Monday, June 17, 2013
Pope's Evangelium Vitae Mass : Life is a Gift. Say yes to life, no to death!
As he met with thousands of pro-life advocates from around the globe, Pope Francis stressed that the Gospel is the “way to freedom and life,” but lifestyles that are “dictated by selfishness” lead to slavery and death.
“Dear brothers and sisters,” the Pope urged, “let us look to God as the God of Life, let us look to his law, to the Gospel message, as the way to freedom and life. The Living God sets us free!”
He addressed his homily for the June 16 Mass in St. Peter’s Square to pilgrims from Australia, Asia, Europe and North and South America, who filled the famous piazza up to its gates.
They were also joined in the square by around 1,400 people on their Harley-Davidson motorcycles, who came to Rome to celebrate 110 years of the iconic American machine and to receive the Pope’s blessing during the Angelus prayer that followed the Mass.
Pope Francis based his homily on the first reading from 2 Samuel, which recounts King David committing adultery with Bathsheba and conspiring to have her husband killed, and the Gospel reading from Luke 4, where Jesus forgives the adulterous woman of her sins.
The Holy Father distilled his reflections into three simple points: “first, the Bible reveals to us the Living God, the God who is life and the source of life; second, Jesus Christ bestows life and the Holy Spirit maintains us in life; and third, following God’s way leads to life, whereas following idols leads to death.”
King David’s adultery serves to show “human drama in all its reality: good and evil, passion, sin and its consequences,” the Pope said, underscoring that despite his evil actions, God brought life to David when he repented.
“Whenever we want to assert ourselves, when we become wrapped up in our own selfishness and put ourselves in the place of God, we end up spawning death,” he said as he examined the consequences of David’s actions.
This raises the question of what our image of God is, Pope Francis remarked.
“Perhaps he appears to us as a severe judge, as someone who curtails our freedom and the way we live our lives. But the Scriptures everywhere tell us that God is the Living One, the one who bestows life and points the way to fullness of life,” the pontiff preached.
He then turned to the Gospel reading from Luke, in which Jesus allowed himself to be approached by a woman who was a sinner and forgave her sins.
The Pope said that in this interaction it can be seen how “Jesus is the incarnation of the Living God, the one who brings life amid deeds of death, sin, selfishness and self-absorption.
“Jesus accepts, loves, uplifts, encourages, forgives, restores the ability to walk, gives back life. Throughout the Gospels we see how Jesus by his words and actions brings the transforming life of God,” he preached.
Thelife-giving power of God is also given through the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis taught.
“The Christian is someone who thinks and acts in everyday life according to God’s will, someone who allows his or her life to be guided and nourished by the Holy Spirit, to be a full life, a life worthy of true sons and daughters. And this entails realism and fruitfulness,” he explained.
The Pope cautioned that this “does not mean that we are people who live ‘in the clouds,’ far removed from real life, as if it were some kind of mirage. No! Those who let themselves be led by the Holy Spirit are realists, they know how to survey and assess reality. They are also fruitful; their lives bring new life to birth all around them.”
Returning to the theme of the weekend – The Gospel of Life – Pope Francis made his final point: that following God leads to life but all other ways lead to death.
“But all too often, people do not choose life, they do not accept the ‘Gospel of Life’ but let themselves be led by ideologies and ways of thinking that block life, that do not respect life, because they are dictated by selfishness, self-interest, profit, power and pleasure, and not by love, by concern for the good of others,” he said.
This way of living is not new, the Pope explained, calling it “the eternal dream of wanting to build the city of man without God, without God’s life and love – a new Tower of Babel.”
“It is the idea that rejecting God, the message of Christ, the Gospel of Life, will somehow lead to freedom, to complete human fulfillment,” he noted.
The result of this turning away from God is that he “is replaced by fleeting human idols which offer the intoxication of a flash of freedom, but in the end bring new forms of slavery and death,” the Pope stated.
