(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday met in the Vatican with Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.
The two also met in the Vatican on 10 December 2014.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is composed of 188 countries, was established in 1944 to help manage countries’ balance of payments. According to its website, it is “working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
A Christian who hides behind the notion
that “this is how it’s always been done…” is committing a sin, becomes
idolatrous and disobedient, and lives a “patched up, half and half life”,
because his heart is closed to the “newness of the Holy Spirit”. The invitation
to free oneself from “customs” in order to make room for “God’s surprises” was
offered by Pope Francis during Mass at Santa Marta on Monday morning, 18
January. In
the First Reading, taken from the First Book of Samuel (15:16-23), the Pope
began, “we heard that Saul the king was rejected by God for not obeying: the
Lord told him that he would win in battle, in war, but that everything had to
be utterly destroyed”. But Saul “did not obey”. Thus,
“when the prophet rebukes him for this and then in the name of God rejects him
from being king of Israel, he — the passage continues — gives an explanation:
‘I have heard the voice of the people who took the best of this livestock to
sacrifice to the Lord’”. “It
is a good thing to sacrifice”, Francis explained, “but the Lord had ordered, he
had given a mandate to do something else”. Thus Samuel says to Saul: “Has the
Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice
of the Lord?”. Therefore, the Pope affirmed, “obedience goes further” and
surpasses even Saul’s words of justification: “I listened to the people and the
people told me: this is how it’s always been done! The most valuable things go
to the service of the Lord, either in the temple or as sacrifices. This is how
it’s always been done!”. Thus,
“the king, who had to change this ‘this is how it’s always been done…’ says
to Samuel: ‘I feared the people’”. Saul “was afraid” and this is why “he
allowed life to continue contrary to the Lord’s will”. It
is the same attitude — the Pope continued, referring to the day’s passage from
Mark (2:18-22) — that “Jesus teaches in the Gospel, when the doctors of the law
rebuke him because his disciples do not fast: ‘This is how it’s always been done.
Why don’t your [disciples] fast?’. And Jesus responds with this principle of
life: ‘No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; if he does, the
patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And
no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the
skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but new wine is for fresh
skins’”. In
essence, Francis asked, “what does this mean, that the law has changed? No!”.
It means, rather, “that the law is at the service of man, that it is at the
service of God, and for this reason man must have an open heart”. The attitude
of those who say “this is how it’s always been done…”, in reality, is born
from “a closed heart”. Instead, however, “Jesus told us: ‘I will send the Holy
Spirit and he will lead you to the full truth”. Thus, “if your heart is closed
to the newness of the Holy Spirit, you will never reach the full truth”.
Additionally, “your Christian life will be a half and half life, a patched up
life, mended with new things but on a structure that is not open to the Lord’s
voice: a closed heart, because you are not capable of changing the wineskins”. This
was precisely, the Pontiff explained, “the sin of Saul the king, for which he
was rejected”. And it is also “the sin of many Christians who hold onto what
has always been done and do not allow the wineskins to be changed”. Thus they
end up living “a halfway, patched up, mended, senseless life”. So,
the Pope asked, “why does this happen? Why is it so serious, why does the Lord
reject Saul and then choose another king?”. The answer is given by Samuel, when
“he explains what a closed heart is, a heart that does not listen to the Lord’s
voice, that is not open to the newness of the Lord, to the Spirit who always
surprises us”. One who has such a heart, Samuel affirms, “is a sinner”. “For
rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as iniquity and
idolatry”. Thus, Francis said, “Christians who are obstinate, saying ‘this is
how it’s always been done, this is the way, this is the path’, are sinning: the
sin of divination”. It is “as if they were to go to a palm reader”. In the end,
“what has been said and what doesn’t change — by me and my closed heart”
becomes “more important” than “the Word of the Lord”. This “is also the sin of
idolatry: stubbornness. The Christian who insists, sins. The sin of idolatry”. The
question to ask with regard to this truth is: “What is the path?”. Francis
suggested that we “open our heart to the Holy Spirit, discern what is the will
of God”. It’s true, “always, after battles, the people took everything for
sacrifices to the Lord, also for their own benefit, also gems for the temple”.
