Pope Francis and Benedict XVI

The following comes from Crux:

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE - While aboard a return flight to Rome from Romania, Pope Francis said Pope emeritus Benedict XVI gives him strength and reinvigorates him with the roots of tradition, which are legacies he wishes a polarized Europe would keep in mind.

“Every time I go to [Benedict XVI] to visit him, I take his hand and I let him speak,” the pope told reporters aboard the papal plane June 2. “He doesn’t speak a lot, and he speaks slowly, but with the same depth as always, because Benedict’s problem is his knees, not his head.”

Pope Benedict makes me strong

The comments were made in response to a question by Vatican reporters asking whether he still viewed his predecessor as a “grandfather,” especially given the emphasis that Francis put on the family and intergenerational dialogue during his May 31 to June 2 visit to the Eastern European country of Romania.

The pope emeritus, Francis continued, “has a great lucidity. When I hear him, he makes me strong and I feel the sap of our roots come to me so I can go forward.”

The pope added that the tradition of the Catholic Church is not “a museum,” but a heritage that allows people to be mindful of where they come from as they go toward the future.

Ever since Benedict resigned, shocking the Church and the world, some observers have sought to read division between the two pontiffs living inside the Vatican walls.

“Tradition doesn’t carry ashes, or the nostalgia of the integralists,” Francis said, but “the roots that allow the tree to grow and bear fruit.”

Read the rest here.

Pope Francis: Rejoice and Be Glad

The following comes from the Catholic Herald:

The path to holiness does not involve wrestling with some abstract boogeyman, but involves a “constant struggle against the devil, the prince of evil,” Pope Francis said.

In his new apostolic exhortation, “Gaudete et Exsultate” (“Rejoice and Be Glad”), released by the Vatican April 9, the Pope urged Christians not to think of the devil as an intangible construct but rather “a personal being who assails us.”

“We should not think of the devil as a myth, a representation, a symbol, a figure of speech or an idea,” the Pope wrote. “This mistake would leave us to let down our guard, to grow careless and end up more vulnerable.”

Taking advantage of that vulnerability, he added, the devil “does not need to possess us. He poisons us with the venom of hatred, desolation, envy and vice.”

Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis has warned of the presence of the devil and the dangers of going to hell if one doesn’t turn away from sin.

Recently, however, doubts were cast on the Pope’s beliefs on hell and the consequences of sin when Eugenio Scalfari, a co-founder and former editor of La Repubblica, an Italian daily, claimed that Pope Francis said, “Hell does not exist.”

The Italian journalist has explained on more than one occasion that he does not take notes or record his conversations with the Pope; he re-creates them afterward from memory, including the material he puts in quotation marks.

Shortly after the interview was published in March, the Vatican issued a statement pointing out that Scalfari’s article “is a product of his own reconstruction in which the actual words pronounced by the Pope are not cited.”

In his apostolic exhortation on “the call to holiness in the modern world,” the Pope said Christian life isn’t merely a struggle against human weaknesses or worldly mentalities but a spiritual battle against a very real threat.

“We will not admit the existence of the devil if we insist on regarding life by empirical standards alone, without a supernatural understanding,” he wrote.

While acknowledging that in biblical times there were “limited conceptual resources” to understand the difference between demonic possession and mental illness, the Pope said it should not “lead us to an oversimplification that would conclude that all the cases related in the Gospel had to do with psychological disorders and hence that the devil does not exist or is not at work.”

The path toward holiness, he explained, is a constant battle and without the “powerful weapons” of prayer, the sacraments and works of charity, Christians “will be prey to failure or mediocrity.”

“If we become careless, the false promises of evil will easily seduce us,” the Pope said.

In the fight against the devil, Pope Francis added, cultivating good, progressing in the spiritual life and growing in love are the best ways to counter evil. However, those who choose to remain neutral and “renounce the ideal of giving themselves generously to the Lord, will never hold out.”

“Christian triumph is always a cross, yet a cross which is at the same time a victorious banner, borne with aggressive tenderness against the assaults of evil,” he said.

Pope Francis Homily for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

The following comes from Salt and Light:

Pope Francis gives his Homily for Mass on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and 22nd World Day of Consecrated Life. Feb. 2. 2018. Full Text:

Forty days after Christmas, we celebrate the Lord who enters the Temple and comes to encounter his people. In the Christian East, this feast is called the “Feast of Encounter”: it is the encounter between God, who became a child to bring newness to our world, and an expectant humanity, represented by the elderly man and woman in the Temple.