He finished his homily by invoking the intercession of “Mary, Mother of Life,” asking her “to help us receive and bear constant witness to the ‘Gospel of Life.’”
After the Mass finished, Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with the faithful and gave a special mention to the Harley-Davidson contingent.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Christ the King by Chris Stefanick
This is excellent! Great job Chris Stefanick! I found this at New Advent:
Jesus Christ is king. The Jews weren't waiting for a friendly itinerant preacher. They were waiting for a king to come and rule the nations and establish peace and justice on the Earth. When He was born the three magi came looking for the King of the Jews. When He stood before Pontius Pilate He acknowledged that He had a kingdom. When He started His ministry He announced that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.
A Father's Day Prayer
Source: Archdiocese of Detroit
Pope Francis: The Christian life proclaims the road to reconcilation with God
The Christian life is not staying in a corner to carve a road which takes you into heaven, but it's a dynamic that encourages one to stay "on the road" to proclaim that Christ has reconciled us to God, by becoming sin for us. In his usual profound and direct way, Pope Francis focuses on a passage from the Letter to the Corinthians, from today's liturgy, in which St. Paul very insistent, almost "in a hurry", uses the term "reconciliation"five times.
"What is reconciliation? Taking one from this side, taking another one for that side and uniting them: no, that’s part of it but it's not it ... True reconciliation means that God in Christ took on our sins and He became the sinner for us. When we go to confession, for example, it isn’t that we say our sin and God forgives us. No, not that! We look for Jesus Christ and say: 'This is your sin, and I will sin again'. And Jesus likes that, because it was his mission: to become the sinner for us, to liberate us. "
It is the beauty and the "scandal" of the redemption brought by Jesus and it is also the "mystery, says Pope Francis, from which Paul draws" zeal "that spurs him to" move forward " telling everyone" something so wonderful "the love of a God" who gave up his Son to death for me. " Yet, explains Pope Francis, there is a risk of "never arriving at this truth" in the moment when "we 'devalue a little the Christian life", reducing it to a list of things to observe and thus losing the ardor, the force of the '"love that is inside" of it:
"But philosophers say that peace is a certain ordered tranquility: everything is tidy and quiet ... That is not the Christian peace! Christian peace is an uneasy peace, not a quiet peace: it is an uneasy peace, which goes on to carry this message of reconciliation. The Christian Peace pushes us to move forward. This is the beginning, the root of apostolic zeal. Apostolic zeal is not to go forward to persuade and make statistics: this year Christians in this country have grown, in this movement ... Statistics are good, they help, but that is not what God wants from us ,is to persuade... What the Lord wants from us is to announce this reconciliation, which is his own core message ."
Concluding his homily the Pope recalls the inner anxiety of Paul. Pope Francis underlines that which defines the "pillar" of Christian life, namely, that "Christ became sin for me! And my sins are there in his body, in his soul! This - says the Pope - it's crazy, but it's beautiful, it's true! This is the scandal of the Cross!"
"We ask the Lord to give us this concern to proclaim Jesus, to give us a bit of 'that Christian wisdom that was born from His pierced side of love. Just a little to convince us that the Christian life is not a spa therapy: to be at peace until Heaven ... No, the Christian life is the road in life with this concern of Paul. The love of Christ urges us on, it pushes us on, with this emotion that one feels when one sees that God loves us. We ask this grace."
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Evangelium Vitae: the 'Gospel of Life'
(Romereports.com) The value and defense of human life is a key part of the Year of Faith. To highlight this message, the Vatican is focusing its attention on a document issued by Pope John Paul II back in 1995.
The encyclical is titled 'Evangelium Vitae,' which translates to 'The Gospel of Life.' Its importance is widely recognized, especially now, issues like abortion and euthanasia are debated.
MSGR. GENO SYLVA
Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization“The Gospel of Life, is just such a powerful and beautiful text and it has echoed through the years the importance, the essential element that being a people of life is, for all of us as believers. So it demonstrates how faithful we are to life: all life, from conception to natural death.”
