(Vatican Radio) Divisions destroy the Church, and the devil seeks to attack the root of unity: the celebration of the Eucharist. That was the message of Pope Francis on Monday morning at the daily Mass at the Casa Santa Marta, on the feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Commenting on the reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians — where St Paul rebuked the Corinthians for their contentiousness — Pope Francis said, “The devil has two very powerful weapons to destroy the Church: divisions and money.” And this has happened from the beginning: “ideological, theological divisions that lacerate the Church. The devil sows jealousy, ambitions, ideas, but to divide! Or greed.” And, as happens after a war, “everything is destroyed. And the devil is pleased. And we, naïve as we are, are his game.” “It is a dirty war, that of divisions,” he repeated. “It’s like terrorism,” the war of gossiping in the community, that of language that kills”:
“And the divisions in the Church do not allow the Kingdom to grow; they do not allow the Lord to be seen as He is. Divisions make you see this part, this one against the other. Always against! There is no oil of unity, the balsam of unity. But the devil goes elsewhere, not only in the Christian community, he goes right to the root of Christian unity. And this happens here, in the city of Corinth, to the Corinthians. Paul rebukes them precisely because divisions arise, right at the heart of unity, that is, in the Eucharistic celebration.”
In the case of Corinth, riches make divisions between the rich and the poor precisely during the Eucharist. Jesus, the Pope said, “prayed to the Father for unity. But the devil seeks to destroy it” even there:
“I ask you to everything possible to not destroy the Church with divisions; they are ideological, they come from greed and ambition, they come from jealousy. And above all to pray, and to keep the founts, the very roots of the unity of the Church, which is the Body of Christ; which we, every day, celebrate [in] His sacrifice in the Eucharist.”
Saint Paul speaks about the divisions among the Corinthians, two thousand years ago:
“Paul could say this to all of us today, to the Church of today. ‘Brothers, in this I cannot praise you, because you are gathered together not for the better, but for the worse!’ But the Church gathers everyone together — for the worse, for divisions: for the worse! To soil the Body of Christ in the Eucharistic celebration! And the same Paul tells us, in another passage: ‘He who eats and drinks the Body and the Blood of Christ unworthily, eats and drinks his own condemnation.’ Let us ask the Lord for the unity of the Church, that there may not be divisions. And for unity also in the root of the Church, which is precisely the sacrifice of Christ, which we celebrate every day.”
Among those present at the day’s Mass was Archbishop Arturo Antonio Szymanski Ramírez, the Archbishop emeritus of San Luis Potosí in Mexico, who turned 95 in January. Pope Francis noted his presence at the beginning of his homily, recalling that the Archbishop had taken part in the Second Vatican Council, and that he still helps in a parish. The Holy Father had received Archbishop Szymanski in an audience on Friday.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Speaking before the Marian Prayer in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis recalled Sunday’s Gospel from Luke, considered to be the chapter of Mercy.
In these parables of the lost sheep, the coin, and the prodigal son the Pope explained that “Jesus wants to make us understand that God the Father is the first to have a welcoming and merciful attitude toward sinners.”
The Pope added that all these parables express joy and rejoicing, not sadness and sorrow.
Pope Francis underlined the Gospel reading gives hope, continuing, “there is no sin in which we have fallen, from which, by the grace of God, we cannot rise again; there is no individual beyond redemption, no one is beyond redemption, because God never ceases to want our good, even when we sin”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis, following the recitation of the Sunday Angelus had a special prayer for Gabon which is going through a time of severe political crisis.
Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s report
Speaking to the many pilgrims and tourists in St Peter’s Square, the Pope said, “I entrust to the Lord the victims of the clashes and their families. I join the Bishops of that dear African country to invite the parties to reject all violence and to always aim for the common good. I encourage everyone, particularly Catholics, to be builders of peace within the law, in dialogue and fraternity.”
The Holy Father, also remembered Fr Ladislaus Bukowinski who was persecuted for his faith and was beatified Sunday in Karaganda in Kazakhstan. Pope Francis said that “in his life he always showed great love for the weakest and neediest and his testimony appears as a distillation of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis administered the Sacrament of Confirmation on a seriously ill young man before his Saturday Jubilee Audience in St. Peter’s Square.