In the Temple, there is also an encounter between two couples: the young Mary and Joseph, and the elderly Simeon and Anna. The old receive from the young, while the young draw upon the old. In the Temple, Mary and Joseph find the roots of their people. This is important, because God’s promise does not come to fulfilment merely in individuals, once for all, but within a community and throughout history. There too, Mary and Joseph find the roots of their faith, for faith is not something learned from a book, but the art of living with God, learned from the experience of those who have gone before us. The two young people, in meeting the two older people, thus find themselves. And the two older people, nearing the end of their days, receive Jesus, the meaning of their lives. This event fulfils the prophecy of Joel: “Your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions” (2:28). In this encounter, the young see their mission and the elderly realize their dreams. All because, at the centre of the encounter, is Jesus.

Let us look to our own lives, dear consecrated brothers and sisters. Everything started in an encounter with the Lord. Our journey of consecration was born of an encounter and a call. We need to keep this in mind. And if we remember aright, we will realize that in that encounter we were not alone with Jesus; there was also the people of God, the Church, young and old, just as in today’s Gospel. It is striking too, that while the young Mary and Joseph faithfully observe the Law – the Gospel tells us this four times – and never speak, the elderly Simeon and Anna come running up and prophesy. It seems it should be the other way around. Generally, it is the young who speak enthusiastically about the future, while the elderly protect the past. In the Gospel, the very opposite occurs, because when we meet one another in the Lord, God’s surprises immediately follow.

For this to occur in the consecrated life, we have to remember that we can never renew our encounter with the Lord without others; we can never leave others behind, never pass over generations, but must accompany one another daily, keeping the Lord always at the centre. For if the young are called to open new doors, the elderly have the keys. An institute remains youthful by going back to its roots, by listening to its older members. There is no future without this encounter between the old and the young. There is no growth without roots and no flowering without new buds. There is never prophecy without memory, or memory without prophecy. And constant encounter.

Read the rest here.

A Testimony of Faith: Pope Francis Meets Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil, SDB

Salesian News Agency: Immediately after Wednesday’s general audience, Pope Francis met Salesian Fr Thomas Uzhunnalil.

Fr. Tom is finally safe and finally able to rejoin the Salesian Community.  He was able to visit today with Salesian Confrere and was given a special audience with the Holy Father after the Wednesday General Audience.

From the Salesian News Agency:  A testimony of impressive faith: that is what the Salesians saw yesterday, 12 September, on meeting Fr Tom Uzhunnalil, finally liberated after being imprisoned for a year and a half.

The meeting began around 6 PM in the Vatican. Present: the Rector Major's Vicar, Fr Francesco Cereda, as the Rector Major was still engaged in his visit to Malta; Salesians of the Vatican community and the General House; and most notably, Fr Thomas Anchukandam, a former professor of Fr Uzhunnalil, who authorized sending the missionary to Yemen when he was Superior of the Bangalore Province.

The greeting was immediately fraternal: Fr Uzhunnalil was honored with the "ponnada", the dress traditionally consigned to special guests of honor, and he received the emotional embrace of all those present. For his part, the Indian missionary did not nothing but repeat words of thanks, first of all to God and the Madonna.

One of his first requests was to pray in the chapel of the Salesian community in the Vatican. He also wanted to celebrate Mass immediately after, but due to necessary medical examinations he was forced to postpone the fulfillment of his wish. Nevertheless, before the arrival of the medical staff, he asked to be confessed, since this had obviously not been possible throughout his time in prison.

Different, instead, the discourse for the Eucharist; during the festive evening offered him by the Salesian community, featuring traditional Indian foods, Fr Uzhunnalil said that throughout his time as hostage he continued to spiritually celebrate Mass every day, remembering by heart the readings and the parts of the Mass, since he did not have liturgical texts or species with which to celebrate.

For his part, Fr Uzhunnalil appeared calm and open to questions; without going into details he answered the questions of his confreres. He confirmed he was in the chapel of the community of the Missionaries of Charity of Aden when the assailants kidnapped him. After being kidnapped, Fr Uzhunnalil said he was never mistreated and that following his rapid weight loss, his kidnappers had even begun to provide him with the medication he needed for his diabetes.

Throughout the period of imprisonment, however, he wore the same clothes; with his kidnappers - who spoke Arabic – he communicated with a bit of English; and during his imprisonment he was transferred two or three times, but always blindfolded.

"I never thought I could be killed," said the missionary who also recalled an episode on March 3, 2016, the night before the massacre: the Director of the Missionaries of Charity house of Aden, commenting on the difficult situation in which the religious found themselves in the war zone, had said it would have been nice to be martyred all together for Christ. But the youngest of the religious - who then survived the attack - replied: "I want to live for Christ."

Fr Uzhunnalil is currently being hosted in the Salesian community of the Vatican. The Salesian Congregation has taken such a decision by considering it the most suitable place to ensure his care and allow him full recovery.

Pope Francis: What Happens in Heaven When a Sinner Enters a Confessional?

The following comes from Zenit:  

Confessionals are generally quiet, darkened places. But what does heaven look and sound like when a soul enters a confessional?

