Mary's 'yes' to God changed history, Pope Francis says

Pope Francis marked the Feast of the Annunciation on Monday by reflecting on the power of Mary’s “yes” to God.

“Mary’s ‘yes’ opens the door to Jesus’ ‘yes’: I have come to do Your will, this is the ‘yes’ that Jesus carries with him throughout his life, until the cross,” he said in his April 4 homily.

The Pope celebrated Mass at the Casa Santa Martha residence Monday morning, Vatican Radio reports.

Through Mary’s affirmation, God “becomes one of us and takes on our flesh,” he said.

“Today is the celebration of ‘yes’,” the Pope continued. “It is God’s ‘yes’ that sanctifies us and keeps us alive in Jesus Christ.”

The Feast of the Annunciation marks the visit of the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, when he told her that God had chosen her to be the mother of Jesus Christ. Mary responded “Let it be done to me according to your will,” according to the Gospel of Luke.

The Pope reflected on major figures from the Bible – such as Abraham and Moses – who “said ‘yes’ to hope offered by the Lord.” Other figures, like Isaiah or Jeremiah, initially refused or hesitated before saying “yes” to God.

The Pope noted the presence of priests in the congregation who were celebrating the 50th anniversary of their priesthood. He also recognized the Sisters of Santa Martha who renewed their vows in silence at the Mass.

He encouraged each person in the congregation to reflect on whether he or she says “yes” or “no” to God.

“Or am I a man or woman who looks away, so as not to respond?” he asked.

The Pope prayed that God “grant us the grace to take this path of men and women who knew how to say ‘yes’.”  

Francis announces special collection for victims of Ukraine conflict

On Sunday Pope Francis announced that a special collection will be taken up in all Catholic churches in Europe April 24, the funds of which will go toward relief for all suffering due to ongoing violence in Ukraine.

After celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis led pilgrims in praying the Regina Caeli, telling them beforehand that “on this day, which is like the heart of the Holy Year of Mercy, my thoughts go to all peoples who are thirsty for peace and reconciliation.”

“I think, in particular here in Europe, of the plight of those who suffer the consequences of violence in Ukraine,” he said, and pointed to the thousands who have either died, or continue to suffer due to a serious humanitarian crisis in the conflict areas.

Additionally, the Pope noted that so far “more than a million” people have been forced to leave their homes due to the severity of the situation, the majority of whom “are elderly and children.”

Francis assured his closeness and prayer to those suffering, and announced his decision “to promote a humanitarian support in their favor.”

“To this end, a special collection will take place in all of the Catholic Churches in Europe April 24,” he said, and invited faithful to participate with a “generous contribution.”

In addition to alleviating the material suffering of those effected by the conflict, the act serves as an expression of the Pope’s closeness and solidarity, as well as that of the entire Greek Catholic Church, Francis said.

“I fervently hope that this will, without further delay, help to promote peace and respect of rights in that land which is so tried.”

Conflict erupted in Ukraine in November 2013, when the former government refused to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union, leading to months of violent protests.

Tensions deepened in February 2014, when the country’s former president was ousted following the protests, and a new government appointed. In March of that year, Ukraine’s eastern peninsula of Crimea was annexed by Russia and pro-Russian separatist rebels have since taken control of eastern portions of Ukraine, around Donetsk and Luhansk.

More than 6,500 people, including civilians, have died in the fighting between Ukraine's military and pro-Russian separatists. Roughly a million others have been forced to flee due to violence and a lack of basic humanitarian necessities.

Rebels have been supported by both Russian arms and troops, according to both Ukraine and Western nations. A ceasefire was brokered and officially began at midnight Feb. 15, 2015, however there have been constant and ongoing violations.

The announcement of Pope Francis’ special collection was made nearly a month after his March 7 meeting with leaders of the Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC), who were gathered in Rome for their annual synod of bishops.

In his appeal, the Pope also noted how April 4 marks the World Day against Landmines, and prayed that a renewed commitment would be made to free the world from “these terrible weapons.”

Mercy is an open book – and it's our task to write it, Pope says

On Divine Mercy Sunday Pope Francis said the “Gospel of Mercy” begun by Jesus and the apostles is still unfinished, and is an open book that each person is called to write through their words and actions.

“The Gospel is the book of God’s mercy, to be read and reread, because everything that Jesus said and did is an expression of the Father’s mercy,” the Pope said April 3.

He noted how at the end of the day’s Gospel reading from John, the evangelist expressed that while Jesus carried out many signs in the presence of his disciples, not all of them were written down.

Because of this, “the Gospel of mercy remains an open book, in which the signs of Christ’s disciples, which are concrete acts of love and the best witness to mercy, continue to be written,” he said.

“We are all called to become living writers of the Gospel,” Francis continued, explaining that this is done by practicing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, “which are the hallmarks of the Christian life.”

“By means of these simple yet powerful gestures, even when unseen, we can accompany the needy, bringing God’s tenderness and consolation.”

Pope Francis spoke to a full St. Peter’s Square during his Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast instituted by St. John Paul II and which takes place every year the second Sunday after Easter.

In his homily, the Pope focused on the healings carried out by the disciples in the day’s first reading from Acts, as well as Jesus’ appearance to them in the upper room in the Gospel passage from John.

He noted that in addition to speaking of the signs that Jesus did, the Gospel also presents a contrast between the fear of the disciples, who “gathered behind closed doors,” and the mission of Jesus, “who sends them into the world to proclaim the message of forgiveness.”

This contrast between “a closed heart and the call of love to open doors closed by sin” exists in the heart of many people today, Francis observed, explaining that Jesus’ call is one “that frees us to go out of ourselves.”

“Jesus, who by his resurrection has overcome the fear and dread which imprison us, wishes to throw open our closed doors and send us out,” he said, noting that much of humanity today is wounded, fearful, and marked by pain and uncertainty.

However, every infirmity finds healing in God’s mercy, the Pope said, adding that this mercy isn’t far off, but seeks to be close to those effected by poverty and to free the world from all types of slavery.

To be an apostle, he said, means “touching and soothing the wounds that today afflict the bodies and souls of many of our brothers and sisters.”

When we cure the wounds of our suffering brothers and sisters, “we profess Jesus” and make him alive and present in the world, Francis observed, adding that “this is the mission that he entrusts to us.”

Pope Francis then pointed to Jesus’ appearance to his disciples in the Gospel, noting how he greeted them with the words “peace be with you.”

The peace that Jesus offered is the same one which “awaits men and women of our own day,” he said, explaining that it isn’t “a negotiated peace” absent of conflict, but one that comes from the heart of God, uniting us and making us feel loved.

To be bearers of this peace is the mission that was entrusted to the Church on Easter day, the Pope said, adding that this peace is constantly renewed by God’s forgiveness.

Francis closed his homily by encouraging faithful to give thanks for God’s great love, “which we find impossible to grasp,” and which never abandons us.

He prayed that all would receive the grace “to never grow tired of drawing from the well of the Father’s mercy and bringing it to the world,” and asked that “we too may be merciful, to spread the power of the Gospel everywhere, and to write those pages of the Gospel which John the Apostle did not write.”

After Mass Pope Francis led pilgrims in praying the traditional Regina Caeli prayer, calling to mind all countries affected by war and violence, particularly the Ukraine. 

You can’t receive mercy without sharing it, Pope says

Receiving God’s mercy ignites in us the drive to become “instruments of mercy,” especially to the weakest and the marginalized, Pope Francis said Saturday at a vigil for the feast of Divine Mercy.

“The more we receive, the more we are called to share it with others; it cannot be kept hidden or kept only for ourselves,” he said, addressing those gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“It is something which burns within our hearts, driving us to love, thus recognizing the face of Jesus Christ, above all in those who are most distant, weak, alone, confused and marginalized."

Falling each year on the first Sunday after Easter, the feast of Divine Mercy was instituted by St. John Paul II in 2000 during the canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska, the Polish mystic whose apparitions of Jesus inspired devotion to the Divine Mercy.

