(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday urged Italian Catholics to spread a culture of justice and peace, support families in difficulties and show solidarity with the world’s poorest and most needy. His words came during an audience with two Catholic associations, the Community of Christian Life in Italy and the Missionary League for Italian Students. …
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Thursday with members of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, telling them that the cause of unity is not an option undertaking. The 18 Anglican and Catholic members of the commission, known as ARCIC III, are holding their annual encounter this week at an ancient retreat house in the Alban…
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday received the President of the Republic of the Seychelles, James Alix Michel, who subsequently met the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, accompanied by Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, under-Secretary for Relations with States. The Republic of the Seychelles is an archipelago-nation in the Indian Ocean, about 1,500 kilometres east of…
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(Vatican Radio) “History and service.” In his homily on Thursday morning, Pope Francis spoke about these “two traits of Christian identity.”
Beginning with “history,” Pope Francis said Saint Paul, Saint Peter, and the other disciples “did not proclaim a Jesus without a history: They proclaimed Jesus in the history of the people, a people God led through the centuries in order to arrive… at the fullness of time.” God enters into history and into the journey with His people:
“The Christian is a man or woman of history, because he does not pertain to himself alone – he is inserted into a people, a people that is on a journey. One cannot imagine a Christian selfishness, no, this won’t fly. The Christian is not a spiritual man or woman in a laboratory, [the Christian] is a spiritual man or woman inserted into a people, which has a long history and which continues to journey until the Lord returns.”
It is a “history of grace, but also a history of sin”:
“So many sinners, so many crimes! Today, Paul mentions King David, a saint – but before he became a saint, he was a great sinner. A great sinner. Our history must take up both saints and sinners. My own personal history, the history of each one of us, must take up our sin, our own proper sin, and the grace of the Lord that is with us, accompanying us in our sin in order to forgive and accompanying us in grace. There is no Christian identity without history.”
The second trait of Christian identity is service. “Jesus washes the feet of the disciples, inviting them to do as He has done: to serve”:
“Christian identity is service, not selfishness. ‘But Father, we are all selfish.’ Ah, really? It is a sin, a habit we have to break away from. Ask for forgiveness, that the Lord will convert us. We are called to service. Being Christian is not about appearance, or even about social conduct, it’s not a little make-up for the soul, because it should be a little more beautiful. To be Christian is to do what Jesus did: serve!”
Pope Francis called us to ask ourselves, “In my heart, what more can I do? Do I have other people serve me, do I use others, the community, the parish, my family, my friends? Or do I serve, am I at the service of others?”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The centuries-old coexistence of Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the Middle East is experiencing a “true and real dismantling”, according to Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, the Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches.
The Cardinal was speaking on Wednesday at a symposium in Bari organized by the Community of Sant’Egidio, with the theme “Christians in the Middle East: What Future?”.
He compared the “indifference and inaction” of the international community to the tragedies which have for years “consumed” Syria and Iraq to the washing of Pilate’s hands before the crucifixion of Christ.
Although he acknowledged the complexity of finding a solution to the crisis – including those touching on the internal relations of the different elements of the Muslim faithful – Cardinal Sandri said it was “a scandal” that vested interests and balance-of-power politics is being put before the survival of people.
He said the Christians of the region “deserve our solidarity, our gratitude, and every possible support.”
Cardinal Sandri also added the Israeli-Palestinian question must be addressed in any discussion of stability in the Middle East, saying that all countries deserve “to exist, to be protected, and not be under threat.”
“It is the task of Christian pastors throughout the Middle East to help their faithful to grow in this awareness, pouring on the wounds of even the recent past, the abundant oil of consolation, forgiveness and mercy,” he said.
“If things do not move in this direction, we do not doubt that the pockets of ‘power gone mad,’ which is ISIS, will multiply, also because they are supported with arms and other resources from various interested factions,” said Cardinal Sandri.
(from Vatican Radio)…