Because it openly addresses ecology and social issues, the encyclical also serves as a key document to promote the New Evangelization.
MSGR. GENO SYLVA
Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization“This celebration of Evangelium Vitae, the 'Gospel of Life', being included in the celebrations for the year of Faith demonstrates to all the world the great importance, the essential value that the Gospel of Life has in the New Evangelization, that the New Evangelization has to have this as a central pillar: that we are going to be a people who defend life, who are going to be of life and for life.”
'Evangelium Vitae' was John Paul II's eleventh encyclical. It is seen as a document that's highly connected to Pope Paul VI's 'Humanae Vitae.'
Pope Francis: Be humble 'from head to toe'
“We have to be humble, but with real humility, from head to toe,” said Pope Francis June 14.
“If we only pride ourselves on our service record and nothing more, we end up going wrong,” said Pope Francis.
He made his comments in his homily for morning Mass in the chapel of Saint Martha’s House. The head of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, concelebrated the Mass with the Pope, while staff and clergy from the congregation attended it.
“Not sinners with that kind of humility, which seems more a put-on face, no?” the Holy Father remarked. “Oh no, strong humility.”
He highlighted that “this is the model of humility for us priests, too.”
“We cannot proclaim Jesus Christ the Savior if we do not feel him present and at work deep down,” he added.
“Brothers, we have a treasure, that of Jesus Christ the Savior, the Cross of Jesus Christ, this treasure of which we pride ourselves, but we have it in a clay vessel,” said Pope Francis. “Let us vaunt our ‘handbook’ of our sins.”
The Pope underscored that Jesus is “a gift that we can only understand, only receive, in earthen vessels.”
He based his homily on the first reading for today, which was taken from 2 Corinthians 4.
The pontiff stated it is precisely from “the relationship between the grace and power of Jesus Christ and ourselves, poor sinners as we are, that the dialogue of salvation springs.”
“This dialogue, moreover, must avoid any self-justification and be between God and ourselves as we are,” he said.
The Pope stressed that St. Paul, author of the letter to the Corinthians, shows us his own weakness and sin, which is that he persecuted Christians.
“It always comes back to his memory of sin, he feels sinful but even then he does not say ‘I was a sinner, but now I am holy,’ no,” he said. ‘Even now, a thorn of Satan is in my flesh,’ the Pope said, quoting from St. Paul.
“He is a sinner who accepts Jesus Christ, who dialogues with Jesus Christ,” said Pope Francis.
According to him, “the key is humility” and believes that St. Paul proved this.
“He publicly acknowledges his track record of service, all he had done as an Apostle of Jesus, but he does not hide or gloss over his handbook of sins,” the Pope said.
He emphasized that the Samaritan woman also behaved similarly to St. Paul because she first admitted her sins before speaking of having met Jesus.
“I believe that this woman is in heaven,” he said.
“As Manzoni once said, I have never found that the Lord began a miracle without finishing it well, and this miracle that he began definitely ended well in heaven,” he said.
“The humility of the priest, the humility of a Christian is concrete, therefore, if a Christian fails to make this confession to himself and to the Church, then something is wrong,” he stated.
He stressed that “the first thing to fail will be our ability to understand the beauty of salvation that Jesus brings us.”
Friday, June 14, 2013
Priests and the Ministry of Prayer
The following comes from Msgr. Charles Pope:
Ordination season is upon us now and a new group of men are being ordained all over the country. Never forget how necessary priests are not just in the obvious and external ways but also in more hidden ways.
Holy Order – As priests we are ordained to Holy Orders. Thus, among the many ways we can understand the ministry of the ordained clergy is that we provide “holy order” by our obedience to the Bishop or Superior and by unifying the faithful under our care to the Bishop and the Church. Nothing is more egregious (and also silly) as a disobedient priest who thereby creates disorder. By our obedient link to the Bishop we help exercise a threefold office of teaching, governing and sanctifying. Priests preserve order in the Church by uniting their parishioners in the truth of the Gospel. And, like it or not, priests also unify the faithful by the charitable but clear authority of the priestly office which is meant to resolve conflicts, set directions and observe proper limits. Unity is a very precious gift from the Lord which He, by his own design, has rooted in the Sacrament named for that very gift of Holy Order.