This year’s feast falls within the Jubilee Year of Mercy, which Pope Francis publicly proclaimed during the 2014 vigil for the feast of Divine Mercy. The Jubilee began Dec. 8, 2014, and will conclude Nov. 20.

“Mercy seeks out the lost sheep, and when one is found, a contagious joy overflows.  Mercy knows how to look into the eyes of every person; each one is precious, for each one is unique,” the Pope said during his address.

Francis delivered his vigil address following a series of testimonies and readings from Scripture, all on the theme of mercy.

The expressions of God’s mercy in His encounters with us are “numerous,” he said; “it is impossible to describe them all, for the mercy of God continually increases.” 

“God never tires of showing us mercy and we should never take for granted the opportunity to receive, seek and desire this mercy,” he said. 

“It is something always new, which inspires awe and wonder as we see God’s immense creativity in the ways he comes to meet us.”

Throughout Scripture, God has frequently revealed himself as mercy, the Pope observed.

“How great and infinite is the nature of God, so great and infinite his mercy, to the point that it is greatly challenging to describe it in all its entirety.”

Francis cited a passage from the prophet Isaiah, and its “extremely evocative” image of God holding each of us to his cheek.

He had this passage in mind for the image of the Jubilee, he said: “I led them with cords of compassion, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them” (Isaiah 11:4). 

“How much tenderness and love is expressed here!” the Pope said. “Jesus not only carries humanity on his shoulders, but his face is so closely joined to Adam’s face that it gives the impression they are one.”

Francis reflected on God’s capability of “understanding and sharing our weaknesses” through Christ’s Incarnation.

“Precisely because of his mercy God became one of us,” he said. By being touched by God’s mercy in Jesus, moreover, we are in turn “inspired to become instruments of his mercy,” the Pope continued. 

“It is easy to speak of mercy, yet more difficult to become its witness.” He spoke of the many ways in which mercy comes to us: “closeness and tenderness,” “compassion and solidarity,” “consolation and forgiveness” – and this in turn compels us to share mercy with others, he said.

Francis also reflected on how Christ’s love “makes us restless” and “impels us to embrace, welcome and include those who need mercy, so that all may be reconciled with the Father.” 

“We ought not to fear for it is a love which comes to us and involves us to such an extent that we go beyond ourselves, enabling us to see his face in our brothers and sisters,” he said. 

“Let us allow ourselves to be humbly guided by this love; then we will become merciful as the Father is merciful.”

In off-the-cuff remarks, Francis referenced the Gospel reading which recounts the Apostle Thomas' initial disbelief, and his need to place his fingers into Jesus' wounded side in order to be convinced of his resurrection.

A faith that does not allow us to put our fingers into the wounds of Jesus' side "is not faith," the Pope said.

"It is not a faith that is capable of being merciful.""It is not faith. It is an idea. It is ideology. Our faith is incarnate, in a God who was made flesh," he said, "who was wounded for us."

If we want to believe "with seriousness," the Pope said, "we must come close to and touch the wounds, caress the wounds," while bowing our heads to allow others to "caress our wounds."

The Pope concluded by urging faithful to remain open to being transformed by the Holy Spirit, who is the love and “mercy that is poured into our hearts.”

“May we not place obstacles to his life-giving work but with docility follow the path he shows us,” he said.

“Let us open our hearts so that the Spirit can transform us; thus forgiven and reconciled, we will become witnesses to the joy that brims over on finding the risen Lord, alive among us.”

Pope Francis sends vestments, financial aid to Iraqi Christians

Pope Francis embraces a pilgrim during the General Audience at the Vatican's Paul VI Hall, Jan. 13, 2016. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA.

As a sign of affection and closeness, Pope Francis has decided to send vestments used in the liturgy and a financial donation to Christian refugees in Erbil through the Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need.

“Mercy invites us to bend over these brothers of ours in order to dry their tears, to heal their moral and physical wounds, and to console their afflicted and perhaps lost hearts,” the Pope said in a letter addressed to Bishop Francesco Cavina of Carpi.

To do this, the Pope said, is not just “an act of proper charity, but a relief to your own body, because all Christians, by virtue of their shared baptism, are 'one' in Christ.”

Bishop Cavina will be part of a delegation traveling to Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, April 1-4 with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Other members of the delegation will include Bishop Antonio Suetta of Ventimiglia-San Remo, Fr. Massimo Fabbri in representation of the Archdiocese of Bologna, and Alessandro Monteduro, director of ACN in Italy, who will serve as the group’s guide.

In a March 23 article published on ACN’s website, Bishop Cavina said that as soon as Pope Francis heard about the delegation’s visit, he called expressing his desire “to send a gift to our brothers in the faith in Iraq.”

This gift includes vestments and a personal financial donation, which the Pope will entrust to Bishop Cavina, who will then give it to the local Church when the delegation arrives.

In his letter to the bishop, Francis said the trip is “an initiative which expresses friendship, ecclesial communion and closeness to many brothers and sisters, whose situation of affliction and tribulation pains me deeply and invites us to defend the inalienable right of every person to freely profess their faith.”

The Pope invited delegation members not to forget “the drama of the persecution,” and added that the “courageous and patient witness” of Christians in Iraq “represents for the entire Church a call to rediscover the fruitful source of the Paschal Mystery from which energy, strength and light for a new humanism are drawn.”

As part of their visit, the group will meet with Archbishop Youhanna Boutros Moshe of the Syriac Archeparchy of Mosul, who left the city when it was overrun by the Islamic State in June, 2014.

They will also meet with the Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil, Bashar Warda, who will take them to refugee centers in a mainly Christian suburb of Erbil called Ankawa.

Additionally, the group will stop by the village of Fr. Werenfried, named after the founder of ACN, where 175 Christian families are currently living. The trip will also include visits to ACN schools, which allow nearly 7,000 Iraqi refugee children to continue their education.

Since 2014 ACN has donated more than 15.1 million euros ($17.2 million) to support Christian refugees and displaced persons in Iraq.

The organization stepped up their efforts to offer support during Lent, when the Italian branch promoted six projects aimed at offering aid to the 250,000 Christians still in Iraq. The dioceses of Carpi and Ventimiglia-San Remo have also joined the effort, offering their own donations.

'She's in heaven' – Pope Francis on Mother Angelica

Pope Francis offers a special blessing for the repose of Mother Angelica's soul during his general audience March 30, 2016. Credit: EWTN.

Pope Francis on Wednesday offered a special blessing for Mother Angelica following her death on Easter Sunday, expressing his confidence that she is already in heaven.

“She’s in heaven.” The Pope pointed to the sky as he spoke these words to members of EWTN’s Rome bureau, who brought an image of the late Poor Clare nun to his March 30 general audience as a sign of affection and remembrance.

Francis saw the framed photo in the crowd, and blessed it when asked by EWTN’s Executive TV Producer in Rome, Martha Calderon, for a blessing for Mother Angelica’s soul.

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PopeFrancis?src=hash">#PopeFrancis</a> gave a blessing 4 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MotherAngelica?src=hash">#MotherAngelica</a>&#39;s soul, saying &quot;she&#39;s in heaven&quot; &amp; pointing to the sky <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ewtnMA?src=hash">#ewtnMA</a> <a href="https://t.co/MQvKeSu1UW">pic.twitter.com/MQvKeSu1UW</a></p>&mdash; Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) <a href="https://twitter.com/cnalive/status/715146708422959104">March 30, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation founded the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), in 1981, and it has since become the largest religious media network in the world. She passed away March 27 after a lengthy struggle with the aftereffects of a stroke. She was 92 years old.

Pope Francis offered his prayers for Mother Angelica Feb. 12 while on his way to Cuba, and asked for her prayers in return.

But he isn’t the only one who is confident in the nun’s holiness. Several other prelates have voiced their admiration and appreciation for Mother’s contribution to the faith, to the Catholic Church in the U.S., and to the world of Catholic communications, including retired pontiff Benedict XVI and the Vatican’s spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi.

