(Vatican Radio) Linda Bordoni is currently in Paraguay’s capital Asunciòn reporting on the Apostolic visit of Pope Francis. She went to take a look at the unusal altar that’s already in place at Nu Guazu where Pope Francis is scheduled to celebrate the last Holy Mass of his three country journey on Latin American soil.
Listen to Linda Bordoni’s report from Asunciòn on the unusual maize and coconut altar prepared for Pope Francis’ Sunday mass at Nu Guazu :
Some 32.000 corn cobs, 200.000 baby coconuts, pumpkins, gourds, squashes and seeds of all shapes, sizes and colours are the proud protagonists of the amazing altar at which Pope Francis will celebrate Mass on Sunday.
The artist, Koki Ruiz, a much beloved personality in Paraguay, has used the fruits of his fertile land where agriculture is the main pillar of the economy to create a veritable vegetable masterpiece.
To the left of a central column with the cross and the Papal symbols, a portrait of St. Francis with a dove; on the right, the austere face of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order. Both of them worthy – and highly symbolic – witnesses of Pope Francis’ last Mass before he wraps up his moving journey to three Latin American nations.
Witnesses and protagonists of the much awaited event at Nu Guazu are also the hundreds of ordinary Paraguayans who flocked to the altar as it was being set up to write a name and a prayer on the tiny coconut shells that make up the green coloured parts of the altar which is as fragile, diverse and beautiful as the land it was born from.
For Vatican Radio, in Asuncion, I’m Linda Bordoni.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Saturday (July 11th) at the Marian Shrine of Caacupé near Asuncion on the first full day of his pastoral visit to Paraguay, the third and final leg of his journey to Latin America. Caacupe is the most important pilgrimage site in Paraguay. Tens of thousands of people, including many from the Pope’s native Argentina, attended the mass held in the square outside the Basilica. In his homily, the Pope told those present that Mary’s life testifies that God never abandons us even in moments when it might seem he is not there. He also once again had special words of praise for the women of Paraguay whom he said were able to lift up a country defeated, devastated and laid low by war. Please find below an English translation of the Pope’s prepared remarks for the homily at the Mass: Being here with you makes me feel at home, at the feet of our Mother, the Virgin of Miracles of Caacupé. In every shrine we, her children, encounter our Mother and are reminded that we are brothers and sisters. Shrines are places of festival, of encounter, of family. We come to present our needs. We come to give thanks, to ask forgiveness and to begin again. How many baptisms, priestly and religious vocations, engagements and marriages, have been born at the feet of our Mother! How many tearful farewells! We come bringing our lives, because here we are at home and it is wonderful to know there is someone waiting for us. As so often in the past, we now come because we want to renew our desire to live the joy of the Gospel. How can we forget that this shrine is a vital part of the Paraguayan people, of yourselves? You feel it, it shapes your prayers, and you sing: “Here, in your Eden of Caacupé, are your people, Virgin most pure, who offer you their love and their faith”. Today we gather as the People of God, at the feet of our Mother, to offer her our love and our faith. In the Gospel, we have just heard the greeting of the angel to Mary: Rejoice, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Rejoice, Mary, rejoice. Upon hearing this greeting, Mary was confused and asked herself what it could mean. She did not fully understand what was happening. But she knew that the angel came from God and so she said yes. Mary is the Mother of Yes. Yes to God’s dream, yes to God’s care, yes to God’s will. It was a yes that, as we know, was not easy to live. A yes that bestowed no privileges or distinctions. Simeon told her in his prophecy: “a sword will pierce your heart” (Lk 2:35), and indeed it did. That is why we love her so much. We find in her a true Mother, one who helps us to keep faith and hope alive in the midst of complicated situations. Pondering Simeon’s prophecy, we would do well to reflect briefly on three difficult moments in Mary’s life. 1. The birth of Jesus. There was no room for them. They had no house, no dwelling to receive her Son. There was no place where she could give birth. They had no family close by; they were alone. The only place available was a stall of animals. Surely she remembered the words of the angel: “Rejoice, Mary, the Lord is with you”. She might well have asked herself: “Where is he now?”. 2. The flight to Egypt. They had to leave, to go into exile. Not only was there no room for them, no family nearby, but their lives were also in danger. They had to depart and go to a foreign land. They were migrants, on account of the envy and greed of the King. There too she might well have asked: “What happened to all those things promised by the angel? 