Pope Francis today invited the faithful to think about the rejoicing and celebrating in heaven when a sinner repents.

He made this invitation before praying the midday Angelus with those in St. Peter’s Square today, as he reflected on the heart of God as revealed in the three parables from Luke 18 recounted in today’s liturgy.

“A common element in these parables is expressed in the verbs that mean rejoice together, make a celebration,” the Pope noted. “Mourning is not spoken of; there is rejoicing, there is celebrating. The shepherd calls his friends and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep’ (v 6). The woman calls her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost’ (v. 9). And the father says to his other son: ‘now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found’ (v. 32).

“In the first two parables, the focus is on the joy that is so uncontainable that it must be shared with ‘friends and neighbors.’ In the third parable, the focus is on the celebration that springs from the heart of the merciful father and expands to the whole household.”

The Pope said that with these parables Jesus is presenting us with “the true face of God, a God with his arms always open, a God who deals with sinners with tenderness and compassion.”

God is waiting for us to get back up again, to rise up out of sin, the Pope explained. And “he awaits us with patience, he sees us when we are still a long way off, he runs to meet us, he embraces us, he kisses us, he forgives us. That is how God is. That is how our Father is.”

“And,” the Pope continued, “his forgiveness cancels the past and regenerates us in love. To forget the past — this is the weakness of God. When he embraces us, he forgives us, and he loses his memory. He doesn’t have memory. He forgets the past. When we sinners convert and bring ourselves to be re-encountered by God, reproaches and sternness do not await us, because God saves, he welcomes us home again with joy and makes a celebration.”

Beautiful

Jesus himself speaks of the rejoicing in Heaven, the Pontiff noted. It is Jesus who says, “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.”

In this light, the Pope proposed a question: “Have you ever thought about how each time we go to the confessional, there is joy and celebration in heaven?” he asked. “Have you ever thought of this? It’s beautiful.”

Francis said that we can be filled with great hope, since “there is no sin in which we may have fallen, from which, with the grace of God, we cannot rise up again.”

No one is so far gone they can’t be recovered, he assured, “because God never stops wanting our good — even when we sin!”

The Pope concluded with a prayer to Our Lady, under the title of Refuge of Sinners, asking that though her intercession, the confidence of the prodigal son might well up in our hearts: “I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you,” the prodigal son said.

“On this path,” the Pope affirmed, “we can give glory to God, and his glory can become his celebration, and ours.”

Pope Francis will celebrate Mass for Fr. Jacques Hamel

Pope Francis: The devil seeks to divide the Church

(Vatican Radio) Divisions destroy the Church, and the devil seeks to attack the root of unity: the celebration of the Eucharist. That was the message of Pope Francis on Monday morning at the daily Mass at the Casa Santa Marta, on the feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Commenting on the reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians — where St Paul rebuked the Corinthians for their contentiousness — Pope Francis said, “The devil has two very powerful weapons to destroy the Church: divisions and money.” And this has happened from the beginning: “ideological, theological divisions that lacerate the Church. The devil sows jealousy, ambitions, ideas, but to divide! Or greed.” And, as happens after a war, “everything is destroyed. And the devil is pleased. And we, naïve as we are, are his game.” “It is a dirty war, that of divisions,” he repeated. “It’s like terrorism,” the war of gossiping in the community, that of language that kills”:

“And the divisions in the Church do not allow the Kingdom to grow; they do not allow the Lord to be seen as He is. Divisions make you see this part, this one against the other. Always against! There is no oil of unity, the balsam of unity. But the devil goes elsewhere, not only in the Christian community, he goes right to the root of Christian unity. And this happens here, in the city of Corinth, to the Corinthians. Paul rebukes them precisely because divisions arise, right at the heart of unity, that is, in the Eucharistic celebration.”

In the case of Corinth, riches make divisions between the rich and the poor precisely during the Eucharist. Jesus, the Pope said, “prayed to the Father for unity. But the devil seeks to destroy it” even there:

“I ask you to everything possible to not destroy the Church with divisions; they are ideological, they come from greed and ambition, they come from jealousy. And above all to pray, and to keep the founts, the very roots of the unity of the Church, which is the Body of Christ; which we, every day, celebrate [in] His sacrifice in the Eucharist.”

Saint Paul speaks about the divisions among the Corinthians, two thousand years ago:

“Paul could say this to all of us today, to the Church of today. ‘Brothers, in this I cannot praise you, because you are gathered together not for the better, but for the worse!’ But the Church gathers everyone together — for the worse, for divisions: for the worse! To soil the Body of Christ in the Eucharistic celebration! And the same Paul tells us, in another passage: ‘He who eats and drinks the Body and the Blood of Christ unworthily, eats and drinks his own condemnation.’ Let us ask the Lord for the unity of the Church, that there may not be divisions. And for unity also in the root of the Church, which is precisely the sacrifice of Christ, which we celebrate every day.”