Although Francis has expressed his belief that Mother Angelica is already in heaven, the formal process for declaring her a saint has yet to begin.

Once a cause for her canonization officially opens, the facts and details of her life, as well as the testimonies from those around her, must be obtained and gathered into a lengthy report called a “positio” or “position” and presented to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The congregation must then study the records to determine Mother’s heroic virtue, and eventually look into miracles attributed to her intercession. Only when one miracle has been officially approved can she be declared a Blessed. A second is then required for her canonization as a saint.

However, the Pope could decide to take the route of what’s called an “equipollent,” or “equivalent” canonization, in which he waives the requirement for one or both of the miracles and canonizes the person without them.
This was the case with St. Pope John XXIII in 2014, for whom the Popedecided to waive the second miracle required for his canonization, and proclaimedhim a saint with just one.

In his general audience speech, Pope Francis continued his catechesis on mercy as understood in scripture, finishing his segment on the Old Testament.

He focused on Psalm 51, also referred to as “the Miserere” and which is traditionally understood as King David’s prayer asking for forgiveness following his sin of adultery with Bathsheba.

Francis pointed to the psalm’s opening words “Have mercy on me, O God in your kindness,” saying they are “a moving confession of sin, repentance and confident hope in God’s merciful pardon.”

Alongside his “heartfelt plea” to be cleansed and purified of his sin, King David also praises God’s infinite justice and holiness, the Pope observed.

Not only does he ask to be forgiven of his sin, but he also prays “for the gift of a pure heart and a steadfast spirit, so that, thus renewed, he may draw other sinners back to the way of righteousness.”

“God’s forgiveness is the greatest sign of his infinite mercy,” Francis said, and in off-the-cuff remarks had the pilgrims present at the audience repeat three times that “God's forgiveness is greater than our sin!”

He closed his audience by praying that Mary, the “Mother of Mercy,” would intercede so that all would become “ever more convincing witnesses to that divine mercy which forgives our sins, creates in us a new heart, and enables us to proclaim God’s reconciling love to the world.”

Let yourselves be moved by hope, Pope says at Easter vigil

Pope Francis celebrates the Easter Vigil at St Peters basilica. Credit: Alexey Gotovskiy/CNA.

 

 

 

During the Easter Vigil, Pope Francis told attendees not to be overcome by sadness in the face of life’s difficulties, but to be open to hope, which is not the absence of problems, but is a gift from God when we allow him to enter our lives.
“We, like Peter and the women, cannot discover life by being sad, bereft of hope,” the Pope said March 26.
He urged the faithful not to “stay imprisoned within ourselves, but let us break open our sealed tombs to the Lord so that he may enter and grant us life. Let us give him the stones of our rancor and the boulders of our past, those heavy burdens of our weaknesses and falls.”
As we anticipate Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead, the first stone which must be moved aside is “the lack of hope which imprisons us within ourselves,” he said.
The Pope then prayed that the Lord would free us from the trap of being “Christians without hope, who live as if the Lord were not risen, as if our problems were the center of our lives.”
Pope Francis spoke to the thousands present inside St. Peter’s Basilica for the Easter Vigil, which is celebrated the night before Easter in anticipation of Jesus’ rising from the dead.
The vigil began in the atrium of the basilica with the traditional blessing of the fire and the preparation of the Easter candle. The Pope then led a procession with the lit candle to the main altar, where he continued with the rest of the Mass.
In the course of the celebration, Francis administered the Sacraments of Christian Initiation – Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist – to 12 newcomers in the Catholic Church, hailing from Italy, Albania, Cameroon, Korea, India and China.
Those being baptized included Yong Joon Lee, the Korean ambassador to Italy, and his wife Hee Kim.
In his homily, the Pope noted how the women in the Gospel, after going to anoint Jesus' body, had run to the disciples and told them about how they had found the tomb empty.
Peter and the others did not initially believe the women, yet Peter ran to the tomb anyway, he said.
“There was doubt in Peter’s heart, together with many other worries: sadness at the death of the beloved Master and disillusionment for having denied him three times during his Passion,” he said.
But still, something in Peter’s behavior had changed. Instead of staying sedentary and remaining at home with the others, Peter rose, refusing to succumb to the somber atmosphere in the days following Jesus’ death or to be overcome by his doubts.
Peter, the Pope said, “was not consumed by remorse, fear or the continuous gossip that leads nowhere.”
“He was looking for Jesus, not himself. He preferred the path of encounter and trust. And so, he got up, just as he was, and ran towards the tomb from where he would return amazed.”
This, Francis observed, “marked the beginning of Peter’s resurrection, the resurrection of his heart.” Without giving in to sadness or darkness, Peter “made room for hope: he allowed the light of God to enter into his heart, without smothering it.”
Like Peter, the women also had the same experience of awe when they went to Jesus' tomb with oil and met the angel, who told them that the Lord had risen, Francis said, adding that like them, we can't allow ourselves to be overcome by a lack of hope.
Pope Francis stressed that there will always be problems “both within and without,” which won’t go away. What’s important, he said, is to place them in the light of the Risen Lord, “and in a certain sense, to evangelize them.”
The resurrection of the Lord is “the foundation of our hope,” he said, clarifying that this hope is neither “mere optimism, nor a psychological attitude or desire to be courageous.”
Rather, he said, Christian hope “is a gift that God gives us if we come out of ourselves and open our hearts to him.”
Hope will never disappoint us because we have been given the Holy Spirit, the Pope said, noting that the Spirit doesn’t seek to make things look appealing or “remove evil with a magic wand.”
The Holy Spirit, he said, “pours into us the vitality of life, which is not the absence of problems, but the certainty of being loved and always forgiven by Christ, who for us has conquered sin, death and fear.”
Pope Francis emphasized that each person, after having met Jesus, is then sent out by him to proclaim the Easter message, and “to awaken and resurrect hope in hearts burdened by sadness, in those who struggle to find meaning in life.”
However, he cautioned that we shouldn’t proclaim ourselves, but must rather be “joyful servants of hope” who announce the Risen Lord through our lives and the ways in which we love.
“Otherwise we will be only an international organization full of followers and good rules, yet incapable of offering the hope for which the world longs,” he said.
Francis concluded his homily by telling attendees that their hope can be strengthened by following the angel’s advice to the women in the Gospel: “Remember what [Jesus] told you.” He urged them to always remember Jesus’ words and deeds, “otherwise we will lose hope.”
He urged everyone to “open our hearts to hope and go forth,” praying that the constant memory of Jesus’ works and words would be “the bright star which directs our steps in the ways of faith toward the Easter that will have no end.”

Mercy will save the world: papal preacher's Good Friday meditation

Pope Francis prostrates himself before the altar of St. Peter's Basilica at the opening of the Good Friday liturgy, March 25, 2016. Credit: Alexey Gotovskiy/CNA.

Remembering this week's deadly terror attack in Brussels, the papal preacher centered his Good Friday reflection on mercy's role in saving the world.

“The opposite of mercy is not justice but vengeance,” said Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, in his sermon for the Celebration of Our Lord's Passion in St. Peter's Basilica March 25.

“The hate and the brutality of the terrorist attacks this week in Brussels help us to understand the divine power of Christ’s last words: 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'”

His remarks come days after more than 30 people were killed and scores were injured by Islamic State suicide bombers at a Brussels airport and metro on March 22.

“In forgiving sinners God is renouncing not justice but vengeance; he does not desire the death of a sinner but wants the sinner to convert and live,” he added.

Fr. Cantalamessa called for the need to “demythologize vengeance,” observing how it pervades many of the stories “seen on screen and video games” in which the “good hero” seeks revenge.

“It has become a pervasive mythic theme that infects everything and everybody, starting with children,” he said.

Outside these fictional contexts, this “mythic theme” of vengeance accounts for much of the world's suffering, “whether in personal relationships or between states and nations.”

