(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis appealed for God to grant believers the courage to embrace Christian poverty, saying people cannot forgive a priest who is attached to money. His remarks came during his Mass celebrated on Friday morning in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence.
Taking his inspiration from the day’s Gospel reading where Jesus drove out the traders from the temple, accusing them of transforming it into a den of thieves, the Pope’s homily was a reflection on the power and allure of money. He said Jesus’ action helps us to understand where the seed of the antichrist is contained, the seed of the enemy that ruins his Kingdom: attachment to money.
“Our Lord God, the house of our Lord God is a house of prayer. Our encounter with the Lord (is) with the God of love. And the money-lord that enters into the house of God, is constantly seeking to enter inside. And those people who were changing money or selling things, they were renting their places, right? – from the priests… the priests were renting out those places and then received money. This is the lord that can ruin our life and can lead us to end our life in a bad way, without happiness, without the joy of serving the true Lord who is the only one capable of giving us that true joy.”
Noting it’s a personal choice, Pope Francis then asked his listeners: “How is your attachment to money? Are you attached to money?”
“The people of God have a great flair for accepting, for canonizing as well as condemning – because the people of God are capable of condemning – for forgiving so many weaknesses, so many sins by priests but they cannot forgive two of them: attachment to money, because when they see a priest attached to money, they do not forgive him, and mistreating people, because when a priest mistreats the faithful: the people of God can’t accept this and they do not forgive him. The other things, the other weaknesses, the other sins ….. yes ok, it’s not right but the poor man is alone, it’s this…. And they seek to justify (his sins). But their condemnation is not as strong or as definitive: the people of God could understand this. Following the lord of money leads a priest to be the head of a firm or be a prince or we can go even higher…”
The Pope went on to recall the teraphims, the idols that Jacob’s wife Rachel kept hidden, as an example of this attachment to material goods.
“It’s sad to see a priest who’s at the end of his life, he’s in agony, he’s in a coma and his relatives are there like vultures, looking to see what they can take away. Let us grant this pleasure to the Lord, a true examination of our conscience. ‘Lord, are you my Lord or is it – like Rachel – these teraphims hidden in my heart, this idol of money?’ And be courageous: be courageous. Make a choice. Sufficient money like that of an honest worker, sufficient savings like those of an honest worker. But all these financial interests are not permissible, this is idolatry. May the Lord grant us all the grace of Christian poverty.”
“May the Lord,” concluded the Pope, “give us the grace of the poverty of working people, those who work and earn a fair wage and who do not seek any more.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Holy Door in St Peter’s Basilica will close this Sunday marking the end of the Jubilee of Mercy.
Over the past year dioceses around the world have organised initiatives and here in Rome there have been various Jubilee events including, the Jubilee for Prisoners, the disabled and the homeless.
The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization was charged with organizing the Holy Year of Mercy and its English language official Fr Eugene Silva spoke to Lydia O’Kane about some of the highlights and its legacy.
Listen:
Fr Sylva says that as a priest, one of the most inspiring things about this Extraordinary Year has been, “the number of people who’ve returned home to the Sacrament of God’s mercy, to the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.” Another inspiration of this year for him has been the numbers of volunteers who have worked tirelessly to make the Jubilee a spiritual journey for pilgrims in Rome.
The closing Jubilee events in these last weeks included the Jubilee for prisoners, and the homeless which saw Pope Francis invite prisoners and those sleeping rough into St Peter’s Basilica to take part in Holy Mass. “Those last two events that we have had”, says Fr Eugene, “have resonated all around the world.” … He adds that, these people were able to serve at the Mass and the fullness of their dignity was so evident.
The Year of Mercy maybe coming to a close but Fr Sylva says that , “if we place it in the context of the whole process and pastoral plan of the New Evangelization, I think that this is an important step that we need to continue on in the path of the New Evangelization.”
Pope Francis, recalls Fr Eugene, called this Jubilee of Mercy because “of the world being riddled with such violence today, that in the face of such violence, we as Christians need to confront it with mercy and with love.”
The Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy will close on Nov 20th, the Feast of Christ the King.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) On the 20th of November 2016 Pope Francis is set to close the ‘Holy Door’ of Saint Peter’s Basilica with its 16 bronze panels depicting the story of Jesus in his mercy seeking his lost sheep. A symbolic gesture to mark the end of the ‘Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy’ which began just under a year ago. One which represents the passage to salvation, the ‘Gateway to God’s Mercy’.