Among those present at the day’s Mass was Archbishop Arturo Antonio Szymanski Ramírez, the Archbishop emeritus of San Luis Potosí in Mexico, who turned 95 in January. Pope Francis noted his presence at the beginning of his homily, recalling that the Archbishop had taken part in the Second Vatican Council, and that he still helps in a parish. The Holy Father had received Archbishop Szymanski in an audience on Friday.

Pope Francis at Mass with religious and priests: The disciple is not content with a life of mediocrity

Pope Francis to Youth: God prefers us weak

(CNA/EWTN News) The weaker we are, the more God's mercy can transform our lives. Pope Francis made these impromptu remarks on Saturday to crowds of young people gathered outside of Krakow’s St. John Paul II shrine.

“Today, the Lord wants us to feel ever more profoundly his great mercy,” the Pope said in a short, impromptu speech, delivered right after his visit to the Polish city’s Divine Mercy shrine. “May we never turn away from Jesus!”

Pope Francis shared these thoughts to a group of young people who are in Poland for World Youth Day moments before entering the St. John Paul II shrine to pass through its Holy Door, hear confessions, and celebrate Mass for priests and religious men and women. 

We may think that we are the “worst” on account of our sins and weaknesses, the Pope told the youth. However, this is how God prefers us to be, in order that “his mercy may spread.”

“Let us take advantage of these days to receive all of the mercy of Jesus!”

Pope Francis proceeded to lead the young people in praying the Hail Mary before bestowing on them his blessing.

“And please, I ask you to pray for me.”

Before his brief encounter with the young people, the pontiff paid a visit to the shrine of the Divine Mercy where the body of St. Faustina Kowalska are interred.

There, he venerated the relics of the Polish saint and mystic, during a brief ceremony attended by some 300 people, including members of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, St. Faustina’s own order.

While there, Pope Francis signed the sanctuary’s guestbook with the words: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifices.” The words refer to a passage from the Gospel of Matthew which the Pope has often referred to in the past.

Venerated by the Church as the “Apostle of Divine Mercy,” St. Faustina (1905-1938) reported numerous visions of Jesus throughout her life which she recorded in her diary. Many of the devotions relating to the feast of Divine Mercy, established on the first Sunday of Easter by St. John Paul II, were inspired by her writings.

Saturday marks the second to last day of Pope Francis’ July 27-31 apostolic journey to Poland where he is leading World Youth Day celebrations.

Bishop Robert Barron on Pope Francis' "Amoris Laetitia"

Pope Francis to Priests: Get involved in the lives of the people

The following comes from the Vatican Insider: 

Pope Francis has exhorted Catholic priests not to see people who approach them for spiritual help merely as “cases” to be handled but to instead enter into the complications of people’s lives, unafraid of being drawn in to unclear or messy situations. 

In a series of three reflections Thursday for thousands of priests in Rome for celebrations surrounding the ongoing Jubilee year of mercy, the pontiff said simply: “Mercy gets its hands dirty.” 

The pope said he had heard many clergy say “very clerical” things in describing people’s situations to others such as saying “I have found this case,” as if to indicate: “I won’t touch it, I won’t dirty my hands. I’ll make a ’clean’ pastoral work.” 

“Mercy touches, it gets involved, it gets caught up with others, it gets personal,” Francis told the priests. “It does not approach ’cases’ but persons and their pain.” 

“Mercy exceeds justice; it brings knowledge and compassion; it leads to involvement,” the pope continued. “By the dignity it brings, mercy raises up the one over whom another has stooped to bring help. The one who shows mercy and the one to whom mercy is shown become equals.” 

The pontiff was speaking Thursday in three separate reflections to priests gathered in retreat at three different Rome basilicas -- St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul’s Outside the Walls. 

Thousands of clergy have come to Rome from around the world this week for the special Jubilee for Priests, part of the holy year celebrations. As a culmination of the week’s events, the clergy will celebrate Mass with Francis Friday in St. Peter’s Square. 

The pontiff used the reflections Thursday to give a lengthy, detailed and deeply spiritual overview of his understanding of God’s mercy. 

During the first reflection he focused on what he called the “embarrassed dignity” shown in the Gospel parable of the prodigal son, who is welcomed home by his father after foolishly spending his inheritance. 

“That is how we have to see ourselves: poised between our utter shame and our sublime dignity,” Francis told the priests. “Dirty, impure, mean and selfish, yet at the same time, with feet washed, called and chosen to distribute the Lord’s multiplied loaves, blessed by our people, loved and cared for.” 

“Only mercy makes this situation bearable,” said the pope. 