3. Jesus’ death on the cross. There can be no more difficult experience for a mother than to witness the death of her child. It is heartrending. We see Mary there, at the foot of the cross, like every mother, strong, faithful, staying with her child even to his death, death on the cross. Then she encourages and supports the disciples. We look at her life, and we feel understood, we feel heard. We can sit down to pray with her and use a common language in the face of the countless situations we encounter each day. We can identify with many situations in her own life. We can tell her what is happening in our lives, because she understands. Mary is the woman of faith; she is the Mother of the Church; she believed. Her life testifies that God does not deceive us, or abandon his people, even in moments or situations when it might seem that he is not there. Mary was the first of her Son’s disciples and in moments of difficulty she kept alive the hope of the apostles. A woman attentive to the needs of others, she could say – when it seemed like the feast and joy were at an end – “they have no wine” (Jn 2:3). She was the woman who went to stay with her cousin Elizabeth “about three months” (Lk 1:56), so that Elizabeth would not be alone as she prepared to give birth. We know all this from the Gospel, but we also know that in this land she is the Mother who has stood beside us in so many difficult situations. This shrine preserves and treasures the memory of a people who know that Mary is their Mother, and that she has always been at the side of her children. Mary has always been in our hospitals, our schools and our homes. She has always sat at table in every home. She has always been part of the history of this country, making it a nation. Hers has been a discreet and silent presence, making itself felt through a statue, a holy card or a medal. Under the sign of the rosary, we know that we are never alone. Why? Because Mary wanted to be in the midst of her people, with her children, with her family. She followed Jesus always, from within the crowd. As a good Mother, she did not want to abandon her children, rather, she would always show up wherever one of her children was in need. For the simple reason that she is our Mother. A Mother who learned, amid so many hardships, the meaning of the words: “Do not be afraid, the Lord is with you”. A Mother who keeps saying to us: “Do whatever he tells you”. This is what she constantly says to us: “Do whatever he tells you”. She doesn’t have a plan of her own; she doesn’t come to tell us something new. She simply accompanies our faith with her own. You know this from experience. All of you, all Paraguayans, share in the living memory of a people who have made incarnate these words of the Gospel. Here I would like especially to mention you, the women, wives and mothers of Paraguay, who at great cost and sacrifice were able to lift up a country defeated, devastated and laid low by war. You are keepers of the memory, the lifeblood of those who rebuilt the life, faith and dignity of your people. Like Mary, you lived through many difficult situations which, in the eyes of the world, would seem to discredit all faith. Yet, like Mary, inspired and sustained by her example, you continued to believe, even “hoping against all hope” (Rom 4:18). When all seemed to be falling apart, with Mary you said: “Let us not be afraid, the Lord is with us; he is with our people, with our families; let us do what he tells us”. Then and now, you found the strength not to let this land lose its bearings. God bless your perseverance, God bless and encourage your faith, God bless the women of Paraguay, the most glorious women of America. As a people, we have come home, to this house of all Paraguayans, to hear once more those words which are so comforting: “Rejoice, the Lord is with you”. They are a summons to cherish your memory, your roots, and the many signs which you have received as a people of believers tested by trials and struggles. Yours is a faith which has become life, a life which has become hope, and a hope which leads to eminent charity. Yes, like Jesus, may you be outstanding in love. May you be bearers of this faith, this life and this hope. May you continue to build these up in Paraguay’s present and for its future. Gazing once more on Mary’s image, I invite you to join me in saying: “Here, in your Eden of Caacupé, are your people, Virgin most pure, who offer you their love and their faith”. Pray for us, Holy Mother of God, that we may be worthy of the promises and graces of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has expressed his strong condemnation of the car bomb attack against the Italian consulate in Cairo on Friday which killed one person. His condemnation came in a telegram sent on his behalf by the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin to the Egyptian President Abdel Fatteh Al Sisi.
In the telegram Cardinal Parolin wrote that the Pope was deeply concerned by this attack and urged “political and religious players at all levels to join together and redouble their efforts to fight the plague of terrorism and promote peace and solidarity.” He said Pope Francis also expressed “his sincere compassion to all the families and people affected by “these blind acts of violence” and assured them of his prayers.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Francis began his first full day in Paraguay on Saturday (July 11th) by visiting the Acosta Nu Children’s Hospital in the capital, Asuncion.
