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Wednesday, April 19, 2017
GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Wednesday, 12 April 2017
 
Vatikan, FOTO: pixabayfree
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
good morning!

On Sunday we recalled Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, amid the festive acclamation of the disciples and the large crowd. Those people placed many hopes in Jesus: many expected him to work miracles and great signs, manifest power and even bring freedom from the occupying forces. Who among them could have imagined that within a short time, Jesus would have instead been humiliated, condemned and put to death on the Cross? Those people lost all earthly hope before the Cross. But we believe that precisely in the Crucifix our hope is reborn. Earthly hopes collapse before the Cross, but new hopes are born, those which last forever. The hope born of the Cross is different. It is a different hope from those that collapse, from those of the world. But which hope is it? Which hope is born of the Cross?

It may help us to understand what Jesus said right after he entered Jerusalem: “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24). Let us try to think of a grain or a small seed, that falls upon the soil. If it remains closed within itself, nothing happens; but if instead it splits open, it germinates and then gives life to an ear of wheat; it sprouts, then becomes a plant, and the plant will bear fruit.

Jesus brought new hope into the world and he did so in the manner of the seed: he became very small, like a grain of wheat; he left his heavenly glory in order to come among us: he “fell into the earth”. But this still was not enough. In order to bear fruit, Jesus experienced love to the fullest, allowing himself to be split open by death as a seed lets itself split open under the ground. Precisely there, at the lowest point of his abasement — which is also the loftiest point of love — hope burgeoned. Should one of you ask: “How is hope born?” — “From the Cross. Look to the Cross; look to Christ Crucified and from there you will receive the hope that never disappears, which lasts to eternal life”. Indeed, this hope sprouted from the very force of love: because the love that “hopes all things, endures all things (1 Cor 13:7), the love that is the life of God, has renewed everything that it touched. Thus, at Easter, Jesus transformed our sin into forgiveness, by taking it upon himself. But feel how truly the Paschal Mystery transforms: Jesus has transformed our sin into forgiveness; our death into resurrection, our fear into trust. This is why there, on the Cross, our hope is always born and born anew. This is why with Jesus, all our darkness can be transformed into light, every defeat into victory, every disappointment into hope. Every one: yes, every one. Hope overcomes all, because it is born of the love of Jesus who made himself as a grain of wheat that fell to the soil and died to give life, and hope comes from that life full of love.

When we choose the hope of Jesus, we gradually discover that the successful way of life is that of the seed, that of humble love. There is no other way to conquer evil and give hope to the world. But you might tell me: “No, it is a losing rationale!”. It might seem so, seem that it is a losing rationale, because those who love, lose power. Have you considered this? Those who love, lose power; those who give, impart something, and loving is a gift. In reality, the rationale of the seed that dies, of humble love, is God’s way, and only this bears fruit. We see it also in ourselves; possessing always spurs desire for something else: I have obtained something for myself and immediately I want another larger one, and so on, and I am never satisfied. That is a pernicious thirst! The more you have, the more you want. Those who are insatiable are never sated. Jesus says this in a clear way: “He who loves his life loses it” (Jn 12:25). You are insatiable, you seek to have many things but ... you will lose everything, even your life; that is: those who love their own and live for their own self-interest only swell with pride and lose. However those who accept, who are ready to serve, live in God’s way: thus they are winners, they save themselves and others; they become seeds of hope for the world. But it is lovely to help others, to serve others.... Perhaps we will get tired! But that is the way life is, and the heart is filled with joy and hope. This is love and hope together: to serve and to give.

Of course, this true love passes through the Cross, sacrifice, as for Jesus. The Cross is the obligatory passage, but it is not the goal; it is a passage: the goal is glory, as Easter shows us. And here another lovely image comes to our aid: that Jesus gave his disciples during the Last Supper. He says: “When a woman is in travail she has sorrow, because her hour has come; but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a child is born into the world (Jn 16:21). Thus: to give life, not to keep it. This is what mothers do: they give another life; they suffer, but then they rejoice, they are happy because they have given birth to another life. It gives joy; love gives birth to life and even gives meaning to pain. Love is the engine that empowers our hope. Let me repeat: love is the engine that empowers our hope. Let each one ask: “Do I love? Have I learned how to love? Do I learn each day to love more?”, given that love is the engine that empowers our hope.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, in these days, days of love, let us allow ourselves to be enveloped by the mystery of Jesus who, as a kernel of wheat, gives us life by dying. He is the seed of our hope. Let us contemplate the Crucifix: source of hope. We will slowly understand that to hope with Jesus, is to learn to see, as of now, the plant in the seed, Easter in the Cross, life in death. Now, I would like to give you a task to do at home. It will be good for all of us to pause before the Crucifix — you all have one at home — to look at it and say to it: “With You, nothing is lost. With You, I can always hope. You are my hope”. Let us now imagine the Crucifix and let us all together say three times to the [image] of Jesus Crucified: “You are my hope”. Everyone: “You are my hope”. Louder! “You are my hope”. Thank you.