Sanctifying Ministry – I would like to mention only very briefly one aspect of the sanctifying ministry of the priest. Surely we sanctify the faithful in a unique way through the celebration of the Sacraments and the proclamation of God’s Word. But another way we do this, a way perhaps more hidden and ordinary, is to pray for our people. The Church both commends us to pray for the faithful under our care and also commands it.
A Ministry of Prayer – How does she command it? By the obligation to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, also known as the Breviary. Every day we priests are obligated to pray this somewhat lengthy series of prayers and to earnestly pray for the faithful and in union with the whole Church. The basic series of prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours includes: The Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, Mid Day Prayer, Evening Prayer and Night Prayer. Ideally we should pray it through out the day at each appointed hour. But, due to our busy and often unpredictable schedules many of us pray large sections of it in the morning and another part of it later in the evening.
An image: But you must know that your priests pray for you. As I hold the Breviary in my hands I often imagine I am holding the faithful of my parish in my very hands. It is my duty and privilege to pray for them, and also for the whole Church.
Someone is praying for you – I want to keep this brief (always a challenge for me) because I simply want you to know that someone is praying for you. Surely my prayers are especially for my parishioners. But you who regularly read this blog are parishioners of mine too. I pray for you each day.
I also wanted to keep this short in hopes that you might see this video which is a very touching way of depicting how priests pray for their people and their people pray for them.
Pope Francis and Evangelium Vitae
Sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, this gathering in Rome on June 15 and 16 is expected to draw tens of thousands of parishes, communities, youth groups, voluntary associations for the sick and disabled and ordinary families. It will offer the opportunity for the faithful from around the world to gather with the Holy Father in a communal witness to the sacred value of all life and further study and discussion on the encyclical of the same name promulgated by Blessed John Pau II in March 1995.
“This issue of abortion is certainly important and central and we need to do all we can as a Church to stand up against the horrors of abortion” Fr. Sylva says. “But again we also want to demonstrate a consistent life ethic. That we need to be people who defend and speak for those who are suffering, for those whose lives are being marginalized by a culture of death. [Speak out against ] those who are saying because you are disabled or ill you are not, quote ‘productive’ in society. Or to the elderly in nursing homes, or to those who are being treated in any way with violence we ned to demonstrate to them in our words and in our actions through our prayers the sanctity of all life. I truly believe that this weekend will do that”.
On Saturday afternoon, June 15, there will be a pilgrimage down Via della Conciliazione to Pio XII Square, which will conclude with the recitation of the Creed in various languages and a vigil of prayer. On Sunday morning at 10:30, Holy Mass in St. Peter’s Square will be celebrated by the Holy Father and broadcast globally through Vatican Radio and Vatican TV’s online player in 6 languages.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Pope Francis: Only the Holy Spirit leads us forward
(Vatican Radio) Pope
Francis on Wednesday addressed the crowds of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's
Square for the weekly General Audience.Please find below Vatican Radio's full translation of his address.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today I would like to touch briefly on another of the terms with which the Second Vatican Council defined the Church, that of “People of God" (cf. Dogmatic Constitution. Lumen Gentium, 9; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 782). I shall do so with a few questions upon which we can all reflect.
