ourselves to be Christians in the workplace, in the family, at university, in
college. ... Faith wants to be on the streets, like Jesus. ... Where did Jesus
spend
most of his time? On the street, preaching the Gospel, bearing witness. ... Our
faith demands that we too go forth, that we do not keep Jesus confined to
ourselves without letting Him out, as Jesus goes out with us, so if we do not
go
forth, neither does He. ... Renewing the faith means going out into the
streets,
not being afraid of conflict, seeking solutions to family, school, social and
economic problems. Faith has to be my inspiration for my commitment to my
people, and it has its risks and its dangers. I would like to end with some of
our Mother's words; through me, she is saying to you, 'Do not be afraid of
going
forth, do not be afraid, my child, I am here and I am your Mother".
___________________________________________________________
Francis closes the Year of Consecrated Life
Vatican City, 3 February 2016 (VIS) - Yesterday, the feast of the Presentation
of Jesus in the Temple and the Day of Consecrated Life, Pope Francis presided
at
the Holy Mass for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life, held in the Vatican Basilica
at 5.30 p.m. Members of the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of
Apostolic Life concelebrated with the Holy Father.
During the rite, which opened with the blessing of the candles and the
procession, the Pope pronounced a homily, extensive extracts of which are
published below. He emphasised that gratitude, for the gift of the Holy Spirit
that always inspires the Church through different charisms is the word that
best
summarises the Year of Consecrated Life.
"Before our eyes there is a simple, humble and great fact: Jesus was taken by
Mary and Joseph to the temple of Jerusalem. He is a child like any other ...
but
He is unique: He is the only begotten Son Who came for all of us. This Child
brought us God's mercy and tenderness. Jesus is the face of the Father's mercy.
This is the icon that the Gospel offers us at the end of the Year of
Consecrated
Life, a year lived with great enthusiasm. Like a river, it now flows into the
sea of mercy, in this immense mystery of love that we are experiencing with the
extraordinary Jubilee".
"Today's feast, especially in the East, is called the feast of encounter.
Indeed, in the Gospel there are several encounters. In the temple, Jesus comes
towards us and we come towards Him. We contemplate the encounter with the
elderly Simeon, who represents the faithful hope of Israel and the exultation
of
the heart for the fulfilment of the ancient promises. We also admire the
encounter with the elderly prophetess Anna. Simeon and Anna are hope and
prophecy; Jesus is newness and completion. He presents Himself to us as God's
perennial surprise. In this Child, born for all, the past, made up of memory
and
promise, and the future, full of hope, are brought together".
"We can see here the beginning of consecrated life. Consecrated men and women
are called, first of all, to be men and women of encounter. Vocation, indeed,
is
not the result of a project of our own ... but rather the grace of the Lord Who
reaches out to us, through a life-changing encounter. Those who encounter Jesus
cannot stay the same as they were before. Those who live this encounter become
witnesses and make encounter possible for others too; and they become promoters
of the culture of encounter, avoiding the self-referentiality that causes us to
become self-centred".
"Jesus, to come towards us, did not hesitate to share in our human condition.
...
He did not save us 'from outside', He did not stay out of our drama, but
instead
chose to share our life. Consecrated men and women are called to be a concrete
sign of this closeness to God, this sharing in the condition of frailty and sin
and the wounds of man in our time".
"The Gospel also tells us that 'the child's father and mother marvelled at
what
was said about Him'. Joseph and Mary wondered at this encounter full of light
and hope for all peoples. And we too, as Christians and as consecrated persons,
are guardians of wonder. A wonder that always asks to be renewed; woe to those
who settle into habit in spiritual life; woe to those whose charisms are
crystallised in abstract doctrine. The charisms of the founders, as I have said
many times, must not be sealed up in bottles - they are not museum pieces. Our
founders were moved by the Holy Spirit, and were not afraid of getting their
hands dirty in everyday life, getting involved in the problems of the people
and
reaching out courageously to the geographical and existential peripheries".