Special greetings:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, Nigeria, Australia, Canada and the United States of America. I offer a particular greeting to the many student groups present. May this Lenten journey bring all of us to Easter with hearts purified and renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit. God bless you!

A special greeting goes to young people, to the sick and to newlyweds. Yesterday we recalled Saint Gemma Galgani, apostle of the Passion of Jesus. Dear young people, at school you experience the Easter Triduum by reflecting on the love of Jesus who sacrificed himself on the Cross; dear sick people, may Good Friday teach you patience even in discomfort; and you newlyweds. May you experience hope even in the difficult moments of your new family.

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Monday, April 17, 2017
ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square – Palm Sunday, 9 April 2017
  


At the conclusion of this celebration, I cordially greet all of you present here, especially those who have participated in the international meeting in view of the synodal assembly on young people, promoted by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life in collaboration with the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. This greeting is extended to all young people who today, gathered around their bishops, are celebrating World Youth Day in every diocese of the world. Begun by Saint John Paul ii, it is another leg of the great pilgrimage which last year brought us together in Kraków and that summons us to Panama in January 2019.

In this regard, in a few moments, the Polish young people will deliver the World Youth Day Cross to the youth from Panama, each accompanied by their respective pastors and by civil authorities.

Let us implore the Lord that wherever it passes, the Cross, united to the icon of Maria Salus Populi Romani, may increase faith and hope, revealing the invincible love of Christ.

To Christ, who today enters into the Passion, and to the Blessed Virgin, let us entrust the victims of the terrorist attack which occurred last Friday in Stockholm, as well as the many who remain severely exhausted by war, the disgrace of the world. And let us pray for the victims of the attacks unfortunately carried out today, this morning, in a Coptic Church. To my dear brother, His Holiness Pope Tawadros ii, to the Coptic Church, and to the entire dear Egyptian nation, I express my deepest condolences; I pray for the dead and the wounded, and am close to the families and to the entire community. May the Lord convert the hearts of people who sow terror, violence and death, and also the hearts of those who make and traffic weapons.
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Wednesday, April 12, 2017
GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Wednesday, 5 April 2017


Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good Morning!
Saint Peter’s First Letter conveys extraordinary energy! One must read it once, twice, three times to understand this extraordinary energy: it manages to instil great solace and peace, conveying the sense that the Lord is always beside us and never abandons us, especially in the most delicate and difficult moments of our lives. But what is the “secret” of this Letter, and in particular, of the passage we have just heard? (cf. 1 Pt 3:8-17). This is a question. I know that today you will take up the New Testament, you will look for Peter’s first Letter and you will read it slowly, carefully, to understand the secret and the strength of this Letter. What is the secret of this Letter?

The secret is in the fact that this Letter is rooted directly in Easter, in the heart of the mystery that we are about to celebrate, thus letting us sense all the light and the joy arising from Christ’s death and Resurrection. Christ has truly Risen, and this is a nice greeting to exchange on Easter: “Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen!”, as many peoples do. Remembering that Jesus is Risen; he is alive among us; he is alive and lives in each of us. This is why Saint Peter firmly invites us to adore Him in our hearts (cf. v. 15). The Lord has dwelled there from the moment of our Baptism. And from there, he continues to renew us and our life, filling us anew with his love and the fullness of the Spirit. This is why the Apostle urges us to account for the hope that is in us (cf. v. 15). Our hope is not a concept; it is not an emotion, it is not a mobile phone, it is not an accumulation of riches! Our hope is a Person. It is the Lord Jesus whom we recognize as living and present in us and in our brothers and sisters, because Christ is Risen. Instead of saying “good morning”, “good evening” when greeting each other during the Season of Easter, the Slavic people greet each other with “Christ is risen!”, “Christos voskrese!”; and they are happy to say it! And this is the “good morning” and the “good evening” they exchange: “Christ is Risen!”.

