April 20, 2014

Pope Francis : In Jesus, love has triumphed over hatred, goodness over evil, truth over falsehood, life over death.

   Pope Francis celebrated the Easter Morning mass, with an assembly of about 150,000 gathered in St. Peter’s Square. After the mass, as is custom, he ascended to the loggia to pronounce his Easter message and to grant his blessing Urbi et Orbi.

Below is a translation of the Holy Father’s Message:

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Happy and Holy Easter!
   The Church throughout the world echoes the angel’s message to the women: “Do not be afraid! I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised… Come, see the place where he lay” (Mt 28:5-6). “Do not be afraid! The Lord is Risen!
   This is the culmination of the Gospel, it is the Good News par excellence: Jesus, who was crucified, is risen! This event is the basis of our faith and our hope. If Christ were not raised, Christianity would lose its very meaning; the whole mission of the Church would lose its impulse, for this is the point from which it first set out and continues to set out ever anew. The message which Christians bring to the world is this: Jesus, Love incarnate, died on the cross for our sins, but God the Father raised him and made him the Lord of life and death. In Jesus, love has triumphed over hatred, mercy over sinfulness, goodness over evil, truth over falsehood, life over death.
   That is why we tell everyone: “Come and see!” In every human situation, marked by frailty, sin and death, the Good News is no mere matter of words, but a testimony to unconditional and faithful love: it is about leaving ourselves behind and encountering others, being close to those crushed by life’s troubles, sharing with the needy, standing at the side of the sick, elderly and the outcast… “Come and see!”: Love is more powerful, love gives life, love makes hope blossom in the wilderness.
   With this joyful certainty in our hearts, today we turn to you, risen Lord! Help us to seek you and to find you, to realize that we have a Father and are not orphans; that we can love and adore you. Help us to overcome the scourge of hunger, aggravated by conflicts and by the immense wastefulness for which we are often responsible. Enable us to protect the vulnerable, especially children, women and the elderly, who are at times exploited and abandoned. Enable us to care for our brothers and sisters struck by the Ebola epidemic in Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and to care for those suffering from so many other diseases which are also spread through neglect and dire poverty.
   Comfort all those who cannot celebrate this Easter with their loved ones because they have been unjustly torn from their affections, like the many persons, priests and laity, who in various parts of the world have been kidnapped. Comfort those who have left their own lands to migrate to places offering hope for a better future and the possibility of living their lives in dignity and, not infrequently, of freely professing their faith. We ask you, Lord Jesus, to put an end to all war and every conflict, whether great or small, ancient or recent.
   We pray in a particular way for Syria, beloved Syria, that all those suffering the effects of the conflict can receive needed humanitarian aid and that neither side will again use deadly force, especially against the defenseless civil population, but instead boldly negotiate the peace long awaited and long overdue! Glorious Jesus, we ask you to comfort the victims of fratricidal acts of violence in Iraq and to sustain the hopes raised by the resumption of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. We beg for an end to the conflicts in the Central African Republic and a halt to the brutal terrorist attacks in parts of Nigeria and the acts of violence in South Sudan. We ask that hearts be turned to reconciliation and fraternal concord in Venezuela.
   By your resurrection, which this year we celebrate together with the Churches that follow the Julian calendar, we ask you to enlighten and inspire the iniatives that promote peace in Ukraine so that all those involved, with the support of the international community, will make every effort to prevent violence and, in a spirit of unity and dialogue, chart a path for the country’s future, and that they as brothers can shout “Christos Voskrese!” [Christ is Risen!]
   Lord, we pray to you for all the peoples of the earth: you who have conquered death, grant us your life, grant us your peace! Christus surrexit, venite et videte! Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter!

March 19, 2014

Pope Francis' Catechesis on St.Joseph as an Educator

   "It would be a grave mistake to think that a father and a mother can not do anything to educate their children to grow in the grace of God. Grow in age, grow in wisdom, grow in grace: this is the work Joseph did with Jesus, it grows in these three dimensions."