1. What does it mean to be "People of God"? First of all, it means that God does not really belong to any people; for it is He who calls us, who summons us, who invites us to be part of his people, and this invitation is open to all, without distinction, because God’s mercy “desires all people to be saved "(1 Tim 2:4). Jesus does not tell the Apostles and us to form an exclusive group, an elite group. Jesus says: Go and make disciples of all nations (cf. Mt 28:19). St Paul says that within the people of God, in the Church, "there is neither Jew nor Gentile ... for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28). I would like to say to those who feel far from God and the Church, to those who are fearful or indifferent, to those who think they can no longer change: the Lord is calling you too to be part of his people and he does it with great respect and love! He invites us to be a part of this people, the people of God
2. How do you become a member of this people? It is not through physical birth, but through a new birth. In the Gospel, Jesus tells Nicodemus that one must be born from above, of water and of spirit to enter the Kingdom of God (cf. John 3:3-5). It is through Baptism that we are introduced to this people, through faith in Christ, the gift of God which must be nurtured and tended to throughout our whole life. Let us ask ourselves: how can I grow in the faith that I received in my Baptism? How do tend to this faith that I have received and that the people of God has? How do I make it grow? And another question.
3. What is the law of the People of God? It is the law of love, love for God and love for our neighbor according to the new commandment that the Lord left us (cf. Jn 13:34). It is a love, however, that is not sterile sentimentality or something vague, it is recognizing God as the only Lord of life and, at the same time, accepting the other as a true brother, overcoming divisions, rivalry, misunderstandings, selfishness; the two things go together. We have still so far to go to be able to live concretely according to this new law, the law of the Holy Spirit working within us, the law of charity, of love! When we see in the many wars between Christians in the newspapers or on TV, how can the people of God understand this? Within the people of God there are so many wars! And in neighborhoods, in workplaces, so many wars due to envy, jealousy. Even within the same family, there are so many internal wars. We must ask the Lord to help us understand this law of love. How good, how nice it is to love each other as true brothers. How nice that is! Let's do something today: perhaps we all have our likes and dislikes, and perhaps many of us are angry with others. But at least let’s say to the Lord: "Lord, I am angry with him or with her. I pray for him and for her. I pray to you". To pray for those with whom we are angry. It's a big step in this law of love. Let's do it today!
4. What mission does this people have? To bring to the world the hope and the salvation of God: to be a sign of the love of God who calls all to be friends of His; to be the yeast that ferments the dough, the salt that gives flavour and preserves from decay, the light that brightens. Just as I said, it is enough to open a newspaper, and we see that around us there is the presence of evil, the Devil is at work. But I would like to say in a loud voice: God is stronger! Do you believe this? That God is stronger? Let’s say it in a loud voice: God is stronger! Do you believe this? That God is stronger? Let’s say it all together. God is stronger! All of us! And you know why He is stronger? Because He is the Lord, the only Lord. God is stronger! Good! And I would like to add that reality which is sometimes dark and marked by evil can change, if we are the first to bring the light of the Gospel especially with our lives. If in a stadium, let’s think of the Olympic Stadium in Rome, or that of San Lorenzo in Buenos Aires, if on a dark night one person lights up a lamp, you can barely see it, but if each of over seventy thousand spectators switches on his own light, the whole Stadium lights up. Let's make our lives a light of Christ; and together we will bring the light of the Gospel to the whole world.
5. What is the goal of this people? Its end is the kingdom of God, which has been begun by God Himself on earth, and which is to be further extended until it is brought to perfection by Him at the end of time, when Christ, our life, shall appear (cf. Lumen Gentium, 9). The goal then is full communion with the Lord; it’s to enter into his divine life where we will live the joy of his love without measure. That full joy.
Dear brothers and sisters, to be Church, is to be God's people, according to the Father’s great plan of love, it means to be the yeast of God in this humanity of ours, it means to proclaim and to bring God's salvation into this world, which is often lost, in need of encouraging answers, answers that give hope, that give new vigour in the journey. May the Church be a place of mercy and of hope in God, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel. And to feel welcomed, loved, forgiven, encouraged, the Church’s doors must be open, so that all may come and that we can go out of those doors and proclaim the Gospel. Thank you so much.
Wisdom from St. Francis de Sales
"Do not look forward to what might happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and everyday. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it."
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