Halloween party ideas 2015
Tweet Share Share Share Share Share

Monday, May 01, 2017
REGINA CÆLI POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square – Divine Mercy Sunday, 23 April 2017



Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!

We know that each Sunday we commemorate the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, but in this period after Easter, Sunday takes on an even more illuminating significance. In the Tradition of the Church, this Sunday, the first after Easter, was called “[Domenica] in albis”. What does this mean? The expression is meant to recall the Rite performed by those who had received Baptism at the Easter Vigil. Each of them would receive a white garment — alba, bianca — to indicate their new dignity as children of God. This is still done today — infants are offered a small symbolic garment, while adults wear a proper one, as we saw at the Easter Vigil. In the past, that white garment was worn for a week, until this Sunday, from which the name in albis deponendis is derived, which means the Sunday on which the white garment is removed. In this way, when the white garment was removed, the neophytes would begin their new life in Christ and in the Church.

There is something else. In the Jubilee of the Year 2000, Saint John Paul ii established that this Sunday be dedicated to Divine Mercy. Truly, it was a beautiful insight: it was the Holy Spirit who inspired him in this way. Just a few months ago we concluded the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, and this Sunday we are invited to always hold firmly to the grace which comes from God’s mercy. Today’s Gospel is the account of the Apparition of the Risen Christ to the disciples gathered in the Upper Room (cf. Jn 20:19-31). Saint John writes that after greeting his disciples, Jesus says to them: “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you”. After saying this, he makes the gesture of breathing on them and adds: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven” (vv. 21-23). This is the meaning of the mercy that is presented on the very day of Jesus’ Resurrection as the forgiveness of sins. The Risen Jesus passed on to his Church, as her first task, his own mission of bringing to all the concrete message of forgiveness. This is the first task: to announce forgiveness. This visible sign of his mercy brings with it peace of heart and joy of the renewed encounter with the Lord.

Mercy in the light of Easter enables us to perceive it as a true form of awareness. This is important: mercy is a true form of awareness. We know that it is experienced through many forms. It is experienced through the senses, it is experienced through intuition, through reason and even other forms. Well, it can also be experienced in mercy, because mercy opens the door of the mind in order to better understand the mystery of God and of our personal existence. Mercy enables us to understand that violence, rancour, vengefulness have no meaning, and the first victim is whoever feels these sentiments, because he deprives himself of his own dignity. Mercy also opens the door of the heart and allows one to express closeness especially to those who are lonely and marginalized, because it makes them feel as brothers and sisters, and as children of one Father. It favours recognition of those who need consolation and helps one find the appropriate words so as to give comfort.

Brothers and sisters, mercy warms the heart and makes it sensitive to the needs of brothers and sisters with sharing and participation. Thus, mercy requires everyone to be instruments of justice, reconciliation and peace. Let us never forget that mercy is the keystone in the life of faith, and the concrete form by which we make Jesus’ Resurrection visible.

May Mary, Mother of Mercy, help us to believe and joyfully experience all this.

After the Regina Caeli:
Dear brothers and sisters, yesterday, in Oviedo, Spain, the priest Luis Antonio Rosa Ormières was declared Blessed. He lived in the 19th century, putting his many human and spiritual qualities at the service of education, and for this reason he founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Guardian Angel. May his example and his intercession help in particular those who work in schools and in the educational field.

I wholeheartedly greet all of you, faithful from Rome and pilgrims from Italy and from so many countries, in particular the Confraternity of Saint Sebastian from Kerkrade, The Netherlands, the Nigerian Catholic Secretariat and the Liebfrauen parish of Bocholt, Germany.
I greet the Polish pilgrims and express heartfelt appreciation for the initiative of Caritas Poland in support of many families in Syria. A special greeting goes to the devotees of Divine Mercy who gathered today in the Church of Santo Spirito in Sassia; as well as to the “Race for Peace”, a relay race that starts today from this Square and ends in Wittenberg, Germany.

I greet the many groups of young people, especially those who recently have been and those who are preparing to be confirmed — there are so many of you! — from the Dioceses of Piacenza-Bobbio, Trento, Cuneo, Milan, Lodi, Cremona, Bergamo, Brescia and Vicenza, Italy. And also the Masaccio School of Treviso and the San Carpoforo Institute of Como.