Thus, we understand that this hope must not so much be held to account at a theoretical level, in word alone, but above all, through bearing a witness of life, both within the Christian community and outside it. If Christ is alive and lives within us in our heart, then we must also allow him to make himself visible, not hide him, and [allow him] to work within us. This means that the Lord Jesus must increasingly become the example for us: a model for life, and that we must learn how to behave as he behaved; to do as Jesus did. The hope that dwells in us, therefore, cannot remain hidden within us, in our heart: it would be a feeble hope that lacks the courage to go out and be seen; but our hope, as shines forth in Psalm 33 as mentioned by Peter, must necessarily gush forth to the outside, taking on the exquisite and unmistakable form of kindness, respect and goodwill toward others, even reaching the point of forgiving those who hurt us. A person without hope is unable to forgive, is unable to give the solace of forgiveness and to have the solace of forgiveness. Yes, because this is what Jesus did, and continues to do through those who make room for him in their hearts and their lives, in the awareness that evil is not overcome with evil but rather with humility, mercy and meekness. Members of the Mafia believe that evil can be overcome with evil and so they take revenge and do many things that we all know about. But they do not know what humility, mercy and meekness are. Why? Because the mafiosi have no hope. Think about this.

This is why Saint Peter affirms: “it is better to suffer for doing right, if that should be God’s will, than for doing wrong”, (v. 17). This does not mean that it is good to suffer, but that, when we suffer for the sake of goodness, we are in communion with the Lord, who accepted suffering and being put on the Cross for our Salvation. Thus, when in the least or most important situations in our life, we accept suffering for the sake of goodness, it is as if we were scattering around us seeds of the Resurrection and of life, shining the Light of Easter into the darkness. This is why the Apostle urges us to always respond with a “blessing” (cf. v. 9). A blessing is not a formality. It is not just a sign of courtesy. Rather, it is a great gift which we were the first to receive and that we have the opportunity to share with our brothers and sisters. This is the announcement of God’s love, an immeasurable love which does not end, which never fails and which constitutes the true foundation of our hope.

Dear friends, we also understand why the Apostle Peter calls us “blessed”, when we “suffer for righteousness’ sake” (v. 13). This is not just for moral or ascetic reasons. It is because each time we take the side of the least and of the marginalized, or do not respond to evil with evil, but rather with forgiveness, without vengeance, forgiving and blessing — each time we do this — we shine forth as living and bright signs of hope, thus becoming instruments of solace and of peace, according to God’s heart. Thus, let us go forth with kindness, meekness, being amiable and doing good, even to those who do not love us or who hurt us. Onward!


Special greetings:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, Ireland, Denmark, The Netherlands, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Korea, Vietnam and the United States of America. I offer a particular greeting to the priests of the Institute for Continuing Theological Education at the Pontifical North American College. May this Lenten journey bring us to Easter with hearts purified and renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Upon you and your families I invoke joy and peace in Christ our Redeemer. God bless you all!

APPEAL
My thoughts turn to the grave attack which took place recently in the Saint Petersburg subway, causing death and distress among the population. As I entrust to God’s Mercy those who tragically perished, I express my spiritual closeness to their families, and to all those suffering on account of this dramatic event.

We have witnessed with horror the recent events in Syria. I express my firm reproach for the unacceptable bloodshed which occurred yesterday in Idlib province, where dozens of defenceless people were killed, among them many children. I pray for the victims and their families and I appeal to the conscience of those with political responsibility at the local and international level, that this tragedy may end and that relief may be brought to those dear peoples who have been worn out by war for too long. I also encourage the efforts of those who, despite insecurity and discomfort, continue to work to ensure that aid reaches the residents of that region.

Finally, my thoughts turn in particular to young people, to the sick and to newlyweds. Today, we remember the Dominican preacher, Saint Vincent Ferrer. Dear young people, at his school, you learn to speak with God and about God, avoiding useless and damaging speech. Dear sick people, learn from his spiritual experience to confide in Christ Crucified in every circumstance. Dear newlyweds, ask for his intercession to take on your parental mission with generous commitment.


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Monday, April 10, 2017
ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS
Visit in the city of Carpi and Mirandola, Italy Fifth Sunday of Lent, 2 April 2017



APPEAL
I am deeply saddened by the tragedy that has struck Colombia, where a gigantic mudslide, caused by torrential rains, engulfed the city of Mocoa, claiming many lives and causing injuries. I pray for the victims and assure my closeness and yours to those who are grieving the loss of their loved ones, and I thank all those who are striving to render assistance.

