(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a video message to the people of Armenia , ahead of his visit to the country this weekend. In the message – delivered in Italian – the Holy Father says, “[It is] as a servant of the Gospel and a messenger of peace [that] I desire to come among you, to support [your] every effort towards peace – and I would share our steps on the pathway of reconciliation, which generates hope.”
The Pope’s video message, in Italian, can be seen here .
Vatican Radio’s English translation of the full text of the video message is here below
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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In a few days I will have the joy to be with you, in Armenia. Even now, I invite you to pray for this Apostolic journey.
With the help of God, I come among you to fulfil, as the motto of the trip says, a “visit to the first Christian country”. I come as a pilgrim, in this Jubilee Year, to draw on the ancient wisdom of your people and to steep myself the sources of your faith, which is steadfast as your famous crosses carved in stone.
I come to the mystical heights of Armenia as your brother, animated by the desire to see your faces, to pray with you and to share the gift of friendship. Your history and the events of your beloved people stir in me admiration and sorrow: admiration, for you have found in Jesus’ Cross and in your own wits, the wherewithal ever to pick yourselves up and start anew – even after sufferings that are among the most terrible in human memory; pain, for the tragedies that your fathers have lived in their flesh.
Let us not allow the painful memories to take possession of our hearts; even in the face of the repeated assaults of evil, let us not give ourselves up. Let us rather do as Noah, who, after the flood, never tired of looking to heaven and releasing the dove again and again, until one day it came back to him, bringing a tender olive leaf (Gen. 8:11): it was the sign that life could resume and [that] hope must rise.
As servant of the Gospel and a messenger of peace I desire to come among you, to support [your] every effort towards peace – and I would share our steps on the pathway of reconciliation, which generates hope.
May the great saints of your people, especially the Doctor of the Church, Gregory of Narek, bless our meetings, to which I look forward with tender longing. In particular, I look forward to embracing my Brother, Karekin, and, along with him, to give fresh impetus to our path towards full unity.
Last year, from several countries, you came to Rome, and at the tomb of St. Peter, we prayed together. Now I come to your blessed land to strengthen our communion, to advance along the path of reconciliation, and to allow ourselves together to be animated by hope.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has written the preface to the first volume in an anthology of the “selected works of Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI” being published by Cantagalli in Italy. Titled, Insegnare e imparare l’amore di Dio , “To Teach and To Learn the Love of God”, to be published in six languages, including English.
In the preface, Pope Francis writes, “Every time I have read the works of Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI, it becomes increasingly clear that he has done and is doing ‘theology on his knees’.” The Holy Father goes on to explain that his predecessor, “[E]ven before being a great theologian and teacher of the faith,” is “a man who truly believes, who truly prays: you see he is a man who embodies holiness.”
The book (Siena, Cantagalli, 2016, 304p., € 19) brings together the texts of 43 homilies, starting with a 1954 selection delivered in Berchtesgaden and dedicated to Franz Niegel, from the day of then-Father Ratzinger’s first Mass. The collection closes with the Letter to Priests by which he announced the Year for Priests. The final selection is preceded by an introduction written by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Müller.
The book is being released on the eve of the sixty-fifth anniversary of Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI’s sixty-fifth jubilee of priestly ordination, which took place on June 29 th , 1951, in the Cathedral of Freising.
The anthology is the first of a series of “selected writing” which will cover topics ranging from science and faith, to Europe, creative minorities, politics and faith, universities, and the Eucharist.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis welcomed a group of refugees to join him on the steps of St Peter’s Basilica as he held his weekly general audience on Wednesday. After greeting the thousands of pilgrims and visitors gathered in the summer sunshine, the Pope focused his reflections on the Gospel story of the leper who was healed by Jesus as a sign of God’s mercy and forgiveness.
Philippa Hitchen reports:
In Jesus’ day, lepers were considered unclean and outcasts, from the temple and from society, yet the man who begs him to be made clean is not afraid to break the law and come into the city. Pope Francis noted that Jesus also breaks the law by touching the leper to heal him, teaching us not to be afraid to reach out and touch the poor and needy in our midst.
The man’s simple words, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean”, show that we don’t need long speeches, the Pope said, but only a few words and strong faith in the Lord’s goodness and mercy. Pope Francis revealed that he himself prays those same simple words at bedtime every night, urging his listeners to do the same.
Jesus is profoundly touched by the man as he stretches out his hand to him, the Pope said, and we must learn to reach out and touch those most in need. It is not enough to be generous with our money but we must learn to see Christ himself in the poor and outcast. Noting the refugees who were sitting alongside him, Pope Francis said many people think they should have stayed at home yet they were suffering so much there. Please, he begged, they are our brothers and as Christians, we must not exclude anyone!
After healing the leper, Jesus tells him to show himself to the priest and make an offering as a proof of his purification. The Pope said this attitude shows that we should not seek sensationalism but that we too should bear witness to the healing power of Jesus.
The Lord invites each of us to think honestly about our own needs, he said and to ask for his healing touch. Like the leper, may we turn to Jesus in faith and let our lives bear witness to his gifts of mercy, forgiveness and spiritual rebirth.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday held his weekly general audience, greeting the thousands of pilgrims and visitors gathered in a hot and sunny St Peter’s Square. During his catechesis, the Pope focused his reflections on the Gospel story of the leper who was healed by Jesus as a sign of God’s mercy and forgiveness.
As Jesus reached out and touched the unclean man, he said, so we must never be afraid to reach out and touch the poor and those most in need. At the same time, he said, the Lord invites each of us to feel our own need and to ask for his healing touch.
Please see below the English summary of the Pope’s words at his Wednesday General Audience
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our continuing catechesis for this Holy Year of Mercy, we now consider Jesus’ healing of the leper (Lk 5:12-14). As we know, lepers were considered unclean and bound by law to avoid contact with others.
Saint Luke tells us that one leper, moved by faith, did not fear to pass among the crowds and beg Jesus to cleanse him. If this leper broke the law, Jesus did likewise by touching the man and cleansing him of the disease. The Lord’s example teaches us not to be afraid to reach out and touch the poor and the needy in our midst.
Significantly, the encounter does not end there. Jesus tells the healed leper to present himself to the priest to make the prescribed offering, and as a testimony to his healing. In this way, he shows us that his miracles of healing aim at the rehabilitation of sinners and that true faith bears fruit in witness.
The Lord invites each of us to feel our own need and to ask for his healing touch. Like the leper, may we turn to Jesus in faith and let our lives proclaim his gifts of mercy, forgiveness and spiritual rebirth.
(from Vatican Radio)…