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)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a message of encouragement to some 30,000 young people gathered in the Spanish city of Valencia for the 38th European Meeting of Young Adults organized by the Taizé Community.
Please find below the full text of the message sent by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on behalf of the Holy Father:
Dear young people,
Thousands of you have come together in Valencia, Spain, for the 38th European Meeting animated by the Taizé Community. The theme of mercy that brings you together and that you will deepen throughout 2016 makes Pope Francis particularly close to you, since the Jubilee of Mercy that he proposed began on December 8. And it is his wish that “the Christian people may reflect during the Jubilee on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy” (Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy). The Holy Father thanks you from all his heart for committing to this the creative forces and imagination of your youth.
You also want mercy to be manifested in all its dimensions, including the social ones. The Pope encourages you to continue on this path, to have the courage of mercy which will lead you not only to receive it for yourself, in your personal lives, but to come close to people who are in distress. You know that the Church is there for all humanity and “where there are Christians, anyone should be able to find an oasis of mercy.” This is what your communities can become.
This applies particularly to the many migrants who need your welcome so much. The Pope recently wrote to Brother Alois for the hundredth birthday of the founder of the Taizé community, “Brother Roger loved the poor, the disadvantaged, those who apparently do not matter. He showed by his life and that of his brothers that prayer goes together with human solidarity.” By your practice of solidarity and mercy, may you live that demanding happiness, rich in meaning, to which the Gospel calls you.
The Holy Father wishes that during these beautiful days that you gather in Valencia, praying and sharing among yourselves, you may better discover Christ, “the face of the Father’s mercy.” He already spoke through the prophet Hosea when he transmitted to his people the message “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”
From his heart, Pope Francis gives his blessing to you, the young participants in the meeting, to the brothers of Taizé, and to all those who are welcoming you in Valencia and the surrounding region.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, the Feast of the Holy Family and the Jubilee of Families in the context of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. In his homily, the Holy Father focused on the family on pilgrimage – in ways great and small, making its way through life, toward the ultimate goal of perfect joy in the House of the Father, forever.
The Holy Father drew on the readings of the day, which told of the Old Testament figures, Elkanah and Hannah, who brought their son Samuel to the Temple of Shiloh to consecrate him to the Lord (cf. 1 Sam 1:20-22, 24-28), and of Joseph and Mary, who went with Our Lord in His boyhood as pilgrims to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover (cf. Lk 2:41-52).
Click below to hear our report
“How important it is for our families to journey together towards a single goal,” said Pope Francis. “We know that we have a road to travel together,” he went on to say, “a road along which we encounter difficulties but also enjoy moments of joy and consolation,” especially in the moments of shared prayer that punctuate our days – or ought to punctuate them – and thus help us maintain contact with the sacred rhythm of life. “What can be more beautiful than for a father and mother to bless their children at the beginning and end of each day, to trace on their forehead the sign of the cross, as they did on the day of their baptism?” reflected Pope Francis, who also indicated meal times as a privileged moment in which to express gratitude for God’s provident goodness and learn to share what we have received with those in greater need. “These are all little gestures,” he said, “yet they point to the great formative role played by the family in the pilgrimage of everyday life.”
Reflecting in a moment of spiritual imagination that envisioned the scene once the Holy Family had returned home, Pope Francis suggested that it is not impossible that even Our Lord might have asked His mother and foster father to excuse (It. chiedere scusa) Him the worry and consternation He caused them while he was about His Father’s business in the Temple, teaching the Teachers of the Law.
“In the Year of Mercy,” said Pope Francis, “every Christian family can become a privileged place on this pilgrimage for experiencing the joy of forgiveness: forgiveness is the essence of the love which can understand mistakes and mend them,” and, “ – how miserable we would be if God did not forgive us,” Pope Francis asked, in pointed departure from his prepared text. “Within the family we learn how to forgive, because we are certain that we are understood and supported, whatever the mistakes we make.”
The Holy Father concluded with an exhortation: “Let us not lose confidence in the family!” he said. “It is beautiful when we can always open our hearts to one another, and hide nothing. Where there is love, there is also understanding and forgiveness. To all of you, dear families, I entrust this most important mission – the domestic pilgrimage of daily family life – which the world and the Church need, now more than ever.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with pilgrims and tourists gathered beneath a Sun-drenched Roman sky in an unseasonably warm St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, the third day of Christmas and the Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
“By the example and witness of the Holy Family,” said Pope Francis, “each family can draw valuable guidance for life and lifestyle choices, and can draw strength and wisdom for the journey of every day.” He went on to say, “Our Lady and Saint Joseph teach us to welcome children as a gift from God, to get them and rear them, cooperating in a wonderful way with the Creator’s work and giving to the world, in every child, a new smile.”
“It is,” said Pope Francis, “in united families that children bring their small lives into full maturity, living the meaningful and effective experience of love freely given and received, of tenderness, mutual respect, mutual understanding, forgiveness and joy.”
(from Vatican Radio)…