News continues to arrive of the bloody armed conflicts in the Kasai Region of the Democratic Republic of Congo: clashes which are resulting in many deaths and forced displacement, and which have also struck people and property of the Church: churches, hospitals, schools.... I assure my closeness to this nation and I exhort everyone to pray for peace, that the hearts of the perpetrators of these criminal acts do not remain slaves to hatred and violence, because hatred and violence always destroy.

In addition, I am closely following the events in Venezuela and Paraguay. I pray for those peoples, who are very dear to me, and I invite everyone to tirelessly persevere, in avoiding all hostility, in seeking political solutions.

Dear brothers and sisters, I would like to thank you for coming here, to this Mass. I wish to thank everyone, all those who worked for this double “marathon”: last Sunday [for the inauguration of the restored Cathedral] and this Sunday. Thank you very much! And I would like to thank you, sick people. There are 4,500 sick people here! Thank you, who, through your suffering, help the Church to carry the Cross of Christ. Thank you! Thank you very much!
At the end of this celebration, may our thoughts turn to the Blessed Virgin, whom you venerate in the Cathedral Church dedicated to her. Let us offer to Mary our joys, our sorrows and our hopes. Let us ask her to fix her merciful gaze upon those among us who are suffering, particularly upon the sick, the poor, and those who lack dignified work.

Recalling the apostolic zeal of the two lay figures of your land, Blessed Odoardo Focherini and Venerable Marianna Saltini, witnesses of Christ’s charity, I greet you with gratitude, dear lay people. I encourage you to be protagonists in the life of your communities, in communion with your priests: always focused on what is essential in proclaiming and witnessing to the Gospel.

I thank you, dear Bishop Francesco, and all of you, Bishops of the Emilia-Romagna Region, for your presence, and above all the Pastor of this diocese, Bishop Francesco Cavina: I exhort you to stand alongside your priests through listening, tenderness and attentive closeness.

Lastly, I would like to thank each and every one of you, dear faithful, priests, men and women religious, the Authorities and, in a special way, those who have contributed to the organization of this visit, with a particular thought to agesci [Italian Association of Catholic Guides and Scouts] and the choir, composed of all the choirs of the diocese, which enlivened this liturgy.

Let us entrust our life and the future of the Church and of the world to Mary, our Mother, reciting together the Angelus prayer.

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Wednesday, April 05, 2017
GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square Wednesday, 29 March 2017

Vatikan, FOTO: pixabayfree

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
The passage from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans that we have just heard offers us a great gift. Although we are used to recognizing in Abraham our father in the faith; today the Apostle enables us to understand that Abraham is for us a father in hope; not only father in faith, but father in hope. And this is so because in his life story we are already able to perceive an announcement of the Resurrection, of the new life that conquers evil and death itself.

In the text, it states that Abraham believed in God “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (Rom 4:17); and then it explains: “He did not weaken in faith even when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead ... or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb” (v. 19). Indeed, this is the experience we too are called to live. The God who reveals himself to Abraham is the God who saves, the God who delivers from despair and from death, the God who calls into life. In the story of Abraham, everything becomes a hymn to the God who sets free and regenerates, everything becomes prophecy. It becomes so for us, because we now recognize and celebrate the fulfilment of all of this in the mystery of Easter. God in fact “raised from the dead Jesus” (v. 24), so that in Him we too might pass from death to life. Thus, truly, Abraham can be called the “father of many nations”, inasmuch as he shines as an announcement of a new humanity — us! — delivered by Christ from sin and from death, and introduced once and for all into God’s loving embrace.

At this point, Paul helps us to focus on the extremely close bond between faith and hope. In fact, he states of Abraham that “in hope he believed against hope” (v. 18). Our hope is not based on rationale, foresight and human confidence; it appears where there is no longer hope, where there is no longer anything to hope in, just as happened to Abraham, facing his imminent death and the barrenness of his wife Sarah. The end was approaching for them; they could not have children, in that situation. Abraham believed and had hope against all hope. And this is great! Great hope is rooted in faith, and for this very reason it is able to transcend all hope. Yes, because it is not based upon our words, but on the Word of God. In this sense too then, we are called to follow the example of Abraham, who — despite all the evidence of a reality in which he seems bound to die — trusts in God, “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised” (v. 21). I would like to ask you a question: Are we, all of us, convinced of this? Are we convinced that God loves us and that he is willing to bring to fulfilment all that he promised us? But Father, how much do we have to pay for this? There is a single price: “open your heart”. Open your hearts and this power of God will lead you forward; he will do miraculous things and will teach you what hope is. This is the single price: open your heart to faith, and he will do the rest.