Lastly I thank all those who have sent me messages of Easter greetings in this period. I sincerely reciprocate them, invoking for each one and for each family the grace of the Risen Lord. Happy Sunday to everyone, and please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Arrivederci!
© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana


Read more »
Tweet Share Share Share Share Share

Thursday, April 27, 2017
GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
Wednesday, 19 April 2017


  
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Good Morning!

We are meeting today in the light of Easter which we have celebrated and we are continuing to celebrate in the Liturgy. For this reason, in our series of catecheses on Christian hope, I would like to speak to you today about the Risen Christ, our hope, as he is portrayed by Saint Paul in the First Letter to the Corinthians. (cf. 1 Cor 15).

The Apostle wants to solve a problem which was surely at the centre of discussions in the community of Corinth. The Resurrection is the last topic discussed in the Letter, but it is probably the first in order of importance. In fact, everything rests on this premise.
Speaking to his fellow Christians, Paul begins with an irrefutable fact that is not the result of the reflection of a knowledgeable man, but a fact, a simple fact which occurred in the lives of some people. Christianity started from here. It is not an ideology; it is not a philosophical system; rather it is a path of faith which begins with an event witnessed by Jesus’ first disciples. Paul summarises it like this: Jesus died for our sins, he was buried, and on the third day He rose and appeared to Peter and to the twelve [apostles]. (cf. 1 Cor 15:3-5). This is the fact: He died, He was buried, He rose and He appeared. That is, Jesus is alive! This is the heart of the Christian message.

In announcing this event, which is the central nucleus of faith, Paul insists, above all, on the last element of the Easter mystery, that is, on the fact that Jesus is Risen. If in fact everything had ended with his death, we would have in Him, an example of supreme self-denial, but this would not be able to generate our faith. He was a hero! He died, but He is Risen because faith arises from the Resurrection. Accepting that Christ is dead and that He died crucified is not an act of faith. It is a historical fact. Believing he is Risen, on the other hand, is. Our faith begins on Easter morning. Paul makes a list of the people to whom the Risen Jesus appeared (cf. vv. 6-7). We have here a short summary of all the Easter narratives and of all the people who came into contact with the Risen One. At the top of the list are: Cephas, that is Peter, the group of 12 [Apostles] and then “500 brethren” many of whom could still have borne witness. Then James is cited. The last on the list — as the least worthy of all — is himself. Paul says of himself: “as to one untimely born” (v 8).

Paul uses this expression because his personal history is dramatic. He was not an altar boy, but a persecutor of the Church, proud of his convictions. He felt he was a successful man with a very clear idea of what life was about and its duties. But, in this perfect picture, — everything was perfect for Paul, he knew everything — in this perfect view of life, one day something absolutely unexpected happens: the meeting with the Risen Jesus on the way to Damascus. There was not just a man who fell to the ground. There was a person seized by an event that would overturn the meaning of [his life]. And the persecutor becomes an apostle. Why? Because I saw Jesus alive! I saw the Risen Jesus Christ! This is the foundation of Paul’s faith, as well as of the faith of the other apostles, as well as the faith of the Church, as well as of our faith.

How beautiful it is to think that Christianity is essentially this! It is not so much our search for God — a search which in truth is tenuous —, but rather God’s search for us. Jesus took us, grasped us, won us over, never more to leave us. Christianity is grace. It is surprise and, for this reason, it implies a heart that is capable of amazement. A closed heart, a rationalist heart is incapable of amazement and cannot understand what Christianity is because Christianity is grace, and grace can only be perceived, and furthermore, it happens in the amazement of the encounter.

So, even if we are sinners — we all are —, if our good intentions are only “on paper”, or if on appraising our life we realize we have accumulated many failures..., on Easter morning, we can be like those people of whom the Gospel speaks: going to the Sepulchre of Christ, seeing the large overturned stone and thinking that God is preparing an unexpected future for them and for all of us; going to our sepulchre: we all have some of this inside us. To go there and see how God is capable of rising again from there. Here, there is happiness; there is joy and life, where everyone thought there was only sadness, defeat and darkness. God makes His most beautiful flowers grow in the midst of the most arid of stones.

To be Christian means not starting from death, but rather, from God’s love for us which has defeated our most bitter enemy. God is greater than nothingness, and a lit candle is enough to overcome the darkest of nights. Echoing the prophets, Paul cries, “O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?”(v. 55). We carry this cry in our heart in these days of Easter. And if they should ask the reason for the smile we give and our patient readiness to share, then we will be able to answer that Jesus is still here, that he continues to be alive among us, that Jesus is here, in the Square, with us: Alive and Risen.

