'; … on the contrary, mercy is the true force that can save man and the world from the 'cancer' of sin, from moral and spiritual malaise. Only love can fill the gaps, the negative abysses that evil opens up in our hearts and in history. Only love can do this, and this is the joy of God. … Each one of us is that lost sheep, that lost coin; each one of us is the lost son who has squandered his freedom following false idols, mirages of happiness, and has lost everything”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“But God does not forget us, our Father never abandons us. He is a patient father, he always awaits us! He respects our freedom, but always remains faithful. And when we return to Him, He welcomes us as His children, in His house, because He never ceases to wait for us, not even for a moment, with love. And His heart rejoices for every son who returns. It is a celebration, as it is joy. God is joyful when each sinner returns to Him and asks his forgiveness”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“The danger is that we presume we are right, and so judge others”, continued the Pope. “We also judge God, as we think He should punish sinners and condemn them to death, instead of forgiving them. This way we risk remaining outside our Father's house, like the elder brother in the parable, who instead of rejoicing in his brother's return, is angry with his father for welcoming him and celebrating. If there is no mercy in our hearts, if we do not experience the joy of forgiveness, we are not in communion with God, even if we observe all the commandments, because it is love that saves, not the simple observance of rules. It is in love for God and for our neighbour that the commandments are fulfilled."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxApqDVhRqA7msOjCp2wd2PzaLLFnIEOAhOYjGCU7I1N0MzMbQLRJ7WcYzpqlbC9ya8eFYuZq_N8KeVrBRxaPUvF9yh7O1enGZtOqABZVyLZb5sdf8nhi2gkQ1BYRoH6QYkR6JkLtOwes/s1600/Pope-Angelus-473x315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxApqDVhRqA7msOjCp2wd2PzaLLFnIEOAhOYjGCU7I1N0MzMbQLRJ7WcYzpqlbC9ya8eFYuZq_N8KeVrBRxaPUvF9yh7O1enGZtOqABZVyLZb5sdf8nhi2gkQ1BYRoH6QYkR6JkLtOwes/s1600/Pope-Angelus-473x315.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“If we live according to the law of 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth', we will never escape from the spiral of evil. The devil is cunning; he deludes us that with our human justice we can save ourselves and the world. In reality, only God's justice can save us! It is God's justice that is revealed to us on the Cross: the Cross is God's judgement on us and on the world. But how does God judge us? By giving His life for us! Here is the supreme act of justice that defeats the Prince of this world once and for all; and this supreme act of justice is precisely also the supreme act of mercy. Jesus calls all of us to follow this path: 'Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.'"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Francis concluded by asking all those present to think of “a person we aren't happy with, someone we are angry with, someone we don't like. Let us think about that person and, in silence, for a moment, let us pray for that person and become merciful towards him or her."</span></div>
RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-80800477445181419342013-09-12T06:30:00.003-07:002013-09-12T06:30:53.206-07:00We are all the Church<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15.555556297302246px; text-align: justify;">
September 12, 2013</div>
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In yesterday's general audience, Pope Francis continued his catechesis on the Church, turning to the theme of maternity:</div>
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“Among the images that the Vatican Council II chose to help us better understand the nature of the Church, there is that of the 'mother': the Church is our mother in faith and in the supernatural life. For me it is the most beautiful image of the Church: the Church as mother. In what sense and how is the Church a mother? Let us begin with the human reality of maternity”.</div>
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“First and foremost a mother gives life, she carries her child in the womb for nine months and then introduces him to life – she generates him. The Church does likewise: she generates us in faith, by the work of the Holy Spirit who renders her fruitful, like the Virgin Mary. Certainly, faith is a personal act … but we receive faith from others, in a family, in a community that teaches me to say 'I believe', 'we believe'. A Christian is not an island! We do not become Christians alone and by our own efforts, but rather faith is a gift from God that is given in and through the Church. And the Church gives us life in Baptism: that is, the moment in which she enables us to be born as children of God, the moment in which she gives us life in God, in which she generates us as a mother. … This permits us to understand something very important: our participation in the Church is not an external or formal fact, it is not a question of filling out a form, but is instead an internal and vital act. One does not belong to the Church in the same way as one belongs to a society, a team or any other organisation. It is a living bond, like that one has with one's own mother as … the Church is truly the mother of all Christians”.</div>
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“A mother does not limit herself to giving life, but rather with great care helps her children to grow; she gives them milk, she nurtures them, she shows them the path of life, she accompanies them … she also knows how to correct them, to forgive, to understand; she knows how to be close to them in times of illness and suffering. In short, a good mother helps her children to come out of themselves, not to stay comfortably tucked under the maternal wing. … The Church, like a good mother, does the same thing: she accompanies our growth by transmitting to us the Word of God, which is a light that illuminates the path of Christian life, in administering the Sacraments. She nourishes us with the Eucharist, she brings us God's forgiveness through the Sacrament of Penance, she supports us in times of sickness through the Anointing of the Sick. The Church accompanies us in all our life in faith, in all our Christian life”.</div>
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Francis concluded by remarking that in the first centuries of the Church, it was very clearly understood that “the Church, while she is the mother of Christians, while she 'makes' Christians, is also 'made up' of Christians. The Church is not something apart from us, but is rather the entire body of believers, as the 'we' of Christians: I, you, we are all part of the Church. So, we all experience the maternity of the Church, both pastors and faithful. At times I hear: 'I believe in God but not in the Church … I've heard that the Church says … that priests say...”. Priests are one thing, but the Church is not made up solely of priests – we are all the Church! And if you say that you believe in God but you do not believe in the Church, you are saying that you do not believe in yourself, which is a contradiction. We are all the Church: from the recently baptized child to the bishops, to the Pope; we are all Church, and we are all equal in the eyes of God. We are all called to collaborate in the birth of faith in new Christians, we are all called upon to be educators in faith, to proclaim the Gospel. ... We all participate in the maternity of the Church … we are all the Church … so that the light of Christ may illuminate the furthest reaches of the Earth. Long live the Holy Mother Church!</div>
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RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-4365803843479621012013-09-09T11:33:00.002-07:002013-09-09T11:33:54.941-07:00The search for peace<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">
Angelus September 8, 2013</div>