16-year-old Giuseppe Chiolo, a patient of the oncological department of the Meyer Hospital in Florence, travelled to the Vatican on Saturday morning aboard an ambulance.
The Pope embraced Giuseppe before confirming him, and gifted him with a rosary as he asked the boy not to forget to pray for him.
Giuseppe had recently written a letter to Pope Francis in which he revealed his strong desire to meet with the Pope; he was immediately invited to come to the Vatican.
The Pope also had words of encouragement and comfort for Giuseppe’s parents and for his sister and aunt who were present in the Square together with the Chaplain of the Meyer Hospital and with the vice-director of the local Florentine Caritas office. He also thanked the three volunteers of Mercy who accompanied Giuseppe on his journey to Rome.
During the special Jubilee Audience Pope Francis had special words of greeting for other sick and disabled persons, including Laura Salafia who was shot by mistake six years ago and has had to undergo a series of operations and rehabilitation, and Pompeo Barbieri, a survivor of the 2002 earthquake in the southern Apulia region who has managed to become a swimming champion notwithstanding a disability that constrains him to a wheelchair.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis warned against a “false freedom” which has created “many new forms of slavery” during his Jubilee Audience in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday.
Listen to the report by Charles Collins :
The Holy Father’s catechesis focused on the word ‘redemption,’ which he said is “little used, but it is important because it points to the most radical liberation God is able to perform for us, for all humanity, and for the entirety of creation.”
“It appears that the people of today no longer love to think of being liberated and saved by the intervention of God; in fact, people today are under the illusion that their liberty is a force with which to obtain all things. They even boast of this,” – Pope Francis said – “But in reality, it is not like this. How many illusions are being sold under the pretext of freedom, and how many new forms of slavery are being created in our time in the name of a false freedom!”
“There are so many slaves: ‘I do this because I want to do it, I take drugs because I like it, I’m free, I will do something else.’ They are slaves!” – the Holy Father continued – “They become slaves in the name of freedom. We have all seen such people eventually end up in the ground. We need God to deliver us from all forms of indifference, selfishness and self-sufficiency.”
Pope Francis said we have been called instead to a new state of life.
“By becoming one of us, the Lord Jesus not only takes on our human condition, but he also raises us up to the possibility of being children of God,” – the Pope said – “By His death and resurrection, the unblemished lamb Jesus Christ has conquered death and sin to free us from their domination. He is the Lamb who was sacrificed for us, so we might receive a new life of forgiveness, love and joy. How beautiful are these three words: forgiveness, love and joy!”
“All that He has assumed has also been redeemed, liberated and saved,” Pope Francis said.
“Certainly, it is true that life puts us to the test, and sometimes we suffer for it,” – he continued – “Nevertheless, in these moments we are invited to turn our gaze to the crucified Jesus, who suffers for us and with us, as certain proof that God does not abandon us. Never forget, however, that in anguish or persecution – as in everyday suffering – we are always freed by the merciful hand of God, who raises us to himself and leads us to new life.”
The Pope said the love of God has no limits, and we are able to discover “ever-new signs” of God’s attention to us.
“Our whole life, though marked by the fragility of sin, is placed under the gaze of God who loves us,” Pope Francis said.
“How many pages of Holy Scripture tell us about the presence, closeness, and tenderness of God for all people, especially for children, the poor and the afflicted!” – the Holy Father said – “God has a great tenderness – a great love – for children, for the weak, for those discarded by society. The more we are in need, the more his gaze on us is filled with mercy. He shows a merciful compassion towards us because he knows our weaknesses. He knows our sins and forgive us; He always forgives!”
Pope Francis concluded his catechesis by asking the pilgrims to “let us open ourselves to Him, so we receive his Grace: Because, as he Psalm says, ‘with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is the fullness of redemption.”
Over 30,000 pilgrims attended the special Saturday Audience, which takes place once a month during the Jubilee of Mercy.
(from Vatican Radio)…