woman, of all humanity. He continues to invite us to rediscover the lost or
obscured meaning of our human path and to hope to see again the shining horizon
on which there shines in all its fullness the dignity of the human person.
Honouring Dante Alighieri, as Paul VI has already invited us to do, we are able
to enrich ourselves with his experience in order to cross the many dark forests
still scattered on our earth and to happily complete our pilgrimage in history,
to reach the destination dreamed of and wished for by every man: 'the love that
moves the sun in heaven and all the stars'".
___________________________________________________________
Visit to the Roman parish of Santa Maria Regina Pacis
Vatican City, 4 May 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon Pope Francis visited
another parish in his diocese - Santa Maria Regina Pacis at the Ostia Lido.
Before celebrating Mass, the bishop of Rome visited the community of the Little
Sisters of Jesus, of Charles de Foucauld, also known as the "Luna Park
Fraternity" since they live in caravans, and met with the elderly, the sick,
and
young scouts from the parish, as well as parents who have baptised their
children this year.
The Pope greeted the elderly, emphasising that they possess the wisdom of
life,
experience, pain and patience, as well as the memory of the people and the
family. He remarked that the sick "resemble Jesus: they suffer like Jesus and
bear the cross like Jesus", and praised the parish community for lovingly
caring
for the sick and the elderly, since "when they are not cared for by the
community, that community does not function; it lacks something".
To the scouts, he commented that "in the art of climbing, the important thing
is not that you do not fall, but rather that you do not stay on the ground". He
continued, "We all fall, we all make mistakes, even sins, all of us. But what
is
witness? It is getting up again with God's grace. ... This is what the world
needs
from you, the witness of going ever onwards; although weak, we must go ahead".
He also encouraged the young to transmit their faith with joy and, in difficult
moments when joy is obscured, to "overcome those moments with dignity, in the
hope that the Holy Spirit gives us strength ... and consolation ... until our
joy
returns".
Finally, he reminded the parents of recently baptised children that baptism is
not an isolated event, and invited them to walk with their children along the
new path of faith, staying close to the parish community.
In the Pope's homily, in which he commented on the Gospel reading of the vine
and the branches, he insisted on the importance of remaining united with
Christ,
which also means "wanting to be forgiven by Him, but also to be 'pruned', so as
to bear more fruit". He added, "abiding with Jesus means doing the same as He
did: doing good, helping others, praying to the Father, healing the sick,
helping the poor, having the joy of the Holy Spirit".
"There are also other branches, to which Jesus does not refer here, but He
does
so elsewhere; those that present themselves as Jesus' disciples, but do the
opposite of what a disciple does, and these branches are hypocrites. Perhaps
they go to Mass every Sunday, perhaps they show themselves to be saintly and
pious, but then they live as if they were pagans. And Jesus, in the Gospel,
calls them hypocrites. Jesus is good, he invites us to abide in Him. He gives
us
strength, and so if we slide into sinfulness - and we are all sinners - He
forgives us, because He is merciful. But He wants two things - that we abide in
Him and that we are not hypocrites. And this is how Christian lives go
onwards".
___________________________________________________________
Regina Coeli: true Christians who do good for society
Vatican City, 3 May 2015 (VIS) - The union of Jesus with those who follow Him,
explained through the image of the vine and the branches that Christ presents
to
the disciples at the Last Supper, was the central theme considered by the Pope
during this Sunday's Regina Coeli.
"We can all be joined to Jesus in a new way. If, on the contrary, one loses
this union with Him, he becomes sterile, indeed harmful to the community. And
to
express this reality, Jesus uses the image of the vine and the branches, and
says: 'As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine,
neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches'".
... Through Him - like the sap in a tree - the love of God Himself, the Holy
Spirit, passes to the branches; through this parable Jesus enables us to
understand the importance of remaining united with Him. The branches are not
self-sufficient, but depend totally on the vine, the source of their life".
"The same is true for us as Christians. Grafted to Christ through Baptism, we
have received from Him the freely-given gift of new life; we can stay in vital
communion with Christ". However, the Pontiff emphasised, "it is necessary to
stay faithful to Baptism, and to grow in friendship with the Lord through
prayer, the prayer of every day, through listening and obedience to His Word -
read the Gospel - and participation in the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist
and the Sacrament of Reconciliation", as "if one is intimately joined to Jesus,
he or she receives the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which - as St. Paul tells us -
are 'love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control'. As a consequence, a Christian brings great good to his neighbour
and to society. Indeed, from these characteristics, it is possible to recognise
who is a true Christian, just as we can recognise a tree from its fruits. The
fruits of this deep union with Jesus are wonderful. ... We receive a new way of
being, the life of Christ becomes our own; we can think like Him, act like Him,
see the world and other things through Jesus' eyes. As a consequence, we are
able to love our brothers, beginning with the poorest and the suffering ... and
thus bring into the world the fruits of goodness, charity and peace. ... Let us
trust in the intercession of Our Lady, so that we too may be living branches in
the Church and give coherent witness of our faith, consistency between life and
thought, life and faith - aware that we all, according to our specific
vocations, participate in the sole salvific mission of Christ".
Following the Regina Coeli the Pope mentioned that yesterday in Turin the
Italian Luigi Bordino was proclaimed blessed. A consecrated layman of the
Priestly Society of St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo, the new blessed "devoted
his
life to the sick and those who suffer, and dedicated himself tirelessly to the
poorest, curing and cleansing their wounds".