Fr. Cantalamessa made this reflection to the congregation gathered in Saint Peter’s Basilica following the chanting in Latin of the account of Christ’s Passion and Death according to St. John. Pope Francis presided over the celebration, leading the faithful in the Veneration of the Cross, during which those present were invited to approach a wooden crucifix and kiss the feet of Jesus.

In his lengthy homily, the papal preacher also placed special emphasis on the role of mercy in saving marriage and the family, which is “the most precious and fragile thing in the world at this time.”

Here he observed the similarity between marriage and “God's relationship with humanity.”

“In the very beginning,” he said, “there was love, not mercy. Mercy comes in only after humanity’s sin.”

“So too in marriage, in the beginning there is not mercy but love. People do not get married because of mercy but because of love.”

After this initial period, challenges and routine “quenches all joy” in the family, he observed.

“What can save a marriage from going downhill without any hope of coming back up again is mercy, understood in the biblical sense.”

In this context, marriage is “not just reciprocal forgiveness but spouses acting with “compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness and patience.”

“Mercy adds agape to eros, it adds the love that gives of oneself and has compassion to the love of need and desire.”

“Shouldn’t a husband and wife, then, take pity on each other? And those of us who live in community, shouldn’t we take pity on one another instead of judging one another?”

Fr. Cantalamessa centered his sermon on Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, in which he speaks of becoming “reconciled with God.”

St. Paul is not referring to the “historical reconciliation between God and humanity,” or “the sacramental reconciliation that takes place in Baptism and in the Sacrament of Reconciliation,”  Fr. Cantalamessa said.

The passage “refers to an existential and personal reconciliation that needs to be implemented in the present,” he said, noting that it is addressed to the baptized Christians of Corinth, and also “to us here and now.”

Reflecting on the “existential and psychological dimension” of reconciliation with God, Fr. Cantalamessa acknowledged the “distorted image” of God which alienates people “from religion and faith.”

“People unconsciously link God’s will to everything that is unpleasant and painful, to what can be seen as somehow destroying individual freedom and development,” he said.

“It is somewhat as though God were the enemy of every celebration, joy, and pleasure – a severe inquisitor-God.”

A remnant of the pagan view of God, this is an image of an all-powerful being who asserts control over individuals, with an emphasis on the impossibility of making reparation for the “transgression of his law,” he said. Such a perception causes “fear” and “resentment” toward God.
 
“It is a vestige of the pagan idea of God that has never been entirely eradicated, and perhaps cannot be eradicated, from the human heart,” he said: that “God is the one who intervenes with divine punishment to reestablish the order disrupted by evil.”

In contrast, God's mercy “has never been disregarded,” he said. 

“The Year of Mercy is a golden opportunity to restore the true image of the biblical God who not only has mercy but is mercy.”

Reflecting on the Apostle John's statement “God is love,” Fr. Cantalamessa observed that God's love within the Trinity is without mercy. This is because the love of the Father and the Son is a “necessity even though it occurs with the utmost freedom; the Son needs to be loved and to love in order to be the Son.”

“The sin of human beings does not change the nature of this love but causes it to make a qualitative leap: mercy as a gift now becomes mercy as forgiveness.”

Fr. Cantalamessa turned his reflection to the relationship between justice and his mercy, citing Paul's letter to the Romans which speaks of all sinners being justified by God's grace through “redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”

“God shows his righteousness and justice by having mercy! This is the great revelation.”

“He is in fact love and mercy, so for that reason he is just to himself – he truly demonstrates who he is – when he has mercy.”

An incorrect notion of God's “righteousness” can cause fear rather than encouragement, he said.

However, “the righteousness of God is that by which God makes those who believe in his Son Jesus acceptable to him. It does not enact justice but makes people just,” Fr. Cantalamessa explained in reference to the writings of St. Augustine. 

He went on to state that the 16th century figure Martin Luther is credited for reintroducing this understanding of God's righteousness, “at least in Christian preaching,” and cited the upcoming fifth centenary of the Protestant Reformation.

Although revisited by St. Augustine, and later Luther, the correct understanding of God's righteousness goes back to Scripture, he said.

“God’s justice not only does not contradict his mercy but consists precisely in mercy!”

Fr. Cantalamessa examined the “radical change in the fate of humanity” that was brought about by the Cross.

He quoted Benedict XVI's book Jesus of Nazareth, saying: “That which is wrong, the reality of evil, cannot simply be ignored; it cannot just be left to stand. It must be dealt with; it must be overcome. Only this counts as a true mercy.”

“And the fact that God now confronts evil himself because men are incapable of doing so – therein lies the ‘unconditional’ goodness of God.”

The papal preacher added that “God was not satisfied with merely forgiving people’s sins; he did infinitely more than that: he took those sins upon himself, he shouldered them himself.”

That the Son of God “became sin for us,” as St. Paul writes, is “a shocking statement,” Fr. Cantalamessa said.  

However, “it was not death, then, but love that saved us!”

“The death of Christ needed to demonstrate to everyone the supreme proof of God’s mercy toward sinners,” he said.

He recalled the two thieves with whom Christ was crucified, which shows how God “wants to remain a friend to sinners right up to the end, so he dies like them and with them.”

Fr. Cantalamessa concluded his sermon, calling for the removal of “any desire for vengeance from the hearts of individuals, families, and nations, and make us fall in love with mercy.”

“Let the Holy Father’s intention in proclaiming this Year of Mercy be met with a concrete response in our lives, and let everyone experience the joy of being reconciled with you in the depth of the heart.”

Pope's Way of the Cross remembers migrants, persecuted Christians

Pope Francis prays the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum in Rome, March 25, 2016. Credit: Alexey Gotovskiy/CNA.

 

 

 

Following the yearly Good Friday tradition set by his predecessors, Pope Francis presided over the Stations of the Cross at Rome's Colosseum, where such issues as migration and the persecution of Christians were remembered.

“O Cross of Christ, today too we see you raised up in our sisters and brothers killed, burned   alive, throats slit and decapitated by barbarous blades amid cowardly silence,” the Pope said March 25 at the conclusion of the stations in a prayer he composed for the event.

In the prayer, Francis spoke of  traitors, arms dealers, and those who destroy “our common home.”

“Today too we see you in the faces of children, of women and people, worn   out and fearful, who flee from war and violence and who often only find death and many Pilates who   wash their hands.”

The Roman Pontiff also prayed for those who seek to remove God from public places and public life “in the name of a pagan laicism or that equality you yourself taught   us.”

The Cross of Christ, the Pope said, is seen among the abandoned elderly, as well as among the migrants who have died attempting to make the passage to Europe.

“Today too we see you in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas which have   become insatiable cemeteries, reflections of our indifferent and anaesthetized conscience.”

In addition to the hardships, Pope Francis recounted in the prayer how the Cross is also found among men and women of good will: families, volunteers, consecrated men and women “who have left everything to bind up, in evangelical silence, the wounds of poverty and   injustice.”

“O Cross of Christ, today too we see you in ministers who are faithful and humble, who   illuminate the darkness of our lives like candles that burn freely in order to brighten the lives of the  least among us.   

The Pope delivered his prayer after the recitation of the Via Crucis, which included reflections from Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti of Perugia-Citta della Pieve.

This year's reflections also touched on various themes, including the plight of migrants, persecuted minorities, and all those who suffer. 

‘We are brothers’: Pope washes feet of Muslim, Hindu, Orthodox refugees in Holy Thursday Mass

Osservatore Romano / Associated PressPope Francis kissing the feet of a young offender after washing them during a mass in 2013.

CASTELNUOVO DI PORTO, Italy — Pope Francis has washed and kissed the feet of Muslim, Orthodox, Hindu and Catholic refugees in a gesture of welcome and brotherhood.

Several of the migrants wept as Francis knelt before them during a Holy Thursday Mass with asylum-seekers at a refugee shelter in Castelnuovo di Porto, outside Rome. He poured holy water from a brass pitcher over their feet, wiped them clean and kissed them.
In his homily, Francis said: “We have different cultures and religions, but we are brothers and we want to live in peace.”
Francis also denounced the Brussels attacks as a “gesture of war” carried out by bloodthirsty people beholden to arms traffickers.