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Pope Francis, following Saturday's fast and prayer vigil for peace in Syria, the Middle East and all over the world, returned to the theme of peace during the Angelus the next day. </div>
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He commented on the Gospel reading in which Jesus states the condition for his disciples: to put nothing before their love for Him, carrying their cross, and following him. T<span style="font-size: 16px;">he Holy Father explained that many people approached Jesus, especially in the wake of some prodigious dream, that indicated Him as the Messiah, the King of Israel. But Jesus knows that in Jerusalem the cross awaits Him and does not wish to create illusions; he knows that the path will lead him to sacrifice Himself for the redemption of our sins. “Following Jesus does not mean taking part in a triumphal parade!” the Pope said. “It means sharing in His merciful love, becoming part of His great mission of mercy towards each and every man. … And this universal forgiveness, this mercy, comes through the cross. Jesus does not want to carry out this mission alone: He wants to involve us too, in the mission that the Father entrusted to Him. ... A disciple of Jesus gives up all his or her goods, because he or she has found in Him the greatest Good, within which every other asset receives its true worth and meaning: family relations, other relationships, work, cultural and economic wealth, and so forth.”</span></div>
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To explain his demand, Jesus uses the parable of the king who, before leaving to go to war, would surely first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to his adversary, who was advancing against him with twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for peace. “Here Jesus doesn’t want to discuss war – it is only a parable” commented the Holy Father. “But at this moment in time, when we are praying intensely for peace, this Word of the Lord affects us profoundly, and fundamentally it says: there’s a deeper war we must fight, all of us! It is the strong and brave decision to renounce evil and its seductions, and to choose good, fully prepared to pay personally: that is, following Christ, and taking up our cross! It is a profound war against evil! What is the point of fighting wars, many wars, if you are not capable of fighting this deeper war against evil? There’s no point!”</div>
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He continued, “This war against evil means saying no to fratricidal hatred, and to the lies that it uses; saying no to violence in all its forms; saying no to the proliferation of arms and their sale on the black market. There are so many of them! And the doubt always remains: this war over there, this other war over there – because there are wars everywhere – is it really a war over problems, or is it a commercial war, to sell these arms on the black market? These are the enemies we must fight, united and coherent, following no other interests but those of peace and of the common good.”</div>
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The Pope concluded by mentioning that today we remember the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, a celebration particularly beloved by the Oriental Churches. “All of us, now, can send our warm greetings to all the brothers, sisters, bishops, monks, nuns of the Oriental Churches, Orthodox and Catholic. … Jesus is the sun, Mary is the first light that announces its dawning. Yesterday evening we kept vigil, calling on Her intercession in our prayer for peace in the world, especially in Syria and in the whole of the Middle East. We invoke Her now as Queen of Peace. Queen of Peace, pray for us!”</div>
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(translation from VIS)</div>
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After the Angelus, the Holy Father added the following words:</div>
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“I would like to thank everyone who, in various ways, joined in the Vigil of Prayer and Fasting yesterday evening. I thank the many people who united the offering of their sufferings. I express my gratitude to the civil authorities, as well as to the members of other Christian communities and of other religions, and to men and women of good will who have undertaken, on this occasion, periods of prayer, fasting and reflection.”</div>
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“But the task remains: we move forward with prayer and works of peace. I invite you to continue to pray so that the violence and devastation in Syria may cease immediately and that a renewed effort be undertaken to achieve a just solution to this fratricidal conflict. Let us pray also for other countries in the Middle East, in particular for Lebanon, that it may find its hoped-for stability and continue to be a model of peaceful co-existence; for Iraq, that sectarian violence may give way to reconciliation; and that the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians may proceed with determination and courage. Finally, let us pray for Egypt, that all Egyptians, Muslims and Christians, may commit themselves to build up together a society dedicated to the good of the whole population."</div>
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“The search for peace is long and demands patience and perseverance! Let us keep praying for this!”</div>
RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-58150866792293403882013-09-07T12:46:00.002-07:002013-09-07T12:46:45.587-07:00Prayer Vigil for Peace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8uwnq2056KuXbPreu6GSJv-Imwavsva-bkWTNRnumooJc5sbzfeqxorUdScHOVU7F3iGF3uzThF-vFKWi-f_PnR3f7LSzDjjMJrNq_PhZ5nvVwCFrEEa6n5GVmgIgiJzhxnzrxBkU-dU/s1600/banners-vigilia-orac-EN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8uwnq2056KuXbPreu6GSJv-Imwavsva-bkWTNRnumooJc5sbzfeqxorUdScHOVU7F3iGF3uzThF-vFKWi-f_PnR3f7LSzDjjMJrNq_PhZ5nvVwCFrEEa6n5GVmgIgiJzhxnzrxBkU-dU/s1600/banners-vigilia-orac-EN.jpg" height="160" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #343434; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-top: 2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span id="content2" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis at the Vigil of Prayer and Fasting in Saint Peter's Square, Saturday 7 September 2013<br style="content: ' '; display: block; margin-bottom: 1.5em;" />“And God saw that it was good” (Gen 1:12, 18, 21, 25). The biblical account of the beginning of the history of the world and of humanity speaks to us of a God who looks at creation, in a sense contemplating it, and declares: “It is good”. This allows us to enter into God’s heart and, precisely from within him, to receive his message. We can ask ourselves: what does this message mean? What does it say to me, to you, to all of us?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #343434; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-top: 2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span id="content2" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It says to us simply that this, our world, in the heart and mind of God, is the “house of harmony and peace”, and that it is the space in which everyone is able to find their proper place and feel “at home”, because it is “good”. All of creation forms a harmonious and good unity, but above all humanity, made in the image and likeness of God, is one family, in which relationships are marked by a true fraternity not only in words: the other person is a brother or sister to love, and our relationship with God, who is love, fidelity and goodness, mirrors every human relationship and brings harmony to the whole of creation. God’s world is a world where everyone feels responsible for the other, for the good of the other. This evening, in reflection, fasting and prayer, each of us deep down should ask ourselves: Is this really the world that I desire? Is this really the world that we all carry in our hearts? Is the world that we want really a world of harmony and peace, in ourselves, in our relations with others, in families, in cities, in and between nations? And does not true freedom mean choosing ways in this world that lead to the good of all and are guided by love?