"Finally, from today's feast we learn to live with gratitude for the encounter
with Jesus and for the gift of the vocation to consecrated life. Giving thanks:
the Eucharist. How beautiful it is when we encounter the happy face of
consecrated persons, perhaps of advanced age like Simeon or Anna, content and
full of gratitude for their vocation. This is a word that can summarise all
that
we have lived during this Year of Consecrated Life: gratitude for the gift of
the Holy Spirit, that always inspires the Church through the various charisms".
Following Mass in the Basilica, the Pope went out into St. Peter's Square to
greet the many consecrated men and women who had not been able to enter the
Vatican Basilica. He addressed the following words to them:
"Thank you for ending here, all together, this Year of Consecrated Life. And
keep going! Each one of us has a place, a job to do in the Church. Please, do
not forget your first vocation, your first call. Remember this. And with that
love with which you were called, today the Lord continues to call to you. Do
not
let that beauty, that wonder of the first call, diminish. Keep working. ...
There
is always something to do. The main thing is to pray. The centre of consecrated
life is prayer. And so we age, but we age like good wine!".
"Let me say something to you. I like it when I find elderly men and women
religious, with shining eyes, because the fire of spiritual life is alight in
them. That flame has not been extinguished. ... Continue to work and to look to
tomorrow with hope, always asking the Lord to send us new vocations, so that
our
work of consecrated may keep going ahead. And memory: do not forget the first
call! Work, day by day, and then the hope to go ahead and to sow. May the
others
who follow us receive the legacy we leave to them".
___________________________________________________________
Presentation to the Pope of the book on the Papal fleet in the Dardanelles,
1657
Vatican City, 3 February 2016 (VIS) - This morning, at the conclusion of the
General Audience, Rinaldo Marmara presented to Pope Francis a copy of his book
"La Squadra Pontificia ai Dardanelli 1657 / Ilk Canakkale Zafer? 1657". This
volume is an Italian and Turkish transliteration of a manuscript from the Chigi
collection of the Vatican Apostolic Library that is an account of the papal
fleet that participated in the Second Battle of the Dardanelles in 1657. During
a presentation of the book last evening, the author stated that his objective
was to make important archival material from the Vatican Archives and Vatican
Library accessible to Turkish historians and researchers. The book,
notwithstanding the painful memories of history, illustrates the importance of
scholarly research and opening up archives to historical investigation in the
service of truth and building bridges of cooperation and mutual understanding.
In light of this, the repeated commitment of Turkey to make its archives
available to historians and researchers of interested parties in order to
arrive
jointly at a better understanding of historical events and the pain and
suffering endured by all parties, regardless of their religious or ethnic
identity, caught up in war and conflict, including the tragic events of 1915,
is
noted and appreciated. The painful events of history should not be forgotten;
instead they require careful examination and reflection so that they may lead
to
the healing and purification of memory so necessary for reconciliation and
forgiveness for individuals and peoples, as St. John Paul II affirmed.
The memory of the suffering and pain of both the distant and the more recent
past, as in the case of the assassination of Taha Car?m, Ambassador of Turkey
to
the Holy See, in June 1977, at the hands of a terrorist group, urges us also to
acknowledge the suffering of the present and to condemn all acts of violence
and
terrorism, which continue to cause victims today.
Particularly heinous and offensive is violence and terrorism committed in the
name of God or religion. As His Holiness Pope Francis stated during his visit
to
the Central African Republic: "Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters.
... Together, we must say no to hatred, no to revenge and no to violence,
particularly that violence which is perpetrated in the name of a religion or of
God himself". May these words inspire all people of goodwill to remember and
affirm their brotherhood, solidarity, compassion and shared humanity and to
reiterate their common stand against all violence.
___________________________________________________________
For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:
www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va
Copyright (VIS): the news contained in the services of the Vatican
Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting
the source: V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html
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