This is the paradox, and at the same time the strongest element, our highest hope! A hope based on a promise that, from the human point of view, seems uncertain and unpredictable, but which never fails, not even in the face of death, when the One who promises is the God of the Resurrection and Life. Not just anyone promises this! The One who promises this is the God of the Resurrection and life.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, today we ask the Lord for the grace to remain grounded, not so much in our own certainties, our own abilities, but in the hope that springs from God’s promise, as true children of Abraham. When God promises, he brings to fulfilment what he has promised. He never fails to keep his word. Then our lives will take on a new light, in the awareness that the One who resurrected his Son, will also raise us and will truly make us one with Him, together with all our brothers and sisters in faith. We all believe. Today we are all in the Square; let us praise the Lord. We will sing the Our Father, then we will receive the blessing.... But this passes. This too is a promise of hope. If today we have an open heart, I assure you that all of us will encounter, in the Square, the Heaven that never ends; it is forever. This is God’s promise and this is our hope, if we open our hearts. Thank you.

Special greetings:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, Scotland, Finland, Norway, the Philippines and the United States of America. I offer a special welcome to the United Kingdom’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Holy See, with appreciation for their work. With prayerful good wishes that this Lent may be a time of grace and spiritual renewal for you and your families, I invoke upon all of you joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you all!

May your visit to the Eternal City arouse in each of you communion with the Universal Church and with the Successor of Peter.

Lastly, I express a special greeting to young people, to the sick and to newlyweds. Dear young people, the Lenten period is a precious time to rediscover the importance of faith in daily life. Dear sick people, unite your suffering to Jesus’ Cross for the building of the civilization of love. And you, dear newlyweds, promote the presence of God in your new family.

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Monday, April 03, 2017
ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square – IV Sunday of Lent (Laetare), 26 March 2017



Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!

At the centre of the Gospel this Fourth Sunday of Lent we find Jesus and a man blind from birth (cf. Jn 9:1-41). Christ restores his sight and performs this miracle with a type of symbolic ritual: first, He mixes dirt with saliva and spreads it on the blind man’s eyes; then, He orders him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. The man goes, washes, and regains his sight. He was blind from birth. With this miracle, Jesus manifests himself, and He manifests himself to us as the Light of the World. The man blind from birth represents each one of us, who was created to know God; but due to sin has become blind; we are in need of a new light; we are all in need of a new light: that of faith, which Jesus has given us. Indeed, that blind man in the Gospel, by regaining his sight, is opened to the mystery of Christ. Jesus asks him: “Do you believe in the Son of man?” (v. 35). “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”, the healed blind man replied. “You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you” (v. 37). “Lord, I believe”, [the blind man said,] and he prostrated himself before Jesus.

This episode induces us to reflect on our faith, our faith in Christ, the Son of God; and at the same time, it also refers to Baptism, which is the first Sacrament of faith: the Sacrament which makes us “come to the light”, by being reborn through the water and through the Holy Spirit; as happens to the man born blind, whose eyes are opened after being cleansed in the water of the pool of Siloam. The man born blind and healed represents us when we do not realize that Jesus is the light; he is “the Light of the World”, when we are looking elsewhere, when we prefer to entrust ourselves to little lights, when we are groping in the dark. The fact that the blind man has no name helps us to see our face reflected and our name in his story. We too have been “illuminated” by Christ in Baptism, and thus we are called to behave as children of the light. Acting as children of the light requires a radical change of mind-set, a capacity to judge men and things according to another scale of values, which comes from God. The Sacrament of Baptism, in fact, requires the choice of living as children of the light and walking in the light. If I were to ask you: “Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Do you believe that he can change your heart? Do you believe that he can show reality as he sees it, not as we see it? Do you believe that he is light, that he gives us the true light?”. How would you answer? Each of you, respond in your heart.

What does it mean to have the true light, to walk in the light? First of all it means abandoning false lights: the cold, vain light of prejudice against others, because prejudice distorts reality and ladens us with aversion to those whom we judge without mercy and condemn without appeal. This is our daily bread! When you gossip about others, you do not walk in the light, you walk in shadows. Another false light, because it is seductive and ambiguous, is that of self-interest: if we value men and things on the basis of usefulness to us, of pleasure, of prestige, we are not truthful in our relationships and situations. If we go down this path of seeking self-interest, we are walking in shadows.

May the Blessed Virgin, who was the first to welcome Jesus, the Light of the World, obtain for us this grace of welcoming anew the light of faith this Lent, rediscovering the inestimable gift of Baptism, which all of us have received. And may this new illumination transform us in attitude and action, so that we too, beginning with our poverty, our narrow-mindedness, may be bearers of a ray of the light of Christ.