Pope Francis observes moment of silence for Belgium attack victims

Pope Francis prays at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square on Oct. 2, 2013. Credit: Elise Harris/EWTN.

In his general audience the day after terrorist attacks in Belgium claimed the lives of at least 30 people and injured 230 more, Pope Francis led pilgrims in a moment of silent prayer for the victims and their families.

“With a sorrowful heart I have followed the sad news of the terrorist attacks which took place yesterday in Brussels, and which caused numerous victims and wounded,” the Pope said March 23.

Assuring his prayer for the victims and their families, he appealed to all people of good will “to unite themselves in the unanimous condemnation of these cruel abominations which are causing only death, terror and horror.”

Francis asked faithful to persevere in prayer during the events of Holy Week in order to “comfort afflicted hearts and to convert the hearts of these people blinded by cruel fundamentalism.”

The Pope then led pilgrims in praying a Hail Mary and observing a moment of silence for the victims of yesterday’s attacks, for their families, and for the entire Belgian people.

Pope Francis’ words came the day after two explosions at the Brussels airport and a third a busy metro stop killed at least 30 people and wounded 230 others, according to CNN. The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

In his general audience address, Pope Francis continued his catechesis on mercy as understood in scripture, turning his attention to the events of the Easter Triduum, which consists of the days leading up to Jesus’ resurrection from the dead: Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

Everything in the Triduum “speaks of mercy, because it makes visible the point to which the love of God arrives,” he said.

Francis pointed to the passage in the Gospel of John in which the Evangelist says that “having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them until the end.”

The love of God “has no limits,” he observed, adding “God truly offered himself for each one of us and didn’t spare himself in anything.”

“The mystery that we adore in this Holy Week is a great story of love which knows no obstacles,” the Pope continued, noting that Jesus’ Passion endures to the end of the world, since through it he shares in the suffering of the whole of humanity.

It also speaks of Jesus’ permanent presence in the events of the personal lives of each one of us, he said, explaining that the Triduum is therefore “a memorial of a drama of love which gives us the certainty that we will never be abandoned in the trials of life.”

Turning to the events of Holy Thursday, when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples and instituted the Eucharist during the Last Supper, Pope Francis explained that when Jesus does these things, he is giving the disciples a “firsthand example” of how they themselves will have to act.

The Eucharist, he said, “is love made service. It’s the sublime presence of Christ who desires to feed each person, above all the weakest,” in order to enable them to follow a path of witness through the difficulties of the world.

Additionally, Jesus attests that we must learn to break with other forms of nourishment in order for our lives to become a true communion with those in need, the Pope said.

Francis then turned to Good Friday, “the culminating moment of love” and the day in which Jesus died on the Cross.

Jesus’ abandonment to the Father and his death on the Cross express an unending love which is given until the very last, he said, adding that it is a love which “intends to embrace all, no one excluded.”

The Pope encouraged faithful to imitate this love, saying that “if God has demonstrated his supreme love to us in the death of Jesus, now also we, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, can and must love one another.”

Speaking of Holy Saturday, when Jesus is enclosed in the tomb, Pope Francis said that it is “the day of God’s silence.”

“It must be a day of silence,” he said, and encouraged faithful to do everything possible be silent that day, and to imitate Mary, who believed in her son and silently waited for his Resurrection.

When Jesus is laid in the tomb, he shares “the drama of death” with all humanity, Francis said, explaining that God’s silence “speaks and expresses love as solidarity with the abandoned forever.”

The Son of God is the one who fills this void of abandonment, “which only the infinite mercy of the Father can achieve,” the Pope said.

Pope Francis closed his audience encouraging pilgrims to let themselves be “enveloped” by God’s mercy during Holy Week.

He prayed that throughout the week, “while we have our eyes fixed on the passion and death of the Lord, let us welcome in our heart the greatness of his love, and like Mary in the silence of Holy Saturday, wait for the resurrection.”

Pope Francis to wash the feet of migrants on Holy Thursday

Pope Francis performing the rite of the washing of feet at a Holy Thursday Mass said at Rebibbia prison, Rome, April 2, 2015. Credit: L'Osservatore Romano.

After spending previous years washing the feet of inmates and disabled persons on Holy Thursday, this year Pope Francis will celebrate the liturgy in a welcoming center for migrants and refugees.

The Pope will say a Chrism Mass at the Vatican before heading to the Reception Center for Asylum Seekers, or CARA, in Castelnuovo di Porto, just over 18 miles outside of Rome, on the afternoon of March 24.

He will arrive to the center around 5 pm, where he will say the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and wash the feet of 12 migrants welcomed by the center, many of whom are not Catholic.

The news came in a March 22 article from the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano explaining the reason why the location was chosen. The article was written by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.

In previous years Pope Francis has offered the Lord’s Supper Mass on Holy Thursday at a youth detention center, a rehabilitation center for the disabled, and a large prison in Rome. This marks the first year he will celebrate the liturgy at a migrant center.

More than 900 asylum seekers are housed at the center, virtually all of whom come from sub-Saharan Africa. CARA is one of the most demanding asylum centers in all of Italy.

In 2015 alone more than 1.1 million migrants fleeing war and violence poured into Europe, and the influx has continued. Many Syrians seeking to escape the civil war which has devastated their country for the past five years enter Europe through Turkey, taking boats to the Greek isles.

With leaders perplexed as to how to handle the migrant flow, last week a new deal was struck between the E.U. and Turkey stipulating that all migrants and refugees who cross into Greece illegally by sea will be sent back to Turkey once they have been registered and their asylum claims processed.

In return, the E.U. agreed to take in thousands of Syrian refugees directly from Turkey, giving the country early visa-free travel and advancing talks regarding their E.U. membership negotiations.

The Pope’s decision to celebrate the Holy Thursday liturgy at the center comes after he has repeatedly pled on behalf of migrants’ rights in past few weeks.

In his March 16 general audience Francis appealed to world leaders to open their doors to migrants, lamenting that many are “living a real and dramatic situation of exile.”

“Far away from their homeland, with their eyes still full of the rubble of their homes,” these migrants often find “closed doors” when attempting to enter another country, he said.

The Pope said that “I like it a lot when I see nations, governments, who open their hearts and open their doors” to the migrants and refugees seeking to enter.

Similarly, on Palm Sunday Francis said that when Christ suffered from the indifference of political leaders in being sent from Pilate to Herod and then back to the Roman governor, he was thinking in particular “of so many other people, so many marginalized people, so many asylum seekers, so many refugees.”

“There are so many who don't want to take responsibility for their destiny.”

He also offered special greetings to some 6,000 migrants and refugees during his Jan. 17 Angelus address, which fell on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. The day was also celebrated as a special Jubilee of Migrants as part of Francis’ larger Jubilee of Mercy.

In his address, the Pope told the migrants that “each one of you carries within yourself a story, a culture, of precious value; and often unfortunately experiences of misery, oppression and fear,” and encouraged them not to give up in the face of difficulties.

During his Sept. 6, 2015 Angelus Francis made an appeal to all the parishes, to religious communities, to monasteries, and sanctuaries of all Europe to “to express the concreteness of the Gospel” and welcome a family of refugees.

The Vatican's two parishes – St. Anne's and St. Peter's – have already welcomed two refugee families.

The first family, housed by St. Anne's, consists of a father, mother and two children. Syrian Christians of Catholic Greek-Melkite Church, the family fled their war-torn city of Damascus and arrived to the Vatican Sept. 6, the same day as the Pope’s appeal.

The second family, provided for by St. Peter's, is an Eritrean family, consisting of a mother and her five children who arrived earlier this year.

Pope prays for victims of Russian plane crash, Istanbul bombing

Pope Francis prays at General Audience Sept. 25, 2013. Credit: Elise Harris/CNA.

Pope Francis offered prayers over the weekend for victims of both a plane crash in Russia and a suicide bombing in Istanbul.