Special greetings:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, Sweden, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Canada and the United States of America. I offer a particular greeting to the newly-ordained deacons from the Pontifical Irish College, together with families and friends. In the joy of the Risen Christ, I invoke upon you and your families the loving mercy of God our Father. May the Lord bless you all!

Lastly, I greet the young people, the sick and the newlyweds. Dear young people, especially you from the Professione di fede of the Dioceses of Milan and Cremona, may you experience fully the Easter message, bearing witness everywhere to the Risen Christ’s gift of peace. Dear sick people, look constantly to the One who has overcome death and helps us to accept suffering as a privileged moment of redemption and salvation. Dear newlyweds, may you live your daily family experience in the awareness of the life giving presence of Jesus in your home.

© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana


Read more »
Tweet Share Share Share Share Share

Tuesday, April 25, 2017
REGINA CÆLI POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square – Easter Monday, 17 April 2017
  


Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good Morning!

On this festive Monday known as “Monday of the Angel”, the Liturgy resounds the announcement of the Resurrection proclaimed yesterday: “Christ is Risen, Hallelujah!”. In today’s Gospel passage, we can hear the echo of the words the Angel addressed to the women who had hastened to the sepulchre: “Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen” (Mt 28:7). We feel as if this invitation is also directed to us; to “hasten” and to “go” announce to the men and women of our times this message of joy and hope, of certain hope, because from the dawn of the third day, Jesus who was crucified, is raised. Death no longer has the last word. Life does! This is our certainty. The sepulchre does not have the last word; it is not death, it is life! This is why we repeat “Christ is Risen”, many times. Because in Him, the sepulchre was overcome. Life was born.

In light of this event which constitutes the true and real news of history and the cosmos, we are called to be new men and women in accordance with the Spirit, confirming the value of life. There is life! This is already the beginning of rebirth! We will be men and women of resurrection, men and women of life, if in the midst of the events that afflict the world — there are many of them today —, in the midst of worldliness which distances us from God, we will know how to offer gestures of solidarity and gestures of welcome, strengthening the universal desire for peace and the hope for an environment free from degradation. These are common and human signs, which if supported and kept alive by faith in the Risen Lord, acquire a power that is well beyond our abilities. And this is so because Christ is alive and working in history through his Holy Spirit: He redeems our shortcomings and reaches each human heart and gives back hope to whomever is oppressed and suffering.

May the Virgin Mary, silent witness of the death and Resurrection of her Son Jesus, help us to be clear signs of the Risen Christ amid the affairs of the world, so that those who suffer tribulation and difficulties do not fall victim to pessimism, defeat, and resignation, but find in us many brothers and sisters who offer them support and solace. May our Mother help us to believe firmly in the Resurrection of Jesus: Jesus is Risen; He is alive here among us and this is a worthy mystery of salvation with the ability to transform hearts and life. May She intercede especially for the persecuted and oppressed Christian communities which, in many parts of the world today, are called to a more difficult and courageous testimony.

And now in the light and joy of Easter, let us turn to Her with the prayer which will replace the Angelus for the next 50 days leading to Pentecost.

Regina Caeli...

After the Regina Caeli:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the Easter atmosphere which marks this day, I warmly greet all of you, families, parish groups, associations and single pilgrims from Italy and from various parts of the world.

I wish that each of you may live in serenity these days of the Octave of Easter, which extends the joy of Christ’s Resurrection. Seize every good opportunity to be witnesses of the peace of the Risen Lord.

Happy and Holy Easter to all of you! Please do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch. Arrivederci!
© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana


Read more »
Tweet Share Share Share Share Share

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.

© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana


Read more »
Tweet Share Share Share Share Share

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.
© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana


Read more »
Tweet Share Share Share Share Share

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.


© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana


Read more »
Tweet Share Share Share Share Share

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.

© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana


Read more »
Tweet Share Share Share Share Share

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.

© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana


Read more »
Tweet Share Share Share Share Share

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!
© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana


Read more »
Tweet Share Share Share Share Share

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!
© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana


Read more »
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL © 2010. All Rights Reserved. "FROM INDONESIA TO THE WORLD, ADESSO SONO IN THAILANDIA"
Powered by Blogger
Powered by Blogger.