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Day: March 19, 2017

Pope Angelus: Lent is an opportunity to draw near to Christ

(Vatican Radio) “Perhaps we have not yet encountered Jesus personally,” Pope Francis said in his Angelus address on Sunday. “Perhaps we have not recognized Him as our Saviour.”
The Holy Father was commenting on the day’s Gospel, which relates the “dialogue” between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Because of the great respect Jesus shows her — despite her being a Samaritan, and despite her disordered life — she is open to the words of Christ, when He speaks to her about the true faith. She recognizes Him as a prophet, and intuits that He could be the Messiah, and Jesus tells her plainly that He is, in fact, the Messiah — something that happens very rarely in the Gospels, the Pope said.
“Dear brothers,” Pope Francis continued, “the water that gives eternal life was poured out in our hearts on the day of our Baptism;” on that day, “God transformed us and filled us with His grace.” However, the Pope said, we sometimes forget about the grace of our Baptism, or treat it merely as a piece of biographical data. When that happens we go looking for “wells” filled with water that cannot quench our thirst. “And so this Gospel is for us!” the Pope said, “not just for the Samaritan woman.”
Lent, he said, is a good opportunity for us “to draw near” to Jesus, “to encounter Him in prayer in a heart-to-heart dialogue… to see His face in the face of a brother or a sister who is suffering.” In this way, the Pope said, “we can renew within ourselves the grace of Baptism, quenching our thirst at the font of the Word of God and of the Holy Spirit; and thereby discovering, too, the joy of becoming artisans of reconciliation and instruments of peace in our daily lives. “
 
(from Vatican Radio)…

Pope Francis: Bd Joseph Mayr-Nusser a model for fathers

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday recalled the Beatification of Joseph Mayr-Nusser, which took place the day before in the Italian city of Bolsano. Blessed Joseph, as the Holy Father noted, was a layman, the father of a family and a promoter of Catholic Action. In 1944, Mayr-Nusser refused to take the so-called “Hitler oath” after he was drafted into the German army. He was subsequently sentenced to death, and died on the way to Dachau concentration camp; he is honoured as a martyr by the Church.
“On account of his great moral and spiritual stature,” Pope Francis said following the Angelus on Sunday, Blessed Joseph “is a model for the lay faithful, especially for fathers, who we remember with great affection today.” Fathers are honoured in Italy on 19 March, the Solemnity of St Joseph, although this year, since the 19th falls on a Sunday in Lent, the feast of the patron saint of father is transferred to the following day. 
(from Vatican Radio)…

Pope prays for victims of flooding in Peru

(Vatican Radio) At the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis assured the people of Peru of his closeness to them, at a time when their country has been struck by “devastating floods.”
Since the beginning of the year more than seventy people have died as a result of intense rains, overflowing rivers, mudslides, and flooding, the worst the nation has seen in more than two decades. More than half of Peru has been affected by the severe weather.
“I pray for the victims” of the flooding, the Holy Father said, “and for those who are committed to providing relief.”
(from Vatican Radio)…