Vatican City, 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father’s universal prayer intention for January 2016 is: “That sincere dialogue among men and women of different faiths may produce the fruits of peace and justice”.
His intention for evangelisation is: “That by means of dialogue and fraternal charity and with the grace of the Holy Spirit, Christians may overcome divisions”….
Vatican City, 30 December 2015 (VIS) – The Prefecture of the Papal Household today published a communique reporting that during the year 2015 a total of 3,210,860 faithful attended the various encounters with Pope Francis: general audiences (704,100), special audiences (408,760), liturgical celebrations in the Vatican Basilica and in St. Peter’s Square (513,000), and the Angelus and Regina Coeli prayers (1,585,000). These data refer only to events held in the Vatican and do not include others attended often by large numbers of faithful, for instance during the apostolic trips to Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Sarajevo, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Cuba, the United States of America, Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic, or during trips within Italy and pastoral visits in the diocese of Rome. These are approximate data calculated on the basis of requests to participate in encounters with the Pope and invitations distributed by the Prefecture, which also specifies that estimates are given for attendance at events such as the Angelus or Regina Coeli and for celebrations in St. Peter’s Square….
(Vatican Radio) The figure of the Christ-child was the focus of Pope Francis’ catechesis on Wednesday at the weekly General Audience.
The humility of Our Divine Lord in the manger, and its stark contrast with our own often grandiose self-appraisal was a particular motif of the catechetical reflection the Holy Father offered to the pilgrims and visitors gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the event.
“This is a great mystery,” said Pope Francis, departing from his prepared text in Italian, “God is humble.” He went on to say, “We, who are proud, full of vanity, and who think ourselves great stuff – we are nothing. He is the great one: He is humble, and He makes Himself a child.”
“This,” repeated Pope Francis, “is a true mystery: God is humble – and it is a beautiful thing.”
Below, please find the official English-language summary of the Holy Father’s catechesis, which was read following the main reflection at the audience on Wednesday
Dear Brothers and Sisters: During this holy season it is customary in many places for each home to set up a Christmas crib, following a tradition begun by Saint Francis of Assisi. The crib scene invites us to adore the Child Jesus and to contemplate the mystery of the Incarnation as a revelation of God’s saving love. Devotion to the Child Jesus can teach us much about our faith. Although the Gospels tell us little about our Lord’s childhood, we know from experience the message which all newborn babies bring. By contemplating the Infant Jesus, we come to understand more fully the meaning of his coming among us. Like every baby, the Infant Jesus cries out for our attention; he asks us to care for and protect him. Like every baby, he wants us to smile at him, as a sign of our delight in him and our sharing in the mystery of his love. Finally, he wants us to play with him, to enter into his world and to become like a child ourselves, in order to please him. In these days of Christmas, let us not only gaze upon the Child Jesus, but also take him into our arms and allow him to give us the joy and freedom born of the Father’s merciful love.
After the summary, Pope Francis greeted Anglophone pilgrims and visitors with the following words, through his interpreter
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including the pilgrimage groups from Norway, the Philippines and the United States of America. I thank the choirs for their praise of God in song. With prayerful good wishes that the the Church’s celebration of the Jubilee of Mercy will be a moment of grace and spiritual renewal for all, I invoke upon you and your families an abundance of joy and peace in the Lord. Happy New Year!
(from Vatican Radio)…
With the faithful gathered in St Peter’s
Square for the last General Audience of 2015, Pope Francis spoke about
Christmas and addressed a special thought to the victims of the recent natural
disasters that struck the Americas and Great Britain. God too “was a child”. With the
Christmas reflection the Holy Father offered on Wednesday, 30 December, he
invited the faithful to “look to the lives of children” in order to learn to
welcome and love Jesus. The following is a translation of the Pope’s address,
which he delivered in Italian. Brothers and Sisters, Good morning! In these days of Christmas the Child Jesus
is placed before us. I am certain that in our homes still many families have
made a nativity scene, continuing this beautiful tradition brought about by St
Francis of Assisi and which keeps alive in our hearts the mystery of God who
became man. Devotion
to the Child Jesus is widespread. Many saints cultivated this devotion in their
daily prayers, and wished to model their lives after that of the Child Jesus. I
think in particular of St Thérèse of Lisieux, who as a Carmelite nun took the
name of Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. She is also a Doctor of
the Church who knew how to live and witness to the “spiritual childhood” which
is assimilated through meditation, as the Virgin Mary taught, on the humility
of God who became small for us. This is a great mystery. God is humble! We who
are proud, filled with vanity, believe we are something big: we are nothing!