___________________________________________________________
The Pope presides at the Mass and day of reflection dedicated to Friar
Junipero
Serra
Vatican City, 2 May 2015 (VIS) - Today the Pontifical North American College
holds a day of reflection dedicated to "Friar Junipero Serra, apostle of
California, witness of holiness", with the aim of spreading knowledge of the
life, mission and witness of holiness of this blessed who will be canonised in
Washington on 23 September during the Holy Father's apostolic journey to the
United States. The day, organised by the Pontifical Commission for Latin
America
and the Pontifical North American College, with the sponsorship of the
archdiocese of Los Angeles, culminated with the celebration of a Holy Mass at
the college at midday, at which Pope Francis officiated.
In his homily, the Pope emphasised three aspects of the life of the future
saint: his missionary impulse, his Marian devotion and his witness of holiness.
"First of all, he was a tireless missionary", the Pontiff affirmed. "What made
Friar Junipero leave his home and country, his family, university chair and
Franciscan community in Mallorca to go to the ends of the earth? Certainly, it
was the desire to proclaim the Gospel ad gentes, that heartfelt impulse which
seeks to share with those farthest away the gift of encountering Christ: a gift
that he had first received and experienced in all its truth and beauty. Like
Paul and Barnabas, like the disciples in Antioch and in all of Judea. ... These
missionary disciples who have encountered Jesus, the Son of God, who have come
to know him through his merciful Father, moved by the grace of the Holy Spirit,
went out to all the geographical, social and existential peripheries, to bear
witness to charity. They challenge us! Sometimes we stop and thoughtfully
examine their strengths and, above all, their weaknesses and their
shortcomings.
But I wonder if today we are able to respond with the same generosity and
courage to the call of God, who invites us to leave everything in order to
worship him, to follow him, to rediscover him in the face of the poor, to
proclaim him to those who have not known Christ and, therefore, have not
experienced the embrace of his mercy. Friar Junipero's witness calls upon us to
get involved, personally, in the mission to the whole continent, which finds
its
roots in Evangelii Gaudium".
Secondly, "Friar Junipero entrusted his missionary activity to the Blessed
Virgin Mary. We know that before leaving for California, he wanted to
consecrate
his life to Our Lady of Guadalupe and to ask her for the grace to open the
hearts of the colonizers and indigenous peoples, for the mission he was about
to
begin. ... Since then, Our Lady of Guadalupe has become, in fact, the Patroness
of
the whole American continent. You cannot separate her from the hearts of the
American people. She represents our shared roots in this land. Indeed, today's
mission to the continent is entrusted to her, the first, holy missionary
disciple, a constant presence and companion, our source of comfort and hope.
For
she always hears and protects her American children".
Thirdly, the Pope invited those present to contemplate the witness of holiness
given by Friar Junipero, "one of the founding fathers of the United States, a
saintly example of the Church's universality and special patron of the Hispanic
people of the country. In this way may all Americans rediscover their own
dignity, and unite themselves ever more closely to Christ and his Church". He
went on to cite the example of many American saints, who have distinguished
themselves through their various charisms: contemplatives like Rose of Lima,
Mariana of Quito and Teresita de los Andes; pastors who bear the scent of
Christ
and of his sheep, such as Toribio de Mogrovejo, Francois de Laval, and Rafael
Guizar Valencia; humble workers in the vineyard of the Lord, like Juan Diego
and
Kateri Tekakwitha; servants of the suffering and the marginalised, like Peter
Claver, Martin de Porres, Damian of Molokai, Alberto Hurtado and Rose
Philippine
Duchesne; founders of communities consecrated to the service of God and of the
poorest, like Frances Cabrini, Elizabeth Ann Seton and Katharine Drexel;
tireless missionaries, such as Friar Francisco Solano, JosΘ de Anchieta, Alonso
de Barzana, Maria Antonia de Paz y Figueroa and Jose Gabriel del Rosario
Brochero; martyrs like Roque Gonzalez, Miguel Pro and Oscar Arnulfo Romero, and
so many other saints and martyrs, whom I do not mention here, but who pray
before the Lord for their brothers and sisters who are still pilgrims in those
lands. There ha been so much holiness in America, so much holiness sown".
"May a powerful gust of holiness sweep through all the Americas during the
coming Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy!" exclaimed the Holy Father. "Confident
in
Jesus' promise, which we heard today in the Gospel, we ask God for this special
outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We ask the Risen Jesus, Lord of all ages, that
the life of our American continent may be rooted ever more deeply in the Gospel
it has received; that Christ may be ever more present in the lives of
individuals, families, peoples and nations, for the greater glory of God. We
pray too that this glory may be manifested in the culture of life, brotherhood,
solidarity, peace and justice, with a preferential and concrete love for the
poor, through the witness of Christians of various confessions and communities,
together with believers of other religious traditions, and people of upright
conscience and good will. Lord Jesus, we are merely your missionary disciples,
your humble co-workers so that your Kingdom may come!"
"With this heartfelt prayer", he concluded, "I ask Our Lady of Guadalupe,
Friar
Junipero and all the American saints to lead me and guide me during my
approaching apostolic journeys to South America and North America. I ask all of
you to keep this intention in your prayers, and to continue to pray for me".
___________________________________________________________
Francis to the faithful of Molise and Abruzzo: job creation cannot be
postponed
Vatican City, 2 May 2015 (VIS) - More than seven thousand faithful of the
diocese of Isernia-Venafro, which the Pope visited in July last year, were
received in audience in the Vatican by the Holy Father this morning. Francis
thanked them for the warmth and joy with which they welcomed him, without
neglecting to mention the serious difficulties that continue to afflict the
area, which he spoke about during his visit.
The Pontiff mentioned first of all the chronic unemployment that especially
affects the youngest generations, who increasingly leave the area for other
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