Bulletin for 06/18/2017
(Vatican Radio) In order to be saved and healed by God we must recognize that are weak, vulnerable and sinful like earthen vessels, said Pope Francis on Friday. And this will lead us to happiness, he said in his homily at the morning Mass in the Casa Santa Marta chapel in the Vatican. He was reflecting on the Second Letter to the Corinthians, where St. Paul speaking about the mystery of Christ, says we have this treasure of Christ in our fragility and vulnerability because we are vessels made of clay.
Not being shameful is hypocrisy
“All of us are vulnerable, fragile, weak, and we need to be healed,” the Pope said. But recognizing our vulnerability is one of the most difficult things of life. At times, we try to cover this vulnerability with cosmetics in order to disguise it, pretending it does not exist. And disguises are always shameful, the Pope said. “They are hypocrisy.”
Temptation to cover our weakness and sins
Pope Francis explained that besides being hypocritical towards others, we are also hypocritical within ourselves believing “to be something else”, hence not needing healing and support. This, the Pope pointed out, is the path to vanity, pride and self-reference of those who do not feel themselves made of clay and thus seek salvation and fulfilment in themselves. Instead, as St. Paul says, it is the power of God that saves us because of our vulnerability. Hence we are troubled but not crushed; we are shaken but not desperate; we are persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not killed. There is always this relationship between clay and power, clay and treasure. But the temptation, the Pope said, is always the same: to cover, conceal and not believing we are made of clay. This is the hypocrisy towards ourselves.
When we accept our weakness, God comes with His salvation and happiness
In this regard, Pope Francis spoke about confession where we confess our sins in a way whitewashing the clay a bit in order to appear strong. Rather, the Pope said, we must accept our weakness and vulnerability, even if it is “difficult” to do so. Hence the importance of “shame”. It is shame that broadens the heart to allow the power of God in – the shame of being clay and not a silver or gold vase. When Peter objected to Jesus washing his feet, he did not realize he was made of clay needing the Lord’s power to be saved. It’s only when we accept we are made of clay that the extraordinary power of God will come and give us the fulfilment, salvation, happiness and joy of being saved, thus receiving the Lord’s “treasure”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has written the preface for a new book on corruption by Cardinal Peter Turkson , former president of the Vatican’s Justice and Peace Council and current head of the office for Integral Human Development.
The volume, which was published on Thursday, explores the origins and devastating consequences of corruption, which the Pope describes as a “curse” and a “cancer” that can consume our lives.
Listen to Philippa Hitchen’s report:
In his preface, the Pope describes corruption as the breakdown of relationships that every human being has with God, with our neighbours and with the natural world around us.
Origin of all exploitation
He describes it as the worst scourge of societies because it is the lifeblood of the mafia and other criminal organisations. Corruption, he says, is the origin of all exploitation and trafficking of people, drugs and weapons. It is at the heart of all injustice, lack of development, unemployment and social degradation.
Corruption tempts us all
Pope Francis praises the book for exposing the ramifications of corruption and the way it can tempt all of us in our political, economic, cultural or spiritual lives. The spirit of worldliness can corrupt us all, the pope warns, leading to a hardening of our hearts and indifference to those around us.
The Pope ends his preface with an urgent appeal to all Christians and all people of good will to combat this curse, this cancer which can consume our lives.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis greeted the many sick and disabled persons gathered in the Paul VI Hall ahead of his Wednesday General Audience.
The group followed his Audience from within the air conditioned audience hall to stay out of the sweltering Roman heat, to which the Pope alluded in a short address to them, saying it would be “like a Turkish bath out there today”.
Thanking them for coming, the Holy Father invited the group to listen to his words “with a heart united to those in [St. Peter’s] Square” where his Audience was held.
He said the Church is like this because it is united by the Holy Spirit, with “one group here and another there, but all are united.”
Before exiting to hold his General Audience, Pope Francis prayed the Our Father and Hail Mary and gave his blessing to his special guests.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday continued his reflections on Christian hope, as he greeted thousands of pilgrims and visitors gathered in St Peter’s Square and in the Paul VI audience hall for his weekly general audience.
Listen to Philippa Hitchen’s report:
Pope Francis began his reflection by noting that none of us can live without love. Yet many people today, he went on, are anguished or empty inside because they don’t believe they are beautiful or important enough to be loved by others.
Imagine a world where everyone is seeking attention and no-one is prepared to give love in a gratuitous way, he said. Behind so much narcissistic behaviour and incomprehensible actions we discover feelings of solitude and abandonment.
When adolescents feel unloved, the pope continued, they may turn to violence, hatred or delinquent behaviour. There is no such thing as bad children or evil adolescents, he said, but there are unhappy people. When we look and smile freely at someone who is sad, he said, we open their hearts and offer them a way out of their unhappiness.
Pope Francis said that God loves us with an unconditional love, not because we deserve it, but rather because he himself is love. Like the father of the prodigal son, he said, God has compassion for us even when we are far away from him. He also recalled the many mothers he met, back in Buenos Aires, who continued to love their sons unconditionally, even when they did wrong and ended up in prison.
It is a time of Resurrection for us all, the pope concluded, because Jesus died to forgive us our sins. It is time to lift up those who are discouraged and to live in the hope of God the Father who loves us for ever, just as we are..May all of us find in God’s embrace the promise of new life and freedom, he said, for in his love is the source of all our hope.
(from Vatican Radio)…