The pontiff said that the celebration the father in the parable throws for his son at his returning home does not indicate that mercy is naive or foolish, but rather that mercy “makes it possible to look to the future in a different way.” 

“It is not that mercy overlooks the objective harm brought about by evil,” said Francis. “Rather, it takes away evil’s power over the future. It takes away its power over life, which then goes on.” 

“Mercy is the genuine expression of life that counters death, the bitter fruit of sin,” said the pope. “As such, it is completely lucid and in no way naïve.” 

“It is not that it is blind to evil; rather, it sees how short life is and all the good still to be done,” he said. “That is why it is so important to forgive completely, so that others can look to the future without wasting time on self-recrimination and self-pity over their past mistakes.” 

“In starting to care for others, we will examine our own consciences, and to the extent that we help others, we will make reparation for the wrong we ourselves have done,” said the pontiff. “Mercy is always tinged with hope. Mercy is the mother of hope.” 

In his second reflection of the day at the Basilica of St. Mary Major the pontiff reflected on the role of sin, which he said is “the vessel of mercy.” 

“Our sin is usually like a sieve, or a leaky bucket, from which grace quickly drains,” said Francis. 

“That is why the Lord had to teach Peter the need to ’forgive seventy times seven,’” said the pope. “God keeps forgiving, even though he sees how hard it is for his grace to take root in the parched and rocky soil of our hearts. He never stops sowing his mercy and his forgiveness.” 

The pontiff then said that the “real vessel of mercy” is “the mercy which each of us received and which created in us a new heart.” 

“Here we enter more deeply into the mystery of the Son, Jesus, who is the Father’s mercy incarnate,” said the pope. “Here too we can find the definitive icon of the vessel of mercy in the wounds of the risen Lord.” 

Explaining that Jesus kept the wounds of his crucifixion after his resurrection, and that he may even have them in Heaven now, Francis said: “Those wounds remind us that the traces of our sins, forgiven by God, never completely heal or disappear; they remain as scars.” 

“God’s mercy is in those scars,” said Francis. “In the scars of the risen Christ, the marks of the wounds in his hands and feet but also in his pierced heart, we find the true meaning of sin and grace.” 

“As we contemplate the wounded heart of the Lord, we see ourselves reflected in him,” said the pope. “His heart, and our own, are similar: both are wounded and risen. But we know that his heart was pure love and was wounded because it willed to be so; our heart, on the other hand, was pure wound, which was healed because it allowed itself to be loved.” 

Family adopts child with Down syndrome and he recieves Pope's blessing

Pope Francis: the Holy Spirit makes Jesus' teaching come to life

(CNA/EWTN News) On the solemnity of Pentecost Pope Francis said the Holy Spirit, rather than giving a new message, brings Jesus’ timeless teachings to life and helps us to both understand and live it throughout our lives.

“The Holy Spirit exercises a role of teaching and memory...the Holy Spirit doesn't bring a different teaching, but makes that of Jesus alive and active, so that the time that the passage of time does not erase it or make it fade,” the Pope said May 15.

“He grafts this teaching into our hearts, helps us to interiorize it, making it become part of us, flesh of our flesh,” the Pope continued, adding that at the same time, the Spirit “prepares the heart so that it is able to truly receive the words and example of the Lord.”

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims present in St. Peter’s Square for his final Regina Coeli of the liturgical year, which he prayed after presiding over Mass for the solemnity of Pentecost inside the Basilica.

In his address, Francis told pilgrims that the day’s liturgy serves as a reminder to open our minds and hearts to the Holy Spirit, who Jesus promised to send to his disciples and is “the first and primary gift he has obtained for us with his Resurrection and Ascension into heaven.”

Jesus himself prayed for the Holy Spirit during the Last Supper when he told his disciples that “if you love me, keep my commandments; and I will pray to the Father and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.”

These words, the Pope said, remind us that both love for God and for other people “is not demonstrated with words, but with deeds.” He said that “to keep the commandments” ought to be understood in an existential sense “so that one's whole life is involved.”

To be a Christian, he said, “doesn't primarily mean to belong to a certain culture or to adhere to a certain doctrine, but rather to bind one's own life, in every aspect, to the person of Jesus and, through him, to the Father.”

Thanks to the grace of the Holy Spirit, which is “the love that unites the Father and the Son and who proceeds from them, all of us can life the same life as Jesus,” he said, adding that the Holy Spirit teaches us “the only essential thing: to love as God loved.” 

When promising the Holy Spirit, Jesus refers to him as “another Counselor,” Francis observed, explaining that Jesus himself is the first.

The Spirit, then, is a Consoler, Advocate and Intercessor who “assists us, defends us, and is by our side on the path of life and in the fight for good and against evil.”

Francis closed his address by turning to Mary, and asked her intercession in obtaining for all “the grace of being strongly animated by the Holy Spirit in order to bear witness to Christ with evangelic frankness and open ourselves increasingly to the fullness of his love.”