After the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, yesterday in Almería, Spain, José Álvarez-Benavides y de la Torre and 114 companion martyrs were beatified. These priests, religious and lay people were heroic witnesses to Christ and his Gospel of peace and fraternal reconciliation. May their example and their intercession sustain the commitment of the Church in edifying the civilization of love.

Regarding Milan, I would like to thank the Cardinal Archbishop and all the people of Milan for the warm welcome yesterday. I truly felt at home, with everyone, believers and non-believers. I thank you all, dear people of Milan, and I will tell you something: I attest that it is true what they say: “In Milan you are welcomed with an open heart!”.

I wish everyone a happy Sunday. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Arrivederci!
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Monday, March 27, 2017
ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square Third Sunday of Lent, 19 March 2017



Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!

The Gospel for this Third Sunday of Lent presents Jesus’ dialogue with the Samaritan woman (cf. Jn 4:5-42). The encounter takes place as Jesus is crossing Samaria, a region between Judea and Galilee inhabited by people whom the Hebrews despised, considering them schismatic and heretical. But this very population would be one of the first to adhere to the Christian preaching of the Apostles. While the disciples go into the village to buy food, Jesus stays near a well and asks a woman for a drink; she had come there to draw water. From this request a dialogue begins. “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?”. Jesus responded: If you knew who I am, and the gift I have for you, you would have asked me for and I would have given you “living water”, a water that satisfies all thirst and becomes a boundless spring in the heart of those who drink it (cf. vv. 9-14).

Going to the well to draw water is burdensome and tedious; it would be lovely to have a gushing spring available! But Jesus speaks of a different water. When the woman realizes that the man she is speaking with is a prophet, she confides in him her own life and asks him religious questions. Her thirst for affection and a full life had not been satisfied by the five husbands she had had, but instead, she had experienced disappointment and deceit. Thus, the woman was struck by the great respect Jesus had for her, and when he actually spoke to her of true faith as the relationship with God the Father “in spirit and truth”, she realized that this man could be the Messiah, and Jesus does something extremely rare — he confirms it: “I who speak to you am he” (v. 26). He says he is the Messiah to a woman who had such a disordered life.

Dear brothers and sisters, the water that gives eternal life was poured into our hearts on the day of our Baptism; then God transformed and filled us with his grace. But we may have forgotten this great gift that we received, or reduced it to a merely official statistic; and perhaps we seek “wells” whose water does not quench our thirst. When we forget the true water, we go in search of wells that do not have clean water. Thus this Gospel passage actually concerns us! Not just the Samaritan woman, but us. Jesus speaks to us as he does to the Samaritan woman. Of course, we already know him, but perhaps we have not yet encountered him personally. We know who Jesus is, but perhaps we have not countered him personally, spoken with him, and we still have not recognized him as our Saviour. This Season of Lent is a good occasion to draw near to him, to counter him in prayer in a heart-to-heart dialogue; to speak with him, to listen to him. It is a good occasion to see his face in the face of a suffering brother or sister. In this way we can renew in ourselves the grace of Baptism, quench our thirst at the wellspring of the Word of God and of his Holy Spirit; and in this way, also discover the joy of becoming artisans of reconciliation and instruments of peace in daily life.

May the Virgin Mary help us to draw constantly from grace, from the water that springs from the rock that is Christ the Saviour, so that we may profess our faith with conviction and joyfully proclaim the wonders of the love of merciful God, the source of all good.

After the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, I wish to assure my closeness to the beloved population of Peru, severely affected by devastating floods. I pray for the victims and for the security forces involved.

Yesterday in Bolzano, Josef Mayr-Nusser, father of a family and representative of Catholic Action, was beatified. He died a martyr because he refused to adhere to nazism out of faith to the Gospel. For his great moral and spiritual standing, he constitutes a model for faithful lay people, especially for fathers, whom today we remember with great affection, even though the liturgical Feast of Saint Joseph is celebrated tomorrow, because today is Sunday. Let us pay our respects to all fathers with a big round of applause. [applause]

I address a cordial greeting to all of you pilgrims from Rome, from Italy and from various countries. I greet the Neocatechumenal communities from Angola and Lithuania; as well as those in charge of the Community of Sant’Egidio in Africa and in Latin America. I greet the Italian faithful from Viterbo, Bolgare, San Benedetto Po, and the students from Torchiarolo.
I wish everyone a happy Sunday. Do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Arrivederci!
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Thursday, March 23, 2017
GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square Wednesday, 15 March 2017

Vatikan, FOTO: pixabayfree

Christian hope - 14. Rejoice in hope (cf. Rom 12, 9-13)

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
We know well that the great commandment the Lord Jesus left us is the one about love: to love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind, and to love our neighbour as ourselves (cf. Mt 22:37-39); namely, we are called to love, to exercise charity. And this is our loftiest vocation, our vocation par excellence; and it is also tied to the joy of Christian hope. One who loves has the joy of hope, of reaching the encounter with the great love that is the Lord.