“His Holiness Pope Francis was saddened to learn of the tragic air accident in Rostov-on-Don and he sends his sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims,” said a telegram from Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

“His Holiness commends the souls of the dead to the mercy of Almighty God and implores the divine gifts of consolation, strength and hope upon all who mourn their loss.”

Early Saturday, a flight from the United Arab Emirates crashed while attempting to land in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. All 62 passengers will killed. The plane had been circling for more than two hours without being able to land due to strong winds and poor visibility.

Also on Saturday, a suicide bomber attacked a busy shopping street in Istanbul, killing four. Authorities have identified the bomber as a Turkish citizen with links to ISIS.

The Pope “grieves to learn of the casualties caused by the bombing in Istanbul yesterday morning, and he expresses his prayerful solidarity with all touched by this tragedy,” said a separate telegram from Cardinal Parolin on Sunday.

“His Holiness asks you to convey his spiritual closeness to them, as well as to the personnel assisting the injured. Commending the souls of those who have died to the mercy of the Almighty, Pope Francis invokes divine strength and peace upon those who mourn, and upon the entire nation.”

Pope Francis to world leaders: open your doors to migrants

On Wednesday Pope Francis renewed his appeal on behalf of the tens of thousands struggling to enter other countries as they flee war and violence, asking global leaders to “open their hearts” and doors to migrants and refugees.

“How many of our brothers are currently living a real and dramatic situation of exile, far away from their homeland, with their eyes still full of the rubble of their homes, and in their heart the fear, and often, unfortunately, the pain of having lost loved ones,” the Pope said March 16.

Such cases can often lead one to ask questions such as “where is God? How is it possible that so much suffering befalls innocent men, women and children?” he said.

Francis lamented that migrants and refugees fleeing violence in their homeland frequently find “closed doors” when attempting to enter another country.

These people suffer due to a loss of land, a lack of food, and they “don’t feel welcome,” he said, adding that “I like it a lot when I see nations, governments, who open their hearts and open their doors” to the migrants and refugees seeking to enter.

Pope Francis spoke to the nearly 40,000 pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square for his his March 16 general audience.

He continued his catechesis on mercy as understood through scripture, focusing his speech on Chapters 30-31 of the Book of Jeremiah, which also referred to as the “book of consolation” due to the hope the prophet announces.

Francis noted how in the passage read at the audience, the prophet Jeremiah goes to the Israelites, who were in exile, and announces the return to their homeland.

The re-entrance of the Israelites into their land is a sign “of the infinite love of God the Father who does not abandon his children, but cares for them and saves them,” he said.

The period of exile was “devastating” for Israel, he said, noting that after suffering so much due to the destruction of their country and the loss of their temple, it was hard for them to continue believing in the Lord’s goodness.

Pope Francis explained that we also experience a sort of exile today when experiences of suffering and death make us think that God has abandoned us.

However, despite the feelings of forgotten-ness and abandonment in such situations, the prophet Jeremiah gives us another response: “the exiled people can return to see their land and experience the mercy of the Lord.”

“God is not absent,” he said, explaining that this also goes for the “dramatic situations” of war and violence today.

He said that “we must not give in to despair,” but continue “to be confident that good overcomes evil and that the Lord dries every tear and frees us from every fear.”

Francis closed his address by pointing to the Jeremiah’s announcement that “I will turn their mourning into gladness, I will give them comfort and joy.”

Jesus has brought this message to fulfillment, he said, explaining that the “the true and radical return from exile and the comforting light after the darkness of the crisis of faith,” takes place at Easter.

In the resurrection of Jesus on Easter, we see “the full and definitive experience of the love of God, a merciful love which gives peace, joy and eternal life.”

After his speech Pope Francis offered special greetings to groups of pilgrims present from different countries around the world. In his greeting to Arab-speaking pilgrims, the Pope offered his solidarity to those in the Middle East who are currently suffering due to war and violence.

He lamented that there are many people who experience exile, desperation, grief and persecution, which can push one to doubt God’s love and goodness.

This doubt, he said, “dissipates in front of the truth that God is faithful, close, and keeps his promise to those who do not doubt Him, and for those who hope against hope.”

Francis noted that the Lord’s consolation is near to those “who pass through the agonizing night of doubt, clinging and hoping for the dawn of the Mercy of God, which the totality of the darkness and injustice will never be able to defeat.”

He closed his remarks by praying that the Lord would bless all who are living in such dramatic situations, and protect them from evil.

Humility is the epitome of redemption, Pope says on Palm Sunday

Pope Francis leads procession of palms in St. Peter's Square on Palm Sunday March 20, 2016. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN.

On Palm Sunday Pope Francis said the path toward salvation can be summed up by humility and service, and encouraged pilgrims to contemplate Jesus’ shameful Passion and Death throughout Holy Week.

“Today’s liturgy teaches us that the Lord has not saved us by his triumphal entry or by means of powerful miracles,” the Pope said March 20.

Instead, in the day’s second reading from St. Paul to the Philippians, the apostle “epitomizes in two verbs the path of redemption: Jesus ‘emptied’ and ‘humbled’ himself.”

These two verbs, Francis said, “show the boundlessness of God’s love for us. Jesus emptied himself: he did not cling to the glory that was his as the Son of God, but became the Son of man in order to be in solidarity with us sinners in all things; yet he was without sin.”

Jesus chose to take on the condition of a servant rather than that of a king or a prince, the Pope observed, adding that “the abyss” of Jesus’ humiliation seems to be “bottomless” as Holy Week approaches.

However, just as he entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, Jesus also wants to enter our lives and cities in the same way, Francis said. “He comes to us in humility; he comes in the name of the Lord.”

Pope Francis spoke to the thousands of pilgrims present in St. Peter’s Square for his Palm Sunday Mass.

Before opening the celebration, he blessed the palms used in the day’s liturgy from the obelisk in St. Peter’s Square, and led a procession up to the main altar.

After listening to the lengthy account of Jesus’ Passion and Death from the Gospel of Luke, Francis told attendees that the first sign of Jesus’ humble and endless love in Holy Week is expressed in the washing of his disciples’ feet on Holy Thursday.

By washing their feet, Jesus shows us by example “that we need to allow his love to reach us, a love which bends down to us,” he said.

“We cannot do any less, we cannot love without letting ourselves be loved by him first, without experiencing his surprising tenderness and without accepting that true love consists in concrete service.”

However, Francis noted that this act is “only the beginning,” and that Jesus’ humiliation reaches its climax during his Passion, when he is sold for 30 pieces of silver and betrayed by the kiss of a man whom he had chosen and called as his disciple, and whom he called a friend.

In addition to Judas’ betrayal, Jesus is abandoned by nearly all the rest of his disciples, he is denied by Peter three times, and is humiliated by mockery, spitting, insults and physical beatings.

Jesus “suffers in his body terrible brutality: the blows, the scourging and the crown of thorns make his face unrecognizable,” the Pope said, noting how Jesus was also shamed by the condemnation of religious and political leaders.

In being sent from Pilate to Herod and then back to the Roman governor, Jesus experiences indifference “in his own flesh,” because “no one wishes to take responsibility for his fate,” Francis observed.

Even the crowd, who had previously welcomed him, call for his crucifixion and ask that a murderer be released instead, the Pope recalled. This then leads to Jesus’ death in the “most painful form of shame” intended for traitors, slaves and the worst of criminals.

However, as if his isolation, defamation and pain weren’t enough, Jesus takes it a step further, Pope Francis said, explaining that in order to be in complete solidarity with man, “he also experiences on the Cross the mysterious abandonment of the Father.”

Jesus faces his final temptation while hanging from the Cross, when he is challenged to come down and save himself. Though instead of giving in, the Lord entrusts himself to his Father in order to conquer evil for good and show the face “of a powerful and invincible God,” he said.

Francis explained that even at “the height of his annihilation, (Jesus) reveals the true face of God, which is mercy,” by forgiving those who crucify him, moving the heart of the centurion and promising paradise to the repentant thief.