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #343434; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-top: 2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span id="content2" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But then we wonder: Is this the world in which we are living? Creation retains its beauty which fills us with awe and it remains a good work. But there is also “violence, division, disagreement, war”. This occurs when man, the summit of creation, stops contemplating beauty and goodness, and withdraws into his own selfishness. When man thinks only of himself, of his own interests and places himself in the centre, when he permits himself to be captivated by the idols of dominion and power, when he puts himself in God’s place, then all relationships are broken and everything is ruined; then the door opens to violence, indifference, and conflict. This is precisely what the passage in the Book of Genesis seeks to teach us in the story of the Fall: man enters into conflict with himself, he realizes that he is naked and he hides himself because he is afraid (cf. Gen 3: 10), he is afraid of God’s glance; he accuses the woman, she who is flesh of his flesh (cf. v. 12); he breaks harmony with creation, he begins to raise his hand against his brother to kill him. Can we say that from harmony he passes to “disharmony”? No, there is no such thing as “disharmony”; there is either harmony or we fall into chaos, where there is violence, argument, conflict, fear ....</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #343434; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-top: 2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span id="content2" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br style="content: ' '; display: block; margin-bottom: 1.5em;" />It is exactly in this chaos that God asks man’s conscience: “Where is Abel your brother?” and Cain responds: “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen 4:9). We too are asked this question, it would be good for us to ask ourselves as well: Am I really my brother’s keeper? Yes, you are your brother’s keeper! To be human means to care for one another! But when harmony is broken, a metamorphosis occurs: the brother who is to be cared for and loved becomes an adversary to fight, to kill. What violence occurs at that moment, how many conflicts, how many wars have marked our history! We need only look at the suffering of so many brothers and sisters. This is not a question of coincidence, but the truth: we bring about the rebirth of Cain in every act of violence and in every war. All of us! And even today we continue this history of conflict between brothers, even today we raise our hands against our brother. Even today, we let ourselves be guided by idols, by selfishness, by our own interests, and this attitude persists. We have perfected our weapons, our conscience has fallen asleep, and we have sharpened our ideas to justify ourselves. As if it were normal, we continue to sow destruction, pain, death! Violence and war lead only to death, they speak of death! Violence and war are the language of death!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #343434; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-top: 2em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span id="content2" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At this point I ask myself: Is it possible to change direction? Can we get out of this spiral of sorrow and death? Can we learn once again to walk and live in the ways of peace? Invoking the help of God, under the maternal gaze of the Salus Populi Romani, Queen of Peace, I say: Yes, it is possible for everyone! From every corner of the world tonight, I would like to hear us cry out: Yes, it is possible for everyone! Or even better, I would like for each one of us, from the least to the greatest, including those called to govern nations, to respond: Yes, we want it! My Christian faith urges me to look to the Cross. How I wish that all men and women of good will would look to the Cross if only for a moment! There, we can see God’s reply: violence is not answered with violence, death is not answered with the language of death. In the silence of the Cross, the uproar of weapons ceases and the language of reconciliation, forgiveness, dialogue, and peace is spoken. This evening, I ask the Lord that we Christians, and our brothers and sisters of other religions, and every man and woman of good will, cry out forcefully: violence and war are never the way to peace! Let everyone be moved to look into the depths of his or her conscience and listen to that word which says: Leave behind the self-interest that hardens your heart, overcome the indifference that makes your heart insensitive towards others, conquer your deadly reasoning, and open yourself to dialogue and reconciliation. Look upon your brother’s sorrow and do not add to it, stay your hand, rebuild the harmony that has been shattered; and all this achieved not by conflict but by encounter! May the noise of weapons cease! War always marks the failure of peace, it is always a defeat for humanity. Let the words of Pope Paul VI resound again: “No more one against the other, no more, never! ... war never again, never again war!” (Address to the United Nations, 1965). “Peace expresses itself only in peace, a peace which is not separate from the demands of justice but which is fostered by personal sacrifice, clemency, mercy and love” (World Day of Peace Message, 1975). Forgiveness, dialogue, reconciliation – these are the words of peace, in beloved Syria, in the Middle East, in all the world! Let us pray for reconciliation and peace, let us work for reconciliation and peace, and let us all become, in every place, men and women of reconciliation and peace! Amen.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXz4cOl9TKnOeldrr_MD1T0ZIz67QSHX28jhIFDWJ09Cr-UjaINDRBrRfT_oY4dMQGG2uYVO7HszPxtdtgNW5lvefNnotruF5zVCaQH77f4hCb-HIA5Rxc6-WheqRXDcvFDQO1939WX0/s1600/virtualprayervigil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXz4cOl9TKnOeldrr_MD1T0ZIz67QSHX28jhIFDWJ09Cr-UjaINDRBrRfT_oY4dMQGG2uYVO7HszPxtdtgNW5lvefNnotruF5zVCaQH77f4hCb-HIA5Rxc6-WheqRXDcvFDQO1939WX0/s1600/virtualprayervigil.jpg" height="208" width="320" /></a></div>
RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-64152378598548119012013-09-06T12:48:00.000-07:002013-09-07T01:05:33.599-07:00Rio recap and a call to prayer for Syria<div style="text-align: left;">
September 6, 2013</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUFtPV3TLPpDByMl42akZ3YcnqSZDAgqyCDMYszOp5RWuOSCaIC7AvnqyhKOtAeH3gttGB0MS3oAds8DLNayEEH-ckpIrNwnkMtgOJwS7V18xTPG47mQeEZUzjO0IKoHocGgP9KTZp_c/s1600/pope-francis1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUFtPV3TLPpDByMl42akZ3YcnqSZDAgqyCDMYszOp5RWuOSCaIC7AvnqyhKOtAeH3gttGB0MS3oAds8DLNayEEH-ckpIrNwnkMtgOJwS7V18xTPG47mQeEZUzjO0IKoHocGgP9KTZp_c/s1600/pope-francis1.