(Vatican Radio) The theme of transparency regarding the Church‘s assets and the question regarding the fight against hunger and food waste were two key points during the Sixth meditation of the Pope’s Lenten Retreat.
Led by Father Ermes Ronchi who is preaching to Pope Francis and to members of the Roman Curia at their retreat in the town of Ariccia, the exercises focus on ten questions from the Gospels.
The question at the heart of Wednesday morning’s reflection was “How many loaves do you have?” (Mark 6:38, Matthew 15:34).
“The thing that most hurts Christians – Father Ronchi said – is the clergy’s attachment to money,” whilst what makes them happy is “the sharing of the bread”.
Father Ronchi began his meditation saying “Some people are so hungry that for them God cannot but have the form of a loaf of bread”.
“Life – he said – begins with hunger; to be alive is to be hungry”. And if you take that a step further one must consider the hunger of millions of people in the world: “the siege of the poor”, millions of outstretched hands asking for something to eat does not – he said – ask for a religious definition. “How does the Church respond?”
No to smoke screens
Quoting from the Gospel reading which tells of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, Ronchi points out that Jesus has a very practical approach when he tells the disciples to sum up what they have in hand.
He said that all disciples, including the ones today, are called to quantify their assets.
“How much money do you have? How many houses? What standard of living? You must check! How many cars and how much jewelry in the form of crucifixes or rings?” he said.
The Church – Father Ronchi concluded – must not be afraid of transparency.
To share is to multiply
“If you are transparent you are truthful. When you are true you are free.” Father Ronchi observed that Jesus did not allow anyone to ‘buy’ him, and “he never entered the palaces of the powerful if not as a prisoner.”
He explained that Jesus’ logic is that of giving – not of hoarding. He said that the verb ‘to love’ in the Gospel translates into ‘to give’. The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish shows us that Jesus is not concerned with the quantity of the bread; what he desires is that the bread be shared.
“According to a mysterious divine rule: when my bread becomes our bread, then little becomes enough. Hunger begins when I keep my bread to myself, when the satiated West holds on to its bread, its fish, its assets… It is possible to feed the earth, there is enough bread. There is no need to multiply it, it would be sufficient to just distribute it, starting with ourselves. We do not need prodigious multiplications: we need to beat the Goliath of selfishness, of food waste and the hoarding of few”.
“The hunger of others has rights over me”
Quoting from the Gospel of Luke Father Ronchi said: “Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap…” In this promise of Jesus – Father Ronchi said – is the mysterious, immense economy of giving and its hundredfold return which turns every budget upside down.
And the last question will be – he continued: “Have you given little or a lot to life?” – Life depends on this, not on assets.
“A gift of five loaves of bread is sufficient to change the world” he said.
Father Ronchi concluded saying that the miracle of the five loaves and the two fish that the nascent Church put in the hands of Christ who did no calculations and held nothing back for his own supper or that of his disciples, shows us that a drop in the ocean can give meaning and hope to life”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican celebrated “International Women’s Day” on Tuesday with a conference dedicated to giving a platform to women working for the Church around the world. Listen to our report:
Held at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, this week’s gathering was the third consecutive “Voices of Faith” conference, which is an initiative of Fidel Götz Foundation, with the partnership of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). The afternoon session of the 8 March event had a four-women panel discussion which centered on the role of women in the Church The panel was moderated by Fr. Thomas Smolich SJ, International Director of JRS in Rome. He shared his impressions with Tracey McClure about the conference, which often touched on mercy throughout. “The theme of VoF this year was that ‘Mercy requires Courage’,” Fr. Smolich said. “It’s very fitting with the Holy Year of Mercy, but also fitting in the stories that we heard from the people who spoke, both the women and men who, in a sense, share God’s mercy and also those who experience God’s mercy. It requires courage on both sides.” “What we also heard was a desire for the Church to recognize this courage, especially the courage of the voices of women, women who make up most of the Church, women who participate in many ways in the Church,” the Jesuit priest said. He added: “They are courageous to be here; they are courageous to do what they do. [They ask us:] ‘How can we, as Church, really be family and welcome all people? That’s what I took away from VoF this year.” One of the Panelists at the VoF conference was Dr. Carolyn Woo, President and CEO of Catholic Relief Services in the US. “We are here to celebrate the gifts and contributions of women but, at the same time, to also remember the challenges which they deal with every day,” she told Tracey McClure in an interview. “Women have actually come a long way. Eighty-five percent of the work in the Church, which is not done by clerics, is done by women. At least in the United States, there are many key positions held by women.” Asked about the question of women’s ordination, Woo said, “I think the pope has spoken very clearly that there will be no women’s ordination. I think where the tragedy is, is that the conversation sometimes gets stopped right at that point. “Women don’t talk about other things because of that particular issue, and sometimes the Church may be skeptical about women’s voices out of the concern that every conversation may lead to a conversation about women’s ordination.” “I think we should actually let that rest, so that we could proceed on the other dimensions.” (from Vatican Radio)…