Dear brothers and sisters ,
   Today, March 19, we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary and Patron of the Universal Church. So we dedicate this catechesis to him, he deserves all our gratitude and devotion as he was able to guard the Holy Virgin and Jesus the Son to be the guardian is the hallmark of Joseph is his great mission, to be the guardian .
   Today I would like to take up the theme of the case in accordance with a particular perspective: the perspective of education. Let us look at Joseph as the model of the educator, who keeps and accompanies Jesus in his journey of growth "in wisdom , age and grace", as the Gospel says. He was not the father of Jesus: Jesus' father was God, but he acted as a father to Jesus, Jesus acted as a father to make it grow. And how did it grow? In wisdom, age and grace.
   Let's start by age, which is the more natural, the physical and psychological growth. Joseph, together with Mary, took care of Jesus , first of all from this point of view, that he has "raised" Him, worrying that He lacked the necessity for healthy development. Do not forget that the faithful care of the life of the Child has also led to the flight into Egypt, the harsh experience of living as refugees- Joseph was a refugee, with Mary and Jesus to escape the threat of Herod. Then, once back at home and settled in Nazareth, there is the long period of the life of Jesus in his family. In those years, Joseph taught Jesus also his job, and Jesus learned to be a carpenter with his father Joseph. So Joseph brought up Jesus.
   Let's move on to the second dimension of education, that of "wisdom". Joseph was Jesus' example and teacher of this wisdom, which is nourished by the Word of God, we can think about how Joseph brought the baby Jesus to listen to the Holy Scriptures, especially accompanying him on the Sabbath in the synagogue at Nazareth. And Joseph went with him because Jesus listened to the Word of God in the synagogue.
   And finally, the size of the "grace." He always says St. Luke referring to Jesus: "The grace of God was upon him" ( 2.40). Here certainly the part reserved to St. Joseph is more limited than in areas of age and wisdom. But it would be a grave mistake to think that a father and a mother can not do anything to educate their children to grow in the grace of God. Grow in age, grow in wisdom, grow in grace: this is the work he did with Jesus, Joseph, it grow in these three dimensions help it grow.
   Dear brothers and sisters, the mission of St. Joseph is certainly unique and unrepeatable, because Jesus is unique, however, in his guarding Jesus, educating him to grow in age, wisdom and grace, he is a model for all educators, especially each father. St. Joseph is the model educator and father, his father. So I entrust to his protection all parents, priests - who are fathers - and those who have an educational role in the Church and in society. In a special way, I wish to greet today, Father's Day, all parents, all dads, I greet you from my heart! Let's see: there are some dads in the square? Raise your hand, dads! But how many dads! Greetings, greetings in your day!
   I ask for you the grace to always be very close to your children, letting them grow, but neighbors, neighbors! They need you, your presence, your neighborhood, your love. Be for them as St. Joseph, guardian of their growth in age, wisdom and grace. Keepers of their journey ; educators, and walk with them. And with this neighborhood, you'll be true educators. Thank you for all that you do for your children: Thank you. Happy birthday to you, and good Father's Day to all the fathers who are here, to all the fathers. May St. Joseph bless you and be with you. And some of us have lost our dad, he's gone, the Lord called him, many who are in the streets do not have a dad. We pray for all fathers of the world, for dads and even for those living and our dead, and we can do together, each recalling his dad, if he's alive and he's dead. And pray to the great Father of us all. And happy feastday to dads!
 
   Greetings: A special thought to young people, the sick and newlyweds. Today we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church. Dear young people, look to him as an example of humble and hidden life , dear sick people, especially guests of the "reception center Aldo Moro", accompanied by the Bishop of Gubbio Bishop Ceccobelli, the dialysis of Macerata and Tolentino and the boys of the Dream of Giusy , learn to bear the cross with the attitude of silence and prayer of the foster father of Jesus, and you, dear newlyweds, build your family the love that bound Mary with her husband Joseph. Thank you!