(Vatican Radio) The Church is a place of “openness” where people should say things with frankness. That’s what Pope Francis said at the morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican on Monday. The Pontiff added that only the Holy Spirit is able to change our attitude, the story of our lives, and to give us courage – just as the Apostles were inspired by Christ’s Resurrection.
“We cannot keep silent [about] what we have seen and heard,” Pope Francis said in his homily, alluding to the day’s First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles where Peter and John ask the Lord to enable them to speak freely and openly.
Speak frankly without fear
The Pontiff recalled that Peter and John, having performed a miracle, had been jailed and threatened by the priests not to speak in the name of Jesus. But they continue to do so and when they return to the others, they encourage them to proclaim the Word of God “with frankness.” They entreat the Lord “to take note of their threats” and enable His “servants” “to not flee” but to proclaim His Word “boldly.”
“And today too, the Church’s message is the message of the path of openness, the path of Christian courage,” the Pope said. “These two simple [men]- as the Bible says – with no education, had courage. A word that can be translated as ‘courage,’ ‘straightforwardness,’ ‘freedom to speak,’ ‘not being afraid to say things’ … It’s a word that has many meanings, in its original form. Parrésia, that frankness … and their fear gave way to ‘openness,’ to saying things with freedom. ”
Francis then reflected on the Gospel passage today that recounts the somewhat “mysterious” dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus,” regarding “second birth” and “having a new life, different from the first.”
Proclaiming Christ, without “advertising”
The Pope pointed out that in this story too, “on this journey of openness,” the “true protagonist” is “precisely the Holy Spirit”, “because He is the only one able to give us this grace of courage to proclaim Jesus Christ”:
“And this courage of proclamation is what distinguishes us from simple proselytism. We do not advertise, says Jesus Christ, to have more ‘members’ in our ‘spiritual society’, no? This is not necessary. There’s no need; it’s not Christian. What the Christian does is to announce with courage, and the proclamation of Jesus Christ causes, through the Holy Spirit, that astonishment that keeps us going. ”
The real protagonist of all this, the Pope resumed, is the Holy Spirit. When Jesus talks about being ‘born again,’ he said, He makes us understand that it is “the Spirit that changes us, that comes from anywhere, like the wind: we hear his voice.” And, he added, “only the Spirit is able to change our attitude”, to “change the story of our lives, to change our being.”
Courage, a grace that comes from the Holy Spirit
It is the Spirit, the Pope affirmed, which gives Peter and John, “these simple, uneducated men…this strength to proclaim Jesus Christ up until the final witness: martyrdom”:
“The path of Christian courage is a grace given by the Holy Spirit. There are so many paths that we can take that also give us a certain amount of courage. ‘But look at that brave decision he has taken! And look at this one: look how he laid out this plan well, organized things, [bravo]!’ This helps, but it is an instrument of something bigger: the Spirit. If there is no Spirit, we can do many things, much work, but it is not of any use.”
After Easter, added Francis, the Church “prepares us to receive the Holy Spirit.” In the “celebration of the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus,” he prayed, may we remember “the whole history of salvation” and “ask for the grace to receive the Spirit to give us the true courage to announce Jesus Christ “.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Church is a place of “openness” where people should say things with frankness. That’s what Pope Francis said at the morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican on Monday. The Pontiff added that only the Holy Spirit is able to change our attitude, the story of our lives, and to…
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(Vatican Radio) In response to Pope Francis’ words during the Mass for the centenary of the Armenian “Martyrdom” on Sunday morning, the Turkish government — which has always been sensitive to the use of the term “genocide” with regard to the slaughter of Armenians between 1915 and 1917 — has recalled the ambassador to the Holy See for consultations; and has called Apostolic Nuncio in Ankara, Archbishop Antonio Lucibello, to express its disappointment.
Pope Francis, greeting the Armenian faithful at the beginning of Mass, quoted Saint John Paul II in his praise of the faith of the Armenian people. “This faith,” he said, “accompanied and sustained your people during the tragic experience one hundred years ago ‘in what is generally referred to as the first genocide of the twentieth century’.” The Holy Father was quoting from the Common Declaration issued by St John Paul and the Armenian Catholicos Karekin II in September 2001.
“It is the responsibility not only of the Armenian people and the universal Church to recall all that has taken place, but of the entire human family, so that the warnings from this tragedy will protect us from falling into a similar horror, which offends against God and human dignity,” Pope Francis continued. “Today too, in fact, these conflicts at times degenerate into unjustifiable violence, stirred up by exploiting ethnic and religious differences.”
Pope Francis said the anniversary of the tragedy of the Metz Yeghern , the “Great Crime,” should be “for all an occasion of humble and sincere reflection, and may every heart be open to forgiveness, which is the source of peace and renewed hope.” He prayed that Armenians and Turks might “take up again the path of reconciliation, noting that “despite conflicts and tensions, Armenians and Turks have lived long periods of peaceful coexistence in the past and, even in the midst of violence, they have experienced times of solidarity and mutual help.” Only in this way, he said, “will new generations open themselves to a better future and will the sacrifice of so many become seeds of justice and peace.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) In response to Pope Francis’ words during the Mass for the centenary of the Armenian “Martyrdom” on Sunday morning, the Turkish government — which has always been sensitive to the use of the term “genocide” with regard to the slaughter of Armenians between 1915 and 1917 — has recalled the ambassador to the…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) In response to Pope Francis’ words during the Mass for the centenary of the Armenian “Martyrdom” on Sunday morning, the Turkish government — which has always been sensitive to the use of the term “genocide” with regard to the slaughter of Armenians between 1915 and 1917 — has recalled the ambassador to the…
Read more