(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday morning sent an audio-message to the young people of the Prelature of the Pontifical Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii.
It is the first contribution in the “Keep Lent” initiative of the Shrine’s youth ministry office, which will provide a daily Gospel reading and commentary from leading clergymen and lay catechists through social media throughout the penitential season.
Listen to Christopher Wells’ report:
In his message, Pope Francis reflects on the Gospel reading from the Ash Wednesday Mass, in which Jesus warns against practicing good works so others may see them.
“When we do something good, sometimes we are tempted to seek praise and to be rewarded: that’s human glory,” Pope Francis said. “But it’s a false reward because it makes us focus on what others think of us.”
The Holy Father said Jesus asks us to do good for the sake of good.
“He asks us to feel we are under the watchful gaze of our Heavenly Father at all times and to live in relationship with Him – not in relationship with the opinion of others,” the Pope said.
“Let us do what we can, in prayer, in sacrifice, and in acts of charity, humbly before God. This way we will be worthy of God the Father’s reward,” he concluded.
A Vatican Radio English translation of the full text of Pope Francis’ audio-message is below.
Dear young people,
Jesus said to his disciples: “Be careful not to practice your good works before men to be seen by them”… “When you give to the poor do not sound a trumpet before you”… “Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you”.
The Word of God gives us the right perspective in which to live Lent well. When we do something good, sometimes we are tempted to seek praise and to be rewarded: that’s human glory. But it’s a false reward because it makes us focus on what others think of us.
Jesus asks us to do good for the sake of good. He asks us to feel we are under the watchful gaze of our Heavenly Father at all times and to live in relationship with Him – not in relationship with the opinion of others.
Living in the presence of the Father gives us a much deeper joy than worldly glory can give us. May our attitude this Lent be one of living in secret where the Father sees us, loves us and waits for us. Naturally, exterior things are important too, but we must always choose to live in the presence of God.
Let us do what we can, in prayer, in sacrifice, and in acts of charity, humbly before God. This way we will be worthy of God the Father’s reward.
I wish you a blessed Lent.
May Our Lady of Pompeii accompany you and, please, pray for me.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Tuesday evening met with the Missionaries of Mercy, who are priests given special faculties to absolve even sins reserved to the Holy See.
The Missionaries of Mercy are being commissioned by the Holy Father during the Ash Wednesday Mass to be “a living sign of the Father’s welcome to all those in search of his forgiveness,” and will be preaching mercy and hearing confessions in dioceses around the world during the Jubilee of Mercy.
Pope Francis, meeting with the Missionaries the day before their commissioning, told them they are a “sign of special importance” which characterizes the Jubilee of Mercy, and offered some brief reflections to give practical help in their task.
Listen:
“First of all, I would like to remind you that in this ministry you are called to express the maternal nature of the Church,” Pope Francis said.
“The Church is a Mother because she always creates new children in faith; the Church is a Mother because she nourishes this faith; and the Church is a Mother because she offers the forgiveness of God, regenerating to a new life, the fruit of conversion,” he continued.
The Holy Father also told the priests they must know how to “look into the desire of the heart of the penitent,” which through grace is the beginning of conversion.
“The heart turns to God acknowledging the evil which has been done, but with the hope of obtaining pardon,” Pope Francis said. “This desire is reinforced when the person decides in his heart to change his life and does not want to sin again. It is the moment when we trust the mercy of God, and you have complete confidence you will be understood, forgiven and supported by Him.”
The final point brought up by the Pope was one he said “was often not spoken about,” but is a crucial subject: Shame.
“It is not easy to accuse yourself before another man, knowing that he represents God, and confess your sin,” he said. “A person feels shame both for what he has done, and for having to confess it to another person.”
He called on confessors to have “an attitude of respect and encouragement” when encountering a person’s shame.
“Do not forget: in front of us there is no sin, just the repentant sinner,” – Pope Francis said – “A person who feels the desire to be accepted and forgiven… Therefore, we are not called to judge, with a sense of superiority, as if we were immune from sin; on the contrary, we are called to act as Shem and Japheth, the sons of Noah, who took a blanket and put it over their father and hid his shame.”
He said the confessor is to “cover the sinner with a blanket of mercy,” so they can recover their dignity.