And “it was customary, at the time of Jesus, for good Israelites to fast”. However,
the Pope explained, “there is another reality: there is the Holy Spirit who
leads us to the full truth”. And “this is why he needs open hearts, hearts that
are not obstinate in the sin of idolatry of themselves”, believing that what’s
“most important” is “what I think” and not “the surprise of the Holy Spirit”. The
Pope then remarked that this “is the message that the Church gives us today:
that which Jesus says so firmly: ‘New wine in new wineskins!’”. Because,
Francis reiterated, “even customs must be renewed in the newness of the Holy
Spirit, in the surprises of God”. Before continuing with the celebration,
Francis expressed the hope that “the Lord give us the grace of an open heart,
of a heart open to the voice of the Holy Spirit, which can discern what must
not change, because it is fundamental, from what has change in order to be able
to receive the newness of the Holy Spirit”….
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Christopher Schoenborn, the Archbishop of Vienna, said on Monday that Pope Francis is informed about and following the situation of Richard Allen Masterson, a death row inmate in Texas who is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday.
“Richard has been waiting 12 years for his execution,” Cardinal Schoenborn said. “It is frightening: To be executed tomorrow.”
Cardinal Schoenborn was speaking during a press conference presenting the European Apostolic Congress on Mercy , taking place from 31 March to 4 April in Rome, as part of the Jubilee of Mercy.
The Cardinal spoke about the work done by the Sant’Egidio Community and others in showing the “merciful heart of Jesus” to those who have been condemned to death.
Masterson was convicted in the 2001 murder of Shane Darin Honeycutt.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday received Prince Albert II of Monaco, who was accompanied by his wife, Princess Charlene. Subsequently, the Prince met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Secretary for Relations with States.
A statement from the Holy See Press Office called the talks “cordial,” and said they highlighted the good bilateral relations between Monaco and the Holy See, and reference was made to the historical contribution of the Catholic Church in the life of Monaco.
Other issues of common interest that were discussed included environmental protection, humanitarian aid, and the integral development of peoples.
Finally, the parties considered some issues affecting the international community, including peace and security, the reception of migrants, and the general situation in the Mediterranean region, as well as the Middle East.
Prince Albert II gave Pope Francis a food basket – containing fruit, vegetables, and cheeses – as well as the Monaco edition of the encyclical Laudato si’ , and a medal.
Pope Francis gave the couple a Pontifical Medal and a copy of Evangelii gaudium .
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday thanked Vatican security personnel for their service.
During his annual address to Officers and Agents of the General Inspectorate for Public Security at the Vatican, the Pope expressed appreciation for the work they carry out every day, as well as during pastoral visits in Italy.
“Our meeting today – he said – is even more significant because it is within the context of the Holy Year of Mercy, an event of spiritual significance, which has already seen the presence of many pilgrims in Rome from all over the world”.
The Pope pointed out that in a special way the members of public security are called to a greater commitment “to ensure that the celebrations and events connected with the special Jubilee” run smoothly and take place in an atmosphere of serenity and peace.
He said that although the Christmas season is over, the crib can still be viewed in St. Peter’s Square – a reminder to safeguard within ourselves the mystery we have just celebrated.
And pointing to the Virgin Mary as a precious example, the Pope said that Mary offered us Jesus as the source of new life.
“That Child is the true comforter of hearts, the true light that enlightens our lives and overcomes the darkness of sin. In Him we have contemplated God the Father’s merciful face and we have accepted His renewed invitation to be converted to love and forgiveness” he said.
May this spiritual experience – the Pope continued – accompany us throughout the Holy Year!
“May the Jubilee of Mercy be for all a time for the spirit, a time for reconciliation with God and with our brothers” he said.
Pope Francis concluded his address imparting his own benediction on those present and asking the Lord to protect them in the fulfillment of the task they carry out in collaboration with other security forces.
He said that Mary is always close to them in times of difficulty and he invoked her blessing so that she may “assist you with her maternal care, to walk in the footsteps of her Son Jesus.”
(from Vatican Radio)…