After his speech, the Pope drew attention to the 90th World Missionary Day, which will be celebrated Oct. 23, 2016, and prayed that the Holy Spirit would give strength to all missionaries and support the mission of the Church throughout the world.

His message for the event, published May 15, is titled "Missionary Church, Witness of Mercy."

Pope Francis and the Sleeping St. Joseph

"I have a great love for St. Joseph, because he is a man of silence and strength.  On my table I have an image of St. Joseph sleeping.  Even when asleep, he is taking care of the Church."  Pope Francis

Pope Francis: 'the Holy Spirit makes us real Christians, not virtual ones'

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says it is the Holy Spirit that moves the Church but for many Christians today, the Holy Spirit is a stranger.

Speaking on Monday morning during Mass at the Casa Santa Marta the Pope urged believers to allow themselves to be propelled by the Holy Spirit whom, he said, shows us the way to freedom.

He also had a special greeting for the Vincentian Sisters of Charity who work at the Casa Santa Marta and who are marking the feast day of their founder: St. Louise de Marillac.
Drawing inspiration from the reading of the day which recounts the dialogue between Paul and the first disciples in Ephesus, Pope Francis recalled that the disciples told Paul that they had “not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit”.

This is something, he said, that happens today as well as many who believe in Jesus do not know the Holy Spirit.

Many, he said, say they have “learnt through Catechism” that the Holy Spirit is “in the Trinity” but they do not know anything more and they wonder what the Spirit does:

"The Holy Spirit is the one who moves the Church, he said, the one who works in the Church and in our hearts” making each Christian unique and yet, together with other Christians, a unit.

The Holy Spirit, the Pope continued, opens the doors and invites us to bear witness to Jesus.

“At the beginning of Mass we heard the words: ‘you will receive the Holy Spirit and you will be my witnesses in the world’. The Holy Spirit is the one who moves us to praise God, to pray the Lord, the one who is within us and teaches us to see the Father and to call him ‘Father’. The Holy Spirit frees us from this ‘orphan-like’ condition which the spirit of the world wants to put us in” he said.

Pope Francis said the Holy Spirit is “the protagonist of the living Church” and he warned against the danger of not living up to this mission of the Holy Spirit thereby reducing faith to "morals and ethics”.

It is not enough, he said, to just respect the Commandments and do “nothing more”.

Christian life, Francis reiterated, “is not just an ethical life: it is an encounter with Jesus Christ.” And it is thanks to the Holy Spirit that this encounter takes place:

"But we keep the Holy Spirit as a ‘luxury prisoner’ in our hearts: we do not allow the Spirit to push us forward, to move us. The Sprit does everything, knows everything, reminds us what Jesus said, can explain all about Jesus. There is only one thing the Holy Spirit can’t do: make us ‘parlour’ Christians (…) The Holy Spirit cannot make us ‘virtual’ Christians who are not virtuous. The Holy Spirit makes real Christians. The Spirit takes life as it is and prophetically reads the signs of the times pushing us forward (…), the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity” he said.

Pope Francis urged all faithful this week to reflect on the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives and to ask ourselves whether we have the courage to go out into the world bearing witness to Jesus.

And inviting us to prepare for the upcoming Feast of Pentecost, the Pope said we must think of the Holy Spirit who is within our hearts and ask for the grace of obedience and docility to the Spirit:

“This is what we must do this week: think of the Sprit and talk to Him”.

Pope Francis: Thank you to all mothers around the world

The following comes from La Stampa:

On Mother’s Day, Pope Francis paid tribute to all mothers, “those who are still with us, and those who have gone to heaven”. “Today many countries celebrate Mother’s Day. Let us remember with gratitude and affection every mother, those who are now in the square, our mothers, those who are still with us, and those who have gone to heaven. Let us entrust them to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Let us say the Hail Mary!” Francis said, praying with the numerous faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square. 

The Pope also gave a special mention to communications professionals. “Today is the 50th anniversary of the World Communications Day. Vatican II was behind it. In fact, the Council Fathers, reflecting on the Church in the contemporary world, understood the crucial importance of communications, which ‘can build bridges between individuals and within families, social groups and peoples. This is possible both in the material world and the digital world’ (Message 2016). I offer cordial greetings to everyone working the field of communications, and I hope that our way of communicating in the Church will always have a clear Gospel style, [conducted in] a manner that unites truth and mercy,” he concluded. 

This morning, the Pope also posted a handwritten message on Instagram and Twitter.  

