(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, is on a six day official visit to Ukraine where he will meet with both Church and state officials. On Friday morning he celebrated Holy Mass at the Cathedral church of St Alexander in Kiev and delivered a homily on the theme of the gospel warning “not to store up treasures on earth.”
Cardinal Parolin sympathized with the challenge of following this command of the Lord. Many countries of the world, including the Ukraine, must struggle against dishonesty, unfair wealth, theft of community assets, all for the accumulation of individual fortunes. Corruption and the concentration of money in the hands of a few are among the causes that impoverish the people, destroy our freedom, kill the dreams for a better world and the right to life for all.
Christians, Cardinal Parolin said, must always fight to ensure that justice is done, but without ever resorting to violence. We are also called to detach from what might be hidden in our hearts. We can preach justice but what good is it if on the inside we are victims of jealousy, envy and the desire for success at any cost?
We must instead render the way we look at others in a simple, pure way, being transparent and without ulterior motives. Bishops, priests, religious men and women must do this above all because of the respect and honour given to such people. “We risk most of all,” said the Cardinal, “because we are respected and honored, and therefore we believe we are above every judgment …” Often, he says, we allow ourselves things that create scandal: wealth that we do not deserve, pride and arrogance in the use of authority granted to us, a way of life that Pope Francis calls “worldly.”
Moths and rust destroy all of these false riches. To find true freedom we must look up to the sky: our treasure is there, it is God’s love. This love caused the master to lose everything, to be nailed to a cross while being spat upon and ridiculed. But this love is faithful and saves us.
Everything that takes us away from the God who awaits us in heaven, at the end of the few days of our lives, should be cut with a sword, and separated from us. Also because it makes us lose time and vitality. Frustrations and petty desires prevent us from seeking the things above; we have infinitely more value than what we can accumulate on this earth.
Cardinal Parolin concluded that the Eucharist that we celebrate is the gift of the Bread of heaven. In him, in Jesus who offers himself to us, we have the anticipation of the heavenly treasure, one of the goods that no one can take away from us who constitute the “tent” which was planted in the field of our human history.
Cardinal Parolin’s visit to Kiev lasts until Monday, 20 June.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis opened the annual Ecclesial Convention of the Rome Diocese on Thursday evening at Rome’s cathedral: the Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. During the course of the inaugural event, the Holy Father responded to questions from several participants, each centered on specific aspects of the over-arching theme of the three-day event: the family and the joy of love.
In one response in particular, Pope Francis renewed his criticism of our “provisional” and “throw-away” culture, which has largely become incapable of thinking that any good – even one’s word – could possibly be lasting and worth preserving no matter what the cost.
“We too live a culture of the provisional,” said Pope Francis in response to a question from the floor regarding what needs – and what can – be done in order better to ensure the success and flourishing of marriages, and of people in married life within the Church and the broader society. In answer, the Holy Father told a story of a bishop from whom he recently heard tell of a young fellow who had finished his university studies and told the prelate he was interested in the priesthood, “but [only] for ten years,” the Holy Father reported his unnamed interlocutor as having quoted the nameless young fellow as saying. “This is the culture of provisional,” said Pope Francis, “and this happens everywhere, even in the priesthood, religious life – the provisional – is why a large majority of our sacramental marriages are null: because they say, “Yes, all my life,” but they do not know what it is they are saying, because they have another culture.”
Pope Francis went on to tell of how he banned matrimonios de apuro – or “rush marriages” usually celebrated when a young unmarried couple found themselves expecting a child – in Buenos Aires when he was archbishop there, because he felt the couples were in general acting out of social pressure rather than an informed understanding of the weight and significance of Christian marriage. “The crisis in marriage,” he said, “is because people don’t know what the sacrament is, what the beauty of the sacrament is: people do not know that it is indissuluble, they do not know that it is for life – it is difficult.”
The Convention will continue until Friday with a series of thematic workshops on dedicated to a series of sub-themes, including: love between adolescents; marriage preparation; spousal love; fidelity; the joy of giving life; family and brotherhood.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said that prayers are not magic words for Christians and when we pray the ‘Our Father’ we can feel God looking at us and this prayer should be the cornerstone of our prayer life. His words came during his mass celebrated on Thursday morning in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence.
Jesus always turned to the Father in the most challenging moments
Taking his inspiration from the gospel reading where Jesus teaches his disciples to pray the “Our Father, the Pope’s homily was a reflection on the value and meaning of prayer in the life of a Christian. He noted that Jesus always used the word “Father” in the most important or challenging moments of his life, saying our Father “knows the things we need, before we even ask Him.” He is a Father who listens to us in secret just like Jesus advised us to pray in secret.