The Apostle Paul, in the passage of the Letter to the Romans that we have just heard, puts us on guard: there is a risk that our charity may be hypocritical, that our love may be hypocritical. So we must ask: when does this hypocrisy happen? And how can we be certain that our love is sincere, that our charity is authentic? That we are not pretending to do charity or that our love is not for show: sincere, strong love....

Hypocrisy can insinuate itself anywhere, even in our world of love. This happens when our love is motivated by interest, by self-interest; and how much interested love there is ... when the service to charity, which we seem to carry out generously, is done in order to draw attention to ourselves or to feel good: ‘Oh, how good I am!’. No, this is hypocrisy! Or also when we aspire to things with “visibility” so as to put our intelligence or our abilities on display. Behind all this there is a false, misleading idea, thinking that since we love, we are good — as though charity were a manmade creation, a product of our heart. Charity, instead, is first and foremost a grace, a gift; being able to love is a gift of God, and we must ask for it. He gives it freely, if we ask for it. Charity is a grace: it does not consist in showing off, but in what the Lord gives us and which we freely receive; and it cannot be extended to others if it is not first generated by the encounter with the meek and merciful face of Jesus.

Paul invites us to recognize that we are sinners, and also that our way of loving is marked by sin. At the same time, however, one becomes the bearer of a new message, a message of hope: the Lord opens before us a new path of freedom, a path of salvation. It is the opportunity for us too to live the great commandment of love, to become instruments of God’s charity. And this happens when we let our heart be healed and renewed by the Risen Christ. The Risen Lord who lives among us, who lives with us is capable of healing our heart: He does so, if we ask it. It is He who allows us, even in our littleness and poverty, to experience the Father’s compassion and to celebrate the wonders of his love. And thus we understand that all we can live and do for our brothers and sisters is but the response to what God has done and continues to do for us. Rather, it is God himself who, abiding in our heart and our life, continues to be close and to serve all those whom we encounter each day on our journey, beginning with the least and the neediest, in whom He is first recognized.

Thus, with these words, rather than reproach us, the Apostle Paul wants to encourage us and rekindle hope in us. Indeed, everyone has the experience of not living the commandment of love fully or as we should. But this too is a grace, because it makes us understand that we are incapable of truly loving by ourselves: we need the Lord constantly to renew this gift in our heart, through the experience of his infinite mercy. Then, indeed, we will return to appreciate small things, simple, ordinary things; we will once more appreciate all these little, everyday things and we will be capable of loving others as God loves them, wanting their good, that is, that they be holy, friends of God; and we will be glad of the opportunity to make ourselves close to those who are poor and humble, as Jesus does with each one of us when we are distant from Him, to stoop to the feet of our brothers and sisters, as He, the Good Samaritan, does with each of us, with his compassion and his forgiveness.
Dear brothers and sisters, what the Apostle Paul reminded us of is the secret for — I shall use his words — it is the secret for “rejoicing in hope” (cf. Rom 12:12); rejoicing in hope. The joy of hope: because we know that in all circumstances, even the most adverse, and also through our own failures, God’s love never fails.

Therefore, with his grace and his fidelity dwelling and abiding in our heart, let us live in the joyful hope of reciprocating in our brothers and sisters, through the little we can, the abundance we receive from Him each day. Thank you.

Special greetings:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, Sweden, Canada and the United States of America. I offer a special welcome to the many student groups present. With prayerful good wishes that this Lent will be a time of grace and spiritual renewal for you and your families, I invoke upon all of you joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you all!

I address a cordial welcome to the Italian-speaking pilgrims. I am pleased to welcome the participants of the Conference sponsored by the Focolare Movement on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its foundation and I exhort them to witness to the beauty of new families, guided by the peace and love of Christ. Carry on in this way!

