(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has released a video message accompanying his monthly prayer intention for October .
This month’s intention is for Workers and the Unemployed : That all workers may receive respect and protection of their rights, and that the unemployed may receive the opportunity to contribute to the common good”
The text of the video message reads:
We should always remember the dignity and rights of those who work, condemn situations in which that dignity and those rights are violated, and help to ensure authentic progress by man and society.
Let us pray that all workers may receive respect and protection of their rights, and that the unemployed may receive the opportunity to contribute to the common good.
The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network of the Apostleship of Prayer developed the “Pope Video” initiative to assist in the worldwide dissemination of monthly intentions of the Holy Father in relation to the challenges facing humanity.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has invited Christians to turn to God to in search of the courage and strength needed to follow Jesus in our lives.
Speaking on Tuesday morning during the homily at Mass in the Casa Santa Marta, the Pope reflected on Jesus’s journey to Jerusalem as the moment of His crucifixion drew near.
Accepting the will of his Father, Jesus – he said – resolutely determined to undertake that journey and announced His intention to the disciples.
Jesus: a model of determination and obedience
“Only once, the Pope recalled, in the Garden of Gethsemane did He ask the Father to ‘remove the cup of wrath He was about to drink’, but each time He submitted to the Father’s will.”
That’s what the Father wants of us, he said, determination and obedience, and He will await with infinite patience.
Francis went on to explain that the disciples did not follow their Master during his journey to Jerusalem.
Jesus was alone
“At times the disciples did not understand what Jesus was saying or did not want to understand because they were afraid; other times they hid the truth or they were distracted by other things; or – as we can read in today’s Gospel: they searched for an alibi so as not to think about what was awaiting the Lord” he said.
He pointed out that Jesus was alone in his decision because no one understood the mystery of Jesus, and noted that the only one that God sent to strengthen and comfort Him in the Garden of Gethsemane was an angel sent from Heaven.
Ask for the grace to follow Jesus
“Let us take some time, the Pope said, to think about Jesus who loved us so much, who walked alone towards the cross: think about Him and thank Him for his obedience and His courage and enter into conversation with Him.”
Speak to Jesus, Francis concluded, acknowledging all the things He has done for us, acknowledging the patience with which he tolerates our sins and our failures.
“Take some time today – five, ten, fifteen minutes – either before the crucifix or with your imagination, to ‘see’ Jesus walking determinately towards Jerusalem and ask for the grace to have the courage to follow him closely” he said.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has expressed his “spiritual closeness” to victims of the deadly shooting in Las Vegas, which left more than fifty people dead, and hundreds more wounded.
In the telegram addressed to the Bishop Joseph Anthony Pepe of Las Vegas, the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said Pope Francis was “deeply saddened” to learn of “this senseless tragedy.” The Holy Father, he said, “commends the He commends the efforts of the police and emergency service personnel, and offers the promise of his prayers for the injured and for all who have died, entrusting them to the merciful love of Almighty God.”
The attack in Las Vegas is being described as the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. The gunman, identified by police as Stephen Paddock, died at the scene. Police said he fired from the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas Strip casino onto an outdoor country music festival Sunday night.
Below please find the full text of the telegram sent on behalf of Pope Francis:
The Most Reverend Joseph Anthony Pepe
Bishop of Las Vegas
Deeply saddened to learn of the shooting in Las Vegas, Pope Francis sends the assurance of his spiritual closeness to all those affected by this senseless tragedy. He commends the efforts of the police and emergency service personnel, and offers the promise of his prayers for the injured and for all who have died, entrusting them to the merciful love of Almighty God.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the participants in the General Chapter of the Little Sisters of Jesus on Monday in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican . The Little Sisters are a religious community founded by Little Sister Magdeleine of Jesus (née Madeleine Hutin) in 1939 on the spiritual inspiration and charism of Bl. Charles de Foucauld (+1916).
Originally a missionary order of sisters ministering to nomadic peoples on the outskirts of the Sahara, the Little Sisters now have a presence in sixty-three different countries, living in small communities – often of no more than three or four members – and ministering to the poor and marginalized by sharing their day-to-day lives and living conditions.
They often stay in rented housing and take ordinary jobs in inner-city neighbourhoods and poor rural areas, as well as among nomadic people.
Their spiritual ethos calls them to live among those who are not reached by other Church ministries, or whose daily lives are marked by division, racism, poverty, or violence.
In his remarks to the General Chapter on Monday, Pope Francis said, “Do not be afraid to go forward, carrying with yourselves the little baby Jesus in your hearts, going into all the places in which the littlest of our world find themselves.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) To the extent God freely granted us the gift of life and the created world, we in turn should donate and share with others to create a better world, Pope Francis said on Monday. Faced with the ecological crisis we are going through, the perspective of donation received and given to those coming after us is indeed a reason for commitment and hope, he told some 150 members of the Italian Donation Institute (IID) in the Vatican. “We have the duty to preserve and hand down to future generations an intact planet that we have received as a free gift from God’s goodness,” he told the institute ahead of Italy’s Donation Day on October 4, that it sponsors.
God’s gift – life and creation
The Pope reminded them that the greatest gift that God has given to each one of us is life, which is part of another divine original gift which is creation. Hence, he said, “All of us must feel it a great responsibility to safeguard and care for creation , protecting it from various forms of degradation.”
Pope Francis explained that both the gift of life and the gift of creation usher from God’s love for mankind. To the extent to which we open ourselves to and welcome God’s love, we can in turn become the gift of love to our brothers. This love of God, he said, is particularly demonstrated in the Last Supper where Jesus left his disciples the “new commandment” of love . The newness of this commandment, he said, lies the donation of his life for us which translates in the service of others.
The Pope further explained that this love knows how to humble itself, refuses every form of violence, respects freedom, promotes dignity and rejects every discrimination. “An unarmed love proves stronger than hatred,” the Pope said, urging all to model themselves to the way of Jesus.
Donation – young people
Pope Francis regarded Italy’s Donation Day particularly relevant for children and youth to help them open their minds and hearts to brotherhood and sharing, and building the civilization of love. He wished that young people be able to discover that donating is freely giving a part of ourselves to others, not to lose it but to increase its value. Donating makes both the giver and the receiver happy, and creates bonds and relationships that strengthen hope in a better world.
(from Vatican Radio)…