Please find below the English translation of his prepared remarks for the children and the hospital staff.
Mr Director,
Dear Childen,
Members of the Staff,
Dear Friends,
I thank you for your warm welcome. Thank you too for giving me this time to spend with you.
Dear children, I want to ask you a question; maybe you can help me. They tell me that you are all very intelligent, and so I want to ask you: Did Jesus ever get annoyed? … Do you remember when?
If this seems like a difficult question, let me help you. It was when they wouldn’t let the children come to him. That is the only time in the entire Gospel of Mark when we hear that he was “annoyed” (cf. Mk 10:13-15). We would say that he was really “ticked off”.
Do you get annoyed every now and then? Jesus felt that way when they wouldn’t let the children come to him. He was really mad. He loved children. Not that he didn’t like adults, but he was really happy to be with children. He enjoyed their company, he enjoyed being friends with them. But not only. He didn’t just want to have them around, he wanted something else: he wanted them to be an example. He told his disciples that “unless you become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 18:3).
The children kept coming to Jesus, and the adults kept trying to keep them away, but Jesus called them, embraced them and brought them forward, so that people us could learn to be like them. Today, he wants to tell us the same thing. He looks at us and he says: “Learn from the children”.
We need to learn from you. We need to learn from your trust, your joy, and your tenderness. We need to learn from your ability to fight, from your strength, from your remarkable endurance. Some of you are fighters. And when we look at young “warriors” like you, we feel very proud. Isn’t that right, moms? Isn’t that right, dads and grandparents? Looking at you gives us strength, it gives us the courage to trust, to keep moving forward.
Dear mothers, fathers, grandparents: I know that it is not easy to be here. There are moments of great suffering and uncertainty. There are times of heartrending anguish but also moments of immense happiness. These two feelings often collide deep within us. However, there is no better relief than your tender compassion, your closeness to one another. It makes me happy to know that as families you help, encourage and support each other, so that you can keep going in these difficult moments.
You count on the support of the doctors, nurses and the entire staff of this home. I thank them for their vocation of service, for helping not only to care for, but also to be there, for these young brothers and sisters of ours who suffer.
Let us never forget that Jesus is close to his children. He is very near, in our hearts. Never hesitate to pray to him, to talk to him, to share with him your questions and your pain. He is always with us, he is ever near and he will not let us fall.
There is another thing we can be sure of, and I would say it once again. Wherever there is a son or daughter, there is always a mother. Wherever Jesus is, there is Mary, the Virgin of Caacupé. Let us ask her to wrap us in her mantle, to protect and intercede for you and for your families.
And also, please don’t forget to pray for me. I am certain that your prayers are heard in heaven.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Our correspondent in Asuncion, Linda Bordoni, spoke to the city’s Archbishop to learn his thoughts about the papal visit to Paraguay and discover more about the reality of life there.
Listen to Linda Bordoni’s report whose text can be found below:
The Archbishop of Asuncion, Edmundo Mellia, told me that for Paraguayans from all walks of life, the Pope’s visit is a gift from God.
“We have been awaiting this moment with great trepidation – he said – the countdown has finally ended”.
He explained to me that working closely with the deeply Catholic population, parish priests across the country have been preparing the faithful in three different ways: with prayer; with correct information regarding the Church, the Papacy and their faith; and involving them in a “serene, responsible and joyous” organization of the visit itself.
“Participation – he says – has been exceptional”.
The Pope’s presence here is bringing us much joy, Archbishop Mellia says, but life in Paraguay is not a bed of roses.
And pointing out that thanks to its wealth of natural resources which could well respond to the needs of its tiny population, Paraguay could be a “paradise for all, unfortunately – he said – it is so only for few”.
So, Mellia said, a wealth of resources is a fantastic thing when used for the common good of the nation. But when, because of political corruption and greed, these resources are not channelled towards education, healthcare, the wellbeing of the indigenous population, support of family farming and the good of families across society – but end up in the pockets of the powerful, what is needed is a change of heart, a deep conversion on the part of our political leaders.
And just as he has been doing so far during this intense three-nation Latin American journey, Pope Francis in Paraguay is expected to reiterate his call for social and environmental justice, just as he already has done in his very first discourse to Government authorities reminding them that “an economic development which fails to take into account the weakest and underprivileged is not an authentic development.”
(from Vatican Radio)…