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: right;">Welcome back to the Wednesday audiences with Pope Francis! Here is a quick summary of the audience from September 4th:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDhFXUGUW9Gwt7KuM-J1du1MJqFEgQsEZQMyOyoMnbIP3-BYnb7K-YvrPNnKCKEJ1DJya5aXsIvsCkFgmHZr7iP7qvdA9A4ECMy5TCI7sSczowqBFrybscpPKonQmlCTiL9W5awSj9OVc/s1600/044ee88b-7521-365e-83f5-c043b96a8bbb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDhFXUGUW9Gwt7KuM-J1du1MJqFEgQsEZQMyOyoMnbIP3-BYnb7K-YvrPNnKCKEJ1DJya5aXsIvsCkFgmHZr7iP7qvdA9A4ECMy5TCI7sSczowqBFrybscpPKonQmlCTiL9W5awSj9OVc/s1600/044ee88b-7521-365e-83f5-c043b96a8bbb.jpg" height="209" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Segoe, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Dear Brothers and Sisters: today I would like to speak about my recent </span><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/travels/2013/papa-francesco-gmg-rio-de-janeiro-2013_en.htm" style="background-color: white; color: #663300; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Segoe, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">visit to Brazil for World Youth Day</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Segoe, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">. As someone from the Americas, I thank the Lord who in his providence gave me this beautiful gift! I also thank Our Lady of Aparecida for her constant presence. Reiterating my thanks to the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, I want to say how wonderful the Brazilians are! There are three words I would use to describe my visit: welcome, celebration and mission. The World Youth day was firstly characterized by the welcome extended to all of us; every visit has its challenges, but they can be transformed by a great welcome. Next, celebration: the culmination of World Youth Day is experienced when we praise the Lord, listen to his word and adore him in silence. The third element is mission: Our Lord said “Go […] and make disciples of all nations”. Then he added, “I am with you always”. This is essential! It is only </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Segoe, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">with</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Segoe, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> Christ that we can bring the Gospel to others. Welcome, celebration, mission: may these words not simply remind us of Rio, but be a source of inspiration for our lives and communities.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As you know, the Holy Father has asked for a day of prayer and fasting tomorrow, September 7th, in petition for peace in Syria and in solidarity with the victims of war there. Let us all join together in prayer, in whatever way we can, asking the Lord for peace and to console those suffering the terrible effects of this war. I'll send you an update from the prayer vigil in Saint Peter's Square, which will take place from 7:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. tomorrow evening. Churches all over the world are participating (see for example the program in the <a href="http://www.news.va/en/news/holy-land-joins-pope-francis-day-of-prayer-for-pea">Holy Land</a>); let our voices and prayers unite for peace!</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px;">Another other important message that you may want to read is the Holy Father's telegram to Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the conflict in Syria. The following translation is from the VIS:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16px;">“In today’s highly interdependent context, a global financial framework with its own just and clear rules is required in order to achieve a more equitable and fraternal world, in which it is possible to overcome hunger, ensure decent employment and housing for all, as well as essential healthcare. Your presidency of the G20 this year has committed itself to consolidating the reform of the international financial organizations and to achieving a consensus on financial standards suited to today’s circumstances. However, the world economy will only develop if it allows a dignified way of life for all human beings, from the eldest to the unborn child, not just for citizens of the G20 member states but for every inhabitant of the earth, even those in extreme social situations or in the remotest places.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gso3wquWUr3_1hsR1Y0WuifIInfKwsccN3fKHQLmmxE9Thk07yMKaPS6Y8qqou1sJb1JTrVuk5LLohMnTqUcgsnsFBw9qLtAU_ejUSHiPq9UDtAFF7_P3kvspbr0m4IHWf8YvvddDaY/s1600/syrian_women_protest_532-e1375653216516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9gso3wquWUr3_1hsR1Y0WuifIInfKwsccN3fKHQLmmxE9Thk07yMKaPS6Y8qqou1sJb1JTrVuk5LLohMnTqUcgsnsFBw9qLtAU_ejUSHiPq9UDtAFF7_P3kvspbr0m4IHWf8YvvddDaY/s1600/syrian_women_protest_532-e1375653216516.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a>“From this standpoint, it is clear that, for the world’s peoples, armed conflicts are always a <span style="background-color: transparent;">deliberate negation of international harmony, and create profound divisions and deep wounds which require many years to heal. Wars are a concrete refusal to pursue the great economic and social goals that the international community has set itself, as seen, for example, in the Millennium Development Goals. Unfortunately, the many armed conflicts which continue to afflict the world today present us daily with dramatic images of misery, hunger, illness and death. Without peace, there can be no form of economic development. Violence never begets peace, the necessary condition for development.</span></div>
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“The meeting of the Heads of State and Government of the twenty most powerful economies, with two-thirds of the world’s population and ninety per cent of global GDP, does not have international security as its principal purpose. Nevertheless, the meeting will surely not forget the situation in the Middle East and particularly in Syria. It is regrettable that, from the very beginning of the conflict in Syria, one-sided interests have prevailed and in fact hindered the search for a solution that would have avoided the senseless massacre now unfolding. The leaders of the G20 cannot remain indifferent to the dramatic situation of the beloved Syrian people which has lasted far too long, and even risks bringing greater suffering to a region bitterly tested by strife and needful of peace. To the leaders present, to each and every one, I make a heartfelt appeal for them to help find ways to overcome the conflicting positions and to lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution. Rather, let there be a renewed commitment to seek, with courage and determination, a peaceful solution through dialogue and negotiation of the parties, unanimously supported by the international community. Moreover, all governments have the moral duty to do everything possible to ensure humanitarian assistance to those suffering because of the conflict, both within and beyond the country’s borders”.</div>
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The Pope concluded by assuring his prayers for the successful outcome of the G20's work and asked the president to pray for him.</div>
RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-77917895123436180712013-09-02T05:51:00.001-07:002013-09-02T05:51:20.993-07:00Pope calls for day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Californian FB","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hello and blessed Labor
Day! Yesterday, in Saint Peter’s Square,
Pope Francis gave a grave <i>Angelus</i>
message for those present in the Square and for the whole world. He addressed very seriously and with deep
concern the current violence and brutality occurring in Syria, particularly the
use of chemical weapons against civilians.
He addressed the real need for peace, peace among cultures and peace in
each heart. War only begets war, the
Pope urges. Each person is responsible
for building peace; each person is responsible for pursuing it, promoting it
and protecting it wherever they are. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>In
his urgent plea, Pope Francis is calling the whole Church and the whole world
to participate in a Day of Fasting and Penance on September 7, 2013, the vigil
of the Nativity of Mary, Queen of Peace.
In Saint Peter’s Square, there will be a vigil from 7:00pm to 12:00am. He is also calling each local Church to
participate, as well as all Christians and men and women of good will. Gathering together in a spirit of penance and
prayer, the intention is to invoke God’s great gift of peace upon Syria and all
places of experiencing war and violence.
</b><b><span style="font-family: "Californian FB","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Californian FB","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Let
us ask Mary to help us to respond to violence, to conflict and to war, with the
power of dialogue, reconciliation and love. She is our mother: may she help us
to find peace; all of us are her children! Help us, Mary, to overcome this most difficult
moment and to dedicate ourselves each day to building in every situation an
authentic culture of encounter and peace.
Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!”</span></i></div>
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RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-39374060425080869412013-08-22T11:40:00.000-07:002013-08-22T11:41:34.131-07:00Following Jesus is not neutral...<div align="center" style="background-color: white; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Segoe, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">
<span style="color: #663300;">POPE FRANCIS</span></div>
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<span style="color: #663300; font-size: medium;"><b><i>ANGELUS</i></b></span><i><span style="color: #663300;"><b> </b></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #663300;"><em>Saint Peter's Square<br />Sunday, 18 August 2013</em></span></div>
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<b><a href="http://player.rv.va/vaticanplayer.asp?language=it&tic=VA_6JNA4PUM" style="color: #663300;" target="_blank">Video</a></b></div>
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<i>Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!</i></div>
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In today’s liturgy we listen to these words from the Letter to the Hebrews: “Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Heb 12:1-2). We must give special emphasis to this affirmation in this <i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/special/annus_fidei/index_en.htm" style="color: #663300;">Year of Faith</a></i>. Let us too, throughout this Year, keep our gaze fixed on Jesus because faith, which is our “yes” to the filial relationship with God, comes from him, comes from Jesus. He is the only mediator of this relationship between us and our Father who is in heaven. Jesus is the Son and we are sons in him.</div>
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This Sunday, however, the word of God also contains a word of Jesus which alarms us and must be explained, for otherwise it could give rise to misunderstanding. Jesus says to his disciples: “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” (Lk 12:51). What does this mean? It means that faith is not a decorative or ornamental element; living faith does not mean decorating life with a little religion, as if it were a cake and we were decorating it with cream. No, this is not faith. Faith means choosing God as the criterion and basis of life, and God is not empty, God is not neutral, God is always positive, God is love, and love is positive! After Jesus has come into the world it is impossible to act as if we do not know God, or as if he were something that is abstract, empty, a purely nominal reference. No, God has a real face, he has a name: God is mercy, God is faithfulness, he is life which is given to us all. For this reason Jesus says “I came to bring division”. It is not that Jesus wishes to split people up. On the contrary Jesus is our peace, he is our reconciliation! But this peace is not the peace of the tomb, it is not neutrality, Jesus does not bring neutrality, this peace is not a compromise at all costs. Following Jesus entails giving up evil and selfishness and choosing good, truth and justice, even when this demands sacrifice and the renunciation of our own interests. And this indeed divides; as we know, it even cuts the closest ties. However, be careful: it is not Jesus who creates division! He establishes the criterion: whether to live for ourselves or to live for God and for others; to be served or to serve; to obey one’s own ego or to obey God. It is in this sense that Jesus is a “sign that is spoken against” (Lk 2:34).</div>
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This word of the Gospel does not therefore authorize the use of force to spread the faith. It is exactly the opposite: the Christian’s real force is the force of truth and of love, which involves renouncing all forms of violence. Faith and violence are incompatible! Instead, faith and strength go together. Christians are not violent; they are strong. And with what kind of strength? That of meekness, the strength of meekness, the strength of love.</div>
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Dear friends, even among Jesus’ relatives there were some who at a certain point did not share his way of life and preaching, as the Gospel tells us (cf. Mk 3:20-21). His Mother, however, always followed him faithfully, keeping the eyes of her heart fixed on Jesus, the Son of the Most High, and on his mystery. And in the end, thanks to Mary’s faith, Jesus’ relatives became part of the first Christian community (cf. Acts 1:14). Let us ask Mary to help us too to keep our gaze firmly fixed on Jesus and to follow him always, even when it costs what it may.</div>
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<b>After the Angelus</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ISDPdTcqzFan2nYanijK5x07l44x7yhLicA2aJPi8tFVqlhXs8mo1liHyC5xlsD_i58uUfznvluHukffYKMjttLuhF9QORYaHzhGu_uFtOYYB6IUaQfHJApJN6E0xvGFGK_QFWjBB5Q/s1600/Pope-Angelus-473x315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3ISDPdTcqzFan2nYanijK5x07l44x7yhLicA2aJPi8tFVqlhXs8mo1liHyC5xlsD_i58uUfznvluHukffYKMjttLuhF9QORYaHzhGu_uFtOYYB6IUaQfHJApJN6E0xvGFGK_QFWjBB5Q/s1600/Pope-Angelus-473x315.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>Remember this: following Jesus is not neutral, following Jesus means being involved, because faith is not a superficial decoration, it is a strength of the soul!</div>
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Dear brothers and sisters, I greet you all with affection, Romans and pilgrims: families, parish groups, young people....</div>
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I would like to ask you for a prayer for the victims of the ferry that sank in the Philippines, and also for the families... what great suffering!</div>
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Let us also continue to pray for peace in Egypt. All together: Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us! Everyone (<i>he repeats with the people</i>): Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!</div>
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I greet the Polish folk group who have come from Edmonton, Canada.</div>
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I address a special greeting to the youth from Brembilla — I see you! I can see you well! — near Bergamo, and I bless the torch that you will carry from Rome on foot to your town. And I also greet the young people from Altamura.</div>
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I wish you all a good Sunday and a good lunch! Goodbye!</div>
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(cited from <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/angelus/2013/documents/papa-francesco_angelus_20130818_en.html" style="background-color: transparent;">http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/angelus/2013/documents/papa-francesco_angelus_20130818_en.html</a> August 22, 2013)</div>
RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-76770429804733103522013-08-21T10:20:00.004-07:002013-08-21T10:20:50.600-07:00Desire to encounter Christ - Believe in the victory of loveAngelus: August 11, 2013<br />
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In the Angelus message on August 11, 2013, Pope Francis emphasized the desire that all of us have, sometimes hidden deep within us, to encounter Christ. The Gospel passage that prompted his reflections is Luke 12, 32-48, the key line being: <i>Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.</i><br />
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"In this passage, Jesus is walking towards Jerusalem with his disciples. The context is important, because Jesus is also walking towards his own Passion and Death on the cross. During this journey, Jesus is teaching his disciples what his own interior thoughts are. As he approaches his impending condemnation and death, he is emphasizing detachment from earthly good, trust in God's providence, and interior vigilance--the waiting and working that belongs to the Kingdom of God. For Jesus, this waiting is his return to the Father...for us, it is waiting for Christ himself. He will come to take us and bring us to the joy of heaven which never ends.<br />
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So, this Gospel is telling us that a Christian is someone who carries within himself a great and profound desire: to meet the Lord. And <i>where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.</i> Our heart is what desires, and all of us desire something. For us Christians, our desire to meet the Lord is also a desire for life, for joy, and for happiness, because Christ is and always will be all those things.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnHxESic_eTaM_QTyUTDkO_ldnH51d3a0t6v5Q2RyEGYenoKbGovObrY8KAic4y0i0IHsG_a4kag5VhIR0lYb3ku0TiKqpGhJOU64FqdU5Gamu2YR8-ft2Ys3TFVWLy2Axb5-VfDAzZ8/s1600/Pope-Angelus-473x315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnHxESic_eTaM_QTyUTDkO_ldnH51d3a0t6v5Q2RyEGYenoKbGovObrY8KAic4y0i0IHsG_a4kag5VhIR0lYb3ku0TiKqpGhJOU64FqdU5Gamu2YR8-ft2Ys3TFVWLy2Axb5-VfDAzZ8/s1600/Pope-Angelus-473x315.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>Do you have a heart that desires? Think about this and respond in silence, in your own heart. Do you have a desiring heart, or is your heart closed, asleep, or anesthetized? The second question is: <i>Where is your treasure?</i> What is the most important reality for you, the most precious thing, what attracts you more than anything else? Is it the love of God, to do goodness, to live for the Lord and for your brothers and sisters? Each of us must respond in his or her heart.<br />
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Someone may say to me, "But Father, I work all the time, I have a family--those are the most important things for me." Of course, yes, it's true that our family is important. But, what is it that keeps a family united? Isn't it love? And isn't God the one who sows love in our hearts? And the love of God is precisely what gives meaning to the daily, little sacrifices we make...and helps us to face the big ones.<br />
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This is the true treasure. But the "love of God"--what is it? It is not something vague, some generic sentiment. The love of God has a name and face: Jesus Christ. Jesus. The love of God is made manifest in Jesus. Because we cannot love air, can we? Do we love air? Do we love everything? No, you can't do it! We love people, and the person we love is Jesus. This love gives value and beauty to everything else; this is what makes our family strong, our work, our study, our friendships and art--all our human activities--it gives meaning to them. Our love for Jesus also gives meaning to the negative experiences because it--this love--allows us to go beyond the experience and not remain a prisoner of evil. The love of God opens us up to hope, to the final horizon of our pilgrimage. So the hard times and our falls, our sins, also have a meaning. God's love for us forgives us. He loves us so much he always forgives us."<br />
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SOLEMNITY<br />
OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #663300; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE;">HOMILY OF HIS
HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #663300; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE;">Castel Gandolfo,
15 August 2013<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Dear Brothers and Sisters!<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">At the end of its Constitution
on the Church, the Second Vatican Council left us a very beautiful meditation
on Mary Most Holy. Let me just recall the words referring to the mystery we
celebrate today: “the immaculate Virgin preserved free from all stain of
original sin, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when her earthly
life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things” (no. 59). Then
towards the end, there is: “the Mother of Jesus in the glory which she
possesses in body and soul in heaven is the image and the beginning of the
church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise, she shines
forth on earth, until the day of the Lord shall come” (no. 68). In the light of
this most beautiful image of our Mother, we are able to see the message of the
biblical readings that we have just heard. We can focus on three key words:
struggle, resurrection, hope. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizExcqKar-kdUxXq88Jte0r0x3vHDrnx9u5U2QTnRPC2A98l66bBnggUd05B1Zkkrjls-gMQVNfeJt-sNd8hstyqrrhDtWvJrzbQlUjB8aCHypJF7vCOtKvPHy95NHIS3wBgEgrdnDPIE/s1600/9514907483_8274dcbfa4_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizExcqKar-kdUxXq88Jte0r0x3vHDrnx9u5U2QTnRPC2A98l66bBnggUd05B1Zkkrjls-gMQVNfeJt-sNd8hstyqrrhDtWvJrzbQlUjB8aCHypJF7vCOtKvPHy95NHIS3wBgEgrdnDPIE/s1600/9514907483_8274dcbfa4_b.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The passage from Revelation
presents the vision of the <i>struggle</i> between the woman and the dragon.