Before reciting the Regina Coeli, Bergoglio reflected on Jesus’ Ascension into heaven. “Jesus left our earthly space to enter into the fullness of God’s glory, carrying our humanity with him, our humanity therefore enters heaven for the first time.” “Since that day, it was possible for the Apostles and for every disciple of Christ to live in Jerusalem and in all the cities of the world, even the most troubled by injustice and violence, because the same sky lies over every city and every resident can look up with hope.” Herein lies hope. “In Jesus, God is a real man: with his human body, he is in heaven. This is our hope,” Francis stressed, “and our anchor. We are firm in this hope, if we look up at the sky”. 

“This God,” the Pope says, explaining the Feast of the Ascension, “who revealed himself so close to take the face of a man, Jesus of Nazareth, lives” in this heaven. He remains forever the God-with-us. Let us remember this, Emmanuel, God with us – who does not abandon us! We can look up to see our future before us. The Ascension of Jesus, the Crucified and Risen One, holds the promise of our participation in the fullness of life with God.” 

“This,” Francis noted, “is the witness – made not only with words but also with everyday life – the witness that should leave our churches every Sunday to go into homes, offices, schools, meeting places, hospitals, prisons, seniors’ centres, crowded immigrant gatherings, city suburbs during the week [. . .] We bear this witness, every week. Christ is with us. Jesus ascended to heaven, he is with us. Christ is alive.”  

“The Holy Spirit is the real architect of the manifold witness that the Church and every baptised person bears to the world. Therefore, we can never neglect gathering in prayer to praise God and invoke the gift of the Spirit,” the Pope explained, “as we are doing now, in communion with faithful gathered at the Sanctuary of Pompei for the traditional prayer”. 

Francis concluded with his usual wish and request: “I wish everybody a good Sunday and please, don’t forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch! Goodbye!” 

Pope Francis: There is always resistance in the Church to surprises of the Spirit

(Vatican Radio) There is always resistance to the surprises of the Spirit, but it’s the Spirit who continues to lead the Church forward. That was Pope Francis’ message at Mass on Thursday at the Santa Marta chapel as he reflected on the reading about division and resistance within the early Church in Jerusalem.

Commenting on today’s reading from Acts about the Council of Jerusalem, Pope Francis said the protagonist in the Church is always the Holy Spirit. It’s the Spirit who, from the very beginning, gives strength to the apostles to proclaim the Gospel and it’s the Spirit who carries the Church forward despite its problems.

Even when there is an outbreak of persecution, the Pope said, it’s the Spirit who gives believers the strength to stand firm in the faith, even if they face resistance and anger from the doctors of the law. In the passage from Acts, the Pope noted, there was a double resistance to the Spirit, from those who believed that Jesus came only for the chosen people and from those who wanted to impose the law of Moses, including the practice of circumcision, on those who had converted.

There was great confusion over all this, the Pope said, but the Spirit led their hearts in a new direction. The apostles were surprised by the Spirit, he said, as they found themselves in new and unthinkable situations. But how were they to manage these circumstances? Pope Francis said the passage begins by noting that ‘much debate had taken place’: no doubt heated debate, because on the one hand they were pushed on and on by the Spirit, but on the other, they were facing new situations that they had never seen or even imagined, such as pagans receiving the Holy Spirit.

The disciples were holding a ‘hot potato’ in their hands and didn’t know what to do, the Pope said. Thus they called a meeting in Jerusalem where each one could recount their experiences of how the Holy Spirit had been received by the Gentiles. And in the end they came to an agreement. But first , the Pope noted, “The whole assembly fell silent, and they listened while Paul and Barnabas described the signs and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles through them.” Never be afraid to listen with humility, the Pope said. When you are afraid to listen, you don’t have the Spirit in your heart. When the apostles had listened, they decided to send several of the disciples to the Greeks, the pagan communities, that had become Christians to reassure them.

Those who converted, the Pope continued, were not obliged to be circumcised. The decision was communicated to them in a letter in which the disciples say that “The Holy Spirit and we have decided….” This is the way of the Church when faced with novelties, the Pope said. Not the worldly novelties of fashion, but the novelties of the Spirit who always surprises us. How does the Church resolve these problems? Through meetings and discussions, listening and praying, before making a final decision. This is the way of the Church when the Spirit surprises us, Pope Francis said, recalling the resistance that emerged in recent times during the Second Vatican Council.

That resistance continues today in one way or another, he said, yet the Spirit moves ahead. And the way the Church expresses its communion is through synodality, by meeting, listening, debating, praying and deciding. The Spirit is always the protagonist and the Lord asks us not to be afraid when the Spirit calls us. Just as the Spirit stopped St Paul and set him on the right road, so the Spirit will give us the courage and the patience to win over adversity and stand firm in the face of martyrdom. Let us ask the Lord for grace, the Pope concluded, to understand how the Church can face the surprises of the Spirit, to be docile and to follow the path which Christ wants for us and for the whole Church.