“It is, therefore, not with the club of judgment that we will bring back the lost sheep to the fold, but with the holiness of life which is the principle of renewal and reform in the Church,” Pope Francis said.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The latest meeting of the Council of Cardinals, Pope Francis’ closest advisers, ended on Tuesday. During their meetings, the cardinals discussed the theme of ‘synodality’ and Pope Francis’ call at last year’s Synod of Bishops for the Church to move towards “a healthy decentralization.” The other main item on the agenda was a discussion and approval of the cardinals’ final proposals concerning the two new dicasteries that are being set up within the Roman Curia.
Pope Francis attended all three sessions, held on Monday morning and afternoon and on Tuesday morning. Often called the G-9, the Council of Cardinals is a group of cardinals chosen by the Pope to advise him on governing the Church and reforming the Roman Curia. It meets at regular intervals.
At a briefing following the end of this meeting, Father Federico Lombardi, the Director of the Holy See’s Press Office, summarized the main issues discussed.
Father Lombardi said the first session of the G-9 discussed the issues raised during the Pope’s keynote speech at the Synod of Bishops on October 17th 2015. This speech reflected on the theme of synodality within the Church and spoke of the need “to proceed towards a healthy decentralization” and Father Lombardi said this call by the Pope remains an importance reference point for the ongoing work of reforming the Curia.
The next item on the G-9’s agenda was the reading and the approval of the cardinals’ final proposals concerning the two new dicasteries that are being set up as part of the reforms of the Curia. The two new dicasteries are “Laity, Family and Life” and “Justice, Peace and Migration” and the cardinals’ proposals were approved and then handed over to the Pope who will take the final decision.
Father Lombardi said the G-9 cardinals are still in the throes of discussing planned reforms for two other dicasteries: the Secretariat of State and the Congregation for Divine Worship. He defined this as still “a work in progress.”
Turning next to the work of the Commission for the Protection of Minors, Father Lombardi said the Commission’s head, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, gave an update on the commission’s activities and the proposals he has put forward for the safeguarding of children. Cardinal O’Malley said questions of a juridical and disciplinary nature will be the object of further studies by experts in this field.
As is normal at the G-9 meetings, Cardinal George Pell, Prefect of the new Secretariat for the Economy updated the cardinals on the reforms being carried out concerning the economic affairs of the Holy See and the Roman Curia.
In conclusion, the G-9 cardinals received documentation on the so-called vade mecum or reference manual drawn up by the Tribunal of the Roman Rota for putting into practice the reforms of the canonical process concerning the validity of marriages. The vade mecum will be sent to dioceses around the world.
Listen to this report on the above by Susy Hodges:
(from Vatican Radio)…
Pope: new appointments to Vatican Communications Secretariat
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has appointed Dr. Nataša Govekar, professor at the “Theology Atelier Card . T. Špidlík” of the Aletti Center in Rome as the new Director of the Department of Pastoral Theology of the recently established Vatican Secretariat for Communications.
The Holy Father has also named as Director of the Technology Department of the Communications Secretariat Francesco Masci, hitherto responsible for the Technical Department of the Vatican Internet Service.
From Slovenia to Rome
Nataša Govekar was born in 1975 at Šempeter pri Gorici, Slovenia. She studied Theology and Slovene at the University of Ljubljana. She received her Doctorate in Missiology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, writing her doctoral thesis on ‘The Transmission Of Faith Through Images.’
The Centro Aletti was founded in 1993 by St. John Paul II in order to encourage research on the meaning of faith and art in the eastern Catholic tradition, and to provide a bridge between the Churches of east and west. The center, attached to the mission of the Society of Jesus at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, fosters intellectual research and spirituality.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is the inaugural contributor to a Lenten pastoral effort of the Prelature of the Pontifical Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii . “ Keep Lent ” is an initiative of the Prelature’s youth ministry office, which reports several thousand subscribers already from throughout all of Italy and from around the world, including the United States.
The initiative begins on Ash Wednesday , and is based on social media: it will provide a daily Gospel reading and commentary from leading clergymen and lay catechists.
In his 2016 Lenten Message to all the faithful, Pope Francis said, “The digital world is a public square, a meeting-place where we can either encourage or demean one another, engage in a meaningful discussion or unfair attacks,” and encouraged Catholics to lead the way in making good use of God’s gifts in cooperation with the best of human ingenuity.
“In a broken, fragmented and polarized world,” said Pope Francis , “to communicate with mercy means to help create a healthy, free and fraternal closeness between the children of God and all our brothers and sisters in the one human family.”
(from Vatican Radio)…