“If the mystery of evil is unfathomable, then the reality of Love poured out through him is infinite, reaching even to the tomb and to hell,” the Pope said.

Jesus, he added, “takes upon himself all our pain that he may redeem it, bringing light to darkness, life to death, love to hatred.”

Pope Francis concluded his homily by noting how God’s way of acting seems to be distant from our own, since “he was annihilated for our sake, while it seems difficult for us to even forget ourselves a little.”

“He comes to save us; we are called to choose his way: the way of service, of giving, of forgetfulness of ourselves,” he said, and encouraged attendees to pause during Holy Week to contemplate the Crucifix.

By humbling himself, Jesus invites us to walk the same path, Francis said, urging pilgrims to ask him “for the grace to understand something of the mystery of his obliteration for our sake; and then, in silence, let us contemplate the mystery of this week.”

After Mass Pope Francis greeted youth present for the 31st World Youth Day, the national celebration of which will take place July 25-31 in Krakow, and led pilgrims in praying the Angelus.

Pope's Instagram launches with appeal for prayer

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter's Square during the Wednesday General Audience, May 21, 2014: Credit Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN

The official Instagram account of Pope Francis launched on Saturday with a simple request for his followers: “Pray for me.”

The inaugural post, which was translated into nine languages, features a photo of the Pope reverently kneeling in prayer.
The post was made after noon under the handle @Franciscus – which is Latin for Francis. Within 30 minutes of going live, the account had more than ten thousand followers.
“Instagram will help recount the Papacy through images, to enable all those who wish to accompany and know more about Pope Francis’ pontificate to encounter his gestures of tenderness and mercy,” said Msgr. Dario E. Viganò, prefect of the Secretariat for Communications, in a Vatican statement Friday.
The papal Instagram will feature photos from L'Osservatore Romano, as well as short videos, according to the Vatican's March 18 statement.
“In this way we can show those aspects of closeness and inclusion that Pope Francis lives every day,” Msgr. Viganò said.
He added that the Instagram account was intentionally established during the Year of  Mercy, allowing the Jubilee to enter “into social media in a very concrete and natural way,” reads the March 18 press release.
The account launch comes a few weeks after Francis met with Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom at the Vatican.
The Pope's Instagram account is his latest engagement with social media, with more than 25 million followers across 9 languages on Twitter alone. 
Francis is not the first pope to engage with social media. In December 2012, Benedict XVI inaugurated the @Pontifex Twitter account with the Tweet: "Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart."

Love is the hidden service we do for others, Pope Francis says

On Saturday Pope Francis said that love is more than just saying nice words and doing things – it means forgetting oneself and serving others, just as Jesus did when he washed the feet of the disciples.

“By washing the feet of the apostles, Jesus wanted to reveal how God acts toward us, and to give an example of this ‘new commandment’ of loving one another as he has loved us; that is, giving his life for us, the Pope said March 12.

Love, then, “is the concrete service we give to each other,” he said, explaining that love isn’t just saying or doing things, but “love is service! A humble service, done in silence and hiddenness, as Jesus himself said: ‘Don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.’”

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims present in St. Peter’s Square for his third Jubilee general audience, which are being held once a month throughout the Jubilee of Mercy.

He continued his catechesis on mercy as it is understood in scripture, this time focusing on the passage in the Gospel of John when Jesus washes the feet of his disciples.

It is such an “unexpected and shocking gesture” that Peter doesn’t want to accept it, the Pope said, and pointed to Jesus’ question of “Do you understand what I have done for you?”

When Jesus washes his disciples’ feet and tells them that “if I, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, also you must wash the feet of others,” he is pointing out to them the path they must take if they want to both live their faith in him and bear witness to his love.

“Jesus has applied to himself the image of the ‘Servant of God’ used by the prophet Isaiah,” Francis said, emphasizing that the fact that the Son of God “makes himself a servant!”

To serve others, then, means to use and make available the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given us in order for the community to grow, he said, adding that this type of service also includes sharing one’s material goods “so that no one is in need.”

“This sharing and dedication to whoever is in need is a lifestyle which God also suggests to many non-Christians, as a path of authentic humanity,” the Pope noted.

He encouraged pilgrims not to forget that in washing the disciples’ feet and in asking us to do the same, Jesus is also inviting us to confess our failings and to pray for each other so that we know “how to forgive from the heart.”

“Love (and) charity, is service,” he said, and in off-the-cuff comments pointed to a letter he received last week from a woman caring for her elderly mother and disabled brother.

In her letter, the woman both thanked the Pope for the Jubilee of Mercy, and asked that he pray for her to grow closer to the Lord.

“The life of this person was to heal her mother and brother…her life was to serve, to help, and this is love,” he said. “When you forget yourself and think of others – this is love.”

Pope Francis closed his audience by noting how in the washing of the feet, Jesus teaches us to be true servants, as he was for each one of us.

“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, to be merciful like the Father means to follow Jesus on the path of service.”

How do you defend life? Show its beauty, Pope Francis says

Cultural trends and hardened hearts can obscure the value of human life. But true virtues, compassion and beauty are the way for Christians to overcome this, Pope Francis in a recent talk at the Vatican.


“In our time, some cultural orientations no longer acknowledge the imprint of divine wisdom either in the created reality, or in mankind,” the Pope said March 3.


“Human nature is thus reduced to mere matter that may be molded according to any design. Our humanity, however, is unique and so precious in God’s eyes. For this reason, the first nature to protect, so that it may bear fruit, is our human nature itself.”


The Pope spoke with participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life. The academy was founded in 1994 by St. John Paul II to defend human life from the perspective of Christian morals and Catholic teaching.


The defense of human life is done most effectively when we show the beauty of life, he said according to Vatican Radio.


“By displaying a genuine compassion and the other virtues, you will be precious witnesses of the mercy of the God of life,” he said.
“Virtue is the most authentic expression of the good that man, with God's help, is able to achieve…It is not merely a habit, but the constantly renewed decision to choose good.”


It's also “the highest expression of human freedom” and “the best that the human heart offers,” the Pope said.


“When the heart drifts away from the good and the truth contained in the Word of God, it runs many risks. It is without direction and risks mistaking good for bad and bad for good,” he continued. “Those who embark on this slippery slope fall into the trap of moral error and are oppressed by growing existential anguish.”


Pope Francis said that contemporary culture still has the principles to affirm that man is to be protected. However, this value is often threatened by “moral uncertainties that do not allow life to be defended in an effective way.”


“Not infrequently it can happen that 'splendid vices' are disguised under the mask of virtue,” he said. He stressed the necessity to cultivate virtues through continual discernment. Virtues must be rooted in God, the source of all virtue.


“The good that man does is not the result of calculations or strategies, or even the product of genetic programming or social conditioning. It is rather the fruit of a well-disposed heart and of the free choice that tends to true goodness.”


The virtues are not a “beautiful façade.” Rather, they help root out dishonest desires from our hearts and help us seek good.


The Pope reflected on how Scripture depicts the hardened heart.

“(T)he more the heart tends towards selfishness and evil, the more difficult it is to change,” he said. “As Jesus affirms, ‘Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.’ And when the heart is corrupt, there are grave consequences for social life, as the prophet Jeremiah reminds us.”


“This condition cannot change either through theories, or by the effect of social or political reforms. Only the work of the Holy Spirit may change our hearts, if we collaborate: God himself, in fact, assures his effective grace to all those who seek it and those who convert with all their heart.”


Pope Francis praised the many institutions that serve life. He also warned of many other institutions that are more interested in economic interests than in working for the common good.


The Pope echoed his previous warnings against “a new ideological colonization” that takes over human and Christian thought “in the form of virtue, modernity, and new attitudes.” These “take away freedom” and are “afraid of reality as God created it.”


The Pope closed his remarks with a prayer. “We ask the help of the Holy Spirit, who draws us out of selfishness and ignorance,” he said. “Renewed by him, we can think and act according to God’s heart and show his mercy to those who suffer in body and spirit.”