Pope Francis to Seminarians and Novices

“Dear seminarians, dear novices, dear young people discerning your vocations: ‘Evangelization is done on one’s knees’, as one of you said to me the other day. Always be men and women of prayer! Without a constant relationship with God, the mission becomes a job. The risk of activism, of relying too much on structures, is an ever-present danger. If we look towards Jesus, we see that prior to any important decision or event he recollected himself in intense and prolonged prayer. Let us cultivate the contemplative dimension, even amid the whirlwind of more urgent and pressing duties."

An excerpt from a homily by Pope Francis on July 7, 2013

Pope Francis: Love is the Christian identity card

(Vatican Radio) At the heart of Pope Francis’ message during the Jubilee Mass for Teens celebrated on Sunday was quite simply one word Love.

The Pope told the thousands of 13 to 16 year olds gathered in St Peter’s Square that “love, was the Christian’s identity card, the only valid “document” identifying us as Christians. If this card expires and is not constantly renewed,” he said, “we stop being witnesses of the Master.”

Then he asked the teenagers gathered “Do you want to experience the love of Jesus? Let us learn from him, for his words are a school of life, a school where we learn to love.”

The Holy Father noted, however, that although love is beautiful and it's the path to happiness it is not necessarily and easy path. It is, he said, demanding and it requires effort.

The Lord, Pope Francis stressed, is generous, “he offers us his faithful friendship, which he will never take back. Even if you disappoint him and walk away from him, Jesus continues to want the best for you and to remain close to you; he believes in you even more than you believe in yourself.” This is very important, the Pope noted because, “the biggest threat to growing up well comes from thinking that no one cares about us, from feeling that we are all alone.”

During his homily the Pope also warned the teens present to be on their guard against what he called “an instinctive desire to “have to have” what we find pleasing”, adding, “our consumerist culture reinforces this tendency.”

“Don’t be content with mediocrity, with “simply going with the flow”, with being comfortable and laid back,” the Holy Father said. He also told the teenagers to be sceptical about “people who want to make you believe that you are only important if you act tough like the heroes in films or if you wear the latest fashions.” Your happiness, the Pope continued, has no price. “It cannot be bought: it is not an app that you can download on your phones nor will the latest update bring you freedom and grandeur in love.”

Pope Francis invited those present in St Peter’s Square to be courageous and firm in their decisions because, he said, it is only by doing this you will realize your greatest dreams, adding, “if a person of your age can’t dream they are already in retirement, this serves nothing.”

Love does not happen because we talk about it, the Pope underlined, “but when we live it”. He also said : "In the art of climbing, the important thing is not to remain on the ground when you fall.”

The Holy Father concluded his homily by saying to the teenagers “you will do amazing things if you prepare well, starting now, by living your youth and all its gifts to the fullest and without fear of hard work. Be like sporting champions, he said who attain high goals by quiet daily effort and practice.”The Lord, Pope Francis stressed, is generous, “he offers us his faithful friendship, which he will never take back. Even if you disappoint him and walk away from him, Jesus continues to want the best for you and to remain close to you; he believes in you even more than you believe in yourself.” This is very important, the Pope noted because, “the biggest threat to growing up well comes from thinking that no one cares about us, from feeling that we are all alone.”

During his homily the Pope also warned the teens present to be on their guard against what he called “an instinctive desire to “have to have” what we find pleasing”, adding, “our consumerist culture reinforces this tendency.”

“Don’t be content with mediocrity, with “simply going with the flow”, with being comfortable and laid back,” the Holy Father said. He also told the teenagers to be sceptical about “people who want to make you believe that you are only important if you act tough like the heroes in films or if you wear the latest fashions.” Your happiness, the Pope continued, has no price. “It cannot be bought: it is not an app that you can download on your phones nor will the latest update bring you freedom and grandeur in love.”

Pope Francis invited those present in St Peter’s Square to be courageous and firm in their decisions because, he said, it is only by doing this you will realize your greatest dreams, adding, “if a person of your age can’t dream they are already in retirement, this serves nothing.”

Love does not happen because we talk about it, the Pope underlined, “but when we live it”. He also said : "In the art of climbing, the important thing is not to remain on the ground when you fall.”

The Holy Father concluded his homily by saying to the teenagers “you will do amazing things if you prepare well, starting now, by living your youth and all its gifts to the fullest and without fear of hard work. Be like sporting champions, he said who attain high goals by quiet daily effort and practice.”

Pope Francis' Prayer for the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy

Lord Jesus Christ, you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father, and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him. Show us your face and we will be saved. Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money; the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things; made Peter weep after his betrayal, and assured Paradise to the repentant thief. Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman: "If you knew the gift of God!"

You are the visible face of the invisible Father, of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy: let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified. You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weakness in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error: let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, and forgiven by God.

Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing, so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord, and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor, proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed, and restore sight to the blind.

We ask this through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Mercy, you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.