“It’s through this Father that we receive our identity as children. And when I say ‘Father’ this goes right to the roots of my identity: my Christian identity is to be his child and this is a grace of the Holy Spirit. Nobody can say ‘Father’ without the grace of the Spirit. ‘Father’ is the word that Jesus used in the most important moments: when he was full of joy, or emotion: ‘Father, I bless you for revealing these things to little children.’ Or weeping, in front of the tomb of his friend Lazarus: ‘Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer,’ or else at the end, in the final moments of his life, right at the very end.”
Pope Francis went on to stress how the word ‘Father’ was the one most used by Jesus in the most important or challenging moments of his life. He warned that “unless we feel that we are his children, without considering ourselves as his children, without saying ‘Father,’ our prayer is a pagan one, it’s just a prayer of words.
Praying the ‘Our Father’ is our cornerstone
In the same way, the Pope stressed that the ‘Our Father’ prayer is the cornerstone of our prayer life. If we are not able to begin our prayer with this word, he warned, “our prayer will go nowhere.”
“Father.” It’s about feeling our Father looking at me, feeling that this word ‘Father’ is not a waste of time like the words in the prayers of pagans: it’s a call to Him who gave me my identity as his child. This is the dimension of Christian prayer – ‘Father’ and we can pray to all the Saints, the Angels, we can go on processions, pilgrimages … all of this is wonderful but we must always begin (our prayers) with ‘Father’ and be aware that we are his children and that we have a Father who loves us and who knows all our needs. This is that dimension.”
Turning next to the part of the ‘Our Father’ prayer where Jesus refers to forgiving those who “trespass against us” just as God forgives us, Pope Francis explains that this prayer conveys the sense of us being brothers (and sisters) and part of one family. Rather than behaving like Cain who hated his own brother, he said, it’s so important for us to forgive, to forget offences against us, that healthy attitude of saying ‘let’s forget this’ and not harbour feelings of rancour, resentment or a desire for revenge.
In conclusion, the Pope said the best prayer we can say is to pray to our God to forgive everybody and forget their sins.
“It’s good for us to sometimes examine our own consciences on this point. For me, is God my Father? Do I feel that He is my Father? And if I don’t feel that, let me ask the Holy Spirit to teach me to feel that way. And am I able to forget offences, to forgive, to let go of it, and if not, let us ask the Father: ‘these people too are your children, they did something horrible to me … can you help me to forgive them’? Let us carry out this examination of our consciences and it will do us a lot of good, good, good. ‘Father’ and ‘our’: give us our identity as his children and give us a family to journey with during our lives.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The world of the Circus spreads “a culture of encounter” and those working in such travelling shows have a unique opportunity “to be Christ’s witnesses” to “even the most distant” of people: that’s what Pope Francis said Thursday to members of Italian circuses and travelling entertainment.
In a festive audience in the Vatican, Pope Francis greeted representatives of circus associations, employees of amusement parks and fairs, street performers, artists, designers and puppeteers, musicians and folk groups celebrating their Jubilee for Circus and Travelling Show People. The Pope told them their festiveness and joy “are distinctive signs of your identity, your profession and your life” and that this appointment “could not be overlooked” in the Jubilee of Mercy.
The 15-16 June Jubilee was sponsored and organized by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People in collaboration with the “Migrantes” Foundation of the Italian Episcopal Conference and the Migrantes Office of the Diocese of Rome.
“You are ‘artisans’ of festivities, of wonder, of beauty,” the Pope said, and “with these qualities, you enrich all world society, even with the aim of nurturing sentiments of hope and confidence. You do it through performances that have the ability to elevate the soul, to show the boldness of particularly challenging exercises, to fascinate with the wonder of beauty and to offer opportunities for healthy entertainment.”
Pope Francis thanked them for having, in this year of Mercy, “opened your shows to the most needy, the poor and the homeless, prisoners, and disadvantaged kids. This too is mercy: to sow beauty and joy in a world sometimes gloomy and sad.”
The Holy Father admitted that “the rhythms of your life and of your work” can often make it “difficult for you to be part of a parish community on a regular basis.” Nevertheless, he invited them “to take care of your faith. Take every opportunity to draw close to the Sacraments. Transmit to your children the love for God and neighbor.”
Concluding, Pope Francis said “the Church is concerned about the problems that accompany your traveling life, and wants to help eliminate prejudices” that can sometimes keep them “on the margins.” He called on churches and parishes to be attentive to the needs of travelling performers and all people on the move.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Thursday with members of the ROACO (Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches) Assembly which raises funds for Christians in the Eastern-rite Churches. Among those taking part in the meeting were the papal representatives from Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria, Ukraine, Iraq and Jordan, as well as the new Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land, Fr Francesco Patton.