God did not create us to remain crushed by sin, Pope says

Leading his annual penitential service on Friday, Pope Francis told attendees to stand tall and be open to forgiveness, and not to let themselves remain under the heavy burden of sin.

“Let us cast off...all that prevents us from racing towards him, unafraid of leaving behind those things which make us feel safe and to which we are attached,” the Pope said March 4.
He told attendees not to “remain sedentary, but let us get up and find our spiritual worth again, our dignity as loved sons and daughters who stand before the Lord so that we can be seen by him, forgiven and recreated.”

Pointing to the word “recreated,” Francis said it arrives to the heart of each person present, because it’s a reminder of what God said when he created man: “Rise! God has created us to stand. Arise.”
The Pope’s homily was part of the annual “24 Hours for the Lord” event, which takes place the fourth Friday and Saturday of Lent inside St. Peter’s Basilica.

A worldwide initiative led by Pope Francis, the event points to confession as a primary way to experience God's merciful embrace. It was launched in 2014 under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.

Cardinals, bishops, priests and religious are invited by the Vatican to participate in the event by gathering around the Altar of the Confession inside the basilica.

As part of the penitential service, Pope Francis went to confession himself before administering the sacrament himself to a number of individuals.

Following the service in the Vatican, Churches throughout Rome will remain open for 24 hours to give pilgrims the opportunity to go to Confession and take part in Eucharistic Adoration.

In his homily, the Pope focused on the Gospel passage from Mark Chapter 10, in which a blind man named Bartimaeus hears that Jesus is passing by and calls out to him. As those around try to silence him, Bartimaeus cries out even louder.

Jesus hears him, stops and asks his disciples to bring Bartimaeus to him. When Bartimaeus arrives and asks to receive his sight, Jesus heals him immediately.

Pope Francis said the passage “has great symbolic value for our lives,” since each person finds themselves in the place of Bartimaeus.

“His blindness led him to poverty and to living on the outskirts of the city, dependent on others for everything he needed,” the pontiff said, explaining that sin has the same effect: “it impoverishes and isolates us.”

The blindness of sin leads us little by little to concentrate on what is superficial and to be indifferent to others, he said, noting that there are many temptations which have the power “to cloud the heart’s vision and to make it myopic!”

The Pope admitted that it is easy to be misguided, but cautioned that when we give into the temptation of only looking at ourselves, “we become blind, lifeless and self-centered, devoid of joy and true freedom.”

Jesus, however, passes by us and stops to listen in the same way that he did in the Gospel, the Pope said, explaining that like Bartimaeus, “our hearts race, because we realize that the Light is gazing upon us...which invites us to come out of our dark blindness.”

The closeness of Jesus makes us realize that something is missing when we are far away from him, Pope Francis said, adding that it is the presence of God which makes us feel the need for salvation and which “begins the healing of our heart.”

However, Francis lamented that there are always people like those in the Gospel who don’t want to stop when they see someone else suffering. These people, he said, prefer “to silence and rebuke the person in need who is only a nuisance.”

Francis said that by brushing these people off, we not only keep ourselves far from the Lord, but others as well. He prayed that everyone would realize that “we are all begging for God’s love, and not allow ourselves to miss the Lord as he passes by.”

The Pope then turned to role of pastors in the confessional, saying they are called in a special way “to hear the cry, perhaps hidden, of all those who wish to encounter the Lord.”

He encouraged them to re-examine behaviors that can get in the way of helping others draw close to Jesus, and to ask themselves if they are putting schedules, programs and regulations ahead of the desire for forgiveness.

Touching on the topic of God’s tenderness, the Pope said pastors must “certainly not water down the demands of the Gospel,” but at the same time they can’t risk “frustrating the desire of the sinner to be reconciled with the Father,” he said.

“We have been sent to inspire courage, to support and to lead others to Jesus,” he said, adding that their ministry “is one of accompaniment, so that the encounter with the Lord may be personal and intimate” and without fear.

Pope Francis concluded by noting how at the end of the Gospel, Bartimaeus immediately received his sight after speaking with Jesus, and then followed him.

When we draw near to Jesus like Bartimaeus did, “we too see once more the light which enables us to look to the future with confidence,” and which gives us the strength and courage to move forward, he said.

Francis encouraged attendees to follow Jesus “as faithful disciples,” so that they help everyone they meet to have the same experience of joy in receiving God’s his merciful love.
After “the embrace of the Father, the forgiveness of the Father,” in confession, the Pope told attendees to “celebrate in our hearts, because he is celebrating.”

Pope Francis: It's never too late for conversion

God's patience towards sinners is without limit, yet the time for conversion is now, Pope Francis said during his Sunday Angelus address at the Vatican.

“It is never too late to convert, but it is urgent, it is now! Let us begin today,” said the Pope Feb. 28 to the crowds in St. Peter's Square.

Delivering his remarks before leading those present in the Marian prayer, the Pope spoke on Jesus' “invincible patience,” explaining how God's “unyielding concern for sinners” should provoke impatience in ourselves.

“Have you thought of God's patience? Have you even thought of his unyielding concern for sinners, how this should provoke impatience against ourselves?”

“It is never to late to convert! Never! Up until the last moment: The patience of God who waits for us.”
Pope Francis recounted the story from St. Therese of Lisieux, who prayed for the conversion of a criminal who had been condemned to death, and had refused interventions from the priest. It was not until his final moment that he took the Crucifix held by the priest and kissed it.

“The patience of God! And he does the same with us, with all of us!” the Pope said. “And this is his mercy.”

Reflecting on the day's readings, Pope Francis remarked how everyday newspapers report on violence and catastrophes. He tied this to the Gospel reading which refers to two tragic events of the time: the Romans sacking the temple, and the collapse of the Siloam tower in Jerusalem which killed eighteen people.

The Pope says Jesus knows his listeners are “superstitious” in interpreting such events as punishment for sins.

“Jesus definitively refutes this point of view, because God does not permit tragedies to punish sins,” he said, but “asserts that those poor victims were no worse than others.”

Rather, Jesus uses these examples as warnings that sinners will perish as these victims did if they do not repent, the Pope added, citing the Gospel.

Even today, there is the temptation to blame disasters on the victims, “or even on God himself,” the pontiff said.

However, in order to take the path of the Gospel, Jesus “calls us to change our heart, to radically make an about turn in our life, abandoning our compromises with evil,” the Pope said, citing hypocrisy as an example. “I think we all have in us a little bit of hypocrisy,” he said in an off-the-cuff remark.

Stressing the need for conversion, the Pope warned against the temptation toward self-justification: “From what do we need to convert? Are we not all good people, believers, even sufficiently practicing?”

Despite being like the fig tree which fails to produce fruit, Jesus “with limitless patience” delays killing the tree for another year, Pope Francis observed.

He reflected on the Jubilee Year of Mercy as a year of grace, the period in the Church and our lives before Christ's “glorious return,” and which is “punctuated by a certain number of Lents which offer us opportunities for repentance and salvation.”

The Jubilee of Mercy is an Extraordinary Holy Year which officially commenced December 8 – the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica. It will close Nov. 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Christ the King.

After the recitation of the Angelus, Pope Francis reflected on the ongoing crisis of refugees fleeing from “war and other inhumane situations.”

He especially acknowledged Greece and other countries “on the front line” for their work in offering “generous assistance” to those crossing their borders, and called on the international community for a “unanimous response” in helping distribute the weight of the crisis.

“For this reason, we need to firmly and unreservedly focus on negotiations,” he said.

The pontiff went on to welcome “with hope” the current ceasefire in Syria involving government and rebel forces, which has entered its second day.

“I invite all to pray so that this window of opportunity can give relief to the suffering people, encouraging the necessary humanitarian aid, and open the way to dialogue and much desired peace,” he said.

Pope Francis went on to extend his “closeness” to the people of Fiji, where tropical cyclone Winston killed more than 40 people and left tens of thousands more homeless.

“I pray for the victims and for those engaged with the relief efforts.”