In this programme you can join Veronica Scarisbrick at the ‘Fonderia Artistica Marinelli’ where this ‘Holy Door’ was cast for the Jubilee Year of 1950.
Listen to Ferdinando Marinelli giving Veronica Scarisbrick a tour of the ‘Fonderia Artistica Marinelli’:
It was 1949, when on the eve of the Jubilee Year of 1950, the Pope of the time Pius XII, entrusted the creation of the masterpiece to Italian artist, Vico Consorti, selecting this foundry owned by Ferdinando Marinelli. His grandson, by the same name, invited Veronica Scarisbrick to visit the family foundry.
She met him in Florence at his window on the world, an enchanting gallery on the banks of the River Arno seething with a myriad of bronze statues from different eras. Among them the impressive ‘Giambologna Neptune’, who seems to greet you as you enter.
And it was by this towering statue that Ferdinando Marinelli greeted her, ready to drive across the Tuscan countryside to his foundry which lies on the way to Siena, Vico Consorti’s city.
She was eager to visit his foundry and aware it was not the one where the Holy Door was cast by his grandfather but another more recent one. She knew too that Ferdinando Marinelli was sure to treasure that age old rapport of his foundry with the Vatican despite the more modern outreach he now enjoys right across the world. No surprise as for centuries the Church and the world of art have enjoyed an extremely prolific love affair.
Click here to catch a glimpse of Veronica Scarisbrick’s tour at the foundry http://www.fonderiamarinelli.it/
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis spoke on Thursday of the suffering of innocent victims caught up in the Syrian and Iraqi conflicts, saying that nothing can justify such terrible violence. His words came as he met with the head of the Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Gewargis III, who was making his first visit to the Vatican since being elected as Catholicos-Patriarch in September last year.
Listen to Philippa Hitchen’s report:
In his words to the new leader of this Church, which traces its roots back to the apostles Thomas and Bartholomew, the Pope appealed for an end to the conflicts in the Middle East which cause such great suffering to Christians and members of other religious or ethnic minorities.
Every day, the Pope said, Christians in these places “walk the way of the Cross”. They remind us that Jesus is always at the heart of our faith, even in our adversity, calling us to live out his message of love, reconciliation and forgiveness.
Blood of martyrs is seed of unity
Just as the blood of Christ, shed out of love, brought reconicilation and unity, the Pope said, so the blood of the martyrs is the seed of unity for all Christians.
Theological dialogue and practical partnerships
Pope Francis also spoke of the important progress in relations between Catholics and the Assyrian Church of the East, recalling especially the Common Christological Declaration signed by Pope John Paul II and by the previous Catholicos Mar Dinkha IV. He encouraged the work of the joint commission for theological dialogue between the two Churches, saying that partnering together though works of charity can also help to heal the wounds of the past.
Shared Christian witness
Unlike most other Churches that trace their origins to the first centuries of Christianity, the Assyrian Church of the East is not in communion with any other Christians of either the Eastern or Western traditions. Pope Francis concluded his remarks saying that the great evangelizers, saints and martyrs throughout history accompany us and urge us to open up new paths of communion and shared witness to the world.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met leading representatives of Caritas on Thursday and urged them to persevere in their fight against poverty and at the same time learn from the poor themselves. The participants at the audience in the Vatican included leading Caritas officials from across the world.
The Pope did not read his prepared remarks, instead handing out the text of his address and speaking off the cuff, followed by a question and answer session with those present.
In his prepared remarks the Pope noted that we are called to act against social exclusion of the weakest and strive for their integration. With our society dominated by the throw-away culture, we need to overcome that indifference and learn the art of solidarity.
Your mission, he went on, is to promote charity and justice in our world in the light of the gospel and the teaching of the Church by involving the poor as the true protagonists of their development.
Stressing it is possible to change things, the Pope said poverty, hunger, illnesses and oppression are not an inevitable misfortune and cannot be considered as permanent situations.
He urged the Caritas representatives to reject everything that humiliates humans and every form of exploitation that degrades people and expressed his joy over an upcoming campaign by Caritas on the subject of migration.
Turning to the issue of peace and reconciliation, Pope Francis urged the Caritas representatives to promote these issues and cooperate in their charitable work with other faith communities who put human dignity at the centre of their mission. In conclusion, he encouraged them both to fight against poverty and at the same time learn from the poor themselves, from their values and their sense of solidarity and sharing with each other.
(from Vatican Radio)…