The figure of the woman, representing the Church, is, on the one hand, glorious
and triumphant and yet, on the other, still in travail. And the Church is like
that: if in heaven she is already associated in some way with the glory of her
Lord, in history she continually lives through the trials and challenges which
the conflict between God and the evil one, the perennial enemy, brings. And in
the struggle which the disciples must confront – all of us, all the disciples
of Jesus, we must face this struggle - Mary does not leave them alone: the
Mother of Christ and of the Church is always with us. She walks with us always,
she is with us. And in a way, Mary shares this dual condition. She has of
course already entered, once and for all, into heavenly glory. But this does
not mean that she is distant or detached from us; rather Mary accompanies us,
struggles with us, sustains Christians in their fight against the forces of
evil. Prayer with Mary, especially the rosary – but listen carefully: the
Rosary. Do you pray the Rosary every day? But I’m not sure you do [the people
shout “Yes!”]… Really? Well, prayer with Mary, especially the Rosary, has this
“suffering” dimension, that is of struggle, a sustaining prayer in the battle
against the evil one and his accomplices. The Rosary also sustains us in the
battle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1T6PR4Qn-VnDmfKtTQnRb5SKs4WXN4U2Oj3ctU3omgqCzB1RaVOq_LvNBjIwWzqwB-BHh9eHyHA3mz9IsqwRbuL68jpkkg_aOAH1Tys_YFRcN-AAwIt9t_7dak6Qzbh2YqzZym7T-R3U/s1600/images+(3).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1T6PR4Qn-VnDmfKtTQnRb5SKs4WXN4U2Oj3ctU3omgqCzB1RaVOq_LvNBjIwWzqwB-BHh9eHyHA3mz9IsqwRbuL68jpkkg_aOAH1Tys_YFRcN-AAwIt9t_7dak6Qzbh2YqzZym7T-R3U/s1600/images+(3).jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The second reading speaks to
us of <i>resurrection</i>. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians,
insists that being Christian means believing that Christ is truly risen from
the dead. Our whole faith is based upon this fundamental truth which is not an
idea but an event. Even the mystery of Mary’s Assumption body and soul is fully
inscribed in the resurrection of Christ. The Mother’s humanity is “attracted”
by the Son in his own passage from death to life…. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Mary also experienced the
martyrdom of the Cross: the martyrdom of her heart, the martyrdom of her soul.
She lived her Son’s Passion to the depths of her soul. She was fully united to
him in his death, and so she was given the gift of resurrection. Christ is the
first fruits from the dead and Mary is the first of the redeemed, the first of
“those who are in Christ”. [...]</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBL_PhitFWyO6fmjRP3EVcKXVt5YSdIwseWJLM2DAFkJP1vb_Yxrr2Gvg0FZP9wsnlYwIgKljNf5o4SK8qGUmCGL65Vqfnw2dwY_8yEXNhDvs6znyb2zP_yrtdYs1NqhZdbvQXUnlSpe4/s1600/03825568.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBL_PhitFWyO6fmjRP3EVcKXVt5YSdIwseWJLM2DAFkJP1vb_Yxrr2Gvg0FZP9wsnlYwIgKljNf5o4SK8qGUmCGL65Vqfnw2dwY_8yEXNhDvs6znyb2zP_yrtdYs1NqhZdbvQXUnlSpe4/s1600/03825568.jpg" height="315" width="400" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The Gospel suggests to us the
third word: <i>hope</i>. Hope is the virtue of those who, experiencing conflict
– the struggle between life and death, good and evil – believe in the
resurrection of Christ, in the victory of love. We heard the Song of Mary, the <i>Magnificat:</i>
it is the song of hope, it is the song of the People of God walking through
history. It is the song many saints, men and women, some famous, and very many
others unknown to us but known to God: mums, dads, catechists, missionaries,
priests, sisters, young people, even children and grandparents: these have
faced the struggle of life while carrying in their heart the hope of the little
and the humble. […] For us Christians, wherever the Cross is, there is hope,
always. If there is no hope, we are not Christian. That is why I like to say:
do not allow yourselves to be robbed of hope. […] And Mary is always there,
near those communities, our brothers and sisters, she accompanies them, suffers
with them, and sings the <i>Magnificat</i> of hope with them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: DE; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Dear Brothers and Sisters,
with all our heart let us too unite ourselves to this song of patience and
victory, of struggle and joy, that unites the triumphant Church with the
pilgrim one, earth with heaven, and that joins our lives to the eternity
towards which we journey. Amen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">(cited on August 20<sup>th</sup>, 2013 from <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130815_omelia-assunzione_en.html)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3638883694779970904.post-22690147855898376612013-08-19T12:16:00.002-07:002013-08-19T12:16:27.772-07:00Confront the poison of emptiness with joy<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dear friends,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have a little catch-up to do, so please see below for the first installment of the last few Sunday messages from Pope Francis. Some of these are my own translations, so forgive me for any mistakes! Thank you, and enjoy!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #663300; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">POPE FRANCIS</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #663300;"><b><i>ANGELUS</i></b></span><i><span style="color: #663300;"><b> </b></span></i></span></div>
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<em><span style="color: #663300; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saint Peter's Square</span></em></div>