I offer a special thought to the employees of “Sky Italia”, and I hope their employment situation may find a rapid resolution, with respect for the rights of all, especially of families. Work gives us dignity, and the authorities responsible for the people, the government leaders, have the obligation to do everything possible so that every man and woman may have work and thus hold their heads high, look others in the face with dignity. Those who, through economic manoeuvres, with negotiations that are not entirely clear, close factories, close businesses and take away people’s jobs, commit an extremely serious sin.

Lastly, I extend a greeting to young people, to the sick and to newlyweds. The liturgical Season of Lent favours drawing closer to God: fast not only from meals, but above all from bad habits, dear young people, so as to acquire greater mastery over yourselves; may prayer be for you, dear sick people, the means to feel God’s closures, particularly in suffering; may the exercise of the works of mercy help you, dear newlyweds, may your conjugal existence be open to the needs of your brothers and sisters.
      

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Monday, March 20, 2017
ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square Second Sunday of Lent, 12 March 2017
 

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good Morning!

The Gospel of this second Sunday of Lent presents the narrative of the Transfiguration of Jesus. (cf. Mt 17:1-9). Taking aside three of the Apostles, Peter, James and John, He led them up a high mountain. And that is where this unique phenomenon took place: Jesus’ face “shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light” (v. 2). In this way, the Lord allowed the divine glory which could be understood through faith in his preaching and his miraculous gestures, to shine within Him. The Transfiguration was accompanied by the apparition of Moses and Elijah who were “talking with him” (v. 3).

The ‘brightness’ which characterises this extraordinary event symbolises its purpose: to enlighten the minds and hearts of the disciples so that they may clearly understand who their Teacher is. It is a flash of light which suddenly opens onto the mystery of Jesus and illuminates his whole person and his whole story.

By now decisively headed toward Jerusalem, where he will be sentenced to death by crucifixion, Jesus wanted to prepare his own for this scandal — the scandal of the Cross — this scandal which is too intense for their faith and, at the same time, to foretell his Resurrection by manifesting himself as the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus was preparing them for that sad and very painful moment. In fact, Jesus was already revealing himself as a Messiah different from their expectations, from how they imagined the Messiah, how the Messiah would be: not a powerful and glorious king, but a humble and unarmed servant; not a lord of great wealth, a sign of blessing, but a poor man with nowhere to rest his head; not a patriarch with many descendants, but a celibate man without home or nest. It is truly an overturned revelation of God, and the most bewildering sign of this scandalous overturning, is the cross. But it is through the Cross that Jesus will reach the glorious Resurrection, which will be definitive, not like this Transfiguration which lasted a moment, an instant.

Transfigured on Mount Tabor, Jesus wanted to show his disciples his glory, not for them to circumvent the Cross, but to show where the Cross leads. Those who die with Jesus, shall rise again with Jesus. The Cross is the door to Resurrection. Whoever struggles alongside him will triumph with him. This is the message of hope contained in Jesus’ Cross, urging us to be strong in our existence. The Christian Cross is not the furnishings of a house or adornments to wear but rather, the Christian Cross is a call to the love with which Jesus sacrificed himself to save humanity from evil and sin. In this Lenten season, we contemplate with devotion the image of the Crucifix, Jesus on the Cross: this is the symbol of Christian Faith, the emblem of Jesus, who died and rose for us. Let us ensure that the Cross marks the stages of our Lenten journey in order to understand ever better the seriousness of sin and the value of the sacrifice by which the Saviour has saved us all.

The Blessed Virgin was able to contemplate the glory of Jesus hidden in his humanness. May she help us stay with Him in silent prayer, to allow ourselves to be enlightened by his presence, so as to bring a reflection of his glory to our hearts through the darkest nights.

After the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I would like to express my closeness to the people of Guatemala who are grieving for the serious and tragic fire that broke out inside the Casa Refugio Virgen de la Asunción, causing death and injury to the young women living there. May the Lord welcome their souls, heal the injured, console their grieving families and the entire nation. I pray and ask you to pray with me for all young victims of violence, abuse, exploitation and war. This is a plague, a hidden cry which must be heard by us all and which we cannot continue to pretend not to see and hear.

A warm greeting to all of you here, faithful of Rome and from many other parts of the world.

I greet the pilgrims of Freiburg and Mannheim, Germany, and those of Lebanon, as well as the marathon runners from Portugal.

I greet the parish groups from Gioiosa Ionica and Pachino; the youth from Lodi who are preparing for their “Profession of Faith”; the students from Dalmine and Busto Arsizio: it is true what you say: “No to a culture of waste” [reading a banner held up in the Square]; and the youth choir from Bergamo, “Goccia dopo goccia”.

Have a good Sunday. Please do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch. Arrivederci!
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