He, the Great One, is humble and becomes a child. This is a true mystery. God
is humble. This is beautiful! There
was a time in which, in the divine-human Person of Christ, God was a child, and
this must hold a particular significance for our faith. It is true that his
death on the cross and his Resurrection are the highest expression of his
redeeming love, however let us not forget that the whole of his earthly life is
revelation and teaching. In the Christmas season we remember his childhood. In
order to grow in faith we will need to contemplate the Child Jesus more often.
Certainly, we know nothing of this period of his. The rare indications that we
possess refer to the imposition of his name eight days after his birth and his
presentation at the Temple (cf. Lk 2:21-28); in addition to this, to the visit
of the Magi and the ensuing escape to Egypt (cf. Mt 2:1-23). Then, there is a
great leap to 12 years of age, when with Mary and Joseph he goes in pilgrimage
to Jerusalem for Passover, and instead of returning with his parents, he
remains in the Temple to speak with the doctors of the law. As
we see, we know little of the Child Jesus, but we can learn much about him if
we look to the lives of children. It is
a beautiful habit that parents and grandparents have, that of watching what the
children do. We
discover, first of all, that children want our attention. They have to be at
the centre — why? Because they are proud? No! Because they need to feel
protected. It is important that we too place Jesus at the centre of our life
and to know, even if it may seem paradoxical, that it is our responsibility to
protect him. He wants to be in our embrace, he wants to be tended to and to be
able to fix his gaze on ours. Additionally, make the Child Jesus smile in order
to show him our love and our joy that he is in our midst. His smile is a sign
of the love that gives us the assurance of being loved. Children, lastly, love
to play. Playing with children, however, means abandoning our logic in order to
enter theirs. If we want to have fun it is necessary to understand what they
like, and not to be selfish and make them do the things that we like. It is a
lesson for us. Before Jesus we are called to abandon our pretense of
autonomy — and this is the crux of the
matter: our pretense of autonomy — in order to instead accept the true form of
liberty, which consists in knowing and serving whom we have before us. He, the
Child, is the Son of God who comes to save us. He has come among us to show us
the face of the Father abounding in love and mercy. Therefore, let us hold the
Child Jesus tightly in our arms; let us place ourselves at his service. He is
the font of love and serenity. It will be beautiful today, when we get home, to
go to the nativity scene and kiss the Baby Jesus and say: “Jesus, I want to be
humble like you, humble like God”, and to ask him for this grace. Appeal I invite prayers for the victims of the
natural disasters that have recently struck the United States, Great Britain
and South America, particularly Paraguay, sadly claiming lives, displacing many
people and causing extensive damage. May the Lord give comfort to those
peoples, and may fraternal solidarity support them in their needs….
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis called for prayerful solidarity with victims of natural disasters that recently struck parts of the United States, Great Britain, and South America (in particular Paraguay). The Holy Father’s appeal came at the end of his catechetical reflection during the General Audience on Wednesday in St. Peter’s Square.
“I invite everyone to pray for the victims of the calamities which in these days have befallen the United States, Great Britain, and South America – particularly Paraguay,” said Pope Francis.
Paraguay is the country hardest hit by flooding in South America that has spread across Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay as well, causing several fatalities and inflicting massive damage, while driving at least 150 thousand people from their homes. Climatologists say the flooding is due to unusually heavy summer rains resulting from an intense “el Niño” weather phenomenon.
In the United States, severe weather that included tornadoes and flooding killed dozens of people over the past weekend, and continues to advance across the United States, bringing heavy snow and freezing rain over a great stretch of the country from Texas to northern New England.
The United Kingdom was in the throes of another major north Atlantic storm on Wednesday, after several episodes of severe weather provoked flooding from western Scotland to Wales, and especially in Cumbria and Yorkshire. Storm Frank, as the latest disturbance has been called by meteorologists, was expected to produce more heavy rain and wind gusts in excess of 80 km/h throughout much of the UK through Wednesday.
“May the Lord give comfort to all these peoples,” prayed Pope Francis, “and may fraternal solidarity aid them in their need.”
(from Vatican Radio)…