<em><span style="color: #663300; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sunday, 4 August 2013</span></em><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwIyt5Q2g-Z51pItWOPkoZMZqry0bBGr7m0vIQRskTnsCqlL5o-YDaxjnfVBCU2Zi0dpP6x8dk6poIL9KG44x9QCv1y-4yyo-joTuLXu8sjkCb_jnS536wy_aE0l8UAdOBjFVrLVaMwVs/s1600/968891_647129518631989_1073899313_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwIyt5Q2g-Z51pItWOPkoZMZqry0bBGr7m0vIQRskTnsCqlL5o-YDaxjnfVBCU2Zi0dpP6x8dk6poIL9KG44x9QCv1y-4yyo-joTuLXu8sjkCb_jnS536wy_aE0l8UAdOBjFVrLVaMwVs/s1600/968891_647129518631989_1073899313_n.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_grGfw7E7MMIJLxYWjQs4Izlm9TxaQunZGqIxxMaHfoujva0KcPbb4swTpfHFzvIbBctMy3YUSfY5AAjxGkVKNHeCma4t75a7f6w7oor5ufgc1dYUEODplIwLkWUApuluUYv1P2Zx5Zg/s1600/1cSLkr.St.56.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5WybRmBLvSDEP-OkorA5kUKnaMOPyyOfrpDDWK3O4RzwtjB3R5_eKZGVBFEPrLMBwiSlQ_f-iY2Vk3G_hLGvshc7kt9Pd5dx02Fyg-elV7y5-spUZzU7dsU-PKkfLy1FNeqtLitvdbas/s1600/Pope-Francis2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(video and text</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">available <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/angelus/2013/documents/papa-francesco_angelus_20130804_en.html">here</a>)</span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dear Brothers and Sisters,</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last Sunday I was in Rio de Janeiro. <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130728_celebrazione-xxviii-gmg_en.html" style="color: #663300;">Holy Mass</a> and the <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/travels/2013/papa-francesco-gmg-rio-de-janeiro-2013_en.htm" style="color: #663300;">World Youth Day</a> were drawing to a close. I think we must all thank the Lord together for the great gift which this event was, for Brazil, for Latin America and for the entire world. It was a new stage on the pilgrimage of youth crossing the continents bearing the Cross of Christ. We must never forget that <a href="http://www.vatican.va/gmg/documents/index.html" style="color: #663300;">World Youth Days</a> are not<a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/index.htm" style="color: #663300;">Pope John Paul II</a>. He entrusted the cross to the young people and said: go out and I will come with you! And so it was; and this youth pilgrimage continued with Pope Benedict and, thanks be to God, I too have been able to experience this marvellous milestone in Brazil. Let us always remember: young people do not follow the Pope, they follow Jesus Christ, bearing his Cross. And the Pope guides them and accompanies them on this journey of faith and hope. I therefore thank all the young people who have taken part, even at the cost of sacrifices. I also thank the Lord for the other encounters I had with the Pastors and people of that vast country which Brazil is, and likewise the authorities and the volunteers. May the Lord reward all those who worked hard for the success of this great feast of faith. I also want to emphasize my gratitude; many thanks to the Brazilians. The people of Brazil are an excellent people, a people with a great heart! I shall not forget the warm welcome, the greetings, their gaze, all the joy. A generous people; I ask the Lord to shower his blessings upon them!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> “firework displays”, flashes of enthusiasm that are an end in themselves; they are the stages of a long journey, begun in 1985, at the initiative of </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5WybRmBLvSDEP-OkorA5kUKnaMOPyyOfrpDDWK3O4RzwtjB3R5_eKZGVBFEPrLMBwiSlQ_f-iY2Vk3G_hLGvshc7kt9Pd5dx02Fyg-elV7y5-spUZzU7dsU-PKkfLy1FNeqtLitvdbas/s1600/Pope-Francis2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5WybRmBLvSDEP-OkorA5kUKnaMOPyyOfrpDDWK3O4RzwtjB3R5_eKZGVBFEPrLMBwiSlQ_f-iY2Vk3G_hLGvshc7kt9Pd5dx02Fyg-elV7y5-spUZzU7dsU-PKkfLy1FNeqtLitvdbas/s1600/Pope-Francis2.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I would like to ask you to pray with me that the young people who took part in World Youth Day will be able to express this experience in their journey through daily life, in their everyday conduct; and that they can also express it in the important decisions of life, in response to the personal call of the Lord. Today in the liturgy, the provocative words of Ecclesiastes ring out: “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!” (1:2). Young people are particularly sensitive to the empty, meaningless values that often </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">surround them. Unfortunately, moreover, it is they who pay the consequences. Instead the encounter with the living Christ in his great family which is the Church fills hearts with joy, for it fills them with true life, with a profound goodness that endures, that does not tarnish. We saw it on the faces of the youth in Rio. But this experience must confront the daily vanity, that poison of emptiness which creeps into our society based on profit and possession and on consumerism which deceives young people. This Sunday’s Gospel reminds us, precisely, of the absurdity of basing our own happiness on having. The rich say to themselves: my soul, you have many possessions at your disposal... rest, eat, drink and be merry! But God says to them: Fools! This very night your life will be required of you. And all the things you have accumulated, whose will they be? (cf. Lk 12:19-20).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dear brothers and sisters, the true treasure is the love of God shared with our brethren. That love which comes from God and enables us to share it with one another and to help each other. Those who experience it do not fear death and their hearts are at peace. Let us entrust this intention, the intention of receiving God’s love and sharing it with our brothers and sisters, to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks for participating in our blog thus far in the Year of Faith. I would like to inform our faithful readers that the Holy Father's schedule during the month of August will be greatly reduced. He will not hold any Wednesday general audiences and he will say only one public Mass. He will be praying the Angelus every Sunday, however, so we'll bring you the highlights of those messages.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One more thing... if you haven't seen much of the footage from World Youth Day, you may want to check out these two videos: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV1Nr_gpZU8">Highlights of Pope Francis WYD</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAJj6iXacbs">World's Largest Flash Mob!</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrowA23qMChdlcDVMlafkUtlTFd63dhko-_ojMJM_fsy3ijFcXWKhqSz44cboeI63JmW4AaOId5Jct-t2NyrBlsw7Rs_HUuWnYDTAB7PZkDZvO45_pewTiLjACrQKe6M-_lZbKTBE1EE8/s1600/2473franciswave_00000001658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrowA23qMChdlcDVMlafkUtlTFd63dhko-_ojMJM_fsy3ijFcXWKhqSz44cboeI63JmW4AaOId5Jct-t2NyrBlsw7Rs_HUuWnYDTAB7PZkDZvO45_pewTiLjACrQKe6M-_lZbKTBE1EE8/s1600/2473franciswave_00000001658.jpg" height="194" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On July 31, 2013, the feast of Saint Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits, Pope Francis celebrated Mass with his Jesuit brothers in Rome at the Church of the Gesù. <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: justify;">It was private, like the Mass celebrated each day at the Santa Marta guesthouse, attended only by priests of the Society of Jesus, friends, and collaborators. However, the Pope was received by hundreds of people who wished to greet him and who waited until the end of the celebration to do so.