In his greetings to the group, Pope Francis thanked them for their work, in particular the task of helping to fund the restoration of the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the small shrine of Christ’s tomb at the heart of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Noting that the restoration work in Bethlehem has unearthed the mosaic of a seventh angel in the nave of the Basilica, the Pope reflected on the way the face of our own communities can also be covered by ‘incrustations’ as a result of all our problems and sins. Yet all your work, the Pope said, must unfailingly be guided by the certainty that, beneath material and moral incrustations, and the tears and bloodshed caused by war, violence and persecution, there is a radiant face like that of the angel in the mosaic.
All of you, with your projects and your activities, the Pope said, are part of a “restoration” that will enable the face of the Church to reflect visibly the light of Christ the Word Incarnate. He is our peace, the Pope insisted, and he is knocking at the doors of our heart in the Middle East, as he does in India or in Ukraine, a country for which he recently called for a special collection to be taken among all European Churches in support of those suffering the effects of the conflict.
Pope Francis noted that the ROACO meeting, which has been taking place in Rome this week, has also been focused on the presence of the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Manlankara Churches in the territories of India outside Kerala where they are based. It is a sign of hope that, he said, that progress can be made in respect for the proper rights of each, without a spirit of division. Rather, he stressed, in all those parts of the world where Latin and Oriental Catholics live side-by-side, our Churches need the spiritual riches of East and West as a source from which coming generations can draw.
Finally, Pope Francis blessed the members of the group, asking for their prayers as he prepares for his pilgrimage next week to Armenia, a land of the East and the first country to adopt Christianity as its state religion.
Please find below the full text of Pope Francis’ address to the ROACO Assembly
Dear Friends,
I offer you a warm welcome and I thank Cardinal Sandri for his kind words of introduction. To each of you, and the communities from which you come, I offer a cordial greeting. I am grateful for the zeal that all of you have shown in carrying out the mission entrusted to you, and for your attention to the needs of our brothers and sisters in the East. Present at this meeting, too, are the Papal Representatives in Jerusalem, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Jordan, and Ukraine. They accompany the life of the Churches and peoples of those countries, demonstrating the closeness of the Pope and the Holy See not only through their contacts but also through gestures of concrete charity, in coordination with all the concerned offices of the Holy See.
I also greet with fraternal good wishes Father Francesco Patton, the successor of Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa as Custos of the Holy Land. I take this occasion to express my gratitude and appreciation to all the Friars Minor, who for centuries have maintained the holy places and shrines, also with the help of the yearly Good Friday Collection providently instituted by Blessed Paul VI. May the Lord bless you and grant you his peace! It is my hope that, with the generous help of so many people, including the contribution of the other Christian communities, the restoration of the Basilica of the Nativity and the aedicule of the Holy Sepulcher will be brought to conclusion.
I have been told that in the course of restoration work in Bethlehem, on one of the walls of the nave a seventh angel in mosaic has come to light, forming with the other six a sort of procession towards the place commemorating the mystery of the birth of the Word made flesh. This can lead us to reflect on how the face of our ecclesial communities can also be covered by “incrustations” as a result of various problems and sins. Yet your work must unfailingly be guided by the certainty that, beneath material and moral incrustations, and the tears and bloodshed caused by war, violence and persecution, beneath this apparently impenetrable cover there is a radiant face like that of the angel in the mosaic. All of you, with your projects and your activities, are part of a “restoration” that will enable the face of the Church to reflect visibly the light of Christ the Word Incarnate. He is our peace, and he is knocking at the doors of our heart in the Middle East, as he does in India and in Ukraine, a country for which I determined last April that an extraordinary collection should be taken up among the Churches of Europe.
Your reflection in these days centres on the presence of the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Manlankara Churches in the territories of India outside Kerala. It is a sign of hope that, following the indications set out by my Predecessors, progress can be made in respect for the proper rights of each, without a spirit of division, but rather fostering communion in witness to the one Saviour, Jesus Christ. That communion, in all those parts of the world where Latin and Oriental Catholics live side-by-side, needs the spiritual riches of East and West as a source from which coming generations of priests, men and women religious, and pastoral workers can draw. For, as Saint John Paul II observed: “The words of the West need the words of the East, so that God’s word may ever more clearly reveal its unfathomable riches. Our words will meet forever in the heavenly Jerusalem, but we ask and wish that this meeting be anticipated in the holy Church which is still on her way towards the fullness of the Kingdom” (Orientale Lumen, 28).
As I invoke upon all of you the Lord’s blessings, I ask for your prayers, for in a few days I will go on pilgrimage to a land of the East, Armenia, the first nation to welcome the Gospel of Jesus. I thank you most cordially. May Our Lady watch over you and accompany you. Thank you.
(from Vatican Radio)…