(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has paid tribute to Polish military veterans who fought in the 1944 Battle of Montecassino.
Former soldiers from the Polish army’s Second Corps who are in Rome for the anniversary of the Second World War battle were greeted by the Pope at the Wednesday General Audience.
Pope Francis praised the veterans who “fought for the freedom of your country and for other nations.” He said their efforts and the “sacrifice of life” of their companions had helped bring peace to Europe and the whole world.
The Battle of Montecassino involved four allied assaults of German defence posts over a four month period, resulting in tens of thousands of casualties on both sides.
(Richard Paul Marsden)
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has urged two orders of nuns to renew their commitment in passing on the love of God to others.
During his Wednesday General Audience, the Pope greeted Italian communities from the Montfort Missionaries of the Company of Mary and the Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament, who are both in Rome for their General Chapters.
Greeting the nuns at the end of the audience, Pope Francis said: “I urge them to renew their adhesion to their respective charisms of foundation to transmit the love and mercy of God in today’s ecclesial context.”
The Montfort Missionaries follow the example of Saint Louis de Montfort and are dedicated to spreading the Gospel through missions and parish pastoral work. The Perpetual Adorers are devoted to prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament where they offer their lives to God the Father for the Church and the world.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has urged two orders of nuns to renew their commitment in passing on the love of God to others.
During his Wednesday General Audience, the Pope greeted Italian communities from the Montfort Missionaries of the Company of Mary and the Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament, who are both in Rome for their General Chapters.
Greeting the nuns at the end of the audience, Pope Francis said: “I urge them to renew their adhesion to their respective charisms of foundation to transmit the love and mercy of God in today’s ecclesial context.”
The Montfort Missionaries follow the example of Saint Louis de Montfort and are dedicated to spreading the Gospel through missions and parish pastoral work. The Perpetual Adorers are devoted to prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament where they offer their lives to God the Father for the Church and the world.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis continued his catechesis on “Christian Hope” at his General Audience on Wednesday, focusing this week on the figure of St Mary Magdalene.
The Holy Father’s reflections were based on a passage from the Gospel of St John, which relates how St Mary Magdalene was the first to see Jesus after His Resurrection. Her visit to Jesus’s tomb, the Pope said, mirrored “the fidelity of so many women” who visit cemeteries to keep alive the memory of those who have passed away. “The most authentic bonds,” he said, “are not broken even by death.”
Pope Francis noted that Mary Magdalene’s first visit to the tomb was a disappointment: Seeing the empty tomb, she went to the place the disciples were hiding and told them that someone had stolen the body of Jesus.
But although she was sorrowful, she returned to the sepulchre. The Pope continued, “It was while she was standing near the tomb, with eyes filled with tears, that God surprised her in a most unexpected way.” She hardly noticed the two angels who spoke to her, and at first she did not even recognise Jesus, whom she took to be a gardener. Instead, Pope Francis said, “she discovers the most shocking event in human history” only when Jesus “calls her by name.”
“How beautiful it is to think that the first apparition of the Risen One – according to the Gospels – should occur in such a personal way!” the Pope said. How beautiful it is “that there is someone who recognizes us, who sees our suffering and disappointment, and is moved for our sake, and calls us by name.” Although many people seek God, he said, the “wonderful reality” is that God has sought us first, and sought each of us personally. “Each one of us,” Pope Francis said, “is a story of the love of God. God calls each of us by name.”
When Jesus said Mary’s name, her life was changed. “The Gospels describe Mary’s happiness for us,” the Holy Father said. “The Resurrection of Jesus is not a joy given with an eyedropper, but a cascade, a waterfall that fills our whole life.” Pope Francis called for everyone to reflect on that fact that, even with all the “disappointments and defeats” in our life, “there is a God who is close to us and who calls us by name, who says to us, ‘Arise, don’t cry, because I have come to set you free.’”
God, he continued, “is a dreamer: He dreams of the transformation of the world, and has realised it in the mystery of the Resurrection.”
Saint Mary Magdalene, who, before she met Jesus, was at the mercy of the evil one, became “the apostle of the new and greatest hope.” Her life was changed because she had “seen the Lord.” Mary’s experience is an example for us, too, whose lives are changed because we have seen the Lord. This, Pope Francis said, “is our strength, and our hope.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) At the General Audience on Wednesday, Pope continued his catechesis on Christian Hope, speaking this week on “Mary Magdalene, Apostle of Hope.”
He was reflecting on the reading from the Gospel of St John, chapter 20, verses 15-18a:
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher.
17 Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,”
Below please find the English-language summary of Pope Francis’ catechesis for the General Audience on Wednesday, 17 May 2017:
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our catechesis on Christian hope, we now reflect on Mary Magdalen as an apostle of the hope brought by the Gospel. Saint John tells us on Easter morning Mary had gone to the tomb of Jesus; she saw that it was empty, and returned to tell this news to Peter and the other disciples. Returning to the tomb, yet still not understanding what had happened, Mary encounters the Risen Lord, but does not recognize him until he calls her by name. This first appearance of Jesus after rising from the dead is thus something intensely personal. We know that just as he did with Mary Magdalen, so too Jesus calls each of us by name and fills us with joy at his presence. Our encounter with him brings freedom and opens up new vistas of life; it transforms our world and brings undying hope. The risen Lord tells Mary not to cling to him, but to go and tell the good news of his resurrection to the others. Mary Magdalen thus becomes the apostle of Christian hope. By her prayers, may we be encounter anew the risen Lord, who calls us by name, turns our sorrow into joy, and sends us forth to proclaim by our lives that he is truly risen.
Greetings
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, Ireland, Swaziland, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, the Philippines, Vietnam, Canada and the United States of America. In the joy of the Risen Christ, I invoke upon you and your families the loving mercy of God our Father. May the Lord bless you all!
(from Vatican Radio)…