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the Superior General of the Jesuits, Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, concelebrated with the Pope, as well as members of the Council and more than two hundred Jesuits.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Wha8HWRQZKgSfCdnJl4CfoazB4-wUwhWos-_czWKp1qnbvqqR5UK_CFfBaANJvTplEiuLL97tk9RdXkDc2wsdaiE5XyPY3xPVPNDx6RlhOITRBZmgLRL42vkl8XxlYT6Gw7nKwr6zT4/s1600/mass-view1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Wha8HWRQZKgSfCdnJl4CfoazB4-wUwhWos-_czWKp1qnbvqqR5UK_CFfBaANJvTplEiuLL97tk9RdXkDc2wsdaiE5XyPY3xPVPNDx6RlhOITRBZmgLRL42vkl8XxlYT6Gw7nKwr6zT4/s1600/mass-view1.jpg" height="217" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In this homily, the Pope proposed a reflection based on three concepts: putting Christ at the centre of the Church, allowing oneself to be conquered by Him to serve; and feeling the shame of our limits and sins in order to be humble before Him and before our brothers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The symbol of the Jesuits is a monogram (IHS), the acronym of <i>Iesus Hominum Salvator</i>, spoke Francis. It is also on the Pope Francis' coat of arms.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQLNzCJFyl9kznHGMLwhjhtizhYwRXbs0gTysTiCrNhSJbtqa2aw6q1ZbG2afdV06rK7LR3zLsNv_0cJWKcLa_44wXXAIIDm-aCdyb9wjh31QhbFfUvrLVPVbrzS2x1BzwHAyLi7SBbE/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQLNzCJFyl9kznHGMLwhjhtizhYwRXbs0gTysTiCrNhSJbtqa2aw6q1ZbG2afdV06rK7LR3zLsNv_0cJWKcLa_44wXXAIIDm-aCdyb9wjh31QhbFfUvrLVPVbrzS2x1BzwHAyLi7SBbE/s1600/images.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> “It reminds us constantly of a fact we must never forget: the centrality of Christ for each one of us, and for the entire Society, that St. Ignatius chose to call 'the Society of Jesus' to indicate its point of reference. … And this leads us, Jesuits, to be 'decentred', to have 'Deus semper maior' before us … Christ is our life! The centrality of Christ also corresponds to the centrality of the Church: they are two flames that cannot be separated. I cannot follow Christ other than in the Church and with the Church. And also in this case, we Jesuits and the entire Society are not in the centre; we are, so to say, removed; we are in the service of Christ and of the Church. … To be men rooted and grounded in the Church: this is what Jesus wants. We cannot walk in parallel or in isolation. Yes, there are paths of research, creative paths, yes: this is important; to go out to the peripheries … but always in community, in the Church, with this belonging that gives us the courage to go ahead”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The path to live this dual centrality is found in “letting oneself be conquered by Christ. I seek Jesus, I serve Jesus because he sought me first. … In Spanish there is a very descriptive phrase, which explains this well: 'El nos primerea', He is always first before us. … To be conquered by Christ to offer to this King our entire person, all our effort … to imitate Him also in withstanding injustice, contempt, poverty”. The Pope recalled the Jesuit Fr. Paolo dall'Oglio, missing in Syria for days, and added “being conquered by Christ means forever striving to reach what is before you, to reach Christ”.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_l1eTeaNiajQIDHILZQs5jrq2q4OLls35y9UvREqpcYLSUKpw87EWPiWU7NwQvvUc6FuXVJuLMDqmO-OUs1gpJanWxurVsVlRuB6szwaj2tV66Mo955soarY6I7vGa0ncTOCCZFaQlaU/s1600/2013070055pope_to_the_jesuits_2_300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_l1eTeaNiajQIDHILZQs5jrq2q4OLls35y9UvREqpcYLSUKpw87EWPiWU7NwQvvUc6FuXVJuLMDqmO-OUs1gpJanWxurVsVlRuB6szwaj2tV66Mo955soarY6I7vGa0ncTOCCZFaQlaU/s1600/2013070055pope_to_the_jesuits_2_300.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Francis also recalled Jesus' words in the Gospel: “those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. Those who are ashamed of me … will be ashamed when He comes in His glory. Jesus invites us not to be ashamed of Him, but to follow Him for ever with total dedication, trusting in and entrusting ourselves to Him”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Looking to Jesus, as St. Ignatius teaches us in the First Week, and especially looking at Christ crucified, we feel that sentiment, so human and so noble, that is the shame of not being able to measure up; … and this leads us always, as individuals and as a Society, to humility, to living this great virtue. Humility makes us aware every day that it is not we who build the Kingdom of God, but rather it is always the grace of the Lord that acts in us; humility that urges us to give ourselves not in service to ourselves or our ideas, but in the service of Christ and the Church, like clay vases – fragile, inadequate, insufficient, but inside which there is an immense treasure we carry and communicate."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Pope confessed that when he thinks of the twilight of a Jesuit's life, “when a Jesuit finishes his life”, two icons always come to mind: that of <a href="http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-voices/16th-and-17th-century-ignatian-voices/st-francis-xavier-sj/">St. Francis Xavier</a> looking to China, and that of <a href="http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-voices/20th-century-ignatian-voices/pedro-arrupe-sj/">Father Arrupe</a> in his final conversation at the refugee camp. “It benefits us to look at these two icons, to return to them, and to ask that our twilight be like theirs”.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTxxjsDunMzo9fYXFMW1T85Y-1pOkWhvXD9NXTKqmTz9XF-KQ0fGhdARIn7bRqEhJQ6fT0eLdGzFudGyk3jzph5V4S5OWeu4DAswbLez_UOsHmM6CnxhMiQZZjLsaV1aP7uoYUX_y4MTU/s1600/img_4158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTxxjsDunMzo9fYXFMW1T85Y-1pOkWhvXD9NXTKqmTz9XF-KQ0fGhdARIn7bRqEhJQ6fT0eLdGzFudGyk3jzph5V4S5OWeu4DAswbLez_UOsHmM6CnxhMiQZZjLsaV1aP7uoYUX_y4MTU/s1600/img_4158.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally, Francis encouraged those present to ask the Virgin “to let us feel the shame of our inadequacy before the treasure that has been entrusted to us, to live in humility before the Lord. May the paternal intercession of St. Ignatius accompany our path and that of all holy Jesuits, who continue to teach us to do everything with humility, <i>ad maiorem Dei gloriam</i>”.</span></div>
RSM Year of Faithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05285076929030581948noreply@blogger.com1